Ponyville Confidentialby Doctoroctagonapus21ChaptersSummer Sun Celebration Spoiled and SavedPonyville's Prized Pony Pooped?The Great and Powerful Trixie: Monster or Misunderstood?Summer Sun Celebration Spoiled and Saved"'A Day at Sweet Apple Acres.' Another boring story." said a gruff brown earth pony named J.J. head of the Ponyville Express. "This is why nopony reads our paper, Ty." Sitting on the other side of the desk was Type Writer, a blue pegasus with a black mane with red stripes, yellow eyes, a pair of sunglasses, and a typewriter cutie mark. "Sir, it's not my fault! Nothing ever happens around here." "You can't write any stories about Pinkie?" "Everypony's already bored of those stories. You said it yourself." "You realize that I should let you go." "Please just give me another chance." The earth pony considered it. "... Fine, one more chance. The Summer Sun Celebration's tommorrow and being held here. See if you can't get an interview with the Princess. That'll get some readers." "Yes, sir!" Type Writer said enthusiastically as he bolted out the door to prepare. That night, the celebration was under way. The city hall was full of ponies ready to see Celestia. "Okay, an interview with the princess. I can do it... More like I HAVE to do it. My whole career depends on this." As he looked around he noticed that Pinkie Pie was talking to some new unicorn. She always was able to make new friends pretty quickly, but the strange thing was this unicorn was accompanied by a dragon. "Gotta remember to make a note about that." "Fillies and Gentlecolts!" the Mayor began. "This is it!" Ty thought to himself. "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the summer sun celebration! In just a few moments our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this: the longest day of the year! And now it is my great honor to introduce to you, the ruler of our land. The very pony that gives us the sun and the moon each and every day. The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria: Princess Celestia!" As the fanfare played, the curtains pulled back to reveal the Princess missing. At seeing this, Ty's jaw dropped and his heart nearly snapped in two. Their ruler had disappeared, he had no interview, and he would be out of a job. Just then, a sparkly purple smoke arose from where the princess was supposed to be and from it a dark mare had taken their princess' place. As he beheld this mare, his eyes grew wide and sparkled. Things were finally getting interesting. Finally a story worth writing and reading about: Celestia's dissapearance and the mysterious new mare. Not only would he keep his job, this might even skyrocket him to bigger things. As he was thinking, the new unicorn piped up and revealed the identity of this new mare as Nightmare Moon. "Nightmare Moon? The pony who inspired Nightmare Night? The one everypony assumed was just a legend?!" Ty thought, smiling so big he felt his face might break. "I JUST HIT THE JACKPOT!" All of a sudden, Nightmare Moon became a wisp of smoke and disappeared. He looked around for the purple unicorn, but was having no luck. "I saw her talking to Pinkie Pie, so I'll ask Pinkie about it later. For now I got some ponies to interview." He walked up to the stage where Mayor Mare was trying to calm everypony down. "Everypony just calm down! I'm sure the Princess will arrive soon and everything will be alright. Until then, just talk amongst yourselves." "Miss Mayor? Type Writer for the Ponyville Express. Could I ask you a few questions?" "Uh, I suppose..." "Thank you." Ty says, pulling out a pencil and notepad. "First question: What are your thoughts on the situation?" "Well, frankly I don't know what to think. We put so much time and preperation into this celebration, and now everything just goes wrong. Not to mention a neverending night... who knows what'll happen?" "Second question: The mare that appeared instead of Celestia was identified as Nightmare Moon. Growing up, did you think she was real or just a legend?" "Well, as a filly I always thought the legend was just some mumbo-jumbo to explain our costumes, but I suppose every legend 'has some kernel of truth,' as they say." "I see. Last question: the pony who identified Nightmare Moon as a purple unicorn I'd never seen before. Any idea who it was?" "The Princess had sent a letter asking the library to be prepared for Miss 'Twilight Sparkle'. I suppose that could've been her." "Really? Interesting. Anything you'd like to say?" "Not at the moment, no." "Alright. Thank you very much." Ty said as he slipped into the crowd to get statements from as many ponies as he could. That night alone felt like it really was lasting forever, but at least he had gotten plenty of statements to use in his story. As he stepped outside for fresh air, he saw a glorious sight: the sunrise. He spent a minute to take in the beauty of the rising sun before shouting to the other ponies, "THE SUN! IT ROSE!" He had barely finished saying it before everypony inside came out to see it. For a straight minute, everypony watched the sunrise in total admirable silence before somepony started yelling like a maniac, with the others following suit. Eight ponies returned in total and Ty was determined to get an interview with each of them. Afte all, this was the story of a lifetime. As Celestia finished addressing Twilight he carefully flew up to her, pencil and notepad in hoof. "Excuse me, your majesty. My name is Type Writer and I work for the Ponyville Express. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions..." Summer Sun Celebration Spoiled and Saved As we all know, the Summer Sun Celebration takes place every year to celebrate the longest day of the year and is one of the few chances a normal pony gets to meet Celestia herself, but who knew that this year would be a special one? Well, one pony did: Ponyville's new librarian, Ms. Twilight Sparkle. Before coming to Ponyville, Ms. Sparkle had spent much her life in Canterlot as Her Royal Highness' personal student. When asked how she knew all this would happen Ms. Sparkle replied, "Thorough and dedicated research." Princess Celestia also commented saying, "In all my years, I'd never seen a pony more dedicated to the puruit of knowledge." Our divine ruler saw the signs so she sent Twilight to Ponyville in order to deal with the threat. "What threat?" you may ask. Remember the legend of the Mare in the Moon? Well, that mare appeared in our Princess' place and threatened to bring about eternal night. However, Ms. Sparkle and her new friends set out to bring back the day, braving many dangers in the Everfree Forest like a raging manticore and crumbling terrain, all brought on by Nightmare Moon. Local weather captain Rainbow Dash was quoted as saying, "Good thing I came with. Otherwise who knows what might've happened." Resident fashionista Rarity also commented, "It turns out there are creatures in the forest with a sense of style. Who would've guessed." In defeating Nightmare Moon and bringing both Celestia and the day back to Equestria, Ms. Sparkle managed to revive a long forgotten part of the legend: the Elements of Harmony originally used by Celestia and her sister. "There are TWO princesses?" Yes! Nightmare Moon, it turns out, is actually Princess Luna, the princess in charge of night all those years ago. "WE ART VERY GRATEFUL TO TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND HER FRIENDS!" the princess said. She was also quoted as saying, "TO ALL WHO USE MAGIC, BEWARE DARK MAGIC!" When asked to elaborate, she declined saying, "WE DOST NOT WISH TO SPEAK OF IT!" Now day and night in Equestria is again balanced with the arrival of a new unicorn in Ponyville and the return of a princess. When there's something strange in the neighboorhood, we know who to call. "Great job, Ty!" J.J. said. "A legend coming true on a special celebration. Get me more stories like this and you're getting a huge raise!" "WHOO-HOO!" Ponyville's Prized Pony Pooped?"Uggghhh." Type Writer groaned as he rolled over on his cloud, looking at his notepad. "Deadline's next week and I have nothing to write about." In the two weeks following the Summer Sun Celebration, he'd been going through Ponyville once a day looking for any stories. The most interesting pieces he had so far were Vinyl Scratch's new DJ set, and Lyra's odd obession with mythical creatures known as "humans". Although he did get shanghaied into an adventure with Derpy and the Doctor, he promised not to write about it and he's not the kind of scumbag reporter that would go back on a promise like that. Besides, even if he did, he doubted anypony would take it seriously. "Well," Ty said to himself, "time to go looking again." As he rolled over, he noticed a certain rainbow mane resting on a cloud above him. "Cool." He flapped his wings and quickly rose up to the second cloud where he found Rainbow Dash sleeping like a baby. He gave her a quick poke and said, "Hey, Rainbow Dash?" but no response. She was still fast asleep. Poke. Poke. Still nothing. "Alright. Sweet dreams, Rainbow Dash." And with that he took off into the blue skies of Ponyville in search of a story. "Maybe Rarity has a story..." "Hold still, darling." Rarity said to her living mannequin as she stuck a few pins through the fabric he was wearing. "You're doing a great job. Just a bit longer." "How did I end up in this position again?" Ty asked, thinking about what happened between finding Rainbow Dash and now. "You asked for a story, and I need to finish a suit for a client. I thought perhaps you could do a story on my newest creation." Rarity said. "Uh, I'm not exactly fashion savvy. I was thinking maybe you had a story to share about you, your little sister, and her friend Scootaloo." "Uh, I'm afraid not, dear. You sure you don't want to do a story on my newest designs?" "Well, perhaps." he said looking at the various dress forms around the room. He thought for a minute and said, "say uh... these custom suits. Just in case I find myself in need of one, how much?" "Here it is, Twilight." Ty said pulling out a copy of an astronomy book. "Thanks, just set it down over here." "Why didn't I just come here first?" he thought to himself as he lowered himself to the ground. "So, how's ponyville treating you?" "Everypony's so friendly here, and it's interesting to see such a varied mix of pony species." "Yeah, I hear most of Canterlot's population is