The Synthesizers

by Wiz Ahmad

Pursuit of Play and A Deal

“Got it all,” Gallus announced, stepping into the kitchen, with Yona and Sandbar in tow. He laid down a basket of pears, and assisted Yona with her two large bushels of apples. Sandbar plopped his bag of cherries on the large table and they all gathered around to begin baking.

“Howdy y’all! Wait, where’s the other three?” Applejack inquired upon entering in a chef’s hat and a cloth around her neck.

“Oh, they’re still in town,” Gallus said casually. “Still having fun.”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Seems like they’re doing more than they’ve told. I’ll be right back.”

“Where you headed?” Sandbar asked quickly.

“To tell Twilight and Starlight.”

---

Meanwhile, Smolder and Silverstream had returned to the marketplace to look for the vendor whose oranges were ruined. It didn’t take long for them to find him – still at his stall, the wooden crate half-empty and his tip jar a quarter-full. There were still a few small bowlfuls of oranges left to sell, but no pony wanted to buy – it was past the peak time of the buying rush hour.

“Keep yourself out of sight,” Smolder instructed her friend. “It’s best we handle this from an indirect approach through me.”

Smolder approached the stall and gazed eagerly at the bowls, giving the impression of an impressed customer. “I see you’ve got a few nice oranges.”

“Well hello there, dragon,” the vendor replied. “Yeah, sucks that no one’s buying them. The customer flow’s been oddly infrequent today. I could’ve sold more if some blue-furred rascal hadn’t ruined all my prized fruit.”

“Some of it,” Smolder corrected. “Look, I’m not here to buy, because I don’t have any bits with me. I’m here to make a mutual agreement. Since obviously no pony’s gonna be buying these spoiled oranges, I kindly ask if I can have them. I can find a good use for them elsewhere. In return, my friend and I will earn some bits and you’ll have half of our earnings to make up for the value of the damaged fruit. How’s that sound?”

The vendor stepped back and thought about it for some time. Finally, he pulled out a roll of paper and a quill pen. “It sounds… alright. Keep your promises, and I’ll keep mine. Here’s our confirmation and agreement letter.”

Smolder took the paper and read over it. It wasn’t too hard to understand or read, and she soon got the gist of it – she’d take the ruined oranges, he’d receive monetary compensation for them, and be able to sell more oranges. The one part that felt uneasy was the fact that Smolder had just four weeks to return the monetary amount – which felt tight. But she had to practice what she upheld by and was pursuing learning – friendship and good moral conduct.

“Thanks,” she replied, creating a signature on the spot and returning it to him. “I’ll pick up the crate of oranges later this afternoon. Will you be here still then?”

“Yes, I’ll be around until close to sunset, really.”

“Alright, sounds good. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

Smolder headed off, gesturing to her friend to follow. Silverstream crept out from behind a tree and followed, passing the orange vendor like he wasn’t even there. Not a single bit of eye contact was made.

Piece of cake, Smolder thought naughtily, dropping her board and pushing. Silverstream pushed on her pedals and cycled after her, as they rode off into town to find more spots.

Taking the back roads, they jumped and spun, laughing with glee and joy at the adrenaline, bliss, and freedom that wheels gave them. Soon, they approached a red-roofed building – with a stair set. It was only three stairs, but Smolder knew there was more to it.

“How about a backside turn? I think I can do it.”

“Go for it, Smolder!”

With no little fillies around – or anypony else for that matter – to distract her, Smolder could focus more on letting her internal willpower and mental focus push her to complete the trick. Quickly hopping up the steps, she reached the door, turned around, and pushed off. Reaching the edge of the stairs, she skidded to a stop and nearly fell over.

“Gotta get the speed right!” she called out to Silverstream. “I think I need a little more.”

Returning back to the schoolhouse doors, she set the board down and pushed off again. Just as the front wheels hit the edge of the stairs, she popped hard, soaring through the air and landing… on her back. She’d leaned a little too far forward.

“Again!” she declared, already walking back up the stairs. Pushing off again, she ollied into the air and soared over and down the stairs, landing crouched to absorb impact. The sound of the hard thud rang out in a unique tone that Silverstream picked up on – and would later be known Equestria-wide. Standing back up, she rolled away towards the main street, where Silverstream was watching.

“Nice one!” she exclaimed, and they shared a fist-bump. “Now for the hard one.”

“Yep.”

