“You know, it's not very fun when it rains.”
Everypony thinks this at some point in their life.
Underneath the crisp text, a lonely drab grey pony walked through a mud puddle in the midst of a rainstorm. Sapphire Shores stared at the poster for less than a second and pushed it back at her promoter. “Do it. Let’s make this show happen.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Three weeks ago, Sapphire had woken up from a dolphin dream with an idea. A concert for the unhappy ponies, those downtrodden by life. She wanted to show them that there were successful ponies who also had doubts and fears, that not all of life was happiness and sunshine.
But, to balance out those hard, rainy days, there would also be days when it was time to throw away the dreary mess and dance in the rain, splash in the mud and get dirty. Then, after the fun had been had and before cold could seep into the soul, go home to dry off in front of a crackling warm fire.
That had been almost a month ago, and now the stage was almost set for what would be, quite possibly, the strangest show Sapphire Shores had ever put on.
But, the image she’d dreamed up was still set in her mind as she looked down onto the venue where she would hold her show. The middle of a campground wasn’t in itself unusual, but the hundred or so open walled tents with covered firepits out front had been interesting to arrange without arousing suspicion from the ponies she wanted to keep in the dark.
“Run it down with me again, Show Stopper,” she said to her manager. She tapped a hoof against the table and continued after a moment, “We sing the first set in the rain in nothing but my fur and a mic.”
“Yes ma’am. Then the canopy comes down over you and everypony else retires to their designated tent to watch the next set. And that’s the slow set. All of your backup dancers leave, and it’s all you. Then… You’ve got something else here, but...”
“I’m not telling anypony until its time. Trust me, it’ll be a surprise.”
“I don’t agree with you keeping secrets from me. I am your manager, still. Just… try to make sure it’s lower key than the last stunt you pulled.”
“I don’t know about that. But this whole show is more low key than almost any of my other shows. That should settle your fears, Showy.”
“It does, somewhat, but I’m still worried.” Show Stopper tapped a roughly sketched copy of the promotional poster laying in front of her. “You’ve never done anything like this before, Saph. This might lose you a lot of fans.”
“I’m worried about it, honey. Trust me, I’m plenty worried.” She bit her lip and paused, thoughts drifting back to the swim with the dolphins in her dreams, then continued. “Something tells me that I need to do this show. More than that, I want to do this show. There’s just too much sadness out there in the world. I want to show them, all of those sad ponies, that there’s more to life than the gloom that comes with the rain.”
The Pony of Pop climbed atop the table and held her hooves to the ceiling as though revelling in the rain, and called to the sky with a joyful shout, “The rain can be joyful! It brings life! The rain is there with you, not against you.” She came back down and tapped a hoof on the figure of the sad looking pony. “If only they could see it, even if only for one minute.”
“I’m sure they will.” Show Stopper looked away for a long moment. “That was beautiful, Saph.” She snuffled and snagged a tissue with a spell.
“I hope so.” She climbed back down and swept her mane back, coming back to business with her usual mercurial style. “How are ticket sales?”
“Sold out in minutes. Ponies are already speculating on the streets why you only had a hundred tickets. Already, scalpers are trying to sell their tickets for hundreds of bits apiece, shameless vultures.”
“And you’ve already identified those tickets and had them confiscated, right?” Sapphire looked at a hoof critically in the light, a thrill thrumming through her as she waited to hear the report.
“Yes ma’am. Any ticket that tries to be scalped has been taken away, per your instructions.” Show Stopper sounded almost giddy as she flipped a page on her clipboard, but she waited for her employer’s question.
“And given to some young foal in the shelters, right?” Sapphire’s hooves glittered with silver enamel in the bright light of the trailer’s makeshift meeting room. She fancied that she could see her own eyes, glinting deviously back at her in the reflection.
“Of course. Not a one of those has shown up for scalping yet.” Her manager sounded equally pleased at the results.
“How many of the original 100 got taken away?” She could feel it. Her plan was going to work. She was going to teach those filthy roaches a lesson about taking enjoyment away from some less fortunate filly or foal in exchange for cold bits. Excitement bubbled up, barely contained.
“Every single one.”
