The Solar air carriage dropped Fleur off in Ponyville. It took her about twenty seconds to get her bearings back from the abrupt swoop, plus twelve more for picking herself up out of the short-trimmed grass.
"You could have at least landed first!" she shouted after the fast-departing transport. But if the pegasi who had tilted her out some distance above the actual ground heard her, they showed no signs of it beyond flying a little faster. And after a few more seconds, they were gone.
Everything is gone.
Everything...
...no. Take a breath. Canterlot is gone. For now. This is -- Ponyville. Whatever that is. She didn't know much about it, other than that it was the home of the Bearers and was considered by most of the nobility to be more than a little rural, far too strange for anypony of refinement's taste, and mostly suitable for slumming -- and all that maintained even with the Bearers in residence. It had been enough to make her avoid even the most casual of contact with Canterlot's closest neighboring settled zone, especially when leaving the city would have meant missing out on so many chances to work.
It may not look like much...
She looked around.
What it mostly looked like was somepony's backyard.
There was a little vegetable garden off in one corner, no longer producing with autumn advancing across the calendar: browning vines told her that tomatoes had been the dominant crop. A long, low sling made out of tightly-meshed rope, hanging between metal triangles, suspended by springs -- well, the pillows gave her some idea of what that was supposed to be for, although it was a little more public than she both generally liked and could collect sufficient payment for. A light green picket fence (desperately in need of fresh paint) surrounded three sides of the square, broken up on the left by a currently-closed swinging gate. And behind her, the house (which could stand a few brushstrokes of its own): small, quiet, and with a rather odd sort of door leading to the interior, one which looked as if it slid to the side instead of --
-- the field which slid the door left was a rather odd, dark greyish-green. The unicorn mare who came through the opening was a strangely deep shade of blue, with some aspects of that same green speckled into her coat to go with singularly dark eyes. In the sunlight offered at about two hours past dawn, the colors stood out. Under Moon, when standing within exactly the right shadows, the young adult might just vanish.
Those dark eyes looked at her, and did not echo the smile that appeared on a jaw which was just a little more squarish than most mares ever displayed. And Fleur knew what the mare was, and that knowledge didn't come from her talent. Anypony with Fleur's background and continuing outlook on the world would have known the nature of this pony on sight, long before their gaze reached the mark.
"That's odd," the mare falsely smiled. "They were originally supposed to drop you off in front. I guess they thought this would give us a little more privacy. And I was expecting something more in the way of luggage..." She took another step forward. "Fleur Dis Lee, correct? I made sure I had the name right -- all of them, as it's rather unusual to encounter a pony using three. I'm Miranda Rights."
Fleur silently waited. She knew what the next words were going to be, at least for general information conveyed.
"I'm Ponyville's chief of police," the mare predictably went on, and that smile got wider. "We were told you'd be coming. We were all told you'd be coming. The entire department. We were all told about you in great detail, because the Princess isn't the sort of pony to leave anything out of a personally-delivered briefing concerning a new arrival. So -- welcome to Ponyville. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable. Because I will be making sure you're settling in. Personally."
Fleur carefully measured the strength and duration of her inhalation, then gave equal monitoring and care to the reverse.
"So you're supposed to be my jailer," she evenly said. Give up no ground. Hold position. Never be the first to flinch. Meet them on equal terms, even when it's a lie, and maybe they'll decide you don't know what a bluff is supposed to be...
It had hardly ever worked, at the beginning. Her success rate had gone up considerably after she'd found her talent. But with this mare, who had been told about her -- nothing.
Chief Rights shrugged. "The settled zone is yours to roam, Fleur." (Who instantly loathed the officer all the more.) "Along with the fringe, because you'll have to get close to it if you want to reach Fluttershy's residence. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, you can trot into the Everfree any time you like, and maybe the next pony who goes in for any other reason will be able to bring your body out. Personally, I have more important things to do, especially with this settled zone. I'm just -- welcoming you. And letting you know that I'll make sure you're settling in."
The chief's breath was abrupt, sharp, and more cutting than the horn.
"Because I was told all about you," she continued. "And I'm going to trust the Princess' judgment on this: that you're the best pony for the job. For coaching Fluttershy in -- whatever it is you'll be coaching her in: she didn't really go into specifics on that. But I don't exactly like having you here, not when I know what you are."
Fleur didn't take a step back. Only the Princess could have made her do that, and an officer, even an angry one, didn't even come close.
