//------------------------------// // Episode 19 [CMC]: Please welcome to the show Jon Stewart // Story: The Daily Show presents: Equestrian Interviews // by Daily Show Ponies //------------------------------// Series: Equestrian interviews Interviewer: Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo Guest: Jon Stewart (Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz) Date: ??? Location: Daily Show headquarters 733 11th Avenue Manhattan, NY 10019 THIS IS THE DAILY SHOW WITH THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS When Jon agreed to essentially call do over with the interview he didn’t think it would go this far. Having to go back stage while his staff members lightly scrambled to get everything back in place was a sight he rarely got to see from this angle. The crowd had calmed down at the behest of the stagehands signaling both them and other on set workers to get ready for their interview to start up again, which included the sound guys up top who gave a thumbs up that they were ready as well. Selina herself was busy talking to the three girls and pointing to the note that Jon left for them, no doubt giving further instructions on what to do. From the moment that the girls suggested this idea to everything ready to start over it took a good solid thirty seconds which Jon used to prepare himself for yet another important interview for the Daily Show record books. His own. As with every third segment the screen, from the point of view of the viewers at home, when black before it quickly switched to more stock footage of the Manhattan streets followed by the shows title logo flying on screen then dissipating as the camera zoomed in on the main desk on set.. This, as always was noticed by those in the audience who promptly began to cheer as loudly as they could before silencing themselves quickly so when the camera had properly moved to the front where the three fillies were in sight they could hear them speak. It usually took a lot to get the audience to stop their chanting and hollering but since this was their first time doing this they gave them some leeway. But mostly they didn’t want to miss a second of them as the new hosts of the show which they seemed all too eager to do. “Hello and welcome back to the Daily Show!” Scootaloo announced, her being nervous for the situation evident by how her voice was slightly wavering. “We have a very, very, very special guest tonight!” Applebloom eagerly added like she wanted to remind everyone that she was here too. There was a slight pause before Sweetie Belle took over by squinting her eyes at the notes that Jon wrote for her “He is... a local... comedian... who had his own TV show... on Comedy Central as well as... voted worlds most... beautiful man in 2012... and honorary member... of... the league... of extraordinary Jews,” Sweetie Belle read in a slight robotic tone since she stopped occasionally and but great emphasis in each word to make sure she ready the intro correctly. Though both she and her two friends knew the next part by heart so after sharing a quick nod amongst each other all three girls stood to read the last portion of the intro together. “PLEASE WELCOME TO THE SHOW JON STEWART!” Immediately Jon rushed onto the stage to see if he could not only beat him camera man from filming him leaving the back stage but also beat the audience from applauding him before he go the the halfway point. But in practice his crew proved too adept and his audience too timely for him to win either contest. Walking his own stage at the crowd cheered him on in such a fashion felt incredibly awkward for him. He’s seen this play out before but never from the point of view of a guest. Jon continued to walk towards the desk and thought about blowing a kiss or two but he decided to go for a more classy wave of the hand instead. Stopping his his tracks for a minute he placed both his hands on his hips and gave a quick chuckle which most just assumed was him taking all this in but in actuality it was Jon noticing that despite the fact that he was the host of the show he wasn’t getting as loud an applause as his three guests. It was to be expected but he still found it humorous. With not that much time left to spare Jon quickly to his guest where each filly was leaning over with their hooves out like they were begging for treats. Before actually sitting down Jon gave one last wave, shook each of their hooves then carefully sat himself properly in his chair so as to not wrinkle his sports jacket. He was impressed to how quickly the crowd calmed themselves down, again because they wanted it to be completely quiet for when the three fillies officially began the interview. Which they did very suddenly. “Thank you for being on the show, Johnny!” Applebloom said. “Yeah, thank you for being on OUR show!” Scootaloo corrected. “Well thank you very much for having me.” Jon responded with a chuckle as he reached forward to grab his Daily Show much which was still on the other side of the desk. “I’m loving the show so far.” “Thank you very much!” Sweetie Belle stated in a chipper tone as Jon took a sip