The scroll turns on, showing a pink unicorn who seems to be mostly unaware of the scroll. She's...talking to a rock?

"Father...is what I'm doing right?"

And apparently the rock is her father. Okay.

"I...have to stop the Empire. So many people have suffered, and I'm the only one the other Espers will listen to. Because I'm your daughter. But...I'm happy here. I'm so happy. I just...I don't know if...I can keep this happiness."

Terra closes her eyes, hugging the rock close to her chest.

"I wish...I could talk to Mother."

[Easy to tell which Rainbow Dash this is, since only one of them wears a black overly-zippered coat on a regular basis. She taps the scroll curiously.]

Hey, I've been meaning to ask this, but... was somepony wearing a chocobo mask at the Gala? I'm sure I saw one!

H-Hello everyone!

[The Butterfly appears on the scroll and seems a bit... nervous? She bobs up and down and weaves in and out of the visual range and her light is fluctuating in intensity.]

So... okay, most of you know who I am. And if you don't, where the buck have you been? Eh-heh...

...okay, that came out wrong...

So... here's the thing. I know most of you know me as the cheeky, loveable butterfly, but the truth is that... there's more to appearances! You see... um... back where I came from, I was originally from a place called Lunares. It was a place where we would look down and see how everybody in the world was doing and it was on the moon! And... one day... things got pretty dangerous down there. Their sky was falling and their world was surely going to end--! So, I went to um... I-I... I decided to go help.

And, because it was dangerous... I went down not quite looking like how I normally do. I learned... a trick! Something to keep me safe. And, the thing is...

...why don't I show you...

[And the butterfly is enveloped by a light as bright as the moon. When it disperses... a new pony appears. The new pony looks up, blinks a little and gives an embarrassed smile as her eyes turn away and her cheeks burn red.]

...I wasn't always a butterfly.

Umm... it's nice to meet you?

((Will respond with keepcalmandflutteron AND... *drumroll* forthelifeofme!))

Guys guys guys! I was walking down to the store, and suddenly, I felt a sudden spike of heat in my body! I was all flush and hot, my chest was all aglow, and I realized it meant one of two things.

Heartburn, or one of us is getting married~~!!

[Somepony is super super excited about this.]

And I am never wrong when it comes to these things, so--come on, you lovebirds! Spill it! You know you want to~♥

[There have been a lot of apologies going around since they'd managed to reforge the 'Fire of Friendship' to drive off the Windigos. Donna's been holding off, too embarrassed to join in the chorus, but there's really not a way to avoid it. At least she can limit the apology proper to the members of the commune. Everyone else? Well, there were a lot of people who could help with building.]

Hey, everybody. This is Donna Noble from the Ponyville Commune. We had some trouble recently and are looking for any help we can get to organize a building party. This isn't just for the commune, though, it's something I'd like to put together for something more regular in case any of us need the help. With everything we've faced since getting here, with as kind as the ponies in Ponyville are, I think we owe it to them to have some sort of, I dunno, on-call group. A bunch of us who'll come and fix something up if it gets knocked down in the latest invasion or whatever. If you'd like to help, please let me know. I'll be setting something up for the commune soon. I know the Agency needs some work for expansion, too, that we could see to helping with after that.


( Locked to Commune Residents )


( Locked to Terra )

It's been several days since...The Event, and Terra is no closer to understanding it now than she was then. So she's decided to seek the wisdom of the emotionally normal people on the scroll network. Once she's switched it on and made sure Dust can't see it, she takes a deep breath and launches into a clearly rehearsed speech.

"Hello. I need help figuring something out. What does it mean when someone touches you and your heart starts beating fast and it's not because you're about to get in a fight?"

There's a slight pause as she goes over the second half of the speech.

"I would appreciate an answer, please."

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 )

Oh man! That was amazing. Remind me to bring cupcakes next time. I think Calice might enjoy those. Oh yeah, those of you who're friends that don't know, may have gone and jumped into the Pale Pony. I think we're onto something with this.

