Equestria Girls: It's Showtime--Wallace and Gromit in Diamonds Are Not Best Friends

by PlymouthFury58

II: The Balloon Festival

Around midday, Wallace whirred his All-Purpose Road Machine to a halt. He hopped out of the cab and went to join Gromit, who had prepared a table of tea and biscuits. The road job was just about finished, but the pair were still feeling downtrodden.

“It’s just not cricket, Gromit,” Wallace frowned, stirring his teacup. “The Animal Shelter seems to be a nice hotspot for all of the city’s animal lovers. How could it have possibly run out of funding?”

Gromit meekly shrugged his shoulders, taking a bite from his biscuit.

“I suppose taking care of a house-pet isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, lad.” Wallace took a sip from his cup, not feeling the splendid taste of his favorite tea flavor. “There must be something we can do to help, Gromit.”

At that moment, a slight gust of wind blew a crumpled up paper ball into Gromit’s foot. Curious, he picked up the ball and carefully unraveled it to reveal an advertising flier for a hot-air balloon show.

“What is it that you got there, lad?” Wallace asked.

Gromit presented the flier to Wallace. He read it aloud. “‘Hot-Air Balloon Festival Comes to Canterlot City this Saturday. Any and All Participants Welcome. Fundraisers Accepted. Price of Admission Amounts to $55 per balloon entry.’

“Gromit…this is just,” Wallace’s face brightened up like a hot-air balloon, “fantastic!”

Gromit looked up from his slouched position.

“Don’tcha see, lad? This balloon festival is the perfect opportunity to raise fundings for the Shelter! Tons of people will be there to watch the balloons, which means that there will be plenty of potential donations! It’s positively spiffing news!”

Gromit held his speculations, in contrast to Wallace’s unconditional optimism.

“Oh, don’t worry, Gromit. I’m sure we could build our very own hot-air balloon in time for the festival, and you needn’t worry about the price of admission. We’ve got plenty of spare cash lying around somewhere.”

Just then, Vice-Principal Luna appeared to them, holding out an envelope. “Well done, Wallace. I see you’ve done a splendid job with the roadwork.”

“Oh, it was no trouble at all really.”

“Indeed. Anyway, your check amounts to $70 plus a little extra $5 for compensation. Have a good day!”

“Righto!” He held the envelope in his hand, beaming proudly. “We’re in business, lad. Just wait till we give Fluttershy the good news.”

---

The penguin smoothly waddled down the sidewalk, calmly observing and watching for any passersby that blocked his path, not letting anything or anyone cross or stop him in his tracks.

He was here to make tracks, and by heck he was on a mission to do so.

Soon enough, he made his way to the front door of the Canterlot City Animal Shelter, and really the outside architecture provided a falsehood for whatever scrounging mess all those mangy animals kicked up in their spare time.

He opened the door, letting himself in regardless of any other present employees. The place was as he expected: a hotbed of various household animals either sitting in kennels, or playing around in the various enclosures. Weirdly enough, there was a table in the middle of a room displaying a bunny, a purple and green dog, and a sheep wearing a woolen jumper playing a game of cards.

They weren’t like zoo animals. In other words; contained a sense of loyalty to humans. Just disgusting. That was what he felt about assistance: why should he ask or accept help if he was already skilled at what he did? Assistants and minions always slowed things down, he spoke from experience.

Just then, he heard the front door being opened. He ducked out of sight, but just in the correct position to observe whoever it was that entered into the building. He was stunned outright by the result.

She was a human girl, high school age, with mellow yellow skin, flowing pink hair, dressed homely in a cyan skirt with a magenta tie outlining her waist, and that should’ve been it…

But those eyes.

Those. Eyes.

From her position, in a beautiful teal-color, they glittered in the sunlight as if they were gemstones. She seemed stressed out, but that made them only shine brighter through the tears.

Beautiful. Luscious.

Diamonds.

This girl, a shy and timid looking teenager, had diamonds in her eyes.

Truly, a girl of her beauty deserved such luscious treasures. Of being a treasure.

And that treasure, the one who was standing right before his very eyes, beckoned him to jump out and snatch it right up.

Suddenly, the doors opened again, sending him into a jump back into hiding. He peered out to watch the diamond-eyed girl, observing with mental notes, seeing her turn around and smile at the visitor.

The visitor was another girl, about the same age, this time with snow-white skin, pampered and curled violet hair, wearing a simple yet elegant cream blouse and light-violet skirt, and…

Holy diamonds.

Her eyes shone like diamonds just like the other girl, but not as brightly, but that wasn’t what he concerned himself with. There was a beautiful jeweled necklace around the second girl’s small neck. It was small to medium size, surrounded by a silver outline, and the centerpiece was a diamond. An honest to God diamond, being worn by a high school girl. He looked again. All of the jewelry she was wearing were splattered with diamonds, and yet she spoke with a voice that sounded upper-class and not at the same time.

Whether that was the case or not. What was the case was that the two girls standing before him, from where he looked up from his position, were like living and breathing beautiful and luscious diamonds.

