They moved through the tunnel, with the path lit by silver corona light.
He had hardly ever used the passage. Teleportation brought advantages, and high among those was the fact that if you wished for a shortcut and knew there was a safe space waiting at the destination, then you had a rather strong primary option. For the most part, his time in it had been limited to occasional examinations of its full length, trying to see if everything was stable. But that was a visual inspection, and he had never been fully certain of his judgment there, for it wasn't as if any magic existed to help him learn what was going on with the walls and (still) somewhat natural ceiling. In the end, all he could do was say that it had not collapsed yesterday, having been there so long meant it probably wouldn't collapse tomorrow, and he was truly hoping it wasn't going to collapse tonight.
Surrounded by stone. For one of them, that state was the single most familiar.
"The things we fail to learn..." he softly said.
She was behind him, for she always knew to let him lead the way. "I don't. Understand..."
"Escorting," he clarified. "The process of teleporting with another at my side, bringing somepony with me to the destination. When I first learned to teleport, I thought that extra knowledge would be easy to add. How hard could it be? I could move myself. If I was wearing or carrying something, it came with me --"
From the back, a small, pained giggle briefly resonated through an enforced variety of night.
"-- well, all right," he ruefully remembered. "I did accidentally abandon those saddlebags at my departure point that once, rushing off to the delivery. I was rather distracted at the time. It happens. But in this case -- I thought I could learn to escort. There were many times in my life when bringing another with me would have been of so much use, starting when..."
And he stopped. It wasn't time for that. Not yet. And because she knew exactly what he was speaking of, the uneven sounds of hoofsteps slowed somewhat. There would be no more giggling.
"Many times," he quietly stated. "Including tonight. If I could just bring you there in a moment... so much easier. But somehow, the twist in the base working which leads to escorting -- that never came for me. And so we trot. But we will be there soon. And then I will have to go upstairs, be part of the party. Until the time comes."
"Yes," she eventually said, and he could hear the effort required to make the broken word emerge. How she was trying to make it sound as if she was hurting less than she truly was, and failing.
"Will you be all right by yourself? It will be some time."
"I can -- manage."
Words she probably would have said regardless. "You're certain?"
"I'm -- used to being..." Stopped. Coughed, and the little blast had a liquid sound at its core.
He wasn't a true doctor. But he had been present when so much had gone wrong, tried to stop as much of it as he could. To change those fates, and so part of him instinctively recognized the sound of a new distress. "What's happening?" And turned, his horn's light shining upon those changed features.
She wasn't moving. Her front knees were slightly buckled.
"I -- I feel --"
And then the vomiting began.
He rushed to her side, stayed with her through the convulsions. And when they finally ended, he gave her some of the water he'd brought with them, which had originally been intended for the time she would spend in waiting. But she could barely swallow it. He had to massage the outside of her throat with a field bubble just to trigger the automatic reaction and even then, some of the liquid tried to come back up.
It was several minutes, down there in the dark, before he would allow her to try moving again, and that did result in the resumption of their trip down the passage. She forced herself onward, because he had told her that this would be her night (not the one he'd dreamed of, but one which could still lead to the completion of the Great Work in the end, still an important night in so many ways and perhaps even the most so), and so she would do everything she could to make his words true.
But he'd forced himself to look upon the half-digested matter she'd brought up. The partially dissolved colors which stained her sickness. Melted capsules floating within.
Adverse reaction to the painkillers.
...he had other medications. He had something strong enough for the presentation, and if it triggered a reaction, it would do so after she had left the stage. They would get through the night. And after that... there was always a way forward. There always had been. So there always would be.
"This is your night," he told her. "The night for all of the broken."
And perhaps the pain had frozen her tongue, for she did not answer.
Pinkie had told her it was called circulation. For Twilight, who was the central target of the flow, it felt much more like being trapped within a giant clot.
The Bearers had, over the course of their friendship, attended what might be seen as far more than the standard share of parties. For starters, there were certain consequences to having Pinkie as part of the group, and then there were those few social gatherings which they stumbled into, were requested to attend, initially received too few tickets for... Most of the latter categories had produced memories, and there were even a few which could be recalled without triggering blushes -- as long as the inner movie didn't roll out anything too far beyond the opening credits.
As such, they had slowly established Rules for non-Pinkie parties, in the hopes of keeping the incidents down and at least a few of the local support columns standing. Two of those had become standardized: Pinkie was generally in charge, and Pinkie would make sure she herself had a full understanding of exactly what kind of party it was and why those hosting the function might want to keep it that way before she actually took charge. On this night, with Twilight at her first major post-change function, with so many of the guests seemingly coming from high society...
(Twilight wasn't entirely sure where all of the guests had come from and, after she'd heard a portion of the accent selection which Rarity's presence had once again effectively made complete, had some questions as to how they'd all gotten to Trotter's Falls. Quiet had mentioned that they'd be getting a few from outside the settled zone, but she could swear she'd just heard a distinctive west coast snort coming from the vicinity of the bar.)
After Quiet's speech -- something which had ended with more than a few ponies staring at him, and some of those surprised gazes had felt like those guests were trying to figure out just who this was as to presume he could tell them what to be thinking about for even a few seconds -- a few had seemed extremely confused about that part -- the line of Bearers had quickly been (and almost completely) dispersed. Ponies had crowded in towards them. Moved around them. They had gotten separated from each other, because a party had circulation, and ponies flowed through the paths which made up its arteries and veins. There had barely been a moment where they could try to stand united -- and then they were somehow standing near the band, or next to the bar. In Fluttershy's case, the ultimate destination was probably going to be the most defensible corner available, and Twilight was just hoping there wasn't a clear path to any window available from it. They were circulating, whether they wished to or not. In some cases, this meant they were being circulated: passed off from one pony who wanted to meet them to the next -- and the majority of those ponies wanted to meet Twilight. Or rather, they were ponies who wished a little snout-to-snout time with a Princess.
The party had started -- and Twilight had almost instantly found herself meeting Very Important Ponies, very important indeed, so very important that the first full minute of their introduction was generally used for explaining just how important they were, with the second occasionally utilized for explaining why she still hadn't heard of them. But those who approached had to get through a curly-tailed barrier first, because Pinkie, who understood the flow on the level of her mark, had made sure she'd stayed next to Twilight. It seemed to slow a few of the approaches, diverted others, and as far as Twilight was concerned, every tenth-bit helped.
The baker was listening to all of the interactions. She generally didn't interrupt unless the other pony said something she found funny, which still had to deal with Pinkie's sense of humor. There really hadn't been any moment when she'd formally put herself in the way. But she was very much a visible presence, letting anypony who approached know that there was a guard of sorts on the premises even without the capital letter involved, and it seemed to having a screening effect. Some ponies had begun to approach, spotted Pinkie standing next to Twilight, and silently changed their angle until they were flowing into a different section. There was a pool steadily building up by the bar. In terms of party anatomy, Twilight imagined that to be something like the kidneys. Or perhaps the bladder.
Some ponies had turned away -- but not all.