Smolder pushed off and ollied again, but this time she turned her body as she did so. The board just fell out from underneath her, and Smolder quickly bailed, using her wings to pull herself away from hitting the ground.

“Looks like this is gonna be a lot harder than I thought,” she admitted.

---

“What the…” Twilight exclaimed, as she approached the schoolhouse, hearing the sound of popping and a hard thud and rolling. Starlight, always a helpful friend and guidance counsellor, stood with a coy smirk by her side, unfazed. She knew how much Smolder had been practicing hard in the gymnasium to jump up with the board, so it didn’t come much of a shock to see her attempting to use what she learned to try and create something new out of it. But being a physical act of jumping at speed, it was brutal.

“I think that’s enough now,” Silverstream said sheepishly, as Smolder dusted herself off for the tenth time.

“Not yet,” Smolder confidently declared. “I’m very close. It’s just my timing’s off because I have to start spinning exactly as I start to leave the ground.”

“Alright, one last time… oh boy.” Silverstream’s words died on her lips as she noticed Twilight and Starlight approaching – and they did not look happy.

“You two okay?” Starlight asked worriedly.

“Why didn’t you…” Twilight began, only to have her jaw drop and her eyes bulge in shock.

Smolder approached the stairs, popped and jumped, spinning around half-way as she did so… and landing, feet placed properly atop the bolts as they should be. Keeping her balance by crouching as usual, she slowly rose back up and rolled up to Silverstream.

“Not go back to school?” Smolder finished, turning to face Twilight and Starlight. “I wanted to try and find a few more spots, and the stairs of the Ponyville Schoolhouse seemed like the best place at the time.”

“Well, you didn’t inform your friends of how long you’d be,” Starlight pointed out. “Now they’re concerned.”

“I…also have something I need to get,” Smolder said slowly and awkwardly. “It’s for Fluttershy. I’ll be back at the school in a few minutes.”

In a flash, she flew off to the marketplace, and landed right in front of the orange vendor she’d talked to just an hour before.

“Uh… came to get the bruised and crushed oranges,” she stated.

“Sure, take ‘em.”

“Thanks again.”

Smolder reached over and lifted up the crate. It was only half as big as the school desks and just a third full, but it was still heavy. She had to walk rather precariously all the way to the school, balancing it in front of her, with her skateboard placed on top. It took a good twenty minutes to walk all the way back to the school.

“What’s in there?” Starlight asked, greeting the little dragon as she entered through the school doors.

“Hah, uh, phew…” Smolder panted, feeling worn out. “Oranges. But they’re not…edible. For a reason. I-I’ll explain later in the kitchen.”

---

Starlight took the crate and set it down beside a large counter. “So, what happened, exactly?”

Smolder bit her lip and let out a long sigh. “As we set out to have fun, Silverstream ran into some trouble. She hopped onto this crate to try a trick, thinking it was solid. And it was… but not enough. So the lid broke, wood snapped, she fell, and ruined some of the oranges inside. The vendor was shocked and burning with rage – naturally so, given that that’s his prized crop and all.”

“Did he yell at Silverstream?” Starlight asked worriedly.

Smolder nodded. “Yep. Told her to ‘get lost’ even when she tried to help him. Took us all some time to console her and make her feel better. But I decided to take it a step further. I made a written deal with the vendor that if I could have the damaged fruit for free, I’d pay him back the monetary equivalent of fresh, undamaged fruit. I got four weeks to get this done and truthfully uphold my side of the deal. I was thinking about converting them into compost or grating off all the rind.”

Starlight just smiled, completely moved by the kind, loving, supportive, and brave acts of her students. “You didn’t have to conduct such a risky operation, you know. You could’ve just asked Twilight or me to come down and talk with him. We could’ve paid it back.”

“It’s better for me to show support for my friend,” Smolder stated firmly. “And I wish to uphold my honesty and kindness to both the orange vendor and my friend.”

“Then it’s my duty to assist you in fulfilling your promise,” Starlight replied, affectionately rubbing the little dragon’s head. “Why don’t you go have some lunch with your friends – that small shared burger definitely isn’t enough. Let me inquire with Fluttershy about garden compost and we’ll discuss about the best course of action to take with the oranges.”

Smolder smiled. It seemed like a good idea to take a break. But she’d be back for more.

Author's Note:

Here's what a backside turn (or backside 180 as it's actually called) looks like:

As these kids progress, they're going to start discovering unexpected fame... stay tuned!