[The scroll's view is of a dark and mysterious hut, with creepy masks gazing down from the walls and flames licking the bottom of a cauldron filled to the brim with an ominous green liquid.]

[Having affixed the scroll to a place where it can project her image most easily, the zebra steps into its view, smiling.]

A 'hello' to those of you that I know
And a welcome for those whom that is not yet so.
I am Zecora. Everfree is my home.
A forest in which many of you love to roam.
That's unwise. A surprise could lead to your demise.
What some have seen with their eyes proves I tell no lies.
To help you avoid such a gruesome fate
I hereby offer to help educate.
I'll fill your heads with wisdom and advice
That will make your strolls here pleasant and quite nice.
I need no recompense, no service or coin.
A will to learn is all you need to join.

VISUAL to ACTION

[ He looks like he's considering something, ]

I went off exploring for a while and've been wanderin' 'round for a while now, actually 'bout two weeks... I guess I sorta got lost. So I was wonderin'f anypony knew how I'd be able ta find the way back to anywhere anypony knows of.

[ He rambles off a description about a forest and a path and a lot of things, and then stumbles out of a bush. ]

[ And that's when he notices that he's strolled right into the town square. ]

Oh... Oh!

[ He laughs sheepishly. ]

Seems I ain't lost 'nymore!

[Once again, Johnny decides to make use of this curious little scroll. He's pretty sure someone can answer his question...]

Ah, ha! There we go... now then. I hope you're all having a wonderful day, and I'm sorry to interrupt any activities you may have been doing. I must admit, I've been... enjoying my time here.

I have to ask a question, so I hope you'll forgive my ignorance.

The curious little marks I've seen on others. What are they?

[He leans back a bit, tapping at his chin.]

I suppose it would have been better to have asked a long while back, but then it never crossed my mind.

...This message has been a long time coming. I should've made it sooner, but I was so caught up in my own problems, I didn't take enough time to realize that I'm not the only one with problems...and I'm sorry for that. Now that I've had the time to think things through, I've decided that I want to be more open with myself, not only for my sake, but hopefully for others.

(She sighs. A part of her doesn't want to go through this, but she's forcing herself to anyway.)

My name is Twilight Sparkle. While I'm a natural unicorn, I'm not the native Twilight to this Equestria; my true origins lie in a town known as Mayfield. For those who don't know, Mayfield was a virtual construct meant to house various individuals from any and all points in space and time. Everyone brought there was stripped of their abilities, forms and anything else that separated them from being "normal" and forced to live together as families. For now, I'll spare the details, but know that it was far from the happy place it pretended to be. Despite the numerous tortures we endured, the hardest one to endure was accepting that the entire town was simply a simulation in a computer...and all of us in it were digital clones of who we represent. They told us that despite our survival, we could never return home; that we would all vanish out of existence once the server ran out of power.

I don't know how or why it happened, but several Mayfield survivors, myself included, woke up here in Equestria...my other home of origin.

For the past two months, I've been struggling to figure out why my home doesn't feel like home, why I feel so inferior to the other Twilight and to a certain degree, why I don't want to be here. I might not have found all of the answers I'm looking for yet, but I remembered something I want to share with not just fellow Mayfield survivors, but anyone listening to me, whether you're a native or an outsider. Despite the horrors that town inflicted on us, it taught us one incredibly crucial fact: no matter what life throws at us, we're all family. We were brought there together, we lived together, we fought together and we survived together. Even when we were told our lives would be cut dramatically short, we all faced the end together. It might not have been what we wanted, but the fact that we all stood side by side and made sure each of us kept going made it all feel as if everything would be alright.

So after two months of feeling I don't belong anywhere, I've realized that I belong to both Equestria and Mayfield, that across both worlds, I have family in each of them. I know this will sound selfish, but after spending time getting reacquainted with my Equestrian family, I want to catch up with my Mayfield family. Even if we haven't had any interaction back then, being here now means we should stick together, just like we all did back then. We Mayfielders went through things others might never understand, so instead of trying to overcome it alone, I want to overcome it with you and help you all across, as well. It's what we've done since the very beginning; it's worked for us every time so far and I think it'll work here, too.

