Welcome to Pony Vale

Chapters

1 - Welcome to Pony Vale
2 - ALL HAIL
3 - Hay & Hay By Products
4 - A Story About You
5 - Renovation
6 - Deerskin Suitcase
7 - “Yellow Star”
8 - Pages
9 - Faceless
10 - The Everfree Forest
11A - Winter Wrap Up

1 - Welcome to Pony Vale

The beautiful lavender alicorn, who we all know as Twilight Sparkle, trotted along the dirt path in town. A strange town. A town known as Ponyville. She greeted all her friends and neighbors with a smile on her pretty face, and met up with her friends. Rainbow Dash. Applejack. Fluttershy. Rarity. Pinkie Pie. Strange but very interesting friends of the Princess of Friendship. They talked and laughed with each other carefree, no tribulation bothering them. That's when he came, the dog on the radio. He came on a train that usually never came at this time. He came into town. A strange town. Welcome to Pony~~ville~~ Vale

"So there's a new pony in town? Since when?" Applejack asked, interested in the new resident.

Twilight nodded, "Since today. Princess Celestia asked us to greet the new face in Ponyville. She wants us to make him feel comfortable here."

Pinkie Pie jumped up and around her friends as she threw confetti all around. "I'm so excited!!! I wonder if he'll be a unicorn or maybe an earth pony or Pegasus I wonder if he likes parties or if he wants vanilla cake or chocolate or strawberry or pineapple or app-"

Rainbow put a hoof in Pinkie's mouth to stop her from rambling on and on. "Relax will ya! If you keep that up you'll scare him outta town!"

"Oh, I sure hope he's nice," the shy pegasus said with a worried voice.

"Do not worry, darling,"Rarity said with her ever so elegant voice,"I'm sure he's a nice stallion."

Pinkie Pie then saw something that made her move Dash's hoof away. "Look! Look! Look! Look! Look! The train's here!"

Everypony turned their heads to see the train in the distance. They watched as the train came to a stop next to them. The doors of the now immobile vehicle opened up to reveal a dog with a bag on his back. His fur was black and wore a white collar around his neck with a purple tie and black vest. They perfectly matched his purple eyes that seemed to almost glow. The group of friends stared at him with shock.

"Is the new stallion behind the dog?" Rainbow asked.

The dog stepped forward and smiled at the group. He spoke. "Hello there. I take it you're the Elements of Harmony?"

Twilight was the first to answer after an awkward silence. "Yes, you must be the new pon-I mean resident?"

The dog chuckled, his charming voice heard again when he spoke to her. "I know, I know. It's a bit unorthodox that a dog has come to live in Ponyville, but I can assure you that I'm a nice guy."

The dog was startled when the pink pony, who was next to the princess, was now next to him. "Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie and welcome to Ponyville! I would have brought my welcome wagon, but it broke yesterday because of technical difficulties! Hehe! What's your name?"

The dog smiled at the party pony and shook her hoof with his paw. "Cecil, just Cecil."

Cecil turned to the others and faced them. "Well I'm glad to be here. That train ride was a long one, and the food wasn't as great as you would imagine." He laughed and the others laughed along with him.

"So, Cecil, why did you decide to come here to Ponyville specifically?" Rarity asked the charming dog.

The group started walking together towards town as the dog explained, "Well, I've heard a lot of great things about this place. Especially about you six. You've saved Equestria numerous times! You're all so great that I've even talk about you on my broadcasts."

Applejack raised an eyebrow and asked, "Broadcasts? What broadcasts?"

"Well, I own a radio station up in Manehatten. But I decided to move to a more secluded place and build a radio station here."

"What's it called?!" Pinkie asked full of excitement.

Well," Cecil started, "It was called Manehatten news when I lived over there. But now that I'm living in Ponyville I guess I'll have to call it something different."

"Hey! While you wait why don't you come to Sugar Cube Corner and try some of my cupcakes?!"

"Sure! I still have some time until I go on the air. Plus I really need to eat something after that train food."

The bouncy pink pony led him and her friends to the colorful bakery in Ponyville. The wondrous smell of cakes and baked goods entered Cecil's nose as they entered the building. The group sat down except for Pinkie who was bringing her friends some delicious cupcakes.

"Try one! They're fresh from the oven!" Pinkie exclaimed as the dog took a bite from one of the cupcakes. His expression showed amazement as he chewed on the sweet treat.

"Amazing! What's your secret ingredient?"

Pinkie giggled, "Well, I guess I can tell you."

She then whispered in his ear, not letting any of her friends hear. Cecil chuckled when sh finished telling him. "Interesting. Very."

They rest of the mane five shrugged at what Pinkie had told him. It probably wasn't important anyways.

Twilight and Cecil walked through Ponyville greeting the other ponies around. Twilight thought it would be a great idea to introduce Cecil to the town. After a long time of not talking to each other, Cecil broke the silence.

"Your friends sure are wonderful, Princess."

Twilight smiled at him, "Thanks, and you can just call me Twilight."

"Alright, Twilight." Cecil said with a big smile on his face, "Your friend Pinkie sure is a hyperactive one. But she seems like a lot of fun."

"Hehe, yeah. She can be a bit to much sometimes, but you get used to it."

"You know, between you and me, you were the one I reported on the most."

Twilight turned to him in surprise, "Really? Why?"

Cecil turned to face her, "Well, besides you being princess and all, you are the most interesting pony I've ever heard about. I mean, you were the star pupil of Princess Celestia, you've had some crazy adventures, and even became an alicorn! That's pretty awesome."

Twilight blushed, "Thanks. I would never have thought I would be a princess. If you told me, years ago, that I would become an alicorn and become the Princess of Friendship, I probably would have thought you were crazy."

Cecil laughed, "Probably not as crazy as you did when you freaked out about not sending a letter to the princess."

She gasped, "How do you know about that?"

"I have some interns that tell me about some of the stuff that happens around here. Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone on the radio about that incident."

Twilight blushed even more, but this time embarrassed. "I was a bit crazier back then, but I've grown a lot since then. Also..."

The alicorn turned around to see if any pony was listening and then whispered in his ear, "I was a bit of a conspiracy nut back then."

Cecil chuckled, "Really? What about now?"

Twilight nodded, "Not anymore really. I guess I realized that conspiracies aren't real."

"Really? You don't believe in conspiracies anymore?"

"No not really."

Cecil smiled at her, "Interesting."

"So, where are you going to live while you get ready to build your radio station?"

Cecil looked at her with a very shocked expression, "Get ready? But I've already built the station."

"Really?" Twilight said with the same expression as the dog's. "Where?"

Cecil pointed behind Twilight and said, "Over there on top of the hill that overlooks Ponyville."

Twilight turned around, and sure enough it was there. It must've been half the height of her castle, and the symbol on the tower was a purple eye with the moon in the middle of it.

"Strange, I don't remember this being here. How could I have missed it?"

Cecil looked at the sun, it was now hiding behind the mountains. "Thank you Twilight for introducing me to the wonderful town, but I have to get up there right now. I'm live in thirty minutes."

"Oh okay, I'll just stay home and listen to you then. I'll be sure to tell the others to listen as well."

"Great!" Cecil exclaimed,"And trust me, you're going to love it."

Twilight, Spike, and Starlight Glimmer sat at the Cutie Map with a radio set up with some tea and cookies to keep them company.

"So," Twilight's pupil started, "This new pony is actually a dog? Strange."

"Yeah, don't you think it's weird?" Spike said as he stuffed cookies in his mouth.

Twilight nodded and took a sip from her tea, "No. Not at all. He seems to like it here, and is pretty charming."

Starlight looked at her teacher with the 'I know you like him face'.

Twilight, knowing what Starlight meant, rolled her eyes. "No, Starlight. He's a nice guy, but I just met him. And besides, I'm a pony and he's a dog, it would be weird. He would think I'm weird."

Spike laughed, "So you do like him then?"

Twilight blushed and quickly grabbed the radio, "Woah will you look at the time! The broadcast must be on!"

She quickly turned the knob on the radio, trying to find the station in which Cecil was on. After several moments she found it and let the radio sit on the cutie map. The familiar charming voice came out of the radio saying, "A friendly joyful community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Pony Vale."

Twilight sure was excited to hear him in the radio. Despite never hearing about him before, he told her that he was famous for some of his broadcasts around Equestria. The voice came again after the mysterious music silently faded away.

Hello listeners. To start things off I've been asked to read this brief notice. The Mayor of Ponyville announces the opening of a new dragon park at the corner of Quills and Sofas.

"Cool! A new park!" Spike said with excitement.

She would like to remind everyone that dragons are not allowed in the dragon park.

Spike shook his head, "Wait what?"

Ponies are not allowed in the dragon park. It is possible, you will see hooded figures in the dragon park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the dragon park. The fences are electrified and highly dangerous. Try not to look at the dragon park and especially do not look for any period of time at the hooded figures. The dragon park will not harm you.

Starlight blinked a couple of time before saying, "Well that was weird."

"It really was," Twilight agreed.

And now the news. Granny Smith, grandmare of Applejack, says the angels revealed themselves to her. Said they were ten feet tall, radiant, and one of them was black. Said they helped her with various chores around the barn. One of them made a sandwich for her with fresh new hay from Hay and Hay By Products. She is willing to sell the sandwich which was touched by an angel. It was the black angel if that sweetens the deal for anyone. If your interested, go visit Granny Smith.

"Okay that doesn't sound like Granny Smith at all!" Spike said in disbelief at the voice on the radio.

Welcome to Pony Vale would like to thank our new sponsor and friend Pinkie Pie. Sugar Cube Corner's cupcakes and baked goods are absolutely wonderful! Go to Pinkie's and get a dozen cupcakes! You won't regret it. And remember, no one does a cupcake like Pinkie Pie. No one.

The music changed again as the voice on the radio spoke once more.

Lights, seen in the sky above Ponyville. Not the glowing stars in the night sky, something closer yet beyond that. We know the difference. We've caught on to their game. We understand the lights above Ponyville game. Invaders from another world. Ladies and gentlecolts the future is here, and it's about a hundred feet above Ponyville.

Starlight trotted towards the window and gasped. "Twilight, Spike, you might want to see this!"

The two friends ran towards the window and gasped too when they saw them. The glowing lights hovering only a hundred feet from them. They flew in patterns that seemed random, but orderly. The voice on the radio returned.

A team of scientists have just reported that there are actually earthquakes happening in Ponyville all the time, a magnitude of 10.5. I don't know about you, but the ground has been as still as the coffee mug on my table. The scientists have double checked and are sure that there are earthquakes happening right now. Well, submit an insurance claim anyway, see what you can get right?

Spike shrugged, "He's got a point about that one actually."

Now, Traffic. Police are informing citizens that there are ghost carriages riding amok. They want to remind you to not get in a ghost carriage, because ponies who have entered are never seen again. They also want to inform everypony to not try to match the speed of the ghost carriages, they are pretty reckless. But police say it is okay to match the speed of the mysterious lights hovering above Ponyville, since they are flying in an orderly fashion. And now, the weather.

The three ponies jumped when they heard something outside the window. It was music.

"Is that music?" Twilight said with disbelief at what she was seeing, or rather, hearing. "The weather is music?! What the hay is going in?!"

The citizens of Ponyville, who were also listening to the station, ran outside to hear the weather. They all panicked. The music slowly faded away, and Cecil came back on the air.

Welcome back listeners. The sun didn't set at the correct time today, says the scientist who has just handed me this paper. Apparently the sun set ten minutes later than it was supposed to. They are quite certain about it. I asked them if they had any explanation for this, but all they did was do a handstand and ran away. It was probably Celestia, she must've forgot to set it. Still, we must be grateful for her controlling the sun and all. It's easy to forget when it's really, really, REALLY, hot! But things would actually be harder for us without the sun. The next time the sun rises, whenever that is, take a moment to feel grateful for the sun. Yes, even when it's unbearably hot. Well listeners, I believe it's time to go to bed, we must have a good rest in order to feel prepared for what lies ahead. Goodnight Pony Vale. Goodnight

The three friends stood in awe, they were unable to fathom what had just happened. Twilight was going to have a serious talk with Cecil tomorrow.

Author's Note

Hello everyone. Thank you for reading the first chapter of Welcome to Pony Vale. For those who do not know this story is based on the famous podcast and Novel, Welcome to Night Vale, by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. If you are interested be sure to check out the podcast for yourself. It is free to listen, and is on YouTube too! This weather was written by Jospeh Fink, it was written for the podcast itself and even sang it himself. Be sure to keep a lookout for the next chapter and comment on what you would like to see next! And hey, thanks.

2 - ALL HAIL

"If you love someone, set them free. Set them free now. This is the police, we have you surrounded!" -The Police

"What the actual hay was that?!"

A very angry alicorn yelled at the purple eyed dog who just starred at her confused.

"W-what are you talking about?" He asked nervously to the princess.

Twilight scoffed, "I'm talking about your broadcast! You claimed that Granny Smith told you that there were angels that helped her, you said there were earthquakes in Ponyville, and how did you cause the music and lights?!"