unicorns." "Not exactly, but that's at least true for where I lived." Twilight said, quickly doing math in her head and writing something down. "So, anything interesting happen since you got here? I mean besides the whole Nightmare Moon thing." "Well, last week I got two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala." "Really?" Ty asked, pulling out his notepad. "That's a pretty big deal. So which of your friends are you taking with you?" "Well, that's the thing. It got to the point where half the town was chasing me just to get that other ticket." Ty was writing down everything she said, "So what did you do?" "I sent them back saying that if my best friends couldn't come with, I didn't want to go." "A bold move." "And it paid off. We all ended up getting tickets." "That's very interesting. I'd love to go. I'd be able to write up a doozy of a story." "Well, the only way that'd happen at this point is if you asked the Princess." Twilight said with a giggle. "Well, thanks for your time, Twilight." "No problem." Next stop: Sugercube Corner. As Ty walked up to the building, he raised his hoof to knock on the door but paused for a moment to think about what might happen. Every so often the Cakes had to leave town for a big catering order, and the last time that happened... "HEYTYHOW'SITGOING?YOUDOIN'GOOD?THAT'SAWESOME!YOUHERELOOKINGFORASTORY?CAUSEIGOTAREALDOOZY..." Ty's eye twitched just thinking about it. "Maybe this was a bad idea." He put his hoof down and started walking away but froze when he heard the door open and a certain pink pony's voice. "Hey Ty! How's it going? Here looking for a story?" "Oh, uh, hi Pinkie." Ty said sheepishly. "No actually, I was here to uh... get some cookies! Yeah." Now that he thought about it, he really could use a snack. "The Cakes are gone right now but they made a few batches before they left." "Any double chocolate chunk?" He asked, ears perking up. "You know it!" "Sweet!" he said, trotting into the building. "Okay," Ty said to himself carrying a small bag of cookies, "Two more story possibilities: Twilight and friends getting tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala or Rarity's newest creation." He paused for a second. "Mother of Celestia, this place is boring." As he continued trotting along the ground started to shake. "Whoa, what's going on here? An earthquake? Or maybe a-" "STAMPEEEEEDE!" Rainbow Dash cried in the distance. "STAMPEDE?!" He thought to himself, eyes sparkling, bolting into the air to get a good look. Sure enough, in the distance, he saw a herd of cows barreling towards Ponyville at top speed as all the terrified citizens ran shelter. He pulled out his notepad and started writing, a smile plastered on his face as he did so. As he looked up again he saw Applejack amongst them, trying to get them in line. "This is perfect!" Soon he heard the cheering of the town as Applejack managed to deflect the stampede away from the town and ran off. "That was awesome. But now to get some quotes from the hero herself." He said as he flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres. He flew a bit slower than he normally would as he ran various phrasings of various questions through his mind to prepare. As always, his first stop whenever visiting the Apples was the farmhouse. He went up and knocked on the door prepared to speak with either Applejack, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, or Applebloom. The one who answered the door was a certain red maned flly: cute little Applebloom. "Hey there, Applebloom." "Hey Ty." Applebloom said with an adorable smile. "Ya here ta talk to Applejack about the stampede?" "I am actually. Any idea where she is?" "She's over 'n the east fields right now buckin' apples." Applebloom said, pointing in the general direction, "Just look fer some trees missin' apples." "Thanks for your help. Tell Big Mac I said, "Get well soon." "Thanks. See ya'll later!" Applebloom replied as she closed the door. "East field." Ty said looking in the direction Applebloom pointed. "Trees missing apples." He took to the sky, thinking a bird's eye view would help him locate her faster. He looked around and saw tree upon tree full of delicious red apples. It took him a minute but he soon saw a line of apple-less trees and even found one shaking and dropping apples. As he descended below the treetops, he found Applejack working up a sweat, bucking apples. "Hey there, Applejack." Ty said in a friendly manner. "I was wondering if you could spare a few seconds and answer a couple questions about the stampede?" "'Fraid not. Ah need time and ah need ta concentrate. Come back in a couple days and ah'll be glad ta answer yer questions." Applejack said with a weary smile. "Oh. Sure thing. See ya later." Ty replied, flying off. A couple uneventful days later, Ty rested on a cloud in front of the town hall, waiting for the prize ceremony. A story about the town's prized pony stopping a stampede would be gold. He carefully listened to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy as they listed off Applejack's schedule for the week. "Maybe I should hold off on the story 'til the rest of this happens." he said to himself as Mayor Mare introduced the pony of honor... who was nowhere to be seen. "I'm here! I'm here!" Applejack said with a yawn as she slowly and somewhat clumsily walked up to the stage with saddle-baskets overflowing with apples, everpony watching. "... Thank ya kindly fer this here award thingy..." "Wow. Has she gotten any sleep since the sampede?" He says to himself as he writes down in his notepad: Prized Pony Pooped? When he looked up, Applejack was dragging off the trophy and everypony was alrady starting to scatter. He seized the moment and went down to ask Applejack the questions he wasn't able to before. "Hey there Applejack. You feel up to answering those questions?" Ty asked, getting out his notepad. "Huh?" Applejack asked sleepily. "Oh, sure. Ask away." "First question: Where were you when the stampede started?" "Well, Ah..." Yawn. "Ah was in the fields about ta start applebuckin' when I felt the ground shakin'." "Second Question: You seem to know how to handle a stampede quite effortlessly. Have you had much practice?" "Well, it's mostly with the sheep since they... um... they uh..." Applejack rubbed her eyes. "What was the question again?" "Have you had much practice with stampedes, and you were saying something about the sheep." "Oh right. Yeah, the sheep can be restless critters sometimes but ya'll can herd critters in basically the same way, but it's best ta have some help. That's why we trained Winona the way we did. Best dern helper dog this side o' Canterlot. Anythin' else?" "Just a couple more questions. Any information on why it started?" "The cows got spooked by a snake. Never spook a herd o' cows. Never ends well." "How's it feel to be awarded the prized pony award?" "It feels great. Especially knowin' how helpful ah can be to the rest o' the town. That it?" "Just one more question." Ty said, putting his notepad away. "Are you feeling alright? You seem a bit... sleepy." Applejack summoned a sleepy smile and said, "Yeah. ah'm just fine. Ah appreciate the concern." "Alright... Well, thank you very much. See you later." Ty said, flying off. "Bye!" Applejack said, dragging the trophy along the ground. Two more days had passed. Nothing interesting happened the previous day aside from rumors that Rainbow Dash might have fractured a couple of her ribs. Even then, like any reporter worth their ink, he followed up and learned that it was nothing but fluff, but did learn of Applejack's involvement in the near injury. "I see where this is going... and it's a dark path..." he said to himself as he flew away from Rainbow Dash. "She's supposed to be helping Pinkie bake muffins today!" Rainbow Dash yelled out. "Oh no..." he said as he flew over to Sugarcube Corner, getting there just in time to see a sick pony getting carted to an emergency tent. "Excuse me, Nurse Redheart." Ty said landing on the ground near the tent. "Type Writer for the Ponyville Express. Can I ask what happened?" "To sum it up, there was something wrong with the muffins." Nurse Redheart said as she quickly grabbed a bucket for a pony about to blow chunks. "Hey there, Ty..." Pinkie weakly smiled called out from her hospital bed, her face colored a sickly green. "I can tell you what happened..." "Wow. Pinkie 'Iron Stomach' Pie getting an upset tummy. Unreal." He said, trotting up to Pinkie to get the details. "I dunno what Applejack put in those muffins... I mean besides worms... but whatever was in there didn't mix too well." Pinkie giggled slightly. "I guess next time I should double check the mix before baking." "We all make mistakes." Ty said, writing down what she said. "That's how we learn." "Anyway, things were alright at first, though I should have thought something was up because of the weird smell, but the ponies seemed happy so I didn't think to ask. That's when everypony's stomach started turning. Everypony started heading for the nearest trash bin, toilet, whatever and then we ended up here." Pinkie recited the events strangely calm. "Starting to think I should talk to Applejack again. Thanks Pinkie. Hope you get better soon." "Thanks. Bye." Once again, Ty found himself flying over to Sweet Apple Acres, but not for business reasons this time. As he looked around, he saw a good chunk of the orchard had been harvested. He scoured the area looking for shaking trees finally spotting something in the far end of the north field. When he got there, he found Applejack practically falling asleep every other second as she endeavored to harvest the apples. "Hey there Applejack." Ty said, landing by her side. "Oh, hey Ty." Applejack said, taking a rather hostile tone. "Ya here ta ask questions or tell me ta ask fer help?" "Well, I just got done talking to Pinkie..." "UGH! First Twilight, now you." Applejack got right up in Ty's face. "Let me make this clear: I DON'T! NEED! HELP!" She gave him a firm poke after each emphasized word. "Well, I wasn't gonna say 'get some help'. I was gonna say take a break and get some sleep." "Ah need to get all these apples harvested. Ah'll have plenty o' time ta rest after that's done." "Next suggestion would be get some help, but she's already been pretty clear about that." Ty thought to himself. "Okay then... I'll just leave you to it." "If only ah could get