Chapter 31
Project Brainstorm
“No sign of Gilda,” Torchwood glided down into our midst. Everypony had gathered on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres for an ‘Emergency Brainstorming Session,’ as Pinkie dubbed it. They made way for our final incoming member.
“Hey,” I pecked his cheek in greeting.
“Ew,” Glitter covered her eyes at the explicit scene. Her unintentionally adorable behavior roused smiles from all but the dragons.
“I see you wasted no time in getting the team together,” he appreciatively smiled at all who had assembled. “I asked around all of Cloudsdale. Nopony’s seen her for months. Apparently, she disappeared after she was evicted from her apartment. One too many months of late rent, her landlord said.”
“That would explain why she got mixed up with those dreadful dragons in the first place,” Rarity mused.
“We can deal with Gilda later,” Twilight interrupted, initiating the session. “Right now we need to focus on raising enough money to keep Garble and his friends out of trouble, which Trixie and Glitter have so kindly volunteered to help with. We have until the end of the week to collect as much as we can.”
“Did the Princess ever get back to you?” I asked.
“She did,” the alicorn confirmed. “She sent a reply through Spike almost right after you left. She said that the most important thing to remember in these kinds of negotiations is to comply with every demand, right down to the last detail. If you don’t, they could use the mistake as an excuse to demand more money. I don’t know if a couple of rogue dragons would even be smart enough to think of that, but better safe than sorry. I wrote back and told her about the fundraiser idea, and she highly supported it. She did say, though, that if we fell short of the quota, she’d personally arrange a loan.”
“Thank you, Celestia,” I literally wilted in relief. I could rest easy now that I knew we were guaranteed to get the money in time. Torch happily shook me to release his energy.
“Ya hear that, guys? We’re not dragon food after all!”
“I said all along that they could help, but you guys didn’t listen,” the purple teen smugly declared.
“Sure you did, Pierce,” the rest of them rolled their eyes, too relieved to be annoyed.
“The loan is still a last resort,” Twilight pulled us from the celebration. “The more money we raise now, the less Acrylic and Torchwood have to pay off later.”
“Twilight’s right,” Trixie interjected. “Which is why I’m not so sure a magic show alone will raise enough bits. The Great and Powerful Trixie and the Dazzling Glitter Shine will put on a show that will astound all, but... they’ve already been astounded. Since we performed just last night, we haven’t had time to rehearse any new material. They might not come for something they’ve already seen.”
“She does have a good point,” Rarity agreed. “Ponies want the newest and latest. While their performance was indeed spectacular, it’s already been done. We need to come up with something new and original.”
“Any ideas?” The group fell silent as we racked our brains.
“Glitter!”
“There you are!” The rest of the CMC bounded up from the tree line where I believed their not-so-secret clubhouse to be.
“Where’ve you been?”
“We were gonna go on one last crusadin’ session before you gotta leave, remember?” Apple Bloom prompted.
“We’re going to try earning concert cutie marks.”
“We were hoping you’d perform some of your awesome fire tricks like special effects for us!”
“Even though you already got your cutie mark, it wouldn’t be the same without you.”
“Oh! I’m sorry, guys. I was busy helping Miss Trixie with a fundraiser. I guess I forgot.”
“Wait, say that again.” Twilight silenced the girls.
“We wanted Glitter to help us with our concert,” the orange pegasus repeated.
“With special effects,” Sweetie Belle added.
“It’s going to be so awesome!”
“That’s it! We’ll put on a concert!” Twilight proudly declared.
“Hey! That’s our idea!” Apple Bloom pouted.
“That’s copyright! Or piracy, or... something,” Sweetie’s expression scrunched in concentration as she struggled to come up with the right word.
“Please, you guys? We really need this,” Rainbow tried. Scootaloo wasn’t about to argue with a request from her all-time hero, but the others weren’t so readily dissuaded.
“It’s for a good cause?” Glitter spoke up.
“Come on, Glitter, not cool! This was going to be our special project.”
“Please,” Blaze interrupted, again dilating his eyes to look as wide and desperate as possible. “It’s for my brother.” There was a long pause from the girls as they considered the dragons. Apple Bloom caught the other two members in question by the neck and yanked them all into a group huddle. All that could be heard was muffled murmurs as they discussed the matter.
