Chapter 1
It was unfortunate, Raven thought as she walked briskly down the dirt roads of Ponyville, that the bearers lived in such an out of the way, barley on the map, tiny, dusty, quaint, little town. Not that there was anything wrong with tiny dusty farm towns per say, but she could have done without the long trip on the Canterlot Express and hours-long trot out to her target's homestead.
Raven was not a pony of means. She held no great fortune, and had no venerable linage on which to draw political clout. She was organized. She was efficient. She was punctual. She was practical. Her magic while unimpressive for a unicorn her age, was sufficient for her needs and she took pride in her art.
The art of event planning.
She had held the important position of one of Her Royal Highness's most trusted aides for nearly a decade and had met, flattered, entertained and made comfortable most every important pony, gryphon, minotaur, and zebra to come through the halls of the Royal Palace of Canterlot in that time.
Raven, was quite simply, the best formal event planner in Equestria, as proven by her coveted position as Princess Celestia's personal aid. She had hoof in every industry related to any possible kind of event. She was no great beauty, she knew. Her coat a plain white and hair a plain, straight black and perpetually tucked into a practical up-do, and her only clothing a neat red tie. But ponies across the nation knew her face, and knew to come to her when anything to do with royal event planning was to be done.
Raven knew every law, relating to every type of venue in Canterlot and in every major city across the nation.
She was even trusted so much as to be able to take over for the Princess in a pinch, although it was not a responsibility she was really comfortable taking on.
In any case she was trusted to do much for the Crown. And she, as responsible and polite as she was; as familiar with the average working pony as she was; was trusted with this task as well.
The Gala had been an unmitigated disaster this year. While Her Royal Highness had had much fun watching the chaos wrought by the element bearers, others had not been so...entertained by the commotion. She had had numerous complaints by the catering and security staff in particular about Honesty's Bearer and her food cart.
She had not witnessed the cart herself, being to busy behind the scenes coordinating with palace staff and the like, but she had heard... stories.
Ah, here we are.
Raven walked up to the small home on the the orchard grounds, adjusted her tie and saddle bags, and then rapped her fore-hoof firmly against the door in a quick staccato.
She waited.
A few moments later the door creaked and opened slightly as a small yellow filly with a rather enormous bow peeked out at her. The filly glared suspiciously at her.
"Who're you? A spy! I bet you are! A super spy mare, here ta steal all our secret growin' secrets!" She accused, not letting Raven so much as open her mouth to reply. "The Cutie Mark Crusader Security Team is on ta you." Raven moved to interrupt. "My name is Raven. I'm here to--"
"Applejack!" shouted the filly, turning her head to peer deeper into the house. "APPLEJACK!"
The was a great deal of noise as the aforementioned bearer galloped down the stairs. "Apple Bloom! What's wrong?" She asked, pulling up short as she spotted Raven in the doorway. "What in Tarnation is going on here?"
"Ah, as I was just saying, my name is Raven and I--"
The filly, Applebloom Raven reminded herself, piped up from behind Applejack. Interrupting Raven again. "She's here to steal all of our secrets AJ! But the Cutie Mark Crusaders Security Team is on the job."
Applejack pressed a hoof between her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry about Applebloom Miss Raven. How can Ah help ya?"
Raven cleared her throat. Someone needs to discipline their children She thought.
"Yes, well... I'm Raven, Princess Celestia's official personal Aide and Event Planner" she rummaged through her bags and removing several packets of papers.
"I need you to sign these forms, in triplicate, post haste Miss Apple. Immediately if at all possible. There is much to do before this Gala fiasco is behind us--" She gave a brisk nod towards the papers and quill hovering in front of the confused farmpony. "-- And this is the start of the fix." Raven fixed a stern glare at the orange mare. "I've a lot to do and little time to do it in thanks to you."
Applejack drew herself up and stomped a hoof in irritation. "Well ah never. What have ah ever done to you Miss?" She demanded. Green eyes narrowed as her face took on a stubborn and angry expression. "Ah aint ever even seen you before."
Raven peered over her glasses at the mare and asked solemnly. "Miss Apple, may I be bluntly honest with you?" She is the Element of Honesty. Appeal to that and I might get through to her.
Raven sighed and put the papers down for the moment, the mild pink light of her magic winking out as the forms were returned to her satchel. Locking gazes with the disgruntled farmer she began.
"Do you know how many laws you broke with your little food cart at the Gala Miss Apple? Nine." Ravens tail swished to and fro in agitation as Applejack's jaw slowly began to drop.
"What?! But ah--" Raven raised a hoof to cut off the orange mare's protests. "Allow me to finish."
"You're an experienced Businessmare so I would have expected you to have at least done some research on the matter, but to all appearances you have not. I would have expected better of a mare of your standing."
