“What do you think?”
“It’s been a while since the Glimmer mission. I think they’re ready for another one.”
“Well, it’s about time.”
“I told you, they have lives of their own. Much as we’d like to, we can’t just send them on one mission after another. If we expect them to spread the magic of friendship, they need to be able to live it.”
“Okay, but while they’re ‘living it,’ some of the backlog missions have only gotten worse.”
“Then let’s take the ones that truly need attention and work our way from there.”
“Now you’re talking. I’ve been looking over some of these for the past few days, and the way I see it, we’ve got it between Griffonstone and the Smoky Mountains.”
“Hmm. A civilization of greedy griffins, or an uncivilized family feud. Tough call. What are the consequences?”
“The griffons have fallen back into their greedy tendencies. If it continues, they may fully revert back to their warmongering and pillaging activities of yore.”
“By then, not only would it be too late to extend a hoof of friendship, but it would mean an all-out war with the griffons. No one’s coming out of that unaffected, physically or otherwise.”
“On the flipside, however, the Hooffields and McColts have been fighting for generations. The mountains and surrounding areas are just barely hospitable to the local wildlife.”
“Ironic, isn’t it? This whole thing started because two ponies wanted to help the local wildlife.”
“Not only that, but think of the ponies involved. Right now it’s just vegetables and hay bales, but who knows how far it’ll get? And I can guarantee that, one of these days, something’ll happen, something nopony can take back, and the fighting will only escalate.”
“…”
“Hey, uh, any chance we could do both at once?”
“I see where you’re going with this, but that just not possible.”
“And why the heck not?”
“Even if we were to send smaller groups to multiple locations, it would make them too spread out. If we do send a small team, we need to keep all the other ponies unattached in case things go wrong. Sending multiple groups should only be done as a last resort.”
“Just a suggestion.”
“Your heart’s in the right place, but we need to consider the bigger picture.”
“Well, what’s your ‘bigger picture’ telling you about these two missions?”
“Hmm… Now that I think about it, we should probably keep our efforts on Griffonstone for now.”
“Huh. That does make sense. The Smoky Mountains may be in trouble, but the fighting hasn’t yet escalated that far yet.”
“That, and the griffons present an immediate threat to Equestria as a whole if left unchecked.”
“Okay, so we have our mission. Who should we send?”
“I stand by what I said last time; this is a delicate matter, so it should be a small group.”
“In that case, I recommend Rainbow Dash. She has experience with griffons.”
“But if I remember correctly, her ‘experience’ ended in a falling-out with Gilda, who, may I remind you, is currently living in Griffonstone.”
“Exactly.”
“What?”
“What better way to rekindle friendship among the griffons than by rekindling a friendship with a griffon? She’s the perfect catalyst. Just remind her that friendship is cool, and she’ll influence the rest of the city.”
“That… is actually quite clever.”
“That’s what I’m here for; you provide the boring logic, I handle the creative solutions.”
“I just said it was a good idea; don’t push your luck. Besides, we can’t send Rainbow alone. Clever your plan may be, but she’ll never agree to befriend Gilda willingly. I’m going to have to recommend Pinkie Pie.”
“Um, if memory serves, didn’t she have a hard time with Gilda, too?”
“She did, but she did throw that party with the intention making her less grumpy.”
“Wouldn’t have worked, though.”
“It’s the thought that matters. Besides, her upbeat positivity just may help Gilda see the light.”
“Better than nothing, I guess. I mean, I can’t see a reason to send anyone else. Rarity would spend more time fretting over the state of things in the city than actually getting things done. Applejack would be too forceful, and pairing her with Rainbow would mean two stubborn hotheads instead of just one. Fluttershy would probably break down in tears the instant one of those feeaa… griffons tries to push her. And Princess Twilight’s position isn’t going to mean much to non-ponies, so say good-bye to any respect. We may just have to go with Pinkie by default.”
“However we reach the conclusion… Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Calling Rainbow Dash.”
“Calling Pinkie Pie.”
“Your mission begins here.”
“We’ve got a breakthrough!”
“What the—?! What’s the big idea, startling me like that?!”
“We don’t have time to debate this! We have to get those mares out there now!”
“Calm down. Remember, time works differently between here and there; by the time we’ve finished deliberating what to do, at most, only half a minute will have passed.”
“And they could be using that half-minute to actually be doing something!”
“Then why don’t we actually start figuring this out instead of wasting time talking about how important it is that they go somewhere?”
“Ugh, fine.”
