Buck the Police
The high ranking enforcer trotted around and faced Phoenix and Bellesmith evenly. His gaze narrowed from beneath his beret. "Not only are you a long way from the monastery, but isn't the scheduled time of the week for Mintian proselytizing. Tell me, are you two lost from the order?"
Belle was currently biting her lip.
Phoenix leaned forward, tightening the folds of his hood. "We were told to go out and get medicine. One of our fellow layponies is ill with equine flu," he said, thinking on the spot. "Normally, we would stay inside, but, as you can see, this is an emergency."
"Indeed..." The enforcer slowly nodded his head. "And you cleared this with your Mintiam Quorum of Fellow Disciples?"
"Yes, sir," Phoenix said, nodding furiously. "Absolutely, sir."
"Lying is a sin, son," the enforcer said, his gaze cold and steelly. "I just made that up. There is no such thing as a 'Mintiam Quorum of Fellow Disciples.'"
Phoenix winced, his teeth gritting.
Bellesmith glanced nervously across the immediate crowd of guards. The stallions stared at the two strangers with shifty eyes. The sudden tension made the air stale, cold.
The lead enforcer took a deep breath and said, "Lower your hoods."
Phoenix and Bellesmith stood dead still.
The stallion's nostrils flared. He leaned forward, and his horn glowed with a bright pulse.
Both hoods of the ponies' cloaks were fiercely yanked down. Phoenix remained unmoving, but Belle couldn't control her sudden shivers.
A few stallions murmured at the sight of Belle's shattered horn as the stallion paced before them. "Well, you have the monk look right," he murmured aloud. "But not the demeanor nor the humility. It takes a great deal of intestinal fortitude to lie directly in the face of a uniformed guard of the Queen. I wonder, have you been in conflict with the enforces of this land before?"
The two remained mute.
"Because, as fate would have it, my stallions and I are on the lookout for two fugitives last seen somewhere west of here. These aren't normal ponies, mind you, but dangerous sociopaths with blood on their hooves. If they were so foolhardy to enter a major Ledomaritan maretropolis, attempting to blend in with the local color would be ideal. Wouldn't you think?"
Phoenix avoided his gaze, even as the stallion trotted up and loomed directly in front of him.
"If you are not in the mood to use your mouth, then maybe you can use your eyes." The enforcer gestured towards another stallion. A poster with two portraits was levitated into his magical grasp. "Tell me if these faces look familiar at all to you—"
"Mom! Dad!" A pale streak shot out of nowhere. "I finally f-found you!" On scampering hooves, Kera dashed over and nuzzled her cloaked self against the two jolting ponies. "Oh, blessed Minty! I'm so sorry for running away! I'll never leave you again! I promise!"
"What in Ledo's name—?" The prime enforcer gasped at her.
"Eeeek! No!" Kera shrieked, shooting a bolt of energy and crumpling the poster in one motion. To everypony's surprise, the little filly expertly tossed it over their flanks while clinging to Phoenix and Bellesmith. "Don't you know the Church of Minty hates looking at hoof-drawn illustrations?! It's a sin in the eyes of Minty Almighty!"
"I beg your pardon, little girl." The stallion frowned heavily. "But do you know these two?!"
"How can I not know my own Mom and Dad?!" Kera stuck her tongue out from under her hood. "Pfft! Even they are super stiff about religion and all! But hey! Minty isn't all playground games!"
"I... do not know this 'Minty' of whom you speak."
"Well, duh! That's because you're a guard and you don't get around much!" Kera tilted her chin up with a haughty expression. Her green eyes shone like gemstones beneath the shadow of her hood. "No wonder you never heard about the Church of Minty!"
"I do believe you're getting that confused with the Mintian Order."
"No, that's where you're confused, mule muffin eater!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking. "The Church of Minty is a brand new thing! It broke off from the Mintian Odo—"
"Order."
"—whatever! It's a new thing! And prophets of the Great and Powerful Minty totally answer to a Quorum! I mean, where have you been?!"
The stallions huddled against the buildingside murmured among each other. The prime enforcer took a deep breath, his jawline frowning viciously. "In all of my thirty years of keeping the peace within Blue Nova, I have never once heard of this Church of Minty."
