86-34: Arc 1: Fight the Power, Fight the Fad

“I’m Perry Mic, reporting live from the site of a new research building in Fillydelphia known as Alicorp Industries. Taking their name from ‘Alicornite’,the material that makes up a unicorn’s horn,Alicorp Industries centers on the research of new spells and magic abilities of unicorns. With me is CEO QuickSilver . Tell me,Miss Quicksilver, what does your company hope to achieve?”

“We hope to discover new spells and put them to good use, in hopes that our discoveries will enhance the lives of the ponyfolk”.

Badger’s lazy eyes were fixed on the television,but with diminished interest. Nothing much here,besides her white skin and silver mane,perhaps. Also,she does have a nice flank, especially with those three silver spark marks”,he thought to himself. He was about to turn it off,when...

“So,I also heard that you have a stake in this new fad as well,is that correct?”

“That’s right. I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘shipping’,right? The term used to describe the pairing/coupling of two characters?”

“Yes,I do believe there are quite a few entries on The Equestrian Post. I’m a regular browser myself *chuckles*”.

“We’ve noticed that there are already a few with the titles,such as ‘Master of Art’ and ‘Master of Music’,so we’re going for the ‘Master of Shipping’” title.

“‘Master of Shipping’,eh? A new title,that sure is ambitious. I wish you luck with that,but why is a company like Alicorp Industries interested in this fad?”

“We just want to contribute to this growing fanbase. You know,earn a place among the followers? Plus it’s good for business *winks*.”

The reporter let out a cheesy laugh before continuing.“Yes,that surely would be a plus point for you. Well,there you have it,folk...”

This time the TV was turned off.

“Shipping? Really?”, Badger grunted.

Circuit Cut overheard Badger and said, “Actually, there were some submissions just in this morning. They were submitted by Alicorp Industries’ official online profile. Looks like they’re off to a good start.”

“Let me take a look.”

“Uh,do you really want to take a lo...?”

“Why? How bad is it?” Badger asked with suspicious eyes.

Circuit Cut paused,then his lips uttered a single word.

“Twixie.”

“Twixie? You mean ‘Trixie’,right? That unicorn who showed up in Ponyville shortly before that Ursa Minor incident?”

“No,I mean ‘Twixie’,with a T-W-I.”

“Twixie? What’s Twix......wait, do I really wanna know?”

“Probably not.”

“Damn it. What’s does that have to do with the ‘Magic of Friendship’?“

“I have no idea,but all the submissions were under an album called ‘Friendshipping is Magic’”.

Badger almost wanted to gouge out his eyes with his own hooves(if it was even possible).

“Whoa there. Take it easy,dude. You seem to be taking this a little too seriously, don’t you think?”

Badger seemed to calm down a bit. ”Sorry,I just lost it a bit there. Yeah,you’re right.”

~~~

The next morning, Badger woke up from the couch to a pleasant smell in the air. In his drowsiness he could only interpret it as one thing: breakfast. Sure enough, Circuit Cut had it prepared early, as usual, and was typing away at his computer. On the menu today was a sandwich with some hot cocoa. Badger noted that Hot Shot was not around, probably out following up on some escort contracts. He bit into the bread and savored the taste of bread, butter and the sound of the crunchy vegetables.

”This is good”, he said with his mouth full.

”Really? Well then, I think you better swallow before I tell you about a little something”, Circuit Cut replied.

Badger stopped munching. There was silence. He finally broke it with a ”What is it?”

Circuit Cut shrugged slightly with his warning unheeded, and continued:

”Early in the morning, I discovered that a new site was up.”

”Another ‘The Equestrian Post’ clone?”

“Sort of…just that its, well…the opposite…or should I say a counterpart?”

”Get to the point, CC.”

”Sure you don’t want to wash that sandwich down first?”

Badger’s face sank as he gave CC a dull stare, and swallowed.

CC swiveled his chair to face the computer. With his horn, he magically moved the mouse to open a minimized tab. Badger caught sight of the heading “Wild Equestria” only for a split second before his eyes shifted to a couple of ponies at both ends of the title making ”unusual” poses. His eyes widened as he recognized the ponies as Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie.

”Yep, just as the title says.” CC scrolled down to reveal the home page, and clicked on an art gallery. He flipped through the pages, revealing content that was a bit too much for Badger to stomach.

”What…IS this?” He said with his head starting to sway slightly with confusion. CC noticed this and quickly used his horn to levitate the cup of hot cocoa to Badger’s mouth.

”Easy there. Here, drink”.

After Badger got a few gulps down, Circuit Cut continued, ”Ever since the magic of friendship went viral, a site of this size and magnitude has never been set up, apart from The Equestrian Post, which was the one-stop site for all the fans. Sure, there are cheap knock-offs but none of them came close. Wild Equestria, however, has it all: art, stories, polls, etc. This site is like the dark side of The Equestrian Post.”

“Who made it?”

”Well, the site is still new, so I’ll do a bit of digging around.”

”Yeah you do that”, Badger said as he finished his drink, and went outside.

“Ooooh, check this out” Circuit Cut said as he opened an article on TheEquestrianPost. “The Ponyville TV station will be hosting a video interview with three Masters in 3 weeks. Three Masters? Whoa. I wouldn’t wanna miss that.”

~~~