• Member Since 7th Jan, 2013
  • offline last seen Sep 28th, 2023

Distaff Pope


An experienced writer of limited skill and dangerous enthusiasm.

T

Note: This is a spiritual crossover with Welcome to Night Vale, and no knowledge of the original work is required to enjoy this one.

Rarity runs Pony Vale's premiere – and only – radio show, and sees informing her listeners of the town's daily happenings as her highest priority, be it giving updates on the town's night howler infestation, discussing the latest advances from the secret lab miles under the town, or just translating the town council's meeting minutes into something the average mind can comprehend.

But now, the town news has gotten odd: the sun refused to rise, strange(r) lights have been seen in the sky, a unicorn with perfect mane and teeth has come to town, and some ponies are even claiming that magic exists. At least she has the town council to help her make sure she reports the town news correctly.

Nopony ever said being a voice on the radio was easy.

Chapters (10)
Comments ( 97 )

What if it's a conspiracy? Down with the Council! Wait... who are you? I don't want to go for re-eduction!

What, no music for the weather? What a rip.

(PS i love u)

I've taken the liberty of adding this to the Welcome to Night Vale group. Welcome to the group. PTA meeting is tomorrow, as are the live fire exercises.

Creepy for all the right reasons.

Thank you for the WTNV crossover I never knew I wanted but secretly did!

5216370 You are welcome. I look forward to seeing how the citizens of Pony Vale react to the twisted version of S1 they're about to be put through. Tune in next time when the town has a mysterious visitor. A mysterious visitor with a beautiful perfect mane.

What is this a crossover with?

5222359 And now I'm archive binging on that again. Thanks.

The series is so delightfully eerie. So if you can capture that mood reliably... I'll love you forever.
Edit: So far... not bad.
Always remember, you are being watched, so do not be afraid.

5225088 The parts of the story that are written in the style of the radio broadcast will do their best to keep to the spirit of the original. However! Because it is so much harder to show tone in the written word than in the spoken word, the scenes before each broadcast and during the weather are intended to show the cracks in the facade where Rarity is more able to fully express herself. I hope that's an acceptable compromise.

5225099 Yup. It can't quite be perfect, and I wasn't expecting a carbon copy.
Allowances have to be made to move the media, and for crossovers.
So I like it. Have a mustache :moustache:

5225119 Oh, I definitely don't want this to be a carbon copy of WTNV, if I just replaced character names with pony names, then why even bother? While there might be events inspired by the show (see references to a lottery in chapter 2), ever chapter should tell a story that is substantially different from WTNV and I want this universe I'm creating to have it's own feel while combining the feel of the two parent universes...

Sorry, I know this is all "Writing Crossovers: 101," but that carbon copy line really ticked me of because I read a few fics that did that exact thing, and that's not what I want to be about. Anyways, thanks for the positive feedback, I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

5225499 I've read a few carbon copy crossover fics too, and I was happy when I saw this wasn't one of those. (I always hold my breath when I see crossovers with things I like, just because I worry. And I'm sorry for seeming accusatory.) I do like how you changed the setting to tell something like the MLP: FiM story while keeping in the hmm... spirit and mood. And I look forward to seeing episode two.

Hey, no need to thank me for appreciating something that you clearly spent time and effort to make look good.

5240227 The weather is something that troubled me too. I didn't know what to put in. A friend recommended brony related songs, but that didn't strike me as something that would actually exist in Pony Vale, at least not a vast majority of it. If you have a solution, please share it.

This is a great idea!

Oh noes! Twilight!

5244257 Obviously, there isn't a Vale Celestia since alicorns do not exist. I cannot stress enough how little they exist. If, after reading this, you continue to believe alicorns exist, the consequences of that decision are on you. As for the double Twilight comment... I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about.

5244359 I was trying to answer that in Rarity's voice, as hinted at by the - heh - purple prose. As to whether or not this is the real Twilight or a copy... tune in next Saturday for the answer.

5244793 That could work. If you want to find some songs, I'll include them.

I wish to indicate that this continues to be excellent.
Just offputting enough to be eerie, while still maintaining some semblance of "normality".

Also, if the weather is up for discussion, I could also do alittle digging and find some tunes. They don't all have to be about ponies, after all.
See if I don't find cool things noone's heard before. :moustache:

5245071 If you want to find songs to help me, feel free, just remember we can't use copy righted music.

5245222 Any particular media forms, or is youtube fine?

5245560 YouTube is groovy. Really, anything I can link to that has the music start playing instantly is fine.

... Wow. That Pink Herald though.
Still doing an awesome job. :twilightblush:

Dear Cthulhu, this world is both messed up and wonderfully done.

Burn all the trees down

Interesting implication that the ponies dying are still alive later... Wonder if we will see Twilight get a more direct confirmation of that phenomenon.

I like the whole shout outs to the reused back ground ponies as well as the tree bit. Everything was good.

Rarity’s expression goes flat and she regards Spike with complete detachment. “That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons pass, even death may die.”

Nothing like a good Lovecraft quote to describe indescribable horrors!

5308250 I certainly appreciate references.

Hnng. Very touching at the end.
Also very ominous. How wonderful.
Also also of interest to the wonderful author; I've begun reviewing stories in my blog. Sometime in the next month, I intend to get around to reviewing this one. Do not be alarmed. Do NOT be alarmed.

5326190 Can't wait to read it. Also, I don't know if you know this, but your misspelled username is super distracting for me. I get hung up on it everytime I read one of your (greatly appreciated) comments.

Huh. Did Twilight get... anointed as an honorary librarian, or did they just agree to let her live for now? Curiously ambiguous. Much approved.

