Chapters "Good Morning, Ponyville..."
Spades Proudly Presents (Again):
HPNR
Chapter I: "Good Morning Ponyville!"
Twilight let out a sigh as she looked down her list of things to do, a number of them including things that a normally librarian of a small town would never think of doing. Unfortunately, she wasn't a normal librarian and the small town she lived in was everything but normal. Sure, it had started out fine. She had moved in, introduced herself to the townponies (whose reactions were less than stellar in some cases) , and made what could possibly count as friends. But things started to downhill when she wound up confronting an possessed alicorn who wanted to plunge Equestria into eternal darkness, which was strange since said alicorn was Princess Celestia’s sister and that Celestia had banished her to the moon exactly a millennium ago but wasn't there to stop Nightmare Moon. Nonetheless, she was able to defeat the corrupted Princess with the help of her friends. After a quick visit from Celestia herself, she renovated her new home; which happened to be the town’s library.
Fortunately for Twilight, everything on her list aside from one thing was checked off and soon that met the fate as the others as she picked up the last item. With a smile on her face, she drew a big black check mark in the last box and rolled up the scroll before putting it in her saddlebags along with what she had gotten. “There, finally done!”
The personal student of Princess Celestia began thinking of all the things she could do as she began to head back to her home, becoming almost giddy at everything she accomplish. “I could finish A.K. Yearling’s newest novel! Or get a new schedule ready! I could plan out what I was going to do for the next few years! I could-”
Twilight stopped thinking as a strange sound caught her attention, the unicorn’s ears swiveling to try and determine what she was hearing. Celestia’s student stood before her door for a moment as she tried her hardest to decipher what it was. Moments past and Twilight found herself, for once, unable to figure something out. Slightly upset at this, she opened the door and went directly to the
kitchen to put up the food she had bought. It was only then that Twilight was able to hear the sound of music and the words that went along with it. As she listened, the purple unicorn wondered who would be listened to such an odd song. “Spike, is that you listening to the radio?”
The Ponyvillie’s librarian got no response until the sound ended, the instruments and their notes gradually fading. “Who else would it be?” Twilight opened her mouth to reply but noticed the sarcasm in the question. Letting out a huff, she didn’t speak for a moment. “Anyways, you should come up and listen to some of these guys! I haven’t heard any of the artists before!”
Rolling her eyes, the lavender mare walked up the stairs and was surprised to hear a smooth, distinctly male voice coming from the grey radio on the floor next to Spike’s bed. She levitated a pillow from her bed and laid down on it, listening with open ears.
"And that, my little ponies, was another hit by Green Day. One of my personal favorites, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. Up next, a new song by My Chemical Romance: I'm not okay. Take a seat, close your eyes, and let the music flow. As always, this is DJ Stryker, wishing you lady-like luck today."
After a few seconds of silence, a sudden beat came in accompanied by a mature sounding voice from the speakers built into the radio set. "You like D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini and Croquet. You can't swim, you can't dance, and you don't know karate. Face it, you're never gonna make it."
As the two listened to the perplexing song, the confused expression on Twilight’s face became more and more apparent. However, Spike was the first to speak. "Whoa, that was deep." Was all the little dragon said from the comfort of his bed. Twilight, on the other hoof, looked like she was about to explode.
"I didn't understand half of... whatever that was. Most of that made no sense! What is ‘D&D’? Who is Harry Houdini? And what is wrong with Croquet!?" Spike saw a flicker of fire appeared on Twilight’s mane and he immediately turned off the radio, the next song dying on its first few notes. He knew Twilight was frustrated, but he thought it would be better just to leave her alone for a bit. It wasn't her fault if it didn't make sense to her.
Twilight just stood there for a moment as she closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. Eventually, she seemed back to her normal self. She looked at the radio for a moment before turning her gaze to her purple-scaled assistant. “What channel was that station on?”
“98.6 F.M.” Replied Spike without even looking at the radio. “Why?”
Twilight furrowed her brow inquisitively. "Didn't that used to be Equestrian Public Radio’s old frequency?"
Spike just shrugged "I dunno, I never listened to them. Probably got kicked off. Last time I heard, they weren't doing so hot. Only eggheads would ever listen to that boring news channels, and Ponyville isn't exact a city of scholars and brainiacs if you hadn't noticed." Twilight glared sharply at him. Spike smiled sheepishly for a moment as he rubbed his neck, managing to come up with an apology seconds later. "Heh sorry Twilight, I didn't mean to insult you in anyway, shape, or form. I just, you know what? I’m just going to stop talking now."
Twilight dropped her glare, rolled her eyes, and turned her attention towards the radio. “I know you didn't mean it Spike, and its fine. Still, I need to figure out what's up with this station. I mean honestly, why would you call a station HPNR? What does that even stand for?"
Spike just shrugged, his arms up and claws splayed wide. "I don't know, that's just what the DJ calls the station."
Twilight’s determination to find out what it stood for made the conversation go on for nearly half an hour, though she finally gave up when Spike convinced her that nopony, not even him, knew. She made a mental note to make a physical note to remind herself to investigate the station when she found the time, but figured it would be best to let sleeping dogs, or dragons in this case, lie for now. She brought over a couple more pillows from her bed and made herself comfortable as she began to take in the music, closing her eyes as calm song played. After several songs, she found herself becoming an avid fan of the station. If you can’t beat them, join them right? Was all Twilight thought to herself before falling asleep.