Even though not everyone came from Mayfield, I don't see why I can't extend the same offer to you. While we may group together with those who share our origins, I propose we also group together as one...because no matter where we came from, we're all here now. Whether we want to go back home or start new lives here, we're all moving forward, so why not move on side by side? We were brought here together, we're living together, we'll fight together and in the end, we'll survive together.

[Johnny stood in front of the scroll, tilting his head every now and again. Once in a while, he'd give it a gentle poke with his... muzzle. He was only trying to make sense of the thing that was in front of him.]

Now then, what to do with you?

[It didn't take too long, before he realized what the scroll's use was for.]

Well, isn't that clever! Now then...I should be using this to make a call out to those I know...

Excuse me, for interrupting your daily lives. I understand that I'm now a small talking equine, but I'm rather curious as to why... No, that's not right. Perhaps it would only be polite of me to make an introduction.

My name is Johnny. Try not to forget the name, hm?

[A pause...]

So, might someone be so kind as to tell me what's going on? This isn't exactly the town I recall from yesterday...

[Well. This is...fun. Sort of. Maybe. Not.

Honeycomb is admittedly frowny-faced, though maybe not for the obvious reasons. In fact, the minute she opens her mouth-]

Um, so I have a question. Um...apparently I'm not in Equestria but I am? And, uh...

[Hoof shuffle. And her wings flap--wait, are her wings actually buzzing?...They actually buzzing!]

Do you guys...know where I can find Langstride frames? Or, um, supplies where I can make them? Because I don't wanna miss out on the first nectar flow of the year...I was totally all ready back home, too...

[So either this girl is really oblivious, or really used to just waking up in random places. Or too concerned with her beekeeping to care.




Yeah, its the bees she's concerned about. Seriously, her wings even buzz like a bee's!]

[There was a hoof sitting on the screen, were anyone to be looking at it. A hoof, and a glowering face. In the background, there was a buzzing, but the source of the noise was absent from the view. The face belonged to a rather ordinary earth pony, bluegrey with streaks of yellow in his hair, with bright yellow eyes. There was a scorch mark across the pony's muzzle, and his main was smoldering, smoke rising.]

Tech Scorponok reporting, is anyone out there?

[The pony coughs, and looks surprised to be doing so, but he gets himself back under control shortly.]

I'm assuming this is a transmitter, and if anyone out there has tools or a CR, I'm formlocked.

[This is, evidently, something bad, as he looks grim.]

Once again, this is Tech Scorponok, reporting. Is anyone out there?

[The buzzing grew louder, and as the transmission continues along much the same lines, a large, almost metallic looking wasp rose into view, grey eyes glinting. The pony seemed not to notice the wasp, and continues his message, as if on repeat.]

If anyone has tools or a CR, I'm a repair tech and can trade. Repeating; this is Tech Scorponok reporting...

[Sometime after the ponies wake up, scrolls and quills suddenly start raining from the sky. Don't worry, its not the ponypocalypse, its just a squadron of flying white ponies dropping them from above.

Once everyone receives one, the scrolls suddenly glow and come to life, its surface revealing the visage of a large white alicorn with rainbow hair and a golden crown, sitting on a large, velvet-upholstered throne. She has a calm, reassuring, regal smile on her face as she speaks, though those who know her better can see the light of worry and concern in her eyes.]

Good afternoon, newponies! I am Princess Celestia.

I've heard of your arrival in Ponyville and of some of the more interesting stories that have come from it. We're...not certain how this phenomenon has occurred, but we here at the royal castle will put our efforts into solving this mystery, and I hope you will help us out as we wish to help you out!

Rest assured, no harm will come to you. Nor, as some of you have worried, are we holding you against your will. On the contrary, you're free to move about Equestria as you please, be it through Ponyville, Los Pegasus or anywhere in between. I only request that you use the scrolls we have provided you to check in from time to time, so that we know where you might be when we figure out the solution to this current situation.

If you have any questions, you are free to ask them of me. If I am not available - and, I will admit, there are times when I can be quite busy - there are many other ponies willing to help you, including the other princesses of Equestria. We are all in this together, after all.

[And then she smiles a little more. Its a much more relaxed smile. The concern is still there, of course.]

But, in the meantime, I'd also like to get to know all of you! I always like to meet new people, after all. I hear we even have a dragon?