As it turned out, rounding up volunteers for a community project was no trot in the park. A newspaper kiosk pony was uninterested in spreading the word because ‘it was never a good time’, a popcorn vendor pony didn’t want to help because ‘she had her own problems’, and some rich pony, while interested, was too lazy to lift a hoof while claiming to be too busy running his oat and hay import/export business before he snoozed on a floaty in a public pond.

“This is a nightmare...” Coco bemoaned back in her apartment later on.

“Oh, not at all, darling,” Rarity inspected a nice hat in her telekinetic aura, “It’s quite lovely.”

“Ah think she was talkin’ about th’ Midsummer Theater Revival?” Applejack deadpanned, Soarin adding, ‘Duh’.

“I’ve finished the alterations for ‘My Fair Filly’, but I’ve barely started the costumes for the Revival,” Coco worried, “and the Method Mares are coming tomorrow for a costume fitting and rehearsal!”

“Well, I could help you with the costumes,” Rarity volunteered.

“But what’re we gonna do about the rest?” Coco continued to fret, “The park is in desperate need of repairs, and the sets still need to be built!”

“Well Ah know a thing or two`bout fixin’ things,” Applejack added, “It’s kinda, well, muh thing!”

“And I’m no stranger to a little hard work,” Soarin stood up beside AJ, “You and Rarity can finish up the costumes while AJ and I get things ready for the play in the park!”

“You see, dear?” Rarity said kindly to Coco, “We went out looking for volunteers when all the help you need is right here.”

Both Applejack and Soarin said ‘Uh-huh’ in agreement as Rarity added, “The map wouldn't have chosen just Applejack, Soarin, and myself if it was more than we could handle. Everything is going to be just fine!”

The confidence the friends had felt earlier quickly deflated when they saw the dismal state of the community park where the Revival was supposed to take place. It was painfully obvious that the park hadn’t been attended to for a looooong time. The paths were overgrown with weeds and ivy, long-dead flowerbeds were littered with fallen leaves and pieces of trash, dirt and moss coated park benches, a statue of a mare, and what had once been the stage for the old Midsummer Theater Revival back in Charity’s day was now a decrepit shack that looked like it was bout to fall apart.

“Perhaps I spoke too soon...” Rarity murmured timidly.

“Oh dear, you’re right!” Coco looked to Applejack and Soarin, “Are you sure the both of you can handle this by yourselves?”

“Well, there’s a lot to do...” Soarin commented in a slightly overwhelmed way.
“But th’ map wouldn’a called us here if we weren’ up to th’ challenge,” Applejack stepped forward, sounding upbeat, “You two go an’ take care o’ th’ costumes. Soar an’ Ah will see you at th’ dress rehearsal.”

Seeing the two fashionistas leave, Soarin asked, “Applejack, I’m totally up for giving this my best, but... Do you really think we can clean all this up and get that stage ready in time?”

“Well, we ain’t gonna get things done standin’ here an’ flappin’ our gums,” Applejack gulped at the workload they had in front of them but furrowed her brows. “Let’s get to it!”

First, they started weeding, which was harder than most would think, and they only had one wheelbarrow to hold the uprooted weeds. Though Soarin took the wheelbarrow to empty it in the nearest dumpster, it still slowed their progress, which they hardly made. To try and speed things along, they tried using push-lawnmowers, which was tiring and really worked up a sweat. Applejack almost ruined her hat but thankfully Soarin had seen her drop it and was quick enough to swipe it out from the path of her lawnmower. After they’d made a wide-enough clearing, they started tearing off the vines and ivy snaring the park benches and clearing away the moss on the statue, but unfortunately one vine Applejack yanked on caused said statue to almost topple on top of her, but thankfully Soarin held it up just long enough for Applejack to clear it perfectly.

They were getting tired, and there was still work to be done to fix up the stage. But they decided to take a quick break before continuing on.

“HOO!” Soarin collapsed onto his back, feeling the prickly unevenly cut grass poke into his coat while his sweat made him feel slimy and hot. “Reminds me of how wiped out I felt after a day of training under Silver Lining!”