"...and that, Princess," beamed the fast-talker who hadn't let either of them get a word in since he'd started the sales pitch (and speaking so quickly as to prevent Pinkie from charging into any gaps was a feat worthy of applause), "is why you should absolutely channel some of your plentiful resources into getting my new company up and running! You'll have the original investment back inside of eleven moons, and after that, it's all profit! Yes, I know you've already got your riches, but what's wrong with being wealthier still? Absolutely nothing!" The stallion's head began to tilt back, reaching for a tiny exposed corner of the papers which were making an extremely thick bulge in his garment's chest pocket. "Now, I just happen to have a copy of the standard investor's contract right here --"
The pegasus' teeth clamped down on that corner. It gave Twilight her chance. "-- I'm a librarian."
His mouth released the documents, and a confused gaze swiveled back towards her. "You're -- well, yes, I suppose some of your station do decide that a job will pass the time nicely, but still, I'm sure that once you tap your true resources..."
Twilight named her salary. It wasn't a particularly long name and was completely lacking in titles, although it did come with a lot of unpaid (and generally compulsive) overtime.
"...you're a Princess," the somewhat-stunned pegasus finally got out, six breaths into the desperate attempts to acquire oxygen. "How does a Princess not have --"
"-- additionally," Twilight broke in, speaking at the speed of Pinkie, "I've been saving up to take a very important test. For some time now. I'd really rather not put any of that at risk. So my apologies, sir, but I think you might be better off looking for other investors tonight."
"But -- you're a Bearer. Surely that must pay at least --"
Pinkie automatically giggled, which switched up the target of the stare.
"-- excuse me," the pegasus abruptly stated. "I think I see somepony I know. Yes. Somepony I know. Over -- there." Wings flared.
Twilight spent a few seconds smoothing out the wind backblast's disruption to her mane. (Pinkie's curls were naturally resistant.) And then she sighed. "How long has it been?"
"Since the party started? About twenty minutes."
Twilight had what she felt was the only possible sane response: she softly groaned. "Ponies who want to meet me," she quietly said. "Ponies who want me to do things. Ponies who just had to be here..."
"You're doing okay," Pinkie gently encouraged her. "And I'm here." Twilight glanced over at her friend, found one of the smiles which the baker could so readily bring to others. "It's just for tonight."
Until the next party. And the next, and the next...
But this one was just for tonight. And Pinkie was there.
Admittedly, when it came to her current outer layer, she was a little less there than usual. The dress Rarity had granted her was considerably more subdued than the typical Pinkie-destined composition: a dark teal which didn't exactly mute the baker's presence while still stating that on this particular evening, it was best for said presence to have some level of volume control. It hadn't done anything to control the wild curls of mane and tail (and practically nothing ever did for more than a few minutes at a time), but it had rendered the total image into something which merely suggested an inherent sweetness to go with Pinkie's near-infinite approachability, as opposed to putting the entire candy shop on open display.
A degree of muting seemed to be a common theme for just about all of their outfits, including Spike's. It had taken Twilight some time to figure out the problem: Rarity had been working with a lack of gems. Her storeroom was gallops away, she knew of no hunting grounds in the area, and she hadn't approached Twilight to ask for a voucher which could be used at any local shop: even Rarity would hesitate before trying to declare fashion as a mission expense, and that was in an area with more normal pricing. As such, there were only a few gem adornments -- and those had come from the little supply which the designer almost always had with her, added to Spike's emergency rations. The resulting dresses (and one tuxedo) were still recognizably the product of Rarity's creative vision: it just took a moment to adjust for not looking through facets.
"At least he was nice," Pinkie decided. "In a Flim-Flam sort of way. When they're being nice until they have your bits, and sometimes they're even nice all the way over the hill, right up until you never see them again." She was starting to trot forward: Twilight made sure to move with her. "Besides, who would burn oil to run a new kind of train? Oil smoke is dirty! Steam kind of messes up your mane for a while until it dries out, but oil..."
"I know," Twilight sighed. "But it's not like he gave us a chance to tell him." Ponies who wanted investments. Ponies who wanted to say they'd met a Princess. Ponies who were --
-- admittedly, some of them definitely seemed to be avoiding her. There were ponies who reacted to her circulation path through instantly putting themselves into a branch artery, or squeezing through the narrow capillaries which ran between roaming food trays. (Wider ones were available, but only where the griffon cuisine (modified) was moving.) But still -- twenty minutes, probably hours to go, and somehow using twenty minutes as the divisor for those hours was producing a rather unmathematical and yet completely accurate number.
It was going to be a very long party. And since the circulation had started to pull them all apart, she'd barely had a glimpse of the others. (The most frequently sighted pony had been Rainbow, who was either fulfilling all requests to show off a little or deciding that just about any interaction with her was leading up to such and saving those ponies the trouble. So far, the entire party area remained intact, although one ceiling-hung tapestry was now dangerously slanted to the left.) Spike, smallest, who had the most trouble holding his ground -- he'd been completely lost to view, something Twilight was all too familiar with because it happened so often at large gatherings: the little dragon, even with the novelty of his presence figured in, could become overlooked, especially if there were ponies with raised snouts who'd decided not to bother with checking for smaller obstacles in their path. At the worst of times, he could wind up dodging around a seemingly-endless series of near-tramplings. Tonight, Twilight had to worry about that, having him sneak off to the bar when she wasn't looking --
-- and a potential letter coming in.
They still hadn't received any reply from Cadance. It could arrive at any second. It might never arrive at all. But if it did come, then there was no way of stopping it. Spike had no truly tested ability to temporarily keep such missives within the aether, not for more than a few seconds. His nostrils would flare, his mouth would open, and a new pathway would be cleared for the gout of flame. Possibly rather quickly, and with more than a little chance of screaming involved. The majority of Ponyville's residents had gradually become used to the arrival of scrolls, and now recognized that most of Spike's exhalations represented nothing more than a rather unique method of saving a stamp. But here... they wouldn't know what was happening. They might panic, and with so many ponies packed so closely together...
Twilight had spent a good part of the day desperately hoping Cadance's answer would arrive. She was now rather desperately hoping it wouldn't. Not until morning.
"Twilight?"
"Just thinking, Pinkie."
Another smile. "About what?"
I have to tell them what's in my head...
Keeping her volume low, making sure Pinkie's rotated ears were the only ones which would hear her at all, "Hoping we don't hear anything from the North until tomorrow. If Spike got the scroll right now..."
Pinkie winced. "I didn't think about that! Maybe... oh, I hate doing this to him, especially during a party, but -- maybe he'd better go back to your room? How long could he hold it back if he had to?"
"I saw him do it for about twelve seconds once," Twilight admitted in that half-whisper. "He was assisting me with something and -- well, it was one of those things where open flame was a really bad idea. He managed to keep it from coming in until he got clear. But he's never had to really keep something from arriving for longer than that. I don't know what he can do. We never tested it, there was never any real reason to test..."
"Maybe it's like holding back a sneeze," Pinkie optimistically suggested. "Sometimes if you just make a funny face and hold it for a while, the sneeze goes away."
