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The flyers were left at the school grounds, dumped in piles and stuck up in place the teacher’s definitely weren’t quite happy about. The wind swept a lot of them away, all across the oval and into the play equipment, caught under bushes and really just made a horrible mess. But it meant that at least someone would be picking them up for a quick read and maybe a few someone’s would take the bait. Kids were pretty gullible after all.

All the supplies were ready; balloons, streamers, cool party things, a smoke machine, bags of chips with more air than chips. Unfortunately Shrill X had woken up with a whopping great headache, thoroughly hungover, and she needed this time to recover before the next party started. That's where her 'helpers' were going to come in.

Shrill X was counting on at least three to turn up. Four would be even better. If more showed, then ‘hell yeah!’; she’d have a mini army doing all her work for her! She stuck up a sign just outside the warehouse door reading ‘CHARITY HELPERS PLS c** IN’ and then laughed at how funny she was.

Thunder Bird always had papers of her own. Plans drawn up on thick craft paper (vellum was expensive!) and crayons (because they were cheaper than drafting pencils!). Things that looked like disembodied wings and little pony drawings that resembled jellybeans with sticks for feet were scribbled across page after page.

It was in a neat stack until the wind picked up in a sudden gust and flung some of it from her folder.

"Hey!" she shouted. "Come back here!"

As she scurried to retrieve her pages, she saw some had slipped into the bushes around the school yard. She pulled them up one by one until she stopped at a leaflet she didn't recognize.

"...Make your way to warehouse 59 in the business district this afternoon for an hour of charity," she quoted. "Huh! 'Joy and happiness to many'! Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

She stuffed her papers into a more secure backpack and took flight towards the warehouse. It wasn't long until she was pushing open the large door and looking in.

"Hhhhheeeelllloooo~"

Spending time doing charity work was all well and good, but what kind of good deeds were done in a warehouse? Dragonfly eyed the door and sign suspiciously- this was exactly the type of setup that bad cartoon villains used to lure in gullible victims. She looked at the flyer she'd brought along with her, then looked back at the warehouse door.

It still seemed like a trap to her, but if it was... well, that might mean there was a damsel- or dude- in distress. She still needed to investigate. Just in case.

Pushing her way in, she was relieved to see that

There were three other fillies there, none of whom she knew. A cream-colored earth filly with dark eyes, a bright orange pegasus, and an incredibly sparkly merphony, who she briefly gazed at in something resembling awe. She'd never seen anybody quite that glittery before. There was also an adult, who... was possibly in charge? She should talk to that one first, probably.

Dragonfly looked at the mare, thinking of what to say. She figured she probably shouldn't start with "Hey lady, what the heck are you doing with your vague flyers and extremely creepy location?"– after all, if this was the organizer, then she was probably a very nice lady who maybe just needed a little help. And that's what they were there for, right? So she decided to start being helpful.

"Did you know you spelled come wrong?" she asked, cocking her head and trying to look helpful.

Red Velvet stood off to the side, watching other fillies and colts go in through the entrance.

She and her Mommy saw the flyers and had encourage her to come. Her mommy was a big helper, good at listening to other phonies' problems and offering advice.... so she agreed right away. Plus Velvet didnt have anything else to do in her spare time and she loved helping others out.

It was just that Red Velvet was super shy, and can be awkward at times. But she can do this. Taking a deep breath, she followed the colt before her and stayed near the wall.

No need to socialize all at once, she just needed a moment and then she will be ready.

The flyers were meaningless to him. It wasn't the pieces of paper that had attracted him to the gathering. The mer bab simply had been wandering about the area looking for something fun to do, from a distance he spied the various other babs going into the building. His interested was peaked and curiousity caused him to float along, hovering his mer body over.

As he came in, he made a slightly face, "What's all this for? Helpers.. pfft for what?" However has he grimaced and half complained, his eyes caught sight of the fog machine and he started to imagine all the ruckus that could happen if the machine was cranked to 11.

Satisfied that the adult now knew how to spell the word "come" properly, Dragonfly fluttered her wings and listened to the instructions. Seemed pretty straightforward, though she still didn't know what kind of party was held in a warehouse. Maybe it was in such a location because it wasn't expensive? That'd make sense, really, if you were going to give the leftover money to charity. She wondered what kind of charity it would be for- and wouldn't you know it, the nice lady was ok with questions.

"I've got a question!" she squeaked. "What kind of charity is this for? Hungry kids? Animals? Something else?"

Catwalk couldn't have look more put out if she tried. "Why aren't you in charge?" she countered, because even being put on the top of the heap, she was still a fighter. "You just don't want to herd, that's it, isn't it?" Dark eyes squinted at Shrill X. Exasperated, she uttered a sigh that seemed to come from the very tips of her hooves. "Fine, Birdy." No name? No problem. Catwalk wouldn't remember it anyway.

Glancing over to Dragonfly, the prissy little babben scowled. "Does it matter? It's a good thing. Even if it's for Phonies that don't deserve it, like fashionless goons or politicians, it's a good thing. Just be happy with that." She sure wasn't going to ask. Just do her part and go on her way. Even so, the Alicorn was rather nice to look at (even if it made her seethe a little to think so), so with a grandiose roll of her odd eyes, Catwalk motioned to the other with a hoof. "You're aren't offensive to look at. Clean up the front area, maybe get some nice lighting in that direction, and greet people as they come in. They'll be too distracted by you to notice the freak show we have working."

The one that whined about balloons instantly made her cringe, grinding her teeth. "Then go take care of the balloons! Go...go take charge of your destiny, or something!" Catwalk wrinkled her nose and waved the brightly colored Phony off. "Just don't disperse them evenly, it'll look like heinous clown underloos. Be creative. Hang them from the ceiling if you have to."

Dragonfly rolled her eyes at Little Miss Bossybritches- of all the backhanded compliments! She could deal with the slings and arrows of outrageous demands, but she wasn't going to let the dark-eyed filly trample over everyone else.

"Freak show? Really? That's a nice thing to say about folks who showed up out of the goodness of their hearts." Except maybe the blue mer kid- he seemed to be more interested in the fog machine than in helping out.

She flicked her tail and started sweeping near the front. She'd thought she'd volunteer to help with streamers- after all, she could fly a little, and with what little magic she had, she'd be able to at least hold them up long enough to tack them in place- but something told her that this time, discretion was the better part of valour. This wasn't about her, this was about the... charity, whatever it was. She wasn't here to stand out, she was here to help as quickly and efficiently as possible.