"However," Chief Rights went on. "We both have our orders. Yours are to help Fluttershy, with whatever the issue happens to be. Mine are to make sure you settle in, with the benefit of everything I've been told about you -- and haven't told the rest of Ponyville about. Because the Princess gave us an order, one I hope I'll understand eventually, to let you settle in. That we should know what you are -- and the remainder of the settled zone would only be told every last detail if you started to demonstrate it. She wants you treated as just another new arrival in Ponyville, and we've had a lot of those since the Elements were found again. You'll stand out a bit more than most, with your looks. But having officers follow you around at all times would make you a little more distinctive within the herd than she wants. So you will be watched -- from a distance. When you don't know you're being watched at all. And if I find any signs that you're playing your little games, or even have a particularly strong suspicion... I can find you." A little nod towards the circlet. "Very easily. So do your job, Fleur. Because just being this close to you, knowing what you are, makes me really want to do mine."
Fleur did the only thing she could do. She took a step forward.
The other mare blinked. The smile vanished, and the shadow-lost tail twitched. And Fleur smiled, just about as prettily as she knew how.
"Thank you, officer," she smiled. "If I ever need somepony to make an empty threat for me, I'll know just who to ask."
The immediate response was an instinctive attempt to start a staring contest. To prove some form of dominance. But it was a pointless attempt, because Fleur instantly won simply through openly not considering her opponent worthy of a match.
As long as I'm not afraid of you, I win.
"And now if you'll excuse me," Fleur continued as she merrily turned away from the frustrated officer, then began to trot towards the fence's gate, "I have to go meet my client. I don't suppose you'd be willing to fulfill the only major requirement of your job and provide a new arrival with directions?"
And what emerged certainly could have been considered as telling her where to go. "Go buck yourself."
"Expertly," Fleur replied, not bothering to glance back. "And occasionally for a paying audience. I never have any problems performing my duties, unlike a certain pony I've very recently met. Now, I presume this lock is enchanted -- so would the mistress of the home mind letting me out? Or do I have to call the authorities and report an unlawful detainment?"
Hearing the sharp breath behind her was the first good thing to happen since her arrival -- and so naturally, it was temporary. "The other thing I was supposed to do was offer you my spare bedroom. I'm guessing you won't be taking me up on that."
There was a certain temptation to it, if only for the opportunities offered by the chance to directly disrupt what little existed of any officer's downtime. But it also meant spending her own off-hours right under that unfashionable snout, which automatically created a situation where the versa so easily became vice -- and fraud, bunko, major crimes unit... "The gate, officer. If you would? Or rather, as you must?"
Greenish-gray surrounded the lock. It clicked, and the gate slowly swung upon. Fleur began to trot through.
"I'm watching you," the officer impotently said.
"Most ponies do," Fleur smugly noted. "Enjoy the free view, officer. You can't afford anything else." And kicked the gate shut behind her, making sure to leave a little gouge in the wood.
Fleur had been given a considerable amount of advice early in life, and most of it had... well, in all honesty, the majority had turned out to be either truly bad or in desperate need of adjustment. For the most part, she'd had to work out the true rules on her own, and one of them had just been applied. Because she could have gone into that encounter trite and repentant and oh-so-willing to try on a brand-new set of sparkling ethical horseshoes -- and none of it ever would have been believed. The officer had already decided to hate Fleur, there was nothing which could have been done to change that closed mind, and so Fleur had gone to one of the least-used parts of her personal code. That it just happened to be one of the most satisfying didn't do anything to salvage what little was left of her life -- but at least it had allowed her to vent on a target which deserved it even more than the rest of the world generally did.
Never be afraid to make an enemy you already had.
The gate led out to a long, narrow path which cut between the backyards of multiple boring rural houses, forming a miniature street which was just about wide enough for two ponies to pass each other in comfort. Fleur maintained her trot just long enough to get near the western exit, which looked as if it led onto a more standard thoroughfare -- then stopped. And for the first time since having been lifted by multiple loops of field and levitated into the air carriage, with no wind rushing into her face from the sheer speed of her exile, without her words being openly ignored... she spared a moment to simply breathe. Breathe and think.
But just a moment. That was all which was available to her, because the Princess had cost her so many. All the moons in Canterlot which had ultimately led to her palace summons, everything she'd done during that time, all the work... gone. That much of her time under Sun had been wasted, by royal order.
Her eyes slowly closed, and in that moment, she heard the ticking of the clock.