“Now, what is so urgent that you’d start raving like a lunatic?”
“Well, remember back when they first found the map and you suggested Manehattan as their first mission?”
“And you said we should wait until the situation changes in our favor.”
“It’s changed in our favor.”
“Oh. Details, please.”
“Remember that fashion mare they all met during that Fashion Week thing?”
“Suri Polomare?”
“What? No. The other one… The Fluttershy-esque one.”
“Coco Pommel.”
“Yeah, sure. She’s organizing a community theater performance. It’s the perfect opportunity.”
“I don’t know. I mean, I kinda wanted to get the girls to the Smoky Mountains as soon as possible after the Griffonstone mission.”
“But this won’t last forever. We only have a small window of opportunity. If we don’t send someone there soon, at best, Pommel will likely cancel the event. Who knows how long it’ll be till the next chance arises?”
“Okay, yeah, you make a good point. It has been on the backlogs for quite some time. And it is a whole society, one of the biggest cities in Equestria. I guess we could call that a priority. So, what are you thinking? Maybe send the whole team in?”
“Hmm. Actually, that doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
“Why not? More ponies means more hooves to help out.”
“Maybe, but the whole point of this mission is to get the Manehattanites to start taking a more active role in their community. If they see four to six mares working on this one project, they may think the whole thing is being taken care of.”
“I guess I can see that. So, who did you have in mind for this?”
“Well, Rarity is the obvious choice. Worse comes to worse, she can probably find her way around Manehattan better than any of them. Plus, Coco might be more receptive if Rarity is with them.”
“True. I was thinking maybe Applejack, too. It may have been a long time ago, but she used to live in Manehattan. That’s an advantage we can’t afford to waste. But besides that, she’s a hard worker; her example may lead others to start making better choices.”
“Great, got that taken care of. Let’s send ‘em out!”
“There is still one thing that concerns me, though.”
“Ugh, you just enjoy making these things longer than they need to be, don’t you?”
“This is important. Like I just said, Manehattan’s a big city. How are they going to know where to go or what their objective is? We’ve been doing pretty well at giving the girls missions with fairly obvious signs of what’s wrong and where to start, but there is a chance that neither Applejack nor even Rarity might even think to check in with Coco.”
“…Okay, you may be right there.”
“…”
“…This…may not be the answer you want to hear, but…”
“But…?”
“…what if we were to allow for some… intervention?”
“I’m… not sure I feel comfortable with that. Even if we had such power, the whole point of this map is to point ponies in the right direction towards friendship and let them work out the rest.”
“I’m not saying we beam ourselves to Manehattan and yell out, ‘Get your acts together!’ or something like that. But like you said, our job is to push them in the right direction. Well, what if we do just that?”
“I don’t follow.”
“Simple. We give them a hint, a sign, a clue, if you will, of what to do. And it would only need to be done as a last resort. Trust me, I don’t want to do this either; it feels like cheating. But I’d rather cheat and produce an overall positive result than do nothing and watch this society crumble.”
“…You may have a point. What’s the plan?”
“After they get to the city, we’ll wait and see what happens. If they don’t figure it out after a certain amount of time or, dare I say it, threaten to give up, we’ll send a little something their way to let them know. And it’ll seem like a complete accident.”
“Hmm. Now that I think about it, I may be able to use some of my connections with the Winds of Fate. They might give the girls the edge they need if things aren’t looking too good.”
“Best bet we have. Now can we please get this show on the road?”
“If that was a pun…”
“Calling Applejack!”
“…Calling Rarity.”
“Your mission begins here.”
The Smoky Mountain Mission
“I say we’ve put this off for long enough.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“I’m not saying you did something wrong. It’s just that the Smoky Mountains have been left alone for too long, so if we’re going to do something, we’d better do it now.”
“Could you at least say it without sounding so… condescending?”
“I don’t think there’s any way I could say it without you treating it like a personal attack. Like you said, we were on a time limit with Manehattan. I’m not going to argue with you on whether or not we should have gone through with it. What’s past is past, so let’s focus on the present.”
“Fine, fine. So, Smoky Mountains. The site of a generations-long family feud. The once pristine landscape has all but turned into a wasteland. Anything that lives there, either by intention or accident, is caught up in the crossfire.”
“This one’s a no-brainer. We have to send in Fluttershy. The animals are the key to getting this feud under control. They’ll have the unbiased account and the biggest stake in the outcome.”
“Won’t argue there. But then there’s the elephant in the room that this is Fluttershy; she’s way too timid. Even if she gets the story from the animals, talking to ponies is going to be nigh-impossible for her.”