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Days passed and Twilight soon discovered that nearly everypony had ditched their former radio stations for HNPR, even the Mayor had ditched the old classical station she had listened to for years on end. It wasn't that surprisingly really considering that it had music for all ages and types. Rock, Pop, Country, and a variety of other genres never heard of before began to overshadow the contemporary ones that had flooded the airwaves months before. But as the number of songs grew so did the odd messages broadcast, mention things that seem completely irrelevant at times. Everypony who listened just accepted this as one of Stryker Z’s quirks, though they weren't ignored as he occasionally cracked a joke or two. Eventually Twilight discontinued her quest to find out what ‘HPNR’ stood for and instead focused on locating it, as she knew that since the signal was so strong it had to be close.Several hours and countless books later, she found a spell that would allow her to trace a signal by send out her own, though she could ‘broadcast’ like a station could. Focusing her magic, she was able to send her signal all over the town though she only received part of it back in the direction of the Everfree.
“That couldn't be right? Could it? No... The spell must have picked up too much interference or the Everfree must’ve warped it somehow.” Twilight pondered the thought for a moment and then came to the conclusion that she had botched it up. Having a stern with herself about proper use of the spell, she decided that it was time to stop worrying about it. After all, what was the worst that could happen?
However, Twilight couldn't help but wonder how the station had been found in the first place. After a bit of investigating, she learned about its origins. Turn outs, that Ditzy Doo had found it after she had accidentally tipped her radio off her kitchen counter, not to the surprise of anyone, and it happened switch to 98.6, which was HPNR’s channel. After introducing it to her friends, the news about the new station spread like wild fire. Pretty soon, HPNR was the new favorite station in Ponyville. Every morning, Ponyville was greeted by Stryker Z's cheery morning wrap-up of yesterday's events. Throughout the day, people would listen to everything HPNR and its DJ had to offer. From the rock ballads of "Green Day" to the calm tunes of "Owl City" there was something for everyone. HPNR, had been widely accepted as part of the Ponyville lifestyle.
We Interrupt This Program...
Chapter II: We Interrupt This Program
HPNR had been on the air for nearly two months now, the number of listeners increasing exponentially each day. While Twilight had more important things to do then listen to the radio, such as saving the town from a swarm of parasprites and helping wrap up winter, she always found time to listen to Stryker Z's latest hits.
Throughout winter, HPNR had kept up everypony's spirits with new classics that he deemed "fit for the Season". A personal favorite of Twilight's, "Let it snow" as if she recalled the name correctly, became one of the most popular songs on the winter playlist not long after its first play. Unfortunately, all things had to end and with the passing of winter came the end of "Let it snow". The ponies who happened to tune in to HPNR, however, found themselves surprised to hear their favorite winter song during Stryker Z's 9 'o'clock Power Block. It would occasionally play throughout the year, though when the temperature began to rise it faded into the background.
As the months passed, the station continued to grow and was soon broadcasting outside of Ponyville. Ponies from Canterlot to Manehatten were reported to have picked up the signal of HNPR and, just like in the small town, it quickly became the favorite station in the area. But as more and more listened to these broadcasts sent out by HNPR, more and more questions arose about the station itself. Where was it? Who was Stryker Z? Where did he get all the music he plays? Why hadn't the songs been heard before? And, most importantly, what did HNPR even stand for? Those wondering these questions would continue to do so, as they would remain unanswered for the rest of their lives.
For most, that is.
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Twilight went over her list for the third time, making sure she had everything she would need to bring to Applejack's house for the picnic planned. The orange earth pony who waiting in the doorway rolled her eyes as the student of Celestia verbally checked her list. "Last time, AJ, I swear. Now lets see... Saddlebags? Check. Basket? Check. Bread? Check. Tomatoes..."
As Applejack waited with wearing patience, she couldn't help but tune the purple unicorn out and listen to everything else that wasn't her voice. Her ears perked up at the sound of Stryker Z's voice which came from, what she assumed to be, a radio set on the second floor of the library.
"News time, my little ponies! As it would turn out, the mechanical issues with the crane at the construction sigh proved easy to fix after the forepony discovered that the equipment was just in need of new sprockets. Thank Celestia for mareacles! Am I right? On another note, I have found out that the students of Ponyville Elementary have plans to visit Canterlot as part of a field trip today! If any of you didn't mind the hassle, swing by the castle and say 'Hi' to Princess Celestia for me will ya? Anyways, that's all for now. Now back to the music."
Stryker's voice faded away into nothingness as a song began to play, though Twilight was still reading off her list and had been too busy to pay attention to what the radio disk jockey had said. If she had, the purple unicorn might've made a note to ask Cheerilee if that was true. Since that wasn't the case, Twilight continued to read her list until she was sure she had everything and then left her house, but not before waking up Applejack who had dozed off.
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"So anyways, Big Mac did the math and it seems this apple buckin’' season we'll have twice as many apples to sell! Ah have no idea how he worked that out with his fancy mathematics, but if its true then Ah'll be happiest mare north of Appleoosa!" The stetson-wearing earth pony said to her friend Twilight as they were nearing town square. Applejack figured they might as well go through town square to pick up a claim check for a new set of barrels for this season on their way to the farm.
The purple unicorn, unlike most ponies, actually found this very interesting. "That amazing! How did you get the apples to grow to twice as much, twice as fast? Twilight asked in awe, surprised at what the family of earth ponies could accomplish. Earth pony magic and its abilities would always remain elusive to the her.
"Ah know! I had no idea that this was even possible!" The farmer replied cheerfully.