Moons gone. Nearly two years evaporated -- no, burned, turned into ash in front of her snout so that she might choke on the black soot of destroyed dreams. And as for what time might remain before her? How long would it take for this pony, this Fluttershy, to decide she was happy with a suitor? How much longer before a pregnancy might result? A pony that skittish might decide to postpone sex until after marriage, and that skittishness might also suggest a decidedly long engagement. A decade or two before the pegasus felt the prospective guest list for the reception would not lead to open revolt, perhaps a full lifetime to settle on the cake...
No. Stop it, Fleur. You're going straight for the worst case. The worst case already happened. This morning. And...
She had to force the breath. It was all she could force. Her eyes didn't want to open, for there was simply too much to look at inside, including all the things she did so much not to see.
...it wasn't as bad as it could have been... was it?
She wasn't in prison. She wasn't awaiting her trial. She was... in Ponyville. Under Sun, a Sun she wasn't particularly fond of at the moment due to the party responsible for moving it, but under Sun, and the light illuminated fence slats, when it so easily could have been reflecting from iron bars. She had some freedom of movement -- perhaps enough to find a pony who could get the circlet off, or make its enchantment send back false locations. Somepony proficient enough in magic --
-- or Magic.
That's one of the Elements, isn't it? Magic?
She concentrated, and came up with very little. Fleur paid some attention to the news -- more than many ponies, in fact, because a skilled escort needed to make a contribution to high society conversations and on rare occasion, the topics within those circles would momentarily turn away from gossip. Fleur knew a lot of gossip, although her talent made using the best of it into a rather pointless and, at best, redundant exercise. But as for news of the Bearers...
...there were six. They all lived in Ponyville. She was fairly certain they were all mares, and as for the Elements themselves, yes, she was sure Magic was one of them, and then there was Honesty, she remembered that one because the concept of honesty being that vital to anything had been so idiotic as to provide her with a portion of rare true laughter, and...
...and...
...and one of them was a startlingly attractive pegasus with the sort of outrageous tail spread which minor cosmetic magic and the most professional of stylists could spend hours in desperate attempts to replicate and never quite make it. If you liked that sort of tail spread, and Fleur was aware that more than a few ponies did. It was a specialist taste, really, and... well, it was something she never really did anything with, because having one's interests go for that kind of tail spread was a minority opinion which cycled in and out of what she generally ignored as fashion, but it was an accepted interest. At most, it would draw a few snickers and (rarely) insults from those who preferred short cuts or wraps, along with the few who still gave perverted thought towards the sickness known as docking. But if an outrageous tail spread was the sort of thing you looked for in a mare, then...
...she was getting off track. Fleur refocused, concentrated harder, and came up with absolutely nothing else outside the realm of gossip, none of which she was currently willing to trust.
Well... she might remember more later, after sleep had restored her somewhat, for it had been a bad day. Just about the worst one of her life, and the fact that it hadn't automatically taken first place said something about both Fleur's experiences and the mistake. The one which the Princess had just made.
Yes, the police had been told about her. But the entire settled zone hadn't. And Fleur now knew what her own error had been. She'd just targeted the wrong pony.
It had seemed like a sensible move at the time. Fancypants didn't really have most of the usual uses for escorts: if he desired mare companionship, it was always there to be had, generally crowding around the stallion while showing off outfits, jewelry, manestyles, and an embarrassing amount of open desperation for his attention. As for other aspects of it -- well, he'd mostly hired Fleur because so many of the other nobles had been asking for her, and if she had become so very popular, then of course Fancypants needed to find out why. And her paid time with him had generally been interesting, right up until that bitch...
...she risked another moment, slowed her breathing...
...well, fortunately, that hadn't lasted long. But she'd had more than enough time with him for her talent to do its job, she'd followed up, and -- well, there had been rumors, hadn't there? That he and the Princess were unusually close? But moving in her invited circles, she had heard that rumor claimed for just about anypony who wanted to make themselves look important. It was just that... looking back, he'd never been the one to claim it. Perhaps that should have been a sign.
She'd made an error. And then the Princess had made a mistake.
The police knew about her. The settled zone didn't. Fleur had been sent to assist a Bearer. And her thought from the Solar throne room still held true: meeting one Bearer would almost inevitably have to lead into contact with the other five.
Six Bearers had to outrank one police chief. Perhaps, given the tales of what they had done to the Nightmare and what she knew had happened to Discord, they might even be able to overcome the influence of a Princess. All she had to do was... be careful. More careful than she'd ever been before, constantly heedful of the lesson which the Princess had made the additional error of teaching her. The Princess was in Canterlot, having just kicked Fleur out of the center of that carefully-built web -- but there was a new place to start her spinning, and she already knew of a half-dozen extremely enticing targets to ensnare.