of his water in preparation for the slew of questions that that was sure to soon come his way. But to his surprise that never happened. Waiting an awkward few seconds the crowd began to chuckle at Jon who was staring at his guests now turned hosts to see if they would ask anything of him, which they did not. But while Jon took turns staring at his guests then to the crowd with uneasy looks the three young fillies simply stared at their human friends with unwavering smiles. It looks like they were both waiting for the other to say something first with Jon finally breaking the tension. “Uh, girls?” He said. “Yes Jon?” All three said at once. “This is the part where you’re supposed to ask me something.” He advised. “O-oh right!” Applebloom blurted as she quickly grabbed her notes to see if there were any further instructions. There were not; only scribbles. “Um... w-what do we ask?” With joyous laughter at the comedic properties at play here that the audience leaned forward with such intense concentration that a raging dinosaur bursting through the wall wouldn't have been enough to distract them from the scene that was currently unfolding. Throwing his hands in the air in apparent defeat Jon combed his hair back and scooched forward so he could hunch himself over his desk. “You don’t... okay I’m.... here-- actually I’m not going to tell you three what to say from here on out.” Jon explained. “If you want to get your Cutie Marks in the... glamorous field of television hosting then you need figure this out on your own.” A sink or swim approach might not have been the best approach but Jon figured that this would be the best way for them to get the job done. He never truly believed this scheme of theirs would work and that by the end they’d walk out with still no Cutie Mark to show for it but nevertheless he was still curious to see how they would do. The three girls still felt like a little bit of hand holding was necessary. “But we don’t know what to say!” Sweetie Belle confessed, looking saddened by this in the process. “Yeah come on buddy, just give us a hint!” Scootaloo suggested. “What kinds of things should we ask?” “I don’t... you know I’ve been on other talk shows before like uh... before-- I’ve been on Letterman, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve been on O’Reily’s show a uh.. a few times and they never really asked me anything super... uh, personal.” Jon revealed as he leaned in to make counting motions with his fingers. “So... for you three ask-- I’m allowing you to ask me anything relating to my personal life if you have to. Just as long as it’s dynamic, thought provoking and open-ended... I’m your open book!” Unsure of how to go about doing such a thing thee three girls instead huddled together once again to discuss a battle plan. The crowd laughed as the sound of their hurried whispers echoed throughout the room through the mics attached to their persons. Occasionally they stuck their heads out like gophers to look at Jon, only to hunch back over again to discuss what their next course of action was. The result was as underwhelming as it was adorable. “What’s your favorite color?” Sweetie Belle asked, which made the entire audience laugh as Jon quickly leaned back in his seat, looked at the audience and crossed his leg, as if to demonstrate how easy the question was. “Uh... blue.” Jon answered, almost sounding refreshed that he got an easy one. “My favorite color is blue.” Rather than expanding on this particular topic, like asking why that was, so that they could later transition to another set of inequalities the three young fillies went back to their previous curred up position as they discussed once again what else they should ask. This time around they spent less time debating their next move but the result was just as uninspiring. “What’s your favorite animal?” Scootaloo asked, once again earning the three laughter for all the wrong reasons. “Dogs.” Jon chuckled as he leaned back even further. “I really love dogs.” This time the three girls showed signs of improvement by following up on their lackluster question. “Oh! I have a doggy too! Her name is Winona.” Applebloom said, making an all important connection between guest and interviewer. “Do you have a pet doggy too, Johnny?” “I actually do, his name is Champ.” Jon answered, feeling tempted to prop his legs on the desk. “He’s a three legged pit bull.” “Wait a minute.” Applebloom interjected. “Ya’ll are telling me your doggy only has three legs.” “That’s correct.” Jon nodded. “Why?” Sweetie Belle asked, added a tilt of a head. “Could you not afford one with four legs?” Scootaloo asked. After a quick laugh from Jon and those around him Jon sat back up in a more proper arch. “Nooooo, it's because he’s a rescue.” Jon revealed. “He didn’t come from the best of backgrounds but I adopted him nevertheless.” “Ooooh that’s so nice!” Applebloom commented only to have the room once again fill with silence. Jon could have carried the conversation further but he instead bit his tongue thereby forcing them to try and come up with a new topic. Which they did after quickly realizing