"Anyway, I did some research into HPNR and found ou--" Twilight found herself interrupted by an angry voice, though it wasn't directed at her. She looked around and saw Mayor Mare yelling at a familiar mare with flowers as her cutie mark.
"What do you mean you're “not going today”?! I thought you had moved it today!" The silver-maned mare shouted, her expression one of shock. She sounded distressed, extremely so. Then again, running an entire town by yourself couldn't be easy.
"Where in Celestia's name did you hear that?! The trip has been scheduled for Wednesday all month! We couldn't afford to reschedule it!" Twilight knew from past conversations with the Cutie Mark Crusaders that the purple mare was Cheerilee who taught them at the local school. She also sounded distressed, which was rare given her normally level head.
"No no no! This is simply unacceptable! This throws off all my plans for the week! I had to move everything around to fit your field trip in for today! I can't move them back now!" The Mayor of
Ponyville stomped her hoof with each “No!” spoken to emphasis just how much she disliked it.
Twilight, seeing how this could only get worse, decided enough was enough and it was time to end this before somepony wound up hurt. With a sigh, Celestia’s student turned to her friend. "Sorry AJ, but it looks like I'll have to take a rain check for the picnic. You do mind, do you?”
The light-orange mare just shook her head with a small smile on her face. "Aw shucks sugarcube, it's ok. Ah know how much these friendship problems mean to ya. Ah’ll save the pie for tomorrow. See ya later!" With a wave of her hoof, Applejack turned away from Twilight and started to head home.
"Bye! See you tomorrow!” Twilight called to the farmare, before focusing at the task at hoof. “Now its time to figure out what’s the source of all this confusion.” With her mind made up, the purple unicorn made her way over to where the two mare. As she walked closer, she could make out the angry words being thrown around and the purple unicorn felt her confidence weaken. Nevertheless, she steeled herself and knew it was for the greater good. Taking a deep breath, she interrupted the argument with a simple question. "Hello everypony, what seems to be the problem?"
Cheerilee opened her mouth, but Mayor Mare was the first to speak. "Oh, hello Twilight! Wasn’t expecting to speak with you today. I was just discussing with Cheerilee about her plans to take her class to Canterlot! I had been told it was scheduled for today, but she says that she had it planned for Wednesday! Two days from now! I went through all that paperwork for nothing!”
"This is absurd! Where did you even get this information!?" The purple unicorn felt a feeling of uneasiness inside her as she could hear the accusation in the teacher’s tone.
"Are you suggesting that I did this on purpose! Now that is absurd! I spent hours on paperwork just so you and your class could go to Canterlot! And as to where I got this information, it was from none other than Stryker Z himself! I heard it during one of his broadcasts.” Both Mares looked at her with their brows furrowed as one thought ran through their minds at the same time: “Mayor Mare has time to listen to the Radio?”
Twilight was the first to realize they were just standing there like foals and resumed talking. "So let me get this straight: You, the Mayor, dedicated to change your plans because a stallion on the radio said that the trip would happen today instead of consulting Mrs. Cheerilee first?”
"Um yes well. This news has been so... accurate in the past and he always seems knowing what is happening where! Not to mention I was already tense with making schedule changes, so I just assumed..."
The student of Celestia let out a sigh at the Mayor’s assumption, though her face brightened up when a solution to the issue came to her in an instant. "It's alright Mayor Mare, we can fix this in no time flat! Cheerilee, we'll make sure your trip is scheduled for Wednesday."
Mayor Mare looked shocked if anything at Twilight’s statement. "But, the rescheduling! It'll take me--"
"Us about twenty minutes or so..." Twilight broke in, calming down the cream-colored mare substantially. "You'd really be willing to help me?"
"Of course!" Twilight said, breaking into a grin. "With the two of us at it, we'll get done in no time!"
"I guess you're right, but are you sure you don't have any plans? I’d hate for you to abandon something of yours just to help me out." Mayor Mare was beginning to calm down, realizing the entire town was not on the brink of disaster, yet.
"No, I'm free for the day, I'd be happy to help you!" Twilight replied quickly. "Cheerilee, we'll handle this, why don't you go tend to your class?"
"Oh! Of course! I had nearly forgotten about them! Thanks so much for everything Twilight!” Cheerilee took off in the general direction of the school so fast the unicorn could’ve swore she saw wings on her back. After a few moments of staring, the purple unicorn shook herself out of it. “Alright Mayor, lets get to rescheduling!”
Chapter III: BREAKING NEWS
It took 4 agonizing hours, 89 paper clips, 3 ink-less pens, and 7 assorted paper cuts before Mayor Mare and Twilight finished he rescheduling. However, the calm, collected voice of Stryker Z from the Mayor's radio set made the job a little LESS agonizing. However it was no easy task, and halfway through the Mayor almost had a nervous breakdown. Twice. Nevertheless, they made it through. The field trip had managed to be rescheduled for Wednesday morning, and the plans for the week had been safely administered into their proper places. Providing any, "unforeseen Circumstances" didn't happen to mess it up all over again. Which they were, repeatedly. Twilight helped the mayor on the finishing touches, then made her way back home, hearing the town slowly dum down to silence as the moon rose in the sky.