“Let’s jus’... catch our breath, sugarcube,” Applejack fanned herself with her hat, “Then we gotta... get t’ workin’ on th’ stage.”

“I don’t think so!”

The two friends looked up to see an unusual trio who didn’t look friendly. One was a drake, with brick-red scales, a purplish black belly and dull crimson eyes. She crossed her arms as her associates moved along side her. The second was a young zebra with orange eyes, his mane dyed completely jet-black, he had the characteristic black n’ white stripes, and his tribal mark looked like a spear. The last associate was a hippogryph with a faded tarmac black fur coat, faded yellow beak and faded green eyes.

The trio of teenagers gave off the aura of being straight-up trouble.

“And who are you three?” Soarin asked while narrowing his eyes.

“Alley Punch, and these here are my homeies Zigz and Street Streak,” the drake snarled, “and you're on our turf!”

“What she said!” Street Streak flared her wings to look scary.

“What’re you talking about?” Soarin stood up, confused. “This is a public park, it belongs to the city and everyone in it.”

Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say because it seemed to incense the three hoodlums, and Applejack was starting to see trouble brewing. The zebra colt, the drake, and hippogryph all seemed gearing for a scuffle, so the farmer stood up, saying, “Now, hold on, y’all. Let’s not go an’ start somethin’.”

“Shoulda thought o’ that before you came in here messing around with our space, ya feel me?” Street Streak growled.

“Well you’d all better scram before this gets unpleasant, ya feel me?” Soarin glared while flaring his own wings.

“Or what, homey?” Alley Punch snorted, a spark of fire shooting from her nostrils.

In response, Soarin suddenly launched skyward, and they all watched as he zoomed and zipped about, cloud-busting some stray clouds that the local weather office hadn’t bothered to take care of lately. His past training as a Wonderbolt, along with his study and recent practice in weather, allowed Soarin to bust those clouds up quicker than the trio and Applejack could follow, before he came back for a landing with a foreboding thud, looking solid as the steely look he gave them, causing them to step back, intimidated.

“Uh... whatever, fools!” Alley Punch huffed, “But you’d better believe we’re not done here, for real! Let’s bounce, y’all!”

Watching the three punks scurry away, Soarin sighed in relief when he heard Applejack clear her throat and saw the look on her face wasn’t exactly approving.
“Now, AJ, I was-”

“Soarin, tha’ was one o’ th’ dumbest things Ah’ve ever seen, somethin’ Ah’d expect from Rainbow Dash, but you?” Applejack glared.

“Applejack, I was never gonna get physical with them,” Soarin swore, though Applejack raised her brow. “Look, I’ve met lots of ponies and creatures like those three. They might have bark but might not be so keen to bite. In some cases, all you gotta do is stand up to those types and show them you’re not gonna back down. They’re like schoolyard bullies, acting all tough until you show them you won’t be pushed around.”

Soarin’s words rang true with Applejack, and she sighed, because she honestly had the same opinion, “Aw’right, Ah guess it’s fine ya didn’t throw any punches or did any actual harm...”

“Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, AJ,” Soarin sat down again, still feeling winded from the work they’d already don on the park, and showing off his moves hadn’t exactly helped.

“Nah, it’s fine, sugarcube,” Applejack waved it off. “Let’s jus’ enjoy our break, then we’ll get started on th’ stage.”

Thankfully Applejack and Soarin were able to make some modest progress on the stage before deciding to get started on painting when Rarity and Coco arrived with the costumes for the Revival, and found their friends painting a large slab of wood. The two mares gazed around and while the area did look a little better, they could tell there was still much work to be done.

“Ah know it ain’t much, but wer’ movin’ as fast as we can,” Applejack said tiredly before accidentally stepping into her can of paint, much to her chagrin. Though Soarin helpfully got it off her and offered a rag to wipe off the paint.

“Oh don’t worry, darlings. Things appear as though they’re coming along nicely,” Rarity assured, “After all, we’ve still got plenty of time before-”

“Um, excuse me?”

