Chapters My Name is Namby Pamby and I am a reporter for the Canterlot Gazette. With the recent end to the Twilight Crisis, a great deal of speculation remains.
Ponyville
the Trixie Incident
Ponyville is gone. There is a crater where it once was. Most of the town has either relocated or lives here in the Refugee camp near the Everfree Forest. Most of the earth ponies stayed. It’s in their nature I guess. Plans have been set into motion by the old Mayor to rebuild, but the progress in slow going. Snips was a few years younger than me when I lived here. I never knew him. He is short and pudgy, but his face is so sad.
When the Great and Powerful Trixie came to town I was really excited. My friend Snips and I were really happy to see her again. The last time she had come to Ponyville she had put on a show that put some of the best ponies in town to shame. This time she appeared without her cart though, and she was wearing this really scary looking black cloak and a pendant that looked like a bat or something. Snails and I were actually the first to talk to her.
“Really? What did Trixie say when you spoke?”
Well I bumped into here you see, and she started to yell at me, but when I recognized her I bowed to her and asked her what she would have me do to apologies.
“You bowed to her?”
Well yeah, Trixie was the greatest! Aside from Twilight I guess.
“What did Trixie ask you to do?”
She told Snails and I to go out and gather all the towns ponies, she said she had a score to settle with Twilight Sparkle.
“Interesting, how well did you know Twilight Sparkle before the crisis?”
Well everypony knew Twilight, she was the town librarian. She actually defeated an Ursa Major, all by herself! She also helped me with my homework a few times. She was really nice.
(note: During Trixie’s first visit to Ponyville, an Ursa ‘Minor’ rampaged through the town. According to reports, Trixie had claimed to be able to defeat such a beast during her show, and two unnamed colts decided to lure one into town to see her do so. Trixie had been unable to do anything to stop it and revealed herself a fraud. Twilight Sparkle was able to repel it back into the forest, thus saving the town.)
“Right, moving on, when Twilight came to confront Trixie, what happened?”
Well that’s when things started to get strange. Trixie started doing cool tricks like usual. She made one of Rainbow Dashes wings too big. She was Rainbow Wobble after that! –laughs- Snails and I said hi again and rooted for her, but then she turned on us too.
“How so?”
Well she shot a red beam of magic at Snails and me and suddenly I was upside-down and my horn felt numb. She had connected Snails and I together at the horn! It was so embarrassing! We tried to unstuck ourselves but nothing we did worked.
“(I stifle a laugh) how did you get unstuck?”
Oh, well Twilight and Trixie argued about something and then Trixie unstuck us. Then they dueled, I had never seen a duel before, I think I would have liked it more if Trixie hadn’t used me and snails as targets.
“Who won the duel?”
Trixie did. She used a bunch of crazy magic and then an age spell on Snails and I. She turned me into a baby! Snails got turned into an old stallion. When it was all over she changed us back and told us that we had to pull her around town on a cart or else. Then she put a giant glass dome over the town and forced Twilight to leave! It was really scary!
“What happened next?”
After that, Trixie got really crazy, she kept having us pull her around on a cart. But then she took off the wheels and said that she hated wheels, and then she made the carriage even bigger and heavier. We had to keep dragging her around to check up on the dome and stuff. She was really mean to us. But then twilight came and made everything better. Snails and I hid under the school house until Trixie left town.
“And what happened to the Alicorn Amulet?”
You mean the bat thing? I heard that Zecora, the zebra, had it in a little treasure chest, but I don’t know what she did with it after that, all that I know is that a few days later everypony started going missing… including Snails.
“I’m so sorry.”
It’s okay. They never found anything, so he might still be okay! They will find them! You’ll see! They will…
(note: Snails was a confirmed "missing" one of the original hundred. he was a tall thin unicorn colt with a mustard yellow coat and a green mane. snail cutie mark. if you have any information on his whereabouts please contact the Luna Lost Foal hotline at Canterlot.)
Snips begins to cry… I leave the camp soon after and make my way towards the Everfree with a small guard escort. I have a lead to follow, and a Zebra to find.
Thanks for the support everypony, this chapter is a little short but the story is progressing really well. hope you like it, please comment.