that message across ta Twilight." "See ya later then." He said, flying off. "Two days til' the deadline and I'm afraid of what'll happen with Applejack." Ty said to himself, as he headed towards Sugarcube Corner to get some more cookies. Suddenly, in the distance, he heard Rainbow Dash yell out, "STAMPEEEEEEDE!" "Another one?" he said to himself as he flew up to get a better look. He looked out and saw a herd of rabbits storming into town, remembering what Fluttershy had said earlier. "Applejack is helping me this week with the annual rabbit round up." As he reached for his notepad and pencil, he couldn't find them. "Of course I would forget them at home." He said, flying off to grab his gear. After grabbing his stuff from home, he took off towards Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Applejack again. After a bit of searching he found Applejack on a hill with a single apple tree, lying on the ground with Twilight nearby. He approached and landed, addressing the girls. "Hey." "Hi, Ty." Twilight replied "Howdy." Applejack said, tired enough to pass out at any second. "Did I miss something?" "Nope. But I think Applejack's up for whatever questions you might have." Twilight said. "Yeah, ah gotta lot to answer fer, don't I?" "Well, let's not waste time..." Ponyville's Prized Pony Pooped? It just goes to show, being a workaholic can have consequences. Something that prized pony Applejack of Sweet Apple Acres learned the hard way this week. After an ill-planned bet, Big Macintosh was rendered unable to help with the year's harvest. So Applejack took it upon herself to harvest the entire orchard herself. Having been there at least three times this week, this reporter can say that's no small feat. It was at the beginning of the harvest that the stampede of cows was diverted away from Ponyville by Applejack and her faithful companion Winona. Afterwards, she went straight to the fields to start on her work. However, it turns out at that point she "didn't get a wink o' sleep until the ceremony." Which was why she didn't exactly look her finest that day. The next day there was an incident inolving a device Rainbow Dash created to help her with her goal of impressing the Wonderbolts. There was a rumor that Miss Dash had fractured a couple ribs. "Nah, I'm fine. I got bones of steel. Besides, I've suffered through worse." said the steel pegasus herself. "But I think Applejack could use some help... or a break." Local party pony Pinkie Pie who was affected by the muffin madness of a couple days ago said that Applejack "must not have heard the ingredients right." The inclusion of earthworms would inevitably lead one to that conclusion, but everypony at the sampling ended up in the hospital. When asked, the pony in question admitted, "Ah was really tired, and ah hit mah head on the way there. That musta knocked somethin' loose in there." Applejack also admitted to being the cause of the rabbit raid this week. When asked about the cows she said that, "ya'll can herd critters in basically the same way." Though admitted to being mistaken when asked about the rabbits. "Ah guess it all depends on the critter." She ended the interview by asking this reporter, "Tell 'em all ah'm sorry 'bout everything that happened. Ah'll try to make it up by makin' extra cider this year." So, when cider season comes around, bring your bits, there's gonna be more than usual. After a long day of work, Ty finally returned home, but before he went in, he checked his mailbox. Inside was something rather odd: a scroll marked with the royal seal. "Huh?" Ty thought to himself as he pulled it out. "What would the princess want with me?" As he opened it up, he saw a gold colored ticket. "No way... By decree of... Mr. Type Writer is hereby... GRAND GALLOPING GALA! BEST! DAY! EVER!... Oh geez. I need to go see Rarity." The Great and Powerful Trixie: Monster or Misunderstood?One day after the Prized Pony story was published, in the office of the Ponyville Express, a certain Mr. J.J. was enjoying a nice cup of coffee before his prized reporter reported in for work. "Ah, nothin' like a hot cuppa joe." he said before taking a swig. "BOSS!" Type Writer said, bursting into the office. "How's it goin', ace? You seem excited." "You bet I am! You're not gonna believe this." Ty said pulling out the scroll he had recieved in the mail, hovering in the air out of sheer excitement. "What's this?" J.J. asked, grabbing hold and reading it, taking another drink of coffee. "It just so happens that yours truly got an invitation to the one and only Grand Galloping Gala!" Stunned, J.J. spit out his coffee, letting out a couple coughs in the process. "The Gala?! No freakin' way!" He said looking at Ty, who's face was now covered in a coffee and saliva mixture. "Oops." "Don't worry about it." Ty said, wiping his face off. "And way. I'm gonna need to use one of the cameras." "Uh, yeah, that might be a problem." "What do you mean?" "Newbies. That's what I mean." "They're ALL busted?" "Well, we got one left. You break it, and you're gonna have to get another one with your own money." "Understood, boss." Ty said, trotting over to the camera. "You know, this extended deadline thing wasn't a bad idea." "Told ya." "Now you be careful with that camera!" "No worries!" Ty replied as he flew out of the office. Two weeks later, Ty walks out of the camera store with a brand new camera. "Darn griffon, I hope they're not all that nasty... I also hope this thing is worth the 15 bits I paid for it." He said looking through the eye piece. As he looked around through it, he noticed a crowd forming over in the town square and went over to check it out. "I wonder what all this is about." As he went over he noticed all the ponies were gathered around a wagon like show was going on. "Might as well stick around a bit." he said as he grabbed a tuft of cloud to rest on until something happened. Minutes went by that felt like hours. Ty took several pictures of the scene before him in order to get used to his camera until finally something happened. "Come one! Come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Gr-r-r-r-reat and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-rixie!" Camera trained and snapping, the wagon unfolded into a stage and, with a flash of smoke, a blue pony appeared onstage wearing a purple hat and cape, both of which were covered in stars. "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" Trixie shouted as fireworks went off around her. "Pfft. Show-off. I doubt she could beat Twilight in a magic contest. I've seen what she can do." Ty thought to himself as he captured pictures of Trixie summoning a bouquet of flowers. "Magic Schmagic! Boo!" Somepony from the crowd yelled out. Ty put his camera down and pulled out his notepad. "Well, well, well, it seems we have some NEIGH-sayers in the audience." Trixie said to the crowd. "Not afraid to make incredibly stupid puns." Ty thought to himself as he wrote it down. "Do they not know that they are in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?!" "Incredibly arrogant as well." After another round of fireworks Ty saw Rainbow Dash fly right to Trixie's face. "Oh this is gonna be good." He said, readying his camera again. "Only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!" As she finished, a glowing image of an ursa appeared above the stage. As the Great and Powerful Trixie began weaving her tale, Ty quickly wrote it down. "Hoofington... Ursa... Magic... Forest..." When he looked back at the crowd, he noticed Spike and Twilight towards the front as the Great and Powerful Trixie issued a challenge to Ponyville. "Anything you can do, I can do better." For the briefest of moments, he actually thought about going down there. "Bet I could whip up a tall tale to beat that ursa story." "How about.. you?" Trixie said, pointing at Twilight. "Now we're talkin'." "Well how about it, hmmm? Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can't?" Ty pulled out his camera, ready to snap some pictures of what was sure to be an epic magic duel... When Applejack spoke up to challenge Trixie. Ty got a good couple pictures of her impressive cowgirl rope routine before Trixie embarrassed her with a snake charming routine. Rainbow Dash then wowed the audience with some special routine she had likely been practicing to show to the Wonderbolts which followed wiith Trixie magically transforming the rainbow into a twister. Rarity then took up the challenge, magically turning one of Trixie's curtains into a beautiful dress... which Trixie messed up by turning her mane into what looked seaweed. Everypony, including Trixie turned to Twilight for one last challenge. "Come on, Twilight. Give her a head to match that ego. I know you can do it." "I think I hear my laundry calling! Sorry, gotta go!" "What?!" Ty thought to himself, shocked. As Trixie retracted the stage and the ponies in the town square dispersed, Ty wrote down the events that transpired and flew off for the library. Ty landed on the welcome mat and knocked on the door. The door opened and Ty looked down to see Spike looking back up at him. "Oh, hey. You're that reporter, right?" Spike asked. "Type Writer. Just call me Ty. And you're Spike, right? Twilight's Number One Assistant." "Yup! That's me!" "I was wondering if Twilight was here." "Let me guess. You want to talk to her about Trixie?" Spike guessed rather accurately. "Actually, yes." Ty admitted. "Come on in. Maybe YOU can talk some sense into her." Spike said as he walked out leaving the door open for Ty, who walked inside and found Twilight nose-deep in a book, as usual. "Hey there, Twilight. I suppose you heard all that?" "Uh-huh." Twilight replied, not even glancing in his direction. "You're here to ask me why I didn't stand up to Trixie for your story." "Well, I might put it in an article, but really I'm here to talk to you as a friend." "Then why did you bring a camera?" Ty looked down to see he still had his camera with him. "I haven't been home yet." "I'm not going to one up Trixie. I already told Spike that a few times." "Why?" "... I don't want to talk about it." "Come on, Twilight." Ty said, slowly walking up to her. "Just one spell would send her packing. You could give her a big head like a week ago when I walked in and threw off your aim." "Yeah, sorry about that..." "Don't worry. It was my own fault. Anyway, I'm just saying you could make her slink away like