The four friends all seized up and looked to see four earth ponies had just arrived, two mares and two stallions, the older chap, On Stage, wearing a jacket and sunglasses as he asked, “Is this where the Midsummer Theater Revival is supposed to be, perchance?”

“We’re here for the dress rehearsal,” added the mare beside him, Raspberry Beret. She had a strawberry milk pink coat, a purple mane, and wore a sweater and a beret, just like the one symbolizing her cutie-mark.

“Oh yes!” Coco smiled, glad that the Method Mares were here, “We’ve just put the finishing touches on the costumes.”

“At least those look professional,” the younger stallion, Lateshow, said not-so-subtly to the other mare in the group, Stardom.

“We’ll do a dry run of the play first, and then the fitting,” said Raspberry Beret before she sauntered up onto the stage, where she began making weird noses, sputtering her lips and then vocalizing.

Soarin and Applejack gave Rarity and Coco weirded-out looks, and Rarity explained, “She’s finding her voice, darlings. Many actors and singers do similar exercises before performing.”

Raspberry Beret then cleared her throat and took in a deep breath... just as a loud grinding sound made itself known, to everypony’s confusion. Applejack looked in the direction it was coming from and gasped to see what was unmistakably a dumpster hurtling straight for the stage! She jumped onto the stage and pulled Raspberry out of the way, yelling, “LOOK OUT!!!”

*CRASHPLATTER-UMble...*

Everyone looked on in shock to see the dumpster had demolished the stage, bringing it all down and spreading garbage everywhere. As the shock and awe wore off, bringing with it the bitter sting of dispiriting disappointment, they all heard loud, raucous, obnoxious laughter and turned to see it was those three from earlier, as Alley Punch, Street Streak, and Zigz were high-fiving and pointing at their handiwork, looking far-too-pleased with themselves as the young dragon heckled, “Nice performance, dickheads! Really brought the house down!”

Coco whimpered as tears welled up in her eyes as her dreams of living up to Charity’s example had suddenly collapsed, just like the stage’s roof.

Without a stage or any ideas of how to fix the situation, the Method Mares had gone back to their hotel while Coco, Rarity, Applejack, and Soarin retreated to Coco’s apartment, where the poor mare was crying on her sofa, completely hopeless.

“I-I... just w-w-wanted to... to bring my neighborhood back together again!” sniffled Coco as she wiped her tears with a hanky offered to her by Rarity before she blew her nose with an adorable toot-like snort.

The three friends shared a despondent look, understanding the situation and how much it made Coco sad. The park was still a mess, they hadn’t even gotten to finding refreshments to serve during the performance, and what did that matter if they didn’t have a stage on which the Method Mares could perform?

“I don’t understand,” Rarity whispered to Applejack and Soarin, “The map sent us here to solve a friendship problem, we’ve clearly found it.”

“But why did it send the three of us?” Soarin asked the million bit question, “Twilight or Midnight could’ve fixed up that park with their magic in a flash!”

“Ah’ve been thinkin’ th’ same thing,” Applejack added, “Ah cin understand why it sent you here, Rarity. Coco’s yer friend an’ you’ve an eye fer costumes, an’ all. But whadda `bout you an’ me, Soar?”

Sighing, Soarin agreed, “Even together we were never gonna fix up that park and the stage in time for the performance! Not to mention, those three jerks ruined all our efforts!”

“We’ll return to Ponyville as failures!” Rarity despaired dramatically, falling into Soarin’s hooves, her own tears running her mascara, “Why must this be, friends?! Why, why, WH-”

Soarin slapped his wing over Rarity’s mouth, cutting her drama queen act and Applejack said, “Now hold on there, Ah’m not suggestin’ we pack up an’ go home!”

Rarity muffled something, trying to speak through Soarin’s wing, and he removed it, smiliing sheepishly as Rarity spat out a piece of fluff, “Then what are you suggesting?”

“Ah’m suggestin’ we stop worryin’ `bout wha’ we can’t do,” Applejack declared decisively, “an’ start doin’ wha’ we can. Coco? Sugarcube?””

