//------------------------------//
// September 1 – 4:30 PM 
// Story: Flash Fog 
// by Kwakerjak 
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“One... two... three!” With a final heave, the Cutie Mark Crusaders managed to get Tom exactly where they wanted him, bringing the most strenuous afternoon in any of the fillies’ memories to its long-awaited conclusion. The task of transporting the boulder to Sweet Apple Acres had strained their emotions multiple times (and in Sweetie Belle’s case, one of her shoulders as well), but the colossal task of installing their substitute anvil was now complete—though that, in turn, had necessitated a hasty redesign in order to accommodate Tom’s bulk.

“Good thing we had some extra rope from makin’ our net,” Apple Bloom said as she finished knotting several lines around the great stone. “The human trap is really startin’ to come together. I think all we need now is that disco ball, right?”

“Pretty much,” Sweetie Belle replied as she slowly massaged her shoulder, “though it’ll have to be a strong one now that we’re using Tom. I mean, aren’t they usually hollow?”

“I’m pretty sure Pinkie Pie has a reinforced mirror ball,” Scootaloo said.

“How on earth do you know that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I don’t,” Scootaloo admitted. “I’m just assuming she has one because she’s Pinkie Pie, and that’s the sort of thing Pinkie Pie would have.”

“Is it really a good idea to leave Tom out in the open like this, though?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well, it ain’t like we’ll have time to get him in place once the humans start comin’ outta the woodwork, so we don’t have much choice,” Apple Bloom replied.

Scootaloo nodded. “That’s right. Besides, this part of the orchard is out of the way, and considering that we managed to get Tom here without being seen, I’m guessing that the rest of Apple Bloom’s family is too busy with the fog to do their regular chores.”

“Okay,” Sweetie Belle replied as she uncertainly eyed Tom, “but can we at least throw a sheet or something on him so he blends in better?”

“How is a boulder dressed up like a ghost going to blend in?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No, I meant a sheet with something printed on it; you know, so Tom could look like a pile of apples.”

“Why in tarnation would we leave a pile of apples lyin’ on the ground?” Apple Bloom asked. “That’d make ’em even more suspicious than a big ol’ rock-colored rock.”

“I guess you have a point,” Sweetie Belle said as she conceded defeat with a sigh. “Still, I wonder what the grownups are doing that let us get Tom here without being seen.”

“Boring grownup stuff, probably,” Scootaloo replied. “Now, come on. We still need to find Pinkie and get that disco ball.”


September 1 – 5:03 PM


Fluttershy slowly exhaled as Mayor Mare started to wrap up her opening remarks. She couldn’t quite shake off all of her nervousness; as physically relaxing as her session at the spa had been, she had still come away from the experience with the distinct impression that her neighbors thought her job was to save Ponyville from the fog, rather than doing what was best for Equestria. If the initial reactions of her closest friends were any indication, this town hall meeting was likely to become quite confrontational.

She briefly glanced over at Twilight Sparkle, who nodded back reassuringly, as did the rest of her friends, who had all gathered on the stage with her to provide support. Twilight had actually offered to present the plan to the townsponies in her place, but Fluttershy had turned this offer down. This was her idea, after all, and if she couldn’t explain it herself, how could she expect to overcome any lingering skepticism?

Fluttershy was still lost in her thoughts when a chorus of hooves stamping on the wooden floor informed her that it was time for her to explain everything. She slowly walked up to the podium, took a deep breath, perked her ears up, and began: “Hello, everypony. As Mayor Mare just said, the Department of Weather has placed me in charge of managing this fog, and I’m pleased to tell you that there is now a plan in place to deal with this threat to the safety of Equestria.”

So far, so good, but Fluttershy was about to get to the controversial part of her announcement. “At some point tomorrow afternoon, that fog will come over the mountains, heading straight through Ponyville towards the Everfree Forest.”

“And how are you going to stop it?” called out an unrecognizable voice from somewhere in the back.

“I’m not going to stop it,” Fluttershy explained.

“You mean that all of us have to work together to stop it?” another anonymous voice from the crowd called out.

“No, I mean that nopony is going to stop it.”

“But you just said you had a plan!” called a third voice, which sounded rather angry.

“I do. This is the plan.” The murmured grumbles from the crowd grew louder.

“You’re joking!” shouted a cream-colored mare who Fluttershy recognized as a local carrot farmer. “There has to be more to this plan than sitting back and letting the fog just go out of control.”

“You bet there is!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “I’m also throwing a party!”

If this outburst was meant to ease the worries of the audience, the increasing volume of the varied mutterings suggested that it hadn’t succeeded. Fluttershy took a deep breath and tried to make her voice sound as firm as possible. “The fog will be going through Ponyville because that’s exactly what we need it to do. If we left it alone, it would solidify right in the middle of Equestria, where it could hurt weather and crops throughout the whole region. I don’t think anypony wants that.” Apparently, bringing up the possibility of failed crops was enough to get the room to quiet down a bit, if only because nopony had thought up a quick rebuttal.

“Right,” Pinkie Pie agreed in an equally firm tone. “But what anypony would want is a party.”

Before the crowd could latch onto her friend’s single-minded focus and renew their grumbling, Fluttershy moved forward. “I believe that blowing the fog into the Everfree Forest will make it act like normal cloud again, but we’re running out of time to do something about it. I know it sounds risky, but pushing the fog through Ponyville might be our only chance to avoid worse problems further down the road. The weather team is getting ready to move the fog as we speak, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done, and we’ll all need to work together to do this safely.”