that." He said, making a snapping sound with his wing. "The answer is no." Twilight emphasized sternly. "Alright. I'm going to go talk to Trixie. Try and get something out of her other than bragging. But for what it's worth, I believe in you." Ty told her as he exited the library, not even sure that's the issue. As the sun began to set, Ty flew to the Town Square and up to the wagon where Trixie was camping. He walked up to the door and knocked. "The Great and Powerful Trixie said- Oh, hello. And you are?' "Type Writer. Reporter for the Ponyville Express." "Oh. A reporter..." "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." "Trixie doesn't like talking to you reporter types." "What?" "All you reporters do is set out to write slander against Trixie. To tarnish her name with words like 'fake' and 'phony'. I will have no part of it." "I'm not like those other reporters. I don't just write whatever in order to get readers. I write about the facts, whatever they are. I was hoping to get a good look at the real Trixie." "Trixie's heard that story many times before." "Look into my eyes," Ty said, "and tell me I'm lying." The two stared into each other's eyes for a good two minutes before Trixie decided to open the door without a word. As Ty stepped in he noticed it was rather small and dark. "Wow. Not exactly made for company, eh?" "Sit down and shut up." Trixie demanded. "Yes ma'am..." Ty said, following orders. Trixie sat down across from him, the only light coming from the setting sun, most of which was blocked by nearby buildings. The intamcy of the tight space was making Ty a bit nervous. "You said you want to know the real Trixie. So I'm giving you the real Trixie. You can ask questions, but if I hear a single snarky comment I'm tossing you out. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes ma'am." Ty said, taking out a notepad. Thankfully there was just enough light for him to see what he was doing. Trixie took a deep breath and began her story. "My real name is Trixie Lulamoon." Ty snickered a little. "SORRY! Sorry! Please don't throw me out." "Not the first, won't be the last. Anyway, the story about me vanquishing the Ursa in Hoofington is made up... sort of. The truth is an Ursa did attack Hoofington, but this was a long time ago..." "You're on in 30 seconds, dear." a bright blue female unicorn with a purple mane, purple eyes, a purple star-spangled hat and cape, and a magic wand cutie mark said to a very young Trixie who already has her cutie mark. "Okay mom!" "Knock 'em dead sweetie!" a white male unicorn with deep blue eyes and a grey mane with a mirrored magic wand and the same hat and cape said. "Okay daddy!" Trixie said, bounding onto the stage, hatless and capeless up to a top hat. The seats were packed with ponies who had come to see their magic act. "Fillies and Gentlecolts! Welcome to the Lulamoon Magic Show. We're very glad you're here tonight. Now watch and be amazed as I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, pull a rabbit out of this top hat!" Trixie, levitated the hat up and tipped it so the audience could see inside it. "Look at the hat, see how empty it is. Now watch..." She set the hat on the floor but her horn was still glowing. "1...2...3!" At the count of three, a bunny was levitated out of the hat. The crowd applauded as Trixie set the rabbit back in the hat. "Thank you, thank you. Now watch as I make flowers magically appear!" Trixie concentrated her magic in the air as a bouquet of flowers slowly materialized in the air. The crowd cheered as Trixie reached out and grabbed the flowers. Trixie waved her hoof over the flowers and they magically transformed into a flock of birds that flew away and the audience cheered louder. "Thank you. Thank you very much. Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for. The main event: the Lulamoon Magic Show!" As Trixie finished, a great burst of smoked enveloped the stage as Trixie went offstage to watch er parents work their literal magic, eyes sparkling, practically idolizing them. After the show, Trixie met up with her folks."Mom! Dad! What did you think?!" "You did a great job, sweetie!" Trixie's mom said. "The bird thing was new." her dad admitted. "I've been practicing." Trixie said not so modestly. "Keep this up and you'll be joining us on stage in no time." "I look forward to it!" Unfortunately, that day was never to come... Trixie was fast asleep and dreaming about her future: onstage with her parents in Canterlot, putting on the greatest magic show in history. All of a sudden, the earth began to shake and split open. As the darkness swallowed her, she woke up and saw her house in ruins around her as a giant blue bear went on a rampage, destroying the town. "MOMMY! DADDY!" but her pleas were not answered. Her parents had disappeared. She built a makeshift fort out of the remaining wood and hid inside it until she passed out. The first two words out of her mouth that morning were "mommy" and "daddy". In fact, those were the two words she used most that morning as she went around asking everypony as they returned and saw the damage caused by the giant creature. "Have you seen my mommy and daddy?" she asked over and over. She spent all day looking, and it was only when the sun went down that she went back to her little fort which she had made bigger to fit her mattress in and cried herself to sleep... "I ended up crying myself to sleep for what must have been a week before I found the cape and hat. At that point I knew I had to keep the family spirit alive. So I built my wagon out of the scraps of my house and, when I was old enough, I set out to bring the family's brand of magic to every corner of Equestria." Ty was wiping away tears from his face as he wrote down her story. A quick flash of her horn and she lit a candle revealing some of the news articles written about her. All the articles berated Trixie, calling her a fake among other things. "There. Now you know the real Trixie. Finish writing whatever on your notepad and leave. The Great and Powerful Trixie needs her beauty sleep..." Trixie said, putting out the candle and lying down on a mattress. As Ty quietly left the wagon, he thought he heard Trixie sobbing... That night in ponyville was peaceful. The crickets were chirping, and Princess Luna had brought out a beautiful full moon. Ty was fast asleep in bed until he heard the roar. He quickly shot awake and looked out the window to see a giant, blue, translucent figure rampaging through town. He quickly grabbed his camera and notepad and flew out to keep track of what was going on. Just as he flew over to the town square he saw Twilight standing before the ursa, horn glowing like crazy. As he took pictures he felt a strong wind blowing him off course a bit but quickly corrected his position as he heard a nice little melody over the wind. Off in the distance, he saw the water tower being removed and filled with milk. "Wow. Never seen magic used like that before." Ty said, snapping away. Suddenly, his attention turned to the ursa who was glowing a bright lavender. The ursa floated into the air and grabbed the water tower, drinking from it like a baby as it floated into the Everfree Forest. As he wrote down the awesomeness that just happened, he suddenly heard Trixie's voice. "But you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie said before summoning a cloud of smoke and running off. Ty took a couple minutes and watched as Trixie ran off before turning his attention to her wagon now in ruins. He searched the wreckage and found the two things he knew she'd miss: her hat and cape. He donned them and took the sign from the wagon, hoping someday she'd return so he can give back the remaining relics of her home... The Great and Powerful Trixie: Monster or Misunderstood? A few nights ago, a certain blue unicorn graced Ponyville with her presence: Trixie Lulamoon a.k.a The Great and Powerful Trixie. She made a big show in town square that day, besting three of ponyville's finest with her magic and boasting about how she vanquished an ursa major. Two young colts by the names of Snips and Snails decided to call Trixie out on her story and actually managed to coax an ursa out of its cave in the everfree forest where Trixie revealed that the story was false. That's when local librarian Twilight Sparkle showed her own magical prowess which drove both the ursa and Trixie away. When asked the following day, many residents were "glad that show-off is gone. Good riddance." Good riddance. Harsh words indeed, and at first glance she probably deserved them. However, this reporter went and talked to the unicorn in question and learned something very sad. It turns out that Ms. Lulamoon comes from a family of magicians situated in Hoofington and were even big hits. She studied hard to be like her parents in the hopes of joining them onstage one day. However, before that could happen, an ursa attack destroyed her home and her parents went missing. The following day she looked around for the missing parents, practically bawling her eyes out, her heroes missing. One day, she found the hat and cape her parents wore onstage and decided to take it upon herself to keep the family spirit alive. That's when she began roaming Equestria to follow the magicians' path. As it turns out, the citizens of Ponyville weren't the only ones to quickly get tired of Trixie's facade as she had clippings from a number of newspapers using words like "phony." "Good riddance" some say. Is it really good riddance or did we just not take the time to know a potentially valuable friend? Ty knocked on the door to the library. "Twilight? You in there?" Twilight opened the door. "Hey, Ty. Did you need something?" "Yes actually. I was wondering if I could borrow one of your Daring Do books." "Sure, which one?" Twilight said, letting Ty inside. "Crystal Skull. I don't care what anypony else says, I like that one." "Alright. I read your article on Trixie." Twilight said, walking up to the bookcase. "I guess we were pretty quick to judge her. Here you go." "Thanks. To be honest, I don't blame you. I'm a bit guilty of it myself. But, being a good reporter, I write the facts." "I'm grateful we have ponies like you around. You wouldn't believe the garbage they printed in Canterlot." "You don't say? Well, thanks again and see you later." Ty said as he trotted out the door. As he returned home, he looked over at te wall where he had placed Trixie's sign as well as her hat and cape. "Maybe someday..."
