“Sold out?” Petal Dust shouted, slamming her hooves on the counter a bit harder than she meant to. “How can you be sold out of streamers the day before the Summer Sun Celebration?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” said the shopkeeper. “Miss Rarity came by and reserved all the decorations for the town hall.”
“How can she—” Petal Dust stopped herself and took a deep breath before she could say something she’d regret later. “Look, I know the town hall decorations are important, but there has to be something you can give me.”
“Sorry,” the shopkeeper repeated. “Miss Rarity had a note from the mayor herself. You might try the shop down the street.”
Petal Dust wanted to tell him very loudly that she’d already been to every party store and stall in Ponyville and been informed that the white unicorn had already called dibs on their wares, but she managed to restrain herself. “Isn’t there something you can do?”
“Sorry, no.”
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Have a nice day.”
The pale green earth pony glared at the floor as she walked out into the busy street, her brown mane covering her face. Serves me right for waiting ‘till the last minute, I guess, she thought, scowling when she saw Rarity carrying a mountain of banners into town hall. It should have been me hogging all the supplies, not her.
Petal’s inner rant was interrupted when she heard somepony calling her name. She looked around and saw a brown-coated, yellow-maned stallion with a cutie mark of a record making his way across the street. “Hello, Phone,” she said. “How are things at the studio?”
“Crazy,” Phonograph said. “Octavia’s been recording all morning. Octavia! In my recording studio!”
“Sounds great,” Petal Dust grumbled.
“Uh-oh. Somepony stressing out again?”
“I’m not stressing out,” Petal snapped. “I’m just… a little anxious.”
“Anxious. Right,” Phonograph said with a snort. “And Vinyl Scratch is a little popular.”
“Did you talk to her?” Petal Dust asked. “Please, tell me she said yes. The last thing I need is for the DJ to bail at the last minute.”
“Relax, Dust,” Phonograph said with a chuckle. “Everything’s arranged. She’ll be at the party in a few hours to set up her equipment.”
“Thank Celestia. At least something’s going right.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Do you have any idea how often Pinkie changes her mind?”
“No, but I do know her parties are always fantastic,” Phonograph answered. “Not many ponies get the chance to work with someone as talented as her.”
As stressful as it was, Petal Dust couldn’t deny she’d learned a lot under the party pony. “I guess you’re right,” she said with a sigh. “It would help if Rarity wasn’t hogging all the decorations, though.”
“Not this again.”
“What?” Petal Dust glared at her friend, who was rubbing his forehead with a hoof. “She’s a fashion designer, not a decorator. She should be making dresses or something!”
“Dust, there’s no point in getting worked up about it,” Phonograph said with a sigh. “The mayor chose her to decorate town hall, not you. Complaining isn’t going to change that.”
“But it’s not fair!” Petal Dust said. “Decorating is my special talent! Why do you think my cutie mark is streamers?”
“You’re a party decorator,” Phonograph replied. “The town hall decorations are about elegance, not fun. And who in Ponyville knows more about elegance than Rarity?”
“It still should have been me.”
Before Phonograph could answer, Petal Dust was thrown to the ground by a hyperactive pink blur. “Petal Dust! We have a huge emergency!”
“Get off me,” Petal said with a groan as she pushed the pink party pony away while Phonograph tried to stifle a laugh.
“But this is super-duper important!” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. “It’s about the party!”
The party! Of course! Petal could have slapped herself for not thinking of it sooner. If anypony would know what to do about the lack of decorations, it was Pinkie Pie. “Listen, Pinkie, I’ve been having some problems, too.”
“Problems? Who said anything about problems?”
“Um… I guess I did,” Petal replied with a glance at Phonograph, who just shrugged. “Rarity took all the decorations. I can’t find anypony who will sell me some.”
“Oh! That’s okay,” Pinkie said with a smile. “I saved last year’s decorations in a box in my attic.”
“You did?” Petal Dust’s initial excitement quickly wore off when she realized the implications of Pinkie’s statement. “Wait, why did you need me to buy more then?”
“You can never have too many decorations!” Pinkie answered.
Petal Dust put a hoof to her forehead. “Well, I’m glad I got myself all worked up for nothing. What were you going to say?”
“What? Oh! The emergency!” Pinkie paused to take a deep breath. “I was walking through town earlier and I saw somepony standing by herself with a baby dragon so I walked up to her and she said, ‘Uh, hello?’ and then I realized I didn’t know her, and since I know everypony, that must mean she’s new here and doesn’t have any friends yet, so then I went”—gaaaaasp—“and came running right here to find you!”