“Well, I certainly wasn’t going to send her alone. What about Rainbow Dash? She knows Fluttershy the best and she’s the most action-oriented; maybe she can get the two families to stop long enough for Fluttershy to do the rest.”
“Nah, bad idea. Rainbow’s too hotheaded and may just get involved with the fighting. We’d be looking at a three-way brawl.”
“Right, right, what was I thinking? Applejack, then? She certainly has the most cultural ties to these ponies. Maybe she can reason with them.”
“Not a terrible idea, but I think we can do better.”
“What do you mean?”
“What we need is a reason for the fighting to stop. Applejack may be the most level headed, but those ‘cultural ties’ you mentioned may work to her detriment. Both sides may consider her part of the enemy, and it’s not like her mannerisms will easily convince them she’s not.”
“So… what then?”
“I was thinking we send in the big guns: Princess Twilight Sparkle herself.”
“…Is this really about doing what’s best for the mission?”
“I see where you’re going with this, and I will admit that sending the princess means that everypony will have been called by the map on these dual missions, not to mention that she’d been so disappointed after not getting called for those last two.”
“Do you honestly think Princess Twilight won’t get overexcited?”
“Actually, if we send her now, we can keep the overexcitement to a minimum, as opposed to doing it later, in which case she’ll just get even more frustrated, and when we finally send her, it’ll only get worse.”
“But what good will she do for this mission?”
“Hellooo! She’s a princess! If there’s anything that can get the two to stop fighting long enough to just talk with them, it’s one of the highest authorities in the land. The only pony they’ll respect more is probably Princess Celestia, but we don’t exactly have a link to her. Face it, she’s the only one who can stop the feud long enough for Fluttershy to get the story from the animals and explain the situation to both sides.”
“…I guess you make a good point.”
“Great. Then let’s get this started.”
“Alright. Calling Twilight Sparkle.”
“Calling Fluttershy.
“Your mission begins here.”
The Glimmer Mission: Conclusion
“Whoa! Did you feel that?”
“I’m surprised you have to ask. But if you’re wondering what that was, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
“Whatever it was seemed to happen to the map. We gotta get a look inside the throne room.”
“Hang on… Uh-oh.”
“Starlight Glimmer? What’s she doing here?”
“Well, it’s not like Princess Twilight managed to actually catch her the last time.”
“But why is she back now? If she’s damaged the map in any way…”
“I don’t think she has. Trust me, even if she could, we’d know if that were the case.”
“Then what did she do?”
“Let’s just wait and… What is that?”
“You’re asking me?”
“Two heads, and all that…”
“Well, just at a glance, I’d say it’s a trans-dimensional bubble. But it’s not like I know where it leads.”
“Those glyphs… I don’t think I’ve seen anything like that since Starswirl the Bearded.”
“Actually, I think the last time we saw anything like that was when the princess used that time travel thing of… his…”
“Wait, do you mean… Then again, I am getting something that could actually be time magic.”
“She’s going up.”
“And she’s gone.”
“…Maybe… Maybe that’s the last we’ve seen of her?”
“Do you honestly believe that?”
“A guy can hope. Wait, it’s happening again.”
“Princess Twilight!”
“…”
“What just happened?”
“I think I saw Spike touching that parchment before that last surge.”
“Parchment… What was on it?”
“Give me a sec… Just let me hit the rewind… Yep, it was Starswirl’s time travel spell. But…”
“But what?”
“Starswirl was never able to use it for more than almost a minute at a time. If Starlight really was using that spell, what can she hope to accomplish? And how did just touching the parchment send the princess and Spike through the portal as well?”
“Here, let me have a look… Let’s see… parchment… magical surge…Starlight… I think I have it.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Starlight modified the spell to work in tandem with the map. When that magic surge hit us, it was the spell using the map as a focal point, to increase its power. I mean, you don’t get much more powerful than an artifact created by the Tree of Harmony itself.”
“Sounds reasonable so far…”
“With that much power, the parchment itself basically became the spell.”
“‘Became’?”
“When Spike touched that parchment, it reacted and activated the spell again. That’s why Twilight and Spike got sucked through time with Starlight.”
“Did… Did Starlight know that would happen?”
“Honestly, I can’t say I know for sure, but I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“But there’s still one question: where are they?”
“And when?”
“…Hey! Maybe the map will tell us!”
“How do you figure?”