Cecil looked at Twilight, afraid to answer he stuttered in his words. "My deepest apologies princess. But I'm not sure why you are ang-"

"I'm angry because you lied about all those things!" Twilight shouted, interrupting Cecil.

Cecil backed up nervously from the angry alicorn and said, "I'm sorry princess. B-but I didn't m-make those stories up. I'm j-just reporting on w-what I'm told to r-report on."

Twilight didn't believe him, and was about to shout in his face again until Granny Smith came by.

"Why howdy, Twilight. Did you hear? The angels came and did ma chores for me! What friendly creatures."

As Granny Smith walked away, Twilight froze, wide eyed. She didn't know what to say.

Cecil sighed, "Look Twilight, my broadcasts are one hundred percent honest, I swear. I don't believe in making fake news, it's stupid. I'm telling you and all of Pony Vale the truth."

"But, but, but the lights, and the music. How did you?"

"I didn't do any of it. I'm just a normal dog, I can't make these things happen. My job is just to report, I can't not report."

Twilight gave up and sighed, "But I don't understand. How could these things happen?"

"Look Twilight, I have to go now."

Cecil walked away from her and headed back to his radio tower.

"Cecil wait!" She said feeling bad about yelling at him, but he just ignored her and walked away.

Twilight and her friends all sat in their seats near the cutie map, drinking tea and cookies. Twilights face was on the table as she sighed angrily, "What did I do?!" She said, her words barely recognizable. She lifted her head and put a hoof on her cheek.

"I yelled at him and now he probably hates me. I was supposed to make him feel welcomed here, but now he might want to move away."

Rarity put a hoof in her and smiled, "Don't worry dear, I'm sure he knew you were sorry."

Applejack agreed, "It'll be fine sugarcube. But still, how'd he do those lights n' stuff?"

"He said he didn't do them," Teilight responded, "He says he is completely honest with his reports. But still."

Just then, the radio came on and Cecil's voice was heard.

Look out for a certain cloud, it might be dangerous. Welcome to Pony Vale. Before I get started, I would like to give a message to Princess Twilight Sparkle. I would like to tell her to not feel bad about what happened, and I forgive her.

Twilight smiled and felt relieved, she was forgiven.

And now, the news. Has any pony seen the strange cloud that's been hovering above Sweet Apple Acres? Our interns say that the cloud is changing color and is making a small humming noise. It also seems to have what appears to be an eye, and the cloud looks like a pyramid. Many residents are afraid by this because it reminds them of the Illu-mane-ati. But here at Welcome to Pony Vale, we say that is a bunch of Illu-ma-nonsense. Now, I have a different opinion on this cloud. Use it's random changing colors to teach your colts and fillies the colors. More on this story, later.

"Yeah I don't think I'm gonna to do that," Applejack said nodding.

There is something strange happening in the Everfree forest. Many witnesses say they are seeing strange shadows going in and out of the woods. But Zecora, the zebra who rhymes all the time, said that they were demons who managed to escape from a realm unknown to ponies. An unfathomable dimension. She said she used ancient voodoo magics to seal the monsters for awhile. She also warned me to tell you to run and leave Ponyville so that she could take care of the monsters herself. Can you believe she said she used ancient voodoo magics? What a jerk that zebra is!

"Should we be worried?" Rainbow asked Twilight who shrugged in response.

And now, a word from our sponsors. I took a walk on the cool sand dunes, brittle grass overgrown, and above me in the night sky, above me, I saw. Bitter taste of unripe peaches, and a smell I could not place, nor could I escape. I remembered other times that I could not escape. I remembered other smells. The moon slunk like a wounded animal. The world spun like it had lost control. Concentrate only on breathing, and let go of ideas you had about nutrition and alarm clocks. I took a walk on the cool sand dunes, brittle grass overgrown, and above me, in the night sky above me, I saw.
This message was brought to you by Pony Bucks Coffee.

Rarity shook her head and stared at the radio with a dumbfounded look. "What the hay was that?"

And now, back to the news. There has now been one reported death, the cause? The glow cloud. Now, an even stranger occurrence has happened because of the glow cloud. The glow cloud seems to be raining eyeballs from its core. Many officials are shouting questions at the cloud in order to get some answers. The cloud hasn't answered. It does not need to answer. Because it is not like us mortals. It is the king of the ever so fearful Illu-mane-ati. All hail. All hail the glow cloud! All hail!

Twilight and her friends slowly backed away from the radio. They were frightened by Cecil's sudden change in personality and voice.

And now, slaves of the cloud, the weather!

Twilight ran towards the window and heard the "weather" outside. She was even more frightened when she saw the cloud covering all of Ponyville. The eye of the cloud turned to look at her and rained eyeballs toward her direction. She quickly jumped away from the window and screamed when she saw the eyeballs coming from the window. They rolled onto the floor and blinked, staring at her. The group of frightened ponies, and dragon, quickly jumped on top of the table, trying to avoid the eyes from touching them.

Meanwhile, outside of Twilight's castle, the residents of Ponyville quickly ran to their homes. They locked their doors and windows, trying to escape the horror. Those who didn't escape fast enough had eyeballs in their manes. They screamed and wailed.

But as soon as the weather ended, so did the eyes. Twilight looked around and saw nothing. There were no more eyeballs. The lavender alicorn slowly trotted toward the window and saw that the cloud had disappeared. The radio came back on.

Sorry listeners. But it seems we had some technical difficulties here. I have no memory of what happened and it seems that all recordings of what happened have been wiped. In other news, the cloud seems to have disappeared. We are not sure where it has gone. But I believe there is a lesson here for all of us in this frightening ordeal. Just as a mysterious glow cloud comes and goes, so does life. And sometimes life throws eyeballs in our way. So that, dear listeners, is the moral of this story. I hope you've enjoyed tonight's broadcast and I hope to see you tomorrow morning so that we can all laugh at this frightening event. Goodnight Pony Vale. Goodnight.

Twilight and her friends turned to look at each other, clearly shocked from what had happened. Rainbow turned to Twilight with an even more shocked look.

"WHAT THE BUCK?!"

Author's Note

Hey you! Yeah you, dear listener! Are you liking the broadcast? And if so would you like to be an intern and work here? If you do then tell me the name of your OC by PMing me and you'll be working for me, Cecil!

Warning: Welcome to Pony Vale and/or Cecil is not responsible if intern isn't paid or if they are hurt, wounded, and/or possibly killed. We hope you understand.

3 - Hay & Hay By Products

Author's Note

Hey there, it's SuperCyclone. I'm here to warn you that this chapter gets kind of dark towards the end. You've been warned. Also, as I mentioned last time, if you want your OC to be in this story than PM me and you'll be working at Pony Vale Community Radio in no time! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and hey, thanks.

3 - Hay & Hay By Products

"Ask your doctor if right is left for you." -Nurse Redheart

"Hello, Lyra and Bon Bon," Twilight greeted, "Have any of you seen Cecil?"

Bon Bon nodded, "No, sorry Twilight. We haven't. Maybe he's at his radio station?"

Twilight thanked them and flew towards the station. As she flew, she marveled at the tall structure. She still couldn't figure out how she had missed it. Once she had arrived she knocked on the door and waited several seconds until it opened. It was an intern who opened the door.

"Oh hello there, are you looking for Cecil?"

"Yes, I've been wanting to speak to him."

The pony gestured her to come in and the alicorn followed her. The intern led her to the stairs instead of the elevator, Twilight asked her why they couldn't take the elevator. The intern turned to her an replied, "Oh, Station Management won't allow it."

"That was strange," Twilight thought. Why would Station Management refuse to let their employees to use the elevator? It was probably broken.

The intern then turned to the stairs and led Twilight to the top where Cecil broadcasted. When they finally reached the top the intern stopped in front of a door. She knocked several times before opening it, "Cecil, you have a visitor." She said cheerfully. Cecil was sitting on a chair facing the opposite way of them and his desk. Twilight entered, "Hi, Cecil."

The canine turned around and smiled when he saw the princess.

"Oh, hello Twilight. What brings you here?"

"Well," Twilight started, "I just wanted to say that I am sorry for the way I acted yesterday. It was uncalled for."

Cecil walked towards and nodded, "No need to apologize. All of that is in the past. Now, are you okay from yesterday, you know, with the eyeballs and all."

Twilight laughed nervously, "Yeah, that was a bit weird. I'm just glad it wasn't harmful."

"Me too." Cecil said as Twilight looked around his office.

"So, this is where the magic happens?" Twilight asked him and he chuckled.

"You could say that." He showed her his microphone and the papers on his desk. "This is where is sit, drink my coffee, and report. And that room with the clear glass is where my assistant Diana checks if the sound is okay, and she also hands me my reports."

Twilight marveled at the equipment around the room, it was amazing. Cecil could only smile at her as she studied his equipment.

"Hey, want to see something weird?"

Cecil gestured her to follow him, and they walked out of the room. He led her down the hallway and turned to the bathroom. He opened it to reveal a cat. But not just a normal cat, it was a floating cat. The cat licked itself as it hovered near the sink.

Twilight was dumbfounded when she saw the strange cat, "What is this?"

"It's a hovering cat," Cecil said jokingly.

Twilight rolled her eyes and smirked, "I mean, what's a cat doing here and hovering?"

"Well, " Cecil explained, "We just found him here. He is in a state of hovering, and we can't seem to move him. He's just there. But don't worry, we've kept him fed and properly groomed. You should bring your friend Fluttershy here sometime. I've heard she's great with animals. You want to pet him?"

"Sure." Twilight said, slowly approaching the cat and lifting her hoof to pet it. She felt his soft fur as she caressed him.

"He's really soft. Have you given him a name?"

"Well of course! His name is Khoshekh. Khoshekh the hovering cat."

He couldn't help but smile at her. She was so beautiful. Her smile brought joy to his heart. He quickly was out of his trance and turned to his watch.

"Oh, I'm sorry Twilight, but I've got to get ready for tonight's broadcast. I hope you don't think I'm kicking you out."

"Don't worry, I'll be listening from my home. Well, I guess I'll see you later." She said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Cecil also sounded disappointed, "Yeah, see you later."

She then turned and headed for the stairs. He then called out, "Unless!"

She quickly turned around, "Unless?"

"U-unless you want to stay a-and help me?" Cecil stuttered.

Twilight suddenly felt nervous, "R-really? What if I mess something up?"

"Don't worry, it's really easy. You can be next to me and report on the news. I mean, if you'd like?"

"Yes! I mean, yeah sure." Twilight said, feeling embarrassed about shouting yes.

"Great! I think you're gonna like it."

"Regret nothing, until it is too late. Then regret everything. Welcome to Pony Vale."

Twilight sat next to Cecil as he finished his introduction. Twilight had to admit, she was a bit nervous, but felt excitement. She played with her hooves as the music played in the background, until Cecil spoke again.

"Hello listeners," he said warmly, "I hope you've had a great day so far. I see that many are a bit shaken still by last night, but remember: If you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget. Before we get started I would like you all to know that Princess Twilight Sparkle is sitting next to me as I speak."

Twilight's heart beated faster than normal. Her name was told to all of Ponyville.

"I would like her to give out news first tonight."

The lavender mare's eyes widened, she swore her heart was ready to burst out from her chest. Cecil handed Twilight the microphone and the news which was written in a nice piece of paper. Twilight gulped and took both, she looked at Cecil who smiled and told her to relax. She smiled back and spoke into the mic.

"H-hello every pony. It's Twilight Sparkle h-here to give you the n-news. Yeah, so, um...our interns have been studying the Dragon Park lately, and they have reported back some unusual things. First off, they would like to remind every pony again to not stare or go in the Dragon Park. There is already one reported missing pony, but don't worry. The Dragon Park will not harm you, so don't go in or stare at the hooded figures. Do not approach them, do not approach the Dog park or the hooded figures. They will not harm you."

As soon as she finished, she handed the microphone back to Cecil.

"That was Twilight Sparkle with the news. And now the sound of whatever is around you, which is probably a great deal more sound than you think, only some of which indicates future harm for you."

He then stepped back from the mic and turned to his friend.

"That was great!" He said, congratulating her.

"You really think so?" Twilight said.

"Of course! If I wasn't the head of this broadcast then you would be the voice of Pony Vale."

Twilight blushed, "Oh, thanks! But you have a much better voice for this than I do."

"Are you kidding? Your voice is perfect."

Twilight looked away to hide her blush for a moment before asking him, "Hey, I've noticed that you pronounce Ponyville Pony VALE. It's Ville."

He nodded, "No, I'm sure it's Vale."

Twilight shook her head, "No, no, no. It's Ville. V-I-L-L-E. Ville."

"Really? Then why is it spelled V-A-L-E on the sign outside of Ponyville?"

"It is?" Twilight said shockingly, almost shouting. "We should really fix that."

Cecil noticed his assistant telling him to go back to the mic. He nodded, "Come in, we have to get back to the broadcast."

Cecil and Twilight sat in their seats and the dog took the mic in his paws.

"Welcome back listeners. The mayor gave me a notice today with an important message. She would like to alert every pony that Wednesday has been cancelled due to a scheduling error. So any events taking place tomorrow will not exist. Also, here's something strange. There is a floating cat in the stations bathroom. He seems to be hovering in only one spot and we can't move him. But we have adopted him as our pet here at the station. We've also dubbed him Koshekh. Koshekh the Hovering Cat. Please, feel free to come and pet him. He loves attention.