that things had died down so they huddled back together for another session of brainstorming. This time around Jon suspected that their next question would be more thought out since their group huddle lasted longer than previous attempts of coming up with ideas. Jon was ready to have to use his analytic slide of his brain for once but like before the result was anticlimactic and what one would expect from children. “What’s your middle name?” Applebloom asked with a clever look about her like she had trapped Jon into answering the most personal question she could think of. “Oh geez.” Jon giggled at how silly this interview was becoming. “Uh... Stuart... my middle name... is Stuart.” The two of the three guests made plans to once again huddle up for discuss what to say next but before they could the more observant of the three instead leaned forward to continue this line of questions as she had just noticed something. “Wait a minute... I thought your last name was Stewart.” Sweetie Belle argued which got her two friends thinking. “Hey, that’s right!” Scootaloo barked. “What’s the deal!? You trying to pull a fast one on us!?” “I assure you... at my age remotely nothing about me is ‘fast.’” Jon jested, but when it failed to make the three hosts laugh it was clear they preferred an explanation. “It’s no big secret really I just don’t like using my real last name... instead I prefer to use my more anglo middle name instead.” Believing that this question would go the way of the previous ones, I.E. get dropped for the next moondance inquiry Jon was shocked to hear a follow up question that was as powerful as it was simplistic. “Why?” Applebloom asked. Immediately Jon instinctively wanted to explain why through his usual joking manner, like a comedic reflex. But at the same time his mind filled in the blanks for him and reminded of the actual reason as to why he did the things he did. Taking a moment to think Jon clicked in tongue and nodding his head in what looked like him saying through body language “not bad” at where this was going. The three girls had no idea the can of worms they had just opened. “Why you ask? Well... for several reasons actually.” Jon said as he leaned forward to clasp his hands over his desk like he was about to pray. “Uuuh well...for one... I... I like to joke and say the reason I go by Jon Stewart rather than Jon Leibowitz is because I live in a fantastic world known as show business. You see... uh, in the realm of entertainment a trendy name can mean the difference between having a future or failing. A celebrity's name has... it, it, it needs to be catchy and recognizable enough that it just rolls off the tongue... so that any fan can say it. Using your own middle name is a good loophole that works and is why Angelina Jolie doesn’t go by Angelina Voight or why uh, or why Tom Cruise doesn’t refer to himself as Thomas Mapother.” Although the young fillies had no idea of who he was talking about his point was being made rather effectually that they dare not speak but instead listened carefully as if they were back in school and Jon was a teacher. “As for me well... I traded in my Jewish last name for my Scottish middle one because well... I uh, thought people could relate to it more. Going for a differnt cultures last name for the sake of your career is in itself... not unheard of.” Jon explained. “Ritchie Valens’s last name was actually Valenzuela but people thought that... that the people of the era would never accept a rockstar with such an ethnic last name.” “But... but isn’t that... a not nice thing to do?” Applebloom asked, not knowing how to quite phrase her question. “I mean... isn’t it bad to do something just because other folks wouldn’t understand?” “Yeah, Ms. Cheerilee taught us about that.” Sweetie Belle added. “It’s called peer pressure.” “I suppose you’re right... maybe this is just us celebrities doing something out of fear of repercussion and maybe it isn’t the best thing that we’re throwing away our birth names but let me ask you this.” Jon presented. “Tell me does... does-- which sounds more ‘catchy’... The Daily show with Jon Stewart! Or... The Daily Show with Jonathan Leibowitz!” Even the forward thinking innocent ponies from Equestria had to admit that the former sounded much better, as evident by their faces scrunching in disgust at the awkward sounding alternate title. Something which Jon picked up on. “Exactly! But let me tell you something, girls... even if... even if my world was more like Equestria and... no one ever judged you by the color of your skin or by how many syllables were in your name,” he began. “Even if everything... was sunshine rainbows and acceptance I would still flat out refuse to use my real last name.” “W-why?” Scootaloo asked, sensing a little bit of hostility in his voice. “Because it’s my father’s last name.” Jon answered. “Your daddy?” Applebloom asked. “W-why don’t you want to use your dad’s last name?” Sweetie Belle asked which made Jon lean back to sigh then rock himself forward once more. “We uh... well... you guys are too young to understand but the uh, gist of it is me