"And sometimes," Twilight stated, trying not to think about the possibility of a lost scroll, "you sneeze." Maybe she did need to send Spike to the upper level, just in case. But she needed to find him first. Aerial scouting -- flying in the great hall felt like a truly bad idea, because eventually the necessary state of mind would collapse and there was no guarantee that she would have landed first. Getting up to the surrounding walkway and staring down, however, seemed to have something going for it, and so Twilight adjusted her path. Pinkie continued to stay with her.
It wasn't a smooth passage. There were more ponies to meet, ponies who insisted on being met, and Twilight couldn't dodge them all. Could not, in fact, dodge any. It seemed as if she could see all the local Weather Bureau members she wished. But she'd lost track of Spike. She couldn't find her friends. She hadn't seen Quiet since the circulation had begun. And that wasn't all.
Was that his --
-- no. That's the dress' hue, not the fur.
That really isn't a very good dress. Somepony should send her to Rarity. Immediately. No dress should ever try to simulate a stallion fetlock clump -- maybe I've been spending a little too much time being shown all those trade magazines... wait. Is that his spouse?
And over and over, the answer remained no. Not Quiet's wife. Nor Quiet. She did spot a light green coat with swirls of soft yellow, but had no way to reach the thaumatology supply shop's owner, and the most she could have done was ask if he'd seen Spike. He seemed to be busy, anyway: Weaver Shine was clearly speaking with another pony and while Twilight couldn't make out any of the words through the party's buzz, his expression suggested they were important ones.
Spike still wasn't visible, but even with all the interruptions, she was getting close to the ramp. She'd have the elevated view soon enough --
-- a flash of orange fur, added to blonde mane (which still had too much of the upper crest exposed) and tan fabric, resting within a surprising bubble of open space.
A deeper instinct had its say, and Twilight diverted.
"Applejack!"
The farmer turned. "So y'haven't broken for the loft yet." There was a smile attached to that. "Not having a loft probably helps. How are you getting on so far? I'm mostly just watching ponies go by. And around me. Plus you've got to see some of their faces --"
It was just about a whisper, and all the stronger for that lack of volume. "-- House Rosaceae?"
"I'm impressed," Applejack placidly stated. "Most ponies can't pronounce that first go. Softtread had to rehearse three times."
Twilight stared at her. Applejack shrugged.
"Twi," the farmer calmly said, "just about anypony who held land early in a settlement phase can qualify for the nobility. Or occupied sky, for the pegasi. You know that. You know some Houses are just the ponies who were there first before the Unification began, and their titles are the concession they kept for having their territories come in. And my family -- was directly granted land rights in what wound up as Ponyville -- by the Princess -- and we got there first. What did you think that meant?"
The stare wasn't exactly decreasing in intensity.
"You went," Twilight quietly said, "more than three years without telling me you had a title."
"So? It took you just about two before you just happened to mention having an older brother. And only because there was, you know, a sort of event, and you showing up for it would have been kind of hard to explain away without going into some of the little details. I told you, Twi: you keep your secrets, even when you don't have to. And if they'd both been into prolonged engagements, I'd probably still be thinking you were the first branch on that part of the tree." Followed by, with a deliberately wicked tone, "But y'know, as far as my title goes, if somepony had just gone and asked me..."
Currently at 50% Fluttershy and rising. "But why didn't you --"
The words were pitched for Twilight's ears alone. "-- because it doesn't matter." A short pause. "Titles are mostly good for two things, Twilight, and one of them is saying you have the thing." Thoughtfully, "Well -- maybe three. I guess somepony could get paid to write something florid enough to say. Come to think of it, whoever did -- Quiet's? -- should have gotten overtime."
"Did anypony know?"
From behind her, "Yes." Twilight glanced back just in time to see the embarrassment rushing through Pinkie's fur. "After a while. But I wasn't supposed to say..."
"Plus," Applejack added, "maybe a couple of ponies around town. Two or three. Anypony who's really into reading those Peerage books, all the way through the last twig on the biggest trees. The mayor might have an idea. And that's probably it. I ain't even told Apple Bloom, because I knew the first thing she'd do if she found out she had a House was go all 'Cutie Mark Crusaders Nobility --'" the sarcasm was automatic "'-- yay,' and Sun only knows what she'd decide that meant, especially once the other two got involved. I figured the best case was them deciding they were supposed to be the government and we'd wind up losing Town Hall. Again. Twilight -- I don't care about my title." This pause was longer. "Well -- not much, anyway. As a family thing, it's a little special. To know that the Princess thought so highly of that family, she told them that she wanted the Malus line as the first ponies in. That we were chosen. When I look at it that way, it's something to be proud of. But that's all it means. Generations back, somepony else got her respect. I still had to earn it on my own."
"Then..." Completely confused now. "...tonight? Why tonight --"
"-- because," Applejack smoothly, softly cut in, a small smile twisting her lips, "the thing a title's good for which I didn't mention? Some ponies need apples kicked in their faces before they get some sense. Others gotta get hit by words. Every pony here tonight got a little reminder, Twilight. That earth ponies can be nobles. Maybe some of 'em are gonna decide their own titles mean less because of that. Others? They're just gonna be mad. Hardly anypony here knows how to deal with me. Can't trot up, can't talk. Because they'd have to at least pretend to treat me as an equal until nopony was looking any more. Maybe even a superior, depending on their own House. And every last one of those ponies who can't talk to me is trotting past with the bruises from words on their snouts. Because for some of them, their titles are all they are, all they can be, and now I've got one..."
Ponies were going by, because a party's circulation flowed until something blocked it. But that tide passed around them. Nopony was truly watching. And if any of them were listening, then the forced stoicism on so many faces told Twilight that the last thing they wanted to do was hear.
Applejack could clearly see all of it. And so the farmer rolled her eyes -- then sighed, as the smile faded away.
"Ah've gotta watch that," she quietly said. "Maybe it felt too good. Like something I could get used to real easy, and want to do over and over. I don't think I'll be kicking like this again for a while after tonight, not without a really good reason. But maybe when you've been kicked enough, anypony's entitled to kick back once."
Part of Twilight's rather occupied mind was beginning to consider all of that. The remainder was dealing with what had suddenly become a rather pressing question, and so managed to beat a path to the vocal cords before the majority had a chance to notice.
"Applejack?"
"Yeah?"
"Remember that whole 'garden party' bit?"
The farmer's lips quirked. "Fondly."
In some ways, that provided the next answer -- but the question emerged anyway. "Did you do that on purpose?"
Which brought the smile back. "So where are you heading? You kind of look like a pony who's trying to get somewhere."
"Applejack, I know you're trying to change the subject --"
"-- already apologized to Rarity. A while back. Besides, everypony else was having so much fun, and there was a little dance craze getting started... So where were you going?"
Twilight, for lack of any other options, sighed. "Just up the ramp. I have to find Spike: I just realized we might have some problems if he gets a sending right now."
