//------------------------------// // Compost and A Slam // Story: The Synthesizers // by Wiz Ahmad //------------------------------// “Got it.” Starlight returned with Fluttershy… and some gardening tools. “Oh hey Fluttershy,” Smolder said with a smile and wave. “What a move you’ve made,” Fluttershy complimented. “We can use some of the rind for baking later and add the rest to compost. However, we’ll need to remove all the mushed-up fruit inside – which can be done with a knife and spoon. Let me show and assist you.” “I’m all eyes and ears.” Smolder observed closely as Fluttershy cut a crushed orange into quarters, then Starlight eased the knife through on the inside, cutting away the mushy fruit pulp. The pulp was discarded, while the rind was slit into thin strips, then chopped widthwise into small pieces and placed into piles. “Seems simple enough,” Smolder thought, taking a knife handed to her and slicing one orange into quarters. Cutting off the mushy sour pulp was a challenge, however, given how slimy and wet it was. At times it felt frustrating, and she had to pull back often as the knife slipped and threatened to slice her fingers off. “Guess this really is a big task,” Smolder sighed, glancing over at the pile of oranges at the far end of the table. “You gotta hold up to it,” Starlight said slyly. Smolder nodded seriously and went at it again. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she soon figured out a few little tricks to cutting off the peel properly: cleaning the blade often and applying the right pressure at adequate moments. Soon all the pulp was off and she was slitting the rind quarters like a ninja. Dragons weren’t creatures of high-grade precision, so her chops were rather odd and wide-spaced. After a few more oranges, she had the confidence to chop finely. After an hour, all the orange rinds were chopped, except for four which Fluttershy had set aside for grating. Smolder slid the pile into a bucket and headed for the door. “Wait!” Fluttershy called out, rushing after her. “Where are you going?” “To your house,” Smolder replied, picking up a few pieces that had fallen out of the bucket. “I was informed that you had a composter there.” “But I…how?!” Fluttershy exclaimed, running up to her. Smolder gave a coy smirk. “One thing I learnt from Rarity is how you can boost your knowledge levels through networking. You get to know ponies who know other ponies who are friends with other ponies, and information about topics and subjects passes through via conversation and interactions.” While Smolder and Fluttershy headed to the latter’s house, Starlight cleaned up the kitchen, only to be interrupted by a shuffling sound outside the door. Peeking her head around the doorway, Starlight caught sight of what she wasn’t expecting, but should’ve. There, in the middle of the hallway, on her hind legs, was Silverstream, dancing in a way that shouldn’t even be possible. Her hooves were shuffling as her feet moved in and out, but in a smooth way, like a ballerina, all the while her arm swinging. Then she turned one way, and then another. What followed next was the move that Starlight knew from Trixie’s presentation of her wagon to another pony, but hadn’t seen it being executed so smoothly. With a turn-and-a-half and her head half-bowed, Silverstream walked backward, appearing as if to slide backward while attempting to move forward. It was a lot better than what she’d done in the school’s reading garden, at least by Starlight’s standards. “Whoa,” she whistled… and caught Silverstream’s attention, who whirled around at the sound. Yet, the hallway appeared empty. “Wooo!” Silverstream whooped joyfully. “That was good. A few more rounds and the talent show will be fluid!” Down near the Everfree Forest, Smolder and Fluttershy arrived at the cottage, with Smolder still holding her prized possession of orange peels. Almost immediately the aura of the surroundings enveloped them. “Wow,” Smolder breathed in awe. “You’ve got a really nice home. It feels quite peaceful here. Like, the green and yellow of the trees and the birds, along with the flowers and other plants – it all just relaxes you.” “Thanks, Smolder. It is a wonderful place to live. Now, let me show you how this compost is made.” Fluttershy walked around to the back of the house, where a large dark grey container stood at the end of the garden. “What’s with that?” Smolder asked, swatting at a few flies that had taken notice of her now fragrant bucket. Fluttershy popped off the container’s top lid and set it aside, releasing a large cloud of thick, humid air that reeked of soil, plants, and organic matter. Smolder grimaced. It wasn’t totally putrid, but it was strong and prominent. “So… how does this work?” she mumbled, afraid to open her mouth at the fear of the buzzing flies darting in. Fluttershy shook her tail at the flies in annoyance. “We’ll rake up the soil and grass that lies on top, add our fruit pieces, and cover it all