The Horror Comes to Ponyville (Open)

[Pretzelparty]

Ponyville was most certainly not the usual place that a playful horror hunter like Miss F.G. would be likely to visit, not on a pleasant, sunshiney day like this one. Usually it was events like the invasion of the Plundervines, The release of discord, or the Gigantic demonic Centaur who had previously drained everypony of their magic and nearly conquered Equestria that would grab the writer's fancy and usher her to this peaceful town. Today, Foxglove has come to town simply to socialize. She'd realized that having sent her manuscript to her publishers just yesterday... and sleeping for a time that was most likely unhealthy, She needed to get out more. As much as she loved her tiny home in the mysterious area known as the Hollow Shades, She figured she should try and learn more about the ponies she so often had isolated herself from.

Some ponies would call her nocturnal, in fact most who met her may call her that. With the events that had previously transpired however, her sleeping schedule was now all messed up and she was free to walk amongst these pastel daywalkers. While this young mare was indeed awake and raring to go, she was most certainly not used to the bright light of Celestia's sun; being in the shade and living in a barely lit home will do that to you. To remedy this, Foxglove brought the black parasol that she was almost never seen without at her booksigning appearances. There was really no reason to go around in her usual outfit, not in this heat, So the ivory earth pony was calmly strolling down the street in the usual equine attire; Nothing at all. Below each of her entirely silent hooves was the shadow cast by her favored accessory. The only sounds that came from the pony on the street was a calm, almost hypnotic, sounding song...

~"Hello, I walk. Into empty. Hallways tell me. Not to worry. Caution sends the signal not to. Look around the bend and single. Out the shadows whisper through the twisted Corners. Waiting silently for hours. Watching every move and shiver, with eyes that glitter..."~

The mare's half black mane swayed softly in the wind as she came up behind the first creature to cross her path. There was a brief pause as she looked them over and spoke softly, "Good morning."

(So you get an idea on the song's melody!)

http://brightseptemb...eepless-lullaby

[Gerrard]

Ponyville was an important town for wayward travelers in Equestria, its location often midway between two points in a journey. All manner of travelers frequented the strangely busy hub city, inspiring fear, awe, or confusion in the local residents. Asteria was one of those creatures that often frequented the small farming town. The tall unicorn mare wore an elaborately embroidered dark cloak over her jet black coat. The poker faced courier was watching a young adult griffoness frolic in the fountain, her tiger striped form spaying water everywhere as she fished out various coins out of the water with her talons. The hybrid seemed only interested in the pretty currency, exchanging the ones she took with her own as a confused crowd watched in utter and complete disbelief. Asteria had seen individuals perform much stranger acts in public and was about to speak on the bird's defense when a stranger calmly spoke to her.

The sudden words from behind might have startled some, but Asteria wasn't quite the norm of her species. The scarlet maned mare flicked her hood back with a jerk of her head, before turning to lay crimson eyes upon her nocturnal counterpart. She had never met this particular pony, but Asteria was quick to do a polite bow before the author. "It is an honor to meet you Lady Foxglove. Your work is intriguing. It is odd that the protagonists often fall into unfortunate situations, but your work is always rather informative. You may call me Asteria, glad to meet you," she remarked calmly before returning to her normal posture.

The griffoness poked her head out of the fountain as she finished foraging, her rose colored eyes narrowing on the umbrella of the author. Aquaria went into a pouncing posture as she prepared to ambush the deadly umbrella that loomed over the white earth pony. With a splashy pop, the duck tigress lunged at the black sun blocker. If the author had a keen eye, she could have noticed the shortest of red flashes from the unicorn's horn as she deftly guided the exuberant hybrid past the umbrella and safely to the ground.

The exuberant lifeguard peered up at the white earth pony in confusion, unsure of what happened. "Uh, your evil umbrella force fielded me. Watch out," she warned with a giggle, making up a guess of what happened until things were properly explained. After speaking her cute phrase, her eyes gave the umbrella a second glance as she realized that the object was a relative of the beach ones she saw everyday at the beach. This was closer to a parasol, not that she really knew the difference in definition.