"We here at Pony Vale Community Radio would like to thank our sponsor: Hay and Hay By Products. Have some hay with fries, or it's by products. Eat some hay with ice cream along with it's by products. Eat hay and or it's by products. Hay and Hay By Products: By Equestrians, For Equestrians, In Equestrians, Watching Equestrians.

"Here at Ponyville Vale Community Radio, we would like to invite some ponies to work for us here. Any pony is welcome to work..."

As Cecil continued with his invitation, Twilight marveled at how he spoke. He spoke passionately about the news, whether it was boring or interesting, he made it more exciting. She quickly snapped out of her trance when Diana came in with a worried face. She whispered in Cecil's ear and he sat there in silence for about a minute.

"Oh my."

He grabbed the mic, "Dear listeners. We appear to have a problem. I must warn you to not, I repeat, NOT eat hay or it's by products! They have appeared to turn into venomous green snakes and will attack you if you are outside of your home! These snakes have been described as dangerous, disgusting, and probably from the depths of Tartarus itself. Please, lock your doors and windows and do not attempt to fight back! Wait."

His assistant whispered another thing to him and he reported back, "There is some good news and bad news. The good news is that the Hay and Hay By Products are no longer venomous snakes."

Twilight wiped the sweat from her forehead and sighed.

"The bad news is that they've turned into horrific spirits that will suck the soul out of you if you stare into their crimson yellow eyes."

"What?!" Twilight shouted, wide eyed.

Cecil looked at her and said I to the mic, "Sorry about that. I'm not sure what to do at this point, dear listeners."

The alicorn then got an idea and quickly took the microphone, "Listen up everypony! Come with your families to my castle, it will be safe! The walls are enchanted and won't let any spirits come through! Quickly! There isn't much time!"

She then grabbed Cecil with her magic and headed for the door.

"Wait!" The dog exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? I'm trying to get you to safety!"

He shook his head. "No"

The mare was shocked at this response. "No?!" Why?!"

"I have to stay here and report if anything happens. If those beasts get more restless then I'll be able to warn you guys. Go! Take my interns and assistant and go!"

Twilight's ears dropped a bit, "But what about you? What if the spirits come after you?"

He sighed, "That's a chance I'll have to take. Now go! I'll be fine."

Then something unexpected happened. She hugged him. It wasn't a happy hug, or a sad hug. It was the hug that said goodbye. He hugged her back. A goodbye hug as well. She stepped back, and ran away with the interns. Cecil breathed in and out as he took a last glimpse of her. He turned to the mic behind him, it begged to be spoken into. He slowly sat down, pressed on the button to let his voice be heard, and said only four words, "And now, the weather."

As the citizens of Ponyville ran, the weather was heard all around. The sound of a guitar playing as the deadly spirits attacked the poor residents. One pony screamed in agony as their soul slowly drained from their body until there was nothing left but a corpse.

Twilight shot her magic and created force fields around the citizens. She urged them to follow her to her castle. They all followed and ran for their lives. Fire started to spread all over town because of the spirits, curse them and their fire breathing power.

Meanwhile, on the window of the radio station was Cecil watching the carnage. He sighed deeply and took a sip of his coffee.

"So it begins."

The sign of Ponyville burned down as the fire spread throughout the town. By now most of Ponyville's residents were safely inside Twilight's Castle. But the minority perished by the spirits or their flames. Many lives lost.

"This is insane!" Starlight said to Twilight as they tried to calm the citizens down.

"Cecil has to be behind this!"

"It's not him," Twilight spat back, defending Cecil, "He is trying to protect us! He stayed on that radio tower to tell us if the spirits are gone."

Starlight nodded, "I don't believe it. I know there is something going on."

No pony else felt it, but Statlight did. An uneasy feeling came from within her. She knew she was in trouble. But from what?

4 - A Story About You

"This is a story about you," said the dog on the radio, and you were pleased. Because you always wanted to hear about yourself on the radio.

Welcome to Pony Vale

This is a story about you. You were in Twilight's castle along with many other ponies. You were all scared. You were all scared because of the hungry, soul sucking spirits that waited outside the castle walls. Twilight and her friends comforted the residents of Ponyville and you helped. You helped keep them calm. You wondered if Twilight had a plan for all of you. But you mostly wondered if you would ever live to see the light of day again. You thought of all of this as you stared at the radio tower from the window. The station's lights blinked the color red on and off as you thought of these thoughts. A tiny flurry of sentient activity against the implacable backdrop of stars and void. You wondered if you would ever make it out alive. This story is about you.

A couple of hours passed until you and the citizens of Ponyville slept. Twilight provided blankets and pillows for all of you, and you were thankful. As you lay your head in the comfortable pillow, you thought about writing in your journal. So you pulled it out and wrote, I am sleeping on the floor, but at least I'm not dead. You then erased it and wrote something else. And then you closed it and put the journal in a drawer. And no one would ever read it, because they aren't you.

Then suddenly, as you put your head down on the pillow, a vision came to you. You saw a tree of awesome size, lit by darkness. A darkness that blinded you, but didn't. The tree was blacker than night, and it didn't bare fruit. Instead, books grew from the tree. The books opened up and whispered things to you. You couldn't understand because you didn't speak the language of the books. But you knew you could if you tried. The tree stood among the black, thick forest that surrounded it, and white fire was its leaves. It was so frighteningly dark. Then you did it. You got up from your uncomfortable bed and walked outside, the night was now visible to you. But not until you got your satchel with pictures of your friends and a radio. You left the castle and walked into an unknown direction. You walked for a very long time, and eventually you ended up in Appaloosa. And you stopped walking. You have been haunted ever since on how easy it was to walk away from your life. You never heard from your friends ever again. They never looked for you, but that is because here, in this world, no one can look for you. This terrifies you. This story is about you.

You have a new job in Appaloosa now. Every day you come to meet a stallion with a hat and a basketball jersey. You come a mile from your new home, walking, and greet him. He nods and points to the pile of bricks on the desert ground. Each day you stack them on top of each other, hoping that they don't fall. You don't want them to fall. You do this everyday as the stallion in the basketball jersey watches you. It is a different stallion each time. Sometimes the bricks growl. Mostly, they do not. When you are done the stallion will nod and give you an amount of bits, it is different every time as well, and you go home. It is the best job you've ever had.

Except today, it was different. You stacked the bricks as usual, the stallion watched you from a far, a stranger. But then, as had never happened before, his hat rang and he put it on his ear. He walked farther away and made ticking noises as the hat ticked back at him. He also responded "Yes sir" and "No sir" to it. He sounded afraid. But you weren't at all interested with him. You stacked the bricks, but then an impulse. An awful impulse came over you. And for no other reason in life you are trapped from being able to do anything. You weren't holding a brick. It was a book. It was a dark red with golden designs on it, and a strange lock. It was terrifyingly gorgeous. So you put it in your satchel. By the time the stallion came back from his hat call you were already done. He nodded, gave you the bits, and you walked home with the book in your satchel.

When you got home, you put the book on your table. The book did not make a growling sound. It made no sound at all. You then cooked dinner, you always cooked dinner, the red light in the tower blinked on and off. A message that was there and then wasn't. You couldn't quite understand what it was saying. You wondered how long it would take them to miss the book. You didn't care who they were, some mysteries aren't questions to be answered. Which finally brings us to now. To this story. This story about you. You are listening to the radio, the announcer is talking about you. And then you hear something else. A gut shattering howl in the distance. The book's absence has been discovered. The book, it sits on the table where you last left it, but it's warm. Warmer than the hot chocolate you just made. It smells like brimstone, and it irritates your nose. And when you put your ear against the rough, meaty cover, you hear muffled screams and an unknown melody. It doesn't seem hard to open it, all you need to do is flip the cover to the other side after unlocking the lock. You do not dare to open the book.

You decide to go to the Everfree forest, because that is where the Night Mare Bar and Cafe is. You walk there with the book and your radio in the satchel. You walk there to go and have a slice of cake. There is no wind, but you feel as if something is breathing behind your neck. It's probably just the wind. Night is your favorite time. The day brings despair to you, but the night gives you joy. An excitement you cannot contain. As you walk, you turn off your lantern, for a moment. In that moment, you feel again, the presence of the tree of awesome size; lit by no light but blinding darkness. An invisible monster, covered by dark and thick forests, and jagged mountains, and huge gusts of gray wind. The books are whispering louder now, and you can understand it. Not all of it, but you understand what they want to say. You agree with them. You know the tree is out there, and it seems to be closer than you think. The moment passes, you turn your lantern back on and all you see is a road leading to the bar and cafe. Just a small dirt road.

The moonlight's radiance is now purple. You swear you saw the moon as an eye for a moment, but you are imagining things. In front of the cafe's enterance, there is mare rolling around in the ground. She chants, "MUDWOMB," over and over again. You don't have enough to tip her, see you walk past her. You enter the cafe and sit down on one of the booths. You order a slice of chocolate cake, and the waitress indicates with movements that it will be brought out soon. The dog on the radio speaks soothingly to you from staticky speakers. It is a story about you. Your story at last. Just then, the rhyming zebra, Zecora, comes to your booth. She sits down and looks at you with a serious face. She gives you a piece of paper that says,

0101010001101000011001010010000001100011011100100110010101100001011101000110111101110010001000000110100001100001011100110010000001110010011001010111010001110101011100100110111001100101011001000010000001110100011011110010000001110000011000010111100100100000011101010111001100100000011000010010000001110110011010010111001101101001011101000010000001100010011101010111010000100000011011100110111101110111001000000110100101110011001000000110111101101110001000000110000100100000011011010110100101110011011100110110100101101111011011100010111000100000

You nod, and she only smiles, but only for a second. She then speaks in a different language that you are unfamiliar with.

"On nablyudayet za kazhdym vashim dvizheniyem, on khochet nauchit' vas uroku."

You cough and stare back at her.

"I think my cake is here now," you say as you both look down and see the cake there. You pick up your fork and use it to take a bite from the cake. Zecora shakes her head and writes a number in the table.

1987

"Pomnite etot nomer, eto mozhet pomoch' vam pozzhe."

What a faker that Zecora is.

As soon as you finish with your chocolate cake you put your lips to the coffee mug and whisper with a raspy voice, "Check please."
Your check appears under your plate, and you put some bits on the table. As you leave the cafe you saw the waitress nodding. But she wasn't nodding at you. She nodded to music that you couldn't hear, it was beautiful music. The moon no longer shone purple, it was normal now. The night seemed to be normal. As you walked out of the Everfree forest, the dog on the radio said something...about...the weather.

The book is in your satchel, where you left it, as you entered your home. Then you sit down and take it out. The book is warmer then it was before, it's still not growling. It had taken you no time to get back home, now that you think about it, did you ever leave? Did you ever leave your home? The bar and cafe, was it even there? Did you ever eat cake? Your heart hurts. You suddenly grab the book and throw it in your satchel. You run outside into the night, and your radio comes alive with a pop, just as the announcer says that your radio comes alive with a pop. You hear them calling, so you run to the Everfree Forest again, and you pant as sweat begins to trickle down from your forehead. There are ponies following you. You panic and run faster, but they seem to be gaining up on you.

Just then, you trip and fall onto your face. Your satchel drops onto the ground in front of a tall stallion in a black suit. You look up at him. He has no face. Just then, two mares come and take a hold of you. The Mare Who is Not Too Short is to your right, and the Mare Who is Not Too Tall on your left. You sigh and ask,"How did you find me?"

"Everything you do is being broadcast on the radio for some reason. That made it pretty easy." Says one of the mares, the one that isn't tall.

"Yeah," you say, "I see that now."

"You have the item?" The Mare Who isn't short asks.

You say nothing. The mare who is not tall tells the faceless stallion to pick up the satchel. He picks it up and stares at it. You don't know what to say. The tall faceless pony takes out the book, and stares at you. Was he staring? You couldn't tell, he had no eyes. He then takes out a key and opens the lock. He slowly opens the book, and a phone is in it.

"Reveal your destiny," says the faceless stallion who gives you the book. Suddenly, it's there. The tree is behind the tall faceless pony. It is darker than you imagined, and the books reveal themselves to you. You smile and take the phone. You then here it growling, and you called your old friend. You can't remember the last time you've spoken to her. Was it last week? Ten years ago? Or did she ever exist in the first place. The dog on the radio is saying all of this as it happens. You can't stop smiling. The phone stops ringing, and you're on the line. You take the phone...