up. That way, the orange peels can decompose straight down along with the other organic matter.” She handed the dragon a hand rake, a beckoning look over her face. Reluctantly, Smolder took the rake with one hand and pinched her nose with the other. Steeling herself for a bunch of ants to come shooting out and bite, Smolder reached in and gave a few strokes. Peering over the composter rim, she got a brief look at what was actually happening. Amidst a few flies and some ants, there wasn’t much inside – it just looked like soil and dead grass. Speeding and amplifying her strokes, Smolder pulled back the layers of grass to reveal the decomposing matter below. The aroma shot up like a lava fountain, hitting her hard in the face. She jolted backward as if poked sharply. “Oh! Are you okay?” Fluttershy gasped. Smolder nodded. “I just was not prepared for that. Let’s get this over with before my face decomposes along with this gunk.” Holding her breath as best as she could, Smolder gripped the bucket and shook out all the orange peels into the composter. They piled up like an orange mountain, so she spread it out evenly. Using a rake was out of the question, so Fluttershy retrieved a trowel. “A lot easier now,” Smolder admitted, gently tossing mounds of dead grass and plant matter on top of the orange pile. Soon the composter was full, and the peels compeltely covered. “Well done, Smolder!” Fluttershy exclaimed as the little dragon put the lid back on. “You’re done!” “But… what about the repay?” “It’s alright. Leave that to Twilight and I. We’ll collect the due amount and inform you on time so you can bring it for the orange fruit vendor.” “Alright, cool.” Having finished her random dance routine, Silverstream checked on Applejack’s baking, before getting a quick drink and heading off to the gym. To her surprise, she came across four ponies trying to squeeze something through a door. It looked like a small… stair set of sorts. Stairs? Oh, yes, STAIRS! Without a second thought, Silverstream rushed over in excitement. Stairs were her favorite item of architecture and she loved to take time to admire their design and the concept of climbing small flat planes to get to a higher elevation – something that would be impossible underwater. However, her arrival was rather shocking for the poor stallions that were struggling. “Aaah!” Somehow, the fright from her sudden appearance gave them the push and drive they needed, and with another heave and push, the contraption was successfully pushed inside the gym – albeit with some minor door frame damage. Once inside, they let it down on the floor with a thud and a synchronous sigh of exhaustion and relief. “So, is this where you wanted it, Twilight?” The headmare was sitting in a far corner of the gym, reading over a book as usual. “Yes, indeed. You all may go.” With the worker stallions gone, Silverstream then entered the gym and got a good look at the contraption they were trying so hard to move. It was made of wood and screwed tightly together, with metal edging. The whole thing was made in a rectangular shape – around eight feet wide and fifteen feet long, with three wide steps leading up to a small flat area, with a sloping ramp on the other side. “I had no idea you could make stairs so unique!” she squealed, peering down at the unit and running the back of her claw across the edge. “Wow, this is quite hard and smooth!” “It certainly is, Silverstream.” Silverstream flew back and darted around, trying to find the source of the voice. Could the stairs talk, or was it somepony hiding somewhere? It didn’t take long for her to spot Twilight in the corner, looking up from the book she was reading. “Oh, hi Twilight. What brings you here?” “Well, I see you’ve already taken interest in something I made for you and Smolder,” Twilight said excitedly, flying over eagerly and tapping the wooden unit. “This is a stairset combined with a sloping ramp. Somepony gave me a copy of the Ponyville newspaper, and I saw how you two were trying to slide across edges as well as gain some air while jumping. However, a public place with lots of ponies walking about probably isn’t the best place to do so. So, I made this for you to enjoy. When playtime’s over, I’ll simply park it in on the side, or teleport it into a storage area elsewhere.” “THANK YOU!” Silverstream squealed with joy, pulling the headmare into a snug hug. “It’s amazing! Can I try it? Please please please?” Twilight smiled softly and caressed the neck of her student. “Yes, you may. But only for the afternoon. After that, it’s reading time and then dinner.” “Okay!” Silverstream replied joyfully, rushing around to the storage room and pulling at the handle. To her surprise, it swung open. Holding the center of the handlebars, she pulled the bike out and swung the door shut. With a quick flap and a firm hop, she vaulted onto the bike, dropping her hooves onto the pedals and her hands onto the handlebars. Briefly adjusting her