The Everfree Forest
The Hypothesis
The Forest is every bit as frightening as I remember. As a foal I always avoided this place. The trees are tall and black. We can hear the sounds of feral beasts coming from just beyond our line of sight. The most frightening thing is the sky. It peaks through the trees occasionally. But it is partly cloudy, even though today was meant to be clear, I swear I saw a cloud creep across the sky with no Pegasus to aid it’s doing so. My guard escort and I arrive at a Zecora’s hut after about twenty minutes of walking. The building is most certainly Zebafrican in architecture. I recognize several traditional welcome masks out front, which I had just learned about only a few months earlier. Zecora was an intimidating figure when we first met at her door, but after a short conversation she invited us into her shadowy home and agreed to speak with me over herbal tea.
I find out that Zecora had been working as an emergency medic during the crisis. Manufacturing medicine or teaching others how to cure certain ailments was a blessing after the hospitals where destroyed. Zecora also did some work with hiding ponies in the Everfree forest. Certain arias where less dangerous than others and were used as shelters for refugees during the height of the fright. Our Interview was short, but very informative.
(note: Zecora observes the Zebafrican custom of poetry speech. She talks in rhyme and riddles. This custom was started during early herbalist pilgrimages to increase proficiency in foreign languages.)
“So what happened after the Alicorn Amulet was taken from Trixie?”
I took the Amulet and locked it away. I hid it under my floorboards, and there it would stay.
“So you hid it under your floorboards, did you use it for anything?”
-Zecora smiles and walks over to a large bubbling cauldron-
Zebra magic isn’t like Equestrian styles.
-Zecora adds a dash of red powder to her brew, a lingering purple smoke erupts out and fills the room-
Unicorns focus their spells through their horns but only maintain it for a while.
-A unicorn silhouette appears in the smoke, its horn glows white as it casts a shooting star across the room-
Pegasus Ponies use passive spells. But the winged ponies’ magic only works on themselves.
-the unicorn turns into a pegasus. It takes to soaring around the room and then lands on a new green cloud that has started to puff out from the pot. The pegasus stomps its hoofs down making the green smoke rumble and flash like a brewing storm-
Earth ponies too have a magic amount. They maintain a constant stream of low level magic that radiates out.
-the green smoke spreads out and the Pegasus silhouette becomes an earth pony. The green smoke begins to glow slightly. The glowing goes brighter until the smoke began to sprout little vaporous flowers-
Zebra magic is channeled through an herbal brew. An increase of raw power wouldn’t help what I do.
-The smoke dispelled and Zecora canters back over to us and pours some more tea-
“So what happened then? How did Twilight come to possess the Amulet?”
Twilight came to me with ideas for study and test. I trusted her not to use it…well… you know the rest.
-Zecora looks pensive-
That one little mistake is a burden I bare every day. Had I simply said no, things may have been okay. In the end it doesn’t change. My friend is gone and I’m to blame.
-The Zebra stares into her tea and sighs-
“Did Twilight show any indication of mal intent?”
That is the most disturbing thing to me. Twilight’s goal was to help her fellow pony. I wish I had been more attentive to my friend. Had I seen the changes I may have been able to change her end.
“Was there anyone close to Twilight, someone who might have noticed her acting strange in those first weeks?”
Twilight was in town on friendship studies. Still… your best bet is with Spike, they were best buddies.
…
We left Zecoras soon after, we had to hoof it out of the forest, the sun was beginning to set. We stay the night in the local barracks tents. Tomorrow I will begin my search for Spike, whoever he is, I hope he can provide some answers.
sorry about the delay, the chapter was obliterated in a bug... i had to re write it all.
Canterlot
Twilights Decent
Canterlot is much the same as it ever was. The castle is almost completely repaired. Cynics say that the princess fixing their home before some of the more damaged arias is entirely self-serving. Personally, I find it a little comforting to see the capital bounce back. It took me a while to find Twilight Sparkles pet baby dragon Spike. The princesses explained to me that Twilight did horrible things to him to keep him from alerting them to the danger. I ended up finding him living in a fashion boutique near the castle with an elegant unicorn mare called Rarity. Spike looks everything except healthy. His scales are greyish purple and his eyes have heavy bags under them. He is shaky and stutters, often looking to Rarity for reassurance during the interview. Spike only agrees to speak with me if Rarity is in the room.
T-T-Twilight was always a great g-guardian. I considered her something between a mother and a sister. B-But I took just as much care of her as much as she did of me. T-Twilight was a genius, but sometimes she could be forgetful. She couldn’t cook at all; she actually set water on fire once when she tried to make pasta. Can you believe that?
