Organized chaos

by Soya

Sketch and grind

Having spent the day helping Sweetie with her homework, and taking a nap and bath, Rarity felt refreshed and ready to start a new project as she walked into Sugarcube corner nearing closing-time. "Hello Mr cake. Is Pinkie available?"

"She's been in her room since she finished her work early today. She's excited today, it seems."

Smiling knowingly Rarity walked up the stairs towards her friend's room. "Oh-ho, Pinkie dear?" she called, knocking twice.

Being pulled inside and pushed down a slide in a matter of seconds Rarity let out a distinctly lady-like squeek.

"Welcome to my super-secret party-planning cave!" Pinkie exclaimed. She flipped through files in a drawer and pulled one out for Rarity.

"Measurements?" Flipping through the contents her eyes widened. Pinkie seemed to somehow have procured the measurements of every citizen in Ponyville. "Pinkie dear... Whatever do you have these for?"

"If I'm making a cake-version of a pony for their birthday of course!"

To save her time and sanity she didn't bother asking how Pinkie had collected this info. "These will be a big help Pinkie Pie. On to the next topic for us to discuss; what color-scheme should we go for?"

"Ooh! Yellow and blue!"

The thought of combining such colors with the frills and skirts of a modern masquerade ball made her cringe. "A masquerade ball is a subtle and elegant event dear. I'm afraid the fun would overtake the style with those colors."

She did however file away this scheme for when she and the girls would arrange Pinkie's next birthday-party. The colors of the bright sky would suit her perfectly, and Rarity would add a subtle cloudy white to compliment.

"What about... black, brown, and dark shades of pink and purple?" she suggested.

"Are you sure we can't have blue?"

"Without yellow a navy blue could work." Black, brown and navy can look good with nearly any color, and certain shades of purple and pink would add vibrant yet subtle life to the party. Images of unevenly cut dresses in violet with black skirts and navy costumes with pink frills materialized in her mind.

"Yay!"

Pinkie would color the decorations and food either based on the pony of honor - which works well because thankfully whatever force of nature decides each pony's colors has good fashion sense - or a couple bright colors. Rarity had frantically informed her what colors do and don't match when Pinkie had combined mustard and seafoam.

"Now, the food must resemble hors d'oeuvre."

"Horse what now?"

"The small bits of food on plates that are circulated by waiters."

"Like at the gala?"

"Precisely."

"Do I cut the baked goods in half? Or get foals' baking equipment for teeny-tiny goods?"

"That's up to you dear. As long as they're bite-sized you can make whatever you want."

Pinkie gasped. "Carameled popcorn! Lemon drops! Chocolate-covered strawberries!"

"Those creative juices have started flowing I see."

"Apple-chips! Chocolate cake-cubes!"

"But who's going to serve the food? Perhaps we could ask one of the girls? It isn't work fit for a hostess after all. Or maybe Spikey-wikey? I could make him a handsome server's suit."

"Apple and cinnamon-cubes!"

Grinning at Pinkie's excitement Rarity interjected, "Darling, what kind of decorations do you have in mind?"

"Hmm." Pinkie tapped her chin. "Something tells me balloons and streamers are a no-go, so some confetti and cloth-banners?"

Tears of pride formed at the corners of Rarity's eyes. She caughed daintily behind a hoof and gave Pinkie a beaming smile. "I think that will be an appropriate amount of fun. I will supply the banners from my collection of fabrics."

Pinkie giggled as she bounced around the unicorn. "All that's left is games and music."

"Octavia and Lyra should be able to supply the music."

"Oh." Pinkie looked sideways with a frown, scratching the ground with a hoof.

"Something wrong, dear?"

"Could we ask Vinyl for help as well?"

"The, uh, dj?"

"Uh-uh. Classic music is no fun." Pinkie smiled sheepishly at Rarity's lifted eyebrows. "No offense."

Rarity smirked. "I suppose such music is too subtle to be enjoyed by lovely Ponyville for an entire evening. I shall ask for Vinyl's assistance as well then. As for games, what do our resident-partier suggest?"

"Apple-cobbling, spider-bullseye, and Big Mac's cart-carrage!"

"Cart-carrage? The one from Nightmare night?"

"The one and only! If we're going for a dark vibe, what's a better fit than stuff from the only celebration we have at night?"

"Good thinking Pinkie! To take inspiration from the time-period that modernized the ball, the Victrottian era of Trottingham was a time of mystery and intrigue inspired by the novels of Agirtha Christie and Sir Concant Doyle. Not to mention the henius crimes commited by Jack the skipper! To follow your line of thinking, the night could entail adventures of murder mysteries and high-society scandals!"

Rarity swooned dramatically, and hearing Pinkie approach by the clop of her hooves, let herself fall. Steady hooves wrapped around her waist. As Rarity opened her eyes and moved her hoof to rest on her forehead, her vision was filled with pink and a smile. "Sounds like fun!" Righting herself, Rarity bounced Pinkie's curls. To her pleasant surprise they were still shiny.

"If the little adventure on the train with the rival-bakers of the Cakes' is anything to go by, you have the imagination to pull an exciting mystery together. You can talk to Twilight about inspiration from those books if you need it; she has no doubt read them."

"Ooh, I can't wait to see the girls in their costumes!"

"I wouldn't be too hasty to reveal myself at the ball if I were you. Part of the fun at such events is the anonimity caused ny the masks." Rarity's smile turned dreamy and her eyes distant. "To not be appraised by one's social standing or reputation, but presentation and charm; it is surely the perfect oppurtunity to find the love of one's life!"

"I hope you'll find it there!"

