Flash Sentry smelled smoke before he was halfway down the ornate stairs leading into the banquet hall beneath the Crystal Palace. He entered the large chamber, already prepared with a grimace. His eyes narrowed upon a smoldering blaze that was presently being extinguished by no less than two dozen crystal ponies with buckets of water.
"Whoah-whoah-whoah..." Soarin grimaced, hovering in mid-air. Many of the dining tables had been arranged, and an elaborate stage was erected along the width of the chamber, complete with a practicing orchestra. However—smack-dab in the middle of the otherwise immaculately decorated room—a fire was just then being put out. An array of floral arrangements had tragically turned to blakened ash. "Since when did we order an indoor bonfire?"
"We didn't." Flash Sentry looked left and right and left again—"!!!"—He spotted Octavia, looking somewhat frazzled. "Hey! Octavia!" He flew over and landed beside her. "We came as soon as we heard. What's going on here?"
"Well..." Octavia rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes and straightened her bowtie. "Things were going swimmingly, aside from a few flubs with the musical arrangement, which Vinyl is working on as we speak. So you needn't worry to much about that—"
"The fire, Octavia," Flash droned. "What's with the sudden Smokey the Bear pageant?"
"Well... erm..."
One of the crystal ponies who had just put out the blaze galloped up, covered in sweat and soot. "Mr. Brad!" She panted for breath. "Praise the Heart you came! We just put it out, so crisis averted."
"Yeah. That's cool and all." Flash's eyes narrowed. "How in the Hell did it get started?"
"Well..." The crystal mare fidgeted. "You know how you can accidentally start a fire with three baskets of lillies, a horseshoe, and glittery silver table cloth?"
"Uhhh. No. No I don't."
She gulped. "Neither did I... until today..." Chewing on her bottom lip, she turned to look towards the center of the room.
Ponies backed away. That's when Flash saw a familiar winged figure sitting—deflated—on a loan stool with her blonde head in her hooves. Her shoulders shook in the unmistakable sign of unmitigated sobbing.
"Awwwwww Christ on a pogo stick..." Flash grimaced. He patted the crystal pony's shoulder and trotted towards the scene. "Derpy? Miss Hooves...?"
"D-don't come any cl-closer...!" Her squeaky voice was extra squeaky with sorrow. She sniffled and whimpered between every other word. "...I'm a tr-trotting disaster..."
"Hey! They took care of it!" Flash smiled. "You're no disaster—!" Behind him, a random table erupted in flames—PHWOOOMB! Crystal ponies shrieked and galloped over, splashing water in a torrent. The flame sizzled, and smoke rose thickly towards the ceiling in a black column. Flash closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and re-forged his smile. "—seriously. It's okay! Just... just..." He crossed the distance between them. "...just tell us what happened."
"I..." Derpy shook her head in her hooves, drooping even more. "I-I just don't kn-know what went wrong..."
"Maybe there was... uhhhh... a chemical in the table cloth that caught friction and—"
Derpy looked up, her rotating eyes full of tears. "I was j-just showing the crystal ponies how to properly fold a napkin! Next thing I knew..." She looked at one hoof with a pouting lip. "...my horseshoe went flying! And then there were sparks and screams and... and..." She whimpered. "You shouldn't have brought me here."
"Don't say that, Miss Hooves—"
"Really, you shouldn't have! I'm going to ruin everything—"
Flash gestured at the furnished half of the room. "These decorations are gorgeous! You have a gift for prettying up the place! We need you for this celebration, Miss Hooves! Otherwise we wouldn't have chosen you!"
"But... but..." Trembling, Derpy stood up. "...everytime I so much as try to—" She slipped, and her flank fell back down with thunderous force. CRACKKK! The stool snapped in half, and two of its legs went flying out like missiles.
Swisssssssh!
Sw-Swiiiiiiish!
Dozens of crystal ponies shrieked and threw themselves to the ground, ducking for cover.
Flash Sentry twirled in mid-air, dodging the projectiles.
Octavia hid behind a table and Vinyl Scratch dove behind her DJ Booth. P-P-Pinnng! The table legs ricocheted off various instruments and crystalline wall-panels before flying back the way they came.
SMASSSH! One flew into a disco ball overhead, shattering it into a million reflective pieces.