Summer Sun Celebration Spoiled and Saved"'A Day at Sweet Apple Acres.' Another boring story." said a gruff brown earth pony named J.J. head of the Ponyville Express. "This is why nopony reads our paper, Ty." Sitting on the other side of the desk was Type Writer, a blue pegasus with a black mane with red stripes, yellow eyes, a pair of sunglasses, and a typewriter cutie mark. "Sir, it's not my fault! Nothing ever happens around here." "You can't write any stories about Pinkie?" "Everypony's already bored of those stories. You said it yourself." "You realize that I should let you go." "Please just give me another chance." The earth pony considered it. "... Fine, one more chance. The Summer Sun Celebration's tommorrow and being held here. See if you can't get an interview with the Princess. That'll get some readers." "Yes, sir!" Type Writer said enthusiastically as he bolted out the door to prepare. That night, the celebration was under way. The city hall was full of ponies ready to see Celestia. "Okay, an interview with the princess. I can do it... More like I HAVE to do it. My whole career depends on this." As he looked around he noticed that Pinkie Pie was talking to some new unicorn. She always was able to make new friends pretty quickly, but the strange thing was this unicorn was accompanied by a dragon. "Gotta remember to make a note about that." "Fillies and Gentlecolts!" the Mayor began. "This is it!" Ty thought to himself. "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the summer sun celebration! In just a few moments our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this: the longest day of the year! And now it is my great honor to introduce to you, the ruler of our land. The very pony that gives us the sun and the moon each and every day. The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria: Princess Celestia!" As the fanfare played, the curtains pulled back to reveal the Princess missing. At seeing this, Ty's jaw dropped and his heart nearly snapped in two. Their ruler had disappeared, he had no interview, and he would be out of a job. Just then, a sparkly purple smoke arose from where the princess was supposed to be and from it a dark mare had taken their princess' place. As he beheld this mare, his eyes grew wide and sparkled. Things were finally getting interesting. Finally a story worth writing and reading about: Celestia's dissapearance and the mysterious new mare. Not only would he keep his job, this might even skyrocket him to bigger things. As he was thinking, the new unicorn piped up and revealed the identity of this new mare as Nightmare Moon. "Nightmare Moon? The pony who inspired Nightmare Night? The one everypony assumed was just a legend?!" Ty thought, smiling so big he felt his face might break. "I JUST HIT THE JACKPOT!" All of a sudden, Nightmare Moon became a wisp of smoke and disappeared. He looked around for the purple unicorn, but was having no luck. "I saw her talking to Pinkie Pie, so I'll ask Pinkie about it later. For now I got some ponies to interview." He walked up to the stage where Mayor Mare was trying to calm everypony down. "Everypony just calm down! I'm sure the Princess will arrive soon and everything will be alright. Until then, just talk amongst yourselves." "Miss Mayor? Type Writer for the Ponyville Express. Could I ask you a few questions?" "Uh, I suppose..." "Thank you." Ty says, pulling out a pencil and notepad. "First question: What are your thoughts on the situation?" "Well, frankly I don't know what to think. We put so much time and preperation into this celebration, and now everything just goes wrong. Not to mention a neverending night... who knows what'll happen?" "Second question: The mare that appeared instead of Celestia was identified as Nightmare Moon. Growing up, did you think she was real or just a legend?" "Well, as a filly I always thought the legend was just some mumbo-jumbo to explain our costumes, but I suppose every legend 'has some kernel of truth,' as they say." "I see. Last question: the pony who identified Nightmare Moon as a purple unicorn I'd never seen before. Any idea who it was?" "The Princess had sent a letter asking the library to be prepared for Miss 'Twilight Sparkle'. I suppose that could've been her." "Really? Interesting. Anything you'd like to say?" "Not at the moment, no." "Alright. Thank you very much." Ty said as he slipped into the crowd to get statements from as many ponies as he could. That night alone felt like it really was lasting forever, but at least he had gotten plenty of statements to use in his story. As he stepped outside for fresh air, he saw a glorious sight: the sunrise. He spent a minute to take in the beauty of the rising sun before shouting to the other ponies, "THE SUN! IT ROSE!" He had barely finished saying it before everypony inside came out to see it. For a straight minute, everypony watched the sunrise in total admirable silence before somepony started yelling like a maniac, with the others following suit. Eight ponies returned in total and Ty was determined to get an interview with each of them. Afte all, this was the story of a lifetime. As Celestia finished addressing Twilight he carefully flew up to her, pencil and notepad in hoof. "Excuse me, your majesty. My name is Type Writer and I work for the Ponyville Express. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions..." Summer Sun Celebration Spoiled and Saved As we all know, the Summer Sun Celebration takes place every year to celebrate the longest day of the year and is one of the few chances a normal pony gets to meet Celestia herself, but who knew that this year would be a special one? Well, one pony did: Ponyville's new librarian, Ms. Twilight Sparkle. Before coming to Ponyville, Ms. Sparkle had spent much her life in Canterlot as Her Royal Highness' personal student. When asked how she knew all this would happen Ms. Sparkle replied, "Thorough and dedicated research." Princess Celestia also commented saying, "In all my years, I'd never seen a pony more dedicated to the puruit of knowledge." Our divine ruler saw the signs so she sent Twilight to Ponyville in order to deal with the threat. "What threat?" you may ask. Remember the legend of the Mare in the Moon? Well, that mare appeared in our Princess' place and threatened to bring about eternal night. However, Ms. Sparkle and her new friends set out to bring back the day, braving many dangers in the Everfree Forest like a raging manticore and crumbling terrain, all brought on by Nightmare Moon. Local weather captain Rainbow Dash was quoted as saying, "Good thing I came with. Otherwise who knows what might've happened." Resident fashionista Rarity also commented, "It turns out there are creatures in the forest with a sense of style. Who would've guessed." In defeating Nightmare Moon and bringing both Celestia and the day back to Equestria, Ms. Sparkle managed to revive a long forgotten part of the legend: the Elements of Harmony originally used by Celestia and her sister. "There are TWO princesses?" Yes! Nightmare Moon, it turns out, is actually Princess Luna, the princess in charge of night all those years ago. "WE ART VERY GRATEFUL TO TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND HER FRIENDS!" the princess said. She was also quoted as saying, "TO ALL WHO USE MAGIC, BEWARE DARK MAGIC!" When asked to elaborate, she declined saying, "WE DOST NOT WISH TO SPEAK OF IT!" Now day and night in Equestria is again balanced with the arrival of a new unicorn in Ponyville and the return of a princess. When there's something strange in the neighboorhood, we know who to call. "Great job, Ty!" J.J. said. "A legend coming true on a special celebration. Get me more stories like this and you're getting a huge raise!" "WHOO-HOO!"
Ponyville's Prized Pony Pooped?"Uggghhh." Type Writer groaned as he rolled over on his cloud, looking at his notepad. "Deadline's next week and I have nothing to write about." In the two weeks following the Summer Sun Celebration, he'd been going through Ponyville once a day looking for any stories. The most interesting pieces he had so far were Vinyl Scratch's new DJ set, and Lyra's odd obession with mythical creatures known as "humans". Although he did get shanghaied into an adventure with Derpy and the Doctor, he promised not to write about it and he's not the kind of scumbag reporter that would go back on a promise like that. Besides, even if he did, he doubted anypony would take it seriously. "Well," Ty said to himself, "time to go looking again." As he rolled over, he noticed a certain rainbow mane resting on a cloud above him. "Cool." He flapped his wings and quickly rose up to the second cloud where he found Rainbow Dash sleeping like a baby. He gave her a quick poke and said, "Hey, Rainbow Dash?" but no response. She was still fast asleep. Poke. Poke. Still nothing. "Alright. Sweet dreams, Rainbow Dash." And with that he took off into the blue skies of Ponyville in search of a story. "Maybe Rarity has a story..." "Hold still, darling." Rarity said to her living mannequin as she stuck a few pins through the fabric he was wearing. "You're doing a great job. Just a bit longer." "How did I end up in this position again?" Ty asked, thinking about what happened between finding Rainbow Dash and now. "You asked for a story, and I need to finish a suit for a client. I thought perhaps you could do a story on my newest creation." Rarity said. "Uh, I'm not exactly fashion savvy. I was thinking maybe you had a story to share about you, your little sister, and her friend Scootaloo." "Uh, I'm afraid not, dear. You sure you don't want to do a story on my newest designs?" "Well, perhaps." he said looking at the various dress forms around the room. He thought for a minute and said, "say uh... these custom suits. Just in case I find myself in need of one, how much?" "Here it is, Twilight." Ty said pulling out a copy of an astronomy book. "Thanks, just set it down over here." "Why didn't I just come here first?" he thought to himself as he lowered himself to the ground. "So, how's ponyville treating you?" "Everypony's so friendly here, and it's interesting to see such a varied mix of pony species." "Yeah, I hear most of Canterlot's population is unicorns." "Not exactly, but that's at least true for where I lived." Twilight said, quickly