"Me too, dear. Now, do you remember all your duties?"

"Chopped up confetti, horse devour, and murder!" Pinkie's usual smile took on a sinister vibe because of the words coming out of her mouth.

"And mine are clothes, music and the cloth-banners." Walking over to the cabinets she floated the measurements of every citizen in town behind her. "Then I'll take these and get to work."

"Wait!" Rarity turned to hear her out. "What about invitations?"

"I trust you to have that sorted out by the time we're done setting everything up?"

"Yes m'am!" Saluting her, Pinkie walked over, grabbed Rarity by the shoulders and with a 'yippieee!' took them down the slide but in reverse.

Emitting a strange noise of surprise Rarity reoriented herself before getting off her haunches and walking out the door.

"See you in a week?" Pinkie called down the hallway.

"Yes, see you then darling," Rarity distantly called back. She still hadn't quite figured out what she had gotten herself into.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

Pushing the rack of clothes on wheels with her magic Rarity trotted towards Town hall. A month had passed since she and Pinkie had decided to plan a party together. The invitations Pinkie had started making marked the day another month from now to be the day the party is to be held. Today was the milestone of checking on how the progress on all parts of the whole was coming along.

To manage hundreds of costumes as well as her usual orders within the deadline she had made some of them variations of each other. When agreeing to the project with Pinkie Pie she had been so caught up in the excitement and fresh ideas that the sheer amount of work it would entail hadn't even crossed her mind. Rarity was loathe to admit it but her creative juices and enthusiasm were running dry.

Entering the hall she detected the musicians on the stage and Pinkie to the side with her head in one of two boxes. "Who-hoo!" Rarity called in greeting. "Here comes the fashion!"

At her call Pinkie bounced over, and around the unicorn and her work. "Wow, these look fa-bu-lous!" Pinkie sing-songed.

"Thank you dear." She pulled out a couple rolls of lilac and tan fabric in her magic. "Here is the cloth so we can try the decorations."

Grabbing the other box Pinkie manouvered it onto her back. As Rarity looked inside to find hot pink and sapphire confetti she hesitated on what to say next. If the ground and tables were covered in the confetti and the cloth banners hung from the roof there would be two distinct layers of decoration that would clash. She should have known that she'd shoose subtler shades while Pinkie would pick the brightest, most extravagant colors she had available.

"Here; let me put it up!" Grabbing the rolls of cloth in her tail Pinkie pulled out the party cannon, loaded it with confetti and sped around the hall shooting confetti and unceremoniously throwing the cloth banners to hang from the roof's beams.

Rarity adjusted the cloth to resemble actual banners when Pinkie returned with an excited smile. "It looks great!"

Rarity laughed lightly. "To the untrained eye perhaps."

"What do you mean?"

"Pinkie darling, the sapphire and hot pink stand in stark contrast to the lilac and tan."

"Sapphire? Navy is dark blue isn't it? Then what is sapphire?"

"A darker shade of blue than navy."

"So navy's light blue?"

"No, they're both dark shades of blue, yet different degrees of dark."

"Oooh." Pinkie sighed in relief. "I thought I had picked the wrong color for a second. I gotta serve you the treats for sampling! Gimme a minute!" Pinkie ran off and returned her head to the first box.

Rarity bit back an undignified shout for Pinkie to return this instant and sighed while glancing once more at the clashing decour. She turned and approach the hall's stage to take her mind off of it. "How are things coming along?" she asked the musicians hopefully.

"Oh, it's going great," said Vinyl with a flat tone. Lyra scowled at Vinyl who blew a rasberry at Octavia; the Earth pony rolled her eyes in response.

"Do you three have any finished scores to play for me?"

"You want to call them 'tracks' to not agitate the pretend drummer." Lyra rolled her eyes as Octavia shot a smirk in Vinyl's direction. The unicorn responded by arching her neck backwards, pursing her mouth, snapping her tail and walking with high steps towards her table. Octavia blushed and looked away, the scowl giving her a flustered edge.

They sat down by their instruments and after a couple false starts played a piece. Rarity forced her smile to stay in place. The lack of harmony between the musicians was both figurative and literal. Once finished she caughed and clopped her hooves politely.

"Any other... pieces?"

"No."

Rarity hadn't expected that. At this pace they would be repeating two tracks for an entire evening.

"Hrm-hm, care for a bite missy?"

Turning around she saw Pinkie wearing her tuxedo and a moustache, carrying a plate of treats, nose stoically turned up. Levitating a piece of each of the six treats Pinkie had decided to feed the guests Rarity tried one after another, each being more delicous than the last.

"My, my! Pinkie Pie, you have simply outdone yourself!" She was especially pleased with the chocolate-covered strawberry.

"Thanks!" She carried on to the grumpy musicians to offer them treats as a reward for the hard work of putting up with each other.

Watching the four share the food surrounded by the confetti and banners, small smiles slowly appearing on the musicians' faces as a uniformed and energetic Pinkie forced their attention away from each other, Rarity scratched her chin with a backhoof, eyes squinting. A gasp escaped her at the gorgeous dresses materializing in her mind's eye and she galloped over.

"Pinkie?" she asked with barely contained excitement. "I'm afraid I will cut this occasion short; I must go to the boutique and make your dresses at once! Will you clean up here or shall I return later tonight?"

Pinkie waved a hoof. "I'm done making the treats so I'll clean up. You go make those dresses!"

Galloping out Rarity realized Pinkie must have worked just as hard as she if she had finished baking the goods by today, even with the energy the baker had. If Pinkie was as dedicated as all that Rarity told herself she would be no less.