[After asking around, Littlepip has a general idea of where and when she is. The past... It's so full of life. And the best part about this is that it's no memory orb.

So what does Littlepip do to celebrate? She opens the scroll which she asked about and looks really cheerful.]

Look!

[Her horn lights up with a green aura and some grass floats into vie of the scroll.]

Grass! Alive! Green grass! I love the past!

[And then Littlepip shifts the view down to the ground. She deliberately falls over and starts rubbing herself in it and rolling around in it.

...Give her some slack, she's from a post-apocalyptic future.]

[Even though the scrollwork has cut on to a visual feed, the room is dark, with all the curtains drawn shut and only the faintest trickle of light shining through them. The mare speaking looks like she'd been run over by the 4:50 Express, and if the cups of water and...what appear to be a raw egg next to her are any indication, she knows damn well why she hurts so much. Her voice is a low, hoarse mutter, but loud enough to be audible.]

Flanks and fetlocks, I'm a buckin' idiot. First and foremost: you're all right, I'm a damn idiot. Let's just... let's just get business out of the way, yeah...?

First: I wish I could undo the crap I spewed at you, Hamato. You didn't deserve that, even if it felt like you were twistin' the knife at the time. We'd... we'd known for about a day by the time y'said anything. We.....we took it real well, Harv and I. You didn't deserve what we did t'ya.

Second: Just because I don't want to kill anyone anymore doesn't mean you don't deserve to have your face turned into abstract art, Goggles. You're an asshat and if there was any justice in th'world you'd be the Pale Pony's bitch instead of all the innocents out there forced to be sucked into her.

[Flare's voice lowers to a rough growl, but she cuts herself off with a fit of coughing before it goes too far.]

Third: Thanks for at least stoppin' us before we were dumber, Lyra. Sure felt like you were stabbin' us in the back and agreein' with Goggles sayin' Harv was useless when it happened, though. Dunno if he'll still think you feel that way when he wakes up, but he still did before he finally passed out.

[The pegasus glances over her shoulder, reluctantly, at the earth pony still passed out behind her. Ugh, she can deal with hangovers, but something told her she wasn't going to like the aftermath of this one.]

Fourth: Dust, if you're still around and don't mind fixing up a wrecked apartment, the place is all yours. I don't think I c'n stay there at the moment. Gonna be here with Harv for a while.

Fifth: Sorry, Rarity. Kinda totaled the apartment y'gave to me. Better than takin' it out on a pony, I guess. Dash, don't worry, that thing you got me is built t'withstand a rainboom, so at least it's still in one piece, though I gotta lug it here now.

And I guess the last thing I gotta say is... well, if you don't understand why the two of us were such buckin' foals last night... give it time. Sooner or later, th'Pale Pony's gonna take away everyone you love, too. And it's gonna hurt. That's why I was so eager a few weeks ago.

Sorry.

[And with that, Flare rolls up the scroll with a quiet grunt. Maybe she can wallow in her idiocy for a few weeks, now.]

[It starts with a shot of the sky. A small cat can be running over the scroll, trying to move it somewhere. Loud raspy breathing is heard nearby. The voice tries to say something, but all it seems to get out is coughing. Eventually, a black hoof appears to close the scroll.

Five minutes later, a message is sent out.]

Back here. Town square alley.

Body hurts. Breathing hurts. Can't get up. Need hospital.

If not real, go away. Tell Monojerk to stuff it.

(The visual opens with a familiar, albeit jittery mare looking over her shoulders and rubbing her foreleg. She seems exhausted and nervous about something, but is doing her best to keep a straight face.)

How long has it been since the Pale Pony made her appearance? It feels different, like weeks have passed. I...can't remember anything past that day.

(Hey eyes keep moving about, frantically looking for something.)

I tried reading her thoughts that day, but she knew what I was doing. I couldn't read hers...but I heard the thoughts of so many others. So many voices crying out from within her. Countless voices...nngh!