doing math in her head and writing something down. "So, anything interesting happen since you got here? I mean besides the whole Nightmare Moon thing." "Well, last week I got two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala." "Really?" Ty asked, pulling out his notepad. "That's a pretty big deal. So which of your friends are you taking with you?" "Well, that's the thing. It got to the point where half the town was chasing me just to get that other ticket." Ty was writing down everything she said, "So what did you do?" "I sent them back saying that if my best friends couldn't come with, I didn't want to go." "A bold move." "And it paid off. We all ended up getting tickets." "That's very interesting. I'd love to go. I'd be able to write up a doozy of a story." "Well, the only way that'd happen at this point is if you asked the Princess." Twilight said with a giggle. "Well, thanks for your time, Twilight." "No problem." Next stop: Sugercube Corner. As Ty walked up to the building, he raised his hoof to knock on the door but paused for a moment to think about what might happen. Every so often the Cakes had to leave town for a big catering order, and the last time that happened... "HEYTYHOW'SITGOING?YOUDOIN'GOOD?THAT'SAWESOME!YOUHERELOOKINGFORASTORY?CAUSEIGOTAREALDOOZY..." Ty's eye twitched just thinking about it. "Maybe this was a bad idea." He put his hoof down and started walking away but froze when he heard the door open and a certain pink pony's voice. "Hey Ty! How's it going? Here looking for a story?" "Oh, uh, hi Pinkie." Ty said sheepishly. "No actually, I was here to uh... get some cookies! Yeah." Now that he thought about it, he really could use a snack. "The Cakes are gone right now but they made a few batches before they left." "Any double chocolate chunk?" He asked, ears perking up. "You know it!" "Sweet!" he said, trotting into the building. "Okay," Ty said to himself carrying a small bag of cookies, "Two more story possibilities: Twilight and friends getting tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala or Rarity's newest creation." He paused for a second. "Mother of Celestia, this place is boring." As he continued trotting along the ground started to shake. "Whoa, what's going on here? An earthquake? Or maybe a-" "STAMPEEEEEDE!" Rainbow Dash cried in the distance. "STAMPEDE?!" He thought to himself, eyes sparkling, bolting into the air to get a good look. Sure enough, in the distance, he saw a herd of cows barreling towards Ponyville at top speed as all the terrified citizens ran shelter. He pulled out his notepad and started writing, a smile plastered on his face as he did so. As he looked up again he saw Applejack amongst them, trying to get them in line. "This is perfect!" Soon he heard the cheering of the town as Applejack managed to deflect the stampede away from the town and ran off. "That was awesome. But now to get some quotes from the hero herself." He said as he flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres. He flew a bit slower than he normally would as he ran various phrasings of various questions through his mind to prepare. As always, his first stop whenever visiting the Apples was the farmhouse. He went up and knocked on the door prepared to speak with either Applejack, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, or Applebloom. The one who answered the door was a certain red maned flly: cute little Applebloom. "Hey there, Applebloom." "Hey Ty." Applebloom said with an adorable smile. "Ya here ta talk to Applejack about the stampede?" "I am actually. Any idea where she is?" "She's over 'n the east fields right now buckin' apples." Applebloom said, pointing in the general direction, "Just look fer some trees missin' apples." "Thanks for your help. Tell Big Mac I said, "Get well soon." "Thanks. See ya'll later!" Applebloom replied as she closed the door. "East field." Ty said looking in the direction Applebloom pointed. "Trees missing apples." He took to the sky, thinking a bird's eye view would help him locate her faster. He looked around and saw tree upon tree full of delicious red apples. It took him a minute but he soon saw a line of apple-less trees and even found one shaking and dropping apples. As he descended below the treetops, he found Applejack working up a sweat, bucking apples. "Hey there, Applejack." Ty said in a friendly manner. "I was wondering if you could spare a few seconds and answer a couple questions about the stampede?" "'Fraid not. Ah need time and ah need ta concentrate. Come back in a couple days and ah'll be glad ta answer yer questions." Applejack said with a weary smile. "Oh. Sure thing. See ya later." Ty replied, flying off. A couple uneventful days later, Ty rested on a cloud in front of the town hall, waiting for the prize ceremony. A story about the town's prized pony stopping a stampede would be gold. He carefully listened to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy as they listed off Applejack's schedule for the week. "Maybe I should hold off on the story 'til the rest of this happens." he said to himself as Mayor Mare introduced the pony of honor... who was nowhere to be seen. "I'm here! I'm here!" Applejack said with a yawn as she slowly and somewhat clumsily walked up to the stage with saddle-baskets overflowing with apples, everpony watching. "... Thank ya kindly fer this here award thingy..." "Wow. Has she gotten any sleep since the sampede?" He says to himself as he writes down in his notepad: Prized Pony Pooped? When he looked up, Applejack was dragging off the trophy and everypony was alrady starting to scatter. He seized the moment and went down to ask Applejack the questions he wasn't able to before. "Hey there Applejack. You feel up to answering those questions?" Ty asked, getting out his notepad. "Huh?" Applejack asked sleepily. "Oh, sure. Ask away." "First question: Where were you when the stampede started?" "Well, Ah..." Yawn. "Ah was in the fields about ta start applebuckin' when I felt the ground shakin'." "Second Question: You seem to know how to handle a stampede quite effortlessly. Have you had much practice?" "Well, it's mostly with the sheep since they... um... they uh..." Applejack rubbed her eyes. "What was the question again?" "Have you had much practice with stampedes, and you were saying something about the sheep." "Oh right. Yeah, the sheep can be restless critters sometimes but ya'll can herd critters in basically the same way, but it's best ta have some help. That's why we trained Winona the way we did. Best dern helper dog this side o' Canterlot. Anythin' else?" "Just a couple more questions. Any information on why it started?" "The cows got spooked by a snake. Never spook a herd o' cows. Never ends well." "How's it feel to be awarded the prized pony award?" "It feels great. Especially knowin' how helpful ah can be to the rest o' the town. That it?" "Just one more question." Ty said, putting his notepad away. "Are you feeling alright? You seem a bit... sleepy." Applejack summoned a sleepy smile and said, "Yeah. ah'm just fine. Ah appreciate the concern." "Alright... Well, thank you very much. See you later." Ty said, flying off. "Bye!" Applejack said, dragging the trophy along the ground. Two more days had passed. Nothing interesting happened the previous day aside from rumors that Rainbow Dash might have fractured a couple of her ribs. Even then, like any reporter worth their ink, he followed up and learned that it was nothing but fluff, but did learn of Applejack's involvement in the near injury. "I see where this is going... and it's a dark path..." he said to himself as he flew away from Rainbow Dash. "She's supposed to be helping Pinkie bake muffins today!" Rainbow Dash yelled out. "Oh no..." he said as he flew over to Sugarcube Corner, getting there just in time to see a sick pony getting carted to an emergency tent. "Excuse me, Nurse Redheart." Ty said landing on the ground near the tent. "Type Writer for the Ponyville Express. Can I ask what happened?" "To sum it up, there was something wrong with the muffins." Nurse Redheart said as she quickly grabbed a bucket for a pony about to blow chunks. "Hey there, Ty..." Pinkie weakly smiled called out from her hospital bed, her face colored a sickly green. "I can tell you what happened..." "Wow. Pinkie 'Iron Stomach' Pie getting an upset tummy. Unreal." He said, trotting up to Pinkie to get the details. "I dunno what Applejack put in those muffins... I mean besides worms... but whatever was in there didn't mix too well." Pinkie giggled slightly. "I guess next time I should double check the mix before baking." "We all make mistakes." Ty said, writing down what she said. "That's how we learn." "Anyway, things were alright at first, though I should have thought something was up because of the weird smell, but the ponies seemed happy so I didn't think to ask. That's when everypony's stomach started turning. Everypony started heading for the nearest trash bin, toilet, whatever and then we ended up here." Pinkie recited the events strangely calm. "Starting to think I should talk to Applejack again. Thanks Pinkie. Hope you get better soon." "Thanks. Bye." Once again, Ty found himself flying over to Sweet Apple Acres, but not for business reasons this time. As he looked around, he saw a good chunk of the orchard had been harvested. He scoured the area looking for shaking trees finally spotting something in the far end of the north field. When he got there, he found Applejack practically falling asleep every other second as she endeavored to harvest the apples. "Hey there Applejack." Ty said, landing by her side. "Oh, hey Ty." Applejack said, taking a rather hostile tone. "Ya here ta ask questions or tell me ta ask fer help?" "Well, I just got done talking to Pinkie..." "UGH! First Twilight, now you." Applejack got right up in Ty's face. "Let me make this clear: I DON'T! NEED! HELP!" She gave him a firm poke after each emphasized word. "Well, I wasn't gonna say 'get some help'. I was gonna say take a break and get some sleep." "Ah need to get all these apples harvested. Ah'll have plenty o' time ta rest after that's done." "Next suggestion would be get some help, but she's already been pretty clear about that." Ty thought to himself. "Okay then... I'll just leave you to it." "If only ah could get that message across ta Twilight." "See ya later then." He said, flying off. "Two days til' the