“Well, if it’s for your family, I guess it’s alright,” Applebloom finally consented as the group broke up.
“Thank you, girls,” I breathed.
“That’s mighty big of ya,” Applejack proudly agreed.
“And you guys can still help with the show,” Glitter reminded. “We can have our own act!”
“NO!” everypony else exclaimed. We all remembered the last talent show when they had attempted a musical number. That hadn’t ended well. Rarity awkwardly cleared her throat to break the silence, reminding us that we needed to move on.
“What we mean is...” Twilight tried to cushion the blow.
“We could really use some backstage help,” Dash finished.
“Okay,” they glumly consented.
“But then who is going to sing?”
“Sweetie sure knows how to carry a tune,” Apple Bloom volunteered.
“ME?! Oh, I don’t know, guys...”
“The Solo twins!” I could practically see the light bulb go off over Torch’s head.
“Who?” Rainbow’s face became warped with confusion.
“Soprano and Spinning Solo,” I explained. “They’re thestrals. Soprano has a beautiful voice, and Spin can sing too, but that girl really knows how to dance. I bet they’d put on a full blown production for us!”
“They sound lovely,” Twilight nodded, “but as Rainbow demonstrated, they aren’t very well known. I don’t know how many ponies would pay for the show if they don’t know if it’ll be any good.”
“They’re fairly well known amongst us thestrals. I’ll see if I can get some friends to talk it up.”
“Even so, I think it might be wise to have a plan B. A celebrity appearance, perhaps?”
“Great idea, Torch!”
“I suppose I could arrange for the Ponytones to make a guest appearance,” Rarity offered. “Should I prepare four or five costumes, Fluttershy?” Rarity winked, and fondly elbowed our friend.
“Four! Definitely four!” she curled up in a frightened ball at the thought of getting up on stage.
“Aren’t Toe Tapper and Torch Song recording in Manehattan right now?”
“It may be difficult to book them this week,” she admitted, “but if they are unavailable, I could probably pull a few strings and contact Sapphire Shores.”
“No way! Sapphire Shores?” Scootaloo squealed, eyes wide with excitement.
“She’s so cool!” Apple Bloom agreed.
“Yeah, she’s okay, but I’m more a Ponytones kinda girl,” Sweetie shrugged.
“Sapphire Shores is waaaaay better than the Ponytones. No offense, Rarity,” Scootaloo quickly interjected.
“None taken,” the unicorn chuckled.
“Nuh-uh. The Ponytones are better.”
“Sapphire Shores!”
“Ponytones! Come on, back me up here, Glitter.”
“Um, I’ve never actually heard either one,” she blushed.
“WHAT?”
“But I know the Solo Twins are really good.”
“Alright, that’s enough, girls.”
“I’ll see what I can work out,” Rarity promised.
“And we’ll talk to the twins and see if they can help,” Torch added.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is eager to meet these ‘Solo twins,’” Trixie declared.
“Ooh! Ooh! I remember them! They started karaoke at the thestral welcome party!”
“Oh, now I think I know who you’re talkin’ ‘bout,” Applejack said.
“They seemed nice,” Fluttershy agreed.
“You guys keep working. I’ll go track them down!” Pinkie announced, zipping off before anypony else could argue.
“While we wait on Pinkie,” Twilight resumed, “let’s talk about food. Applejack offered to cater; we can merge the bake sale and concert ideas to pull a little extra cash.”
“I’ll put up a stand beside o’ Trixie’s wagon,” Applejack promised. “But I gotta say, that’s gonna be a lotta cookin’ for even us Apples to cover. We’ll need a couple extra hooves helpin’ out to whip all that up in time.”
“We can lend you all the claws you need,” I pledged, looking over at the dragons. “Isn’t that right, boys?”
“Huh?” They were all bored out of their minds, and most had fallen asleep in the grass in a huge dog pile. Now Soot, the only one not snoozing, jabbed an exposed patch of brown scales to jolt the rest of the stack awake.
“You mean cook? Us?”
“Yes, you.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, we aren’t as domesticated as Spike or Blaze here. You wouldn’t catch me dead in an apron!”