Author's Note

This has been your story, the radio moves on to other things, news, traffic, political opinions, and corrections to political opinions. But there was time, one day, one single day, in which it was only one story. A story about you, and you were pleased because you always wanted to hear about yourself on the radio.
Goodnight, S̸̠̜̯͖̬̦̳̼̞͉͍̭͙͍̰͓̤̦̮̙̼͎̻̟͉̞͚͖͇͛ţ̴̡̡̨̡̪̣̘͔̥͔͓̟̳̤̺͎͙̪̗͎̰͉̻͒͆͜͜ą̴̧̬̬̯̝̝͉͕̤̥̮̘̳͎͑̔͆̋̀̈̌̽̐ŗ̶̨̡̢̢̢̞̲͓̖̟̹̖̟̰̞̼̻̯̪͓͎͖͕̟̣̻̈̐̆̂̑͋͑̉͋̃̏͆͗̀̇́̍̏̃̀̈́̓͋̉̄̆̂͆͋̌͂́̌̀͒̔̆̉̉̀͑̊̕̚̕̚͝ͅl̶̢̢̠̟̣̦̩͈͉̰̝̄̍̀͗̀̇͋̍̈̀̈́̈́̓͑̎́͋̅́̽̑̋͗́́̎̋̐͛͌̔͊͂͒̕͘͝į̶̨̨̧̧̧̖̭̬͎̻̘̳̥̟͖͕̣̰̠͕̯̫͇͎̱̦͕̭͍̯̭̬̫͕̼̬̣̹̪̮̥̺̻̼̍̀̓́̓̿́̌̀̓̀̎̌̃̇̓̅̓̏͂́́̀̀̿͛́̅͋̕̚̕͜ģ̸͕̝͚͕̦̼̘̮̦̖̹͍̿̂͐̉̋̀̓͐́͗̕h̴̨̛̛̹͈̙̝͚͔̆͒̽̇̍̈́̄͛̓̽͂͊́̆̀̽̄̄͌̊̆͑̓̓̀̒̏̈̒͑̊̀̉͋̓͂͗͛͘̚̚͠͝t̵̢̢̢̛̬͔͚̝̭͈̭̦̮̹̳͙̗̗̲̣̰͍͙̗̬̝̠͈̫̘͎̓̑̍̄̂̔̿̏̋̾̍̅̀̿͛́́̀̿͐͊̇̒͆͋́̓̈́̚͜͝͠ ̴̢͇̗̦̜̟̯̗̱̩̜̥̗͈͖͇̮̯̥͓͈̳̠͍̗̘̗͔̙̳͖̫̞̲̤̗̩̤̫͚̓̅̈͆͒̀̐̄̋̀̿̀͋̓͌̓̈́̇̓̂̑̍́̈͘͜͝͝͝ͅĢ̷̧̨̞̙͕͓̥͍̩͖̩͇̫͇͇͍̤̟͍̘̹̼̭̤̙̆͂͋̾͌͒̿͆́̆̊͗̃̈̿̀̀̓͊͌̒̾͊̾̈͌̽̄̾̈́̎̿̾̌̽̓̃͠͝l̴̢̢̛͖͚̬̬̗͎̲̝̝̤̻̩̮̲͖͎̫̰̰̟̺̭̩̲̙̟̇́̋̀̍͒̋͋̉̍͂̃̽̅́̀̎̓̄̍͌̓͌͊͛͆͊̈́̈́̀̀̔̓̑͌̕͘̚̚͘̚͜͝͝͝ͅͅỉ̶̢͚͔͓̘̲̯̙̬͍͇̪͚̳̥͉̦͔̼̳͔̼̋̾̓͜m̸̡̨̞̯̮̥̪̦͍͓̝̲̬͈͚̱̜͚̰͔̦̝͇̥̘̣̯̯̙̩̜͚̘̦̳͕̮̫̖̩̒̈͌̂̽̆̌̈͊̈̊̅̒͗̏͋̌̽̋̓͂́͌̃́̏̊͘̚̚͜͠ͅm̴̨͙̤̰̟̘͇͉̹̣̘̭̏̒͛̌͋̄͛͒̃͆̽̊̌́͊́͑͗̃̍̿̔̓̊͐́̈́̌̕͠e̶̢̧̠̬̞̮̜͆̐͌̇̄̈́̓̀̈́̋͗͐̃̕r̴̢̧̧͔͉̱̜̲̪̺͖̘̠̞̭̫̤̘̟̪̟͓͎̖̟̙͎̦̙̽̿͊̓ ̵̮͉̻̱̳̪̱̝̱̰̯͇̝̙̤̩̩̣̣͚̘̮͈͓͑̆̃̋͠͝ͅͅGoodnight

5 - Renovation

"Look to the sky, You will not find answers there, but you will certainly see what everyone is screaming about." -The Eclipse

Good morning, listeners. Or just, morning for you.

The citizens slowly got up from their long sleep and turned to the radio. Twilight came into the main room and listened to the dog's voice.

I have some great news! Apparently, the Hay and Hay By Products Snake Spirit creatures have vanished. They're gone. And Ponyville seems to be normal. The burnt and demolished buildings are standing firm. It looks as if the town never took any damage.

The whole town cheered and hugged one another because of the great news. Twilight was especially happy, but she was happier to hear that Cecil was alive.

I would also like to add that there will not be a broadcast tonight due to remodeling here. We are very sorry for any inconvenience, but we are still hiring! Are death rates have dropped a fair amount. Hehe, just messing with you.

"So, no broadcast tonight?" Twilight asked as she walked with the black furred dog.

"Sadly no," he responded, "I want the place to have a new look. I'm thinking purple and black. What do you think?"

She put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment, "Maybe white too?"

"Ooo, I like that. I'll use it. So, Ponyville seems to be in great shape."

"Yep. I'm just glad that it's over. Who would've thought that hay would be evil?"

"You're telling me, the bad news about that is that we will never eat hay again. And that's pretty sad." Cecil said with chuckle.

Twilight agreed,"Definitely."

"Hey, do you want to go get some coffee?"

Twilight was a bit surprised by the gesture but agreed, "Sure. I'll just go get my bits from the castle and-"

"No need, I have some bits right here." He said as he pulled some out from his pocket.

"No, you don't have to do that. That's your money."

"It's fine, besides, being on the radio pays well."

"Okay then, its a date!" Twilight said with excitement in her voice.

"Then it is."

"So," Twilight started as she sipped her coffee from her mug, "Have you always wanted to be a part of the radio show business?"

"Well not always," he replied, "I always wanted to be an author."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean I enjoy writing. I really love coming up with stories full of mystery and poems. But I stopped when I was offered a job to be on the radio."

"Well, I think you would've been a great author." Twilight said with a smile, "The stuff you say on the radio, is that some of your writing?"

Cecil nodded, "Yes actually. I put some of my poems and stories on the show to entertain the listeners. Why? Is it boring or too weird?"

Twilight shook her head as he drank his hot beverage, "No, I actually find it quite entertaining. I don't find it boring or weird at all, it's actually quite soothing. Plus your voice does fit well."

"Thanks you, not many like my stuff. Say, how is it like being royalty and all. I'm sorry if this is too much of a personal question-"

"It's fine," she interrupted, waving her hoof, "and it's hard. It really is. Just last week there was this fiasco with the town. I released my friendship journal to all of Equestria, and most didn't even care for the lessons in that book. Then they came to Ponyville and wouldn't listen to my friends or I. So it's hard being able to put up with so many ponies who can be so...so...what's the word?"

"Aggravating?"

"Yeah, aggravating." She sighed and put a hoof to her head.

Cecil regretted asking her and put a paw on the hoof that lay on the table. Twilight was a bit surprised by this but she didn't show it.

"Listen, sometimes it's going to be difficult to handle the ponies of this town. Sometimes even more, but you have to remember that this is a responsibility that you have now. You will have to make tough decisions in the future, and many will hate you for your opinion. But trust me, it's all worth it when at least one pony comes to you and says thank you. You're a great mare, Twilight Sparkle. Don't let any pony else tell you otherwise."

"Wow," she said, a bit blown away by his words. "T-thank you. Nopony has ever said anything like that to me, ever. Thank you, Cecil."

A smile appeared on his face as she looked at him. He noticed that his paw was still on her hoof and he slowly pulled away, even though he didn't want to. He cleared his throat and fixed played with his tie, "So..."

"So..."

He cleared his throat again, "Listen Twilight, I-"

Just then, a stallion came by their table. He walked to Twilight and said, "Excuse me, Princess? You better have some explaining to do!"

"What happened? What's going on?" Twilight asked, concerned.

"In your journal, why did you and your friends get captured so easily by Chrysalis even though you defeated Tirek who was much stronger?"

Twilight sighed, "Please, I don't have time for this. The journal was meant to teach you friendship and-"

"That's crap! I want answers!"

"Hey! Back off buddy!"

The two turned to Cecil who just calmly walked towards the stallion. He was now making eye contact with him.

"Or what, are you going to broadcast me to death?"

Cecil just stared at him for a couple of seconds, then...he smiled. He smiled and laughed a bit.

"Now...that's an idea. Tell me, what do you feel about meat?"

"What do you mean?" Asked the stallion who was a bit weirded out by the dog.

"You know, meat. Your flesh. The flesh that sits on you right now. The flesh that protects you when you fall or when something bites into it. That flesh. Look at your hoof."

"What?"

"Look at your hoof."

The stallion slowly looked at his hoof and shivered in fright. His skin was peeling off, very slowly. The sound of skin tearing could be heard around him. He wanted to scream, but his mouth was glued shut. He stared back at Cecil who just smiled menacingly.

"Oh look, you're shedding. Do you feel it? Your shell ripping from you, leaving you to become food for the worms that will feast on you. Do you hear the sounds of flesh ripping and tearing in your ear? There is something inside you, it is eating your skin! Your skin is being devoured! It is spreading! Oh sweet Celestia, it is crawling all over your body! WHICH WAY?! MADNESS!!! WHICH WAY MADNESS?! You scream but nopony can hear you. You're being devoured, and before you are others. They're sitting in chairs like you, and they are waiting for their judgment, just like you. Welcome, to Lobsterfaust. Come see what's fresh today!!!!"

The stallion screamed in agony as the creatures slowly but away on his skin and inside his body. He coughed blood and screamed more as he saw the creatures invading his eyes. They were blinding him! He called out for help and fell to the floor crying.

"Hey! Buddy! Hello?! Are you alright?"

The stallion opened his eyes to see the dog and alicorn, they were looking at him with worried expressions.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked as the stallion remembered where he was. He stared at his hooves and touched his body. He shot his eyes back at Cecil and backed away.

"S-stay away! Go away!"

Cecil looked at him confused, "Are you okay?"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY! YOU DEMON!!!"

He quickly ran out of the coffee shop, crying and wailing. Cecil stared back at Twilight and asked, "What was all that about?"

She shrugged, "I'm not sure."

Twilight Sparkle sat in her throne chair, thinking about the day she had with Cecil. It was great to be out of work for awhile and talk with a friend. She smiled as she replayed the moment he encouraged and put his paw on her hoof. He made her feel special, and didn't care what other ponies thought about him. She heard music from outside, and smiled even more as she imagined Cecil saying those four words.

"And now, the weather."

"Twilight!"

Twilight quickly turned towards the sound of her name, the weather was over. She saw Starlight standing a few feet away from her, and she was smiling. She was smiling at Twilight.

"Starlight? Are you okay?"

She kept smiling, it was unnerving. Then, a ringing was heard, and Twilight turned to the map and saw a phone on there. She picked it up and answered, "Hello?"

"Twilight, it's Starlight Glimmer.

Twilight's breathing stopped for a second as she turned to the Starlight that was staring at her, smiling.

"S-Starlight?"

"Yes, it's me. Please tell Trixie I won't be able to make it for lunch."

"S-Starlight? Where are y-you right now?"

Starlight breathed deeply and kept smiling.

"Please tell Trixie I won't be there. Do you understand me?" Starlight's voice on the phone said.

"Yes, I think."

Starlight smiled again. She looked at Twilight. She put a piece of paper on the map, but Twilight couldn't read what was on the paper.

"Am I being clear, Twilight?"

"Starlight," the lavender alicorn said, "I don't know. Where are you? Where are you right now?"

"I can't make it today."

Twilight stared at the piece of paper on the map. Starlight looked toward Twilight, smiling. Then she turned, no longer looking at her, but likely still smiling. She walked away quickly, out of the door and to the hall, out of sight.

"Starlight, hello?"

"Tell Trixie."

"Click," the phone said.

Twilight hung up. She looked at the piece of paper on the Cutie Map. It was gone. She quickly trotted to Starlight's room, and on the way she saw Spike. The cloud outside the window was staring at them.

"Hey, Spike. Where have you been?"

"I was helping Rarity at her boutique."

"Oh alright. Say, have you seen Starlight?"

"Who?"

"Starlight?"

"Who is, Starlight?"

Twilight paused for a moment, "Starlight Glimmer. You know, she is friends with, Trixie. She's living with us. Almost destroyed Equestria."

"I don't remember any pony named Starlight."

"Is this a joke, Spike?"

"No, I'm honest. I've never known anypony named Starlight Glimmer."

Twilight breathed in heavily, she stared at the cloud outside of the window. It's was waving at her.

"Are you okay?" Asked a worried dragon. The cloud didn't say anything.

6 - Deerskin Suitcase

"Ask your doctor if she is you."
-Nurse Redheart

Twilight knocked on the Pony Vale Community Radio Tower's door, and waited for an answer. After a while a mare opened up the door and smiled at Twilight.

"Oh, hello. I'm FrostSpark, I'm a new intern here. Cecil has told me about you, please come in!"