The green eyes went slightly wide. "Oh -- yeah. Do that. Pinkie, how are you holding up? It's not the worst party, but even with you helping out on the setup, and Ah ain't blaming you..."
The baker's eyes briefly sought out the floor. "Maybe an apple bobbing tub would have helped."
Twilight had been wishing for one ever since the circulation had begun. "So I'd better get up there," she recommitted. "Pinkie?"
"Um..." A little wince. "Actually... will you be okay by yourself for a minute or two? I think I need to talk to Applejack. Right now. About -- looks. And -- not looking. If that's okay?"
"Pinkie," Equestria's newest confessed noble said, "I'm fine --"
"-- and I say," Pinkie carefully insisted, "that we need to talk. Just a little. Right now."
There were times when they had to trust Pinkie. Twilight had already decided this was one of them.
"I'll be all right," Twilight assured her, and hoped it would be true. "The ramp's close, and nearly everypony's down here. I'll just go up and scout. Maybe I'll wave Rainbow over if she gets close on a swoop. But once I'm overhead, it shouldn't be that hard to find Spike."
It was.
There had been three we-must-talks! on the way to the ramp, and she'd thought it was about to be four until the pony who was right in front of her had abruptly moved out of the way. She'd also had a harder time getting away from such interactions without Pinkie there, ponies seemed to be coming up faster now, and she'd had some real worries about being followed --
-- but once she'd reached the surrounding walkway, she'd had a minute to herself, for even in a culture where a third of the population could be airborne at any moment, groundbound ponies who didn't possess constant low-level concerns about where Rainbow might be crashing next didn't spend a lot of time looking up.
She found Rarity first, and hadn't meant to. It also didn't take long to realize she wasn't going to be interrupting that interaction, because the designer had a very distinctive sales are in progress set to the elegant tail, one which told Twilight that of the six mares who had surrounded her, at least one was extremely interested in a commission. (Based on Twilight's hours within the boutique, two others were probably just keeping up appearances, and the other three would ask for a calling card, followed by very carefully losing it.) A Rarity who had the chance to expand her contacts and profits needed to be left alone, because the Fund would only do so much and there was always the chance for true Discovery to be a single client away.
Fluttershy... well, it was a very defensible corner. Twilight had seen Fluttershy insert herself into any number of corners during high-pressure social situations, and so could expertly say that the pegasus had made an excellent choice. Of course, it wasn't perfect, because Fluttershy was the most attractive of the Bearers. There were other pegasi at the party, and that allowed for three angles of approach. And with the corner in play, there was nowhere left for the animal caretaker to retreat. All Twilight could do was hope another friend reached her. Quickly, because the shapely body could do a rather impressive amount of damage in full charge, and when Twilight considered the way Fluttershy was currently trying to hide just about every last tenth-bit of tail she possessed, which was a near-impossible project to start with...
Applejack and Pinkie were where she'd left them. The set of their ears told her the conversation was a rather serious one, and might go on for some time. A small bubble of space maintained around the discussion.
A noble.
Twilight's House had existed for generations before her birth. She knew it was a strictly moderate one as Houses went: not too many members, not that much power, and pretty much no caring about either of the previous factors. It had gained some minor extra status when Shining had reached his rank. But then the wedding had come, and -- well, ponies paid real attention when somepony married a Princess, especially when it seemed to be the only such wedding in Equestria's history. Then she had changed, and... she didn't know exactly what the status of her House was, but she had several reasons to suspect it wasn't moderate any more.
She was, technically, a noble. She always had been. But she had something in common with Applejack: she didn't care. She didn't even know how her House had been founded to begin with: she had learned about the lives of so many great casters, but when it came to her own family history... well, there weren't all that many great casters in it. Her parents hadn't seen the other ancestors as a worthy subject for bedtime stories, and so she'd left that part of the past alone.
It had taken much less than two years for the others to find out about her status, and Twilight hadn't been the one to tell them. Pinkie, bringing in the library's mail for her, had splayed out the envelopes on the main desk while Twilight was busy with some extremely necessary reshelving, and that had given Pinkie the chance to read it -- for when you were a unicorn in a House, you were in the Peerage books. That was automatic. Twilight could find her entry any time she liked, and had only glanced at the relevant page in an update volume once since her arrival in Ponyville, mildly curious as to just how Cadance had been written in.
You were in the books -- and, if you weren't careful, you also wound up on mailing lists. Requests for donations to all sorts of causes, political appeals from your supposed fellows who just knew you'd understand and all sorts of other missives, every last one of which wanted her to send a prepaid voucher in the return envelope. (She couldn't even get rid of the catalogs, although she'd managed to redirect some of them to the Boutique: Rarity could at least appreciate the intent behind a ridiculously overpriced mail-order dress, if not always the design.) And they were lists which followed you. The process for doing so didn't seem to be a magical one: Twilight had never found so much as a single lingering thaum on any of the mailings, and attempts to dispel what didn't appear to exist had mostly led to a lot of singed envelopes. She couldn't get a given journal's subscription mailing address reliably updated, much less get off the list. There had been a few moons of peace -- and then the letters had found the tree.
Pinkie had read the full designation on an outer envelope, immediately fallen into a cascade of giggles, and by the time Twilight got close enough to learn just what was so funny, the secret (such as it was) had been out. But Twilight hadn't really cared. Ask her to describe herself and in the time before Ponyville, she probably would have begun with 'student' or, after graduation, 'researcher'. 'Librarian' had only arrived after she'd taken custody of the tree and learned what the job truly meant. 'Bearer' hardly ever got pulled out unless it was the only way through. 'Noble' might have reached after about five hours of steadily working her way down the checklist until she finally she reached the dusty entry. Her friends had all enjoyed their share of the laughter, especially after they'd seen what Twilight was being asked for and worked the figures against her actual salary. And then they had treated her no differently than before -- if you left out the typically-once-per-season opportunity for a minor joke at Twilight's expense. It was a cost which generally worked out to zero, at least once you subtracted the blush.
And now Applejack is -- always has been, and just didn't see any need to bring it up -- a noble.
Why am I having trouble with this?
Is it because...
...maybe I should get back to --
-- no. Stop it. I don't always catch myself when it happens, but this time, I know I'm trying to dodge. Let the words go through. Is it because...
It hurt. It shouldn't have hurt, and yet the pain worked its way across her snout, contracted fur as a hard wince rippled her face.
...is it because she's an earth pony? Am I really somepony who can't see an earth pony as being a noble? Am I...
All the ponies milling below, and so few coming close to the two that lacked both horn and wings.
What do I think of when I think of nobles? What does being a noble mean to me?
-- okay, for me, it mostly means that when I get one of those government forms where you have to fill out your absolute real and true ultimate full name, I need more space. I'm really going to need some extra space the next time that happens -- actually, come to think of it, maybe that's why Applejack never accepted any of my offers to help with the family's taxes. But what does it mean when I apply it to other ponies?
It should just mean 'ponies with a title'.
Applejack is -- still herself. Even with everything that's happened, all I've learned -- she's still Applejack. She's just Applejack with some new things added. I see her though the filter of a title and I see...
