“One... two... three!” With a final heave, the Cutie Mark Crusaders managed to get Tom exactly where they wanted him, bringing the most strenuous afternoon in any of the fillies’ memories to its long-awaited conclusion. The task of transporting the boulder to Sweet Apple Acres had strained their emotions multiple times (and in Sweetie Belle’s case, one of her shoulders as well), but the colossal task of installing their substitute anvil was now complete—though that, in turn, had necessitated a hasty redesign in order to accommodate Tom’s bulk.
“Good thing we had some extra rope from makin’ our net,” Apple Bloom said as she finished knotting several lines around the great stone. “The human trap is really startin’ to come together. I think all we need now is that disco ball, right?”
“Pretty much,” Sweetie Belle replied as she slowly massaged her shoulder, “though it’ll have to be a strong one now that we’re using Tom. I mean, aren’t they usually hollow?”
“I’m pretty sure Pinkie Pie has a reinforced mirror ball,” Scootaloo said.
“How on earth do you know that?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I don’t,” Scootaloo admitted. “I’m just assuming she has one because she’s Pinkie Pie, and that’s the sort of thing Pinkie Pie would have.”
“Is it really a good idea to leave Tom out in the open like this, though?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Well, it ain’t like we’ll have time to get him in place once the humans start comin’ outta the woodwork, so we don’t have much choice,” Apple Bloom replied.
Scootaloo nodded. “That’s right. Besides, this part of the orchard is out of the way, and considering that we managed to get Tom here without being seen, I’m guessing that the rest of Apple Bloom’s family is too busy with the fog to do their regular chores.”
“Okay,” Sweetie Belle replied as she uncertainly eyed Tom, “but can we at least throw a sheet or something on him so he blends in better?”
“How is a boulder dressed up like a ghost going to blend in?” Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No, I meant a sheet with something printed on it; you know, so Tom could look like a pile of apples.”
“Why in tarnation would we leave a pile of apples lyin’ on the ground?” Apple Bloom asked. “That’d make ’em even more suspicious than a big ol’ rock-colored rock.”
“I guess you have a point,” Sweetie Belle said as she conceded defeat with a sigh. “Still, I wonder what the grownups are doing that let us get Tom here without being seen.”
“Boring grownup stuff, probably,” Scootaloo replied. “Now, come on. We still need to find Pinkie and get that disco ball.”
September 1 – 5:03 PM
Fluttershy slowly exhaled as Mayor Mare started to wrap up her opening remarks. She couldn’t quite shake off all of her nervousness; as physically relaxing as her session at the spa had been, she had still come away from the experience with the distinct impression that her neighbors thought her job was to save Ponyville from the fog, rather than doing what was best for Equestria. If the initial reactions of her closest friends were any indication, this town hall meeting was likely to become quite confrontational.
She briefly glanced over at Twilight Sparkle, who nodded back reassuringly, as did the rest of her friends, who had all gathered on the stage with her to provide support. Twilight had actually offered to present the plan to the townsponies in her place, but Fluttershy had turned this offer down. This was her idea, after all, and if she couldn’t explain it herself, how could she expect to overcome any lingering skepticism?
Fluttershy was still lost in her thoughts when a chorus of hooves stamping on the wooden floor informed her that it was time for her to explain everything. She slowly walked up to the podium, took a deep breath, perked her ears up, and began: “Hello, everypony. As Mayor Mare just said, the Department of Weather has placed me in charge of managing this fog, and I’m pleased to tell you that there is now a plan in place to deal with this threat to the safety of Equestria.”
So far, so good, but Fluttershy was about to get to the controversial part of her announcement. “At some point tomorrow afternoon, that fog will come over the mountains, heading straight through Ponyville towards the Everfree Forest.”
“And how are you going to stop it?” called out an unrecognizable voice from somewhere in the back.
“I’m not going to stop it,” Fluttershy explained.
“You mean that all of us have to work together to stop it?” another anonymous voice from the crowd called out.
“No, I mean that nopony is going to stop it.”
“But you just said you had a plan!” called a third voice, which sounded rather angry.
“I do. This is the plan.” The murmured grumbles from the crowd grew louder.
“You’re joking!” shouted a cream-colored mare who Fluttershy recognized as a local carrot farmer. “There has to be more to this plan than sitting back and letting the fog just go out of control.”