The alicorn followed the mare to the top of the building. She took a look around at the new renovated walls and decor. The walls were painted purple with a white line in the middle, and the cat, Koshekh, was still hovering in the bathroom. She waved at the cat, but he didn't wave back. She didn't expect him to wave back at her, he was just a hovering cat.

They finally arrived at the door, and saw Cecil drinking his coffee. When he saw them he got up from his chair and opened the door for them.

"Hi, Twilight! It's good to see you, how have things been?"

"A bit strange actually," she answered, walking into his room.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Well," she started, "After I went home, a mare by the name of Starlight Glimmer stood in front of me, smiling. Then a phone rang, I picked it up, and she was calling me. But the Starlight in front of me wasn't calling me-"

"But the one on the phone was?" He finished her sentence and she nodded.

"She's lived with me for about a year now, and when I went to go find her I asked my friends where she was. But they've never heard of anypony named Starlight before! No one believes me! I've been trying to figure out what the hay has been going on around here, but it just seems impossible to pin point exactly why this is happening to Ponyville."

"Beats me," he responded, "I just report what happens here. So far this has to be the strangest place I've ever been in all my years as a radio show host. But I do believe you Twilight, I don't understand, but I believe that you are right about Starlight. Something must've happened to the citizens to forget such a pony."

"Could...could it have been the glow cloud? I mean, it did some weird things to everypony here. Could it have caused Ponyville to forget?"

"It's possible, but we haven't seen the cloud in about a week. Even so, it's not entirely impossible."

Twilight sighed, "I just don't know what to think anymore, Ponyville is in more chaos then usual. I'll have to do some research. I just hope I don't go all conspiracy nut Twilight mode again," she said with a small smile.

"Heh, it'll be fine. Don't worry to much. How about this: every now and then we can get together and solve his mystery?”

"Sure!" The mare exclaimed, her smile wider than before. "How does tonight sound?"

"I'm free, but I'll have to check in with Station Management. They can be a bit of a pain in the neck sometimes."

Station Management growled at Cecil's response, but none of them heard.

Your existence is not impossible. But it's also not very likely. Welcome to Pony Vale.

The lavender alicorn sat with Spike and the girls at the table while the music played in the background.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Twilight. I've never heard of anypony named Starlight before." Spike said, tired of answering the question over and over again.

Applejack looked at her friend with concern, "Are you sure you're okay, sugar cube?"

"Yes, I'm just under a lot of stress recently. But besides that I can't believe none of you remember who Starlight Glimmer is!"

They were taken aback by the tone of her voice as Rarity tried to calm her down.

"Now, darling. Please stay calm. I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this."

Before any of them could continue the conversation, the radio interrupted them.

Happy Friday to all of you, Pony Vale! Last night's celebration to the end of Hay & Hay By Products Festival was a success! Many colts and fillies were absolutely blown away by the firework, and booths there at the festival."

"There was a festival?" Rainbow asked as the others shrugged in response.

A lot of Pony Vale's citizens went to the numerous booths that stood by. They were all fantastic and fascinating. Especially the involved ones such as: Ow! What Was That?! And, Hurts Doesn't It? How fun! There were also many balloons there and candy from Pinkie Pie that were absolutely delicious! I wish I could tell you the secret ingredient, but that would just ruin the surprise wouldn't it?

And now, the Community Calendar:

Sunday: there will be sundaes. Where? You'll have to find out.

Monday would like you to leave it alone. It's not its fault you're emotionally unprepared for your professional lives.

Tuesday, Tuesday just is. It is what it is.

Wednesday has been cancelled due to a scheduling error. Again. But we will make up for it next week with Double Wednesday! Mark your calendars!

Thursday is a mare, sitting on a bench feeding the birds. Say hi to Thursday for me, she owes me 20 bits.

Friday: Thank Celestia it's Friday! Or should you thank Luna? Hmmm...

Saturday: .............eat your vegetables.

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in excitement, "Ooooo! I can't wait for Sunday! I wonder how tasty those sundaes will be?!"

"But we don't even know here it is," Rainbow said, letting down the party pony's enthusiasm.

Dear listeners, something has happened to Pony Vale recently. Something, strange. Stranger than usual, and I'm sure you've noticed as well. There is a mare in a tan jacket. Many residents have seen her, but nopony can remember her or what she looks like. Just that she's wearing a tan jacket, and holds a deerskin suitcase. And she's been spotted all over our lovely town. But nopony can specifically tell us where she's been exactly, or what time of day it was. Just that they saw her. Mayor Mare called in an emergency press conference today to alert the citizens of this strange mare. She thinks that the mare is simply a shared dream. But I know I saw her, Pony Vale. I know what I saw. This mare couldn't possibly be a dream, she was so vivid. Her eyes were...well...her cutie mark was...oh I can just see it, I just can't remember. The mare was clear as air can be, which, technically, you can't see air....yeah forget I said that. She had a tan jacket and a deerskin suitcase. She can't be a dream, can she?

"Weird," Rainbow said, turning to Twilight.

"Who do you think this mare is?" Rarity asked her friends, but none of them knew what to think about the mare.

And now a word from our sponsors.

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This message was brought to you by Coco Pommel's newest line of fashion. Coco Pommel: What's going to happen to my family?

Rarity blinked a couple of times before responding to the advertisement. “Normally, that would sound odd;however, his voice really does soothe you doesn’t it? Besides, I think I’m beginning to grow to his style of speech.”

Here at Pony Vale Community Radio we love to learn about who listens to us, and their opinions. For example, I’ve recently learned that many of our fellow citizens don’t believe that mountains exist. Applejack, you know, the Element of Honesty, told me the other day that they just aren’t real.

“Ridiculous,” she scoffed as she put her hat over her head. “I can’t believe that anypony would believe that mountains exist? Ain’t it possible that we could be imaginin’ the whole thing? That our small brains could be creatin’ a monster that’s not there to begin with? That our insiignif-insignific-insignifa-“

“Insignificant?” I asked as she nodded her head quickly, “Yeah that word.” That our, that word you just said, is makin’ is believe that mountains are real?”

She then looked up, her orange freckled face stared at something intently. After a few moments her eyes started to water.

“Cecil?” Asked Applejack, you know, the Element of Honesty.

“Yes, Applejack?”

“Cecil I’m staring at the sun right now.”

“Woah, wait Applejack! Don’t do that, it’s bad for you!”

“It’s so beautiful! It’s so beautiful it hurts! Oh! A cloud just blocked ma view, what a relief! Anyways, what was I on about? Oh, that’s right. Mountains? More like nothing’s.”

Twilight blinked a couple times before looking at Applejack with a face of disbelief.

“Are you serious, Applejack. Do you not believe in mountains?”

She scoffed, “Of course I don’t! They aren’t real.”

“What?!” Twilight shouted, “but we see them all the time! I mean, Canterlot IS on a mountain!”

“Maybe that’s what they want ya ta think.”

Twilight was about to answer when the dog spoke on the radio once more.

How About we take a look now at the weather?

Welcome back listeners. So recently, we were asked to alphabetize everything here at our radio station by Station Management; who I have never seen except from the outside of their window, which is just arms and tentacles of darkness. So then I asked my wonderful intern Frost Spark to alphabetize everything in the Station. However, being the most serious intern I’ve ever had, she ended up alphabetizing herself in the process. Now all that’s left is a pile of organs and limbs of a once radio station intern. To the family of Intern Frost Spark, she was a good intern. She will be missed.

I would also like to apologize. It seems the Community Calendar I was given earlier was wrong. Here are the corrections:

Sunday will not have sundaes. Instead it will be donuts. All kinds of the greatest selection of donuts there are! You know which ones I’m taking about. Chocolate, glaze, frosting, leaf, mud water, knives, cat hair, and the thought of having to do that thing that you wanted to do earlier but you never did, because you were putting it off for that other thing. How lazy are you? You’re very lazy. Yummy!

Monday is still the same, so don’t go and cry about it Octavia Melody. I know you wanted to stay at home with Vinyl Scratch and do whatever it is you do with her, but we can’t all have things in life can we?

Tuesday. Tuesday isn’t is. It’s just isn’t what it is.

Wednesday is back on the schedule! So don’t cross it off of your calendar! No, stop it. Don’t cross it out. I see you trying to cross it out, (insert name of person who I’m so obviously irritated at right now).

Thursday, I still want my bits. Seriously, I don’t think I even let you borrow my money. I’m pretty sure you took them out of my pocket when I wasn’t looking.

This Friday will be exciting for our town, dear listeners! Very exciting. So exciting. Exciting.

Saturday...don’t forget your fruits either!

My dear listeners, it appears that Luna’s moon has risen over the peaks of mountains, that is if you even believe in mountains, and night has fallen. I wish you all a goodnight. I hope all of you have somepony to enjoy it with, or at least memories of when you did. Goodnight, Pony Vale. Goodnight.

Twilight trotted toward her door; Somepony was knocking, awaiting on the other side. She opened the door and was greeted by a friendly face.

“Hey Cecil!”

“Hiya Twilight.”

The princess moved to the side and invited him in. When he had thanked her she led him to her library.

“I’ve gotta say Twilight, your castle is a lot bigger on the inside than it is from outside.”

“Yeah, a lot of ponies say that,” Twilight gave a cup of tea to Cecil as she sat down next to him.

“Thank you, Twilight,” he nodded, taking the cup of tea with his paws. “Any luck on the whereabouts of your friend?”

“No luck, she just completely vanished. There’s no trace of her living here at all. It doesn’t make sense. This town has become more chaotic than it usually is.”

“Have you tried informing the Princesses?”

“I have, I sent a letter this morning but I haven’t heard from them yet.”

The princess took a sip from her tea and quickly backed away from it.

“Ow! Still hot! Still hot!”

She put the cup of tea down and sighed, “What am I going to do? I feel helpless, and scared.”

Cecil scooted next to her on the small sofa and brought her head to his chest. She closed her eyes and felt his heart beating against her cheek.

“It’ll be okay, Twilight,” the dog whispered to her soothingly. “We’ll figure out what s going on, together. I promise.”

“Pinkie promise?” Twilight yawned as Cecil just smiled at her.

“Pinkie promise.”

Author's Note

Hey guys, sorry for not updating in a really long time, but I’ve been busy studying for the semester exams which can only be described as the Nightmare Before Christmas. This chapter isn’t complete but I wanted to give you guys a bit of a preview. Sometime next week I’ll be free finally! And I’ll be able to come back to this story, see you on the flip side!

7 - “Yellow Star”

"What has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening? I don’t know, but I trapped it in my bedroom. Send help."
-Scootaloo

The optimist says the glass is half full. The pessimist says the glass is half empty. It is only the truth-seeker who wonders, 'Why is the glass there? Why is there water all over the floor? Why is it covering every other surface of the house? Who -- or what -- is doing this to us?'

Welcome to Pony Vale

Why hello listeners. I’d like to begin today’s broadcast with a little update on our floating cat, Koshekh. Many of you have been asking about the station’s cat that has been floating in the restroom. Well, he’s doing alright. We’ve been feeding him, and he’s been such a good cat. Now I’m not much of a fan of cats, on the account of being a dog myself, but I’ve really grown to Koshekh. He’s really brought up our spirits here at the radio station. Oh! That reminds me! Koshekh recently gave birth to a litter of kittens. They are so adorable! Now I know what you’re thinking, ‘how can a male cat give birth?’ Well, how does a sentient talking dog own a pet cat? Some questions in life shouldn’t be answered all the time you know, that’s what makes it so exhilarating to be alive.

Now the big news for tonight. Today a book appeared in the middle of our lovely town. Princess Celestia’s Secret Royal Guard have been investigating it since this morning. The book seems to hover five feet from the ground and has a distinct yellow star on its cover. The Princess’ Secret Royal Guard have determined it’s origins to be a practical joke from the draconequus of chaos, Discord. However, when confronted, he claimed to have had nothing to do with it.

“I’m being honest,” the draconequus pleaded. “I don’t know why there’s a floating book in the middle of Pony Vale. It’s weird.”

He then stared at it for a couple of seconds before screaming and disappearing into his dimension of chaos.

On other news, the book seems to be sending weird signals towards our direction. Radio signals. It is unclear how or why the book is sending strange wave frequencies to our station, but we have been able to decode a message from the mysterious signals. Here is the following message:

”There are millions of ponies on this planet who I have never met, but I know who they are.There are thousands of towns that await to be visited. Yet here I am, stuck in this specific town where many ponies are being pressured into making rash decisions that will affect their future. Yet, they haven’t even discovered who they are. But I know who you are, but I also will not tell you. Your future must and only can be decided by you. Decide your future.”

Now I’m not an expert when it comes to practical jokes, but Discord has really proven that he is a master at it. I applaud his ingenuity. Princess Celestia’s Secret Royal Guard have responded by poking the book with their spears which, they say will “keep the tall faceless pony from eating the world.” So far they have not even damaged the book.

The Pony Vale Medical Center would like to give a public service announcement on how important it is to wash your hooves.