Petal Dust blinked a couple times while her brain caught up with Pinkie’s mouth. “So… what did you tell her?”
“Nothing!” Pinkie answered. “I just went”—gaaaaasp—“and then I ran straight here.”
“Great. She probably thinks we’re all crazy now.”
“You’re missing the point!” Pinkie cried, her face half an inch from Petal’s. “We have to help her find some friends!”
“So why don’t you invite her to your Summer Sun Eve party?” Petal Dust asked.
“A party? Petal, you’re a genius!” Pinkie said with a wide grin. “We’ll throw her a Welcome-to-Ponyville party!”
“What?”
“You know, I really should have something prepared for situations like this,” Pinkie mused. “Maybe a wagon that shoots streamers and makes a cake. Ooh, and I could sing a song! It’d be like, ‘Welcome, welcome, welcome, a fine welcome to—’ mmph!”
Petal Dust stuck a hoof in the pink pony’s mouth before she could get too carried away. “Okay, fine. A Welcome-to-Ponyville party. We’ll do it in, what, a week? A couple days?”
“A couple days? Are you crazy?” Pinkie shouted. “We can’t let her go a couple days without making some friends! We have to do it tonight!”
“Tonight? But we have the Summer Sun Eve party tonight!” Petal’s mind went through the list of things she still had to do to get ready. “I have to pick up the food from Sugar Cube Corner, and you know how long the lines are going to be, and then there’s the decorating and—”
“Oh, if you’re busy, that’s okay!” Pinkie interrupted. “I’ll just find somepony else! I wonder if Rarity can help decorate?”
“No!” Petal Dust let out a chuckle that sounded forced even to her. “I-I mean, I’m not that busy. I’m sure I can put together a welcome party!”
“Are you sure?” Pinkie asked. “‘Cause I can ask somepony else. It’s no big deal.”
“Oh, I’m sure everypony’s just as busy as I am!” Petal Dust said. “Especially Rarity. After all, she has to decorate the town hall all by herself.” Phonograph rolled his eyes. “Don’t you worry, Pinkie. I’ll make sure your Welcome-to-Ponyville party is absolutely perfect!”
“Okey dokey lokey! I’ll see you at the library!”
“Library, got it. Wait, what?” Petal looked around for Pinkie, but the party pony had already disappeared. “You heard her say library, right?”
“Makes as much sense as you do right now,” Phonograph answered.
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Dust,” Phonograph said. “How are you going to put together a party by tonight?”
“A good party planner knows what she’s going to do before she knows she has to do it,” Petal Dust said as she started walking toward Sugar Cube Corner. “All I need are decorations, music, and food. How hard can that be?”
“Well, you’re putting together two parties at the same time, you have less than twelve hours to do it, and Rarity already claimed all the decorations in Ponyville,” Phonograph said. “Either you have no idea what the word ‘impossible’ means, or you’re insane.”
“Or, it could be I’m the best party planner Equestria’s ever seen,” Petal answered.
“Okay, first of all, that’s Pinkie,” Phonograph said. “Second of all, have you ever done anything like this?”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Petal, listen,” Phonograph said, putting a hoof on her shoulder and bringing her to a stop. “I know you’re upset about the town hall decorations, but working yourself to death won’t change anything.”
“It’ll prove I’m a better decorator than Rarity,” Petal answered as she pushed past him.
“No, it won’t,” Phonograph said. “It’ll only prove you’re crazy.”
“We’ll see about that.”
The two walked to Sugar Cube Corner, which wasn’t quite as busy as Petal Dust had expected. Still, the two had to wait in line for several minutes while the Cakes attended to other customers. “Hello, there,” Mrs. Cake said with a tired smile when Petal and Phonograph finally reached the front of the line.
“Hi, Mrs. Cake,” Petal Dust said as she placed a bag of bits on the counter. “I’m here to pick up the food for Pinkie’s Summer Sun party.”
“Oh, yes.” Mrs. Cake signaled to her husband, who disappeared into the kitchen. “I’ll have it right out for you.”
“Thank you,” Petal said with a smile. “At least a pony can still get a cake around here.”
“Well, we’ve had a tough time keeping up with all the orders with Pinkie gone so often, even with the Apples helping out this year,” Mrs. Cake said, trying in vain to arrange the stray hairs poking out of her pink mane.
“Does that ever bother you?” Petal asked. “The Apples catering the celebration, I mean.”