“You bet there is!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “I’m also throwing a party!”
If this outburst was meant to ease the worries of the audience, the increasing volume of the varied mutterings suggested that it hadn’t succeeded. Fluttershy took a deep breath and tried to make her voice sound as firm as possible. “The fog will be going through Ponyville because that’s exactly what we need it to do. If we left it alone, it would solidify right in the middle of Equestria, where it could hurt weather and crops throughout the whole region. I don’t think anypony wants that.” Apparently, bringing up the possibility of failed crops was enough to get the room to quiet down a bit, if only because nopony had thought up a quick rebuttal.
“Right,” Pinkie Pie agreed in an equally firm tone. “But what anypony would want is a party.”
Before the crowd could latch onto her friend’s single-minded focus and renew their grumbling, Fluttershy moved forward. “I believe that blowing the fog into the Everfree Forest will make it act like normal cloud again, but we’re running out of time to do something about it. I know it sounds risky, but pushing the fog through Ponyville might be our only chance to avoid worse problems further down the road. The weather team is getting ready to move the fog as we speak, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done, and we’ll all need to work together to do this safely.”
“And speaking of safes, there’s going to be a party in a place that looks just like one!”
Fluttershy sighed and turned to her friend. “Yes, Pinkie, I’m getting there,” she said quietly as she raised one of her forehooves in a subtle halting motion. She then turned back to the crowd and continued. “Any pegasi who have cloud houses will need to raise them above the fog. Those pegasi who don’t have a cloud house are encouraged to help out those who do.”
“We have a bounce house,” Pinkie interjected. “Sorry,” she quickly added after she noticed the mildly irritated look on all of her friends’ faces. She began chewing her lower lip as Fluttershy continued.
“Because it’s so dangerous, pegasi who are not directly involved should remain indoors unless it’s absolutely necessary. Earth ponies and unicorns who are interested in helping their neighbors, whether by running errands or simply looking out for any pegasus who gets caught outside, can speak with Applejack, who will be coordinating a safety patrol.”
Pinkie Pie emitted an unintelligible, high-pitched squeak as she attempted to keep herself from interrupting again, though the sight of her rapidly bouncing in place on the stage ended up being nearly as distracting as her interjections.
“Finally,” Fluttershy said, “because the fog poses a threat to all of Ponyville’s foals, Pinkie Pie will be throwing a special party to keep them entertained until the danger has passed. Pinkie, would you like to tell us more?”
“Yesyesyesyesyes!” Pinkie shouted as she zipped up to the podium, nearly bowling Fluttershy over in her haste to allow the flood of information spill over the crowd. “This party is going to be totally awesome!”
As Pinkie Pie launched into her sales pitch for the party in Bon-Bon’s bunker, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. None of the ponies in the room looked as hostile as they had when she’d first explained the plan, even if a few uncertain expressions remained. It really looked like this plan might actually go off without a hitch.
September 1 – 6:21 PM
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Pencil Pusher had always known that there would be consequences to all the extra flying he’d been doing in the last two days, but thus far, his response had been to ignore those pesky thoughts and focus on impressing Fluttershy with his work ethic. That however, was no longer an option, as a sharp stab of pain in his right wing had grounded him on the outskirts of Canterlot, forcing him to make the final leg of his journey on foot.
This is not good, Pencil Pusher thought to himself as he walked through the capital city’s crowded streets, searching for the Interior Department’s office. Aside from the fact that his wing hadn’t felt this bad since he was a colt in flight camp, the time he lost walking was going to make reaching the office before it closed a rather dicey matter. Still, he had to try, not just for Fluttershy’s sake, but also to spite his jerk of a boss. Sure, technically, Greg had actually been doing his job when he pointed out that Fluttershy didn’t have the authority to send the fog into the Everfree Forest, but Greg’s workplace obligations normally had very little to do with his workplace activities.
At the moment, though, Pencil didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on soul-sucking office politics. He had to get to the Department of Interior and get this administrative roadblock taken care of, if only because he had no idea what to do if he failed, and he was worried that he’d get hit by an irony attack and find the place mere minutes after it had closed.