Being in a large community, we tend to greet each other a lot. And when we do we shake our hooves, paws, claws, or spineless tendrils to say hello. But we must be careful not to infect the ponies around us. For all we know somepony could be carrying a little virus, the flu, or even a deadly disease that can turn you into a tree. So check to see if your hooves are dirty or covered with flesh eating viruses. Doctors recommend you do three simple things to make sure you’re hooves are clean.

Look at your hooves and see if you do have a deadly virus with you.
If you do see any, mark them with a chalk pentagon.
Gently clean the virus with a sterilized razor blade and remove any affected skin.

If you are not one of the few ponies who don’t do these check ups yearly, than be sure to make a bloodstone sacrifice to any deity you wish. As long as it’s Princess Celestia or Luna.

And now a word from our sponsor.

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*Carousel Boutique does not claim that you are safe, only that the illusion of protection can be achieved. But you are not safe, you have never been safe. Also, bug bears were never supposed to have happened – never, not ever, this world should not be as it is now.

Back to our earlier report on the floating book. It has sent another message and is still floating. We were able to decipher the wave frequencies again to show you the following message:

”You were told as a child to never judge a book by its cover, and some of you listened. You took that book and started reading it. But you look at a pony, and judge them by their looks and actions. Yet you don’t realize that your judgment is inadequate, you are but a small being. You will live life with that small judgment that you have for that pony who knows nothing about you. Then, you will die.”

Now I’m not too familiar with this kind of practical joke, but it sure is impressive. I once again applaud the Spirirt of Chaos. Good job!

The Princess’s Secret Royal Guard are trying to figure out a way to arrest the sentient book. They’ve tried chains, stones, dark magic, and even singing Songbird Serenade’s song Rainbow from her new album: ‘Why Is There Mud Everywhere? What Is This? Who Am I. And Why Do I See Worms In My Eyes?!’

While this story unfolds, let’s head now to the weather.

Welcome back listeners. It seems that the book has disappeared. It suddenly vanished during the weather report and nopony knowns why, not even the Princess’s Secret Royal Guard. We have gotten word though that it has left a trail of drawings that depict a tall faceless pony with long black tendrils behind it. I’ve just been handed one of the papers that depict this weird creature. It has what appears to be eyes in the background with them being crossed out by an X. It also says, in crooked writing, “DON’T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU!”

What an impressive prank by Discord, he sure knows how to have fun!

However, the book has left one final message for all of us to hear. Let us close our show with its words.

”Somewhere, there is a little filly who is thinking whether or not the void that is above all of you can be reached. The filly wonders this for hours, days, weeks, months, years, until she sees it. A tree of awesome size, lit by darkness. Gray gusts of wind and books reveal themselves to her. One day you will see this too, and you will understand what it means to really be ALIVE”

Goodnight, Pony Vale. Goodnight.

8 - Pages

"Pain is just weakness leaving the body. And then being replaced by pain. Lots of pain."
-Nurse Redheart

”You'll be safe here," says a whisper behind you.

Welcome to Pony Vale.

Happy Friday, wonderful listeners. Mayor Mare asked me to give you all an important announcement. Apparently books all over Pony Vale have stopped functioning. The mayor stated that she nor the Princesse’s Secret Royal Guard have determined the cause of this; However, they do know the signs of broken books.

These signs include sparks, rapid page flipping, meaty covers, eyeballs, and spontaneously combusting. The mayor has adviced that all citezens stay away from reading any books in the meantime. So to Princess Twilight Sparkle, who is the biggest book worm I know, I’m sorry that you’ll have to stop reading for awhile. Not that there’s anything wrong with books. I’ve actually been reading a lot the past few days with Twilight. She’s gotten me to read this book about Equestrian Mythology and it is fascinating! Too bad I’ll have to wait awhile before I can start reading again.

And now the news.

Applejack, you know, the Element of Honesty, reported that a strange creeping fear passed over all of Pony Vale the other day. It hovered over Rarity’s Boutique, through city hall, and finally reached towards the Apple Orchard. No pony knows how or why this fear came and left us just as fast as it arrived, but we do hope to never experience it again. I wonder where that creeping fear will go to now?

On other news, mysterious papers have been hanging throughout our lovely community. Fluttershy reported to our newest intern, Shoeshine, that these pages are very eerie.

“Most of them are writings of scary words,” stated Fluttershy, “and others are of circles with an X over it. But what’s really scary is that there are a few with a tall pony with no face.”

She quickly then ran into her cottage as many locks were heard from behind her door.

But this is really strange, Pony Vale. Just a couple days ago I was handed a page with a very similar description that Fluttershy gave. It shows the picture of the tall faceless pony with black tendrils behind it, and warnings surrounding it.

Oh, hold on a second. I’ve just been handed a note by Shoeshine. It’s from the tall faceless pony. Where did you get this, Shoeshine? She says she found it in front of our station’s door after she was done interviewing Fluttershy. Thank you, Shoeshine. I hope this isn’t another letter from Station Management, they’re always complaining about things.

(Sounds of Letter Opening followed by a hard wet smacking sound hitting on desk)

Oh. Oh my. Let’s move on with the show shall we?

There have been numerous sightings of hot air balloons just hovering above the town, but slightly lower than the floating lights above city hall. These hot air balloons, however, have appeared in different colors. But do not worry, I’ve been informed by Princess Luna to tell you what these colors mean.

Yellow Air Balloons? Probably Appaloosa checking Pony Vale out and maybe not safe to take your children outside to play.

Yellow & White striped Air Balloons? That is the Princess’s Secret Royal Guard. They will keep a good eye on your siblings and hardly ever take them for experimentation.

And what about the purple ones? We don’t know, I wouldn’t advise taking your kids or even going outside yourself to check them out. Also remember, give your kids plenty of water and some apple slices before they go and play outside.

And now a brief message about keeping our community clean.

Tree Hugger, head of the K.E.E.P, (Keeping Equestria Environmentally Pleasent) would like to ask everyone to clean up after themselves. She asks that when you are done eating a simple candy bar or chewing gum, that you put your trash into the trash bin. Miss Hugger explains that this will keep our lovely planet from rotting and hurting us back in the process.

However, she adds, do not pick up the trash with a small red rose in it. Just ignore it and let the Secret Royal Guard take care of it. Remember the slogan:

No roses? Put it in the trash! Roses? Pray for deliverance.

Let’s have a look at traffic.

Oh.
Oh wow.
Well that looks good.
Hmm, yep.
Oh hey! That fellow needs to slow down.
This isn’t drag racing.
Oh never mind, he just crashed into that tree.
Well at least the road is safe now.
This has been traffic

Um, dear listeners. Intern Shoeshine is desperately knocking on the recording booths glass. What is it, Shoeshine?

Oh.

Oh dear.

It appears that more of the pages of the tall faceless pony have appeared. Except they were not outside the station. They were found right outside my room.

Hmm, oh. I just got a letter from Princess Twilight. Thank you, Shoeshine.

(Sound of letter opening)

Wow, what beautiful writing, Twilight. Now let us see what it says.

Dear Cecil,

I don’t know what this tall faceless pony is, but it seems you are angering it. I’ve been logging, for the past 10 minutes, that every time you mention the weird creature more pages appear in Ponyville.

Oh, she misspelled Pony Vale again. Anyways,

I wanted to let you know that you should not mention this creature’s name anymore. Don’t talk about it or even read this letter out loud.

Oh.

(Sound of weird inaudible screams and gurgling)

Um! Dear listeners! We’ll be back after a word from our sponsors!

(Voice is calm) Today’s Show has been brought to you by Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie Pie has come up with a ton of recipes that will make your head spin! I just went there myself two days ago and boy were the cupcakes delicious! I even saw the hooded figures from the dragon park eating there. I guess everyone has a sweet tooth. It is also mandatory that verypony eat there as stated by Mayor Mare.

And remember, nopony makes a cupcake like Pinkie Pie. No one.

(Panicked voice) And now dear listeners, the weather.

Dear listeners, I’m currently hiding under my desk and speaking to you with the microphone I have dragged with me. And unfortunately Intern Shoeshine was taken away by the horrifying tall and faceless pony! If you are related to Shoeshine then I’m sorry to inform you that she is most likely dead or in a reality where she could very well still be alive but tormented for all eternity! But we will surely see her again at the “Dress Up As A Dead Intern Festival” which will be hosted at the Radio Station here on May 26th from 8:00 to 10:00PM!

(Sound of door bursting open)

He’s here. If you don’t hear from me again listeners, then it’s truly been a pleasure. Goodnight, Pony Vale, and goodbye.

9 - Faceless

Silence is golden. Words are vibrations. Thoughts are magic.

Welcome to Pony Vale

Hello again dear listeners. Now before we get started, I understand the confusion and questions you may all have about how I survived my horrific experience with the Tall Faceless Pony. It’s quite the story. However, I should really get into some of the more important stuff or Station management will just kill me! Or...at least I hope that’s all they’ll do to me.

Now, Pony Vale, I’m sure you’re wondering what has happened recently with our time. I mean, between yesterday and today it has felt like months! Well, today I went to talk to the Princess about this at her castle. When I got there she looked at me with such a flabbergasted expression and hugged me, and I hugged back. I explained to her what had happened and she just smiled and wiped the wet tears off of her eyes. I then asked her why time in Pony Vale is strange, but she gave me a confused look and asked, “You notice this too?”

After a couple of hours of research, she discovered that time has just stopped working, that there is no real explanation as to why it has felt like years. This is quite the predicament , dear listeners. But I trust we’ll get by.

Now on to my story on how I survived. Well, as you know I was hiding under my desk trying to avoid the Tall Faceless Pony’s eyes, if it had any, as they scanned the room, hunting me down. Then, I felt his breath down my neck, hot and warm, slimy, and wet. I quickly went to run for the emergency door which was on top of the roof of my desk. My plan was to get my cup of coffee and throw it at the beast whilst I made my escape by flying to the door, typing in the secret code, giving it my blood, and singing I CAN’T FEEL MY BODY, OH YES MY BODY AND LIMBS ARE GONE, AND WHY AM I EVEN LIVING by Countess Coloratura in order to open the door.

Unfortunately, I only got the one month warranty so the emergency exit no longer worked. And as I had realized this, the Tall Faceless Pony grabbed me with its dark tendrils and proceeded to give this hollow bellow laugh. I felt the life coming out of me. Every last breath, each little memory, all of my blood draining from my soul. I could see it, my life, in an instant. Flashes of wonderful moments with my mother, precious memories of talking to all of you sweet listeners, and my favorite times with Twilight Sparkle. It was all about to end...

...THE NEXT PART OF MY STORY COMING UP! But for now, let’s have a look at today’s Horoscopes.

Leo: Bet all your money on purple! Bet all of your furniture and personal belongings. All those material items were just weighing you down. Soon, you’ll be freer than the rest of us.

Virgo: You know that one spot on your back that itches and itches and you just can’t reach? Well, soon you won’t have to worry about that or anything else after tomorrow night.

Libra: Draw your loved ones closer to you, that first sketch you did of them was no good. Draw them like CLOSER to you. There’s too much white space and smudges everywhere. How are you supposed to love your loved ones if you can’t even draw them right?

Scorpio: Okay, I think we all know by now that this is the sign of...Ugh!!! Trixie Lulamoon, who is a wondering travel doing “magic tricks” that is now living here in Pony Vale. And usually the horoscope for Scorpio just turns it to be something mean. Purely through the unknowable combination of fate and random chance that is the meaning of the stars. But Trixie said that the stars better knock that off! Especially if they want to go on a date with her this Friday at Pony Vale’s newest restaurant, Tourniquet. So let’s see how this goes.

Scorpio things are looking bright, look at your confidence, you’re beautiful body, your chubby and oversized face. No really I hope you don’t even fall on it even once! How terrible it would be if that happened! But it probably won’t though do there you go, Scorpios.

Sagittarius: Hahahahaha, HAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

Capricorn: Things will fall apart, the distant moon cannot hold, the hot sun will fade and everything is ending! So your history project will not go well this week. There’s just too much blood.

Aquarius: Hold on a second, how are most of you here? Didn’t you all freeze in that cold blizzar-oh wait a moment! Sorry I was reading next week’s horoscopes. Anyways yep, today is looking great, but I wouldn’t recommend going to the Crystal Empire next week. Who knows what could happen.

Pisces: If you don’t have anything nice to say, then yell something mean. I mean there’s a lot of options for having to say something.

Aries: Okay so this is just a picture of a foal, and the foal is painting a little village with many ponies in it. And on the brush it says, You took this away from me! And she has this painful smile on her face with tears coming out of her eyes except it’s blood, and the ponies in the painting are skeletons and are also smiling. And Aries, I think you’re the painting.

Taurus: Stay In your home, Taurus. Don’t leave. Stay here! Stay here with us! And we can play some board games! Have fun.

Gemini: It says you have a date with the dog park. And that you will also need to bring a piece of paper, some food, and a weapon of choice. Good luck.

Cancer: Now this just says chainsaw accident! ...so I bet that’s a metaphor for something really good.

I’ve just gotten word that a group of hornets made up entirely out of marbles has attacked Trixie. Huh, it says here that she just happened to be passing by when the nest fell down onto her head and then they proceeded to sting her. As they finished stinging her, she was taken to the hospital and bandaged up. One of the nurses said that she saw some weird black writing painted on Trixie’s cape that said, “Every little girl wants to be a princess.”