and my old man had a falling out a long, long time ago.” He answered. “We always had a bit of a strained relationship and now we’re no longer in touch... it’s complicated but just know I’m not too, let’s say, overly fond of him so I don’t use his name.” For some people in the room, like Selina and the more knowledgeable fans, this wasn’t anything new but for other like the Cutie Mark Crusaders this was as shocking as it was tragic to hear. This time the three fillies didn’t even have to huddle up to know what to say next. “We’re sorry.” The three said with sad tones and even sadder looks of guilt. “Sorry for what?” Jon genuinely asked. “For making y’all have to talk about something real personal and such.” Applebloom confessed while nervously playing with her bow while her friends just stared at their own hooves. Jon was very much unaffected by this and demonstrated as such by giving a hearty laugh. “It’s quite alright. I’m fine with talking of such things so no need to worry.” Jon assured them but at the same time they looked uneasy about asking about it. “Seriously though that was a great question! You asked something, I answered it, you followed up on it and got me to respond by opening up with something personal about my life! In my line of work we call that a one, two, punch.” “R-really?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Yeah I’m serious!” He tried to get them to see. “And if it makes you guys feel any better I have perfectly healthy relationship with everyone else in my family... except for the annoying ones.” This time the intended humor was enough to get the three to return to them temporary jobs as hosts. “So, what other family members do you have?” Scootaloo asked. “Uh well... there’s my mom who I’ve already told you about... she’s a school teacher.” Jon reminded. “And then there’s my wife Tracey... she’s a veterinary technician and the two of us have two kids: Maggie and Nathan... who are about your guys’ age.” “What do they do?” Applebloom asked. “Pardon?” He said leaning in more to hear them better. “What do your kids do?” Scootaloo repeated on behalf of her friend. “Your mom is a teacher and your wife is a vet... so what are your kids.” “O-oh you mean... oh well my kids they... they mostly just sit around the house playing video games all day.” Jon answered. “Maybe playing video games is their special talent.” Applebloom suggested. “God I hope not!” He responded which made the audience laugh but left the three girls confused. “How come?” Scootaloo asked. “Do you not like video games?” Sweetie Belle added. “Well no it’s not-- I mean yeah I myself used to play them back in the late 70’s, early 80’s.” Jon admitted now feeling nostalgic. “Goodness I remember playing pong for the first time and thought this was amazing... then they blew my mind when they came out with Pac-man and Tetris and I thought ‘wow there’s no way videogames are getting any better than this.’” No one in the studio could be classified a leading expert on videogames, least of all the the people on stage, but those in the audience laughed at Jon’s dated opinions on the medium. “You know I remember when I had a falling out with uh... w-w-with video games it was right around the time they started to add buttons... then things got waaay too complicated. I did like Space Invaders but after that.” Jon continued. “LIke-- I mean nowadays I feel like you need a PhD before holding one of those new video game controllers that have like 30 buttons on it. And now controllers have their own touch screens on it! It’s insane!” “Well maybe your kids can teach you.” Applebloom suggested which made Jon laugh almost mockingly “Oh, ho,ho they’ve tried... trust me they’ve tried. My kids have tried to get me to play with them now and again but I-I-I just can’t get the hang of it. Apparently pressing a button is much different than holding one down and then you have so put the controller up to your face to try and register your own-- I just... I just don’t understand.” Jon answered. “But more than anything else I think... I think the reason I’m not fond of it all is because well... coming from someone who has lived for a long time I feel like it’s just much... much too violent for something that’s obviously aimed towards kids.” There were some in the audience who verbalized their disagreement with Jon’s archaic opinions. “I remember not too long ago my kids dragged me to see a movie called ‘Wreck-it-Ralph’ which was an animated movie about video games and at one point the main characters turns to the audience and says ‘when did videogames become so violent and scary’ so that’s-- and that’s basically my feelings as well.” Jon added. “I get the appeal but good lord some of the games are just... too much! You have games like Mortal Kombat where you dismember people and slow motion and gruesome ways... I’ve seen Stanley Kubrick and Peter jackson films with less gore.” “But you said you played video games too!” Scootaloo countered. “Yes but back then things were more basic... a simpler time if you will.” Jon explained. “Besides when I played those old games I wasn’t a kid... I was