Diplomatic Troubles

Where to begin? Twilight thought as she sat staring with a dumbfounded expression at the scene laid before her. Ponies were manning two, sometimes three stalls at a time. As she surveyed the chaos, she analyzed all the possible solutions to the problem, but the only ones she could think of involved a lot of magic and a lot of time. Having only one of those, she resorted to another method, and shot a look over to Applejack.

"I have a plan," Twilight said simply, her gaze slowly turning back to scan over the chaotic layout of the stalls. Despite the shortage of workers, there was no lack of customers that wanted to buy anything they had to sell: hats, saddlebags, food, and sometimes little trinkets and toys.

"What'cha got for me, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow and mimicking Twilight's determined eyes, throwing in a daring grin along with it.

Pulling Applejack closer, Twilight whispered her plan into the mare's ear, as if speaking it too loudly would throw the odds out of her favor even further. After she was done explaining, Applejack gave her an incredulous look and sighed after a moment's thought.

"Anypony else but you and I'd call 'em crazy. In fact, I think I'll still call you crazy, Crazy," Applejack said with a slight nudge. Immediately afterwards, however, she gave a smirk and said, "But I trust you. Anypony's gonna make this work, it's you. Let's get to it."

Appreciative of Applejack's trust, Twilight gave her a quick nuzzle and said simply, "Thank you."

With Applejack's assured assistance, which Twilight had no doubt she would obtain in the first place, she called over Rainbow Dash to give the first set of orders to the lightning-fast mare.

Upon being summoned by Twilight's voice, the rainbow pony stayed true to her last name and literally dashed over to Twilight, stopping only a few hooves away to hover inches off the ground.

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash said, raising an eyebrow and letting her attention dart from place to place, never quite staying on Twilight for too long. She looked frantic, trying just as hard to make sense of the mess before her. She had a slight look of stress running through her face, and it made Twilight hesitate for a moment as she contemplated what to do. Steeling her resolve, she decided that the best way to help Dash would be to rid her of the stress.

"I need you and Pinkie Pie to cause a loud distraction. A big one. Can you manage that?" Twilight asked, knowing all too well that her cyan friend would be up to the challenge.

The stress from before seemed to vanish into thin air as Rainbow turned her attention solely onto Twilight. "CAN I? Twilight, you're looking at the number one flyer in all of Equestria. That's like asking Fluttershy if she's good with animals. Of COURSE I can manage it!"

She then turned and flew towards Pinkie Pie, who was busy trying to take orders from around ten people for baked goods. Hovering above the gathering crowd, she shouted something along the lines of "Help," and "Party." This seemingly grabbed Pinkie's attention instantly, as she jumped into the air and stayed there, hovering for a moment. Immediately upon landing, she pulled a megaphone from Celestia-knows-where.

To quiet the crowd, Pinkie jumped onto the table and shouted "Attention everypony! Since we know you're all anxious to enjoy this fancy-festival, we have prepared a spectacular spectacle that all your spectacles can spectate! If you wanna check it out, follow me!"

After this, she bounced into and out of the crowd, visibly getting three to four heads above the average pony. Upon breaking out of the crowd, she continued bouncing without even glancing behind her to check if anyone was following. After a few murmurs and hushed complaints from the crowd, everypony began to obediently follow the cotton-candy-coated pony as she led the charge to nowhere in particular.

Up ahead, Rainbow Dash was setting up a small stage using small crates and unused banners lying around the Fairground floor. Rarity was offering her hoof in making it look better, touching the pseudo-stage up wherever she could. What came of her efforts was nothing less than impressive. What began as a dinky little collection of boxes now stood proudly disguised as a professionally-made outdoor theatre platform.

Twilight watched as the throng of ponies clammored to get a better look at the stage, which Pinkie was now bouncing upon happily. Somehow she had procured a microphone, and was doing her usual show-pony routine. Rainbow Dash flew in loop-de-loops above the stage and the crowd, prepping herself for the upcoming improvised flight performance that Twilight had suggested.

"Hey, Rarity!" Applejack called out to the fashionista, who turned in a quick-but-controlled manner towards her and Twilight, gingerly trotting over to them both.

"Hello, dears! Might I say the weather is quite nice for such an event? I might even have a go at some of the games, later on. I have heard they are simply wonderful," she greeted them both, enthused about the ongoing festivities around her.

"It's a mighty fine day for it, I reckon. Had worse days for a festival, that's for sure," Applejack replied, being polite as always. Despite the urgency of the situation, she made it a point to indulge in Rarity's love for small-talk. Feeling satisfied with what she said, however, Applejack quickly moved on to more pressing matters. "Rarity, I need your help with somethin'. Somethin' only you can go about doin' right."