...I see my friend.
And when I think of nobles, what I mostly think of is the ones who are -- what she said. The ones where the titles are all they are. All they ever could be. It's the most they can even dream of for themselves, unless they're dreaming of being the only ones who have that title at all.
But Quiet's not like that. Neither's Fancypants. And there are nobles who just -- fill out their forms with a little more ink. But when I think of nobles, and try to think of Applejack -- I can't see her acting like the worst ones do. Ever. And all that time in the palace, at the Gala, even at that garden party, when I'm seeing the worst of them... it makes it hard to remember the best exists.
I think of the worst of them, automatically. That's the shame of it. Maybe it's something I need to be ashamed of, having taken that in as a stereotype. But that's not my friend.
She's a -- noble pony. And a pony noble.
Ponies can be both.
And somewhere, she found a smile.
I wonder what Big Mac's full title is? Probably something really embarrassing. I'll ask Applejack what it is. And if she won't tell me, I'll pull it out of him eventually. Maybe by yoke -- come to think of it, how are they staying off the mailing lists? Now that's something worth calling 'the Secret'! Or is there another mailing list for the non-unicorn Houses?
-- okay, now I'm just distracting myself. I can see four of my friends from here. Can't spot Rainbow right now, but maybe there was a stunt she just had to show off outside, storm or no storm. And I can't spot Spike. If he was just taller -- bad wish, bad wish! Just look for his crest --
There were hoofsteps coming up the ramp. She didn't look in that direction: it would have been time taken away from the search, and she'd used enough of that already in getting past her own thoughts. If somepony was trying to meet her, she would be met. There wasn't much she could do about that. And for that matter, there was a chance that if the new arrival was asked politely, or by a Princess, she would have the help of extra eyes.
But the hoofsteps stopped, and the voice which replaced them was familiar. It was a voice she had spent years listening to, one she'd dearly wished to forget, and it would never be a sound which offered help. But it addressed her in what were almost caring tones, a falsehood which even the tiny portion of bare empathy she'd retained in school had always seen through.
"Twilight?"
And with all the echoes rushing forward, those school years suddenly surrounding her, pressing on her body with the weight of memories and shrinking the pony at the center -- there was a moment when all she could do was stand there. Unable to move. Waiting to see just what was going to go so horribly wrong --
-- I'm not a filly any more.
I'm not that pony.
I'm me.
She turned, looked directly at him.
"Is there something you want, Coordinator?" she snidely asked. "Is there a legislated maximum viewing time for this area? A minor law requiring that I find a coin-operated telescope and start dropping bits in? Because if that's the case, feel free to send the resulting paperwork for the fine. That would be care of Tartarus --"
"-- Twilight." And it was half put-upon sigh. Frustrated, somewhat bemused exasperation. Another lie.
For him, it can be Princess. "What. Do. You. Want? Because I really want to reach the part where I just say no and --"
But the dull grey field had already ignited, and glow was descending towards the chest pocket of his own garment, fishing within. This time, the paper had the chance to emerge, and Twilight's words died as she saw the multiple colors of ink which covered the exposed portion of the folded sheet, and all the things which had been scribbled in some of the worst mouthwriting ever seen.
"If you have a moment," Coordinator calmly said, "I'd like to return this. As a --"
The pause, if not for the word which followed it, would have been the worst part. The pause was when he smiled.
"-- friend."
Hmm... That ending... Are revelations gonna come from that source, instead of the primary ones? ... Is he responsible for those that are missing?
Nice metaphor!
Oh, interesting...
...
Have we ever gotten inside Twilight's head and heard her thoughts? ... It seems rare, but I'm not sure. Cool, though!
Typo?
only possible sa(n)e response
It certainly has its uses. Waterproofing, hardening, ornamentation. Mostly that last one. But you can't make a pot entirely out of glaze.
Her arrival appears to be delayed for now. I have to say, you've done an incredible job in making me hate Gentle more with every scene the two spend together.
Good to see Twilight take the time to sort through her feelings and resolve the inner conflict quickly. As for AJ and Pinkie, I get the sense that that conversation is a lot more vital than Applejack realizes; good on them for trusting the social genius.
As for Coordinator... Well, as I believe I've said before, it all comes down to how much sensitive information Dash has written down, how much she's embellished, and how much he believes. No matter what, I really don't think he has the leverage he may think he does.
And if all else fails, the bar's right there. Should be enough alcohol to disinfect most of what he's touched in the immediate vicinity.
It's not every fic you see one of the mane six confront internalized racism in their thinking. That was a great moment.
I can't tell how the conversation with Coordinator is going to go, but I hope he gets humiliated in the end.
Might just be my phone formatting but I think you lost the italics on a few of the internal thoughts for Twilight. It goes from italicized at the start of the paragraph to normal formatting part way through.
Shaking, shaking.... Reading this and shaking
And the blackmail begins. Let's see if he was smart and asked it to be published unless he regularly sends a request not to, otherwise taking him out would solve the problem pretty quickly (and even then, Fluttershy still could use the bubble to erase the copy.)
this reminded me of a line from an old fantasy story, "the hero and the crown": "your family is royalty because they posses strong magic, NOT the other way around."
oh, i remember an earlier chapter, where Coordinator was planning his next move...it ended with, "he should have run."
Coordinator was Twilight's foalhood tormentor? I don't think I picked up on that before now.
Ooh, I hope he gets the comeuppance that he rightly deserves.
things are reaching fever pitch and honestly i cant wait.
I expect Twilight to have a rage shift very soon (aka, catch on fire via pure rage).
That is such a perfect line.
So yes, it looks like Applejack knows she just did the most incredibly offensive thing she could possibly have done here and now. Of course, these ponies most definitely deserve to be offended.
In every story with a lot of intrigue and mystery, we sooner or later hit what I call the “cards on the table and hands in the air” moment, the moment where all the secrets come out, all the maneuvering is brought into play, and everything is resolved. I think that moment is beginning now. Hang on to your wits...
"just had to show off outside, storm or no storm. And I can't spot Spike. If he was just taller -- bad wish, bad wish! Just look for his crest --"
Something appears to have gone wrong with the italics tags there.
8266864
That wouldn't be remotely enough to save him. There is no possible good outcome for Coordinator here. If he tries blackmail, well, Twilight can bring the full weight of the crowns crashing down on him. Hopefully it occurs to her that it would be an option.
8266799
Actually, I don't think it was internalized racism, if you read beyond that part, you see that she is painting the Title of Noble in a negative light and can't imagine a down to earth pony like applejack being like the stuck up snobs in canterlot that Twilight had grown used to ignoring over the years as Celestia's student.
I really am not looking forward to what coordinator has in store for Twilight.
Soooo... Anyone else think coordinator's about to lose some teeth?
8267489
I think Coordinator is playing with literal fire, since he's playing with a princess.
Because, at some point, even if Twilight for some reason can't deal with him and he pushes too far, Celestia (or more likely, Luna) might actually have to step in to remind ponies that, at the end of the day, THEY are in charge and that people like Coordinator won't be allowed to go around trying to manipulate them.