more of a ‘young adult’... I mean when I was your guys’ age I mostly either watched TV or played outside with my friends.” Raising her hoof in the air, only to quickly recoil since she remembered she was the one asking the questions now Sweetie Belle then began to ask a proper follow up. “What games did you play with your friends?” She asked which made Jon lean forward to see the long list of future endeavors still on their side of the desk. “Nothing on that list of yours I’ll tell ya that.” Jon answered by motioning to her large roll of scribbled parchment. “Uh, but... to answer your questions we uh... we did all kinds of things, we played, capture the flag, telephones, marbles... uh, tag, hide and seek, Duck Duck Goose, Johnny on the pony, Marco Po--” “Wait, wait, wait!” Scootaloo interrupted before a brief pause of silence “What was that last one.” Before actually answering Jon noticed that as well as his three guest Selina as well as those in attendance were now staring at him with confused looks. “What? You mean Johnny on the pony?” He repeated immediately realizing what was so jaunting. “Ooooh... I... okay okay that... that is an actual game I’m not making this up... go on Google if you don’t believe, it’s there.” “Is... is it named after you?” Applebloom asked. “No, no, no, no it’s been around forever.” Jon answered. “Way before my time even.” “How does it involve ponies?” Sweetie Belle asked. “There’s... there’s no ponies involved it’s just a game where one group of friends tries... they try to climb on the backs of another group of friends.” He explained. “Kinda like leap frog.” “If it’s not named after you or even has ponies then why is it called ‘Johnny on the pony?’” Scootaloo asked. “W-well actually it’s only called that here in New York.” He revealed. “Well what’s it called everywhere else?” Sweetie Belle wanted to know. “Buck Buck.” Jon answered. There was a tiny moment of silence which was broken by the three fillies unable to contain themselves. Lurching forward and covering their mouths with their hooves the three began to giggle to themselves without any proper parental figure to tell them to cease. The entire crowd followed their example and soon Jon found himself laughing by proxy. These three were highly contagious characters. “You sound like you were a weird kid!” Scootaloo teased which intensified the laughter of those who heard, including Jon. “Hey, hey, hey look who’s talking!” Jon countered. “Call me crazy but I’d rather spend my youth having fun than trying to do what you guys do... I mean seriously enjoy being kids while you still can!” “That’s easy for you to say, you probably figured out your special talent when you were our ages too!” Scootaloo suggested. “Actually... would you believe me if I said that’s not true at all.” Jon responded. “I-it’s not?” Sweetie Belle said. “How old were you when you discovered your very special talent, Johnny?” Applebloom asked. In response Jon leaned back and rubbed his chin to get an exact estimate that they would understand. “Well let’s see here... well, I’ve always been the quintessential class clown at heart but to be honest I-- comedy wasn’t something I always thought I’d uh, I’d be doing. Back in 84’ I uh, I was a college kid majoring in chemistry before switching to psychology.” Jon recalled as far back as he could. “And then the next thing I knew uh... after that I was holding down many odd jobs here and there to help support myself. I was a contingency planner for... f-for the New Jersey Department of Human Services, I was a contract administrator for the City University of New York at one point... I was a puppeteer, a soccer coach, a caterer, a busboy, a shelf checker, a bartender I just... I did anything to get by.” “Wow!” The three girls moaned in shock at the different occupations once held by Jon, most of them no where near the field of comedy. They all assumed that Jon always knew what he wanted to do in life but to hear that he, at once point, cycled through so many professions and they themselves do to this day was something they didn’t think they’d have a connection with. “So... so you used to play with puppets?” Scootaloo asked. “Y-yes I... I most certainly did.” Jon chuckled at the fact that this was the point the young pegasus took away. “It was for disabled kids. But uh... but going back to your main question of uh, of ‘how old was I when I found my special talent’ well... let’s put it this way... I was a little bit older than your guys’ sisters when I discovered my calling at as a comedian.” “Seriously!” All three exclaimed at once. “Yeah... how did you think I’d discovered my passion for comedy?” Jon asked which made all three fillies briefly look at each other waiting for someone brave enough to step up. “Well,” Applebloom began. “We just thought ya’ll found out when you were a kid then spend the rest of your life getting better at it like everypony else.” “HA HA HAAAAAA! As if! I didn’t really ‘hone my skills’ till much later... it was after college when I moved back to the big apple... man I remember working all the local clubs that famous comedians