[RarityDash]

Lyra Heartstrings was bored. Her dearest Bon Bon was busy and in her words "did not have time for Lyra's usual silliness". She had thought to find a friend to amuse her, but she hadn't seen Derpy in a while and most everypony else was either busy or away. It was weird, kinda.

As was usual when she was in this kind of bored state, Lyra took to strumming aimlessly at her lyre in the town square, busking bits off half interested townsponies. She was feeling rather uninspired. Not a lot had happened for her of late. There was all this big news coming out of the north, battles and explosions and what not, but Lyra had missed the whole thing. She wondered fi she was only fated to get in on the fun happenings when they were local or when changelings were involved. Either way, it was kind of disappointing. She was sure she could have come up with loads of songs about vikings.

Not really feeling the music, Lyra began to wander, her eyes set on a pretty moth she happened to spy fluttering past. She only went a short distance from the square before a gentle and melodic sound reached her ears. Some pony was singing! It was a pretty, sad sounding song, somewhat haunting, but beautiful. Almost immediately, Lyra pulled out her lyre and started to strum in time with the melody as she grew closer to the source. Eventually she saw an incredibly pretty mare walking through town, carrying a black parasol. She was the sort who'd have stood out anywhere, so Lyra knew instantly she wasn't a local. She smiled as she continued toward her, still strumming her instrument with her magic. Unfortunately, the pony happened to stop singing, just as Lyra was about to reach her, as she greeted a pair of travellers.

"Awww, you stopped!" Lyra started with sadness. "It was such a pretty song. Do you think you could teach me how it goes?" she asked, hopefully as she still continued to try and match the melody of the pony's vocal on her lyre as best she could.

​

[Lux]

Being a librarian was a wonderful career for Lore Weaver, especially with the turn of events that led him to the doors of the new Royal Ponyville Library. Yet he like everypony knew that certain diversions needed to be made to not make his passion monotonous, little deviations from the normal daily schedule like meeting a new friend or traveling to an unfamiliar place. Such was the case of today as the blue unicorn walked through the town. Ponyville had become quite a bustling place with tourists after Twilight Sparkle became a Princess and especially after the crystalline castle appeared. Since then ponies, griffons and other species stopped to visit the once quiet town, which suited the stallion just fine as this meant more ponies and others to get to know.

His ears twitched as he heard the sound of a mare singing a very hypnotic haunting tune. Appreciating music the stallion followed the tune, weaving past ponies and buildings until he located the source. It was a white mare with a white and black tail and piercing purple eyes. Before he could talk to her a griffon suddenly lunged at the umbrella like a cat pouncing at a ball of yarn. There were two ponies also in attendance, one he had never seen before who appeared very proper and one that he knew from town if not in passing as Lyra Heartstrings a very gifted musician herself. The unknown unicorn then introduced herself to the mare and that was when she mentioned the earth pony's name: Foxglove.

"Hello Lyra," Lore Weaver said, "I hope you are doing well today," then to the other unicorn and griffoness, "and hello to you too and welcome to Ponyville."

He then turned to the black and white mare saying, "It is an honor to meet you Miss Foxglove. I am Lore Weaver, head librarian of the Royal Ponyville Library. I have quite a few of your books both in my personal collection and in the fiction area of the library. I knew that you were talented with words, but your singing is very enchanting too."

[Pretzelparty]

"It is an honor to meet you Lady Foxglove. Your work is intriguing. It is odd that the protagonists often fall into unfortunate situations, but your work is always rather informative. You may call me Asteria, glad to meet you," she remarked calmly before returning to her normal posture.

The exuberant lifeguard peered up at the white earth pony in confusion, unsure of what happened. "Uh, your evil umbrella force fielded me. Watch out,"

“Honor’s a bit much don’t you think? I’m just an average mare out for a stroll… a couples miles from where I normally live.” The mare looked back to the direction in which the Hollow Shades may lay and giggled, “Well...I guess it’s going to be a pretty long walk back.” The young author looked back to the ebony unicorn she was speaking to and offered her hoof for which she could shake if they wished. Before that could happen however there was a flash of red light that came from the mare’s horn and suddenly there was a griffin who landed at her side.