“If Starlight’s modifications required the map, maybe the map still has some residual magic left over. It could tell us where Starlight intended to go.”
“Worth a shot. Start looking.”
“…”
“Found it!”
“Where is it?”
“Over Cloudsdale.”
“What could Starlight want there? Hmm…”
“Well, what sort of big events happened at Cloudsdale?”
“Any number of things. But if her goal involves revenge on Twilight… No.”
“Wait, wait, wait. You don’t mean…”
“The first Sonic Rainboom performed by Rainbow Dash.”
“But… what could she…?”
“Isn’t it obvious? All six of those ponies were brought together by destiny through this Rainboom.”
“What’ll happen if she succeeds?”
“There is a chance that nothing too drastic will happen, but that’s far too optimistic, given the circumstances.”
“So you’re saying the ponies may never meet.”
“That’s our best case scenario within reason. But the more likely options…”
“What?”
“Think about it; what have Princess Twilight and her friends done since they met?”
“Everything.”
“Exactly. A lot’s happened throughout the past couple years, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends were usually right in the thick of it. But if they never met…”
“…any one of those threats could have taken over. Wait, does Starlight even realize this?!”
“I doubt it. She’s a mare that’s had a rough life, and about half of that is self-inflicted. She doesn’t see clearly anymore. At the moment, I’d say she’s thinking of the short-term gains rather than the long-term losses. And I don’t think there’s anything we can do.”
“What?!”
“We’re just the Watchers of the Map. And that’s what we do: we watch. We send ponies to solve the problems we notice. And right now, we can only hope that whatever Princess Twilight’s going through, she’ll make it like she always does.”
“…”
“I’m not buying it.”
“Huh?”
“Maybe we can’t deal with Starlight directly, but we can’t just sit here. She used our map to achieve her ends, and I, for one, am not about to let her get away with it.”
“…”
“Maybe you think Princess Twilight can pull it off, but I’d rather have a backup plan if… no, let’s face it, when things go south.”
“But what can we do? This map is stationary, bound to one place.”
“Hmm… But… what if that one place was spread across multiple timelines?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Starlight left us with the one thing that can help to beat her: her own spell. She used it with this map. If we can tap into this magic, we might be able to help Princess Twilight.”
“…What’s your idea?”
“Let’s face it, Princess Twilight isn’t going to figure out Starlight’s intentions right away. As soon as Starlight stops the Rainboom, Twilight will be flung into an alternate reality. And she’ll need a way back. You said it yourself; the spell and the map are now working together.”
“And you think we can use the map as her means of escape?”
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Okay, but we’ve got a lot to do first. We’ll need to make sure that Princess Twilight comes back here. That way, she’ll have easy access to the map. We also need to find a way to get this map to her.”
“That’s an easy one. We use the leftover magic, along with our own, to travel through time and space to wherever the princess is. All we have to do is focus on her and we’ll be right there with her.”
“Do you really think this will work?”
“Better to have tried and failed than not try at all.”
“True enough. Ready?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Calling Twilight Sparkle. Your mission begins here!”
“Ooohhh… Well… that went well.”
“We probably broke about a dozen cosmic statutes doing that.”
“Maybe they’ll take my headache as suitable punishment.”
“We’ll cross that broken bridge when we get there. Speaking of going places, did it work?”
“Let’s check the map…!”
“Oh, wow…”
“It’s almost like the Crystal Empire took a tip from the Everfree Forest after that invasion thing.”
“Let’s take a closer look.”
“Try the Crystal Mountains. If anything strange is going on in this timeline, that’d be the best place to start.”
“Hang on…”
“…Is that… a war?”
“Equestria hasn’t known war in centuries, not since the last Griffon War. How did this…?”
“Wait. Try the Empire City.”
“…”
“Well, now we know what caused it.”
“Wha…? But… Sombra never went this far before, even during his first takeover.”
“The Royal Sisters stopped him before he got much farther than enslavement. My guess is he managed to stay one step ahead this time.”
“And without Princess Twilight and the rest, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were helpless.”
“Oh, sweet deities, I don’t even want to think about what happened to them.”
“…”
“Hey, where’s Princess Twilight? We should have come with her… I hope.”
“We’re still in Ponyville, right? She couldn’t have gotten far… There. Sweet Apple Acres.”
“More like Sweet Apple Industries.”
“Every pony in Equestria must have been affected by this. Let’s see, if we broaden the scope of the map a bit…”
“I’m feeling… anxiety… their morale is low. They just work, day in and day out, hoping, praying that their contribution is worth it at the end of the day.”