deadline and I'm afraid of what'll happen with Applejack." Ty said to himself, as he headed towards Sugarcube Corner to get some more cookies. Suddenly, in the distance, he heard Rainbow Dash yell out, "STAMPEEEEEEDE!" "Another one?" he said to himself as he flew up to get a better look. He looked out and saw a herd of rabbits storming into town, remembering what Fluttershy had said earlier. "Applejack is helping me this week with the annual rabbit round up." As he reached for his notepad and pencil, he couldn't find them. "Of course I would forget them at home." He said, flying off to grab his gear. After grabbing his stuff from home, he took off towards Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Applejack again. After a bit of searching he found Applejack on a hill with a single apple tree, lying on the ground with Twilight nearby. He approached and landed, addressing the girls. "Hey." "Hi, Ty." Twilight replied "Howdy." Applejack said, tired enough to pass out at any second. "Did I miss something?" "Nope. But I think Applejack's up for whatever questions you might have." Twilight said. "Yeah, ah gotta lot to answer fer, don't I?" "Well, let's not waste time..." Ponyville's Prized Pony Pooped? It just goes to show, being a workaholic can have consequences. Something that prized pony Applejack of Sweet Apple Acres learned the hard way this week. After an ill-planned bet, Big Macintosh was rendered unable to help with the year's harvest. So Applejack took it upon herself to harvest the entire orchard herself. Having been there at least three times this week, this reporter can say that's no small feat. It was at the beginning of the harvest that the stampede of cows was diverted away from Ponyville by Applejack and her faithful companion Winona. Afterwards, she went straight to the fields to start on her work. However, it turns out at that point she "didn't get a wink o' sleep until the ceremony." Which was why she didn't exactly look her finest that day. The next day there was an incident inolving a device Rainbow Dash created to help her with her goal of impressing the Wonderbolts. There was a rumor that Miss Dash had fractured a couple ribs. "Nah, I'm fine. I got bones of steel. Besides, I've suffered through worse." said the steel pegasus herself. "But I think Applejack could use some help... or a break." Local party pony Pinkie Pie who was affected by the muffin madness of a couple days ago said that Applejack "must not have heard the ingredients right." The inclusion of earthworms would inevitably lead one to that conclusion, but everypony at the sampling ended up in the hospital. When asked, the pony in question admitted, "Ah was really tired, and ah hit mah head on the way there. That musta knocked somethin' loose in there." Applejack also admitted to being the cause of the rabbit raid this week. When asked about the cows she said that, "ya'll can herd critters in basically the same way." Though admitted to being mistaken when asked about the rabbits. "Ah guess it all depends on the critter." She ended the interview by asking this reporter, "Tell 'em all ah'm sorry 'bout everything that happened. Ah'll try to make it up by makin' extra cider this year." So, when cider season comes around, bring your bits, there's gonna be more than usual. After a long day of work, Ty finally returned home, but before he went in, he checked his mailbox. Inside was something rather odd: a scroll marked with the royal seal. "Huh?" Ty thought to himself as he pulled it out. "What would the princess want with me?" As he opened it up, he saw a gold colored ticket. "No way... By decree of... Mr. Type Writer is hereby... GRAND GALLOPING GALA! BEST! DAY! EVER!... Oh geez. I need to go see Rarity."
The Great and Powerful Trixie: Monster or Misunderstood?One day after the Prized Pony story was published, in the office of the Ponyville Express, a certain Mr. J.J. was enjoying a nice cup of coffee before his prized reporter reported in for work. "Ah, nothin' like a hot cuppa joe." he said before taking a swig. "BOSS!" Type Writer said, bursting into the office. "How's it goin', ace? You seem excited." "You bet I am! You're not gonna believe this." Ty said pulling out the scroll he had recieved in the mail, hovering in the air out of sheer excitement. "What's this?" J.J. asked, grabbing hold and reading it, taking another drink of coffee. "It just so happens that yours truly got an invitation to the one and only Grand Galloping Gala!" Stunned, J.J. spit out his coffee, letting out a couple coughs in the process. "The Gala?! No freakin' way!" He said looking at Ty, who's face was now covered in a coffee and saliva mixture. "Oops." "Don't worry about it." Ty said, wiping his face off. "And way. I'm gonna need to use one of the cameras." "Uh, yeah, that might be a problem." "What do you mean?" "Newbies. That's what I mean." "They're ALL busted?" "Well, we got one left. You break it, and you're gonna have to get another one with your own money." "Understood, boss." Ty said, trotting over to the camera. "You know, this extended deadline thing wasn't a bad idea." "Told ya." "Now you be careful with that camera!" "No worries!" Ty replied as he flew out of the office. Two weeks later, Ty walks out of the camera store with a brand new camera. "Darn griffon, I hope they're not all that nasty... I also hope this thing is worth the 15 bits I paid for it." He said looking through the eye piece. As he looked around through it, he noticed a crowd forming over in the town square and went over to check it out. "I wonder what all this is about." As he went over he noticed all the ponies were gathered around a wagon like show was going on. "Might as well stick around a bit." he said as he grabbed a tuft of cloud to rest on until something happened. Minutes went by that felt like hours. Ty took several pictures of the scene before him in order to get used to his camera until finally something happened. "Come one! Come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Gr-r-r-r-reat and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-rixie!" Camera trained and snapping, the wagon unfolded into a stage and, with a flash of smoke, a blue pony appeared onstage wearing a purple hat and cape, both of which were covered in stars. "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" Trixie shouted as fireworks went off around her. "Pfft. Show-off. I doubt she could beat Twilight in a magic contest. I've seen what she can do." Ty thought to himself as he captured pictures of Trixie summoning a bouquet of flowers. "Magic Schmagic! Boo!" Somepony from the crowd yelled out. Ty put his camera down and pulled out his notepad. "Well, well, well, it seems we have some NEIGH-sayers in the audience." Trixie said to the crowd. "Not afraid to make incredibly stupid puns." Ty thought to himself as he wrote it down. "Do they not know that they are in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?!" "Incredibly arrogant as well." After another round of fireworks Ty saw Rainbow Dash fly right to Trixie's face. "Oh this is gonna be good." He said, readying his camera again. "Only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!" As she finished, a glowing image of an ursa appeared above the stage. As the Great and Powerful Trixie began weaving her tale, Ty quickly wrote it down. "Hoofington... Ursa... Magic... Forest..." When he looked back at the crowd, he noticed Spike and Twilight towards the front as the Great and Powerful Trixie issued a challenge to Ponyville. "Anything you can do, I can do better." For the briefest of moments, he actually thought about going down there. "Bet I could whip up a tall tale to beat that ursa story." "How about.. you?" Trixie said, pointing at Twilight. "Now we're talkin'." "Well how about it, hmmm? Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can't?" Ty pulled out his camera, ready to snap some pictures of what was sure to be an epic magic duel... When Applejack spoke up to challenge Trixie. Ty got a good couple pictures of her impressive cowgirl rope routine before Trixie embarrassed her with a snake charming routine. Rainbow Dash then wowed the audience with some special routine she had likely been practicing to show to the Wonderbolts which followed wiith Trixie magically transforming the rainbow into a twister. Rarity then took up the challenge, magically turning one of Trixie's curtains into a beautiful dress... which Trixie messed up by turning her mane into what looked seaweed. Everypony, including Trixie turned to Twilight for one last challenge. "Come on, Twilight. Give her a head to match that ego. I know you can do it." "I think I hear my laundry calling! Sorry, gotta go!" "What?!" Ty thought to himself, shocked. As Trixie retracted the stage and the ponies in the town square dispersed, Ty wrote down the events that transpired and flew off for the library. Ty landed on the welcome mat and knocked on the door. The door opened and Ty looked down to see Spike looking back up at him. "Oh, hey. You're that reporter, right?" Spike asked. "Type Writer. Just call me Ty. And you're Spike, right? Twilight's Number One Assistant." "Yup! That's me!" "I was wondering if Twilight was here." "Let me guess. You want to talk to her about Trixie?" Spike guessed rather accurately. "Actually, yes." Ty admitted. "Come on in. Maybe YOU can talk some sense into her." Spike said as he walked out leaving the door open for Ty, who walked inside and found Twilight nose-deep in a book, as usual. "Hey there, Twilight. I suppose you heard all that?" "Uh-huh." Twilight replied, not even glancing in his direction. "You're here to ask me why I didn't stand up to Trixie for your story." "Well, I might put it in an article, but really I'm here to talk to you as a friend." "Then why did you bring a camera?" Ty looked down to see he still had his camera with him. "I haven't been home yet." "I'm not going to one up Trixie. I already told Spike that a few times." "Why?" "... I don't want to talk about it." "Come on, Twilight." Ty said, slowly walking up to her. "Just one spell would send her packing. You could give her a big head like a week ago when I walked in and threw off your aim." "Yeah, sorry about that..." "Don't worry. It was my own fault. Anyway, I'm just saying you could make her slink away like that." He said, making a snapping sound with his wing. "The answer is no." Twilight