"Alright, now that you're both here," Illesio said, checking her notes and motioning to the microphone handler, "I'd like to have a personal discussion about new developments in your company, and perhaps glean some information that could shed some light on the subject of your interests, goals, et cetera. Any objections?"

Clear Sight looked apathetic, and was about to deliberately not speak when Res interrupted his attempt with a flat "Not that I can see, I mean, we've kept pretty in the dark for a while now, and the public deserves to know." He exchanged a meaningful glance with Clear Sight, who sighed in exasperation and settled down in his chair.

"But first, what's your name?" Res asked, shooting her a cautioning look. "I don't think I caught it."

"Illesio," she said, true to form.

She cleared her throat, keeping a close eye on the radio team to make sure they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but she felt that as two of Equestria's most neurotic ponies, the two of them wouldn't draw unwarranted attention. "Alright, let's keep this simple then. First question: What reason is there in the re-branding of your company's trademark phrases?"

"Oh that? That's easy," Res responded. "We thought the company was becoming too commercialized, and although the whole point of the ALPHA was to bring technology, medical assistance, and knowledge to all ponies all over Equestria, commercializing forms of charity seemed a little disingenuous. That's why we changed our phrase from 'Bringing the Horizon a Step Closer' to 'Bringing Harmony a Step Closer.'"

Smooth so far.

It was a good idea to write down their lines beforehand. She had cleverly concealed hers in her notepad.

"Why, as of recent events, has the company's choice in commissions been reevaluated?"

"For the same reason, of course. We now exclusively focus on inventions and works for the benefit of the greater public, instead of some jobs we had taken on in the past for the sole use of wealthy investors. That particular choice was a little tricky, as we risked angering those same investors that supply us with funding, but to be completely honest, we could do the same job we do now with half the money."

"That leads us into my next question. Does your company still place a great emphasis on humanitarian works?"

"Absolutely. All profits go to charities, such as the Equestrian Red Sun, the Whooves Disability Awareness Foundation, and the Foundation for the Limitation of Undeserved Terror To Animals, and we keep a public tab on all transactions that can be viewed in both the Canterlot and Crystal Empire Business Centers and the town halls for every major city and town nationwide. We are proud to be a source of help for these charities."

"Great! These answers are satisfactory, but now we come to the real reason behind my visit. For years, the entire nation has been clamoring over what the past of this company has been, and the accounts given contradict each other almost completely. I was hoping you could, for the benefit of the public, reveal the truth of the matter?"

There was a long pause, and finally Res sighed. "Well, yes," he said. "Our past has been hidden for far too long, and I fear if we cover it up any longer, we'll pay for it dearly. One last thing," he asked, "We're on air, right?"

"Are we?" Illesio asked in a brief moment of panic, looking to the radio pony staff behind her, who thankfully all nodded.

"Perfect," said Res. "This needs to be raw and unedited. Straight from the horse's mouth, as it were. Will you start us off, Clear Sight?"

"I called you over to tell the story, but yeah, sure man," Clear Sight grimaced, sitting down and rubbing his hooves together.

This is where the improvisation comes in...I hope he can tell a good story with no lines, Illesio thought, but she had been assured by Res beforehand that no sentient creature in Equestria was better at it than Clear Sight.

Clear Sight leveled a look through his shades at her that for the briefest of moments, somehow betrayed both maniacal humor and pure existential hopelessness.

"Well, it all started about twenty, twenty-three years ago," started Clear Sight, "I still can't believe it's been that long, to be frank. But the circumstances of our lives need to be told as well, so the full context isn't lost. Who do you want to hear about first?" He carried his intended meaning: for the charade to work, she needed to commit too.

"Oh, well...How about you?" she quickly recovered.

"Good choice," he continued, "I grew up roughing it in the streets of Vanhoover with only a rock and a piece of copper wire to my name. My parents were, as far as I can tell, nonexistent, so I just prefer to think I leapt out of the floorboards at the orphanage one fall evening."

He scratched his chin in thought. "Not much to tell about that, particularly. Next thing I knew I was kicked out and walking the alleyways free and simple. Nick a living off where you can, make a quick bit or two doing a bit of honest work, and make a quick bit or two hundred doing a bit of the dishonest variety. Amazing what a resourceful pony can do with a rock and a piece of copper wire."

He turned towards the microphone. "Now, all you kids listening in, for one you probably shouldn't be, but secondly, don't get any ideas. Jail is a pretty boring place, I should know."

"After one particularly long stint in the con college, I managed to run into the last pony anyone would expect to associate with me." He paused for effect, gesturing to Illesio to keep it up.

"Let me guess, Res here?" she said.

Res chose this point to jump in, "Actually, no. It was my brother."

Illesio had to suppress a laugh, and only barely managed.

"My brother Steadfast was a well groomed, well dressed, well educated unicorn, as he should have been, he was raised with me." Res continued. "We both belonged to a family of the fine arts, including, well enough, fashion design. My aunt, to be precise." An idea seemed to hit him, and he said thoughtfully and with a twinkle in his eye, "She had two daughters, if I remember, I wonder what happened to them? She and her husband did die early in their lives..."

Illesio saw where this was going, and had a bad time restraining another laugh.

Res shot her a warning look tinged with humor, and resumed. "But I'm getting off track. My brother Steadfast quickly befriended Clear Sight, no easy feat may I add, and became, well, a steady foundation for his fickle, manipulative mind."

"It's true," Clear Sight nodded contemplatively. "I did, at one point, have a fickle, manipulative mind. Thankfully, no more, thanks to Stead Fast."

Res continued to resume the narrative, "Clear Sight owes much of his morality today to Steadfast, who not only taught him how to respect others, but also the intrinsic value of friendship."

"Which made for some pretty interesting discussions," interrupted Clear Sight, "but nonetheless, I can verify that beforehand, I was a terrible, terrible pony, and only thanks to Steady and Res here that I am the, uh, pillar of virtue you see today."

Res seemed to be giving out warning glances a lot lately.

--<>-------Man, I have a ton of respect for improv artists-------<>--/

Author's Note

Goodness gracious me

Recurring improv: improv within improv: Improvception
totally whacked up
I just upload these without really doing much to them, if they're good, they're good, and if not, they're not

Two hours

Cheers from a man whose eyes are drilling holes into the back of his head
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