Sniffling, Coco turned over on the sofa to look at Applejack as the farmer said, “Ah think Ah’ve gotta plan. It won’ be anythin’ big `r fancy, but it’ll be somethin’.”

“Well, something is definitely better than nothing,” Soarin agreed before bringing up, “But don’t forget Alley Punch and those other two. What exactly is their problem that they don’t want this performance going on, I have to wonder.”

“Well, fer wha’ Ah got planned,” Applejack assured, “Ah don’ think we’ll hav’ to worry too much from them varmints.”

“Even so, I think I’m gonna have a word with those three,” Soarin flapped up off the balcony, calling, “I’ll be back in a flash!” before flying off.

It took a while, but Soarin managed to find Alley Punch, Street Streak, and Zigz hanging out on the other side of the park. But upon observing them, Soarin noticed how they were talking amongst themselves looking excitedly at a poster advertising the play ‘Hinny of the Hills’. The question was why? From what Soarin gathered, these three had been so against a play of any kind taking place in the park he’d assumed they didn’t like theater.

“I just love the music,” Alley Punch commented with a dreaming sigh.
“Don’t forget the dancing!” Street Streak added, “The way the actors move along with the rhythm, it makes you wanna get up and dance along too!”
“And it’s always so amazing to watch a good story besides just reading about it,” Zigz nodded before sighing woefully. “I just wish that... we could afford tickets.”

“Where was that love of theater earlier today?”

The three young hoodlums jumped and turned to see Soarin leaning against a lamppost, giving them a look.

“Wha- You- We-!” Alley Punch stuttered, trying to save face when Zigz covered her mouth with his hoof and gave Soarin a regarding look.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” Soarin approached them cooly, even as Alley and Street raised their wings but Zigz didn’t display any hostility as Soarin asked, “I’m not here to trade blows or barbs, you three. All I wanna ask, is why? Why don’t you want the Midsummer Theater Revival to take place if you like theater so much? I can see it in your eyes that you want to see that ‘Hinny of the Hills’ play so much, but why would you ruin the chance to see another play for free?”

Alley Punch and Street Streak shared an uncomfortable look, but Zigz took a deep breath and answered for them, “It’s because... Look, we’re a gang that’s hardly even a gang. There’s lotsa gangs here in Manehatten but only the biggest, toughest, and most ruthless gangs get any respect around here. But lookit us! We’re only three members, we don’t even have a name, and the only turf we have is the park because none of the other gangs want it!”

“But it’s still our turf!” Alley Punch snarled, “And that means defending it an’ keepin’ schmos out no matter what!”

“It’s not that we hate the Midsummer Theater Revival,” Street Streak said, sounding guilty, “As a matter of fact, we’d love to see it! But if we let everypony go in and out and doing whatever in our territory, the other gangs would never take us seriously ever!”

“So we kept tellin’ off that Coco pony to shove out,” Alley grumbled, starting to sound guilty as well, “We didn’t wanna throw that dumpster into the park, but-”

“Alright, enough,” Soarin interrupted, “I don’t know why you three even want to be a gang or think you should have respect of others who would bully or mock you just because you don’t meet their standards of what a gang is! Don’t take this the wrong way, but when I saw you looking so excited at that poster and expressing how you love theater, I didn’t see a gang of ruthless troublemakers, I saw three good friends talking about something they all have in common and love!”

Those words stunned Alley, Street, and Zigz as they shared regarding looks, but Soarin kept going.

“Not to mention, you don’t really care about the park at all, do you?” Soarin pointed out, “If you did, you’d have cleaned it up a long time ago! All it is to you guys is a waste of space you think you gotta protect just to have some meaningless sense of accomplishment.”

That point was well made, and it made the three young gangster wannabes feel increasingly guilty and uncomfortable, so Soarin sighed.
“Look guys, I can’t tell you how to live your lives, but if you’re willing to hear one pony’s opinion, I say you three should be better than that! I’m sure you’ve probably heard that before, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Coco wanted to bring back the Revival to restore the spirit of her neighborhood’s community and remind everypony of something special. You could be a part of that too. Or not. The choice is yours.”