Which makes him a fool. And one should always wish for foolish enemies.
8267489
Yeah, I see that. It just struck me as an interesting section, forcing Twilight the big thinker to realize her preconceptions were clouding her reason. Her previous experience dealing with AJ having a secret might have played into it a little too. This one isn't as big, but it must still feel weird to really see that just because she's the bearer of honesty doesn't mean she is always being 100% forthcoming about herself. It's kind of a disconnect between how she is and how she presents herself.
I feel like on a roller coaster in the very last carriage where you've managed to brave being pulled up and now you're on the top of the hill and the front of the train is starting to roll down but your part of it isn't quite there yet.
Also, I hope Coordinator loses his position, what little power he has, and possibly, a couple of teeth.
I remember reading (Reader's Digest Personal Glimpses?) author Gore Vidal was introduced at a party. Asked what he did, he replied "I'm a failure".
A friend asked "What did he mean by that?" He said "You're an author and people have to ASK "what do you do?", you're a failure"
As to solicitors, I'd mail a large tree C.O.D. with a note to the effect "Thank you for allowing me to contribute to your worthy cause" Or, send Tom.
Good to see this continuing. Looks like things are getting close to the end and tensions are high.
I hope Coordinator's actions ends with him overreaching and getting the book thrown at him (hopefully taking out some teeth in the process). he has made a lot of enemies and even if everything else he did was not actually illegal (I doubt that), the counterfeiting would still be extremely illegal.
Applejack continue to work for her title as worst pony.
Applejack is assuming deceit and malice behind the actions of her “friends” out of nowhere.
no applejack, that is just you.
When Applejack says everybody lies and uses Twilight not talking about a title she doesn’t care about and not mentioning a family they didn’t ask about as an example. I don’t think she is being profound, I just think she is projecting. – the racism, paranoia and deceit of the earth ponies would be easier for her to justify if the whole thing wasn’t one-sided on their part.
I can’t take “the nobles are totally prejudiced against earth ponies and therefore are all bad” seriously when it comes from Applejack who is characterized as always going out of her way to spit in the faces of every noble she meets, even when doing so hurts her friends. – Applejack is an unreliable narrator when it comes to nobles, she goes out of her way to make the worst first impression possible whenever she meets them under the assumption that her family is the only noble one that works for a living.
Twilight’s problems with Applejack’s nobility isn’t about race, it is about getting her picture of nobility from a prolonged bullying/gaslighting campaign, which made her give up on social interaction entirely outside her immediate family and heavily vetted exemptions.
it just comes off as the nobles are people who don’t like Applejack because they can see she hates them when they haven’t done anything to her and keeps trying to upset them out of completely unearned spite. – you don’t have to be a snob to dislike or want to avoid someone like that … plus, the earth ponies ARE terrible so again we are in only sane man territory here.
I must say I think the racism is the weakest part of the story. it would have worked better shortly after unification, when their grandmother could tell them about how it was like during the wars and slavery. but after at least a thousand years of being peacefully united? it really doesn't make the earth ponies look good, at all.
they have been killing their own to have a hidden weapon to stab their fellow equestrians in the back with. – which, you would think would disqualify them for honesty and loyalty.
we are supposed to see the unicorns and Pegasi looking down on earth ponies as racism. but why the fuck wouldn't they? the earth ponies have been doing the equivalent of breaking plates so the other ponies don't make them do the dishes. they made themselves look as powerless and unreliable as they could, so the others wouldn't think of them as a threat and so the others wouldn't ask them to use their natural talents to help others. – let's be honest, the others would have every right to look down on them for that alone.
Imagine a World where the Pegasi did the same thing. – no weather manipulation where ponies can see it and as far as outsiders are allowed to know, the natural talent of Pegasi is just flying, nothing else. Where anyone not upholding the party line, is beaten or killed.
Where Rainbow Dash would be hanging from a tree, if she ever told the ponies who routinely depends on her in life or death scenarios, when the fate of the world is on the line, that she can do more than just fly really fast and clouds are not just useless cover to a Pegasus.
Where Fluttershy would be beaten black and blue, for redirecting rainclouds to Sweet Apple Acres so a drought doesn’t turn into a famine.
Where hurricanes are left alone while Pegasi just watch, because doing anything about it now wouldn’t personally benefit a Pegasus.
How are we supposed to feel when others call those Pegasi “pigeons” because they are only good for delivering the mail? – me personally? Go on, they have it coming and much more!
… Damn it! I didn’t want to spend so much time complaining about the earth ponies.
8266799
if you are talking about Twilight. i have to disagree.
I had to reread that part, but Twilight’s problems with Applejack’s nobility wasn’t about her race. she didn't have problems seeing an earth pony as a noble. she had problems thinking of an noble that wasn't a bully. since she got her picture of nobles from a prolonged bullying/gaslighting campaign which made her give up on the idea of friendship.
the only one turning it into a race thing so far was Applejack and she is not exactly unbiased.
8268318
The Cornucopia Effect is a little more significant than delivering the mail. Also, the deceitful nature of the earth ponies does not at all excuse the way nobles treat them. It's ironic sure, but they're still assholes. How can Applejack using her title to spite them possibly be a black mark for Applejack? The only reason they'd get riled up is if they were prejudiced, which would be unjustified, since they can't hate them for something they don't know about. While I think that the author relies a little too much on Twilight's experiences to paint a picture of how nobles act (which was kinda addressed in this chapter), and generally agree that earth ponies are terrible, it seems pretty mutual in this case.
8268980
there was a time when the heights of communications technology was a guy on a horse. Without phones and cars communications is a lot slower. so, yes Pegasus mail could still be more significant than most realize.
I mostly used Pegasi as an example because we know how important weather control is to Equestria
because we see that Applejack's idea of nobles is mostly in her head with a few exceptions.
we see this with the Apples and the other settlers; and we see it with ponies like Twilight's family who don't care and get nothing out of their title except being put on a mailing list.
she fucks with every pony she sees with a title, before she knows anything else about them. (you can read, auk-ward for a recent example)
she treats them all like snobs who don't work or deserve money, and goes out of her way to fuck with them even if it is hurting her friends. fucking with nobles is more important than the friends she has in the crossfire.
except you forget one thing: Applejack goes out of her way to fuck with every noble she sees. you don't think that kind of behavior can build a reputation? she is that asshole who goes out of her way to make a scene at any event if she sees a noble.
it looks a lot less like "oh no, a mud pony with a title I must faint on the spot" and more like "oh no, who invited Applejack? there goes the party"
but hey, let’s say that yes, Applejack’s persecution complex is right. (stopped clocks) They are just riled up because she is an earth pony.
this story turned unfounded persecution complexes into a racial trait. We have gotten a lot of examples that this makes most earth ponies feel fully justified in treating other ponies like shit. Being dishonest and cheating them because they are not earth ponies. – other ponies would know about this shit, the “earth pony tax” alone wouldn’t make many friends.