“Huh…” The mare chuckled and soon closed up her umbrella, “I can promise you, Miss griffin. My Parasol is far from evil.” She looked back to the scarlet maned mare and grinned, “Well, Asteria. I think Misfortune isn’t as uncommon as you may think… but I’m glad you find my work helpful to you. May I ask what you do for a living?”

"Awww, you stopped!" Lyra started with sadness. "It was such a pretty song. Do you think you could teach me how it goes?" she asked, hopefully as she still continued to try and match the melody of the pony's vocal on her lyre as best she could.

​

He then turned to the black and white mare saying, "It is an honor to meet you Miss Foxglove. I am Lore Weaver, head librarian of the Royal Ponyville Library. I have quite a few of your books both in my personal collection and in the fiction area of the library. I knew that you were talented with words, but your singing is very enchanting too."

Oh! More new ponies! One was apparently a musician as she was the one who was giving Foxglove that musical accompaniment from earlier on. The other pony was a violet unicorn and the head librarian of ponyville’s new library, but also a fan of her work! How exciting! The author looked to the two newcomers and beamed for a moment before she walked over to the fountain and began a more passionate continuation of the lyrics, all the while dancing a slow and equally thematic dance to go with it…

“Wait, I’m waiting.

Say you’ll save me.

Where’s your heart that beats for me…

Watching closely, Eyes that pierce me… Where’s my heart that beats for you…

Love… Oooooo-ooooo-oooo~

Love… Oooooo-ooooo-oooo~”

The mare continued what seemed to be vocal exercises and hummed loudly a melody that Lyra could keep in tune to for a minute or two before eventually hopping down and taking a bow.

[Gerrard]

Asteria listened as Foxglove spoke, her tone vaguely spooky as the enchantress seemed to draw in a small crowd of creatures, some more mischievous than others. At the mention of a long walk, the tall unicorn nodded and looked off into the distance. "I often find myself walking between this town and Aquellia, it can be a daunting task if you are not mentally prepared," she explained in a haunting voice of her own, the stoic unicorn explaining that she did similar things on a regular basis, he words not seeming to gloat, only to relate. After being presented a white hoof to shake, Asteria blinked and gently brushed back her heavy cloak and presented her own well sculpted leg. It was clear that she probably was a marathon runner of some sort, her hooves seemingly worn down from miles and miles on the road.

After Foxglove spoke to the mischievous hybrid, the courier decided to support the author's declaration. "From my experience as well, the chance of an umbrella or parasol gaining sentience is surprisingly low," she explained calmly to the now dusty griffoness. Upon hearing her declaration that misfortune was common, Asteria quickly nodded in understanding. "I suppose there are a near infinite number of perspectives in the world and some may be more prone to misfortune. Like your character who was haunted by numerous ghosts," she explained, citing the fictional, or hopefully fictional, character as an example. Upon being asked about her profession, Asteria noticed a small group starting to form around the pair of contrasting colored ponies. Asteria was the secretive type, but it would be rude to refuse the request of a genuinely curious individual, the scarlet maned mare taking a step forward as she leaned down to the ear of her new associate as she whispered "Courier, please do not reveal it to the others," she whispered in a dark toned voice before returning her head to its normal position and backing up to a socially acceptable distance from the author.

Upon hearing that there was a small chance that an umbrella could theoretically be sentient, Aquaria gasped excitedly and gave the black umbrella an incredulous look. Before she could scrutinize it further, a mint green unicorn with a lyre cutie mark appeared, and questioned the author. The glint of Celestia's sun off the instrument caught the lifeguard's rose colored eyes, drawing her in like a moth to flame. "Wow, that instrument is so pretty, and you have a backup one on your flank too," she cutely remarked with a wink, easily impressed by this new stranger. An umbrella was a dangerous beast, but a shiny harp was something even more amazing! She politely sat down and listened to the instrument before hearing Foxglove sing as well. Before she could enjoy it too much though, another pony came, testing the limits of her attention as she quickly stood up and addressed the local librarian. "Is the library here scary too? I went to the library in Canterlot and I got lost for at least five hours," she explained with a giggle, clearly using hyperbole, the griffon the type to only get lost in half hour intervals. As the author approached the fountain, Aquaria found her cheeks poofing in a territorial manner as her eyes widened, expecting the author of stealing away her favorite coins. But when she simply used it to sing, the hybrid calmed down and patiently watched the spectacle of ponies around her.