Then Soarin took flight and left Alley Punch, Street Streak, and Zigz to wonder.

The sun was just beginning to set as Applejack and Soarin put the finishing touches on a small and simple stage that faced outwards to the street instead of inwards to the park. It had curtains, a sign over it with the theatrical joy and sorrow mask symbols, and hanging lanterns providing a soft radiance.

“Alright. y’all, it’s ready!” Applejack declared, and she, Soarin, and Rarity were glad to see Coco smile.

The earth pony and pegasus hopped off the stage just as On Stage poked his head through the curtains, looking around to see no audience, but he asked, “Should we go ahead and start?”

When Coco nodded, On Stage stepped back behind the curtains and moments later they parted to reveal himself standing as a desk and Raspberry Beret, dressed up like Charity Kindheart.

“Excuse me, I’m Charity Kindheart,” Raspberry acted as she brought out a cardboard prop made to look like a rack of costumes, “I’m here about the open design position. I’ve brought some samples of my work...”

As the Method Mares continued the performance, one by one, passerby began to take notice of what was going. They paused to stop and listen, before they began to sit down and watch. After only the first scene, Applejack, Soarin, Rarity, and Coco marveled to see the many ponies the play was attracting, including a colt who asked his mother if they could stay and watch, a construction worker who fondly remembered going to the Midsummer Revival with his father, and so many more.

Among the growing audience, Soarin almost didn’t see them, but there they were, standing at the fringes. Alley Punch, Street Streak, and Zigz, looking guilty but enthralled as the play went on, transfixed but troubled, like they didn’t belong here. Then Soarin noticed the popcorn vendor pony they’d met earlier that day and had an idea. He excused himself from his friends and bought a bag of popcorn before going over to those three youngsters.

“What’s a good show without popcorn?” he offered with a kind smile, to Alley, Street, and Zigz’ bewilderment. “The Midsummer Theater Revival is for everyone. Enjoy the show, guys.”

He left the popcorn with them, which they reluctantly began to sample before truly enjoying themselves as the play went on.

“So nice of you to put on this play for the neighborhood,” said Stardom, still in character.

“I couldn't have done it without everypony's help!” Raspberry Beret continued to act while using a prop sewing machine, “I know it's not Bridleway, but-”

“Oh, pish-tosh! It's perfect, dear!”

The audience was absolutely enthralled, a warm and comforting atmosphere bringing them all together, as a stallion moved aside for an elderly mare.
“Oh, you're such a dear, thank you! This is so nice. Haven't seen the neighborhood this friendly since Charity moved away!”

Though those words weren’t directed at her, Coco couldn’t help but feel so very happy as the audience applauded for the end of the play while the Method Mares gave a bow.

“Thank you, fillies and gentlecolts,” Onstage called out, “Please give a warm welcome to the one who made this entire event possible – our neighbor Coco Pommel!”

The audience cheered for Coco, who blushed and eep’d as she was lifted up and crowd-surfed onto the stage where she cleared her throat.
“Thank you all so much for coming. The Midsummer Theater Revival was always something that meant so much to me, and it seems it means quite a lot to all of you as well. I really can't take all the credit, though. My dear friends Rarity, Applejack, and Soarin helped me ever so much.”

The three mentioned ponies came on stage to accept the audience’s praise as well.
“Oh please, darlings, it was just a few costumes,” Rarity said with a humble smile.
“Aw shucks, Ah jus happen t’ be good wit’ a hammer, is all,” Applejack blushed, “T’ be honest, we had much bigger plans t’ start.”
“But when those plans didn’t work out, we decided to make things simpler,” added Soarin, “and all of this was the result. Also, I think there’s somepony here who has something to say.”

The others and the audience shared a confused look as Soarin gestured someone to the stage, and Coco gasped to see Alley Punch, Street Streak, and Zigz show up, the three of them looking ashamed.