“In case you haven’t noticed, this is your fundraiser,” I shot back. “You aren’t going to sit back and have us do all the work. It’s time to play your part. You all are going to help Applejack with the baking, end of story.”
“But-”
“END of story.” An angry huff from Fizzle told me I’d won.
“I ‘preciate the help,” Applejack started, “but if they don’t wanna...” The dragons perked up and instantly started trying to worm their way back out of the responsibility, but thankfully, Garble ended it there.
“Like it or not, guys, they’re right. We gotta do something.”
“But Garble,” Soot whined. “Real dragons don’t cook.”
“Hey!” Spike snorted.
“I’ll give you the choice,” Twilight intruded. “You can either help Applejack with the baking, or help with preparations and work backstage during the production.”
“That means you’d be working with me,” I slyly smiled in a half-threatening way. Applejack needed the help far more than I did, and I knew none of them really liked me anyway. I might as well use it to my advantage.
“Put me with the orange pony,” Fizzle shivered at the mere thought of working with me any more than he already had to.
“Me too.” The whole group minus Garble readily opted for baking duty. Garble hadn’t yet committed himself, giving me the idea that he’d rather work with somepony he knew, but didn’t want to leave his friends. Pinkie gave him a little extra time to think about it when she zipped back up, twins in tow.
Spin and Soprano looked almost identical, with the same magenta coat and snow white hair all pulled up into a (very) loose bun. They each wore matching black headbands, separating the bun from their shaggy bangs, not quite long enough to stay in the bun but long enough to fall into their amber eyes. Their white tails had been looped back on themselves and tied with a black band that almost reminded me of a giant pom pom. They both had sharp features, from the slender muzzle to the small, pointed ears. The only way I’d ever been able to tell them apart was by their cutie marks: Spin’s consisted of two ballerina slippers with intertwining ribbons while Soprano’s was a simple, dark red music note.
“Hey guys!” she called, not breaking a sweat. “We’re here!”
“Wow. That was record time, even for you, Pinkie.
“Well, I remembered seeing them in Sugar Cube Corner this morning, so I checked there first. They were still there, talking to Mr. and Mrs. Cake about starting live music at the bakery!”
“We came... fast as we... heard...” even the incredibly athletic Spin Solo was out of breath.
“Great! So you guys will help us with the concert?”
“You had me at concert,” Soprano grinned.
“Thank you,” Torch sighed with relief.
“You have no idea how much this means to us,” I agreed, biting my lip to keep from crying. I could not, however, refrain myself from catching them both in a big hug. Torch had already been moving to do the same.
“Aw, anything for you guys.”
“Group hug!” Pinkie announced, practically jumping on top of us to ensure she wasn’t left out.
“Ponies are so weird,” Pierce disdainfully shook his head.
“Ain’t that just like a boy? Can’t handle the least bit of sentiment!” Applejack rolled her eyes.
“You just went from yelling at us to crying in a mushy group hug.” He looked like the sight had put a foul taste in his mouth.
“Why does everyone keep implying that I have mood swings?” I barked. “I don’t have mood swings!”
“Whatever you say...” Spin tread lightly. Twilight just giggled.
“Focus, everyone. Let’s finish up.”
We covered a few other topics during the brainstorming session, and sorted out the minor details. Twilight assigned everypony a job: Trixie, Glitter, and Torchwood would all be lending their talents to create spectacular special effects, co-choreographed by Trixie and the twins but heavily influenced by input from Rarity and I. Rainbow was also assigned to the special effects team; she needed little convincing to throw in a sonic rainboom for the grand finale. She also offered to lend a hoof wherever it was needed in her spare time, so Twilight also put her down to help with advertising. I turned out fliers and other advertisements for a living, so I volunteered to whip up a couple invitations for Dash to pass around. That was a big job in itself, but I was also asked to help Rarity with the stage decorations. Rarity was primarily designing the costumes, so we split decoration duty pretty evenly. She was also going to try to pull a few strings for the celebrity appearance.