[RarityDash]

Lore Weaver, who approached the singing mare shortly after Lyra did, spoke to her. She didn't know him super well, though she had seen him around town, so she smiled.

"Hiya, Weaver! I'm doing just great now that I've heard this beautiful song!" she said as she continued to try and strum the melody on her lyre.

She smiled at the pretty mare began to sing it again. Her eyes went wide with delight, and soon, guided by the hums of the mare, she was able to play the song by ear. The lyrics were just as fun as the melody, so Lyra began to make mental note of them. Love, huh?

"Ooh, so it's a love song?" she started excitedly at the refrain. "I totally gotta remember this one. There is a certain chocolate maker who needs to be serenaded tonight!" she said with repeated nods.

About then, one of the travellers who had engaged the pretty singing mare before Lyra, a griffon, spoke to her, admiring her instrument and cutie mark.

"Yup! This one isn't for me to strum though," she said mischievously, grinning and nodding to her flank.

"So you write stories, huh?" Lyra said, looking back toward the mare with the parasol, who both Lore and the unicorn traveller seemed to recognize. Despite any evidence of it, Lyra had been paying attention to conversations, even as she focused on playing the song. She was good at listening. "I mostly write songs, but I've tried writing stories too, but I'm not sure how good they are. What do you write? Did you write that pretty song?"

​

[SteelEagle]

 

 

Bon Bon did not feel like the best fillyfriend of late. As much as Lyra was considered the silly one of the two Bon Bon had such grand ambitions for what she wanted to do for her lover that she sometimes thought too far ahead and missed the forest for the trees. Lost in a confusing wilderness of her own making she had to count on near perfection for her plan to come together with any decent effectiveness. So when her business started to tank she had to look back at all those promises she had made to Lyra and herself and kicked herself. She couldn't come through on any of them! Pinching bits just to get a dessert once a week for dinner.was all she could honestly do and it made her angry. And because she was angry she wasn't there for her mare as often as she should be, which only made hr feel worse. It was a self-perpetuating cycle and it was all her fault.

 

But she wasn't completely hopeless! There was one small present she was preparing. She had missed Hearts and Hooves Day because the finances weren't working out just right but she had everything put together soon after. She had saved up enough bits in her personal account to buy a first edition, hoof-written (as opposed to pressed) copy of “The Chronicles of Coldblood Trotter” by Foxglove, one of Lyra's favorite writers. Bon Bon wasn't much into horror but she was into Lyra so she had tracked down one of only twelve copies and had it ordered at a high price through a local bookstore. She had told Lyra she was busy but had instead gotten to the store and picked it up, all while wearing the disguise of a Saddle Arabian princess with some face makeup. Lyra was out and about- you could hear her beautiful music in the main marketplace- so she needed to get home without alerting her like one of those odd tabletop games she played sometimes.

 

It was while skirting along the sides that she noticed that Foxglove was here in Ponyville! Oh Celestia above, what luck. She had briefly considered sending it to her to have it signed but that cost a lot of bits to preserve the paper in shipment. Having her actually here was beyond lucky, it was almost suspicious! Their lives must be controlled by some benign forces if such luck was to be her's today. But there was an obstacle- a crowd. A small one, but Lyra was in there. Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmm. Well, she did look like a Saddle Arabian Princess and she was good at voices...but it would be tricky. Very tricky. But exciting, and she liked exciting. She approached Foxglove, careful to keep the dancing veil of delight over her snout. “Ah, you are the Foxglove- the Foxglove of Chronicles of Coldblood Trotter fame? I hear you all the way in the...” she thought about it for a moment, trying to recall some of the Saddle Arabian cities as she kept her face frozen in the same position of a half-smile, “Saddlelon! We love work there, that you do.”   

[Lux]

Despite the crowd that gathered Foxglove was unfazed by the outpouring of interest. It didn't surprise the librarian being a writer himself that popularity came with the territory of the profession. The earth pony merely continued her song while dancing carefree on the fountain in town. Lyra who was equally gifted in her harp plying strummed along to the song adding a nice quality to it. 

