My hooves pounded along the concrete and crowded roads of Manehattan, my eyes searching the sky and my wings itching to fly. The city had recently put in a no-fly zone, mostly to protect the pegasi from the city’s recent pollution problems. It made sense—seeing as I was being dragged to a conference for it—but it was still frustrating.

The conference wasn't even that exciting. It wasn't a real conference like the Cloudsdale one. Weather reps just sat around a table and talked their heads off all day. But I had to be there as Ponyville Weather Manager to give our little town some say. Not that I was saying much, as the big city ponies dominated all of the "discussion." That’s bureaucracy for you. Ugh.

Regardless of my opinions on the poorly laid out weather management system that prevented me from taking to the skies, my eyes were searching like I was. And so I caught a glimpse of a bright yellow flank and brilliant red mane through the throng of bodies. The vaguely familiar colors stood out against the other ponies, yet they weren't a shining neon like the abundant advertisements.

Thinking I recognized the pony, I paused and flapped my wings ever so slightly to raise me up in the air. On the opposite side of the street, I saw two very familiar ponies: Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, the former carrying a bag in her mouth. Scootaloo was nowhere in sight, but if two of the Crusaders were here, she couldn't be too far behind. I put the question of why they were here on hold; it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders after all.

They hadn't noticed me yet and probably wouldn't, as they had already passed me and were headed in the opposite direction. I turned and crossed the street swiftly, managing to avoid any of the pony-powered taxis that ran down the road at full speed. The two fillies were now directly ahead of me, tails bobbing as they walked. I trailed them a ways behind, yet close enough to not lose track of them. While I highly doubted something was going to happen to them, particularly given Apple Bloom's bucking skills and Sweetie Belle's piercing, ready-to-be-weaponized wails, it couldn't hurt to keep a close eye on them. Definitely preferable to going back to my hotel room and reading.

The two of them weaved their way through the crowd with almost practiced ease, like they had been here numerous times before. I had to occasionally jog to catch up with them, sliding past the other ponies. They turned off the street we had been on and crossed to a nicer part of town, causing my internal eyebrow to raise a little more.

Here, the ponies grew sparser and the buildings nicer, more artistic. The architecture was more elaborate than before, carved columns taking the place of bland pillars and white marble everywhere it would look good. It was the art area of the city, a fact that should have provided me with a clue, but still left me with no idea where they were going. I assumed they'd be finding Scootaloo, but why would she be in the art district? The only time I had been here was during that mess with Rarity's fashion line, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my li'l sis hated dresses.

Eventually, the pair turned down a side alley beside a tall theater, signs out front advertising something with a swan on it. I sped up my pace, reaching a run, and hit the entrance to the small path. I didn't worry about stealth anymore, as I knew they had reached the end of their journey. Even still, when the pair reached a door in the side of the building, they didn't see me. I wanted to facehoof at their obliviousness, but there wasn't much I could do.

Apple Bloom knocked on a door leading to the large structure. It was a complicated knock, the kind that you only wanted one person to answer. Like a certain best friend.

“Girls? What are you doing?” I called. Sweetie Belle was the first to turn, eyes opening wide. She lifted a hoof and frantically waved it to the side, trying to get me out of sight of the doorway. Raising an eyebrow, I did what she said and scooted up next to the building, hiding in its shadow.

A few seconds later, I heard the door open. “Oh, you're back! Did you get the things?” Scootaloo's voice came from the doorway, easily recognizable, but with a bit of a nervous tinge to it.

Apple Bloom just stood there with the bag in her mouth, leaving the explanation up to Sweetie. Probably for the best, as none of the Apples were any good at making up stories. Rarity on the other hand… “The things? Of course we got the things. Except one. We forgot one thing. So Apple Bloom and I are going to go get that one! Right AB?” She nudged the earth pony in the flank, causing her to nod her head enthusiastically.

“Mhmm!”

“O-kay. Just come back quick, 'kay? I've got to start practicing soon.”

“Yep! We'll be back in a dash! Wait, no, not a Dash. We'll be back in a flash!” Sweetie gave a nod, fake grin plastered on her face, then turned to walk away. Apple Bloom joined her after a moment, but they both froze when Scootaloo’s voice came from the doorway again.

“Aren't you going to leave what you brought at least?”

Sweetie Belle chuckled weakly, and I couldn't help but chuckle with her. Apple Bloom turned back and dropped the bag in the doorway, then the door slammed shut with an aura of light green magic. As soon as it was shut, the little unicorn went running down the alley to me.

“What are you doing here, Rainbow Dash?!”

I shrugged, not sure how it was a super big deal. “I was in town for a weather convention. I saw you and Apple Bloom walking the streets and decided to follow you. What's goin' on?”

“What's goin' on is that Scoots doesn't wanna have anypony see her like this.” Apple Bloom had caught up to her friend and was now giving me the same exasperated look.

“See her like what?”

“Uhhh, nothin'.” Her face broke out in a color matching her mane.

“Both of you really need to be better liars. Now, can I get a clear answer about what is going on?”

Sweetie Belle sighed and hung her head. “Scootaloo is doing a ballet performance today and didn't want you to know that she does dance.”

My heart skipped a beat, but resumed without a problem. Why would she hide that from me? She should know by now that I don't care what she does as long as it makes her happy. I guess there was still some of that “being her idol” thing going on instead of being her big sister. Well, whatever it was, it'd end today. “Well is she any good?”

“Huh?” they both chimed, saying it at almost the exact same time.

“Is she any good?” I repeated, a smile creeping onto my face.

That smile was mirrored by the two friends, the meaning of my question finally dawning upon them. “She's great! She's practically the best in her age group, even if she can't fly very well. Not that she could use her wings for this performance anyways.”