"Hey, you're not missing much, lemme tell ya!" Kera cavorted around the two widely-blinking unicorns as she spoke in a sing-songy voice. "They read scripture all day and pray all night. They're not allowed to talk to heathens—that's you—cuz they have this vow of silence thingy. You don't get to take the vow until you're age twenty. Someday I'll be taking the vow and I'll be silent as a rusted bell! Isn't that cool?"
The enforcer's voice stifled a rising growl. "It sounds positively rapturous." He raised an eyebrow and pointed at the foal. "Child, I do not know what kind of a stunt you're trying to pull—"
"No stunts! Honest, mister flank-kicker in a beret, sir!" Kera grinned wide. "I've learned my lesson! The next time I run off without a warning, who's to know if my parents might get a stern lecture from a tall graying stallion whose face looks like it ran into one too many warfront catapults!"
"Buh?"
"So, I've come back to make amends!" She parted her cloak and levitated a peculiar tome with runic symbols covering its binding. "I brought back our scripture! The Book of Minty!"
"How..." The stallion blinked, his jaw hanging open. "...how, at your age, are you able to telekinetically control things?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" Kera giggled. "I have the best, most terrific parents in the world! Even if they're boring as rocks, they still love me! Heck, they taught me everything they know!" She twirled the book in the air and made it do twirls through invisible rings. "Tadaaaa!" She made the book flip, but in so doing, her horn erupted with a burst of uncontrollable magic. Her hood fell loose, revealing her pale coat and face covered with an elaborate array of dark, silver tattoos. "Er..." She blushed through her living tapestry. "...whoops?"
The surrounding enforcers gasped. Even a few citizens saw the sight and stammered breathlessly.
"Spark alive!"
"That child!"
"Why, it's... it's..."
"One of those savages!"
"A marauder from the East!"
"Ermm..." Kera winced, glancing nervously up at Bellesmith.
Belle's teeth chattered. She looked to her side—
"Hnnngh!" Phoenix was already charging forward. In one burst of magic, he had flung the full length of his cloak over the Prime Enforcer's head.
"Gaaah!" the old guard stumbled back.
Six more whipped out sparkling tasers—
Phoenix spun, this time yanking the cloak off Belle's gasping body and flinging it over all of the stallions before they could strike with their weapons. Before they could rip through the opaque fabric, Phoenix was dashing to his side, spinning around, and bucking both of his rear hooves into the prime enforcer's flank. The guard flew into his suborninates, and soon all of them were sprawling clumsily across the concrete.
"Whoah!" Kera squeaked, her lips curved. "That was wicked cool! You gonna stomp their skulls now or what?!"
"Move... move!" Phoenix grunted, shoving the filly and Belle down the nearest alleyway.
Kera yelped, but nevertheless broke into a frenzied gallop, laughing childishly. She dropped the old tome, which Bellesmith nervously gripped in her mouth before scampering desperately after her. Phoenix took up the rear, shoving loose wooden crates and bits of debris into the middle of the path behind them as they fled down the narrow corridor.
"Don't stop for nothing!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the dim light of sunset.
"Unless we can afford tooooo!" Kera's voice wafted back. She had a spring in her step as she melodically exclaimed, "Somepony knows a shortcutttttt!"
"A what?!"
"Hehe! Come on!" Kera dashed ahead of the two with nimble speed and a devilish grin. "Follow me if you wanna smell like garbage! Heeheehee!"
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love you
Well, assuring to see you didn't give up on the titles without a fight. Or at least a brilliant reference.
And Kera's personality is not what I expected. She seems way to happy for a homeless foal living in a city full of her mortal enemies where everypony she meets would happily eviscerate her in horriffic ways and she barely avoids aforementioned brutal murder and starvation every day.
Well, all but two ponies, anyway.
She sounds like Pinkie >.>
Adoption Process Complete. Meet your new filly.
Oh and shut down all the garbage crushers on the detention level.
Kera seems to be a feisty little Xonan. Can't wait to see where she's taking them.