like, Cosby, Belzer and Billy Crystal played at to get my name out.” Jon explained. “And even then I barely got my foot in the door... I mean I’ve only had this show for 14 years... that’s just a small fraction of my life.” The three girls were stunned by this revelation. “Wow.” Scootaloo said. “I knew you were old... I just didn’t know you were that old.” Her genuine surprise made the comedic punch all the more severe. “Hey now that’s-- wait a second... how old did you girls think I was?” Jon asked. With a gulp each pony looked at each other then back at Jon. None of them had the answer, nor were they equipped to make an educated guess. The crowd found themselves laughing at the sight of the three tiny hosts now falling back on their previously strategy of huddling together to discuss possible answered. Jon was all too willing to let them converse for awhile but in truth they couldn't decide on a number. Throwing caution aside the three returned to their human friend and each blurted a number they thought appropriate. “80!” “30!” “50!” They each shouted out. “Wait!” Jon yelled leaning in with narrowed eyes. “Which one of you thought I was 30?” At first no one moved, like they were fearful that if they did Jon would pounce like a starving lion. But soon the truth was revealed by Sweetie Belle slowly raising her hoof. “I did?” She confessed which prompted Jon to grab his mug of water and slid it over to her side of the table. “You get the Daily Show mug.” He rewarded which made the audience equal parts laugh and applause the tiny Unicorn on her prize while her two friends pouted amongst themselves. Feeling proud of herself Sweetie Belle stuck her snout into the class container and took a victory sip of her beverage while her friends remained silent. “So... you have any more riveting questions for me?” Jon asked. “No!” Scootaloo and Applebloom said as they turned their heads. “Oh hey now come one there’s no need for that.” Jon advised. “Just cause Sweetie Belle got the mug doesn’t mean you should ignore me.” “It’s not that! Scootaloo admitted. “It’s just... it’s just we sorta ran out of things to talk about.” Applebloom added. “Oh what a shame. And here I thought you had more juice than that.” Jon teased. “Come on girls I’m sure if you try you’ll think of something... just pretend it’s 20 questions or something.” With two thirds of the CMC still in a pouty mood Sweetie Belle was left to fill the blanks for her two friends. “Hey!” She explained. “You play 20 questions too!” “Oh... so you know that game?” Jon noticed before actually answering the question. “I sure do... now that’s a game I used to play with my old friends” “Oh, oh, oh can we!?” Applebloom asked profusely. “Can we what?” Jon responded. “Can we play 20 questions?” She elaborated. Jon did not think that having an interview with children would eventually dissolve into literal child’s play but for the sake of his crowd who were now chanting and cheering encouragement he decided to go along with it. “You know what? Why not?” Jon said which caused the crowd to cheer him on for his decision. But while Applebloom and Sweetie Belle seemed to be all for this Scootaloo still had her hooves folded across her chest in defiance for not being the one who got her own mug. Jon aimed to fix this. “Hey come on, Scoots, let’s play. It’ll be fun. Right, folks!?” Still in pout mode even Scootaloo found herself unable to combat the wave of peer pressure that her teacher warned her about coming from the audience. Her caving in was envidiable as the tides. “Ooookay, I’ll play.” She grumbled though couldn’t hide her emerging smile at the prospect. “B-but only if I get to go first.” “By all means,” Jon displayed his hands to show that he was allowing her the chance to go first. “Okay, okay!” She said before stopping to think someone off hand. “I’m thiiiinking... of a pony.” “Is it Rainbow Dash?” Jon wondered. This in itself didn’t make the crowd laugh so much as it was Scootaloo’s reaction that did, it was a mixture of surprise and defeat and beautifully expressed that had already lost. She knew it and so did Jon. “Okay my turn!” Jon announced as he rubbed his hands in anticipation. “Okay now I’m thinking of a... human.” Scootaloo was still in shell shock to object to it being his turn, let alone take a guess but soon she, as well as her two friends, realized how much of a handicap they had in this ordeal. Being from a completely different world than Jon’s they now found themselves realizing that with their lack of knowledge of human culture and figures chances are they would never guess who he was thinking even even with 100 chances. Jon preempted this and was waiting for a forfeit when something caught his attention, something that didn't think he would ever see during this interview and that was his assistant looming over to talk to the three little ponies. At first when he witnessed her leaning forward he believed it to be her merely adjusting herself in her seat but when she stretched her arms out to grab each pony and pull them close he realized that she was initiating a group huddle of her very own as she quietly