 

"Is the library here scary too? I went to the library in Canterlot and I got lost for at least five hours," the goofy griffon who once attempted to attack the horror writer's parasol. 

 

"Well the library I can imagine would be a creepy place to some," Lore said while thinking about the ones he was in, "It is a big place and when there are few ponies there I can imagine that one would feel alone. Also the high and long shelves make things quite mysterious and no pony knows who is on the other side unless they hear them. Since you mentioned the Canterlot library, I remember getting lost there as a colt, wandering around for what felt for hours until I reached the exit. I once heard a story that the ghost of a former librarian haunts that very library and if ponies try to talk to her she shushes them. I don't know if this is a story or real as I never saw her."

 

"Hiya, Weaver! I'm doing just great now that I've heard this beautiful song! "Ooh, so it's a love song?" she started excitedly at the refrain. "I totally gotta remember this one. There is a certain chocolate maker who needs to be serenaded tonight!"

 

"Yes, it is a very enchanting song, isn't it? I'm sure that Bon Bon will love it too."

 

With the song over, lore stomped his hooves in applause. 

 

"Great song. You seem to be full of surprises," he said to the black and white mare as a mare dressed rather ornately in a veil that covered much of her. To Lore it seemed that she was familiar, but he hadn't remembered seeing her in town or in the castle visiting Princess Twilight Sparkle. 

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

 

 "I often find myself walking between this town and Aquellia, it can be a daunting task if you are not mentally prepared, From my experience as well, the chance of an umbrella or parasol gaining sentience is surprisingly low, I suppose there are a near infinite number of perspectives in the world and some may be more prone to misfortune. Like your character who was haunted by numerous ghosts,"

 

"Courier, please do not reveal it to the others," she whispered in a dark toned voice before returning her head to its normal position and backing up to a socially acceptable distance from the author.

 

"I'll keep it under my hat, as the idiom goes." Said the writer with calm chuckle to the scarlet maned mare, "Also you might want to be a tad more specific, Miss Asteria. There are maybe twenty protagonists I've written who've had haunting problems in some fashion." Foxglove was honestly a bit confused as to why this pony wouldn't want her occupation revealed to the others. The work of a Courier was as good and honest as any other pony's job, but in hindsight it may be that the young delivery pony was carrying something important or valuable and didn't want any sticky-hooved (or whatever  one may have on their are or foreleg) to try and snatch it up. The young writer had actually heard that there was was young dragon in this town who fancied pretty gems for meals... perhaps that what Asteria was worried about?

 

Once Foxglove had hopped off of the fountain, she'd seen she was indeed gathering a bit of a crowd. The kindly musician mare with the lyre had decided to even give her a bit of musical accompaniment, If she heard right, her name was Lyra... how appropriate! 

 

 

"Ooh, so it's a love song?" she started excitedly at the refrain. "I totally gotta remember this one. There is a certain chocolate maker who needs to be serenaded tonight!" she said with repeated nods.

"So you write stories, huh? I mostly write songs, but I've tried writing stories too, but I'm not sure how good they are. What do you write? Did you write that pretty song?"

​

 

"To be honest ... I'm not really sure about the details of the song. It seems to be a love song... but the melancholic tone gives me the impression there's more to it than the lyrics are saying." The ivory earth pony chuckled to herself, for a moment she thought maybe she should write some sort of creepy love story sometime later, but realized she needed to relax for now, and Ponyville was the place to do the relaxing... well except when it was being invaded, or under attack by the next threat to come from Everfree,  or whatever weird stuff occasionally happened in the town. 

 

MIss Heartstrings apparently had quite a few questions for writer, mostly along the lines of what she had and had not written. Foxglove was obviously the creative type, but she wasn't really an musician. "Well I didn't write the song... I can't really remember where I heard it from... also if you'd like maybe I could look at some of your stories! I've written all manner of stories but my longest running series is the--"

 

 

 

 “Ah, you are the Foxglove- the Foxglove of Chronicles of Coldblood Trotter fame? I hear you all the way in the...” she thought about it for a moment, trying to recall some of the Saddle Arabian cities as she kept her face frozen in the same position of a half-smile, “Saddlelon! We love work there, that you do.”   