emphasized sternly. "Alright. I'm going to go talk to Trixie. Try and get something out of her other than bragging. But for what it's worth, I believe in you." Ty told her as he exited the library, not even sure that's the issue. As the sun began to set, Ty flew to the Town Square and up to the wagon where Trixie was camping. He walked up to the door and knocked. "The Great and Powerful Trixie said- Oh, hello. And you are?' "Type Writer. Reporter for the Ponyville Express." "Oh. A reporter..." "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." "Trixie doesn't like talking to you reporter types." "What?" "All you reporters do is set out to write slander against Trixie. To tarnish her name with words like 'fake' and 'phony'. I will have no part of it." "I'm not like those other reporters. I don't just write whatever in order to get readers. I write about the facts, whatever they are. I was hoping to get a good look at the real Trixie." "Trixie's heard that story many times before." "Look into my eyes," Ty said, "and tell me I'm lying." The two stared into each other's eyes for a good two minutes before Trixie decided to open the door without a word. As Ty stepped in he noticed it was rather small and dark. "Wow. Not exactly made for company, eh?" "Sit down and shut up." Trixie demanded. "Yes ma'am..." Ty said, following orders. Trixie sat down across from him, the only light coming from the setting sun, most of which was blocked by nearby buildings. The intamcy of the tight space was making Ty a bit nervous. "You said you want to know the real Trixie. So I'm giving you the real Trixie. You can ask questions, but if I hear a single snarky comment I'm tossing you out. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes ma'am." Ty said, taking out a notepad. Thankfully there was just enough light for him to see what he was doing. Trixie took a deep breath and began her story. "My real name is Trixie Lulamoon." Ty snickered a little. "SORRY! Sorry! Please don't throw me out." "Not the first, won't be the last. Anyway, the story about me vanquishing the Ursa in Hoofington is made up... sort of. The truth is an Ursa did attack Hoofington, but this was a long time ago..." "You're on in 30 seconds, dear." a bright blue female unicorn with a purple mane, purple eyes, a purple star-spangled hat and cape, and a magic wand cutie mark said to a very young Trixie who already has her cutie mark. "Okay mom!" "Knock 'em dead sweetie!" a white male unicorn with deep blue eyes and a grey mane with a mirrored magic wand and the same hat and cape said. "Okay daddy!" Trixie said, bounding onto the stage, hatless and capeless up to a top hat. The seats were packed with ponies who had come to see their magic act. "Fillies and Gentlecolts! Welcome to the Lulamoon Magic Show. We're very glad you're here tonight. Now watch and be amazed as I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, pull a rabbit out of this top hat!" Trixie, levitated the hat up and tipped it so the audience could see inside it. "Look at the hat, see how empty it is. Now watch..." She set the hat on the floor but her horn was still glowing. "1...2...3!" At the count of three, a bunny was levitated out of the hat. The crowd applauded as Trixie set the rabbit back in the hat. "Thank you, thank you. Now watch as I make flowers magically appear!" Trixie concentrated her magic in the air as a bouquet of flowers slowly materialized in the air. The crowd cheered as Trixie reached out and grabbed the flowers. Trixie waved her hoof over the flowers and they magically transformed into a flock of birds that flew away and the audience cheered louder. "Thank you. Thank you very much. Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for. The main event: the Lulamoon Magic Show!" As Trixie finished, a great burst of smoked enveloped the stage as Trixie went offstage to watch er parents work their literal magic, eyes sparkling, practically idolizing them. After the show, Trixie met up with her folks."Mom! Dad! What did you think?!" "You did a great job, sweetie!" Trixie's mom said. "The bird thing was new." her dad admitted. "I've been practicing." Trixie said not so modestly. "Keep this up and you'll be joining us on stage in no time." "I look forward to it!" Unfortunately, that day was never to come... Trixie was fast asleep and dreaming about her future: onstage with her parents in Canterlot, putting on the greatest magic show in history. All of a sudden, the earth began to shake and split open. As the darkness swallowed her, she woke up and saw her house in ruins around her as a giant blue bear went on a rampage, destroying the town. "MOMMY! DADDY!" but her pleas were not answered. Her parents had disappeared. She built a makeshift fort out of the remaining wood and hid inside it until she passed out. The first two words out of her mouth that morning were "mommy" and "daddy". In fact, those were the two words she used most that morning as she went around asking everypony as they returned and saw the damage caused by the giant creature. "Have you seen my mommy and daddy?" she asked over and over. She spent all day looking, and it was only when the sun went down that she went back to her little fort which she had made bigger to fit her mattress in and cried herself to sleep... "I ended up crying myself to sleep for what must have been a week before I found the cape and hat. At that point I knew I had to keep the family spirit alive. So I built my wagon out of the scraps of my house and, when I was old enough, I set out to bring the family's brand of magic to every corner of Equestria." Ty was wiping away tears from his face as he wrote down her story. A quick flash of her horn and she lit a candle revealing some of the news articles written about her. All the articles berated Trixie, calling her a fake among other things. "There. Now you know the real Trixie. Finish writing whatever on your notepad and leave. The Great and Powerful Trixie needs her beauty sleep..." Trixie said, putting out the candle and lying down on a mattress. As Ty quietly left the wagon, he thought he heard Trixie sobbing... That night in ponyville was peaceful. The crickets were chirping, and Princess Luna had brought out a beautiful full moon. Ty was fast asleep in bed until he heard the roar. He quickly shot awake and looked out the window to see a giant, blue, translucent figure rampaging through town. He quickly grabbed his camera and notepad and flew out to keep track of what was going on. Just as he flew over to the town square he saw Twilight standing before the ursa, horn glowing like crazy. As he took pictures he felt a strong wind blowing him off course a bit but quickly corrected his position as he heard a nice little melody over the wind. Off in the distance, he saw the water tower being removed and filled with milk. "Wow. Never seen magic used like that before." Ty said, snapping away. Suddenly, his attention turned to the ursa who was glowing a bright lavender. The ursa floated into the air and grabbed the water tower, drinking from it like a baby as it floated into the Everfree Forest. As he wrote down the awesomeness that just happened, he suddenly heard Trixie's voice. "But you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie said before summoning a cloud of smoke and running off. Ty took a couple minutes and watched as Trixie ran off before turning his attention to her wagon now in ruins. He searched the wreckage and found the two things he knew she'd miss: her hat and cape. He donned them and took the sign from the wagon, hoping someday she'd return so he can give back the remaining relics of her home... The Great and Powerful Trixie: Monster or Misunderstood? A few nights ago, a certain blue unicorn graced Ponyville with her presence: Trixie Lulamoon a.k.a The Great and Powerful Trixie. She made a big show in town square that day, besting three of ponyville's finest with her magic and boasting about how she vanquished an ursa major. Two young colts by the names of Snips and Snails decided to call Trixie out on her story and actually managed to coax an ursa out of its cave in the everfree forest where Trixie revealed that the story was false. That's when local librarian Twilight Sparkle showed her own magical prowess which drove both the ursa and Trixie away. When asked the following day, many residents were "glad that show-off is gone. Good riddance." Good riddance. Harsh words indeed, and at first glance she probably deserved them. However, this reporter went and talked to the unicorn in question and learned something very sad. It turns out that Ms. Lulamoon comes from a family of magicians situated in Hoofington and were even big hits. She studied hard to be like her parents in the hopes of joining them onstage one day. However, before that could happen, an ursa attack destroyed her home and her parents went missing. The following day she looked around for the missing parents, practically bawling her eyes out, her heroes missing. One day, she found the hat and cape her parents wore onstage and decided to take it upon herself to keep the family spirit alive. That's when she began roaming Equestria to follow the magicians' path. As it turns out, the citizens of Ponyville weren't the only ones to quickly get tired of Trixie's facade as she had clippings from a number of newspapers using words like "phony." "Good riddance" some say. Is it really good riddance or did we just not take the time to know a potentially valuable friend? Ty knocked on the door to the library. "Twilight? You in there?" Twilight opened the door. "Hey, Ty. Did you need something?" "Yes actually. I was wondering if I could borrow one of your Daring Do books." "Sure, which one?" Twilight said, letting Ty inside. "Crystal Skull. I don't care what anypony else says, I like that one." "Alright. I read your article on Trixie." Twilight said, walking up to the bookcase. "I guess we were pretty quick to judge her. Here you go." "Thanks. To be honest, I don't blame you. I'm a bit guilty of it myself. But, being a good reporter, I write the facts." "I'm grateful we have ponies like you around. You wouldn't believe the garbage they printed in Canterlot." "You don't say? Well, thanks again and see you later." Ty said as he trotted out the door. As he returned home, he looked over at te wall where he had placed Trixie's sign as well as her hat and cape. "Maybe someday..."