“Oh, not at all,” Mr. Cake replied as he piled several boxes on the counter. “We’d never be able to cater for the princess and keep up with all Ponyville’s cake orders, too.”
“Well, yeah, but do you ever wonder why the mayor chose the Apples instead of you?” Petal asked. She could feel Phonograph glaring at her, but she paid him no mind. “I mean, your cakes are absolutely delicious.”
“Well, thank you!” Mr. Cake said with a smile. “We do try for perfection!”
“We don’t know why the mayor made that decision, but we don’t let it bother us,” Mrs. Cake said as Petal Dust and Phonograph carefully balanced the boxes on their backs. “We know our work is appreciated.”
“Well, we’d better be going,” Phonograph said. “Thank you again.”
“Oh, the pleasure’s ours,” Mrs. Cake said with a smile.
“Wait, there’s one more thing,” Petal Dust said. “Do you have a couple extra boxes of cupcakes? Pinkie had a… slight change of plans, and we’re going to need a little more food.”
“Slight?” Phonograph repeated. Petal kicked him before he could say more.
“Oh, of course!” Mrs. Cake said while Mr. Cake went to fetch more boxes. “I thought Pinkie might change her mind about something, so I made a few extras, just in case.”
“Thank you,” Petal Dust said with a smile. “Will I see you at the party?”
“If we can stay awake that long,” Mrs. Cake replied. “If I don’t see you later, good luck!”
“Thank you!” Petal Dust trotted out of the store with Phonograph close behind. “Well, that takes care of the food.”
“You think two boxes of cupcakes is enough?” Phonograph asked.
“Sure,” Petal replied. “A lot of ponies we thought would go to the Summer Sun party will go to the Welcome party, so we can split the food evenly between the two.”
“All right, I’ll give you that one,” Phonograph said with a nod. “And the music?”
“I’ll just set up a sound system,” Petal Dust said. “I have a few songs I can put on.”
“What about decorations? You think Pinkie has enough for both?”
“No idea,” Petal answered. “Hopefully she’ll be at my house when we get there.”
“And if she’s not?”
“Then I’ll check back through the party shops. Rarity can’t use all their decorations.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier just to ask her?” Phonograph asked.
“I don’t want to bother her,” Petal Dust replied.
Phonograph let out a snort. “I bet.”
Petal Dust ignored his jab as she pushed open the door to her house. The inside had changed radically since she’d left this morning in search of decorations. Streamers and balloons hung from every surface imaginable, her furniture had been pushed against the walls, and several tables had appeared. “Looks like Pinkie already came by,” Petal Dust said as she and Phonograph put the food on the tables. “Pinkie? Are you here?”
“Of course I’m here, silly!” Pinkie shouted right behind her. Petal screamed and spun around to see the party pony gesturing around the room, a huge smile on her face. “Aren’t these decorations the best?”
“Don’t sneak up on me!” Petal Dust said, breathing quickly to slow her racing heart.
“I didn’t sneak up on you,” Pinkie said with a frown. “I wasn’t even trying to be sneaky.”
“This looks great,” Phonograph said.
“Well, of course it looks great!” Pinkie replied, her usual smile returning. “I used up every last decoration I had!”
“Have you seen Vinyl?” Phonograph asked. “She said she’d be coming by to set up her equipment.”
“Yep!” Pinkie answered. “I told her to go to the library. If we’re going to throw a Welcome-to-Ponyville party, we’re going to need some music!”
“What?” Petal Dust’s heart went from racing to dead stop in about half a second. “Pinkie, she was supposed to play here!”
“Oh, yeah.” Pinkie’s brow furrowed in thought. “Oh! I know! We’ll just turn up the volume really really loud!”
“The library is on the other side of Ponyville,” Petal said. “That would destroy everypony’s ears, not to mention violate every sound ordinance in existence. We need to find another DJ.”
“Hmm. Well, what about you?” Pinkie said, pointing a hoof at Phonograph.
“Me?” Phonograph said.
“Sure! You know a thing or two about music.”
“Well, yeah, but I’m no DJ,” Phonograph replied. “I don’t even have the right equipment.”
“Don’t worry, I have you covered!” Pinkie’s hoof disappeared under Petal Dust’s couch and emerged a second later with a pile of sound equipment.
“How did you—actually, never mind,” Petal Dust said, shaking her head. “Phone, you think you can handle this?”
“I guess,” Phonograph said. “I need to head back to the studio first to make sure everything went well with Octavia, and then I’ll get everything set up. See you later, Dust.”
