Does anyone know where I can get several gallons of, say, beeswax? Or...more. Probably more. Also suggestions for commune-related scents other than Burning Building.

So I see all of us have seen that announcement, and while I have been looking a few things up, I had some questions.

What type of zoning laws does Equestria use? Is that land under agricultural? Has Shanks thought about what he'll have to do too apply changes to that zoning structure? Entertainment and Residential usually follow very different rules and switching between them can be a nightmare...  Of course, he might not even plan to do what he's said, but only to buy the land and not even use it to rub salt in the wound. Even when you're a dominant power in place, bylaws can be difficult.

Speaking of which, there was something off about how he worded his announcement, but maybe that's just me. He's worded it like a straight to TV children's live action movie villain. Has he played a character like that?

[[ooc: Gaignun used to run a space colony, he has flashbacks about red tape.]]

Hello again, everybody!

[Yep, it's Littlepip disguising her voice again.]

This is The Lightbringer, and it's only been a short while since I broadcast a message to all of you. Well, I'm back and I have some wonderful news! A reliable source has informed me of something absolutely incredible.

You know how people get absorbed into Calice? That's no longer going to happen! In fact, people have been escaping from Calice with help from some of the native Element Bearers including Twilight Sparkle!

So what does this mean? Calice is being distracted by something, but what? I'm going to try and have my associate look into this matter. But my source mentioned the elements getting a spark every now and then, which empowers the native Twilight Sparkle. Maybe whatever's happening with The Elements of Harmony, we should find out how to do it more often.

And for the last bit of business... As you've no doubt heard from Alastor... Yes, Griffaltar and Equestria are now united again. Some offworlders helped with the whole thing, but my source mentioned Calice against the idea of us and them being at peace. She wanted us to start a war. We're better than that.

Keep on making friends, everyone! This has been The Lightbringer, bringing the truth to light!

[So many folks lately had lost others...and her own heart was burdened a bit by this, truth be told. But Nephenee was bound and determined to try to make the best of the situation...as much as she could, anyways. She wanted to help those who had lost loved ones recently, and while she ultimately wanted to do it for all that had, she needed to start somewhere small...]

[So there would be a pony knocking on doors today, handing out some gifts. When they open the door, they see a possibly-familiar pelorus pony there.]

( List of people inside; Find the peace within ourselves, No need for a cure )
[OOC: I'm sure I forgot some people who've lost some recently, so please poke me via PM or Plurk if you think of any!] 

*Oh look, it's Dante's cave. At least, it's not like there are any other caves around that are full of jewels, pizza boxes and empty liquor bottles, right? But the dragon is nowhere to be seen as the scroll pans around, before finally turning to face Alastor. Her ears are drooping, her tail is limp and there are tears gathering in her eyes. It takes her a moment before she can manage to talk, and her tone is quiet but laced with a seething, impotent rage.*

Dante's...been taken. I can't even sense his magic anymore. So...everypony who knew him, I'm sorry.

*She wipes at her eyes with one hand and lets out a quiet sigh.*

Is...anypony up to a spar, or a movie, or...just something to help me calm down?

Oh, look, it's Hayate. The view from the scroll really only shows her face, almost as if she's deliberately hiding the rest of her body.

"So, uh....hi! Hello, Ponyville, it's great to be seeing you all again, after Tirek and all the...unpleasantness that followed after his defeat and all...You'll note that I didn't get power drained! Couldn't...he couldn't manage that, heh."

An awkward pause, strangely not accompanied by the sound of rustling feathers.

"No, uh, he...he kind of broke both my wings, instead. It'll...it'll be a while before I can fly again."

Hayate moves her scroll out enough to reveal that both her wings are indeed broken.

"...And then, you know, I got turned into something I'm not, not anymore, and...I dunno! I didn't really like being human, because I'm a pony! I'm supposed to be a pony, right?"

Hayate sags a little, even her ears drooping.

"And it's like...all this has been really hard on me, and...I dunno. Anybody feel like having a chat?"

[It's been one hell of a battle against Tirek so far, and there has been a lot of people who once had power, and even just were strong physically, that are now without that, and even without that, their cutie marks are gone; for many, the power was part of their identities, and so after seeing many scared to stand up to Tirek, whether in battle or in spirit, Nephenee decides to try to raise eveyone's hopes...and simultaneously show their enemy that they won't back down.]

[So, before some of them travel into Tartarus, the Sentinel makes two posts: one locked from the centaur...and one decidedly not.]

( Visual, locked from Tirek )

( Unlocked, viewable to EVERYONE )

[Bertie knows he's not a fighter by this point. He's invited ponies from the village to come hide in his and Dante's cave, and there's a gaggle of them gathered around, some already gray-eyed and drained of their powers. What one of them has told him is something that needs to be shared, though. And it's something that he wants to take part in. It's already the afternoon and so many ponies are already affected. He's not sure how much longer Tirek's reign of terror will continue.]

Hullo, everypony! Bertie Wooster here. I know we've all been having an awfully rough go of it with that Tirek blighter bobbing about, hoovering up everyone's cutie marks and powers. But I know we're all fighting the good fight, as well. And there are three ponies who should be here with us to do that, powers or not.