[He's just going to lay there for a moment and laugh. Yeah this guy's back and he's a glow with feeling like he accomplished something. Tired, but incredibly relaxed.]

Oh right I was gone for like a...while...what'd I miss? Anything fun? Also how longs it been? I'll need to schedule some extra days for work, I think, to make up for the loss.

Freaky Friday. Originally based on a children's book from 1972, the movie adaptation came out in 1976 to some fairly high acclaim. One of Gary Nelson's few film forays as a director... he's more known for directing TV series. But he seemed to hit on something good with this film, Zach. One of the original body-swapping stories, it's the one that took root in popular culture as the go-to term for the event.

And it seems like Ponyville's been graced by its tropes today. [Helpful as ever, York.]

For some reason, it's decided to pass over me, but something tells me the rest of you may need some information on who has swapped with who. I'll do my best to keep track of everything. Let me know who you are and who you've swapped with.

((OOC: Consider this a sort of open post discussing the various swaps. Threadjacks abound!))

Hey Equestria...I got a question for you, mostly this is for the other outlanders like myself, but...anyone is free to weigh in here. I'd like the input.

How many of you use friendship, or similar bonds, as a source of strength for yourselves back home?

Some pretense to that...where I come from there are creatures called Digimon. I myself am half-digimon. Long story to that, but I won't bore you with the details right now. A digimon is a creature born of digital data, they are however highly receptive to emotions and can grow stronger as they grow closer to others, becoming stronger and stronger as those bonds mature and grow.

Emotions from those that we make friend with rub off on us, we can become stronger, or weaker because of it, or we can become too strong that we can't control ourselves.

[He rubs at his cheek with a hoof and sighs deeply.]

Not only digimon have exhibited this trait, though. There is another being called a Net Navi where I'm from, another digital life-form, this one artificially created by humans. There's an entire battle tournament surrounding them even. A Navi and their NetOp, when they have a strong enough bond, can create powerful combinations with battle chips. They can even fuse together, share the core of their beings with another, the NetNavi’s can even form friendships of their own that unlock hidden potentials...

[ He holds a hoof over his chest reflexively, almost like he was reassuring himself about something...]

The core of my question is how many of you have something similar back home? An undertone to that is how many of us have forgotten about that? That we've taken it for granted or just forgotten our own basics? This place works on its own rules. Just like those of NetNavis, or Digimon...working together, believing in one another...we’ve heard it a lot lately, and seen that here, it’s its own force to be reckoned with. Friendship. We’re all in this together, and if we're going to-

[He stops short and scoffs softly to himself.]

Sorry. Getting off track...Anyways...just something I’ve been thinking about lately. If anyone would rather speak with me in person or private, you’re always welcome to call on me at the commune or approach me while I’m on duty in the Night Market.

( Private to Vergil and Dante )

[Chie's in front of the video again, except her hooves are shuffling and she's having trouble looking directly into the camera. Her face is flushed and she's sweating profusely.]

So... ["To be honest, this is really hard. I'm not very good at admitting my mistakes... and talking in front of people I don't know actually makes me really shy! But this is important. I know that I've been worrying everybody, especially my friends. "]

[She takes a deep breath, making a small gesture with her hoof.]

Um... ["Remember that thing that happened a few weeks ago? I've been thinking about it and I just feel terrible for responding the way I did. I mean it wasn't entirely my fault and all, but I didn't have to respond to it as badly as I did."]

And... ["...this place seems pretty cool when it's not in the middle of a world-wide crisis? There are some people here that are really nice and I would hate for them to get the wrong idea."]

Yeah... ["That's all I want to say, really."]

[She takes a deep breath and motions to turn off her scroll. At least that is over wit-]

Oh! ["Oh!"] Does anybody here like kung fu movies?

Hello! If any of you ponies could spare a moment to help me with something it would be much appreciated.