“Later,” Petal replied. The brown stallion trotted out the door, leaving her alone with Pinkie. “Have you decorated the library yet?” she asked.
“Nope!” Pinkie replied. “We need to get more decorations first.”
“Where?” Petal Dust asked. “Rarity already claimed all the decorations in town.”
“Well, you’ll just have to ask Rarity for some, I guess,” Pinkie said. “In the meantime, I’ll get the food ready. Later!”
“Pinkie!” Petal cried, but the party pony had already run out the door. Perfect. Right back where I started.
As much as Petal hated to admit it, town hall looked wonderful. Rarity had hung red curtains on every doorway and blue drapes on every balcony. Multicolored banners hung from the ceiling, and she had even placed sparkling bows on the pillars. This really is elegant, Petal thought as she looked around. Perfect for the princess.
Petal Dust forced herself to stop looking at the décor and start looking for Rarity. Several ponies had told her they’d seen the fashionista at her boutique with a purple unicorn, but by the time Petal got there, both were long gone. “Rarity?” Petal Dust called, wondering where all the spare decorations were as well. “Are you in here?”
“Up here,” Rarity’s voice called from the center balcony. “Would you be a dear and come help me with something?”
“Uh, sure,” Petal replied. She quickly ascended the staircase to the balcony and found the white unicorn levitating three different banners, a perplexed expression on her face. “What do you need?”
“Well, I simply can’t decide which color would be best to hang here,” Rarity said with a sigh. Petal Dust noticed a hair or two sticking out of her normally impeccably-styled mane, her slightly-askew glasses, and the way she squinted at the banners. “This is where the princess will stand when she raises the sun tomorrow, so it has to be perfect.”
Petal Dust looked at the banners hovering above them. “Well, the red ones would match the sunrise,” she said.
“Yes, but not the princess’s personality,” Rarity replied. “It’s too angry.”
“Well, what about the green one?” Petal asked. “That’s a much calmer color.”
“It’s too earthy,” Rarity said. “It doesn’t reflect her power and majesty.”
“The yellow one, then?”
Rarity shook her head. “I thought it would be a nice balance between the two, but it’s still not right.”
Petal was tempted to say she was overthinking the issue, but she held her tongue. Looking around, she spied a pair of dark blue banners lying against the wall. “What about these?”
“Hmm?” Rarity turned her head and looked at the banners for a moment. “Blue? Why blue?”
“Well, it’s the color of the sky,” Petal answered, though she had no idea what kind of reasoning Rarity was looking for. “And it’s a peaceful color.”
“Peaceful sky,” Rarity muttered as she cast the other three banners aside. “Of course! The princess has always given us the sun and the moon. It’s the perfect color to reflect both her character and her power.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Petal said with a small smile as Rarity used her magic to hang the blue banners against the wall. Guess even you couldn’t do it all on your own, she thought, feeling a kind of smug satisfaction.
“You have no idea what kind of day I’ve had,” Rarity said with a sigh. “I thought I’d be done with this hours ago, but I had a major fashion emergency.”
“My day’s been a little wild, too,” Petal replied.
“Yes, well, we all know how Pinkie can be sometimes,” Rarity said. “It takes a special kind of endurance to keep up with her antics.”
What’s this? Ponyville’s most prominent fashionista paying me a compliment? Despite her frustration and envy, she couldn’t help but feel a bit proud at this accomplishment. “Well, it’s been hard, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Really? Your friend Phonograph sounded a little worried about you when I ran into him earlier,” Rarity said.
“Phonograph?” Petal Dust frowned. “How do you know him?”
“Well, he’s becoming a very important pony, dear,” Rarity said. “Did you know Octavia herself was in his recording studio this morning? What I wouldn’t have given for the chance to meet her! She’s played for almost everypony who’s anypony from here to Baltimare.”
“So you’re just trying to use his popularity to get ahead?”
“You really shouldn’t be so cynical, darling,” Rarity replied as the two descended the stairs. “He’s a very nice pony, one anypony would be glad to have as a friend. Anyway, he mentioned that you’ve been rather anxious about Pinkie’s Summer Sun party tonight.”
Petal let out a long sigh as they reached the foot of the stairs. “It’s not just that,” she said. “I… I was really hoping I’d get to do the decorations here.”
“Here?” Rarity said with a frown. “In town hall?”
Petal Dust nodded. “I mean, decorating’s my talent. I thought if anypony should decorate something for the princess, it should be me. So when the mayor chose you…”
Petal Dust didn’t finish the sentence, but Rarity seemed to understand. “Oh, darling, just because you didn’t do these decorations doesn’t mean you’re a bad decorator. Why, aside from Pinkie Pie, I think you’re one of the best in Ponyville.”