Raven's horn lit once again as she pulled an entirely different stack of papers.
"I have not made inquiries into the local regulations for the farmers market out of which you usually operate, but if you are going to continue to travel as a member or the Elements of Harmony and sell your products outside of Ponyville you must at least do research on local laws"
Applejack's body language shifted then. Moving from the angry but listening posture she had been holding into something far more aggressive. She needs to hear this Raven thought. Even if she finds it distasteful. As a a pony now under the public eye she must learn. For the sake of herself and her family.
"Ah know all about sellin' outside of Ponyville and don't ya think otherwise." Applejack said, voice low and angry. "How dare you imply I don't know how to run mah orchard?" She tossed her head irritably and continued. "We've been selling all over Equestria fer longer than ah've been alive. I know how it goes and ah ain't broken no laws."
"Yes. You have. As a wholesale retailer. Not as a direct to customer seller of cuisine. The laws are different and vary city to city. A small town like this can afford to be lax. But somewhere like Canterlot?" Raven shook her head. "No." She shuffled her papers.
"The laws that you have broken are as follows
Operation of a food cart without a Canterlot permit
Operation of a food cart without a permit for the Gala
Operation of a food cart without a special permission permit for operation outside of normally allowed food cart hours.
Selling food products without paying the appropriate tax to the crown
Operation of a food cart without an inspection by the food and safety department
Selling food products without proper storage and refrigeration over long distance travel
Operation of a food cart without notification to security
Operation of a food cart without checking the guest list for guests with severe allergies
Selling food products without proper labeling of ingredients
"And while most of these would have gotten you major fines, bad enough with your families financial issues, some may well have had you arrested were it not for luck."
Raven raised her hoof once more to stave off any rebuttal from the other mare.
"You were operating without permission from any authority of Canterlot (which the hired caterers did have), that was bad enough. But much of the rest could well have endangered the other guests. I know for a fact that your apple products did indeed contain ingredients which one of the attending ambassadors was highly allergic to. You may well have killed him had he purchased one of your unlabeled items. What's more is that for all Gala security knew, the food you sold was poisoned. And-" She cut off another stubborn protest from Applejack that the other mare would never do such a thing, or so Raven presumed. "-- as many of the guests were high profile ponies, such as celebrities, ambassadors, and major names in the worlds of business art and fashion; and of course the Royal Family itself; an assassination attempt would not be beyond imagining. You are quite lucky that none of the security staff caught you at it."
Applejack had fallen silent, with a look of dawning realization in her eyes.
You're finally getting it
"The Princess quickly realized the situation and set about averting the consequences this once. It is due to her that you are not buried in legal notices at this very moment. But for that to remain true you must sign these forms (they are largely permits and permissions) that will be rushed through the system for a quick cover. But this will only work once.
"You must learn Miss Apple. Everypony will be watching you from now on."
Raven once again offered the mare the large stack of forms and an inked quill. Applejack bowed her head with an understanding look in her eye and accepted both.
"Let's get started."
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Library_Pony · 1k words · 108 7 · 2.7k views
- Library_Pony · 1.1k words · 32 2 · 1.5k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.169 seconds
Total duration
609 users online
892,026 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yay! A story with this character has appeared at last!
She's canon, not cannon.
"You're a loose cannon, Raven! But a damn fine aide!"
--Celestia, CSI Canterlot
Joking aside, good show. Nice to see a bit of consequences to this. As I commented on Pinkie Pie's treatment, the ending of the Gala has a disturbing amount of Protagonist-Centered Morality.
If you're going to share the Consequence Cake (like Humble Pie, but slightly different filling) with the others, don't forget to save a serving for Celestia. After all, she okayed what they did. "Princess, if you thought the Gala was so dull, why didn't you just ask them to change it into something more fun? Why did you have to sabotage it for everypony else?"
Next, of course, are Fluttershy (disturbing the peace), Rarity (assault) and Rainbow Dash (stalking.)
5401069
Something like that, but not quite.... Also a Story for Twilight and one for Celestia (although Twilight's is going to be a parallel story not squeal, seeing as she didn't actually do anything. Just got disappointed when she should have expected something like what happened)
5400753
You have no idea how long I looked for a named character to fit this role.
5401258
Yeah!
Sign the forms, AJ. Food service is no joke. You could have been sued if anyone got sick.
Before I even read this story! THANK YOU! I've BEEN WAITING FOR RAVEN TO SHOW UP IN THE FANDOM!
Dumping lots of petty bureaucracy into Equestria, just to "teach the bearers a lesson" or maybe to make things more like the sour underbelly of the "real world"? Yeah, not my bag. (The allergy thing I could maybe buy, although honestly I'm inclined to think there's no real reason to assume griffons, ponies, giraffes, and so on would have more than a tiny fraction of allergic inhabitants, but most of the rest are pretty micromanaging.)