(Spike brightens a little, but his attempt at laughter set off a horrible fit of coughing. Rarity patted him on the back and gave him a glass of water to get them to subside.)
Anyways, Twilight and I were family.
“What can you tell me about the day that Twilight brought home the Alicorn Amulet?”
(Spike cringes at the mention of that magic tool, but he answers)
I was actually not their when she brought it home. I was out helping rarity gather gems for her dresses.
(Rarity is a fashion designer, since the crisis she has become popular in Canterlot for her incorporation of cut stones in almost all of her designs.)
But when I came home to make dinner, Twilight was downstairs in the laboratory running experiments. She asked for her meal on a tray so that she wouldn’t get distracted.
“A laboratory? Didn’t you live in a library?”
Oh right, the Library was actually inside a living tree. The princess arranged for us to live their when we first came to Ponyville. T-Twilight used her magic to change the inside of the place almost once a week. It was a little confusing sometimes. I would leave something in a room and the next day the room wouldn’t exist anymore. So whenever Twilight had an experiment she wanted to run, we had a lab.
“Wow… did you know what experiments she was running?”
I asked her when I brought down her dinner. She… she said that she was experimenting on the… well you know.
(Spike fidgets a little bit; I nod to let him know I understand.)
She had it in a blast chamber, attached to a bunch of sensors and wires that fed into an analysis computer. She kept looking at the reams of paper that where being spat out, and saying how the things power was scientifically impossible.
“Did she give any indication that she would put it on?”
Not at first. But she was down there for days running test. T-Twilight always threw herself into her research. She had me really worried. But then, on the fifth day she came upstairs for breakfasts.
“What had happened?”
She said that her tests had yielded results. She said that the amulet doubled any ponies natural magic every day it was worn, and that the personality corruption only happened form long term use. She told me that… that…
(Spike trails off, his eyes glaze over and his breath becomes labored. Rarity rushes forward and catches him just before he falls from his chair. I am stunned and confused. The following is an interview with Rarity.)
I’m sorry about that, Spike suffers from fits. It’s always the worst when he speaks of his time during the crisis.
“What exactly happened to him?”
-sighs- Spike… was… tortured. He tried to come to us when Twilight started wearing the amulet. Twilight didn’t like that. So she cast some kind of dark magic on his mind and locked him in a closet. It was so barbaric; she just left him there for almost two weeks. We didn’t find him until after the town was destroyed.
(Rarity begins to tear up.)
He was just standing there in the wreckage with a blank look on his face. When we finally shook him out of it…
(Spike stirred. Rarity whispered the last bit)
What Twilight did to him was unforgivable, I don’t care what Spike says.
(Spike walks over and we continue our interview)
Sorry about that…um…Where were we?
“Twilights experiment results.”
Oh right… of course. (inhales) Twilight said that she could wear the a-amulet as long as she took it off in between spells. I told her it sounded dangerous. She told me not to worry, that she would be careful.
“What went wrong?”
At first everything was fine. She would put the amulet on, cast a spell, and then take it off again. She…She did amazing things; things that made Trixie’s time with it look like foal spells. I remember, she used an age spell on me to turn me into a hatching again. On another day, she turned led into gold. But then she kept trying to push it farther wearing the thing longer, and she wanted me to act as her test subject. Now I never minded when it was little stuff. But…but some of it hurt!
(Spike glanced over to Rarity. She walked over and sat and put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him.)
Twilight started getting more and more unreasonable. She would keep me up all night telling me that she needed me to help her, but then if I talked or tried to help her she would scream at me. Then she wanted to see if she could fix broken bones.
(Spike cringes)
She insisted that it wasn’t a big deal… because she healed them so quickly I mean. But after that I was scared. I…I knew that she was being effected. But when I told her about my concerns she insisted that it was all in my head.
“What happened?”
Well occasionally Princess Celestia would send Twilight little assignments, and whenever that happened Twilight would freak out about it. This time Twilight was supposed to give a small presentation on the true meaning of friendship at a trade summit in the crystal kingdom.
“You mean the…”
…Yeah, the fright. But back then it was just supposed to be another trade summit. Twilight though, she… she freaked out. She started wearing the amulet for days on end. She insisted that she thought clearer with it.
(Not: During a panic attack, Twilight put a want-it -need-it spell on a doll, causing a small riot in her town.)
I decided to sneak out and talk to the girls. Maybe get some help. I should have sent a letter to the princess, but even then I…I didn’t want to get Twilight in trouble.