The white unicorn's face positively lit up at being praised and valued, and she replied quickly. "Oh! Well whatever it is, I'm sure I can make quick work of it. That is.. You don't intend to make me do any field-work, do you?"

"Nah, nothin' like that. Not today at least," Applejack said jokingly. She hesitated a moment to savor the odd face the unicorn was making, obviously torn between helping a friend and getting a hooficure or hairicure or whatever else she had gotten done that day ruined.

"Twilight's got a plan to fix this mess, and you're just the pony she needs for the job," Applejack stated simply, with a nod.

Rarity then turned to face a slightly-smiling Twilight Sparkle. "Yes, Twilight?" the white mare asked simply, but her voice was tinged with joy at having been chosen for an important job.

"We need a stall. And I mean a big stall. Make it as flashy and as decorative as you can, because it is going to house all of the sales products from this section of the Fairgrounds," Twilight explained, a determined smile plastered on her face.

"Well I'm honored but.. Why me?" Rarity asked, obviously shocked by the sudden duty thrust upon her shoulders. She did not have an expression of stress or worry, but more so an expression of understanding and responsibility. Her face reminded Twilight of Applejack, if only a little, and it made her smile widen into a grin.

"I chose you because I know you're passionate about these kinds of things, and I know you'll do your very best to make sure it turns out right. Put simply, I trust you to make this work," Twilight spoke confidently, and Rarity visibly stood straighter and looked more confident.

"I will not let you down, Twilight!" Rarity said with a nod and a fierce look in her eyes, turning to face an open field besides the section they were currently in. "But.. I will need some help."

Twilight and Applejack turned towards each other almost simultaneously and spoke not using words, but rather a seemingly telepathic understanding between the two. With all but one of their friends working on something, the choice of who could help Rarity was a simple one.

"We can handle that," Applejack said, turning to Rarity with a nonchalant smile. With that, she nodded to Twilight and galloped on towards Fluttershy's cottage. She hadn't attend the festival for very long due to the fact that all manners of creatures would be attending - and that included adult dragons. She offered to help Pinkie Pie in the morning, deducing that there'd be less chances of running into any dragons or otherwise terrifying creatures that way. After helping Pinkie Pie, Applejack figured that Fluttershy would head back to her cottage in order to tend to her animals and relax.

Meanwhile, Twilight went over the mental checklist she had been making all the while she was surveying everything. When she looked to her right, Rainbow Dash was spinning and tumbling through the air with such grace and speed that she captivated the crowd without pause. Coupled with Pinkie Pie's relentless energy and crowd-pleasing abilities, the two made for quite a performance.

To Twilight's left, Rarity was experimenting with different models of stalls using her magic to create faux-physical demonstrations of structure and and various styles. It was a skill that Rarity had come up with herself and had mastered over time. She used it for her dresses, mostly, but she had been known to put it to other uses when she needed to. This one such time, it seemed. Undeniably impressed with the white unicorn's prowess with her unique skill, Twilight sat watching her shift the magical structure for a few minutes until her gaze was shifted elsewhere.

Down the road trotted an unusual sight, and Twilight found her attention focused solely upon it. Walking besides Applejack was the timid yellow pegasus known as Fluttershy. While this was not anywhere out of the ordinary, what followed her was quite the sight. It was a horde of creatures, all looking peaceful and obedient. Bears, rabbits, dogs, and birds of all sizes and colors were on her trail - and they looked eager to help.

Twilight trotted over to Rarity, who had caught sight of the mass gathering of the creatures. "My goodness, Fluttershy! Wherever did you find all of these creatures? And what are they doing here?"

"Oh, um.. They're here to help you. They wanted to be a part of the festival, too. And I didn't find them, really. They found me. When the critters and creatures get sick and hungry, they know to come find me. In return, they offer to help me whenever they can," Fluttershy explained, slightly hiding behind a lock of her hair. Her smile was genuine as always, and it brought with it an innocence that had Twilight hard-pressed not to smile at due to the comfort it brought.

"Well I can't say I am ungrateful, dear. This is quite a pleasant surprise to have such generous help," Rarity commented, scanning over the sea of animals that gathered before her. Some waved at her as her eyes passed over them, and she nodded to each of them.

"They're all really very nice," Fluttershy assured Rarity, who was looking a little wary of accepting help from such usually feral animals. Her fears seemed to dissipate if only a little, however, as she seemed to believe in what Fluttershy was saying. After all, who knew her animals better than Fluttershy?

"Understood," Rarity said, giving one final nod as she looked up to meet Fluttershy's gaze. "Shall we begin? We seem to have quite a bit of work to do, and I will need every able body to get it done if we're going to be quick."

Fluttershy gave a quick look-over of her animals, and all of them gave her an affirming nod or gesture of some sort. "We're ready," Fluttershy said softly, and progress began.