Twilight burdened herself with the responsibility of accounting on top of her role as coordinator. Pinkie knew that Vinyl would be unavailable, but volunteered to substitute. Of course Applejack and the dragons would handle the catering. Fluttershy and Rainbow would handle the curtains, but after a good deal of coaxing, we even convinced Fluttershy to sing! (By ‘we’ I mean Sweetie Belle, who volunteered to sing with her.) We instantly began organizing their own act, but since Fluttershy refused to get up on stage, promised to let her sing from behind the curtain. Torchwood suggested that we use the opportunity to work some magic with the light show.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders still wanted to help out, so Twilight assigned them to the advertising team. They were going to help set up the banners and posters, and also promised to spread the word at school. Of course Apple Bloom would be busy helping her sister, Sweetie Belle needed time to rehearse her song with Fluttershy, and Glitter had to practice her fire dancing, so we didn’t charge them with anything else. Scootaloo felt a bit left out, so Twilight asked her to operate the stage lights (since the special effects would be all the lighting required during the show, that just meant she’d turn them on and off for intermission).
We were about to close the session there when Mr. and Mrs. Cake rushed up. They’d overheard Pinkie when she came to fetch the twins, and wanted to offer their services as well. We already had a surplus of volunteers taking care of the food, but Twilight decided to do a bit of rearranging to make it work. Garble now had an excuse to switch over and work with me. I convinced Blaze to join us too, as I knew his artistic ability would be a big help. Garble had some experience, so he was also readily welcomed. When I asked if any of the other dragons could draw even a little, they looked like I’d insulted them. In the end Twilight randomly selected Soot and Fizzle to move to the art department, leaving Clump, Vex, Pierce and Spike to cook.
The event had been scheduled for Friday so that we’d have the weekend to work out a loan if the quota wasn’t reached. That only gave us only four days to throw a spectacular concert together, a seemingly impossible feat. But as always, our friends were there for us, and everypony worked harder than ever to make the fundraiser a success- even the dragons. Garble did more than his fair share of work, which must’ve rubbed off on the others, because they all turned out to be efficient, diligent workers. I was shocked at how well they were all cooperating. They’d even backed down on their harassment of Spike and Blaze, probably because they were now performing the same ‘domestic’ duties as the hatchlings.
Applejack had similar success. The dragons were not only tolerating ponies but actually getting along and working well. We tried to offer to work out a sleeping arrangement so they could stay in Ponyville for the week, but they were completely opposed to that. A big part of it was that they were already embarrassed to have to ask for our help. They weren’t going to make things worse by asking for a place to sleep. But it was probably for the better- I soon learned that none of them had told their parents, whether out of fear of punishment or just embarrassment. I’d almost talked Garble into staying with us, as he had no dragon parents waiting for him back at the craters, but this time he decided to stick with his friends. Even so, they were always back early, ready to get started.
Speaking of which, my assistants even seemed to be enjoying their work. Since Soot and Fizzle had little to no artistic experience, I was just going to have them trace our designs. But with each copy Soot turned out, I noticed more and more artistic expression. It got to the point where I barely recognized the original. But his new designs looked... good. So I didn’t say anything, and let him continue doing what he was doing. By the end of the day he wasn’t even tracing anymore.
“Alright, I have to admit, this isn’t as bad as I thought,” he finally voiced. I had to turn away to conceal my smile.
“Yeah, it’s alright,” Fizzle shrugged. “Ponies aren’t too bad, I guess.”
“Not that I’d wanna live with ‘em or anything...” Soot clarified.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds, actually” Blaze interjected, overhearing their conversation. “Especially not when you have a mom as amazing as Acrylic.” My heart fluttered in my chest when I heard him say that. I’d been trying to stay out of their conversation lest I embarrass one or both of them (again), so I kept my mouth shut. Garble, on the other claw, paused for a moment, wondering if he should correct his younger sibling.
“The pony isn’t your mother,” Fizzle interrupted.
“Close enough,” Blaze ignored him, moving his latest batch of fliers onto the collective stack. Now that his claws were free, he was able to get close enough to fondly grip my leg. I quietly giggled and hugged him right back. “Right, Acrylic?”
“Right, Blaze,” I beamed.
“Whatever you say,” Soot shrugged with just a hint of sarcasm. I couldn’t help but smile even when the conversation ended. They were coming around.