“What happened?”
Twilight caught me…
(Spike begins to shiver uncontrollably. Rarity gives me a look that said. “This interview is over.” But I needed to know.)
“Spike, what did Twilight do to you?”
(Spike begins to cry. His breathing becomes frantic and soon he is hyperventilating. In his hysteria, I manage to discern the name “Sombra”. Rarity tells me to go. I do not argue.)
I immediately feel guilty about Spike. I think that I pushed too hard. But Sombra is a name known well to anyone familiar to the newly rediscovered Crystal kingdom. I must go there next.
The Crystal Kingdom
The Fright
The Crystal Ponies were, in their own time, the very panicle of equestrian culture. They have largely kept to themselves since their re-emergence. I am greeted with a mixture of warmth and apprehension. Most many of the crystal buildings, especially the crystal library, are still undergoing repairs. I am to speak with non-other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the crystal alicorn of love. We speak over tea in the royal apartment. She asks me to call her Cadence.
When Twilight arrived I was overjoyed. We didn’t get to talk at length, but she used our secret hoofshake, so I thought everything was okay.
“Secret hoofshake?”
(She blushes)
“How did it go?”
Oh… well…
-The Princess stands from her seat and takes a few away from the furniture.
Sunshine, sunshine…
-She canters in place-
…Ladybugs awake…
-Does a peekaboo gesture-
…clap your hooves…
-Mimes paddy cake-
…and do a little shake.
-And then makes me feel very awkward by turning around and shaking her rear in my direction-
Well that’s –cough- interesting
-She blushes as she sits back down-
Umm… yeah, we made it up when we were fillies. Anyways, Twilight and I didn’t get to speak at length, but the point is she wasn’t acting strange from what I saw.
“What was the plan for the trade summit?”
It was supposed to be an official beginning to the reintegration of the Crystal Kingdom into the world economy.
A lot had changed since their disappearance, and a lot of the goods and services that the crystal ponies produced no longer had relevance in today’s trade market.
“But weren’t the crystal ponies living at the highest standard for their time?”
Oh yes, they were very advanced. You see, the crystal ponies are actually earth ponies, but the magic that they exude differs a bit from the normal steady stream magic that regular earth ponies use.
“Then what goods and services were outdated?”
A lot of it was in crops. Most of the cultivars of the plants were very low yield when compared to the seeds used today. So all of that had to be phased out and switched over.
But a greater was manufacturing. Most of the things that the crafts ponies where making simply had no use anymore. Remember that they had been working under Sombra, who had everypony producing massive quantities of weaponry with the purpose in mind of invading Equestria.
“What was the planned solution?”
Crystals, actually that still is the planned solution. The crystals made by the crystal ponies grow larger, faster, and better than any naturally occurring specimens.
“Interesting… so for magic? Or…”
Well, mostly for magic. Crystals are amazing for higher spells and artifacts. But also for the fashion world, which has been a huge boon for us here. Ponies are calling us a second Prance.
“Congratulations.”
Thank you.
-We chatter for a moment and then resume the interview; I take on a more somber tone-
“So how did a trade summit turn into the Fright?”
-Cadence frowns-
It all started with Twilight walking calmly up to the podium to give her speech. She was dressed in a neat and clean gala dress, levitating a large stack of note cards behind her as she went. I knew the look on her face well. It was confidence, the kind of confidence that comes from hours of preparation and practice. I knew that Twilight had worked very hard on this speech, taking into consideration every possible eventuality.
Twilight was sure to have produced one of the best speeches ever. It's a real shame that i never got to read it.
But she only got a few lines in. I don’t remember a lot of it, but I remember the line that set everypony off. She said…
And that did it, all of a sudden the Stallongrad ponies were up in their seats. One of them shouted that the entire summit was a sham and that the crystal empire was a puppet for Equestria. Shouting rhetoric and singing their national anthem.
“Wait what?”
I should give some background. You see, I already had a plan for where the empire was headed. I wanted to meld it into the Pinchy Penny Equestrian economic system to allow for free trade and greater growth. My goal for that gathering was for some of the top economists and trade experts to have an open forum to speak their ideas to help facilitate this goal.
“The Stalliongrad ponies?”
Yes… well they were the most vocal of them. Stalliongrad wanted the Crystal Empire to merge with them, as they are the closest to us geographically speaking. But I believe that their way left far too much to be desired. Still, they were there, they even had a well thought of professor form Canterlot University with them.