balance, she eased her feet forward and around, pedaling until she felt comfortable and had built up a good level of energy. Starting at one end of the gym, she paused, taking a few minutes to plan and calculate a few factors – her angle of entry, speed, and style. A simple grind with both wheels seemed like a good idea, but would only increase friction. Just then, Smolder walked in, carrying her board. By the way she was positioned, it was quite clear what Silverstream had in mind. So, she spoke up. “Hey Silverstream,” Smolder greeted with a smile. “Oy, SILVY! Figuring out the line of attack?” “Oh, hey,” Silverstream replied, snapping out of her concentration bubble. “Yeah. I want to try get at the top stair, but I don’t want to fall short on sliding across it.” “Go at a slight angle,” Smolder suggested. “It’s what I did when I tried getting on the edge of ledges in Ponyville.” “Note taken.” Pedaling around in circles for a bit, Silverstream took the time to build up speed, consistency, and confidence, jumping up now and then to get her muscles used to the motion. For Smolder, the key was to simply get good speed and ‘lock it in’ at an angle, while keeping balance yet allowing for forward movement and avoiding excess friction. With her second warm-up session over, Silverstream pedaled quickly down the length of the gym, before gently squeezing the brake and turning perpendicular to the stairs, ready to pedal hard, bank, and jump onto the ledge. This was it. Gripping the handlebars tightly, Silverstream pumped the pedals hard, gaining speed as she rushed towards the stairs. Just as she came in front of it, she pulled back and up with her whole body – hard. Now airborne, she tucked up her whole body and then pushed forward, still pulling back with her hooves. She planted the front wheel peg onto the ledge, leaned too far forward and left… and flung forward, slamming straight into the ground. Pain shot through her shoulder, and her left wing collapsed in with a faint pop. Her back bounced off the ground, sending her skidding for a good foot or two, before coming to a stop. “YEOW!” The whole act was so fast and brutal, Smolder had to struggle not to blink. When she eventually did, she realized what happened and rushed over. “Silvy! You okay?” “Yeah. Just… that really hurt. Can’t tell if I sprained my wing or not. But I can still move. Can you get some ice?” Without a hitch, Silverstream got to her feet, rubbed her sore body, and walked about to relieve some of the soreness, while Smolder ran off to the kitchen. There really was no margin of error on this. Either you got it right, or you didn’t and were brutally punished for it. Five minutes later, Smolder flew into the gym, holding up a bag of ice with a grin on her face. “Managed to get here without turning it into water, hehe.” “Not the time for gloats! Bring it, please!” Silverstream begged. “Right. Sorry.” Smolder sat down and gently pressed the bag into her friend’s shoulder and back, gently touching her wings with it too. “I think we should stop and come back tomorrow after homework,” she suggested. Silverstream glared over at her dragon friend, instantly taken aback. “What? After just one attempt? I-I mean, we, are not used to this is all. It’s fun, but brutal when it doesn’t go right.” “I’m sure Headmare Twilight wouldn’t be too happy seeing us get beaten up like this,” Smolder countered. “But she might admire our persistence.” And so, after a good fifteen minutes of cold application, Silverstream rose to her feet, hobbled over to her bike, and started pedaling again. Smolder, however, had an idea. “Wait a moment.” Darting out of the gym, she returned with a candle, which she then broke a chunk out of. “What are you doing?” Silverstream cried in astonishment. “Smoothening the surface,” Smolder replied, rubbing the stair’s metal edge with the candle’s wax consistently along its length. “Rarity showed us a technique like this in a class about detailing surfaces. And wax is slippery, so go figure.” “Try it now. And keep yourself centrally positioned. You only need to lean forward enough to guide the bike into position. Keep the weight above the peg – better yet, shift the back of the bike inwards towards the ramp.” “Got it.” Silverstream pedaled in a circle once more, gaining momentum and speed. She jumped up, keeping her eyes on the edge as she pulled the back up with her hooves and planted the peg onto the edge at a slight angle, keeping her arms firm and angling inward a little, using her hooves to control the bike frame. The bike slid forward and skidded to a stop just before the edge of the stair, so Silverstream just hopped off sideways. “Awesome!” Smolder cheered. “You’re getting the hang of it. Just a bit more speed and control and you’ll be able to slide off the edge with ease. Keep practicing and get a feel for the bike’s movements as you move, too. The way I see it, now, it’s all about perseverance and practice. We have to practice more.”