And, like the previous one, there's not exactly enough resolution, it's just "you've done some seriously illegal stuff (and also your sister picked a terrible time to play that)".
5401069
.
Little fuzzy in the memory department; did Rarity assault Blueblood? I remember her yelling at him and using him as a shield, but I'm pretty sure Applejack was the one that threw the baked goods out of misplaced anger for not being able to sell anything. As for Fluttershy; trying to force animals to love her sounds kind of like a freaky form of rape. Imagine seeing this in a back alley
Bloom acted like she was full of cocaine-fueled paranoia in this, by the way.
5402193
These are meant to be windows into possible consequences. And, as short one shots, not meant to chase after to the far flung reaches of where lessons might be learned. (in the case of Octavia and Pinkie, she still hasn't really learned said lesson in season 4 ) These are brief windows into possible consequences. In your review on Apologies you said that a story just saying the main characters are horrible is cheap? I'm not saying that they're horrible. Just addressing something the show left unsaid.
As far as resolutions go... these aren't stories about the ends of consequences. They're about the beginnings of them.
I don't consider Food Safety laws to be petty bureaucracy? Because they involve the possibility of harm coming to others and peoples health is important? AJ is my favorite of the main characters but that was kind of thoughtless of her. Characters can have flaws and thoughtless moments without being horrible and pointing out those moments doesn't equate to saying they are.
You are free, of course, to dislike these stories. I just think that maybe your missing the point a little.
5402416
I don't think she did. Closest she gets to assault is shaking some cake on the guy.
I know what you mean about Apple Bloom, but i always figure the Crusaders take everything they do to those little kid extremes. And She's good at over reactions.
5402614 Food safety laws in the sense of "you must fill in forms (in triplicate) and be routinely inspected and label in thus-and-such a way and guarantee to our satisfaction that you used such-and-such a type of food storage and..." definitely is petty bureaucracy, however well meant.
In the sense of making individuals liable for whatever foreseeable consequences their (lack of) proper precautions might have on customers? That would be fine, but that's clearly not actually what we see here. This is punishment, not because something bad happened, but because something bad might have happened. Or, more precisely, because the laws intended to insure that such bad outcomes would be as rare as possible (but not non-existent) were not followed, which is even worse.
5402704
How, precisely, is this punishment? I don't see how a request to sign her name a few time constitutes a punishment for Applejack, it isn't even strenuous and it's being done to make sure AJ doesn't get punished.
The issue you have is that it was forms in triplicate? Two copies for two different offices and one to be sent to records.
*Also, the food storage thing refers to taking a long journey with unrefrigerated perishables (stuff wasn't baked on site) which is another possible health code violation.
5402748 The triplicate mention was rhetorical, to make the connection between the story title and the sorts of requirements I was listing. I got what the refrigeration requirement was for, but I'm not at all satisfied that that should be a law.
And, of course, the fact that these forms are to prevent punishment doesn't change the fact that normally (for anyone who doesn't happen to have saved the world already, say), there would be such punishment. Or does Equestria just write up all those who violate its health codes and send them a polite note to please not do that again?
Anyway, the downvote is for the incompleteness of the story more than the irritating politics. "Somebody ran into a problem, the end!" is not a story. It's an aborted story premise.
5402818
Not generally no. But celebrities DO get away with things all the time. And not just the world saving type. And in this case Celestia has a big part in getting her off. Being on excellent terms with the Absolute Ruler who found the situation funny does have it's benefits. It has also come with the stipulation that this can't happen again.
Again. your free to down vote it. I don't much care. Just trying to figure out what precisely you had a problem with.
5402838 So my two main points stand: first, that Equestria in this story routinely punishes those who do not take precautions the Crowns think appropriate to avoid bad food (whether or not anyone actually suffers food poisoning or allergic reactions); second, that the story is written to be thoroughly incomplete.
5402988
First. That's a "real world" thing to.
Second. Open ended stories are a thing. Even if they aren't a thing you like. That doesn't make them incomplete.
And now I'm done.
5402416 Of course she did. She's somewhat aggressively stupid.
Rarity is the only one for whom any charges would be trumped up. Maybe that's why Blueblood is more cordial the next time they meet. He knows not to mess with her.
Personally, I think there should have also been a complaint about how Applejack tripped a guy.
Also, "barley on the map"?
Unless this is some Equestrian metaphor, that should be "barely"
5869427
That was actually a typo but it would have made a cool equestrian pun wouldn't it? :)
And yeah. Applejack tripping the guy was bad, but I'm not convinced that anyone both knows and can prove that she did that. All of the things I covered would have been clear, on-the-record, violations. I played with the idea of bringing up the tripping but decided not to in the end. Anyways the topic at hand was more along the lines of business practices, which is why I skipped that.