I lost everything I put together. All of the Canterlot work is gone. Accept that. And she did. Somehow, if only in that moment, she accepted it. But Ponyville isn't exactly without resources. I have the Bearers to work with. There might even be other ponies, ones with influence which I don't know about yet. But just starting from the Bearers...
She breathed and looked at inner visions, ignoring the worst ones which tried to arise with the skill from years of hard practice. And she continued to do so until she was satisfied with her plan.
For now, Fleur would do what the Princess had presented as her sentence, leaving her under Sun and open sky. It would open the door she needed. The door to the Elements, to Magic and possible freedom --
-- or control.
Six Elements can awaken from Nightmare. Six Elements can paralyze Discord.
Six Elements versus a Princess is... an interesting question, isn't it?
And then, standing under Sun, with a chance before her once again, a path which might bring her to where she so badly needed to be... she sighed, and was glad that nopony could hear.
I was so close.
A few more. Just a few more ponies and a little more time. Just a little more time. Even if I can make this work, all that time is gone, and nothing anypony can do will bring it back.
The Princess had time. Endless time, weeks and moons and years and centuries, which she had used to steal Fleur's time...
I hate her.
Of course she hated the Princess. It was a natural, reasonable reaction to the morning's events. But more than that --
-- I hate you, Celestia. And you're going to know it. Somehow, some way, I'm going to make you feel my hate.
You took my time.
Let's see what I can do to ruin yours.
Twice now in her life, standing under Sun among the debris of what had once been her existence, having just figured out what to do next. Twice more than anypony should have ever had to do that. But it had worked once again. She had her path anew, and all she had to do was see where it led her.
Fleur opened her eyes, briefly ignited her field and used it to smooth out mane and tail, got rid of all the dirt from her landing, groomed herself as expertly as she could without proper implements, and stepped out of the miniature street into Ponyville proper. The first thing to do was finding Fluttershy.
The first thing which happened was the fillies nearly trampling her.
WOW! ... That's some plan! And then ...
Hmm... How she treats the Crusaders will affect how their 'sisters' react to her... I wonder if she won't screw it all up?
Fleur, Fleur, Fleur. You're going to be having such a fun time.
By fun, of course, I mean completely insane.
Oh, lord. Fleur's first interaction with the residents of Ponyville is going to be the CMC? I'll bet it's an interesting tale she has to tell about her mark, but one Applejack and Rarity wouldn't want their sisters repeating...
Cutie Mark Crusader Bitch Tramplers.... Yay!
Oh, man. Fleur just totally won that exchange with Miranda Rights (still a great name btw) but I bet we're not done with the Chief yet.
You did some great work planting the seeds of Fleur's backstory here. And I love how her hatred of Celestia has gotten really personal on a different level than say, Murdocks.
If she's already getting this distracted remembering Fluttershy's picture, it's gonna be a riot when she gets to see the real thing, optional animal funk smell notwithstanding.
Will Fluttershy be badass in this story?
Normally, there would be a way, but this interpretation of Fleur wouldn't take it.
I know Fleur's going to end up getting mentally tortured throughout the story, maybe not intentionally, but it will happen. And it'll be glorious.
Hmm...thinking back to last chapter, I gotta wonder who the last three nobles are, given that it can't be the Riches. Diamond Tiara would have been trading on the title of Lady if she had it; given that she instead trades on her father's money, she logically lacks a title (which would be a stronger claim to importance, which would be all that would matter to her). Also, I'm virtually positive that in the Continuum (which this draws from, even if it isn't technically part of it), Mrs. Rich must be dead or long-since divorced. So, given that, who do people think might number among the final three Ponyville nobles?
7495745
Flower Trio? They do somehow keep afloat despite barely being able to go outside.
Anal rententive planner, meet tweenaged agents of chaos.
Tweenaged agents of chaos, meet Ponyville's newest resident.
And girls, as soon as she calms down, do warn her about Pinkie Pie.
Yes, I said warn her. And be expressive. Tell stories. Show Diagrams.
Yep. That oughta do it.
Oh, and don't forget to tell her about Gummy.
7495745 Maybe Rainbow Dash. I mean have you seen her friggin house? No way she's paying for that on a weather captain salary
Unless I'm missing something... That's a fragment. That is not a complete sentence.