The nurse then left the room screaming and pulling her mane out but not before shouting, “It’s funny because it’s sarcasm!”

Well, while I don’t think that everyone should be hurt for their wrongdoings, Trixie had it coming. Maybe that’ll teach her to not fake magic, or cause my hat to “disappear.”

And now a word from our sponsors:

Okay, so I was just handed a tape with nothing written on it. Okay I’m going to play it and describe to you what happens as it is being played. And her we go. Okay so it’s showing unicorn making a sandwich and then eating it. Now there are big red letters with the text saying, THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY. Now he’s back in the kitchen and he is confused as if he’s done this before, he is making the sandwich again and in his confusion has not paid attention to the knife and-Oh oh my Celestia now he is screaming. The text is back saying THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY. Now he is back in the kitchen again and is panicking. He drops his sandwich and has slipped and hit his head against the counter. THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY, the text reads again. Now he is running away from the kitchen and out of his house with the camera following him, but there’s no one shown to be following him. Oh my, now a large crevice has opened up and swallowed him whole. Again THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY. Now he is back in the kitchen, he is pale, and is sobbing excessively. How long is this?!

Okay, so I just pulled it out and it looks like it runs on for another 7 hours. I think I’ll just watch this little by little and maybe we’ll finally know who’s sponsoring this show.

Now, let’s have a look at today’s weather.

Welcome back, sweet listeners. Now about how I was saved from my impending doom and entrance towards oblivion.

Well, as I was in the air being strangled to death, the door to my studio flung open. And Intern Wuten came to my aid and threw me away from the beast. He then faced the pony as I began to get back up. I quickly told him to get out of there; however, he nodded no. He slowly turned to me, both of our eyes meeting, and shrugged replying, “Actually, I’m going to go with them. They say it’s not safe here anymore. I’m going to go, sorry boss.”

He took of his intern tag, laid it on the desk, and left with the Tall Faceless Pony. I’m not sure what caused him to leave, nor do I know where he is. But, to the family of Intern Wuten, he was a good intern, and he will be missed.

I guess this is it, the end of tonight’s show. Stay tuned next for the sound of swallowing and saws. Goodnight, Pony Vale. Goodnight.

Author's Note

"Fun game: Say "toy boat" over and over. Do it for the rest of your life. Retreat from society, and live on alms. Whisper, "toy boat," as you die."
-Pinkie Pie

10 - The Everfree Forest

“Huh, so this is a hayburger.”

“Do you like it?” Twilight asked as she finished eating her bite from the hayburger. The two sat across from each other as they were among the many content citizens eating.

“It’s better than I expected!” Cecil happily declared as he finished swallowing, leaving a bit of ketchup on his muzzle.

Twilight giggled as she saw Cecil’s muzzle covered in the sauce.

The dog tilted his head, smiling as he heard her cute laugh, “What?”

“You have a bit of ketchup on you, here.”

The lavender pony took a napkin with her magic and carefully wiped the ketchup off of her friend.

“There, much better!” The princess said as she put the napkin down.

“Hey, Twilight!”

Upon hearing a familiar voice, the pair turned to meet Rainbow Dash greeting them.

“Oh! Hello Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said as she sat down next to her, “what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing,” the pegasus said calmly, “just the greatest thing ever!”

Rainbow took a book from her satchel and showed her friend, “Ta-da! Daring Do: Rise of the Killer Forest!”

Twilight took a look at the book, completely flabbergasted, “No way, how do you have it!? It’s not supposed to come out for another three months!”

“Well, you know me! Yearling gave me this when I helped her out last week. Do you wanna read it together tonight?”

Twilight’s ears flopped down as she sighed, “I can’t, there is something I have to do with Cecil.”

The mare slumped down in her seat, “Aww! But I’ve been wanting to read this with you!”

“Actually, Twilight, if you want to read with Rainbow Dash you can.” Cecil said, but Twilight nodded.

“No, it’s fine. What we have to do is very important.”

Rainbow Dash then smirked to herself and said, “Oh really, are you sure you and Cecil are working? Or is that just a code for making out?”

The two quickly blushed as Twilight hit the cyan mare on the arm, “Rainbow Dash!”

The pegasus laughed uncontrollably until she calmed herself down, “Ouch! You know I’m only joking, Twi! If you do have something to do I won’t get in the way, what are you even doing?”

When the princess was able to stop blushing she took on a serious face.

“It’s something that I have yet to announce, but I need Cecil’s help for that when he goes on air tonight.”

Curious about what she was talking about, Cecil asked, “What would you like me to do, Twilight?”

Get the body you’ve always wanted. We know where it’s buried, and can lend you a shovel.

Welcome to Pony Vale.

Hello, wonderful listeners. Sweet wonderful listeners. I hope all of you are doing well tonight, or anytime really. Now, I’m sure all of you have noticed the Everfree Forest on the far side of Pony Vale; however, more noticeable is its change in color. The forest is now painted in red and orange leaves and white tree trunks. Those skeptical about this sudden change in color believe that fall just arrived early. This is not the case. The Cloudsdale Weather Factory denies that they have bumped up Fall two months early.

“Why do you keep bothering us about this?” A spokesstallion said to one of our interns.

“If we wanted fall to come early we wouldn’t have told you about it. We don’t have to tell you anything. In fact, there’s many things you don’t know about us. For example when fillies don’t pass their flying exam we...”

He then paused for a moment and chuckled a bit before taking a sip of his StarBucks.

“Oh never mind, it’s not important. But be sure to mark you’re calendars for this upcoming Monday. There will be a giant rainbow hovering above Canterlot, the sight will be to die for.”

He then cartwheeled into the factory right after devouring the intern in one bite. While we don’t know more about the forest and it’s sudden change in color, I will send in Intern Medley to find out more about this forest. Which reminds me listeners, we have a new intern here at Pony Vale Community Radio, and her name is Soft Spot. Come on over here, Soft Spot!

“Hello every pony!”

Now, Soft Spot has been wonderful here and has worked really hard to make sure that the creatures from the basement don’t devour our staff.

“Well we wouldn’t want that, it’s the least I could do.”

She, unlike my other interns, has come to work here for just the experience of working at a radio station, and I truly admire that.

“Aww, thank you. I do need the experience. I NEED it.”

Of course! Now, if any pony needs a job to pay off community service hours, pay for school or housing, or are just bored and lonely in this ball floating in an endless black void, then Pony Vale Community Radio is the job for you!

“Thank you for having me on, Cecil. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some beavers to catch in the lounge.”

No problem, Soft Spot! You’re doing great!

Now, on other news. The Pony Vale Friendship School District has announced that school will be canceled for all of next week, because nothing really matters.

“How can we study anything like math, science, english, or history when the void has swallowed us already? We are constantly crushed by the thought that we are alone in this universe, and it’s just no good anymore.” A Schoolboard member, Cheerilee, said chewing on a pile of rocks and sand.

Many parents, of course, are upset at the School’s decision to cancel School. PTA member, Roseluck is against this current development.

“We cannot let our future generation fall behind because of the large and endless darkness that is the void! The fact that we have to close our schools because of the sky is ridiculous!” Roseluck spoke out boldly in front of the school.

She looked up at the sky proudly and pointed saying, “See, I’m looking at the sky right now, and I’m saying, ‘you can’t hold me back sky!’ I can do any...I can...I...”

Roseluck then slowly looked downward and sighed, “Everything is meaningless and we shouldn’t be here right now. We should be something else. Something more. Yes, something better.”

She looked back up at the sky, and a single noticeable tear fell from her face. Then she whispered something about trees having the right idea.

So I guess spend this week right, fillies and young colts of Pony Vale. Go out and have fun, but not between the hours of 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM. That’s when Zecora comes to try to warn us about an impending doom, and how something drastic has changed in Pony Vale. She claims to have seen past our world and into another where we are drastically changed, but the same within. And that there’s not much time left. What a jerk that zebra is.

Now back to the news about the Everfree Forest. I have just gotten word that Intern Medley successfully made it into the forest. She reported that as soon as she walked into a clear opening, she felt strangely calm. Peaceful. And as she was about to leave, a voice spoke out to her.

“Hello, Sprinkle Melody. How are you today?”

She quickly turned around and was shocked to hear a voice out in the middle of the Everfree. The voice was described as genderless but kind-hearted.

“It’s nice to meet you, is that sweater new? You look lovely today.”

And indeed, listeners, Sprinkle Melody’s sweater is looking lovely. She had just gone to Carousel Boutique and bought a lovely pink sweater by Rarity herself. Not only has the sweater brought out her fur color, but has also sealed the demons that she has had trapped in her basement back home. Rarity is truly a genius.

As I was saying, the forest seems to be quite polite. I don’t understand why Twilight told me it was dangerous. I mean, I know she has just started researching the weird on goings of Pony Vale-Oh, the princess has now taken up the job as Pony Vale’s head scientist! I almost forgot about this announcement. She told me at lunch today while at the Hay Burger. She wanted to announce this herself, however she is occupied with studying the events happing at the Everfree Forest today. So I will be making the announcement for her.

(Clears throat)

Dear citizens of Ponyville, huh she spelled it wrong again. Anyways, to Pony Vale, I Twilight Sparkle will take up the job as Head Scientist in order to figure out the strange occurrences happening to our community. I promise that I will get to the bottom of this and figure out what is causing these strange anomalies to happen. Thank you, for stepping up, Twilight!

It is quite fascinating to see her at work, she even showed me her new lab. Full of books on physics, geology, arcane magic, and Equestrian history. What a remarkable mare; her eyes, her alluring purple eyes which seem to glow even in the darkest of days. Her teeth aligned like a royal cemetery. And her mane...Oh! Sorry dear listeners, I seemed to have gotten side tracked just now. Yep, Station Management doesn’t seem too happy with my ramblings. I’m being told that they are frothing from their many mouths and writing on the walls saying, “It started with a book, it’ll end by a book.” So I’ll just continue on with the news.

So yeah, go and see nature for yourself, the forest sounds lovely.

(Sudden Static)

Oh DEar! I ApoLoGIZe, liSTeNeRS. wE sEEm To be EXPerieNCinG THE follOWinG TECHNical prObLeMS: THE NEED FOR AIR, eye mOVemENT, aND GOOEY stUFf InsIde. PLeAse, STAND BY-

(Static Fixed)

Thank you, these problems have been corrected.

And now let’s have a look at traffic:

The black ink, the black ink,
The empty canvas, for all to see,
The artist is in the right mind,
Filling their cup of tea,
The artist is happy, the artist is glad,
Yet you took it all away for your own needs, how sad,
How greedy,
How corrupt,
How vile,
How evil,
How...human...

This has been, traffic.

Umm, dear listeners. It appears there is trouble at the Everfree Forest! It seems the forest has begun to attack the many nature goers and journalists who went to enjoy nature. Intern Melody was the first to be attacked. While we get the situation sorted out, let me take you, to the weather.

So listeners, I have some good news...and bad news from the Everfree Forest. The bad news is that Intern Sprinkle Melody, as we knew her, is lost forever. As well as the first responders, concerned citizens, and curious nature lovers who went to go see the forest today. To the family of Melody, let me just say that I am terribly sorry for your lose. She was...a good intern, and she will be missed. The good news is that none of those we lost today are technically...dead.

According our new head scientist, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Everfree Forest is a place where we can all plant our hooves into the wet soil. Our hooves slowly growing into the black dirt, spiraling and twisting into each other, into everything. Together. Forever.

Now I thought this was a beautiful statement by her highness, and quite a relief that we have actually not lost anyone today. Our loved ones have just become one with the earth, one with nature, one with the universe in its glorious vastness. And trees, if you think about it, can live for a really long time. Except I’m not sure how long. I had a hamster when I was young and it died in like two weeks, so who knows. Maybe they will be here after our death, and meet our offspring. And they will only be a mark of what was once here. So rest easy tonight Pony Vale, knowing that those we love will be with us, even after death when we return to the soil of the earth. Then, and only then, will we be truly together again.

Coming up next, the sound of a rapidly beating heart. Goodnight, Pony Vale. Goodnight.

“So, how much information have you gotten so far, Twilight?” Cecil stood behind the lavender princess as she examined the whiteboard in front of her.

“Not much really. I’m stuck with where all of this began.” She sighed and rolled the temples of head. “I mean, it’s not strange for abnormalities to show up in Ponyville. But something feels off this time, like there’s something greater behind all this.”

As Twilight looked back at her research Cecil noticed Twilight’s change in appearance. As normal as it was for ponies to not wear clothing, Twilight had taken up a plain white lab coat with a set of pens in her left breast pocket. He also took a liking to her new mane style which was tied in a short pony tail that gave her extra breathing room. Not to mention the glasses she wore which enhanced the beautiful magenta eyes she had. He quickly got out of his trance as the princess turned to him.

“I’m sorry if this seems boring or weird to you-“

“No, no, no!” Cecil interrupted as he waved his paws, “It’s actually rather interesting. I love science as well! Which makes me a scientist too I guess!”

The new head scientist only giggled in his response and turned her attention to him.

“Hey, Cecil?”