“Was there any chance of them getting their way back then?”
No, not really. The crystal ponies had high opinions of Equestria, especially since the Elements of Harmony liberated them form Sombra. But Stalliongrad was not the only group who appeared.
We had aristocrats form Canterlot, who wanted to polarize the social classes. Industrialists from Manehatten who wanted to turn the kingdom into a cheap labor, manufacturing hub. We had a group of jingoist who wanted us to isolate ourselves. We had a drove of historians who wanted everything preserved. There was even one pony who just wanted us to produce jams and jellies. Not sure what that was about.
“So what happened with the Stalliongrad ponies shouting?”
Ah. Well you see, the Stalliongrad ponies started making noise, so their rivals from Manehatten started shouting as well, trying to drown them out. The Canterlot Aristocrats started shouting at both of them, and the jingoists started telling everypony to leave. Soon everyone was shouting and arguing. I called for silence, and the guards ponies had to rush in to break up fights.
And right in the middle of all of that was Twilight, standing at the podium watching her perfectly planned speech fall to bits before her very eyes.
I can still see her face turn, first sadness, then fear, then disgust, and then anger.
Twilights eyes began to glow bright red. Her horn, no her entire body, was enveloped in a magical aura. Some ponies stopped arguing and looked on in fear, but most kept fighting. Twilight rose into the air, unaided by wings.
And then the fright hit.
I still remember the flash. It was brighter than anything I had ever seen before. Pure magical energy simultaneously pulsed outwards with the force of a hundred sonic rainbooms. Everypony was thrown to the ground or knocked out.
The crystal hall we were in was said to have been strengthened over its existence due to its proximity to the ponies.
Experts who examined the wreckage said that they were almost as strong as diamonds. They shattered like glass. The air was filed with a million tiny pieces of flying death, cutting at the bodies of everypony and killing many.
(Death toll 96 ponies all 414 others injured seriously.)
There was so much noise, screams mostly, but the echoing of the blast and falling crystal, and a buzzing sound. Twilight was still floating at the very center of the room, her eyes ablaze with arcane power.
I was so scared. How could the little filly I used to babysit for have turned into this thing?
But what fear I felt before, was dwarfed by what happened next, the thing that earned that day the name, The Fright.
“What did she say?”
Be afraid… she told us to be afraid.
You see, she invaded our minds with that word. I don’t know if it was magic, or just her way of saying it, but our minds where flooded with images of pain and death. Even I, a royal alicorn, felt something buried deep down inside of me on that day. Something that screamed into every corner of my thoughts to run away. Something that said I would never be safe again.
To this day I will never forget that feeling of dread.
“What happened to Twilight?”
She vanished, teleported away somewhere. Laughing hysterically as she did. I don’t really know what she did next, not until the Ponyville attack anyways.
I had an empire to run still, a castle that had just been half shattered, and a fair chunk of the most brilliant minds in the land, writhing or dead on my floor.
-Cadence looks both angry and sad.-
What Twilight did that day was horrible, but as far as I understand, it was nothing compared to what happened next down in Equestria.
“Did you alert the Princesses?”
Yes, I sent them five separate messengers. But the sisters already knew something was amiss.
“How so?”
The crystals. The Crystal Empire is a little like a magic amplifier, that’s how the crystal aurora is made. When Twilights spell radiated outwards, the crystals sent a blast of pure fear across the land. Nopony realized what had happened. But animals became wilder, ponies became more suspicious, and darkness befell the land.
“What became of those who survived the blast?”
That was probably the only good to come from the Fright, everypony who didn’t have a direct stake in the Empire up and left. It allowed us to get a lot done for ourselves. After everypony was healed up we held a much smaller summit. Twilight may have been wreaking havoc down south, but she was done with us.
We helped where we could, especially in the relief effort, but that’s all we could do.
I thank Cadence for her time and move along. Though not far, I head down to the crystal guards barracks for my next interview. On my way I stop off in the grand hall, the one where the Fright took place. The doorway is embossed with the names of all of those who died that day. Inside, much rebuilding has been done, although construction is still under way. I see a large cluster of barrels marked ‘Hazardous’. When I ask a worker about them, he says that it is read crystals left over from the Fright. They are known to cause panic attacks in anyone who holds them.
Author's Note
okay, another one done. let me know what you think. I live for the comments.