7495989
Clouds are easily sculpted, and there's always more sky. Property taxes are for ground dwelling ponies.
7495989
Uh, no, she made it herself. Take a look at Craquelure in Triptych itself:
She might be a Cloudsdale noble, but the odds are looking a tad long in my view.
I wonder how she'll react when she realizes the Element of Magic basically worships Celestia
Wow. Celestia was serious about not letting her pack.
It is nice to get a sense of Fleur's capabilities when not hopelessly outclassed, though now Miranda's going to look for any excuse at all where she might have possibly granted a millimeter of leeway. And given the stealth capabilities of the chief, who can say how well the rest of the Ponyville PD can conceal themselves?
As for Fleur's plan... Oh, that's rich. She's in for a very bad time if she's going to try to follow through there, especially if that bitch is who I think she is. And that's before getting the town's triumvirate of chaos involved.
Oh, she's going to get a nasty fright when she realises one of the Bearers is Rarity, who so sweetly and easily stole Fancypants attention, isn't she?
She is a genuinely terrible pony, isn't she? Congratulations on managing to make such an immediately horrible character so interesting to follow.
Wait, oh wait... that bitch is Rarity, isn't she? Oh, I can preemptively feel the cringe reach into my soul.
...this is gonna be good.
Her diction is precalculated and precise. I can see her making 1 grammatical mistake, but not 2:
Gotta admit, I don't completely know if I should hate Fleur or not just yet. Blackmail is pretty bad, but, then again, so most likely is all the things the nobles did that Fleur is able to blackmail them about. It's a bad person getting the upper hand on other bad people. Despite being a friend of Celestia's, apparently Fancy Pants has done things he can be blackmailed over, so he is not guiltless in this.
Then there is the consideration of 'what made Fleur like this?' to consider. Somehow I don't think she had a good upbringing.
Nobles in Ponyville...and there are 7 different family names of them? I know Twilight, and, as you said earlier, Applejack's family, RD is a possibility, if only because of the amount of money she tends to have and her home. Asides from potential OC's and background ponies, those are the only ones I know from the show and what was stated. I suppose there might be clues in your other stories, but, unless they were romances, I do not think I read them. Possible Fleur x Fluttershy = must read, even if it turns out to not be the case, the chances are still there.
Nobody but Fluttershy can befriend Discord? Besides being rather against the spirit of the show, Discord seemed to be getting on fine with four non-Fluttershy Elements in What About Discord....
But I'll let it pass, for the sake of probable future hilarity.
Oh Fleur. I hope we get to see the moment you realize that you were the one that wasted all that time, not Celestia.
Same for when she tries to use the Bearers against Celestia. In particular, Twilight (no comment needed here), Rarity (presumably that bitch), Dash (whose first reaction to NMM was to charge straight for her and demand to know where the Princess was), Applejack (we already know Fleur's opinion on the concept of honesty), Pinkie (lol), and finally Fluttershy (lol).
7498303
You can be blackmailed for more than just crimes you know. There are plenty of secrets a person might possess that are not criminal, but which ca be life destroying. Professionally or socially.
Sexual preferences. Romantic entanglements outside one's station or class. An embarrassing hobby, or past mistake. Maybe you've written a romance novel under a nom de plum, and would be humiliated if word got out? Or you have a particular fetish or somesuch that you indulge in behind closed door, in the privacy of your own home?
None of these things are criminal, or even necessarily wrong. But they could still kill one's social or professional life.
7501004 And that would make sense, at least, if Fleur had any proof that any of those type of events happened. Her knowing it doesn't give her anything to work with if it is one of those. Fleur isn't a noble, and most nobles have a dozen bad rumors surrounding them at anyone time. Her telling a few people somepony had a fling with a commoner but having nothing to back it up just adds one more that nopony will take seriously.
Mind you, in Fleur's position and profession, if she were to talk about a noble's strange kinks or fetishes, she'd be throwing herself out of a job. If the pony you paid and slept with is telling every other pony about what you two did, then it'll quite quickly spread to every other pony not to hire her.
All they have to do is just deny whatever she says if all she has on her is legal but socially/professionally damaging things. Who is going to be more believed by those in power? The noble or the escort he hired? Nothing is said of them being compelled to give her pictures or other things to blackmail them with, she just gets them to confess things to her they are ashamed of. Most of which, if they are not illegal, can simply be denied without any real repercussions.
Is it bad that I want Fleur to succeed in whatever she is planning.