Twenty-five Push-ups, ):(. We got some new blood in here and they may not be able to hang quite yet. Knock 'em out!
2562977
the question is, who's getting adopted: Kera or Phoenix and belle?
2563021
Pilate is going to be upset when he finds out Belle had a kid with Phoenix.
oh my Kera sounds like a certain somepony we all know ~
ha cant wait for her to join dash (coughasthenewelementoflaughtercough)
It seems to me that Prime Enforcer Seclorum is way more level-headed and far less impulsive than Shell.
I like him.
A "marauder from the east?" Huh. All in due time, I suppose...
2563028
oh god...
I was NOT expecting that.
Why do I hear all her dialogue in a hyperactive Newt's voice?
I knew Kera would step in. I didn't know she would do it so awesomely though. Kera is officially an awesome little filly. She's also a pretty quick-on-her-hooves liar, which raises questions about our earlier speculation that she represents honesty - unless she will have to struggle with her element, in the same way that Dash struggled with loyalty back in Silvadel and so forth. I'm also curious about her apparent aptitude for magic; is it a Xonan thing, or is she just that good? If so, where did she learn it? Either way, I'm glad to see that she's (temporarily or not) joining the party. It's pretty obvious at this point that she's going to be important (I still think she's going to be Innavedr).
On a side note, I can't help but wonder when Pilate and Floydien will arrive in Blue Nova. I'm looking forward to Pilate and Belle's reunion.
Eeeeeeeeeee! *Bounces up and down happily* Moar please.
Kera suddenly reminds me of Edward from Cowboy Bebop...
2560903 Oh, I know that. My statement was probably a bit too strong. I more so meant that it's very likely that they are meant to represent the elements in my understanding.
Your input on the nature of the world machine/spark myths vs the elements/harmony is interesting. I'd been wondering about that for quite some time. To assume the spark is connected to the world machine is to imply that ponies/other intelligent species have been down inside the machine itself in the past. This begs the question of why the machine is sealed now to everyone (apparently... Not necessarily true) except Dash.
Kera reminds me a little of Scootaloo...
...Aw man.
Kera seems like the most resourceful little filly ever. I get the feeling that by the time RD reaches the edge of the world, her party is going to be quite large indeed.
Well this confirms my theory, Shell is best prime enforcer. He would have none of this cloak on the face stuff.
wat.
The Mintian odor...
'tis about time that joke was made
*Kera joined the party*
I'm agreeing with the occasional murmurings that Kera is reminiscent of Scootaloo. She's got the same feisty courage and reacts to sudden failure similarly. Except Kera has already worked out her race's unique ability.
Too soon?
Well, she did try. Perhaps a little too hard though.
2563123
. . . Wow. They are actually so similar. Except one is a goofy genius, and one seems to be a goofy magi.
2564148
It is never too soon for chicken jokes.
Well, Phoenix is showing of his bad~assery once more, although without his moustache of awesomeness he is only capable of slowing down the enemies, meanwhile Kera is just channelling a bit of Laughter.
<see what I did there? channelling. It's cause she channels magic using her. . . yeah, forget it>
2555418
files.gamebanana.com/img/ico/sprays/502d5e37daa43.png
True enough.
So this is the first prediction I ever got right, about Kera being a xonan. Even though I made it when it was 99% obvious, I'll take what I can get.
2563351
To separate the spark from the concept of harmony is to ignore a vast amount of evidence, both from canon and from the story, that says they are cut from the same cloth.
2563415
2564148
Maybe? I'm not sure I'm getting that except for the coat color (and honestly, that was more to help tie-in with the Austraeoh-esq Appledash theming from chapter 1). Perhaps it's Kera's experience that differentiates her. I get the feisty, tomboyish cunning that they share, but Kera's feels motivated with a lot more... something. Perhaps Rainbow will encourage the subtle surrogacy, despite Kera's independent nature.
2563770
Too friggin adorable. Kera reminds me too much of a certain wasteland Pegasus.
2565138 Oh come on Pilate, now you're just being rude. That last assertion breaks with our earlier conversation. Did you miss my last answer? (Given how I moved it in between chapters, that would be my fault.)