“Yes, Twilight? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing! Nothing at all! I just wanted to say...thank you, for coming to help me through this. I’m a lot more level headed than where I was a couple weeks ago. I say weeks because I’m not sure if that’s actually how long it’s been, time has also shifted here. As I was saying, thank you, Cecil.”

The radio host just smiled at her, and gave the princess a reassuring nod.

“It’s my pleasure, Twilight. You were the first one to welcome me here when I had first arrived. Even when I was different from the others here, you still accepted me. I should be thanking you.”

The princess was touched by his words and walked up to him, hugging the dog. Cecil, first in shock at the alicorn’s sudden action, hugged her back.

“I’m glad I was able to have met you, Cecil.”

“You as well, Twilight Sparkle.”

Author's Note

First of all, I’m terribly sorry for not updating in over a year. This is due to personal problems happening in my life for the last year, but I hope you can understand. Anyways, I would like to thank the7Saviors for becoming an intern here: Soft Spot! Thank you once again for reading and I’ll see you in the next one. Now for today’s Proverb:

"A bar walks into a bar. The bartender is a snake eating its own tail. The windows look out only onto the face of the one who looks."
-Some pony we captured

11A - Winter Wrap Up

Life is like a box of chocolates; Unopened. Dusty. And beginning to attract a lot of insects.

Welcome to Pony Vale

Attention dear listeners, I was told by the City Council that there is an upcoming snowstorm about to hit Pony Vale in a matter of minutes. The Cloudsdale Weather Corporation issued a letter stating that this was caused by a technical issue with their equipment. A spokesmare from the factory said they are sorry for such inconvenience.

When asked on how the machine had malfunctioned, they simply shrugged stating, “Oh it was one of the workers there, they “accidentally” fell in the machine which caused it to produce large amounts of snow. What an asshole. That Cloud Walker was always taking everypony’s sandwiches during breaks, clocking out too early, and trying to summon wendigos while working the front desk! How rude right? He would do anything to get out of work. Anyways, we’re sorry but winter isn’t going anywhere for a while.”

So citizens of Pony Vale, stay indoors and warm as this treacherous snowstorm comes our way. I guess winter wrap up will have to wait for a couple of days. Such a shame. I’ve actually never been part of a “wrap up” before. My mother was very protective of me as a pup. Whenever I wanted to help the other ponies clean up for winter, my mother would quickly grab me, take me inside, and lock the doors and windows. Then she would say that this harsh frozen world is nothing compared to what I will see in the future. Ahh memories. I miss her dearly. Maybe in a couple days I will finally be able to participate! Twilight Sparkle, lovely Twilight. When I told her about never even seeing winter wrapped up, she was quite aghast. She told me that it’s quite an event here in Pony Vale, and that she would gladly show me how it works!

On a related note, I was just handed some further news about the snowstorm. Zecora came out in public saying that this snowstorm is a warning to all of us. The zebra went on to say that this was the coming apocalypse she was warning the town about.

“The snowstorm is not ordinary, this town will no longer be merry!” She rhymed as news reporters wrote down on their notebooks, secretly doing a connect the dots game.

“I warn all of you, for if you see your double, there will be nothing but trouble!”

Of course the news reporters and ponies left because Zecora is a jerk and liar and no pony wants to be seen with her. However, soon after this announcement, Pinkie Pie went around the town telling people that she had found her long lost twin sister. She described the pony as having her exact features, down to her bubbly cotton candy mane. She told ponies that they were making snow angels, who aren’t real, and were making delicious treats for everypony as this snowstorm passes over us.

Now I’m not sure what to make of this, but it seems that if Zecora was right about there being doubles of ourselves, she was wrong about the impending doom that would approach our lovely town. Hmm, I wonder if Twilight will come up with something. Perhaps she can give an explanation as to why there are doubles of ourselves appearing.

Listeners, thank you for your letters of concern. I am being told that the snowstorm has already hit our lovely town. Big Mac out on the edge of town. Sent a letter a moment ago to report that the snow was thick, and moving incredibly fast. But when he put his hoof to it, it was as if there was nothing there. That our past is fiction, and that our consequences were our choice. He said he couldn’t see the familiar things such as the many trees of the Apple Orchard, or the supposed angels of Granny Smith. He did however see many shapes and colors heading in all directions. Then he wrote desperately in this sheet of paper that I have that says “No! Not you! Not you!” And it ends there. Thank you, Big Mac for that informative report.

As this news develops, let’s have a look at the Community Calendar. Thunderlane, owner of Thunderlane’s Bowling Alley & Arcade Fun Complex, wanted to let everypony know that this upcoming Saturday is 25% off for pizza and drinks when you bring a tourniquet with you. There will also be special games and a tournament in the arcade!

This Sunday will be the start of Poetry Week dear listeners, so get your quills, ink, and papers ready to see who can write the best poem!

Monday will consist of eagles as they try to peck the eyes of those who happen to be outside. They will trap onto you, looking straight into your irises, and will use their sharp beaks to swallow your vision...Sounds like a great day to go out for a walk!

Tuesday will be free cupcake day at Sugarcube Corner! So make sure you bring diagram with how healthy your body is so that Miss Pinkamena will know exactly what to do with you. In which I mean what cupcake fits you best.

Wednesday is back mares and gentlecolts, we did it!

Thursday has unfortunately gone missing however. No pony can seem to find it. They’ve looked everywhere for it and it’s starting to become problematic. Thursday’s Mother is worried sick about where their Thursday is. They believe that Friday has something to do with it. “They’re always jealous about being the best.” The Mother said.

Friday: “We didn’t do anything to your Thursday, Miss! So please stop calling!

This has been the Community Calendar.

An now, Traffic.

In the cold desert sand dunes, there is a stallion waiting.
His eyes are empty.
They are empty of sadness.
He has seen death. He has known death.
It is too much to take in.
The stallion walks to the door, his hooves are steady as he takes the last step.
He looks up as he takes the last step into the cold desert sands.
The world he saw before, is gone. It's not a dream anymore. It's here, as though it were yesterday.
The stallion looks into the mirror, and looks at his face.
He looks at his mane and his fur and his eyes. His fur is pale and wrinkled.
He turns back into his chair and looks around his house.
He has no home.
He has no friends.
He has no possessions.
He has no job.
He lives with no money.
He spends every waking moment thinking about his future.
His mother and father are still at work, and he is alone. What does he have to look forward to?
I'm a dog of few words. But this is a case that is so clear that words are all that remain. There is only one word that sums up the situation for this stallion, and that word is Despair.
You've read this book. You understand. This has been Traffic.

(Paper wrinkled)

Oh! Dear listeners, I was just given a note by Soft Spot from the City Council themselves. The note says that they want to tell all of Pony Vale that they will be taking a short vacation as this snowstorm unravels.

“We just want to get out more, you know,” they said nervously. “It’s totally not because we forgot to announce this snowstorm ahead of time or something like that. It’s not like we knew a week in advanced or anything.”

They then chuckled hysterically as they bolted out of the door, using their mystical powers to vanish in thin air.

Oh!!! They also tagged this cute picture of a cat trying to fit inside a box! It’s so adorable! Look at it trying to fit it’s chubby little face! Soft Spot! You have to hang this on the wall! It’s to cute to pass!

This just in listeners, Mayor Mare has a declared a state of emergency! She says that if any pony is still outside that you return home immediately! The doubles from the snowstorm are attacking the citizens, and trying to kill them! And if you do see your double, that you kill them!

After this another emergency press conference was made as Mayor Mare spoke calmly, “You know what, forget what I said about the snowstorm and the doubles. There is nothing to be afraid of. Just go outside and have fun.”

Once again another emergency press conference was made by Mayor Mare, now frantic as she was before. “Don’t believe the second me! I didn’t make that announcement. Stay inside!”

Then, to the news reporters’ surprise, two Mayor Mares fought with each other for the mic as one of the exclaimed, “Give me back my mic you parallel demon from frozen hell!”

As the fight broke out, the conference had doubled in ponies, and they soon all began to lash out at each other.

Now, Pony Vale, I do not condone killing or violence of any kind...but I recommend that you try to compromise with your double. Try to come to an understanding, please! I-

(Sound of glass breaking)

Soft Spot? Is everything okay in there? Oh my! Listeners, Soft Spot is fighting with a pony who looks exactly like her. They are throwing paper weights, staplers, and files at each other. I need to help her! Soft Spot, I’m coming in! As I go listeners, please listen to these words from our sponso-Soft Spot! No! Put down that letter opener! Soft Spo-

Hello, listeners? During the sponsorship message, Soft Spot had used a letter opener...to kill her other self. However, I do not know which one was killed. The Soft Spot who is still alive is standing over her double’s dead corpse, bleeding onto the scattered papers around the floor. The Soft Spot who remains seems to be grinning, or grimacing, I can’t tell. I do have this piece of paper that one of the Soft Spot’s had in their hoof before the battle. And the letter seems to be...

...oh no!

Trixie Lulamoon!?

Ugh! What does that jerk want? I can’t even handle holding this paper in my very paws, but, if this was the last thing that Soft Spot printed, then I must respect her final wish. Here we go...Trixie writes, oh Celestia! Trixie writes:

‘Cecil, this letter is from The Great and Powerful Trixie! I have some urgent news about the snowstorm! I have a strong feeling that there is a secret yet menacing government agency causing this snowstorm! The secret yet menacing government agency must have used this snowstorm to benefit Cloudsdale’s Weather Factory, or also know as the Rainbow Factory. Remember long ago when I told you the story of the factory? How they secretly take foals who fail their flying test and turn them into rainbows? Well, I have reason to believe that this snowstorm is allowing the government to take foals while we are blinded from the snow. They are...

...Now you listen here, Trixie Lulamoon!

You’re not saying anything new! Of course the secret yet menacing government agency created the snowstorm, the City Council announced that this morning! And of course they’re taking foals to the Rainbow Factory! However, the foals who fail their flying test aren’t turned into rainbows! They are just there to help make the rainbows as a punishment for not trying hard enough on their test! You’ve clearly never read Equestria’s constitution! Okay, sometimes government can be very corrupt, and bloated, but one rule that we have is to never complain for everything. Without government we wouldn’t have schools, or roads, or municipal utilities, or helpful pandemics, or black carriages that roam our neighborhood at night keeping us safe! So please, Trixie Lulamoon, I’ve had enough of your government bashing!

And with that dear listeners, I take you to the-

(Humming sound)

Oh, will you look at that. Listeners, there is a black, almost indigo vortex or portal of sorts. And it has formed along my studio wall. Listeners, words fail me, this vortex is...so beautiful. But, I can’t leave you as our show hasn’t ended yet. But, I must see beyond this something, Pony Vale. I must see what this is! I must go, I will try not to be long, listeners. I will try not to be looong...
...
...
...
...
...
...
(Hoof steps)
...
...
Hello? Hello, Desert Bucks? What is this studio? Desert Bucks? I don’t know if you can hear my voice, Jim here. I have no clue where I am. It appears to be a radio studio, but the walls are a lot darker, the equipment looks a lot..older...and dryer than it’s supposed to be. The microphone was made...when? Have...have I gone back in time? Meghan? Meghan are you in the booth? I don’t know if anyone can hear me, the snowstorm still rages outside, and the vortex is here, still humming. Only it’s black, almost a deep blue. I do not know if this is the storm, or the portal, or my own body causing this. There is a picture of someone here. It is a dog, not short or tall, not skinny or fat, and has eyes like mine, and a posture like mine, and his overall presence feels like mine. But I do not believe he is me. Maybe it’s his smile. Is that a smile? I can’t say. I do hope this gentledog is safe, whoever he is. I hope I’m safe, wherever I am. It is night, I believe it is. You may not know who I am, nor do I know you. But we do have something: this mic. And this voice. And your fluffy warm ears ready to hear a blossoming tone that will soothe your insides. And we have this sitting on this odd and bloodless desk. So now, dear listeners, whoever you are, I give you, the weather.

Hello...Pony Vale? I told you I would return. I have returned. I am back from whatever horrible place I had gone too. Along the way, I found a grotesque pony. A foul devil of a pony. He attacked me. I tried to choke him to death, but then I remembered what I had told you, sweet listeners. And I let him live. I let that ghastly beast live. However, he does have his wounds, scars, and my pity as he returns to that awful place of nightmares. But somehow, I am happy that he is alive, that I am alive, and that you are alive. That we are alive. Outside, the winds have subside, and the sun is now washing away our pain. I am sure there is blood staining the streets, and an immoral and unnecessary battle has begun. Many were replaced by those who came here for evil, but we will never know for certain. Those of you who have survived, who are still the same, who have conquered this hellish night, whoever you are, you are home. Home. Pony Vale! You and I are together again, my voice, your ears, we are together again! And as always, and forever, Goodnight, Pony Vale. Goodnight.

Author's Note

Hello everyone, thank you once again for continuing to read this story even with it’s terrible schedule. I am glad that many of you are enjoying it, and I would absolutely love to hear what you think. And if you are still wanting to be an intern here, than you are more than glad to apply. Just send a message through black ravens and I will get a hold of you. Now for today’s proverb:

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never quite describe the pain." -Twicane