I have been attending lessons at the local school, and Miss Cherilee has asked us to talk to other ponies about their cutie marks. These are the questions.

[They appear in writing under his visual message.]

1. What does your cutie mark look like?
2. How or when did you receive your cutie mark?
3. What does your cutie mark represent?

[Pippin blinks then slowly frowns a little]

I also must write about my own experience since I have a mark. Honestly though, I am not sure what it truly means. It's a bird, but I have no special talents relating to birds. Can you help me? I would like to find an answer to this, not only for my work, but so I can tell a certain filly she can no longer compare me to a "blank flank."

[He moves the scroll to make sure his mark is captured in the visual.]

Hey. Yeah, it's Flare again, likely here t'shove her hoof in her mouth.

Just wanted to say that I was wrong. Back after the Equestrian Games, when the Pale Pony first showed up, I was at the head of th'mob screamin' for blood. I was wrong. Th'princesses and Zetta may have had a crappy execution, but their idea was sound.

I don't know if we should be callin' this a war. It still is, I guess, but this ain't somethin' we're gonna win with military maneuvers and underground resistances. This ain't Les Neighserables. This is a twisted, broken pony who's keepin' us here in this world... this world that has a really bad habit of fixin' broken ponies.

But we aren't gonna win by bein' unfeelin' soldiers. That's what she wants. I know, the way we were goin' after the fact was wrong, and the way we were goin' after the princesses' little stunt. But think about when we actually took her on. What we did. What worked, what didn't.

A harmony's when you've got a bunch of instruments workin' together to create a single piece of music. When you've got a bunch of musicians thinkin' it's more important to be soloists, you just got a lot of noise.

I don't think we need t'hide the right plan from the Pale Pony, because I don't think she understands it even if we spell it out. We gotta be sharper than her. That's the only way we'll see this through.

Thank you for your time, and again: I'm sorry that I set this thing off int' people thinkin' we need to fight anger with more anger, hate with more hate.

( [Private to Lucifer] )

( [Action, all around Ponyville] )

So.

First week at Canterlot Academy... where exactly in the dumb school spectrum is "incredibly hot nerd girl" anyhow? Because that's what the "Mean girls" labeled me as. I already got a couple of date offers.

This is totally what I needed on my first week of high school: Classism.

I'm going to be bucking trees for a while to simmer my rage on being called babe for the first time.

[Hey, guys! It's Minako, scribbling on some paper. She's snickering to herself as she does, before addressing the scroll.]

Ok, everypony! As we know, there's a film festival coming up in a few weeks, and we're being asked to submit our own films for it. Thankfully, I've started writing the script for my film! Viola!

[She turns over the title page to reveal the name of the movie: EARTH VS. SOUP RELOADED.]

Now, this is a sequel to something Pinkie and me did on the Satellite of Love, so we'll be reprising our roles of the irradiated California Counterpo Cornucopia Vegetable Jubilee and Sweet Marie, respectively. BUT! We need some more actors for the following work in progress roles: Cyber-Dude, Cream o' Potato, Hillbilly Harry House, Cynthia Helen Alexandria Snotnose V, and...the Applewood sign. Among others. The script's a work in progress.

Soooo, I'll be holding auditions for these parts this weekend! We're gonna try and start shooting next week so we can wrap up just in time for the film festival! I look forward to seeing some of you guys try out for what is going to be an awesome movie experience!

[With that, she waves, and turns off the scroll.]

As the scroll turns on, it reveals a pink unicorn, her green mane pulled back in a ponytail and her ears lowered. She doesn't appear to be aware of the scroll, looking around in an extremely confused fashion.

"I...I don't understand...I was supposed to be at the Sealed Gate..."

She shrinks in on herself before continuing, calling out for her friends.

"Where are you, everyone? Edgar? Sabin? ...Locke?"

Something occurs to her then, and she stands a bit straighter as she raises her voice.

"I-is this the Esper World? My name is Terra! I was born here! Please, if you can hear my voice, answer me!"