“There’s nothing we can do for these ponies. We’ve done all we can, now we just have to wait for Princess Twilight to make the connection and use the map to set things right.”
“…”
“Hey, I see her!”
“With Applejack, no less.”
“It is kinda nice to see a friendly face… even if that face is more ‘tolerant’ than ‘friendly.’ And also wearing a hairnet… Am I wrong in saying this timeline bugs me?”
“Not entirely. And with this story she’s telling, you’re even more justified.”
“Come on, Princess, hurry up and figure it out already so we can all get out of here.”
“…”
“Hey, you feel that?”
“I think she’s finally got it.”
“Here’s hoping…”
“Ugh, well, something happened…”
“Are we back?”
“Better check the map… Uuhhhh… I am going to say no.”
“Tell me about it. This doesn’t even look like the timeline we just left.”
“Could it get any worse though?”
“Well, so far we know the Everfree Expansion was allowed to roam free in this timeline.”
“Please tell me that’s the worst of it; I’m already sensing higher levels of fear than even back in the Crystal War timeline.”
“Let’s check out Canterlot. Ponyville may be a lost cause, but even something like this couldn’t affect the capitol…!”
“I think the Everfree is the least of Canterlot’s worries.”
“Changelings everywhere… The entire city looks like a hive.”
“Could we look away now? I’d rather not know the details.”
“Good point; no sense in learning more about this world than we have to.”
“Besides, there’s something else catching my attention.”
“What is it?”
“Maybe Ponyville really is a lost cause, but I’m feeling a strong pony presence not too far from here.”
“Give me a moment… There!”
“Looks like some underground resistance.”
“And from the look of things, it’s not going well.”
“You see Princess Twilight anywhere?”
“No. If she was there, she may have already made her escape.”
“Check the path back to the map; I’d rather be sure.”
“There she is!”
“With a horde of changelings or her tail.”
“Almost there…”
“Hmmm! I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
“We did leave in a big hurry.”
“Ugh, changelings. Never liked them.”
“Maybe we’ll get through to them someday. For now though, let’s see if this one worked…”
“Doesn’t look like it. In fact we may even be back in the changeling timeline.”
“No, something’s different. Hang on… Look at this.”
“Huh, I don’t remember the Castle of the Two Sisters looking that good in a long time.”
“Focus on that castle. What do you sense?”
“It’s… It’s hard to say… It’s like the ponies just… don’t care anymore. Broaden the scope… It’s the same all over Equestria. No happiness, no fear, no sadness… there’s just… nothing.”
“This castle… I can’t see who’s ruling it. Wait. There seems to be a large amount of bat-winged pegasi in there.”
“Hold on… Bat-winged pegasi… it is kinda dark out…”
“Hey, the princess is coming this…!”
“Nightmare Moon.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised we didn’t run into her sooner.”
“She’s got Spike wrapped in chains.”
“She must have needed a bargaining chip for whatever deal Princess Twilight made with her.”
“What deal?”
“…”
“Ouch. I wouldn’t want to be that timberwolf.”
“I sense that the princess is just recovering from exhaustion. Something must have gone down in her last encounter with Starlight.”
“So she runs for the nearest shelter she can find to hide from the wolves, runs into Nightmare Moon, and convinces her to help take care of them while she recovers her magic.”
“But why would she want to help Princess Twilight in the first place?”
“She must have let slip that she’s not from this timeline. Nightmare Moon must have really wanted to use this power for herself.”
“I sure hope she has a plan after this. I do not want that alicorn getting her hooves on this map.”
“…”
“There! She’s springing to action!”
“Please let this be the one…”
“Does Tirek have a thing against trees or something?”
“Having all that power was never exactly the catalyst for maintaining his subtlety.”
“Yikes! Discord, what are you doing?”
“Is that a question you really want to ask?”
“…Fair point.”
“What the—?!”
“I guess without the others’ help, Flim and Flam would have taken over the Apples’ farm, no sweat.”
“But to go this far?! Is there nothing they won’t do?!”
“What… What is this place?”
“Can we even call it that? There’s nothing. Even the map is completely bare.”
“I can’t even see a reason for this.”
“Is it something we have yet to face? Maybe a combination of everything we’ve seen?”
“Let’s not think about it.”
“…”
“Hey I just realized; Starlight’s here.”
“Wait, what?”
“Looks like Princess Twilight managed to take her with them.”
“You think this will be it?”
“Wait, Starlight’s using the spell.”