The diamond gods were smiling down on the little penguin, if they were willing to present him with such wonderful treasures. He made it a rule to never sell anything if it contained diamonds, of course these treasures would be much harder to contain, but it would be worth it in the end…

If only to see those eyes shine, and to have those…

Diamonds.

Diamonds were truly a penguin’s best friend.

The front doors opened again, this time to reveal Wallace and Gromit, with the former wearing his perpetual trademark neighborly smile.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” he greeted.

“Good afternoon, Wallace, Gromit,” Rarity replied.

Wallace soon became distracted by the shine on her collarbone. “Ohhh, just look at this.”

“You like it?”

“Why it’s positively smashing, Rarity. Never before have I ever seen such a splendid and wonderful looking gem.”

“It’s a diamond infused into a silver necklace. It was a gift from my grandfather, who was a renowned diamond collector. During his twilight years, he put up all of his collection for auction, but he kept this one, and he gave it to me.”

“He must have really loved you.”

“Yes,” she said, reminiscing while caressing the gem. “He certainly did.”

“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Anyway,” Wallace shook his head clear, “Gromit and I have just come over to give Fluttershy the good news.”

“O-oh really?” Fluttershy stammered. “W-what good news?”

“You’re going to like this one, lass. We’ve just entered a fundraiser for the Balloon Festival tomorrow to raise money for the Animal Shelter.”

Fluttershy froze for a moment at the revelation, then gave the inventor a shy but loving smile, then she leapt into a soft hug around him. “That’s wonderful, Wallace. Thank you both so much.”

“It was no trouble, lass. Just trying to help out a good friend.”

“Hold on, how did you know about the Shelter?” Rarity asked.

“I must confess that we did, um, overhear your conversation this morning. It was actually Gromit’s idea.”

Fluttershy then knelt down and gave Gromit another kind and loving hug. “Thank you too, Gromit.”

“Say, uh, how’s Shaun doing?”

“Oh, uh,” she stammered, getting up. “H-He’s doing alright, I think.”

Wallace then looked to see the aforementioned sheep sitting at a table playing cards with Spike and Angel Bunny, right as Shaun took a card from the deck to munch.

“Well, he seems alright to my eyes. It’s nice to see that he’s made some friends on his own,” Wallace commented, earning a facepalm from Angel.

“Well, it was nice to stop by, but right now Gromit and I have to get busy. The Festival’s tomorrow and we’ve got a fundraiser to put up and a hot-air balloon to build.”

“Are you sure you can accomplish all that by tomorrow?” Rarity asked.

“If we could build a rocket to the moon in one week in time for the Bank Holiday, then building a homemade hot-air balloon should be a piece of cake. In fact, I feel chuffed about all of this! Nothing could possibly go wrong.”

Wallace and Gromit left the Shelter feeling a better spring in their steps. Rarity smiled. “Well, Fluttershy, I would say that things are starting to look up around here.”

“I would say they are,” Fluttershy replied, meekly beaming.

“Tell you what, darling, how about we get ourselves some refreshments? My treat.”

“Oh, no, Rarity, I couldn’t allow you to do that.”

“Oh, pish posh, darling. Anything for you.”

Fluttershy thought for a moment, then meekly nodded. “Okay then. If you say so.”

“You’re such a dear, you know that?”

Angel Bunny mimicked the remark with a shake of his head, watching the two friends leave the shelter feeling in higher spirits. He couldn’t help but feel glad for the cheesy man and his dog.

He looked up from his cards just in time to see a funny-looking penguin hiding behind a corner near the front doors, where he would have had a full view of anyone who entered. The penguin looked to the table, Angel ducked behind the cards to avoid the gaze.

“C’mon, Angel. It’s your turn,” Spike huffed.

Angel glared while playing his turn, then looked again to see that the penguin had disappeared.

Even while distracted by the card game, he felt a lingering presence that told him nothing but bad vibes came from that penguin. It was a penguin, what harm could it do?

So why did he worry for Fluttershy’s safety when concerning the bird, even if it was a penguin?

---

The clear skies were not as clear the following Saturday. It was close to midday and down by the Cloudsdale Airfields the grassy fields were dotted with various colorations and unique designs of hot-air balloons, all currently anchored firmly into the ground. The windsock was picking up a slight breeze emitting from the Western Seaboard, no doubt from that storm that was rocking California and Oregon.

Gromit sat behind the stand he and Wallace put up for the fundraiser, a simple construction of various wooden planks at odd angles and nails bent in directions that shouldn’t even be plausible. The sign “Save the Canterlot Animal Shelter” was in danger of losing grip, or just plainly dangling into a swinging position from a lone nail.

Suddenly, while reading a magazine for doggy treats, Pinkie Pie appeared. “Hiya, Gromit!”

Gromit nearly fell out of his seat, then he caught onto the stand for balance.

“I saw your fundraiser when I arrived and I was like, ‘I simply must give my money away to that fundraiser. I just couldn’t handle myself to see Fluttershy so broken-hearted about it closing down and leaving all of the animals homeless on the street, begging for food, only to be run over by a passing truck when they’re unaware.”

Pinkie paused her tirade, huffing to catch her breath, while Gromit hid himself behind his magazine.