Sapphire Shores laughed and slapped the table with a hoof before prancing about the room, cackling like a mad pony. It took her a long stretch of time to recover from her mirth and skip back to the table.
“Those greedy sons of goats. I knew they’d do something like this. They’re not fans, they’re rats.” She smiled, showing her teeth. She’d won, and she knew it. “You know what to do now, right?”
“The extra tickets are already being spread around, per your instructions. Are– are you sure we have enough tents?”
“More than enough.” She waved a hoof at the window where already there were a dozen work crews hauling in piles of canvas, rope and prebuilt covered firepits. “I knew this would happen. But I didn’t want to give away my hoof before the game was up.”
There was a reason she was so successful. Nopony could read a crowd like Sapphire Shores, and the crowd demanded a show. She would give them a show that none of them would have ever expected.
“Just wait, Show Stopper. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
The day of the show came around and excitement buzzed all about Manehatten. Sapphire Shores, singing in the rain? To abandoned or orphaned foals? Nopony knew what to expect, not even the Sapphire Shores Fan Club. Would the show be her usual pomp and flare, or would she try a different track and be… something else?
Whatever the answer to that question, rumors and rumors of rumors abounded throughout the city and all across Equestria. Perhaps five hundred orphaned or abandoned foals would be attending with chaperoning provided by the Manehatten Shelter for Foals. All of them were excited to be there. All except one filly who wasn’t orphaned and certainly wasn’t abandoned.
“I don’t see why we got tickets,” Sweetie Belle grumbled, repeating it for the fourth time. She held up the blue foil ticket in the sparse light offered by the campfire crackling just outside and looked critically at her name, stamped into the surface. “Why’d you drag me all the way out here, anyway?”
She, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were sitting in their designated tent while a unicorn mare with a heavy raincoat and umbrella hat sat outside with a badge that read: Volunteer, SSFC.
Both of her friends glanced at each other, then at their chaperon outside.
“Do you remember when we went to Canterlot to fix Rarity’s costume?” Apple Bloom said finally.
“Yeah, but I don’t…” Realization struck her then. She’d had a chance to talk with the pop singer afterwards, briefly, and she vaguely remembered that both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had also had a talk with her. She couldn’t have imagined at the time that it had been more more than both of them cheering incoherently. Apparently she’d been wrong.
“We might have mentioned to Sapphire Shores that you’re a really talented singer, but you don’t like to,” Scootaloo said, looking down at her own blue foil ticket.
Apple Bloom nodded, picking up the conversation from Scootaloo, “And we might have also mentioned that you weren’t a big fan.”
“Then she got this look. Kind of like you, Sweetie, when you’re planning something,” Scootaloo finished.
“What? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would she…” She picked up the other item that had come with the ticket, “Did either of you get an envelope?”
Scootaloo looked at the envelope briefly, then back down at her ticket. “Wait, you got an envelope too? Why didn’t you say something?”
“I would have, but you two were so gaga for Sapphire Shores the whole trip that I’m surprised you remembered to breathe!” The intermittent squealing still rung in her ears and she had to resist the urge to poke at them with a hoof.
“Let me see!” Apple Bloom snagged the envelope between her teeth before Sweetie Belle could do anything. “‘An you ‘ead it?” she asked Scootaloo, holding it tight so that Sweetie couldn’t snag it back without tearing it.
“Do not open until 6:00pm sharp,” came the answer. Twisting her head sideways, she stared at it for a moment longer. “Excuse me,” she asked the volunteer outside, “Do you have the time?”
“It’s probably about time,” the volunteer said, lowering her rain goggles to wink at her. “You might wanna read what’s in the envelope.” The unknown mare wandered away then, only to be replaced by another in an identical raincoat.
“Is she ready?” Sapphire Shores asked, hidden in the shadows backstage where nopony could see her out of costume until the time was right.
“To be honest, I don’t know.” The unicorn stripped away her rain gear and dropped it into a cart. “She’s a little apprehensive at even being here and I think her friends just dragged her along. I really don’t think that this will work quite the way you explained it to me. What if she doesn’t want to come up on stage?”