“And speaking of safes, there’s going to be a party in a place that looks just like one!”

Fluttershy sighed and turned to her friend. “Yes, Pinkie, I’m getting there,” she said quietly as she raised one of her forehooves in a subtle halting motion. She then turned back to the crowd and continued. “Any pegasi who have cloud houses will need to raise them above the fog. Those pegasi who don’t have a cloud house are encouraged to help out those who do.”

“We have a bounce house,” Pinkie interjected. “Sorry,” she quickly added after she noticed the mildly irritated look on all of her friends’ faces. She began chewing her lower lip as Fluttershy continued.

“Because it’s so dangerous, pegasi who are not directly involved should remain indoors unless it’s absolutely necessary. Earth ponies and unicorns who are interested in helping their neighbors, whether by running errands or simply looking out for any pegasus who gets caught outside, can speak with Applejack, who will be coordinating a safety patrol.”

Pinkie Pie emitted an unintelligible, high-pitched squeak as she attempted to keep herself from interrupting again, though the sight of her rapidly bouncing in place on the stage ended up being nearly as distracting as her interjections.

“Finally,” Fluttershy said, “because the fog poses a threat to all of Ponyville’s foals, Pinkie Pie will be throwing a special party to keep them entertained until the danger has passed. Pinkie, would you like to tell us more?”

“Yesyesyesyesyes!” Pinkie shouted as she zipped up to the podium, nearly bowling Fluttershy over in her haste to allow the flood of information spill over the crowd. “This party is going to be totally awesome!”

As Pinkie Pie launched into her sales pitch for the party in Bon-Bon’s bunker, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. None of the ponies in the room looked as hostile as they had when she’d first explained the plan, even if a few uncertain expressions remained. It really looked like this plan might actually go off without a hitch.


September 1 – 6:21 PM


Somewhere in the back of his mind, Pencil Pusher had always known that there would be consequences to all the extra flying he’d been doing in the last two days, but thus far, his response had been to ignore those pesky thoughts and focus on impressing Fluttershy with his work ethic. That however, was no longer an option, as a sharp stab of pain in his right wing had grounded him on the outskirts of Canterlot, forcing him to make the final leg of his journey on foot.

This is not good, Pencil Pusher thought to himself as he walked through the capital city’s crowded streets, searching for the Interior Department’s office. Aside from the fact that his wing hadn’t felt this bad since he was a colt in flight camp, the time he lost walking was going to make reaching the office before it closed a rather dicey matter. Still, he had to try, not just for Fluttershy’s sake, but also to spite his jerk of a boss. Sure, technically, Greg had actually been doing his job when he pointed out that Fluttershy didn’t have the authority to send the fog into the Everfree Forest, but Greg’s workplace obligations normally had very little to do with his workplace activities.

At the moment, though, Pencil didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on soul-sucking office politics. He had to get to the Department of Interior and get this administrative roadblock taken care of, if only because he had no idea what to do if he failed, and he was worried that he’d get hit by an irony attack and find the place mere minutes after it had closed.

He stopped briefly at a street corner to try and get his bearings. It was so much easier to navigate a city when you had the option of viewing it from the top down. But now, trying to find where he was on the cheap tourist map he’d snagged on the way into the city seemed almost impossible, let alone the location of an obscure government building, and he hadn’t thought to bring along the bits necessary to pay the fare for a taxi. Getting from Point A to Point B had never seemed like such an insurmountable challenge.

He was almost ready to give up, when suddenly fortune smiled on him. “Excuse me, sir, are you lost?”

Pencil Pusher looked up from his awkwardly-folded map and saw a well-dressed white unicorn stallion with a blue mane and a pencil mustache smiling at him. Pencil was briefly distracted by the stallion’s choice of eyewear (he’d never seen anypony actually wearing a monocle before), but he soon regained his senses. “Uh, yes, actually. I’m trying to find the offices of the Department of Interior. It’s, um, sort of important.”

The upper-class pony chuckled briefly before answering, “I can see why you’re having trouble. That’s hardly the usual tourist destination.”

“Well, I’m not really a tourist...”

“Doubtless. In any case, you don’t seem to have much time for small talk, so I’ll just give you some directions. Simply head south for three blocks, then make a right on Star Swirl Avenue. Keep going for two more blocks, and you’ll find the Department of Interior in a three-story marble building on your left.”

“Thanks, mister,” Pencil Pusher said as he took off in a gallop.

“Don’t mention it,” the unicorn called back with a kindly smile.

Pencil Pusher’s legs generally received even less exercise than his wings, but right now he had enough adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream to ignore such a minor detail. He narrowly missed collisions with several pedestrians in his haste, but he didn’t care. Once he got to the Interior Department, he’d be able to put this mess behind him and his self-serving boss wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. As he turned the corner onto Star Swirl Avenue, his eyes lit up. He could see the office building. Pencil Pusher increased his pace as much as he could, galloping faster than he could ever remember doing before.

Finally he was there. Elated, he rushed up the steps to the door. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so euphoric. Pencil Pusher pulled on the door... and it didn’t open. Stunned, he tried pushing, but this didn’t work either. It was only then that he read the signage on the door, and his heart crashed into the ground.




Office, Department of Interior


Hours: 9 AM – 5 PM