“Anyway,” she pulled out a set of dollars before dropping them into the crude “donations” box, “there’s my donation of sixty-seven dollars and thirty-four cents. Enjoy the show! I know I will.” She suddenly gasped. “Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, there’s the balloon salesman!”

Gromit watched as she dashed off in a sugar-powered blur, blinking without much thought about the pink-haired walking candy store that was Pinkie Pie. In truth, she was kind of scary.

Presently, Wallace came up to the stand holding a flathead screwdriver. “Preparations are nearly complete. It just needs a few minor adjustments and then we are go for launch. How’re the donations coming on? The festival’s starting soon, and I’m pretty sure everyone who’s come through has come through already.”

Gromit set down his magazine, grabbing the donations box before shaking it, letting loose multiple clinking sounds of various sized coins and bouncing stacks of bills from the more privileged donors.

“Wha heee! I just knew this fundraiser would work a treat, lad. Fluttershy is going to be so proud of us for helping her out of such a spot of bother, and of course coming from an animal lover myself, it just wouldn’t be prudent to leave those poor animals without a chance of finding a real home with a caring family.”

“Attention all participants,” came the announcement over the loudspeaker. “The launching hour begins in five minutes. I’d suggest you all make your way to your balloons right now.”

“Righto! Come on, Gromit, we’ve got a liftoff to catch!”

Wallace rushed off faster than Gromit could prepare himself, when Pinkie suddenly appeared out of nowhere yet again, this time holding a bunch of balloons in her hand. “Don’t worry, Gromit, I Pinkie Promise to look after your fundraiser until you return. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

Gromit anxiously nodded, then made his way across the field to where Wallace was tinkering with the added motor to their homemade hot-air balloon.

“All set, Gromit,” he smiled. He then got up and entered the basket, fiddling with a set of levers connected to the miniature motor attached to the backend of the basket. The propane tank of gas lit up the insides. “Haha! This’ll go down a treat, eh, lad? All these balloons and our’s is the only one with a fully functioning propeller.”

“The balloons are set to launch in thirty seconds,” the announcement came.

“Come on, Gromit. Shake a leg, it’s nearly time to start.”

As the other balloons began lifting into the air, Gromit quickly undid the tether that kept their balloon anchored, but just as he did Wallace fired up the propulsion sending the balloon hurling into the sky leaving Gromit to dangle for dear life from the tether flopping in the wind.

“Isn’t the view splendid from up here, Gromit?” Wallace commented, oblivious to his dog’s situation. “I can actually see our house from way up here! And look, there’s the cheese shop! He heee, talk about a bird’s eye view, eh, lad?”

Back down on Terra Firma, the stands were packed with families, balloon enthusiasts, and families with balloon enthusiasts. Rainbow Dash took a drink from her gatorade bottle (#notsponsored) eyeing a particular balloon with the face of a perpetually smiling cheese-loving inventor and his dog, with the dog dangling by a thread. She shrugged, then wiped her sweating forehead with her sleeve.

“Ah gotta hand it to them boys,” Applejack remarked. “They sure know howta build a balloon.”

“I’m still unsure about the abundance of cactus-green,” Rarity remarked.

“I like how Wallace thought to input a motorized engine. It’s very ingenious,” Twilight beamed.

“Of course you would say that,” Rainbow grumbled.

“I think it looks nice,” Fluttershy smiled.

Wallace looked down from his balloon. “Hey, look down there, Gromit! I can see Twilight and the others watching us from the stands!” He waved from above.

Twilight waved back.

Rarity smiled, shaking her head at her friend’s antics, before taking a moment to admire the diamond encrusted necklace on her person. She took great notice at how it sparkled in the midday light.

She wasn’t the only one admiring the necklace. From behind the bleachers, where no one could see his beady eyes, the penguin looked at the diamond with lust, and the girl with diamond-eyes next to the girl who wore the diamonds. He then looked up at the balloon carrying the bumbling inventor and the nosy dog, noticing how he fiddled with the controls that worked the small motor engine at the back.

He looked over to the stand that had a wooden box for donations to the Animal Shelter, then back to the balloon.

A plan was beginning to form.

He disappeared as suddenly as he appeared, missing being noticed by the other attendees.

Author's Note:

Just what is the fine-feathered crook plotting? Could it be possible for him to actually succeed? And how exactly did I manage to lose my house keys?

All of these questions shall be answered next week.

Same cracking time! Same cracking channel!

Comments

[Comickook]

Great job on this latest chapter. Definitely liked the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Appreciated Wallace and Gromit getting the idea to help the animal shelter as well as Rarity's description of how she got that diamond. Also liked the bit with Shaun, Spike and Angel playing cards. Yeah, Feathers is definitely up to something to get that diamond (and possibly steal the charity money too; I don't know about that, but wouldn't discount the possibility). And, yeah, Angel is suspicious of Feathers (understandably), but is confused why (though he'll figure it out pretty soon).

Definitely looking forward to more of this.

[Omegamorph]

Huh. Feathers acts like he never seen an average EG design before. Sparkly eyes all around. : p