Swoooooooooooosh—Thap! The second flew neatly into the grip of Soarin's left fetlock. "... ... ..." Calmly, the Wonderbolt exhaled and flew over the fresh sea of disco ball shards. He landed beside Derpy, juggling the stool leg in one hoof. "Y'know..." He smiled. "...I should have Spitfire have you over at the Academy for target practice! That was kinda cool!"
"No..." Derpy sobbed, hiding her face again. "No it wasn't—!"
"Hey..."
"I... I'll just go..."
"Miss Hooves..."
"I'm sorry everypony—"
Soarin dropped the wooden object and grasped her shoulders in both hooves. "We get it. You're sorry. That's fine! Now... let's take the next step to make things right!"
"How..." Derpy shivered, avoiding his gaze. Tears continued rolling down her fuzzy gray cheeks. "How can I possibly make this right?"
"You've got a job to do, don'tcha?"
"But... every time I try to lend a hoof..." She clenched her teeth, seething. "I-I only make things worse!"
"We can't get these decorations done without your keen eyes!"
"Believe me..." Choking back a sob, she covered her sockets. "These are not keen."
"Hey..." He gently lowered her hooves.
She looked up at him, teary and trembling.
Soarin smiled. "You've got many gifts, Miss Hooves. You're what ponies call a 'Renaissance Mare.'"
"I'm more like a Bloody Sunday."
Soarin shrugged. "What is genius without a little bit of eccentricity, huh? Now you've been doing a wonderful job setting this place up so far."
"Yeah... until I t-touch things."
"Then don't touch things!" Soarin smiled. "Why not just direct us and we'll do the setup for you? Heck... direct me and I'll make sure things match what's in your head!"
"You..." Derpy rubbed her eyes dry and sniffled. "You'll do that for me?"
"Totally! I mean, we're all in this together, aren't we?" He winked. "Just point and click!"
"P-Point and... click?"
"I dunno." Soarin shrugged. "It's what Mr. Bard always says. He's a crazy pony—but following his lead has helped us all so far. Wouldn't you agree?"
She giggled slightly—a heavenly break to the pitiable sobs that were coming out of her thus far. A crooked smile formed beneath moist eyes. "Yeah. I guess Mr. Bard's brought us far from where we were..."
"So... how 'bout we start off where you left off, huh?"
"But... there's such a mess now..." Derpy gulped. "I feel so responsible..."
"Let me worry about the hooves-on. You focus on the minds-on and plan ahead, yeah? We'll get this knocked out together."
"I... I forgot your name..."
"It's Soarin." He smiled handsomely. "Soarin of the Wonderbolts."
"Oh, you must be part of the band."
"... ... ... ... ... ...close enough!" Soarin grinned. He gently guided the mare over to a slightly-less-smoldering part of the room. "Now... how about you tell me where you were in the setup before things got crazy."
"Well... mmmm... I-I was suggesting that Mr. and Mrs. Cake set up the chocolate fountain between the two ice sculptures."
"Ice sculptures?"
"Well, they haven't been made yet. We only have the pedestals so far. I quickly hired a Yakyakistanian sculptor artist to make us two giant ice 'hearts' to place at the central banquet table, opposite the stage."
"Ohhhh! Like the Crystal heart!"
"Yes. Uhm... I figured having a few Yakyakistanian artists here would be in the spirit of the whole 'unification' stuffness."
"Haha! I like it! Brilliant! Really brilliant, Miss Hooves!"
Flash Sentry smiled as he watched the two trot off. "Hmmmm... I always wanted to pay her back for the flight lessons."
"Ahem..." Octavia was only just then brushing her mane fully straight. "...what was that?"
"Hey..." Flash spun around. "...you said you and Vinyl were having some trouble?"
"Just... we need more filler in the performance for before and after the stewards give their speeches."
"So... you need some music, huh?"
"I must confess that Vinyl and I are tapped dry. It has been a most taxing session." She blinked blearily. "Might you possibly be so kind as to donate us a few more samples from your otherworldly library?"
"Miss Melody, are you a mind-reader?"
"That depends."
"Hmmmmm..." Flash trotted with her towards the stage. "...let's see what we can wrangle up."
"Thank you most kindly, Brad... Flash," Octavia said, catching up with dainty hoofsteps. "It is quite appreciated."
"Doing musical homework side by side with Octavia and Vinyl Scratch," Flash mused to himself. "Back where I come from, that'd be consider a wet dream and a half."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Ahem. Let's get cracking, shall we?"