 

Her ears perked a moment and swiveled to the source of the newcomer. Her accent sounded of Saddle Arabia, a land of scholars and literature. Foxglove had actually written a story about an evil genie who tried to trick a young filly into trading places with him in his lamp for eternity. The legends of that land had always been a fascinating topic for this pony, and she was honeslty hoping to see the land and culture herself someday. Now, F.G. hadn't been exposed to many saddle arabian horses... but from what she'd heard, they were supposed to be taller than this one; luckily for this equine, Fox wasn't rude enough to bring up such a topic. "-The- Foxglove?" she mused, "Oh I like that! The Foxglove, the one and only horror queen of literature..." she said in a playful tone before looking back to the stranger.

 

"So to answer your question, Yes!" she chuckled before offering a hoof in friendship to the newcomer, "I honestly didn't know my work was so popular in the Saddlelon! I suppose my publishers had my work translated and shipped out without telling me... I guess I should pay them a visit sometime." She managed to catch herself before she went off track completely, "It's nice to meet you miss...?"

 

"Well the library I can imagine would be a creepy place to some," Lore said while thinking about the ones he was in, "It is a big place and when there are few ponies there I can imagine that one would feel alone. Also the high and long shelves make things quite mysterious and no pony knows who is on the other side unless they hear them. Since you mentioned the Canterlot library, I remember getting lost there as a colt, wandering around for what felt for hours until I reached the exit. I once heard a story that the ghost of a former librarian haunts that very library and if ponies try to talk to her she shushes them. I don't know if this is a story or real as I never saw her."

 

"Great song. You seem to be full of surprises,"

 

"She's actually quite nice to be honest, you just need to catch her when she's off duty... and use notes instead of vocal communication." The mare stated in a rather offhanded manner, "Anyway, Mister Weaver. Is it true there's a new library in town... and also a new princess? TO be honest I... " The earth mare blushed a bit and shuffled her hooves against the dirt for a second, "I kind of slept through the entire thing with that demon centaur guy... he apparently stole my magic to but I only woke up like... maybe a week afterwards."

[RarityDash]

"To be honest ... I'm not really sure about the details of the song. It seems to be a love song... but the melancholic tone gives me the impression there's more to it than the lyrics are saying." 

 

Lyra nodded. "Oh yes, definitely, but y'know, I think that can be said about every song ever. When words are strung together and set to a melody, it becomes a special kind of magic, full of all kinds of meaning," Lyra observed cheerily. "Even the simplest songs can evoke all sorts of feelings and memories."

 

She nodded several times more and gave a little bounce. "I think that's why I love it so much."

​

 

"Well I didn't write the song... I can't really remember where I heard it from... also if you'd like maybe I could look at some of your stories! I've written all manner of stories but my longest running series is the--"

 

“Ah, you are the Foxglove- the Foxglove of Chronicles of Coldblood Trotter fame? I hear you all the way in the... Saddlelon! We love work there, that you do.” 

 

Lyra's conversation with the cute writer pony was interrupted when suddenly a really beautiful mare in the garb of a Saddle Arabian princess came up to enthuse over the writer. Lyra couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. She really was lovely, in a way Lyra seldom found ponies who weren't Bon Bon. Oh, Bonnie would be so jealous if she knew! Though, who knew, perhaps she'd be captivated by the pretty princess too. Saddle Arabian princesses appearing out of nowhere weren't an everyday occurrence in Ponyville after all. It was enough to make a more scrupulous mare suspicious.

 

But wait, what was that she had said. Foxglove? Chronicles of Coldblood Trotter? Wait, Lyra had read that before! It was really good. Lyra could remember enthusing about it at length to Bon Bon. Lyra hadn't even really thought too much about the writer though. Truth be told, Lyra didn't ever put much thought into who wrote what. She didn't know what any of the authors she read looked like or anything about them She was in it for the stories. A good story was an adventure, and Lyra liked adventures. The characters were more real to her than the writers behind them. Still, it was pretty sweet to run into the writer of something she had enjoyed.

 

"Oooooooh?" she started. "You're really Foxglove? That's awesome! I've read some of your stories! They're pretty nice," she said conclusively, giving several nods. "In that case, I'd really love to show you some of the stuff I wrote."