“Please, please, please…”
“Ahhh… Well?”
“They did it.”
“Really?”
“Check for yourself. Everything is as it should be.”
“Hah, thank goodness… Hey, Starlight’s here too.”
“Something seems different about her.”
“I’m getting… sorrow… regret… and… happiness.”
“I think it’s safe to say that the Starlight Glimmer mission was a complete success. Good job.”
“Why thank me?”
“This was all your idea. Without your determination, we wouldn’t have even tried it.”
“Wouldn’t have been so determined if you hadn’t all but given up. Besides, I may have started it, but you kept me sane throughout; I’d call that a much bigger achievement.”
“If you say so. But we still have one more thing to take care of.”
“What’s that?”
“The spell. We can’t let it fall into anyone’s hooves again.”
“Looks like the parchment nearly got torn in half.”
“Let’s tear the rest of it.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m activating the spell one last time, but I’m homing in on the parchment…”
“…And it’s gone.”
“The vortex in that tunnel will complete the tear. They’ll land in two separate areas, maybe even timelines, and be completely useless.”
“…So what happens now?”
“Well, I imagine Princess Twilight will gather her friends and decide what to do with Starlight. What Starlight herself does next is her own choice. But as for us… Well, I don’t know about you, but I plan to rest and forget this whole thing ever happened.”
“Forget what ever happened?”
“Exactly.”
“Well, they found it.”
“‘About time’ is all I can say.”
“To be fair, getting to know the castle layout is kind of important.”
“Still, is it really too much to ask for them to sit in those chairs all at once at some point?”
“They also had to furnish it. I mean, all we gave them was a few necessities and the thrones. We didn’t even give them a bed.”
“They spent half that time focusing on the library. I understand Princess Twilight loves her literature, but a whole week? And don’t even get me started on that whole ‘alternate universe detour.’”
“No sense fretting over the past now. They’ve found the map, now we need to send them on their first mission.”
“That won’t be too hard; we’ve got quite the backlog.”
“We’ve got some time while they pick their jaws up off the floor. And time moves differently here, anyway. What do we have?”
“Give me a minute… Okay, I’ve picked out the ones that need taken care of pretty much yesterday.”
“Any good candidates?”
“I was thinking Griffonstone, maybe. Those featherbrains need to learn to let go of the value of the bit and embrace that of friendship.”
“Okay, first off, don’t call them ‘featherbrains;’ that’s just needlessly demeaning.”
“It’s true, though.”
“Granted, but the point still stands. Second, I think we should save Griffonstone for later; this is going to be their first friendship mission, so we need one where they can all be together to get the idea of what to expect.”
“What does that have to do with Griffonstone being a bad idea?”
“Have you forgotten who currently lives there?”
“…”
“Come on, we’ve only been watching these ponies since the Elements of Harmony chose them.”
“…Oh, wait, you mean that Gilda chick?”
“…Please tell me you mean that in the sense of her being part bird…”
“…Yes?”
“…At any rate, having all six ponies there would just make things more difficult, and Gilda is going to be at the center of it all. No, this is a job that requires a smaller team, and we don’t need that right now.”
“All right, fair enough. You got anything?”
“Let’s see here. Oh, what about Manehattan? That city could definitely use a lesson in what it means to be a community. And, as a bonus, they’ve all been to Manehattan, so they’ll be working in familiar ground.”
“I don’t know. I mean, their lack of drive is a problem, but this just doesn’t seem like the right time for it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, in order for them to act like a ‘community,’ they need something to ‘commune’ over. Some sort of event that they’ll look at and think, ‘This is our chance to be a true community.’ And I just don’t see that happening at the moment.”
“Yeah, I guess you have a point.”
“Hey, wait a minute. What about this one?”
“What is it?”
“It’s that small village run by that… that one mare… Oh what was her name, uh… Starburst Shimmer…”
“Wait, do you mean Starlight Glimmer?”
“Yeah, there you go.”
“I’d completely forgotten that town existed.”
“Not surprising; this is probably the only map in Equestria that even knows where it is.”
“An entire town of false friendships, all because of some misguided belief that differences make one too different.”
“Not to mention Ms. Glimmer herself. She’s become far too power-hungry for somepony in her situation. I’d call that a priority one.”
“Agreed. Shall we?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Calling Twilight Sparkle.”
“Calling Applejack.”
“Calling Rainbow Dash.”
“Calling Rarity.”
“Calling Fluttershy.”
“Calling Pinkie Pie.”
“Your mission begins here.”