The thought had crossed her mind, but she was a diva and she had to live up to that image. “I considered it, but you know what? It doesn’t really matter. It’s just a little something to throw to the fans. Even if it’s not them up on stage, I think it’ll show that I do care about my fans.” She waved a hoof, banishing the possibility. “Besides, I’m going to do just this one little bit as a favor to Rarity. She did splendidly on my last outfit, even if her little sister just about ruined it.”
Show Stopper grimaced. “You do realize this is her little sister, right?”
“Oh, I know,” Sapphire said, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin. “It’s a little payback and a little thank you all rolled up into one.”
Show Stopper shook her head. “You really are one of a kind.”
“Don’t I know it!” Sapphire laughed and bumped flanks with her manager as she danced up the stairs to the stage.
“Please welcome to the stage, Sapphire Shores!” blared the announcer, his voice sounding everywhere at once through the power of magic.
A cheering roar rose up from the tents as ponies flooded out into the great open space before the stage, the chaperons scattered about as well, careful of their charges racing about under hoof.
“Hey, Everypony!” Sapphire Shores called out, her voice echoing back through the clearing. Silence descended on the crowd. Sapphire Shores could already hear the questions popping up, “I know what you all are thinking, ‘Who is that strange mare up on stage?’ and I’m here to tell you it is none other than I, Sapphire Shores!”
She pranced up to the edge of the stage and looked down at all the confused faces peering up at her, “Y’all might'a guessed this is a different type of show. For one, I’m not wearin’ my usual flashy costume. For another, this is a happy day. Sure, it may be cloudy, and it’s gonna rain here in a couple minutes, but that don’t mean you gotta hide!”
Behind her, on cue, a giant banner unfurled behind her - the same one that had been peppering the streets for weeks now with nothing but her cutie mark as a signature.
“Sure, everypony thinks that it’s not so much fun when it rains. Sometimes.” Also on cue, a giant red X crossed out the word ‘not’ on the poster. “Today is not one of those days. Today, we’re gonna celebrate the rain! Dance in it, play in it! Rejoice in the rain! I had it brought all the way from sunny Appleoosa and it’s still warm!”
“Is everypony ready to Dance in the Rain?!” She cried, the title of the first song, an old hit, and the first one to get her featured on Equestrian Music Monthly.
This time, the cheers that came back almost made the rain start all by itself.
“Alright,” she called out to her young fans, wet and drenched just as she was. Her mane, normally curly and worn up around her ears, fell almost to her shoulders and clung like tape to her coat. “Alright, everypony,” she called again for them to settle down.
Warm, the rain might be, but already, she could feel the cold start to seep past her coat into her bones, and they wouldn’t be any better. It was time to settle down into the slower, more peaceful segment. Overhead, a canopy unrolled itself and cut off the rain.
“Chaperons, let’s get our young fans back into their tents and stoke those fires.”
Stage hands brought out a larger metal firepit and set about making a fire for her to warm herself with.
“The rain might not be so sad, but there comes a time when the warmth of a crackling fire and the presence of a good friend is all the comfort you need while the rain drums down on the roof.”
She waited for the excitement and energy of the vigorous trio of songs, Dance in the Rain, Shout the Rain Away, and Thunderclap Throwdown to fade away, giving her fans a chance to retreat to their tents and settle in with good friends, both old and, hopefully, new.
“None of you is alone! You may have come here without a friend, without family, without anything but a hope that someday that might change. I hope, I wish for that day to be today. Look to your companions, your friends. You are not alone. You have friends, even if you hadn’t met them before today. You have family, even if all you share is each other. You are, each and every one of you, special.”
There was some scattered hoof stomping, but nopony seemed to know what to expect next. This was a Sapphire Shores that had never been seen before.
“It’s time to sing something that isn’t mine. You all know my songs. They’re lively, full of pop. But not a lot of emotion. I can admit that. I want my songs to make you happy, to feel the verve and pulse of life! But there are also times when there is the need to contemplate, to think, and relax. This is a song that I’ve had in my personal collection for a long time, and I hope that they doesn’t mind if I use it tonight.”
There was a pause, and she watched as the one filly she wanted to sing with her tonight looked around, surprised that the cue had come so early in the show.
“Now,” she said, “I can’t sing this one alone, and I know I didn’t give her a lot of time to look over the lyrics, but her friends said she’d be up to the challenge.”