He stopped briefly at a street corner to try and get his bearings. It was so much easier to navigate a city when you had the option of viewing it from the top down. But now, trying to find where he was on the cheap tourist map he’d snagged on the way into the city seemed almost impossible, let alone the location of an obscure government building, and he hadn’t thought to bring along the bits necessary to pay the fare for a taxi. Getting from Point A to Point B had never seemed like such an insurmountable challenge.
He was almost ready to give up, when suddenly fortune smiled on him. “Excuse me, sir, are you lost?”
Pencil Pusher looked up from his awkwardly-folded map and saw a well-dressed white unicorn stallion with a blue mane and a pencil mustache smiling at him. Pencil was briefly distracted by the stallion’s choice of eyewear (he’d never seen anypony actually wearing a monocle before), but he soon regained his senses. “Uh, yes, actually. I’m trying to find the offices of the Department of Interior. It’s, um, sort of important.”
The upper-class pony chuckled briefly before answering, “I can see why you’re having trouble. That’s hardly the usual tourist destination.”
“Well, I’m not really a tourist...”
“Doubtless. In any case, you don’t seem to have much time for small talk, so I’ll just give you some directions. Simply head south for three blocks, then make a right on Star Swirl Avenue. Keep going for two more blocks, and you’ll find the Department of Interior in a three-story marble building on your left.”
“Thanks, mister,” Pencil Pusher said as he took off in a gallop.
“Don’t mention it,” the unicorn called back with a kindly smile.
Pencil Pusher’s legs generally received even less exercise than his wings, but right now he had enough adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream to ignore such a minor detail. He narrowly missed collisions with several pedestrians in his haste, but he didn’t care. Once he got to the Interior Department, he’d be able to put this mess behind him and his self-serving boss wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. As he turned the corner onto Star Swirl Avenue, his eyes lit up. He could see the office building. Pencil Pusher increased his pace as much as he could, galloping faster than he could ever remember doing before.
Finally he was there. Elated, he rushed up the steps to the door. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so euphoric. Pencil Pusher pulled on the door... and it didn’t open. Stunned, he tried pushing, but this didn’t work either. It was only then that he read the signage on the door, and his heart crashed into the ground.
Office, Department of Interior
Hours: 9 AM – 5 PM
I'm really wondering at this point who or what is going to get Tom to the face. Seems like it's gotta happen eventually.
Hopefully to Greg.
Well, I dunno about going off without a hitch, but at least the plan was explained without too many.
An hour and twenty minutes past closing time? That's a tad more than 'mere minutes'.
Well, shit.
Don't give up Pencil! Don't give in!
Shit.
I think it's about time some asked what the Discord Celestia's been up to. with a catastrophe this big, she'd better not be off somewhere eating cake. I'm all for the idea of letting people (or ponies) solve problems themselves, but when lives are at stake, it's time to get off your sun butt and do something constructive. Even if it's just a statement of, "I fully support the efforts of the Element of Kindness in this time of crisis."
4069077 well there might be a hitch in the works, I am sure that pinkie is already planning fluttershy's and pencil pusher's reception
FLuttershy is so awesome in this fic. She's uplifted by the love and support from all those around her.
And then explosions happened.
Well I am definitely looking forward to whatever the resolution with Tom is going to be.
Also Fancy Pants. Yes. note my user name.
Oh well, they weren't open. As they say in government work, "Close Enough."
I hope Greg gets set on fire. Or worse, do actual work.
That's inaccurate! Those hours are far too reasonable to belong to the government.
Still there has to be an emergency contact so hope is not yet lost.
4069917 Yeah, it should probably be more like 10am-3:30pm. The extra :30 is just to throw people completely off. Poor PenPu... hope he manages to get through to SOMEPONY who can provide clearance. Somepony, say, like the ruler of the nation? That would certainly be authority enough! I'm also getting increasingly concerned about what the CMC are up to... Hopefully they get rounded up for the party before they have a chance to full set up / enact whatever shenanigans they're up to? I fear for the safety of their hamster-power otherwise...
Ooh, going right to the top is a better plan than what I had thought of: break into the building and track down whoever works there and make them do it off-hours.
Government buildings. You can always, always count on them being closed before everything but the banks.
In before the Rube Goldberg style alleged Greg-Crushing-Machine turns out to do something completely different.
As this is a clear and present threat to citizens of Equestria, PP would reasonably be expected to seek emergency approval from the Princesses.
Being over tired and in pain just makes it MORE likely he'll throw his hooves in the air and cut through the red tape via princess fiat.