"Whew, I'm beat. I think I need to get home..." Twilight quickened her pace as she realized exactly how late it was. "Next time, try not to send the Change Request forms in triplicate... Glad the Mayor talked me out of Quadruplicates. Thank goodness for miracles!" Twilight said as she reached her front door. She walked in, expecting to smell dinner from the kitchen, except, all she got was the loud sounds of the radio from upstairs. With a huff, she followed the music up until she saw Spike dancing around the room, holding a broomstick like a guitar. When he made eye contact, he immediately dropped the broom and blush. After a few minutes of silence, he finally let out a quick reply:
"I'msorryIdidn'tmakedinnerIthoughtforsomereasonyouweregoingtostaythenightatApplejack'ssoIturnedontheradioand--!" he was silenced by the sudden insertion of Twilight's hoof in his mouth.
"Whoa! Spike! Calm down! It's okay, I had to stay late with the Mayor to help with rescheduling since she had confused the date on Ponyville elementary's field trip to the Canterlot royal gardens! It's fine!" Twilight pulled her hoof out of spikes mouth in order for him to speak.
"Whew, got a bit worried for a second. So, what happened with the schedule?"
Twilight moved over to her bed, and flopped down throwing her saddlebags to the floor. "Apparently, Stryker Z had said the field trip was today, but in actuality, it was scheduled two days from now!" Twilight took a deep breath, it'd been a hard day. "Don't worry about supper tonight Spike, I need some rest..." Twilight started to loose the energy to speak, when DJ Stryker's voice once again came out of the radio.
"Ooh, what a sweet tune. That was OK Go, with one of their best hits: Get Over It. Thanks for all those guys and gals out there listening, but I'm afraid we're done for the night, thanks for listening children! Remember, this is Radio HPNR, and we're here, for you. Good night, and Stay Classy!" the sounds of his voice faded out until the hum of an Off-Air channel played. Spike walked over and turned off the radio."
"Guess it IS pretty late, and I've been rocking out to HPNR all day. I think I need some sleep too..." Spike silenced himself realizing Twilight was already out. "Huh, guess that's my cue."
Spike turned off the light, headed over to his bed, and quietly hummed a tune as he fell asleep. Little did either of them know, things we're about to get complicated.
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*Ambient Music *
Late at night, in the large expanse of Sweet Apple Acres, a lone figure shifts across the path. It moves silently, not making a sound as it travels quickly through the fields. It follows the path towards the barn. It stops, looks up at the moon, and mutters something under it's breath.
"Crud, I've taken too long, need to wrap this up quickly, only 2 hours ‘till sunrise"
He quickens his pace, now making small sounds as it moves up the path. When nearing the barn, it looks closely at the window and doors, studying them. When it seems to have made a sufficient observation, it goes over to a small table and grabs an empty bucket off of it. It proceeds to move over to trees and rapidly picking off apples until the tree is empty. It does this three or more times until the bucket it grabbed it full. As he realizes the sun is just starting to peak over the horizon, it picks it's apple-filled bucket up and runs down the path near the Everfree forest, before entering it turns around and says one last thing.
"Thank you Applejack, for being such a dear friend !" It pauses, then chuckles to itself. "I've always wanted to say that."
It then turns back around and disappears from view within the forest's darkness, with nopony the wiser.
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Twilight was greeted by Stryker Z's joyful voice upon waking up.
"Ahem, Gooood Morning Equestria! It looks like a great day out an--" He was suddenly silenced by a loud cough that came from the Radio. "--we hope you have a-" The coughs returned, even worse then before, before Stryker came on one last time. "Bah! Screw this, AHEM, noise... Just, just start the damn music!" His voice went out and in came a song Twilight had heard many times before.
"Hm.. I wonder what's wrong with Stryker Z? He seemed out of it this morning, and that's an understatement!" Twilight thought for a moment,before realizing that Stryker would be fine, he's probably got a competent staff that would take him to the hospital it got too bad. Right now she needed to open the library for the day. Well, she WOULD'VE anyway, had in not been for Stryker Z making one last announcement, interrupting the previously scheduled programming:
"Hold up, hold up! One more thing! It seems we have a very important public service announcement! Just listen to this! I have been informed by a friend of mine about a new development in Canterlot! If you live in that immediate vicinity, you MIGHT want to get your ponchos and umbrellas ready because it seems you guys are due for a storm of, get this, CHOCOLATE RAIN! Yes that's right my little ponies, everyone's LEAST favorite draconequus, Discord for the one's who don't know, has broken free from his stone prison. Can't win 'em all can you? But wait! There's more, it seems the Elements of Harmony THEMSELVES have come to disarm this Chaotic Conqueror. If you're listening to this Elements, this one goes out... AHEM, to you. Alright cut it, my throat can't take this anymore."
Stryker Z's voice once again cut out and replaced with a song Twilight was already familiar with. We are the Champions, she believed it was, yes that was it. By Queen.
"I've paid my dues. Time after time. I've done my sentence, but committed no crime. And bad mistakes..."
"I've made a few. I've had my share of sand kicked in my face. But I've come--"
Twilight then shut the radio off as the song entered it's chorus. She was concerned about this. Who was Discord? And how much did this Stryker Z exactly know. Things were getting suspicious. But as always, she first decided to start with a letter to the princess, asking multiple questions about this so called "Discord" and what he had to do with Chaos. About half an hour later, she was done.
"Spiiiike?!" I need you for a second!" she called throughout the house.
"Yes?" came the faithful assistant's reply. He came down quickly, holding within his hands a comic book, rather securely. The less I know , Twilight thought to herself, the better.
"I need you to send this letter. It's urgent." Twilight quickly spoke.
"Yeah yeah, important business, same old, same old. Give it here." Spike grabbed the letter from her hand. Rolled up and sealed already. Twilight watched as Spike breathed his trademark green flame and sent the letter to it's respective owner. "Now, can I go back to reading my book? I'm almost finished."