(The Reaper winces, but shakes her head.)

...That is all.

[Tails is outside, but he's got a determined expression on his face.]

Guys, I know things look grim and that it seems hopeless. But the moment we start giving up, the Pale Pony wins.

Yes we don't have the means to beat her and yes she's got several of our loved ones in there, but you know what? I don't think the ones trapped in there would want us to sit around all miserable and waiting for the Pale Pony to take us too.

Instead we should keep going and work harder to find a way to save everyone and beat her. Even if takes many more months to do so, I think we can find a solution of some sort. We can do this! We can win! We just have to keep trying. If we work together somehow, everything will turn out okay.

I realize there will be some ponies that will accuse me of being naive or trying to spread false hope, but my only response to that is this:

You have two choices. Either continue to wallow in self-pity or you can pick yourself up and deal with it. Quit trying to bring everyone else down. You're not helping yourself or any of us.

[He takes a deep breath to calm himself down.]

Sorry guys, but I'm just getting tired of ponies being such negative nancys. I don't usually make prep-talks, but I hope that helps. At least a little.

[So it looks like spirits are down and Arcee didn't exactly...help. Perhaps it's guilt that makes her show up on the scroll all of a sudden, but it's better than no reason at all.]

...

I made mini cakes. Again.

[Ever since Neph suggested she make some for the upcoming party, Arcee worried she might be a little rusty. It's been forever since she's baked, what with actual bakeries to compete with, she didn't see much of a point. But her friend said she enjoyed them, so she might as well start up again. Only thing is, Arcee is a strong believer of "You don't use it, you lose it" so hopefully they're still...decent.]

I need... taste testers.

[A small groan slips out when she says that, as if that's too much of a positive thing to suggest. At least the cakes look good! Not to be confused with cupcakes, the mini cakes look exactly what they sound like. Miniature cakes. Perfect for tiny paws hooves or just a simple snack.

And come on, who doesn't love a little baker cat?]

So...come over, if you can. I'll be outside.

Now that we are back in Ponyville this late afternoon, I have been approached for a unique request. It seems that the resident chapter of the Party ponies would like to hold a Giving Festival on the 9th. This would however, entail cooperation from the two of us, in order to arrange the stars and the moon into the harvest state. The Giving Festival traditionally falls on the Harvest Moon, a sign of the autumn harvests as well as the Running of the Leaves later this fall. And thus being said, we would like to sponsor it with the gains from a previous venture.

If you would be so kind to aid us in our preparations, harvest foods and games will need to be set up in Ponyville for the day in question, as well as entertainment and other foods. A specialized brand of Moon Dumplings will be crafted as well, for when the Harvest Moon rises that evening.

Let us hope for a better fall, than it has been for our summer.

That being said, a second wave of enchanted t-shirts are available for this occasion. Feel free to order them.

[Andrew looks frazzled -- following a partial soul donation up with a near-immediate dungeon dive might not have been his best move, but he'd really believed he needed to act before anything else could happen. He'd been sort of right, too, going by how much has come to light in the interim. With how thoroughly everyone's lives have been falling apart lately, perhaps it's little wonder nopony thought to make an announcement re: Pollo. In a way, too, it's good to have put several days between them and the event, and it's easier to be sure it really worked.

He squints into the scroll and clears his throat, gaze flicking only briefly to where Pollo sits nearby in the same room.]

Unless you're very very new you're probably aware of the return of the Mechakara personality in recent weeks. What you're probably not aware of is the fact that we've fixed it. Permanently. A team of us stripped Mechakara out the day after the slumber party, and it's only Pollo in there now. Sort of. No more bloodlust, no more flare-ups, nada, zip, zilch, one more crisis averted. Any questions?

[He looks just a tiny bit wild-eyed, as if that's a challenge rather than an invitation. And no, it's not just you, he really didn't explain a bucking thing about it just now.]