The way things are going I'm worried the fog will stop and solidify right on top of Ponyville itself!
Time to have Fluttershy call up Discord and turn that crud into delicious cotton candy.
4069917
Too reasonable for american government maybe. But this is government under Princess Celestia. Everyone remembers what happened the last time someone disagreed with her practices, right?
TO THE MOON!
Good
4070624 - This story is between seasons 2 and 3. Discord's still an unreformed statue at the moment.
SO CLOSE!
poor Pencil.
Never give up! We all know you'll find a way around this, probably while making yourself look good too
...
"Flash Fire!"
That's been bugging me for MONTHS. This story is structured just like "Flash Fire" by Caroline B. Cooney...
How the hell did I not notice that until now!?
4070790
They're doomed!
4070928
Well, that explains the name of the story, too!
4070928 - I've never heard of "Flash Fire" or Caroline B. Cooney. It's titled Flash Fog because I initially wanted to evoke the idea of a flash flood.
4069917
When in doubt always assume they close at 2.
4069558
Oh yes indeed!!
She is still Fluttershy, just a more empowered Fluttershy.
I do get tired of her being too timid.
Dammit, Shy. Why couldn't you be as genre savvy as Scootaloo?
Fancy Pants is, as always, a great guy.
And poor Pencil... Well, they say it's better to ask forgiveness than beg permission, though that probably doesn't apply to bureaucratic processes. And because it's a bureaucratic process, "It saved Equestria" definitely isn't going to cut it as an excuse. Unless more of Greg's karma gets paid off.
Eagerly looking forward to more.
I'm going to bet that he's going to run into Fancy Pants later, who, going by those precise directions, also happens to be one of those ponies high enough in the Department of Interior to not only help him out, but perhaps even have a key.
I'm wondering... who's actually gonna stop Flutters from pushing the fog into the Everfree if P. Pusher doesn't get permission?
Office hours? Considering the scope of the catastrophe they're facing, I don't really think office hours apply. Or do bureaucrats in Equestria believe that 'it was outside of office hours' will save them when they're trying to explain why their department is now in a blame game for a national disaster?
The department isn't closed for lunch break?
I call shenanigans!
There's only one thing left to do! "TO THE THRONE ROOM!" I'm sure the words "MAJOR DISASTER!" will get him in...
4069106 My thoughts exactly.
Fancypants is best would-be deus ex machina. Also, I find the term 'irony attack' to be surprisingly brilliant.
4072298 - Fluttershy, of course. You really think she wants to start feeling guilty about not playing by the rules again?
4072298
Greg. Greg will stop her.
He'll put on a necktie made entirely out of red tape, sit at the edge of Everfree, and singlehoofedly hold the fog back. WITH HIS HOOVES!
3937674
It's been four weeks since you replied to my comment and once again I find this story in the feature box...
Pencil Pusher: See it positiv: You were more than 1 hour too late. That means that it doens’t matter that you got lost or tired.
Now think of a clever idea to fix it! For Fluttershy, for your date!
4072276 But wouldn't have Fancy Pants known the hours and saved PP the extra trip?
Given that Fluttershy and the other Element Bearers are all firmly behind this plan, it shouldn't be too hard to ask for retroactive permission from Celestia directly (or forgiveness if it flattens the town). Of course, Pencil Pusher doesn't know this...
4072236
There's still hope! She didn't say it out loud... she might get off with just a few(more) injuries with the plan still succeeding...
4071490
Check out this post: 4071654
_____
Dang it, Greg. You knew when the Department of the Interior was going to close, didn't you?
Nothing to do but to shoot for the top. Onward, to the castle!
4087123 - At this point, I'm honestly not certain whether Greg knew about that or not. He doesn't really strike me as the type of pony who can quickly recall rarely-used facts to mind.
Conniption fit in three...two...one...
Seriously though, I say they just go ahead with the plan and hope the Department of the Interior doesn't notice.
Pencil sure isn't the luckyest of ponies. In any shape or form (so far).
CURSE YOU SINGLE-SHIFT GOVERNMENT BEAURACRACY!!!! *shakes fists at the heavens*
Oh well, time to pull in a favor from Twilight and go over their heads.
4094921 Once I rule the world, government offices will be open at convenient times!
11 PM to 7 am!