//------------------------------// // Ponyville Local News 006 // Story: Ponyville Local News // by Twinsez //------------------------------// “Ponyville Local News is brought to you by Carrot Farms. Go get yourself some Carrot Bread, the hottest product on the market. Come to our stores located in Ponyville and taste the best thing in Equestria.” “Hello, Ponyville! No, your ears aren’t deceiving you! It really is me, DJ PON-3! I’m back and better than ever. Last time you heard me, I was having a panic attack on live radio. Yikes! But the station let me take the time to relax and take a break from my job. Spent some time eating ice cream, hanging with my coltfriend, eating some more ice cream. And I gotta say, that really helped, and now I’m back to give you all the news. Also because I couldn’t bear to listen to Time Turner's boring drivel anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I love the stallion, but he can’t DJ to save his life. “So without further ado, let’s get to the news… BUT FIRST! First, we need to play this message from our local police.” “The filly Scootaloo still has not been found. Please look for her. She must be returned to her family. It is imperative. If you find this filly, report to Ponyville police immediately. If you withhold any information regarding this filly and her location, there will be serious consequences. It’s important to make sure she does not leave this town. Find this filly. It is of the utmost importance. Thank you for your compliance.” “Okay, so I’m pretty sure that if the police change their message to become more urgent, you should start paying attention. So come on everypony, find that filly. It’s been like two weeks now. “Anyways, we got one big story for today, and you might want to pay close attention. This is very important. So it’s been, what, two weeks since S.M.I.L.E came into our fair town, and let’s just say they have not received a warm welcome. It started off sort of quiet, with just a few jeers hurled at officers on the street, or some complaints thrown at the town hall's office that were mostly ignored. But we here at the station saw a blooming problem that was soon to get out of hoof, so we warned everypony. We told you Ponyvillians to lay off from the S.M.I.L.E hate unless we want to drive this thing out of control, and then we have the government on our hooves. “So naturally, everypony took that warning as a sign to flip out. A few days after that broadcast, a giant mob of around one hundred ponies or so, our sources say, gathered in front of the Town Hall to protest, you guessed it, S.M.I.L.E! And it got really nasty down there folks. It started off peaceful, but then a few idiots started to incite violence, and then before you knew it, we almost had a full-blown riot on our hooves. Ponies throwing signs, kicking each other, and oh the yelling! I’m sure the Princess could hear the commotion all the way from Canterlot. The police were sent to try to calm everypony down, but that just made it worse.  “Finally, when it seemed like the ponies were going to storm the Town Hall, two S.M.I.L.E agents walked out of the building and stood on its porch, just looking at the protesters. That’s all it took, as in ten minutes the crowd of ponies dispersed, leaving nothing but the remains of broken signs.  “Still, the damage was done. Upwards to fifteen ponies were sent to the hospital from injuries sustained during the protest. One of the ponies arrested was the presumed ringleader Berry Punch. You heard that right, that Berry Punch. Guess there’s such a thing as too many chances.  “Thankfully, there has not been a protest since that day. Still, tensions remain high in this small town, and we at the station are worried. So we decided to tackle the problem head-on to get some answers. And surprisingly it wasn’t that hard. All we needed to do was ask nicely. “Mares and gentlecolts, sitting right next to me is none other than leading officer Sweetie Drops of S.M.I.L.E. She is in charge of S.M.I.L.E here in Ponyville, and she’s going to try calm all you rioting ponies down. So, hello Ms. Drops.” “Hello, Miss Scratch. Thank you for inviting me here. I'm happy to talk.” “No problem Miss Drops. No problem at all. And you can just call me Pon-3.” “Alright then, as you wish.” “So let’s get to the first question, because I’m sure many ponies are dying to hear what you have to say.” “I sure hope so.” “So, let’s ask you the main question here, right out of the gate. Why is S.M.I.L.E taking such interest in our little town? Now I understa-“ “I’m sorry, but that information is classified. S.M.I.L.E is not at liberty to share that to the public.” “-Yeah, I get that. But is there any more detail you can tell us, something to keep us just the tiny bit satisfied?” “We already explained enough to Ponyville in the announcement upon our arrival. I hope I don’t have to repeat myself.” “Miss Drops, please. We understand there’s something strange in Ponyville, we’ll admit that! But if you tell us some more information about it, we could give you a little more help.” “Ms. Scratch- “Pon-3.” “…Miss Scratch, let me give you a word of advice: Change topics. Even if I could give you those answers, you wouldn’t like them. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about S.M.I.L.E, except for our specific business. That is not for the public to know.” “Wha-wha…wha-“ “Now, I understand you have more questions to ask me?” “Uh, y-yeah. Yeah, I do.” “Then you might want to ask those instead.” “…yeah. Yes, I mean, that’s a good idea. Uh, what do you want to say to the Ponyvillians unhappy with your organization's research in this town?” “Now this, I can answer. S.M.I.L.E is here from a direct order by the Princess. Our business here is very classified, so we can not share many details with the public. However, we are all here to cooperate with each other. My officers are ordered to treat this town with nothing but respect, I hope you can say the same. What happened at the Town Hall was terrible, and a betrayal of our trust. We will continue to show peace and respect to Ponyville, all we ask from you is similar respect. “However, our reputation has not been built on false accounts. We will stay here in Ponyville to finish the job we have been assigned to. No matter how much anypony tries to drive us away, we will continue to do our job. Consent is recommended, but not required. “But we hope it won’t have any… unwanted results. Tolerate us, and we’ll be out of your mane in just a little bit.” “…” “Miss Scratch, do you have any more questions you would like to ask me?” “…y-yeah.” “Are you sure about that?” “…no.” “Don’t worry Miss Scratch. I should get going myself. I need to check in on my officers. I hope you have a pleasant afternoon. We’ll talk sometime in the near future, I can tell you that.” “R-right. Thanks for talking with us Miss… Miss… anyway, I think it’s time for the ad, yeah? Yeah, let’s pull up the ad.” “Hello everypony! My name is Carrot Top, and I’m just a simple carrot farmer in Ponyville. All of our products are handmade, and are filled with our special ingredient: love! Try our new Carrot Bread for a snack, or buy our naturally grown, delicious carrots that will get the whole family smiling at dinner! So come to our local stores and taste the best thing in Equestria.” Okay everypony! I hope you enjoyed that interview. Basically, don’t mess with S.M.I.L.E. Just let them do their jobs, and they’ll let us do ours. I don’t think we want them on our bad side. Soon enough, they’ll find nothing wrong here, and they’ll leave. Just… just hang in there everypony. So, that’s it for the news today. It sure is great to be back here, and I hope you all are just as excited. We’ll see you in a couple of days, but until then, enjoy some music. And boy, do we got a special song today! My dear friend Octavia Melody from Canterlot has mailed me several songs of hers she would like us to play live on the station. So, I’m going to do just that! I know classical isn’t what you usually listen to here, but a change of pace never hurt anypony! So here’s a couple songs to soothe your mind. Enjoy, and long live Equestria.