This story puts me in a really weird place where the fucking nobles are the reasonable and down to earth folk and all the farmers has the secret conspiracy and unsavory business practices.
The other story I linked also had a noble interacting with normal ponies, they are not just reasonable because Twilight is around.
The problem is even if we took Applejack’s persecution complex at its word and assume things are as bad as she says it is. it still looks and feels like a reasonable reaction to having to deal with the kind of shit earth ponies pull on others all the time.
8267387
She wouldn't have to. I think Coordinator is about to discover in his own person that Twi is, as very few ponies outside the Bearers know (and Twi often forgets), a skin of mild-mannered librarian over a deep, deep well of personal strength. One of the overarching themes I've seen in this whole story centers around Twilight not having yet come into her own. Her ascension has shaken her confidence and self image a lot more than she thinks, and she is very hesitant to exert herself as of yet both because she is unconsciously both associating being 'royalty' with the nobles who bullied her and because in her head 'Princess' is something that applies to a certain sunny flanked demigoddess or tentatively her sister, not a research librarian who could previously count her friends on her hooves and have a pair left over.
My real curiosity is if Equestria in the 'verse has an Official Secrets Act, or if she'll have to resort to simply destroying him verbally over his theft to get in the mood for what is to come.
8268318
8268980
Hold on, if ponies get a title for being the first to settle a wild zone, and (as earlier explained in this story) most settlements are founded by earth ponies, shouldn't most nobles be earth ponies?
It would certainly explain why half of the Canterlot Elite are earth ponies.
8266916
Oh. Certainly not. HE never did anything to Twilight. He simply... mentioned things to others. Helped her slip deeper into the Friendless Zone... If he couldn't be her friend? NO ONE WOULD.
8271342
Yes, a lot of, if not most nobles would be earth ponies. Most nobles who became so by creating a settlement would be earth ponies since a settlement without the cornucopia effect is basically doomed if they don’t have something to export for food. non-earth pony settlements that survive are likely rare [1] since we see earth ponies are perfectly willing to see non-earth pony settlements die out if there isn’t an earth pony on top getting a piece of the pie.
which is part of why I say Applejacks idea of nobles is mostly in her head. We see again and again that most nobles are people, not caricatures of politics and the rich. Hell, we also see a lot of nobles who don’t have outstanding finances. The only nobles who get a steady income out of their title is the ones with land of their own.
Ironically enough, earth ponies are unlikely to become nobles through outstanding deeds. [2] the secret means if an earth pony used their magic to perform some heroic deed worthy of a noble title, they would have to hide it or play it off as an accident, if they don’t want to get killed by the earth ponies they just saved. – they don’t give you a noble title for not getting killed when the Beast of Caerbannog is squashed by a lucky rockslide.
And the same goes for outstanding military service. With the addition that the secret also means their own forces can’t make plans that take earth pony magic into account. [3]
[1] – I’m not really clear on how Pegasus settlers in the sky would work. – clouds move and it would be a team effort to keep them in one piece – I’m imagining Rainbow Dash sticking a flag in the biggest cloud she can find and kicking anyone looking funny at it in their teeth.
[2] – it is entirely the earth ponies and the secret’s fault if other people are thinking of the earth ponies as nothing better than dumb muscle and lucky fools.
[3] – After Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra and the Changeling invasion, the excuse that they are hiding their true strength for some attacking force prepared for the other races is running thin. – at this point the only such force would be the earth ponies themselves. And then who will they help?
8272378
Yes and no. It's pretty clear that being first in isn't the only way to gain a title, and the implication in a few of the 'verse stories is that some of the titles (especially among the unicorns) are pre-unification.
8274096
I haven't read all of the Triptych Continuum. so, i can't speak for pre-unification nobility. although i can't see why they would be different? – I don't think ALL unicorns were nobility back then, they presumably did something for the ruler at the time to give them the title. and it doesn't change that a lot of "nobles" today see their titles as an insignificant part of their lives
i'm aware that creating a settlement isn't the only path to nobility. (outstanding deeds was mentioned in my last overly long comment)
it is just the way most earth ponies would get a title, while also being the most likely form of nobles to retain their wealth through the generations.
8272378
Yep, that's why Trotter's Falls is so exceptional, it's a unicorn settlement.
I think that's a little harsh. Trotter Falls residents seem to be fairly prejudiced against earth ponies, so I can't blame them for not wanting to move there. That said, it seems like earth pony grocers are deliberately driving up the price selling to the town, a big part of the local inflation effect.
Do we? Honestly in 90% of the fandom nobles seem to be caricatures, simultaneously brilliant schemers out to stop Celestia and idiotic sycophants out to emulate and impress Celestia, with almost no author willing to acknowledge the contradiction there. Part of why I believe there are more earth pony nobles is that such a member of the nobility (with an agricultural background) is more likely to be named "Straw Man."
I would guess the key is you have to be self-supporting, which is really difficult in the sky, part of why we almost never see really important Pegasi nobles or elites in the show, only earth ponies and unicorns. Maybe once there are say ten new earth pony towns, one new Pegasi settlement can be built that makes money by exporting weather to those ten towns.
90% agree with you. I mean, other tribes (especially unicorns) are widely shown to look down on earth ponies in the Triptych-verse, and it's still wrong of them to do that, in the same way they shouldn't look down on donkeys and mules but probably do. That said, I feel like earth ponies have no right to complain unless they first demonstrate their power. After the "accidental" earthquake came along and stopped those unicorn slavers, that would have been the perfect time to come clean. Instead earth ponies conspire to make sure everyone else operates with incomplete information regarding them.
Yup. Does Shining Armor or the other high ranking military commanders know the full capabilities of the soldiers in their command? If not they are guaranteed to make sub-optimal decisions.
And then there's Maud, who wasn't introduced until after the Triptych-verse got started, and basically flaunts her Twilight-Sparkle levels of power with earth pony magic. She talks to a rock and tells everyone he talks back! There's a reason we haven't ever seen her in this verse, according to the rules she may have been done in by her own evil father.
8274096 That's a good point, and I would also wager that as unicorns seemed like the race most focused on political power (while earth ponies were/are focused more on building wealth), they probably started out with most of the titles. But that was over a millennium ago, so it seems likely most noble lines are likely to have trouble tracing themselves that far back, and any kind of inherited wealth would run out. Earth ponies as a tribe have probably gained most of the recent titles in the last few centuries, and they have the bits to back it up. There's a reason earth ponies are always shown to be running businesses (Filthy Rich, Gladmane, Oat Street Financiers) are the mayors of a lot of the biggest towns (Manehatten, Balitmare, Fillydelphia), and are shown to be half of the Canterlot elite. The cornucopia effect isn't great in a fight, but in terms of putting more money in your pockets over the decades and centuries, it can't be beat.
8277625
Harsh, yes. but I got that impression from Applejacks conversation with the earth pony traders (which I can’t find right now, I’ll look out for it during my next reread)
to reuse my “what if it was the pegasi who kept their powers secret” analogy
the traders were selling water bottles to a settlement suffering from a Generations long drought because they didn’t have a weather bureau giving them rain, and the settlement only didn’t have a weather bureau, because weather control is a secret and the pegasi have no problems letting dirt pony settlements die out. how many settlements can survive buying water bottles for all their water needs, for Generations?