I do hope you enjoyed the story tho.
Its nice to see that you arent going easy on AJ. then again season one was crap season two was good season three was crap season four was awesome and so far season five is good.
5884829
Well thank you
AJ is my favorite of the Mane 6 but pretty much everyone at the gala was being... bad. I'm working on fics for everyone else, although my class work for my BA is taking up to much time to get much done right now. Fluttershy is next if I ever manage to finish it.
5886352
you're welcome. I thought was everyone was being OOC and fluttershy was really bad I mean she flipped out over the animals not liking her. How exactly do you rank the mane six by favorites anyway?
5886556
AppleJack first, the Twilight, then Rarity, followed by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash last. Pinkie Pie's place on this scale fluctuates wildly.
I appreciate AJ's 'only sane pony' role in most situations, She's down to earth and practical for the most part which i like.
I see myself as a kid in Twilight. I was very isolated and bookish so I get where sh;e coming from a lot of the time.
Rarity is just plain entertaining.
I like Fluttershy, and social anxiety I get, but her apparent tamped down hidden rage scares me a little.
Rainbow Dash annoys me. Just... annoys me. The arrogant boasting, and thoughtless behavior she shows so often just rubs me the wrong way.
As for Pinkie... She's funny, and generally speaking a very good friend. But she's also very overwhelming as a character, so I tend to like her more in episodes where she's written a little more calmly. But I do think she has one of the best written characters. her background and character motivations are some of the best explored in the show.
5887196
I agree with all of this. Pinkie was how I liked her in the season five premier. She was being eccentric and serious and Dash Um her character is hit or miss you either like that personalty of hers or you don't. I don't like how insensitive dash is and how she is loud and in your face I am sorry she just rubs me the wrong way. I only like dash when she's bring sensitive and is showing her soft side more. I almost shut an episode off once because her voice was grating my ear drums dash is too overwhelming she should probably have less lines. Her cider obsession isn't funny at all. Rarity is funny twilight is twilight I like her and AJ is the straight man so she's cool and fluttershy is um I have no opinion on her let's say I would pick her over dash any day. Of course pinkie is my most favorite.
5400969
This this this THIS!
Okay, I've always felt Applejack did the 'least' amount of wrong with the Gala bullcrap, but she did contribute, at least indirectly. But I never even thought of all this! Damn, girl! And she's my favorite of the Mane Six, too!
Okay, you get a Follow from me with these. And I really hope you do more of these, too.
6340987
AJ is my favorite of the Mane 6 as well.
I actually thought Twilight did the least wrong myself. If only because she didn't actually DO anything. She was disappointed and that was a little silly of her but that isn't actually wrongdoing.
I am working on more of these although between work and Grad School it's been slow going. Fluttershy should be next. Followed by Rarity, then Rainbow Dash. then Twilight and Celestia to wrap things up.
I'm glad you like What I've written so far
6343954 Well, okay. I worded that wrong. You're right. Twilight didn't really do anything wrong. I meant among those who directly contributed to the disaster, Applejack was the 'least' in the wrong.
And hey, no problem. Good luck on work/grad school. That's a lot more important.
stomped a hood
a hoof
Saw this fic recc'd, glad I checked it out. I'll have to see about incorporating Raven into my own fics in the future, though I do prefer when a pony had a two-component )at least) type name. Good work!
6357867
I'm glad you enjoyed the story!
And thanks for pointing out the typo. Fixed it now
planning
Any chance of the ponies being written about any times soon?
6511044
As I've said before. It's a process. I have one for fluttershy 2/3's written sitting on my hard drive. Unfortunately Gradschool and work dont leave me a lot of time for writing. Not to mention AJ and Pinkie were the easiest to write about. I know what I want to do for Rarity and FLuttershy and sort of a Twilight/Celestia combo chapter. I have no idea how im gonna handle Rainbow Dash. They'll show up. just give it time. :) I'm glad you like the two I have out tho
Are you going to make an accusation to Celestia for organizing two ruinations of the Grand Galloping Gala?
8823771
kind of. but thats going to be a while in coming.
Raven got to have her own big role in a recent two parter in the comics
You read it?
8867901
I have not, but thats neat
8870484
She has her own tag too.
9136637
I dont think she did at the time i wrote this. neat!
This is a good story, but there are many places that need commas, as well as other small spelling errors. Find a proofreader or at least put it through grammarly. It's a good story, as I said, but the punctuation errors really hurt it.
9270951
maybe. but im not in the habit of sharing these amongst people i know. so i do my best and edit when people point things out
I really enjoyed this a nice bit of reality ensues
Nice job
Check this out: https://www.deviantart.com/princessbry/art/Twilight-In-The-Labyrinth-349564202