"Yes spike, I doubt she'll reply to quickly. Besides, I'm probably just overreacting to..." Twilight closed her mouth after realizing that Spike had just coughed up a letter. "How long has that...?"
Spike was as surprised as Twilight "53 seconds, I know. Fast right?" Spike handed the letter to Twilight, who calmly removed the ribbon while saying, "I doubt it's anything THAT important, probably just wanted to get it out of the way quickly." Twilight carefully read every word, her expression turning to that of worry. Spike caught this almost immediately.
"Twilight, what's wrong? You seem, stressed." Spike almost face-palms at this, realizing that she looks stressed 90% of the time. "Uh, what I meant to say was--"
"The princess need us! She says it's an emergency! I need our friends and I to Canterlot! You're in charge while I'm gone Spike!" And with that, she took of out the door, and Spike was left alone.
"I'm in charge? I'm in... CHARGE! YES!" Spike had decided to spend that time eating all his gems and reading his comic books. He would be enjoying his evening. OTHERS, however, might not be having the same feeling.
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The train ride was long and boring, and most did not enjoy it thanks to the fact that there was a problem in Canterlot. Most couldn't sit still and multiple times Rainbow had flown aside the train just to "blow off some steam." The conductor did not like that. It wasn't everyday that you got called in by the princess herself because something was threatening the very boundaries of EQUESTRIA ITSELF. Let's just say everyone spent the trip silent and uncomfortable. When they finally got there, it was also, mostly silence until they reached the castle, where everyone began bombarding Twilight with questions.
"What is this emergency?!"
"Why did we need to come so quickly?!
"What's going ON?!"
"Allow me to explain." Celestia said in her most monotone voice. From in front of them. Miraculously. Magic, it works guys.. Anyway, after a series of bows, and graces, Twilight was the first to speak.
"Is this about the weather? And the animals' weird behavior? What's happening out there? Why isn't my magic working? Is there–"
"Follow me." Celetia chimed in. She took them to the main hall, where large stained glass windows depicting every major event over the course of Equestria's timeline. Celestia spoke as they reached one with Celestia and Luna circling a strange creature in purple light.
"I've called you here for a matter of great importance. It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned. His name..."
"Discord!" Twilight finished, she looked behind her toward her friends, who looked at her with mouths agape in confusion. She gave them a quick look of "I'll tell you later" then turned back to the princess who also had a bit of surprise on her face.
"Yes, that is his name. You must explain how you retrieved this information, and where you learned of this news of his escape." Celestia said to her prized pupil.
Twilight had now realized how weird it sounded. "Um, I heard it from Stryker Z, on his radio broadcast. He said the Elements of Harmony were going to take care of it. I know he's referring to us, but how he knows all this is a bit... suspicious."
"Yes, the fact that a radio announcer learned of Discord's escape before any of my guards or even Luna could, scares me. But no matter, let me explain who Discord is." Celetia took a deep breath, then began to explain.
"Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone."
Rainbow jumped in and shouted "All right, Princess!" before getting a few looks to be quiet. After the outburst, the princess continued.
"I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever, but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken." Celestia said, hanging her head.
"No longer connected?" Twilight said with just a tinge of worry. Celestia led them to the end of the hall, with a big stone door in front of them, one tiny hole was in the center, along with 6 gray dots aliened upward on either side with a giant sun in the middle decorated it. Celestia spoke again.
"This is Canterlot Tower, where the Elements are kept inside since all of you recovered them. I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos." Celestia turned toward Twilight, waiting for a response.
"But why us? Why don't you-" Twilight was suddenly interrupted by a certain pink party pony.
"Hey, look! We're famous!" she said, the others looked to where she was pointing, and saw the stained glass window depicting them using the elements against Nightmare Moon."
"You six showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe. Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord!" Celestia said proudly.
"Princess Celestia, you can count on–" she was, once again, cut off my Pinkie.
"Hold on a second! Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!" Pinkie looked at them with a face of longing. Twilight decided to end this situation now.
"Don't listen to her, Princess. We'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again." Celestia inserted her horn into the door's lock, causing it to glow with a faint blue light. After a few seconds, the door opened and inside was a purple case.
Rarity spoke first. "Ooh. You can keep the Elements. I'll take that case!" Twilight rolled her eyes, then turned towards the princess.
"Have no fear, ponies. I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord with these!" Celestia opened the case, and inside were all 6 elements accounted for. She handed each respective element to their proper owner, then spoke again. "First, we have to find Discord. I suggest we start in the garden, his imprisonment area. We may be able to find clues there." She led them through the halls of the castle, and finally to a back door exit and into the sprawling, lush green garden. As she walked, she started to explain about the garden's history, and why they thought it was a good place for discord, until she stopped, dead in her tracks, her mouth agape in horror. Twilight caught this and spoke first.
"Uh, princess, what's wrong?" she followed her gaze until she her face met the same fate. Their in front of them, was the Statue of Discord, still right where it belonged. Irony . It also works.
"Wait, what?! Princess that can't be right! I thought he escaped, was wreaking havoc on Equestria! What... how?" Twilight's voice faded off, as she realized the answer to all her questions. She was wrong.
"I guess that's what we get for trusting the owner of a radio station." Rainbow said behind them. Celestia snapped back to reality, and started to speak.