I'm going to Tartarus to rescue the princesses. They've been down there for hours now and there are a frightful lot of fiends scurrying about in the place. If this villains escaped from there, I'm more than certain there's got to be a dreadful lot of trouble in Tartarus. Ms. Nana Granate is a pony who sort of... runs it. I think? She'll probably need our help, too.

There's something that she told us the last time Ms. Zecora, Dante, and I managed to get lost down there: The door to Tartarus appears where it's needed.

[He glances off-screen and motions. A pale blue Earth pony with a silver mane leans into the frame of view.]

Mr. Terry Cloth arrived at mine and Dante's cave just half an hour ago. He found the door to Tartarus in his home.

[Terry speaks up.]

Yeah... it's kind of, like, where my bathroom used to be. So, that's awkward.

[Bertie's earnest expression fills the scroll again as the other stallion leans back out.]

He's at 331 Clipclop Drive in Ponyville. I'll be meeting anypony who wants to help there in two hours. It's a lot of time, but we haven't got much before the whole town is drained. Be careful moving there and avoid that villain at all costs!

((OOC: The log post associated with this is located HERE.))

Everyone seems so sad..Why is that? Is there something I missed?

[Yes Cirno, you have. Either way she continues on.]

Maybe we should have a festival or something, bring everyone's hopes and moods up right? It's got to help ponies...Right?

we should be talking and smiling. Make all the bad things go away and be close to our friends and people we care a lot about!

But..I guess I wanna figure things out too.

( Private to Nephenee )

[The feed pops up, and immediately on-screen is an evergreen stallion getting herded into view, stumbling on three hooves as he waves sheepishly at the camera. Nephenee's head pokes up from where she was pushing him on, and if there's any term to describe her aura right now, it's "glowing". She's practically buzzing. Did someone give her caffeine again?]

[In any case, she makes sure the scroll's got them both framed, and grins.]

Hey, Everypony! Hope y'all had a good Hearts an' Hooves!

We sure did!

We gotta big announcement to share with everypony!

We sure do! [Morgan isn't really here to help.]

[Nephenee is half bouncing, half-buzzing in excitement, and after a moment, she finally gets the words out.]

Morgan asked me to marry him! An' Ah said yes!

[She holds up a hoof that has a titanium bracelet on it with small gems and engravings. It's really, really nice.]

That's right, I scooped the best girl in Equestria and there's nothing you can do about it! All the rest of you can wither in despair! WITHER! [Cue Morgan shaking a hoof at the scroll.]

[She grins brightly.] Absolutely nothin'! We ain't sure when it's happenin' yet, but we wanted to share it with everypony~

[Morgan just points a hoof at Neph. Seriously, all her idea to announce it like this.]

[Well, what an announcement!]

~~~~
( [Private to Crmsn, before the announcement] )

...here again, huh.

[There's a very muscular, cotton candy-colored mare on the scrolls who hasn't been around in the past three days--although given her tendency to go off and train for days on end, very few might notice that.]

How long has it been for you guys? A week? A couple of months? Is everyone who was in the Dojo when I left still teaching there?

[...oh no wait]

Did Bertie ever find out what an Attractive Redhead actually was?

...look, I'm sorry for just rainbowing out like that. And for freaking out. More importantly--pretty sure most of you all who know me have met Blackberry and my other Pokemon by now, but I have a new friend I'd like you to meet!

[She takes out a Pokeball from her bag and releases...a very colorful-looking parrot.]

Everyone meet Caro! I met her while Julia and I were visiting my sister in Kalos. She can get a little, uh, nervous, but I'm trying to train her out of that.

It's...odd, I guess. I'd heard about an awful lot about Kalos, and Marla's been there even longer than I have, but you guys won't believe half of the stuff I saw when I was finally there! I'm probably not the only person whose honeymoon almost got hilariously ruined because some billionaire guy tried messing around with an ancient death ray, but at least that was...an experience.

And now that I'm back here after two years, everything just seems new again.

So how's everyone?

[It is immediately apparent that Mia is not okay - her eyes are wider than usual and not settling on anything, and she's also twitching a little.]

I'm not sure this is okay. I was really tired after being out getting everyone inside during the snowstorm, and I'd heard coffee was good for getting energy up so I went and got some and now I'm having trouble concentrating, does this happen to anyone else? It could be a problem if something urgent happens and I can't use my Psynergy and as much as I don't think there'll be one this soon after that I should be ready for it and I'm pretty sure I'm not right now.

[Hopefully that's all.]

[The 19th:]

[It's shortly after the blizzard starts, that some rumors circulate that rainbow explosions have been seen again, and that one of the ponies that vanished is back. Weeeell, those rumors, and some others, are definitely founded, as the feed goes live on the scrolls. One Nephenee pops up, her head only in view, and she grins sheepishly.]

Uh...hiya, everypony...Ah'm back. Sorry for worryin' y'all...but Ah'm fine! For those who don't know me, Ah'm Nephenee..Ah help run the Commune, though Ah kinda got pulled into another world for a bit. Again. An' Ah brought a few friends with me this time...

[She motions to something, or someone, off-camera.]

Chrys, Myri, come over here.

[A large, yellow, extremely fluffy sheep pokes her head in the frame, as does a steely blue diamond dog, both looking curiously at the sheet of 'paper'.]

This is Chrysanthemum [A bleat..was that an electric charge you just saw? Nah, probably nothing.], an' Myrddin [The dog takes after his namesakes well, barking happily with a wagging tail.]...we met in a place called Kalos, in one o'them worlds with Pokémon, so Ah'm the trainer for these two.

Uh..that ain't the only thing that changed, though...

[The visual pans out, and the thing apparent to those familiar with her is...well, the wings she now has!]

Ah uh...seem to have wings now. Don't know why, but Ah do.
...If..somepony could help me learn to use these darn things after this darn blizzard's over, Ah'd sure appreciate it.

[She looks off-screen, rubbing the back of her neck, while one wing flares out without so much as a by-your-leave from her.]

...Somepony should really tell Cálice or whatever makes us be certain things here Ah'm a Sentinel, not a Pegasus Knight...