 

She gave another excited bounce and grinned widely. "Just the other day I was writing a chilling horror story with the working title 'Invasion of the Parasitic Pine Cone Ponies', but Bonnie didn't seem to think it was very scary..." Lyra said, recalling the laughter. "I wonder what I'm doing wrong..."

 

Lyra looked again then toward the princess. She smiled and waved at her. "Hello there!" she said. "You know, I always thought Saddle Arabians were taller than other ponies," she observed, tilting her head quizzically.

​

[Gerrard]

"It is statistically unlikely that any individual could have as many terrorizing incidents over the course of a week as your protagonists. I believe that your characters might be better served by thinking their predicaments out in a more logical manner. Perhaps when confronted by an incorporeal creature, they might be better served by eluding the senses of the creature instead of seeking shelter from it," she suggested calmly to the author. The unicorn always tried to address everything as logically as possible, not quite understanding that the fictional books were tools of entertainment, not exercises in reality.

"Regardless, if your work is simply an effort to spark a thought from the reader, I believe that you can consider your work successful. You seem to have created a small coalition of like minded individuals. Some might say that is quite a valuable prize. I must go, but thank you for the kind words, an individual in Canterlot needs my help," she commented to her new friend before politely bowing and trotting off to locations unknown.

Aquaria though, had no intention of leaving, the ever excitable hybrid locked in a 1-sided battle of the minds with the other author. "Ya, I found the fountain of youth there and I showed it to a poison making alchemist who is a secret agent for Princess Celery. It was a treacherous adventure, but it was tons of fun," her overactive imagination entering overdrive as she seemingly invented up a diabolical plot involving a strangely named princess. A few specks of truth were in the story, but her excitement had clearly jumbled it up into something strange and incoherent.

At the mention of the giant centaur monster, Aquaria giggled to herself, finding that particular day strange. "Oh yeah, all the ponies in my town forgot how to fly that day. It was weird, some ponies forgot how to swim too. Some sort of eclipse must have blocked out the sun and stole the super powers of all the ponies! I bet it was Nightmare Moon. I heard she built a colony of aliens on the moon and maybe these centaur things tried to take over the world, but an army of rainbows flew in and saved all of pony kind," she reasoned aloud. It was like the worst fan-fiction ever written and there just enough grains of truth sprinkled in to pause a questioning pony, at least until she spoke her next absurd comment that was clearly her imagination running wild.

[SteelEagle]

 

The plan was working perfectly. Even her Lyra didn't recognize her! Who knew a little bit of flash and dash could work so well? She'd have too do this more often. Lyra was more of the disguise type in their relationship while Bon Bon delivered the voices, but now she felt like a true spy of spies. Well, a true pretty arabian princess, but close enough. But now for the important part of the job, one that was much harder with Lyra around. She had a copy of her favorite novel by Foxglove on her right now and she wanted to get it signed. But if she mentioned Lyra or she let out what she wanted it to say then the story would unravel, either now or later. That would ruin today as well as the many days preceding today where Bon Bon had been a bit of a thorny bush to deal with because of their situation, all coming back around to this one really cool gift. What drama! She had to make double sure that she didn't have something that would trail back to her.

Part one was a convincing story. Saddle Arabians were on average much bigger than she, something even the tiniest schoolfilly knew. Bon Bon admittedly hadn't given it much thought because she didn't expect a great deal of scrutiny. But years of plying her friendship trade in Canterlot gave her certain skills. As a filly she danced along the midnight wire of social classes and made friends across the cutting stratosphere As a mare her voice changing antics and ability to be jovial seemed to combine into an eccentric mix of sound and fury signifying little other than oddity, but it hid a deeper meaning: she could adapt pretty fast to any circumstance. So she could easily get her way out of this minor jam as long as her cranium decided to kickstart all that delicious brain juice.