As far as we can see what makes Trotter Falls special is that it has survived earth pony price gouging so far (or as I think of it: the earth pony tax).
The earth ponies do come off as Yakuza at times
It is a funny thing, a lot of people have this idea that prejudice can never be earned, that it just spontaneously appears without a reason you should acknowledge.
The earth ponies have made their beds and they are sleeping in it, they have earned the scorn thrown at them. And if everyone knew the truth it would just be the beginning. The earth ponies may have been the victims once. – and they will never let you forget it – but that was thousands of years ago.
They have been digging themselves a deep hole with their persecution complex. And a part of me really want to see the secret exposed to all
It really doesn’t help that ponies appear to look up to power and personal achievement to an extreme degree. The secret is undercutting the standing of earth ponies as a whole in the eyes of the other ponies
thanks to the secret, The earth ponies do not have an elite of their own to look up to like the Wonderbolts, they do not have great minds or heroes like Starswirl, they do not have entertainers showing off their might like Trixie.
As far as others are allowed to know, the earth ponies don’t even know how the Cornucopia Effect works. – earth pony shit being a supernatural fertilizer would be a reasonable explanation based on what is shared with outsiders.
Pony settlements exist at the mercy of earth ponies and pegasi. But pegasi do not keep their importance a secret. So, ponies know you need weather control to maintain a settlement and know how to get professionals to fill that role.
This is another place where the secret is hurting earth ponies. A Pegasus can get a job pushing clouds, where an Earth pony has to get a “real” job to make money.
That does make sense, although that leaves the question. Which of the many Pegasi needed to keep a cloud settlement in one piece becomes the noble?
So true!
The fact that the nobles are not all just strawman in Triptych is one of the reasons I love this story. – but sadly, Applejack didn’t get the memo.
Nobles in fiction are usually depicted as this weird caricature that basically makes no sense in MLP, all the scheming and back stabbing makes no sense If the easiest way to get catapulted to the top is earning Celestia’s favor, especially when Celestia is a genuinely kind person.
It is one of the reasons I consider the earth ponies to be half way treasonous. How many fights did the earth ponies throw for the secret?
As far as I can see the secret is the single most damaging conspiracy in Equestria. even if we could ignore everything they would have to do to keep such a secret for so long, the damage it causes on a daily basis would assure it alone.
By comparison, the conspiracy to create alicorns is basically nothing, sure they have a bit of a dark magic problem but they are basically nice people otherwise.
Maud gives me this feeling of impending doom. The idea that Pinky Pie has to attend her sister’s funeral after she is murdered by her own father for making friends with an outsider, and the worst part is that whole thing could easily fit with the Triptych-verse.
True.
Plus, the unicorn houses also come off as being in decline. Basically, just gliding along on past glory. So, the idea that an earth pony would make nobles drop their monocles is absurd.
This doesn't have that much to do with the chapter, but something's been bugging me this entire fic, and in fact for the entire continuity:
Ramps should be harder for ponies to climb, not easier. It's a smooth decline and flat hooves would struggle to maintain enough of a hoofhold to easily and safely walk up and down on them.
8326427
Everclear is only useful as cleaning solution and fuel. Bacardi 151 is the same proof in NV, and tastes quite a bit better. :)
8266799
Nope, it's not just you. With the way Estee tends to italicize words for emphasis, it's highly likely that a tag ends up getting lost when an entire passage is supposed to be italicized.
I swear to Sun and Moon, if it's the last thing I do, I am going to yank Coordinator's spine out his nostrils with my bare hands.
8267012
No, she just goes Darth Vader/Kylo Ren on his flank
8278610
Ever play D&D in a group, not on a computer? Every encounter the cry goes up "Kill the wizard!" Why? Too visible. I'd bet that Earth Pony powers are great but too slow to be really combat useful. Keeping them secret probably WAS the only way to keep their best practitioners alive. Sure, you could argue that "Ponies have changed" & "Celestia wouldn't let that happen". But once told, it can't be Untold. Prepared to bet your children's future on the goodwill of the likes of Blueblood?
I agree that they pay a price to keep the secret but IMO, they're probably right & certainly safer to do so.
I always get a little annoyed when these 'it will never catch on' moments come up in a story. I guess it's kind of a petty thing to be concerned about, but it really bugs me when a character from a fictional setting dismisses an invention that has had a profound impact on society in the real world.
The simplest answer to Pinkie's question of why anyone would want an oil burning engine (Since she says the inventor was thinking of a new kind of train, I'm assuming a diesel locomotive rather than a full blown automobile) is logistics. As much as I like steampunk, a diesel train takes way less effort to run, especially in deserts where it can be very hard indeed to get water for a boiler.
And despite her insistence otherwise, the exhaust really isn't any worse than a steam train's, at least as far as my (admittedly very brief) research was able to find. And there's certainly a lot more coming out of a steam train's funnel than -just- steam. Unless they use magic to heat the water I guess, which I suppose is possible? I'm not entirely sure how feasible something like that would be in the Triptych continuum.
Anyway, this is probably kind of a dumb thing to harp on, I just thought I'd put in my two cents.
In case we'd forgotten Doc Gentle can't believetin That Other Magic.
Much as the Exception is described as a twist…
8911270
A steam engine is a Carnot engine (named for the French mathematician who discovered the formula)
The energy available is E = (S-C)/S.
That is “the difference between (the temperature of the steam - the temperature of the coolant) divided by the temperature of the steam. Measured in Kelvin (Basically, it’s Centigrade with zero reset to absolute zero). So, E = (373-273)/373 = a bit over 26%. (That’s the theoretical maximum. In practice, you get about 6%-8%). But, 8% of what? Oil has more thermal energy than coal, so E is a bigger number. Plus, if you’re not burning anthracite (hard coal, more expensive), coal smoke is messier than oil smoke. + the fact that it has to be shoveled in & the cinders + ashes cleaned out & disposed of. Plus, coal has to be hauled to where it’s needed. Oil can just be sent by pipeline -far cheaper. Oil is just better all around for purposes like trains
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A year and some change late, but dear God do I agree with this so much.
oh, she's referring to THIS scene:
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Steam engines potential energy is defined by the Carnot equation:
temp steam - temp coolant/temp steam (TS - TC)/TC. You use the Kelvin scale because reasons so (373-273)/373 = about 26%.
Steam engines lose power the longer they run because the coolant warms up & the difference decreases. Hi pressure steam engines have more power because TS is a bigger number.
But 26% of what? Coal has more energy than wood & hard coal more than soft coal. Oil has more energy than even hard coal so an oil burner would be more powerful.
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Which begs the question: what do they burn in train engines if oil is considered "messy"? Obviously not the coil, or they managed to create a filter which only works on coil burn products and nothing else.
And as far as I understand, it isn't "magic" engines, at least they were never described as devices/needing thaums recharged.