~~~~

[The 27th:]

[After the insanity of all that, Neph's had a chance to try to get some flight practice in, and to try to relax and help others do the same. But it seems there are those that were hit hard by the Windigos' spell, so after some talking and brainstorming with Lethe, the mare pops up on the scrolls, wrapped up in the blanket Morgan gave her for an anniversary.]

Boy, Ah sure am glad them Windigos are gone...hopefully things'll be quiet for a bit.

Ah was talkin' with Lethe, an' we figured that folks could use somethin' to help 'em unwind a lil'...an' Arcee gave me an idea at the party. Why not have a lil' get together at my house, with pillows an' blankets an' snacks? We could make lil' 'forts' with 'em an' jus' hang out an' stay warm. Wanted to see who'd be up for that.

Also, now that it ain't super windy, Ah'd like to try to learn to use my new wings. [She forces one to peek out from under the covers, just barely visible. Darn muscles.] Ah've been tryin' to get them movin' when Ah want 'em to, but the new muscles are real weak. Most o'the time, they jus' pop out when they feel like it. An' Ah probably should try to get in some trainin' soon, too.

[Nephenee winces as she tries to fold the wing back in, and frowns.]

...Maybe not today on the lessons an' trainin', though. Ah reckon Ah need to go to the spa for a spell...

What ho, what ho, Equestrians all! [Here's a bright yellow pegasus doing his best to smile brightly with the season.] Bertram Wooster, here, for all who might not know me. I thought I might put a bee into the proverbial bonnet with all this festive whatsit carrying on. Now, I know we've all got to be frightfully busy around this time of year, but there has to be an hour or two for fun, eh? On the counsel of my dearly adopted sister, young Nephenee, I'd like to propose a day or two of sledding.

Now what we need, though, are actual sleds. Dashed difficult to have some sort of jolly down-hilling without the proper equipment. If anypony has a sled or two to spare... or might be able to build one, I'd love to hear from you. We'll be having hot cocoa and mulled cider for any sledders once it's all set up along with the standard sort of towels and blankets once you're ready to call the day.


( Private to Surprise )

[Hey, everypony, its Princess Celestia! She looks quiet, almost solemn, as she sits by her fireplace.]

Hello.

Recently, it came to my attention that there is...another secret, so to speak, that I must indulge to you all. However, this revelation was one that the existence of which was unknown to me, my sister, or the other princesses of this world.

[She looks down at this.]

During Discord's recent prank during Nightmare Night, several of us were switched with normal ponies. When they did, they found themselves at the mercy of a voice. A voice that constantly spoke to them, sounding like us, encouraging them to do...things. Where this voice comes from, we don't know. None of us even knew this voice existed, until now.

[Closing her eyes.]

I realize this might be important information, so I apologize for delaying in reporting this. It wasn't intentional on my part to do so - I wanted to confirm and see if this was just in myself and Luna, or if Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight Sparkle also had this problem. While I couldn't confirm Cadance realizing it, I would like to speak with whoever switched with Princess Twilight Sparkle about this.

Again, I apologize for the delay on this. And also...

[A little smile plays on her face.]

I hope you all are having a lovely time with the Maze Trotter. Has anyone gotten to the end?

So I guess now that everything's calmed down I should probably tell you guys about the thing I got from that dungeon place before the Pale Pony destroyed it.

[On cue his hands start glowing.]

It's some kind of healing ability. It's nothing amazing, but it should be useful at least?

I... probably should have mentioned it before the fight, but I kind of forgot. [In his defense it was a tense situation.] But I guess if anyone is still injured from the battle I could help heal them, as long as it's nothing too major.

So, um. Some of you know this already. But during the eclipse, I realized that I...sort of have pieces of your magic. The unicorns, anyway; I don't know how to tell if I got it from Bertie, Andrew, and Joshua too. My aura has other colors in it now sometimes, and it's much stronger than I'm accustomed to.

Don said he felt a pull when I used magic near him, so I've been trying to use it as little as possible. I'm not sure it's safe. Princess Luna, do you know anything about this...?