There was a pregnant pause as the awkward moment ended with Alley Punch clearing her throat and saying, “Coco Pommel, my friends and I owe you a really big apology, and an apology to everyone else here. We were the ones who were getting in the way of your plans to bring back the Revival.”

There were several gasps amongst the crowd when Street Streak spoke up, “We thought we were protecting something that was ours, but it turns out it was never ours to begin with, and we were getting in the way of you trying to bring back something wonderful!”

“We know it can’t begin to make up for all that we’ve done,” Zigz said as he led his friends in bowing shamefully, “but we are really-really sorry, and if you’ll give us a chance we’ll do whatever we can to make up for all the trouble we’ve caused you.”

Again there was a pregnant pause as everypony waited for how Coco would respond. The kind earth pony stepped over and gently lifted Zigz’s face to look at her as she said, “Well, whether for the Revival or other theatre projects, it’s always nice to have some help.”

Zigz, Street, and Alley all smiled and nodded as the crowd applauded Coco’s forgiveness and then everypony dispersed and began to talk to each other, like they hadn’t done for such a long time. There were friendly faces catching up with their neighbors, some talking to the Method Mares, and Alley, Street, and Zigz were already talking to some other hopeful volunteers about cleaning up the park for everyone to enjoy.

Two ponies approached Coco and her friends, the mare saying, “We just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the Midsummer Theater Revival and how much it inspired us!”

“Oh yeah?” Soarin smirked.

“I used to think that to help my community I had to do something big,” said the stallion with the mare, “and let’s face it! In this day and age, who has the time for such a commitment? But here, you did something as simple as building a stage and putting on a play, and look at how it’s brought everypony together!”

“I saw Coco’s flyers for volunteers, but didn’t think that anything I’d have the time to do would be that useful,” said the mare, “Now I wish I’d offered to help, even if it was just pulling a few weeds or planting a few flowers.”

“Not sure if you’d noticed,” Applejack spoke up, “but th’ park is far from bein’ fixed up.”

“And those three,” Soarin pointed out Alley, Street, and Zigz, “are already asking around if anyone would like to volunteer with them to fix things up and make the park the way it should be.”

“Ah imagine if you look around an’ work t’gether,” Applejack added, “you’ll find plenty o’ lil’ things t’ do fer you t’ get involved in changin’ this place for th’ better!”

“And I will!” declared the mare.
“And I think we have some young folks to talk to,” the stallion added as he and his friend walked towards Alley, Street, and Zigz.

Then, the three friends felt a familiar tingling and saw their cutie-marks lighting up and glowing inwards, signaling to them that their work here was done, Applejack YA-HOO-ing, “We did it!”

She hugged Rarity and Soarin, Rarity suddenly gasping, “I figured it out!”

“Figured what out?” Applejack asked.

“Why the map called you here, darling,” Rarity explained, “If Twilight had used her magic to fix the park it wouldn’t have fixed the real problem, which is that these Manehatten ponies didn’t think they had time to do something for their community.”

“Of course!” Soarin gasped, “By building the stage and making sure the play went on, Applejack, you showed them that even doing something small, you can make a big difference!”

“Well, Ah’ll be,” Applejack perked, “An’ Soarin, you showed them young’uns a better path an’ now they’re on their own way t’ becomin’ better than they were before!”

“Heh-heh, everyone deserves a chance to become better versions of themselves,” Soarin responded, “But all the same, let’s head to the train station. i miss my Dashie.”

“An’ Ah miss muh lil’ sis,” Applejack agreed as they began walking down the road, “Ah’m hopin’ th’ Sisterhooves Social went okay fer her an’ Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh absolutely, dears- !!” Rarity flinched before saying, “Just as soon as I stop that pony in the shop over there from purchasing that dreadfully hideous scarf!”

She ran off, shouting, “Stop! You're making a terrible mistake!”

Applejack and Soarin sighed but shared an amused smile.

Next Chapter: 299. Scare Master - Part 1 Estimated time remaining: 37 Hours, 33 Minutes