"It seems we've all made a bit of a mistake. I guess someone had made the wrong choice in listening to a radio broadcast, and believing it. Twilight froze at that, now getting how the mayor felt after being confronted by Cheerilee. She started to speak something, but just felt too bad to say anything. "Fear not Twilight, we'll just have to have a talk with this "Stryker Z" and see where he got this false information. But for now, I think it'd be best if you all went home. I do believe you all have jobs to attend to, correct?
"Oh.. right" they all said in unison. After handing back the elements, a few quick goodbyes, they all headed for the train station As the Ponyville express came in from the 3:00 run, out came Cheerilee's class, who were spending today and tomorrow in Canterlot to view the gardens, as a reward for their good behavior. After a few sturdy replies of "be safe" to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle fro their respective sisters, and a quick talk with Cheerilee about the trip from Twilight, they got on the train and headed home. Although it was nice to see Cherrilee, Twilight held her head down low, trying to make sense of this whole thing. She got back to Ponyville,only for it to be night and time for her to go to bed. She decided enough was enough, and she was fed up with the day's events. So she turned on the radio, and fell asleep. She was going to need it, Tomorrow was going to be the most confusing day of her life.
Chapter IV: Technical Difficulties
If Twilight thought yesterday was hard, she was in for a real treat today...
Twilight arose from her slumber at the exact same time as any morning, but not in the same way. All the memories of yesterday had flushed their way across her mind, and her disposition was now... gloomy. But, as per usual, Stryker Z would make her feel better with his sunny disposition. He was probably already on, she just needed to turn to 98.6! She did,and Stryker Z's voice filled the room...
"Hello everypony, this is Mr. Alicaster. I'm afraid I'll be filling in for poor Stryker here, he's got a bit of a throat thing. But don't worry, he'll be just fine. Give him a few days. Anyway, uh... good morning. Yup, that's all I got, here's some music for you!"
...or not.
"Yeah, quick recovery, that's for sure!" Twilight's mood soured even more, and decided to just not bother. She turned off the radio, and proceeded to do her daily chores. With no enthusiasm, whatsoever. She figured she mine as well take today to say sorry to everyone and apologize for making them go to Canterlot for no reason. She grabbed a random book off a random shelf, and was about to walk out the door when Spike, who had woken up when he had heard the radio come on, came to find out where she was going. His question, was obvious.
"I'm going to apologize for forcing the girls to come with me to Canterlot when nothing was wrong. It's the right thing to do" Twilight hung her head low.
"Yeah, of course it is." Then, Spike thought of Rarity, and immediately asked another question. "Can I come?"
Twilight looked puzzled, then asked "Why?" Spike shot her a Are you kidding me face? and then Rarity crossed her mind as well. After a quick facehoof and a glare, both Twilight set out for Rarity's boutique, for she was the first target of Twilight's apology list. Yes, she made a list.
<><><><><>
While Twilight was headed in the opposite direction, there were plenty of problems she was currently oblivious to at AJ's farm. Strange thick pink clouds had rolled into the area, and they were uncontrollable by the weather team, naturally, they dispatched Rainbow Dash to handle the situation. In fact, she was in pursuit of a small cloud as we speak...
"Come back here, you! Gotcha!" she hollered as she collided face first into the cloud, however, it seemed much, stickier "Eww, what is this?" She shook of most of the cloud and hesitantly licked the pink substance. "Cotton candy?" She then looked upwards to find a much larger one making a rumbling sound. A single drop of brown liquid dropped onto her forehead. "Wait a second! It's not supposed to rain until tomorrow. You can't just–" was all she could spit out before the cloud began to drench her in chocolate milk. "You did." Then the larger cloud took off to AJ's west fields, and began to pour milk all over her corn crops, causing them to, pop.
"Rainbow Dash, what's going on with this rain? I mean chocolate milk? I mean chocolate milk rain?!" Applejack screamed, about as confused as a deaf bat.
"There's crazy weather all over Equestria! Cloudsdale is getting soaked by a major cola storm right now! But don't worry. I'm not leaving you until I get control of Ponyville!" the cyan mare responded, before returning to her fruitless efforts to shut down this insane forecast. However, Pinkie, who had appeared in the fields below, asked an important question.
"Why would you wanna stop this?" she asked, before returning to her meal, not wishing to be disturbed. A few minutes later, Rarity came in and offered to help.
"Ahem. I heard about your troubles, Applejack, and I came to see if there's anything I can do without getting wet. Or dirty. Or out from under my umbrella." Applejack rolled her eyes, before looking over to her trees, who were bending over unhealthy due to the weight of the apples,who had grown 5 times their size due to the rain. Suddenly, the trees were filled with every bird, bunny, and squirrel in Ponyville as they munched on the ginormous apples. Applejack was furious,and called to Fluttershy, who had come with Angel to see what was wrong.
"Fluttershy! Do somethin'!" she shouted, as Fluttershy spoke to Angel.
"Now, Angel, you really shouldn't–" she was cut off by Angel growing legs as long as yardsticks, and running away with all the other rabbits, who had also grown giant legs. "No! It's not possible! I must be seeing things!" Fluttershy screamed, rushing after him. For the next few minutes, the group fruitlessly tried to remedy the situation, but to no avail. Then, Rainbow got tired of chasing after each individual cloud and posed a solution.
"Ya know, I bet Twilight would be able to fix this within a matter of second, what with her amazing magic!" she said sarcastically, getting a few quick murmurs of agreement.
"You know, she makes a fair point. This problem isn't going to fix itself, and by all means we could use the extra help!" Rarity chimed in. So, after finding Fluttershy, and pulling Pinkie from underneath a cloud, after many objections, they set off towards the library, which of course, we all knew was the wrong direction.