 

Brain juice activate. Turn to Lyra and smile, but not her classic smile- a little thinner.“I am a bit smaller than other in my land, yes true. I am of slightly younger age and we mature slower. You know lot about my home. You been there? I think I remember such beautiful mare, jameel shams,” Bon Bon allowed the end to come out all flirty like. Calling her a beautiful sun would knock her socks off! If she had sock, anyway. It was nice an sweet and super awesome. She alwas enjoyed flattering her mare. Brain juice continue to activate! Turn back to Foxglove and pull out the book. “It is fate I meet you- I am on way to Canterlot, stop in, get book, your book. What chance! I was wondering if I may get signed for somep- somehorse else?” Nice save, Bon Bon. Nice save.

[Lux]

"Also you might want to be a tad more specific, Miss Asteria. There are maybe twenty protagonists I've written who've had haunting problems in some fashion."

 

Lore Weaver chuckled as Foxglove asked for more clarity to a certain character. Indeed the stallion knew that many of the characters had experienced haunting whether they were the object of haunting like moving to a haunted house or in rarer cases they were the ghosts. Of course there were other strange creatures too but haunting encounters seemed like a major theme in the stories. But his attention turned towards Lyra's conversation about music, specifically the one that Foxglove was singing. 

 

"Indeed it is a lovely song regardless," he said to Lyra and Foxglove, "I am also a fan of music and this one definitely has a very haunting quality to it. just like stories I find that music can definitely make ponies feel something. The best songs I find tell a story to the point that you can picture it in your mind."

 

"Just the other day I was writing a chilling horror story with the working title 'Invasion of the Parasitic Pine Cone Ponies', but Bonnie didn't seem to think it was very scary..." Lyra said, recalling the laughter. "I wonder what I'm doing wrong..."

 

From what the title of it says, it sounds like some kind of insect swarm destroying trees. Not sure if that's what you were going for," Lore said trying not to poke fun of Lyra's idea but to try and delve a little further into her story. Titles were the most mysterious and one of the hardest parts of making a story as they had to catch the attention of the reader in a few short words. 

 

"She's actually quite nice to be honest, you just need to catch her when she's off duty... and use notes instead of vocal communication." The mare stated in a rather offhanded manner, 

 

"So you did see her then? Interesting, guess I wasn't so lucky as every time I went into the basement she wasn't there. Maybe one day I'll see her." 

 

 "Anyway, Mister Weaver. Is it true there's a new library in town... and also a new princess? TO be honest I... " The earth mare blushed a bit and shuffled her hooves against the dirt for a second, "I kind of slept through the entire thing with that demon centaur guy... he apparently stole my magic to but I only woke up like... maybe a week afterwards."

 

"Oh yeah, all the ponies in my town forgot how to fly that day. It was weird, some ponies forgot how to swim too. Some sort of eclipse must have blocked out the sun and stole the super powers of all the ponies! I bet it was Nightmare Moon. I heard she built a colony of aliens on the moon and maybe these centaur things tried to take over the world, but an army of rainbows flew in and saved all of pony kind," 

 

"Yes both of you are correct," Lore Weaver said with a sigh as if a part of his memory that he thought was long buried appeared yet again, "There is a new library and a new Princess, although Twilight Sparkle became an Alicorn before the appearance of Tirek as I learned recently the creature's name. No it wasn't Nightmare Moon miss as she is gone. Long story short, this Tirek escaped from some prison and to gain power stole the power from the ponies. So you are right the ponies forgot how to fly or use magic. I too lost my magic that day, and sadly more my bookstore which sat across the street from Twilight's Library Tree home was destroyed just as hers was too after the battle between her and Tirek. I was buried under my store and though that I was a goner. Luckily I survived and got my power back, but I didn't know where to go from there as I had no home or business. Thankfully though once Tirek was defeated and the new castle appeared Twilight gave me the job as head librarian which I'm forever thankful to her. So out of the ashes we have a new Princess, new castle, new library and for me a new life and job." 

 

Lore then remembered that Foxglove mentioned how she slept through the whole thing which was why she didn't remember what happened. 

 

"Well maybe it was a blessing in disguise that you didn't see what happened as it was as scary as any horror novel I read, maybe more. But how can you sleep that long? Do you go without sleep for days and then sleep a long period of time? I'm not a doctor but that might not be very healthy." 

 

As he waited for an answer he watched the Saddle Arabian pony speak rather flirtatiously toward Foxglove. Though he never saw her in town she looked somewhat familiar but he had no idea how or why.