Also, what is Pinkie really up to, I wonder...?

5327011 There is no misspelling.
The if of Z. not Thief. Though I admit that the confusion is understandable. Many people would just have a misspelling of Thief without realizing it, but not I.
It was actually originally TheifofDreams, bout 8 years back when I was still a stupid teenager, young and impressionable. But I changed it to Z when a specific group started to call me it as a nickname and it stuck. But look at me, waxing all nostalgic like when I should be reading a story I need to review, so I can post the review and then a small announcement about the upcoming holiday month.

Anyway; I hope you enjoy my reviews as much as I enjoy your writing.

5327875 Thanks. Also, if you want great clarity, you could use a space to break up words. It would work on fimfiction, at least (For some reason, I can't stop seeing a misspelling of "thief" even though I know it's not what it's supposed to be).

5327926 I was not aware of such when I first signed up. I realized it later, but I suppose at this point, I've gotten use to it again.
It'd be odd to try to put in spaces at this point. Weird and strange, even. :raritydespair:
Truly, a horrid fate, to be forced to remember to put spaces in one's name! :facehoof:

Interesting. Rarity certainly seems to embody generosity. Wonder what's up with the other bearers...

5328722

:raritywink: Obviously, all citizens of Pony Vale are encouraged to report any news they find. Where would our town be without the contributions of dilligent citizens like Fluttershy, out by the Everfree and Applejack, you know, the farmer? Of course, my duty as a reporter means I need to fully invvestigate any possible leads to make sure they actually happened and aren't just recollections of a timeline destroyed by the Devourer who consumes entire worlds in his waking slumber. If the tip pans out, I'll be happy and obliged to discuss it in the show. Just... try to submit them to me privately so other listeners don't panic about something that turns out to be a faulty tip (or an accurate one that is a harbinger of things best left unknown).

5328010 Well, Pinkie certainly seems intent on driving the world laughing mad. :pinkiecrazy:

5330332

Rarity just seems much less... Pony Vale... than the rest of the bearers. Maybe it's proximity to Twilight, or even being enamored with an outsider? Rainbow Dash certainly doesn't seem to be anything other than a regular cog in the machine. Pinkie may still be humor focused by is clearly an insane institution in the town, in fact she seems like some additional malevolent force that recognizes the town as insane and revels in it. Fluttershy is unclear; Rarity speaks of her as if she's possibly not any different from normal Fluttershy at all.

It's criminal that this hasn't gotten more views. Creepy in all the right ways ; you get a big thumbs up for not mentioning the Glow Cloud or just lazily copying anything outright. Plus its got it's own mystery going on. I think you really capture that detached feeling of horror well.

I'm betting that the founder is discord and this is his negative version of equestria; separate and all backwards, possibly something he just forgot about like those seeds

Initially I thought Pinkie would be the only really sane pony; feared by the locals because she doesn't follow any of the rules . But then the whole bit in the library happened and I'm reminded of that old Nietzsche classic - "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."

You also don't mention an editor ; so you're also doing a damn fine job writing this on your own. A well written crossover where I don't want to tear my eyeballs out with all the spelling and punctuation errors ? You are spoiling us.

I love reading Trixie so I look forward to what twisted version of her this throws up.

5338086 This is a very nice comment and I will try to respond to all the points raised (except for your guess about who the Founder is. I must be decidedly neutral on that front).

First, it is not my intent or plan to write a spiritual crossover that just copies the action of the original work, my goal from the beginning was to write a work that captures the essence of Night Vale and transplants it into an Equestrian setting. While I'm still on the fence about including a glow cloud (or some other supernatural vaguely-sentient weather phenomenon) and other recurring ideas from WTNV, if I do include them, they will have their own special Pony Vale flavor (or just be a one-off filler paragraph that doesn't tap into the overarching mysteries of Pony Vale).

Do you care to explain what exactly prompted you to think of that Nietzsche quote?

I do actually have an editor. The terrific Seether00 looks through all my works and gives me his thoughts and a few grammatical corrections.

And because your comment was so nice, I'm going to make a special announcement. Instead of having a two parter, the Trixie arc will be a three-parter concluding the week before Christmas. Of course, there will be a lot more happening than just Trixie coming to visit, but Trixie will definitely spark the action of the piece. I'll even be doing something special with the weather to celebrate the season.

5338263

Do you care to explain what exactly prompted you to think of that Nietzsche quote?

Because Pikie always has a bit more leeway that most characters; She could still be the "real" pinkie in that she's not gone under the same slow transformation / conversion as the townsfolk . But instead managed to hold out on her own so long , and stared right at the madness engulfing the town that in the end it made her go insane / get more corrupted / possessed to a much bigger degree than the others.

I guess Her giggling at the ghoulies means that when she did finally give in she broke all the harder? if you get me.

This is of course presuming the town even had a "normal" state to begin with or she's not just some eldritch horror in all too pink fur.

A three parter so soon is awesome , hope you don't regret that promise on the 24th
:pinkiehappy:

5338290 Well, the last update would be on the 20th if I stick to my Saturday schedule. Also, glad to hear that's what you meant by the quote because for a second I was worried you stumbled on a major twist in the story.

5338364

Ha, well maybe I still did and I'm just terrible at articulating what I meant. Or I'll keep on thinking how else you could have interprited that quote :twilightsheepish:

The only other hidden plot hook i think so far is Twilight herself , she did turn up with uncharacteristic hair afterall

5351452 Care to illuminate more?

Looks like the place is getting to her. Little weird that just watching the egomaniac who already got corrupted once lose it again would be enough to make her mistrust magic.

5351556 That something happened to prove the town was completely in the right.

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