HOOVESWEEK 9

[ponymeisters]

[Morning, Equestrians! It’s that time again, and the newsponies have a new, fresh stock of Equestria's most-read magazine!

Sadly, its back to normal...]




Celestia inexplicably hearing voices for Nightmare Night, an ancient monster stalking the lands on Hearth's Warming...with a friend like Discord, the Element of Kindness will never want for an enemy - and nor will anypony else who is not an off-worlder, thanks to her! Is it time for Celestia to wake up and see the truth?


Other Top Stories Include:

Title: Chaos vs. Kindness
by Timberwolf Blitzer

Title: The Fright Before Hearth's Warming (And the Psychotic Apple Hoarder Who Didn't Help)
by Gelt Buck

Title: Skyfire: Setting the Sky (and a Town) on Fire
by Rosy Hooves


BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE:


-A discussion on the rat infestation in Ponyville. Proerty values are definitely going to go down at this rate!
-Princess Cadence's shipping wall is discussed, and how its been causing friction between established couples.
-Princess Luna has not been immune to the madness, as reports of her trapping ponies in their dreams have been reported from around the world. Is Nightmare Moon not too far away?
-The excavations at Stalliongrad continue, but as our expose reveals, the influx of off-worlders stealing items has become a problem for those fighting to preserve these special ruins.
-A talking toy car? Our science editor discusses whether this strange phenomenon is fact, or fiction.
-An editorial about being held hostage by yogurt zombies. The verdict: not bad, if you're willing to give up dairy.
-In foaleign news, we look at the Hearth's Warming pictures of Duke and Duchess of Cambridle's first born son!

So come one, come all, and read HOOVESWEEK! Only 5 bits a copy - now and forever!










[Oh, you thought it was over? The ponies of Ponyville likely haven't even gotten their muzzles off the ground when, out of warning, a courier is rushing around, handing the off-worlder ponies - and a few of the natives, though not Princess Twilight Sparkle, Cadence, either Luna, or Captain Celestia, notably - an envelope addressed to them.

What is in it is...well...



((OOC: For those three winners of the Writing Contest among the playerbase, they received their copy of Hoovesweek the night before the issue hit stands. They got their invitations at the same time everypony else, though.

Original picture credit is here.))

Comments

All, you say?

[stormbroken]

After the incident with Pierrot's spare suit and the fog afterward, Flare had kept on halfway-amiable "no hard feelings" terms with most of the Agency - that she had known of, at least. She had no idea who was there now, save for Yukiko, Yu, and Rainbow Dash's coltfriend. Regardless, that's where she found herself wandering after the newest issue hit stands.

The bit about the shipping being "hazardous to the stability of relationships" didn't bother her; in her views, if an existing couple was on such rocky ground that speculation would ruin it, they were probably not meant to be anyway. No, what bothered her was the invitation, and the fact it tied in perfectly with the warning they had gotten a few days before. She couldn't really talk to Harvey about this, as the two of them had differing opinions on the entire "dealing with the press" situation, but she had to talk to someone.

So she found herself standing at the desk not far from Yukiko, awkwardly.

"...You think it's just their jobs on the line, or if we're walking into a hostage situation without realizing it?"

Once again, she had all the ice-breaking grace of a drunk hippopotamus on moon shoes.

I did :3

[gigglesnortpriestess]

The door was open and anyone was welcome in, but Yukiko was surprised to see Flare pop in without any particular reason. But when the older one spoke, she didn't think anything of it. Yu was blunt and so was Kanji. Teddie said random things and of course Thorax was one to shout words like 'shiny' so it was normal for her to be around not blunt ponies but rather honest.

Or that's what she called it.

Naturally she heard the former owner speak over the scrolls but this was the first time she heard anyone mention that it was much more than what it made it out to be.

"Not something I thought about but it can be a possibly."

Just like she told Donna and how they came to an idea about the alicorn voices. But she'll hear Flare out on this one.

"Sorry, I didn't even offer you a drink. All I have is tea right now."

[stormbroken]

"It's fine. I didn't really come for a drink, though I appreciate the hospitality." She shakes her head, earperking as she contemplates the situation before sighing.

"Only thing I was able to confirm was that it wasn't Cálice herself manipulating Hoovesweek to do this... not unless she can suddenly become a guy at a moment's notice. And, you know..." The pegasus gets down to the reason she thought to come find Yu and Yukiko to begin with.

"It's a trap. No matter which direction we go, it's a trap. If we stay here, then we're mocking their 'hospitality'. If we attack, we're godless heathens. If we're ourselves, we're just flat out not like them. If we act like them, we're obviously putting on a show, meaning whoever's in charge hunts down our new double-agent and the ponies she's trying to protect. The way I see it, there's only one group of people who would be able to defuse a trap like that... not to make us look better, but to figure out exactly what Hoovesweek's deal is."

In other words, she might be trying to come to Yukiko with a job.

[gigglesnortpriestess]

And suddenly Reach Out to the Truth could be playing in the background.

Flare had a point. Everywhere they would go on this, it would be a trap. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Which would make it hard to try and solve a case if Hoovesweek knew what they were up to. But this is what they do: they look for the truth no matter what the cost but what if the cost was too steep for everyone else? Yukiko couldn't help but wonder how Chie and Rise and Teddie would feel. Kanji was brand new and he had no idea about Hoovesweek or their stance against them. And Yu...knowing him, he worried about her.

"I don't know how we can figure it out but I know it isn't like us to turn our backs from it. It'll be tricky more than likely. But it won't be impossible."

[stormbroken]

"I've gotta do double-duty, unfortunately. I'm not just going there as a newpony, I'm going there as the marefriend of a celebrity. Gotta keep myself from pulling a pony inside-out if it kills me, and I gotta keep Harv on his best behavior, too." Flare sighs - not because she figures Yukiko would want her help, but rather because she'd really rather not be going to a film festival like this; an awards show was bad enough.

"I'm also not sure how I'd go about paying you for going to this sort of risk."

[gigglesnortpriestess]

Yukiko's face etched a pure expression of how grave the situation was. While Flare needed to be there for support, the unicorn couldn't think of anyone who could infiltrate unless they happened to know a change-

Oh wait.

"This may have something to do with Calice so I wouldn't think about charging for this. Everyone is together in trying to figure out how to stop her."