I guess I'm just one of those people who likes the bad guy to win.
A complex villain is a hundred times more interesting than heroes.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders really need a horn on that thing. Or a siren. Or even just a loud squeak to allow innocent civilians a chance to dive for cover.
So far so good. I am finding this interesting so far. Keep up the good work.
-BFBL
wow, what a name for a policepony.
i'm a little curious about what the worst day of her life was...but if it involved being sexually abused as a child, forget it, i hate reading about that sort of thing...and it's surprising how many books start that way...
7501032 She doesn't need proof. She just needs to drop a few words in the right ears.
If she lets slip - as if by accident - something in front of Blueblood that could be used to damage his rivals, then he will go looking for proof himself. And he doesn't need enough to stand up in court. For a true rival, the rumour doesn't even need to be true - it just needs to be believable enough.
Yes, but Miranda Rights wasn't an enemy, she was a nat. Buzzing around your ears and annoying you, but not doing any more then that. Yes she would be keeping an eye on you, and would never like you, but you could have earned her respect. All you had to do was say yes ma'am, and no ma'am and act like you respected her and she would have been happy to have your out of her mane. She still would have been keeping an eye out for you, but not like she will now.
Now she will keep track of you every moment she can, watching you like a hawk for even the smallest slip. Before she might have let a little thing slide (after a time) but now she never will. Now she truly is your enemy where before she was just a problem that could be avoided.
Oops...
Who the hell is Rachette? Or Miranda Rights?
8058489
Both Ratchette and Miranda Rights are original characters of Estee.
I'm like... 98% certain.
Ratchette runs a one-pony fix-it shop for enchanted conveniences and devices, the only such facility in Ponyville.
She's the main character in the story Mechanical Aptitude and has a bit-part in Twilight's Escort Service which I think may have been her first appearance.
Miranda Rights is the police chief for Ponyville, as she mentions in this chapter you've commented on.
I think she's been in a couple of other stories but she's definitely in the fourth story/chapter of Sick Little Ponies (And One Dragon).
Not really, when you consider Nightmare Moon was a Princess herself.
And, later on, those six help defeat a Queen and then a King. Heck, two kings. They also help defeat a Lord.
Fleur + Coordinator (from Triptych). Truly, a match forged in Tartarus. I wonder if she's one of the Dr.'s special ponies?
8583043
You DO realize she is planning on manipulating the Element Bearers to Banish Celestia or whatever...right? I mean dumb though that may be, without even having MET the Element Bearers. She doesn't even know how much they have or have not been told about her, or Discord for that matter.
As for the other three ponyville nobles, I'm going the obvious route, and saying it's the other three Bearers. I can totally understand Celestia not wanting to tell Fleur that her client is a noble, on top of being a bearer, as it would just give her ideas.
On another note, I want to see her meet Discord, and try to put his puzzle together. Even if ti would mean the story ends there, because it drives her hopelessly mad. OR, maybe she becomes so fixated on trying to figure it out, she becomes his new friend, and even partner. Though that idea is rather scary in its own right.
That's because it isn't
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cars+movie+online+hillbilly+hell&&view=detail&mid=3786014E287EBFBED1A53786014E287EBFBED1A5&&FORM=VRDGAR
Hmm.. so ponyville police aren't "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law" but "innocent until our dictator says so"
9062222
Based on the other stories
1 is Twilight
4 are Apples (by right of founding)
1 is Ratchette. as revealed here.
- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
Life isn't always easy when you're the only repairpony for enchanted devices and conveniences in all of Ponyville. It can get rougher when you're exactly the wrong race for the job...1 is Spike, Twilight's adopted son. Possibly the surprise
That leaves 2
Celestia said that "one will know & be upset" Miranda Rights?
The ninth & last....
Possibly Bon Bon? (AKA agent Sweetie Drops, per episode 100)
10352574
Spike is Twilight's adopted brother, not son. (Unless you meant Twilight Velvet, I guess.)
10567860
You're right. It's a common enough trope, I got the Triptych Continuum mixed up with some others.
Hmmm... Let's see all this planning interact with Discord.
I hadn't picked this up on my first reading, but I like the idea of Miranda relaxing in a hammock during her time away from work.
7499600
I assumed that bitch was Celestia, myself.
Never be afraid to make an enemy you already had.
Here's some more solid advice. One should never kick a hornet's nest in the heat of summer. Instead wait until the first night of frost if you must.
But no serious you don't steer a hornet's nest. It's a good way to get stung to death