Get Well Soon, Lost Narrator!
Jackpot was hard at work on the farm and by the third time he’d gone back to the barn to deposit the barrel of apples, he saw his mother Applejack and his little sister Miracle on the front porch.
“What’s up, Mom?” Jackpot asked. Applejack was holding a letter, on the verge of tears. She stroked Miracle’s chocolate brown mane.
Miracle’s baby blue eyes looked at Jackpot. “Momma got a letter from Miss Derpy.” The young filly said.
“You remember yer old story teller from when you was a boy? Curseword?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, what about her?”
“She was put in the hospital fer an ovarian cyst. Her medical bills are gonna go through the roof.”
Jackpot suddenly looked determined. “Miri,” Jackpot addressed his sister, “Go get Miss Magpie and bring her here, ok?” Jackpot asked, taking flight.
Three hours passed before Jackpot returned. But he brought Twilight and her friends.
“What’s going on, Jackpot?” Magpie asked, “Why did you call me here?”
“Jacky here told us what happened to Curseword, deary.” Rarity explained.
“So we wanna help out!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Magpie’s eyes widened. “Jackpot, you… you want to help Curseword?” She asked in disbelief.
“Yeah. We know that Curseword gets enough to live on with her stories. But throw on medical bills? Jeez. So here on the farm, we’re holding a massive apple sale. One hundred percent of the proceeds are gonna go to Curseword.” He explained.
“I’ve started a new line called the Lost Narrator in honor of Curseword.” Rarity chimed in, “As Jackpot said, every last bit is going to go to Curseword.”
“I spoke to the Cakes, we’re having a huge bake sale for Curseword!” Pinkie squealed with excitement.
“I’m not sure what Fluttershy and me can do,” Rainbow started, “But we’ll spread the word as far as we can to let everyone know!”
“And finally, Starlight, Spike and I are holding a book sale at the castle for Curseword!” Twilight said.
Magpie’s eyes had been welling up until she couldn’t take it. She pulled Jackpot into a hug, sobbing and repeating “Thank you” into his shoulder. Once Magpie had calmed down enough she asked, “Where would you like me?”
“Wherever you want.” He smiled, “Ok, ponies! We know our jobs, let’s get to work! For Curseword!” Jackpot yelled as a warcry. The ponies went their separate ways, Magpie going with Pinkie Pie, and Jackpot galloped into the kitchen.
Immediately, Jackpot grabbed Granny Smith’s cookbook and opened it. He sent the Apple Family to go get everything he would need. Jackpot worked around the clock, making pies, cakes, cider, fritters, anything he could think of. Once his girlfriend, Diamond Tiara arrived, he filled her in. Without being asked, she threw on an apron and helped Jackpot, Applejack and Miracle make as much as the four of them possibly could.
The whole time that they were cooking, Big Mac and Applebloom were working the stand, selling as much as Jackpot was making, sometimes running out before Jackpot could produce baked goods or cider. On the evening of the third day, Big Mac closed up shop and gathered the family around the kitchen table.
“Well, Uncle Mac?” Jackpot asked.
“Did we do good?” Miracle asked.
Big Mac looked over the bits and counted them up, taking notes so he wouldn’t forget what he’d counted up. “Well, ifen mah math is good, and it is…” he said, finishing his notes. He looked at his notepad and went “Woof.”, with a look of shock on his face.
“Woof?” Applejack asked.
“Guys… We made a thousand bits!” He exclaimed. The whole farmhouse erupted in cheers and thunderous applause. Once the celebration died down, Jackpot sat back in his chair. “Hell yes! We’re gonna make Curseword’s medical bills in spades at this rate!” He laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity drew up the design for the Lost Narrator line and faxed it to everyone who could sew. She called in as many favors as she could. Coco Pommel, Hoity Toity, Sassy Saddles, she even reached out to Suri Polomare who was very colorful in telling Rarity no. Everyone else agreed to help however they could.
She looked at her grays and reds to see if she had anything that matched Curseword’s mane and coat colors. She’d gotten as close as she could and began sewing. For the dresses, she’d made a simple sundress, grey with red trim and floral designs along the hem and collar. For a bit of flare, she added rubies to the center of the flowers as she thought it would match Curseword’s eyes.
For the suits, she’d done a similar project. A simple blazer and vest that one could wear in a casual setting. She’d made the blazers grey with red trim and ruby cufflinks and reversed the colors for the vest, making it red with gray trim. Once she was happy with the designs, she chuckled and hired ponies from around town to model them.
She’d hired Derpy, and Carrot Top for the dresses and Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps for the suits. She took the photos and sent them off to a magazine in Canterlot who promised to have them in by the next issue.
When Rarity went to the store to see, the magazine people were true to their word. Rarity’s phone rang like crazy for the Lost Narrator line. She’d gotten so busy, she had to start using multiplication spells just to keep up with the order.
On the evening of the third day of production, Rarity contacted everyone and asked them to send the bits her way. Once everyone had, Rarity took the bits she’d earned and deposited them to the account Jackpot set up. Between the four of them, Rarity grinned with bliss as they raised three thousand bits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pinkie and Mag galloped into Sugarcube Corner and instantly got to work. “What’s going on, ladies?” Carrot Cake asked. Once Magpie had explained Jackpot’s plan, the Cakes joined in. Carrot worked the counter while Magpie, Pinkie, Cup and Pound worked the kitchen. Pumpkin, who had gotten a paint palette for a cutie mark the year before, used her magic to create a banner for the bake sale.
Once they had the fresh cakes and pies on the shelves and in the process of making more, Pumpkin set up the banner outside reading “The Lost Narrator Emergency Bake Sale! 85% off on everything!”
Pumpkin’s use of bright colors grabbed many ponies’ attention and the store soon found itself packed. It was almost too much as more than once did the Cakes have more customers than they had stock. Pinkie had to call in Maud, Marble and Limestone to either help cook or fetch more ingredients for the sale. On the evening of the second day, the Cakes closed up shop.
“Well, I’ve never seen the store that busy before.” Carrot laughed.
“Ponyville does like to help out its local celebrities, after all.” Cup chuckled as Pound counted the bits. Pinkie was exhausted. Still, she was helping Curseword and that made it all worth it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the fourth day of Curseword being admitted into the hospital, the ponies met up after lunch to greet Curseword in the hospital. “Ok, guys, let’s review.” Jackpot said, outside the hospital.
“The account you set up, last I checked,” Rarity said, “Has approximately five thousand bits even.”
“Oh, I forgot to mention, Jackpot.” Twilight began, “Rarity’s shop in Canterlot caught the attention of the Royal Sisters. They spoke to Sassy who told them about Curseword. They donated ten thousand bits a piece!”
Jackpot looked about to pass out, “So we have twenty thousand, five hundred bits for Curseword?” He asked.
“Eeyup!” Applejack said.
“That’ll cover her hospital stay in spades! Maybe even pay off some bills at home!” Magpie said. She pulled Jackpot into a hug. “Thank you, Jackpot! Without you…” she started.
Jackpot returned the hug. “Hey, I couldn’t let my old story teller rot in debt, ya know.” He smiled. “Now, guys, let’s go tell Curseword the good news!” He said, holding open the door for the mares.