“Well then what's to be ashamed of? If she kicks butt, then she should have no problem with telling ponies.” My wings flapped on my back, urging to take off and let me “talk” using them like I was used to, but I managed to restrain myself.

“She doesn't wanna let ponies like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon make fun ah her for it.”

I placed a hoof on my chin, rubbing it in mock thought. “Well I'll make a deal with you two. If you can get me in there without being noticed by Scootaloo, I won't tell your sisters you were here unbeknownst to them.”

“How'd ya know they didn't know?”

“'Cause you just told me. Now, about that deal...”

The two of them facehoofed at their own stupidity while I was laughing at the fact that the oldest trick in the book worked. Regretfully, Apple Bloom spit into her hoof and held it out. “Deal.” I did the same and we shook hooves, sealing the agreement.

The two of them walked back over to the door with me following. “Okay Dash, wait here and crouch out of sight until I open the door. It's locked from the outside to prevent thieves from raiding the theater.”

“Sweetie, it doesn't even have a handle on the outside.”

“Well, that helps too. Don't make a peep.” The two of them walked up to the door again, knocking with the same knock. It only took seconds for my sister to answer, waving them in and shutting the door moments later.

I didn't know how long I'd have to wait, but it was only noon. If it was a ballet recital, I'd bet that it'd take place around dinnertime. Most performances did. My stomach chose that time to growl, reminding me that I'd probably be going without food for a while. But for Scootaloo, it was worth it. Totally worth it. And given the district of Manehattan we were in, it was probably a really big deal. A really, really big deal. So even making it here to perform was pretty fantastic for her. Judging by the fanciness of the place, it was equivalent to being in a junior Wonderbolts show.

I waited and waited, but it was probably only ten minutes before Sweetie Belle cracked open the door again. “The coast is clear!”

I trotted inside and glanced around. We came out onto one of the backstage areas where numerous fillies were attempting to put on their outfits, all of them various ages. Each one had been tailor-made to the pony to fit quite snugly, probably through use of elastic material, but I could still see the tailor running around to make last-minute adjustments. In fact, with the cream coat and light turquoise mane, the dressmaker was quite familiar.

“Coco!” I called out, forgetting my goal of hiding for a moment. I quickly crossed the distance between us and gave the mare a hug, carefully avoiding the pointy needle she held in the crook of a hoof. Her eyes lit up in happiness and surprise, eagerly returning the gesture.

“Rainbow Dash! It's been too long since I last saw you and the girls. I just got snowed over with work, but these dresses were hopefully the last of it. What are you doing here?”

“My little sister is participating tonight apparently.”

“Oooo, who is it?”

“Her name's Scootaloo. Orange filly with a purple mane, kinda small wings.”

Coco's hooves flew to her mouth, dropping the needle. “Scootaloo? Oh, her dress was amazing to work on, and she really is one of the best performers here. But I'm sure you've seen one of her recitals before, so I don’t have to tell you that.”

I rubbed the back of my neck with a hoof, letting out a small nervous chuckle. “Actually, I haven't.”

“What? Well then, you have to stay. They gave me a box to view the show, but forgot I’d be down here working on the dresses.” She paused and giggled, both of us laughing a little at the oversight. “And, though I'm sorry to ask, could you help me with these last few dresses? I remember you weren't too bad with a needle yourself.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Sweetie Belle thwacked me with her tail first. “As much as I am sure she would love to help, we're trying to keep her presence here a secret from Scootaloo.”

“Scootaloo will be on stage practicing for the next three hours, and then she goes back to her dressing room, not here. So you'll be quite safe.” Coco gave me a smile, trying to convince me to stay.

The unicorn leaned up to whisper in my ear, “I tried,” before running off into a hallway, probably where Apple Bloom was.

I looked up at Coco again, a more-than-slightly forced smile on my face. “So, dresses?”

Dresses. So many dresses. I loathed to think what Scootaloo's looked like after dealing with that many dresses. Coco had mentioned it was amazing to work on, but I had no idea what that could mean. She had mostly enlisted my help to get the littler kids into their dresses, which wasn't as hard as it could have been. They were a bit looser and didn't require any more stitching; it was just time-consuming. Most of them just had zippers that needed to be zipped up, though a few had some strange tail part of their dress. It went over their normal tail, covering it up completely.

And white. There was so much white, the only relief being a single black outfit I saw. And it wasn’t even on somepony. But worse than the white was the feathers. Feathers everywhere! Most of the tutus were made entirely of feathers. So one got knocked loose every now and then, leading to the floor being completely covered.

Finally, a good two hours later, the last of the fillies were dressed and run out to stage, leaving Coco and me standing there alone. She put her exhausted sewing supplies back into a small box, and then put that into a saddlebag sitting in a corner. Turning to me with a tired smile on her face, she pushed a stray hair out of her eyes. “Wow Rainbow, you helped out a lot. I never would have gotten those done as fast as I did without you.”

I chuckled, waving the thanks away with a hoof. “It's no problem Coco. I would've had to find some way to kill the time till Scoots' performance anyways. When is that, exactly?”

She glanced towards a large clock on the wall, the time reading just past two o'clock. “The younger fillies start at five-thirty, then the older ones and Scootaloo are at seven. There's a thirty-minute intermission between the two, mostly so that the younger ones can go ahead and leave with their parents if they want. Tonight's ballet is going to be huge! Have you ever seen one?”

“Nope! Fluttershy tried to drag me to one before, but I had to decline.”

The other mare let out a giggle. “I can see that happening. You’re in for a real treat then. And speaking of treats, would you like a bite to eat? I'm sure there's food back here somewhere.”

My smile grew even bigger, appeasing my stomach at last. I trotted over to Coco and threw a hoof around her shoulder, pulling her into a slightly awkward side hug. “Food sounds absolutely fantastic.”