whispered to them which in turn caused smiles and nodding heads. “What are you up to, Selina?” Jon wondered at the four young ladies disbanded to their respective spots before addressing him once more. “Is the human you’re thinking of famous?” All three asked at once in a form of teamwork that got Jon nervous. “Y-yes.” Jon answered. “Bruce Springsteen!” All three answered at once. This time the crowd was laughing at Jon who immediately dropped his jaw in surprise. It was a familiar look once sported by Scootaloo and was all the proof anyone needed that this round went to team CMC. “Okay I think we’re done with this game.” Jon said causing everyone in the room, including Selina to laugh as Jon pretended to get up and walk away only to sit back down. “You know girls I must say... so far I’m impressed. Between besting me at my own game and those excellent questions from before I must admit you hosted the show very admirably.” “Really!” All three responded with glee. “Why yes,” He confirmed. “Why I would go as far as to say that perhaps you found your true calling.” Hearing this caused a shimmer of hope to explode in their hearts, which propelled them upwards to stand in their chairs. Before Selina could reach out to make sure they wouldn't fall the three arched themselves back so that they could get a view of their haunches. For some this was an odd position to take seemingly out of no where but Jon knew exactly what this was. After a few seconds of quick observation the three friends found what they were looking for... or rather didn’t find. Immediately this cause the shimmer of hope they once had to vanish as they plopped themselves back to their seat grumping with faces like they bit into a chocolate chip cookie only to discover it was raisons. “No luck huh?” Jon noticed, getting sorry looks and shakes of the head in response. “Sorry guys, maybe next time.” “Dude... this stinks!” Scootaloo commented. “Yeah.” Sweetie Belle agreed. “You even said we did a good job but we still didn’t get our TV hosting Cutie Marks!” “Oh well.” Applebloom sighed. “Another one crossed off the list, huh girls?” Jon knew this wasn’t going to happen, on the basis that it took years of practice and dedication to do this profession properly. But even though he wasn’t at all surprised to see that their attempt ended in failure still he felt bad that they didn’t succeed, and on live television no less. Out of sympathy he decided to give one one last chance. Again he knew it wouldn’t work but it never hurt to try. “Hey tell ya what... we still have some time left in the show and wel... there is one thing you haven’t tried yet that could help you get those Cutie Marks.” Jon hinted. “There is!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Tell us Johnny! Tell us, tell us, tell us!” Sweetie Belle demanded. “Okay, okay here um... here give me that.” Jon said as he reached out to grab his notes. Reaching into his jacket he he pulled out his pen and began to write something down as he did before with the audience talking amongst themselves as to what it could be, getting Jon’s attention by briefly looking over to his fans. “I’m almost done; gimme a sec.” After a writing down a few sentences with corresponding names Jon fell back to his seat and allowed his tiny friends to read what he had jotted down. They understood what this was and after Jon extended his arm to show that he was ready they began to speak. “Thank you so much for coming onto the show today, Jon.” Scootaloo began as she read her lines, never once looking at him or the audience. “You’ really appreciate you taking the time to be here.” “Listen... we need... to go to a... commercial break.” Sweetie Belle added looking at Jon but reading her lines as carefully as she could. “Would you mind... sticking around for a five minutes and we’ll stick the rest... up on the web.” “Sure, I’d love to!” Jon said, grabbing her hoof for a quick shake which surprised her. “Thanks again for being here!” Applebloom said reading off her lines but placing it back down to turn to the audience as she knew this part by hear. “Jon Stewart everypony! We’ll be right back!” The crowd erupted with applause so suddenly that Selina had to quickly catch Scootaloo who had fallen backwards in shock. Soon both she and Jon stood to their feet to also give their own round of applause at how well the three friends held their own in their first interview. Between the crowd cheering at them, Selina shaking each of their hooves and Jon leaning forward to whisper something in their ears the three didn’t even have time to check their flanks to see if their outro was enough to earn them their new Cutie Marks. At that moment they no longer cared, for one fleeting moment they had no interesting in Cutie Marks or any future endeavors relating to it they were just happy to be on stage with good friends and enjoying the fun of the moment. Jumping on the table the three girls began to wave as the camera panned away to get a good shot of the still crowded set while the Daily Show logo came on screen then vanished, taking with it the show to it’s next commercial break.