A wild applause rose from the tents as hundreds of hooves struck the ground, “Come on up here, Sweetie Belle, and help me sing ‘You’re my Best friend’ by Princess!”
“What?! Nonono!” Sweetie Belle shouted, “I didn’t think she’d actually call out my name! I was just going to–”
“What, Sweetie Belle? You’re an amazing singer! You can do this!” Apple Bloom pushed her friend gently, guiding her towards the stage. “Do you remember when you sang at Fluttershy’s cottage? And while we were getting ready for the talent show? This isn’t any different than those times.”
“Not any different? How can you say that? There’s hundreds of ponies here! What if they don’t think I’m very good? What if they laugh me off the stage?”
Scootaloo pushed her a little further, “We’re your best friends, Sweetie Belle. No matter what happens up on stage, we’ll always be here.”
“That’s not very encouraging!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. Except, it was. She felt a warm tingling in her heart that just wouldn’t stay quiet, “You- you really think I can do this? Sing in front of…” She waved a hoof, taking in the whole of the campsite.
“We do,” Apple Bloom said, pushing herself close.
“Of course you can!” Scootaloo said, rubbing cheeks with her.
“I–” What would she do if she failed? The question still nagged at her but, with her friends by her side, she felt that it didn’t matter that much anymore. “I’ll do it.”
Up on stage, Sapphire Shores was watching her, expression inscrutable through the rain. Sweetie Belle watched her for a long breath, then stood up straight and lifted her head. She could do this, and her friends were there to back her up.
“We’ll be right here,” Apple Bloom added, then gave her a final push and trotted back to the tent.
“Thanks, guys.”
Somehow, walking through the rain and up to the stage, it felt like she was walking into her future; that with every step she took, she was getting closer to something truly remarkable, something that would change her life forever.
Her step lightened, her heart began to race, and before long she was running, then galloping and up on the stage beside a pop singer that she barely knew, ready to sing and bare her soul in front of a crowd of ponies with whom she had just finished dancing and splashing in the rain.
They were her friends. All of them. But there were two that were her best friends. She could do this, for them and for herself.
“Are you ready, Sweetie Belle?” Sapphire Shores asked, standing beside the blazing fire.
“I am.”
The next day, Sapphire Shores sat in her lounge chair beside the pool of the most luxurious hotel in Manehatten. Beside her, Show Stopper went over the financial reports, the news reports and all of the other fiddly details of being a pop star that Sapphire Shores was more than happy to let her handle.
“... And the enchantment to make the mud non-stick, 750 bits. Four hundred tents rental, for one day, 250 bits. Four hundred portable firepit rentals for one day, 400 bits.”
“Ah… Nothing like a good hit to the pocketbook after a charity show.” She laughed and waved the pool pony over to refill her Triple Fruit Omnirita. “How much did the charity drive take in?”
“Skipping ahead? Fine…” Show Stopper rolled her eyes and flipped through the thick sheaf of paper until she found the one. “Fourteen thousand, nine hundred and ninety five bits. Taking out the charity foundation’s administrative fee, that comes to just under thirteen thousand bits.”
“Good. That’s better than last year’s. What about the press? How are they taking this?”
“I’ve seen nothing but a couple negative reviews. The rest appear to be mostly positive. I think you helping that filly get her cutie mark had something to do with it. Did you plan that?”
“Plan it? Oh no. You can’t ‘plan’ to get a cutie mark. I just helped her to see what she really enjoyed.”
Her manager didn’t look all that convinced. “Well, whatever you planned, it’s really set the Manehatten Gossip wheel turning. Already there’s rumors, false of course, that you and Rarity hooked up and concocted this plan just so–”
“False… my, my. I really am getting too devious.” Sapphire grinned over her drink at her manager’s dumbfounded expression. “Oh, you were going to add something? Well, maybe I should clarify. Me and Rarity ‘hooking up’ is false. The bit about us concocting the plan. Well, that part’s true.”
“Behind my back? Why am I not surprised? You always seem to pull the craziest stunts when I’m not looking. However did you convince me to be your manager again? It feels some days like you manage me!”
“Ah, well… I’m truly sorry about that. You are an excellent manager. But,” she shot her manager that smile again. “You still ain’t seen nothin’ yet, Show Stopper.”