“You mean that?”
“Of course,” Rarity replied. “I wouldn’t ask just anypony help me with the finishing touches, even if you didn’t really know why blue was the perfect color.”
Petal Dust smiled. “You caught that?”
“Well, it was rather obvious, dear,” Rarity answered. Petal Dust let out a small chuckle. “The point is, as talented as you are, this task called for a different set of skills, ones the mayor felt fit my talents better. Look around and tell me what you think.”
Petal Dust looked at the drapes and banners, the curtains and bows, and nodded. “You’re right. It’s perfect.” I never could have done this, she silently added in a moment of honest introspection, and for once, she was all right with that.
“Thank you, dear,” Rarity said. “Now, I understand you and Pinkie have prepared quite the party for us tonight.”
Petal gasped, suddenly remembering why she’d come here in the first place. “Rarity! I need your help!”
“What’s the matter, darling?” Rarity asked with a frown.
“Just grab all the decorations you didn’t use and come with me,” Petal Dust replied. “We need to get to the library.”
“Library? Why on earth would the library need decorations?”
Petal Dust smiled. “I’m working with Pinkie Pie. Do you really need to ask?”
After probably the fastest decorating job Ponyville had ever seen, the Welcome party was ready. Applejack had brought a few apple fritters to complement the cupcakes, and Rarity was using her magic to put the final touches on the decorations. “That you so much,” Petal Dust said to the white unicorn. “It would have taken me forever.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, dear,” Rarity replied. “I must say, you and Pinkie make quite the team.”
“No kiddin’,” Applejack said. “Ah’ve never heard o’ anypony throwin’ two Pinkie parties at the same time.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Petal Dust said with a smile. Rarity shot her a quizzical look. “Well, okay, it was pretty hard.”
“Well, you sure did a bang-up job,” Applejack said. “Speakin’ o’ which, where is Pinkie?”
“Right here!” The pink mare burst through the doors with several red bottles. “Wow! This looks fantastic!”
“What’s that?” Rarity asked, eying the bottles nervously.
“Hot sauce!” Pinkie replied. “It goes great on cupcakes! Wanna try one?”
“Ah’ll take yer word for it, sugar cube,” Applejack said. “By the way, who’s takin’ care o’ yer other party?”
“I am,” Petal Dust answered.
“You?” Rarity said. “But what about all the work you just did here?”
“I’ve put a lot of work into the other one, too,” Petal replied with a smile. “Besides, it’s at my house. I should probably be there to make sure things don’t get too crazy.”
“Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie said. “We’ll stay here and surprise the new pony when she gets here!”
“You mean Miss Twilight?” Applejack said. “You mean ta tell me you’re throwin’ her this party and you don’t even know her name?”
“Well, yeah,” Pinkie replied. “If I knew her name, that would mean she wasn’t new here, and why would I throw her a Welcome-to-Ponyville party if she wasn’t new?”
Petal Dust smiled as she walked out the door. The sun was beginning to set, and she saw several ponies coming toward the library. Looks like we’ll have a decent turnout here, she thought as she trotted through the streets. A few minutes later, she arrived at her house and pushed open the door.
“Hey, Dust!” Phonograph said. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine,” Petal replied. “Looks like the Welcome party is going to be a hit.”
“Is anypony coming here?” Phonograph asked. “I’ve been practicing my DJ skills all afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s what that noise was.”
“Ha ha, very funny.” Phonograph shook his head with a roll of his eyes.
“I saw a lot of ponies headed toward the library, but we should get a good crowd here, too,” Petal Dust said. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I could fit everypony here, she thought as she looked around her living room. Maybe having two parties was the better way to go, after all.
“Hey, listen, I’m sorry if I brushed you off earlier,” Phonograph said. “I know town hall meant a lot to you.”
“It’s all right,” Petal replied, stifling a yawn. “You were right all along. Rarity was the right pony for the job.”
“So, you’re cool?”
“Well, of course I’m cool,” Petal Dust replied as she lay down on the couch. “I’m one of Ponyville’s best party planners.”
Phonograph smiled. “You sure are. Hey, I was thinking about starting out with one of Vinyl’s remixes. What do you think? Petal?”
The only response Phonograph got was a loud snore from the pale green pony on the couch. He smiled and shook his head as he flipped through his music. “All right, Dust. I guess you’ve earned a nap.”