<><><><><>
It didn't take them long to find Twilight, what took so long was explaining the situation, I mean, Pink cloud raining chocolate milk, and giant apples that give rabbits 5 ft. long legs. Yes, makes perfect sense.
"Wait, what? That doesn't make any sense! The anatomy of a rabbit doesn't allow spontaneous growth--" Applejack was getting sick of this, so she decided to break in and end this before it started.
"Look Twi, we understand that none of this makes any sense in any way, but we still need your help! You're the only one with the know-how to--" she realized Twilight was not even paying attention, as she was deep in thought about how this could have happened. She might have stayed like that for another 5 seconds had Spike not cleared his throat, drawing the attention of all 6 mares. In his hand, was a scroll, wrapped in ribbon,with Celestia's "urgent" seal on it.
"Ahem, you've got mail." he said sarcastically, lightly tossing the scroll at Twilight's hooves.
"How long has that--" Twilight began, before being interrupted by Spike again.
"For the past 5 minutes, but you were busy discussing the problem at AJ's farm, so I left you to it."
"Thank you Spike." she opened the scroll, read the few words that were on the parchment, and her eyes opened wide.
"I'm going to take the initiative here, and just go home now. I'll watch the library while you're gone, yadda yadda yadda, goodbye." Spike said, before turning around and taking off towards the library, his comics and gem stash calling to him.
"Twilight, what did he mean...?" Rarity asked.
"Girls, I know what you're going to say, but it looks like Celestia needs us, again..." she looked down at the parchment, rereading it multiple times, making sure she read it right.
"Are you KIDDING me?! Again?!" Rainbow yelled, quickly quieting herself, realizing she was drawing attention from the surrounding pony folk. "Um, I mean, Of course we'd be honored to help the princess!"
"Well, as much as I'd hate to leave the farm in the state it is, the princess may be able to shed some light on this predicament we're in. We aren't getting any closer to a solution, so we mine as well." And on that note, she took off towards the train station, forcing all of them to chase after her, not particularly ready for what was next...
<><><><><>
The train ride had been much like the last one, silent, and uncomfortable, however, as the doors opened at the station, they darted towards the castle, wanting to get this over with. They barged through the caste doors, and quickly found themselves back in the foyer, with Celestia waiting for them.
"Thank you elements, for coming in Equestria's hour of need, it seems, Discord has broken free..."
The elements just stood their, mouths agape, everything she had said now coming into focus. Twilight, was the first one to break the sudden silence.
"Wait a minute, Discord has broken free?! But that means..."
"Yes, I'm afraid so, whoever gave you that information was correct."
"But, that's impossible, how could he have--"
"We don't have time to worry about that! For right now, we have more important things to worry about!" Twilight looked at her dumbfounded, surprised by her sudden outburst. "Ahem, follow me..." she ushered them to the spot Twilight knew they would have to revisit, but she had secretly hoped not this soon. They all followed her into the large room where the elements were kept.
"You all already understand why I've picked you to defeat Discord, so I shall just give you the elements again." She pushed her horn into the slot, dissolving the magic lock, and opening the seal, revealing the chest to still be there, as well as the elements. Celestia had taken the liberty to strengthen the lock on the door 10 fold just in case the small chance that Discord COULD get loose proved to be correct. Anyone else seeing a trend here? Celestia handed them the elements, and told them to go to Ponyville, because most of the chaos seems to be focused on that area, probably because it was a small town to start with as he moved up the chain until he reached Canterlot. The elements nodded in agreement, and took of towards the train station, with Celestia wishing them luck the entire way.
<><><><><>
When they got back to Ponyville, it was a mess. They were lucky the train even made it into the station, because now the entire thing was made out of cake. After literally dragging Pinkie from the newly confectionized building, they raced towards Town Square, where Discord was sitting on his throne, changing houses into stacks of cards, and having buffaloes dancing in tutus across the now checkerboard ground.
"Discord!" Twilight yelled, enough to make Discord turned around and faced the elements whilst saying "Yes? That's me!" Then he looked at them, and saw the elements, and asked, "Well, if it isn't 'Twilight' and her band of merry elements! What took you so long?" before laughing maniacally again.
"The train ran late" Twilight said sarcastically, before adding "Princess Celestia gave us these to end your reign of torment!"
Discord stopped laughing at this, realizing she was serious, if he wanted to get out of this, he was going to have to think fast. Oh she did, did she?" And then a very devious plan took form in Discord's mind. Something he was going to have to use now, if he wanted to avoid being turned to stone again. "Well, that WOULD work, but, you're not the real elements, are you?"
The elements stared at him with blank looks on their faces. Applejack spoke up "What in tarnation does that mean?"
"Well, I just thought that Celestia and Luna were the elements, not some random 6 ponies she found off the street, I mean, come on!" Discord disappeared for a moment, then appeared behind Fluttershy, who jumped backward in shock. "An animal over who's afraid of her own shadow!" He slithered over to Rarity, and said" A 'fashionista' whose only real skill is putting colored cloths together! Not to mention a racing pony whose dreams to become a Wonderbolt will never come true! You're shooting to high, I think being a lowly Weather pony is just your style. Let's see who else, oh yeah, a dirty farm pony who couldn't add 2+2 to save her life, a Pink party pony whose blood sugar is high enough to make taffy out of!"
"Enough Discord! Stop this, my friends and I are ready to fight you, no matter what you say! Right girls? Uh, girls?" She looked behind her to see that they had all stopped and were hanging there heads low. "C'mon girls! Don't believe anything he says! He's wrong, I bet---"
"Now just hold it right there, I'm not finished, have we forgotten to mention that you of all people believed a radio announcer over anything else, Ms. 'Most Faithful Student'"
That did it, Discord's words carried power, like literally, he was influencing them to force more feeling of loss into them, making them give up. He had finally broken her, unfairly yes, but broke her nonetheless
"I just, I was just asking a question..." Twilight said.
"Ooh, yes, a simple question, that forced her to go on high alert and drag you and you and your so-called Elements of Harmony all the way to Canterlot. Twice!. Face it, you're not the element of magic, you're just a failure, all of you!" Discord paused at that, he had never been this harsh before, why was he doing this now. He then pushed this though out of his mind as he saw his words working their magic. One by one the color drained from their manes and fur, leaving nothing but grey all over their bodies. Before Discord could add to his statement, Applejack spoke first, finishing the job.
"Ah don't know about y'all, but, I think he's right,we're not cut out for this..." Applejack began to walk away, leaving the rest standing there, without hope. "I think she's... right" Twilight said, draining the last of the hope from her mind. They all walked their separate ways, not uttering another word, taking their elements with them.
"Bravo, Harmony in Equestria, is officially DEAD. Discord rules, Celestia drools. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to de-harmonizing this place!" Discord snapped his fingers, and he disappeared in a flash of dust. As the elements walked away, completely oblivious to the doom they have sent Equestria sent to, a small figure hidden behind a building, inside a bush, whispers quietly to himself.
"No, no, NO! This is my fault, this is not good! How am I going to fix this!?" The figure thought to itself quietly, before coming up with a really stupid idea. "Ok, it might work, but I've gotta work fast, and I've gotta do it right!" The creature took off into the Everfree, with a plan, a ludicrously stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless.
<><><><><>
Twilight had officially given up. She was done. No more elements, no more student, no more Ponyville. She was leaving, to where, she didn't know. But she was a failure, just like Discord had said. She didn't need to be here anymore, she would just mess it up again. As she reached home, her disposition turned to anger, and she furiously went up to her room.
"Pack your things, Spike, we're leaving." Spike, looking up from his comic, looked absolutely puzzled.
"What, why? Where are we going?" Spike was confused, this had never happened before, well, it actually had, but this time it was different, this looked like angrily leaving, not "moving somewhere to be with friends."
Twilight forced the crown off her head, and threw it into the trashcan. "Don't ask, 'cause I don't know yet. Just not here."
"What, why are we leaving?!"
"I'll explain later, but right now just pack your stuff!"
Spike sighed, then replied, "Fine, but can I at least listen to one more song?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, and said "Fine, but make it quick!" she yelled, before stuffing various things into the travel case she had produced from under the bed. Spike went over to the radio, and turned the dial to 98.6, only to hear static from the speakers.
"Aw...." Spike said, before being magically hoisted onto Twilight's back, who was about to walk out the door, when Mr. Allicaster's frantic voice filled the room.
"HALT! STOP! NO! Listen, if you're hearing me right now, stop, listen closely, and let these sweet tunes fill your ears. I will explain EVERYTHING after the song. Please, listen to this."
Twilight would've just walked out the door right there, but something, something deep in the back of her mind made her stay. Just to listen to the song. She dropped the travel case, and went up and sat on her bed. Then the music started.
"You say yes, I say no.
You say stop and I say go go go.
Oh-no.
You say goodbye and I say hello...
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello"
At first, Twilight was confused, then she figured it out. The song might be directed at her. He was trying to tell her not to leave. But, how did he know? She was listening to the song, regularly interested now. As the song powered through, she felt more and more sure Allicaster was right, but, what could she do? She was a failure... a failure. She would've cried right then and there had the song not ended there and Mr. Allicaster filled the room with his voice again.
"Alright, now I bet most of the people who stayed to listen for that are really confused. Truth is, I've got a confession to make: that song for wasn't for all of you. It was for a specific six mares, and you should know who they are. You see, I recently watched the elements of harmony fall prey to one of Discord's attacks. And I am NOT going to stand for this. If you are one of the Elements, and you are listening to me, please stay, because I've got something to say. Now, I know you all think you're worthless, but that's not true. Discord has tricked you into believing that, somehow, but trust me, he's wrong. He told you all lies, Fluttershy, you may be a little well, shy, but when it comes to kindness, you supply, and our willing to help out your friends even in the scariest situations! Applejack, I doubt that Discord was serious when he said that, because I know you're ready to solve any problem that comes your way, always telling the truth, and a hard-worker! Rainbow Dash, you're dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt are not in the least bit stupid, I can tell you have the courage. the determination, and the skill to become CAPTAIN! Rarity, I believe Discord was WAY off describing your talent, you are one of the best dressmakers, and the most generous, ponies around. Pinkie, you may have more energy than the average pony, but that's what makes you, YOU! Your parties never disappoint,and without your crazy lifestyle, Ponyville would be rather dull. And Twilight. It's not your fault, you asked a simple question. If anything it's mine. You're not a failure, none of you are, everypony makes mistakes, trust me, this is just Discord. Now I'm asking the six of you to try again. Because I *know you can do it---"*
Mr. Alliacaster's voice was soon taken over by static again, but not before his words made their impact. Mr. Allicaster was right, somehow, he knew exactly what was going on, and he knew just how to fix it."Well, can't argue with that logic!" Spike said. But Twilight was already out the door, running to find her friends. Lucky for her, they already had the same idea.