Harmony is the magic of the Alicorns. The world is a machine, that means that someone must have built it, maybe used it for a while and then abandoned it in one way or the other. Only after that did the Alicorns enter the world - and brought the Elements with them. Before them, there were no Harmonic forces on Equestria, while the Spark was already in its extinguishing process. So there is that. I do not see how they could be the same, when one must have existed long before the other. It doesn't make sense to me.
"And I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn."
This particular head line calls for a tune of celebration:
Rage against the High Council.
By the way, are the Mintians aware that they are named after a Darkstinian government official?
2562929 Well, studies have shown that happiness is not actually linked to wealth. Even the most wretched circumstances - so as long as they are stable wretched circumstances - can still breed happy people. The more you know.
2562936 God damnit, she does. The Characters/Elements theory just got an amazing boost. With this new data, I am starting to agree with it.
Ceterum censeo Searinem delendam esse, with or without the Elements of Harmony.
2565344
Apologies if that came off as rude, it was not my intention.
The machine presumably existed before the alicorns since the alicorns claim to have discovered the world, not been born on it. However, Rainbow utilizes both her physical element and her more abstract position as a bearer to "activate" the machine/deal with the flame.
Consider that the machine was built, but left unpowered. It remains this way until the alicorns provide the initial spark of life using the Prism. Harmony flourishes such that the Prism turns into a sort of backup/battery/reset button (I've jokingly called Rainbow's journey a mission to "flip the breaker" in the past).
Okay, Kera, all is forgiven...
...Because I cannot resist the power of an adorable foal.
2566253 Well... that explanation just doesn't sit with me. To have such a machine drifting through space (how did it get there?) without its own kind of power - to be then powered by a force completely alien just doesn't sound right. I also believe that the surface/below surface contrast still stands; the Alicorns lit up one side of the world - not its core.
But at this point we are talking plausibilities. I do believe the two of us have managed to water the argument down into having no clear answer anymore.
Silly us. I'd call it a day.
2566845
Stop rambling on and on over the minutia of a world knowing full well it is not only speculative but also easily completely erased in one fowl swoop? As a certain pegasus would say, "have you even met me?" Whatever the machine was powered by before, if it was even powered at all, is irrelevant since the alicons imbued the world with harmony and its elements. We have several characters talk about the world's history and harmony, Axan, Celestia, Luna, etc. At this point in order to support the idea that the spark is something older than harmony, I imagine one of them would have had to have said something considering all the world building they've provided. Instead, each has only referred to "the spark" in the context of harmony or Rainbow. To wit, "the spark" is not a force so much as it is a catalyst, a la Twilight and the rediscovery of the Elements of Harmony.
However, the point stands that as much as the world is interesting, it is the character interactions that are center stage, and, in my opinion, the most important part of the story. The grand scale of this journey is but a metaphor for Rainbow's own personal growth, an alternate to the growth she would have experienced had things turned out the way they did in canon versus here.
2565138
I was thinking more along the lines that their archetypes are basically identical.
2566968
Fair point.
2566968
Only if you buy into all the Scootabuse tropes.
That said, I have to wonder whether this is IC's attempt to make a Pinkie-ish character he actually likes, by adding tons of Scootaloo to the mix.
HAHA! Kera! Good girl! At the very least even though you didn't succeed in tricking them, you still managed to keep the guards off-guard as it were, lol.
Interesting. Nice to see a Prime Enforcer who doesn't come across as a complete basket case.
Kara seems like a bizarre blend of Scoots and Pinks poni here. Probably just enjoying the chase. Meh. Liking her though.
2566917 We don't know if the Alicorns are even aware of the Spark's true nature. Even if they are, and even if we assume that the machine was left drifting through space with its initial energies fully depleted (which is absolutely possible, I'll admit), there still remain a number of problems. Since the discussion has grown so complex and relative, please allow me actually make a list of them here, so we have a chance to stay on top of things. Arguments on my side would be:
-If the Spark was not related to the initial machine, it would seem strange that its symbol is engraved so numerously and prominently into its hull. The mark of the Austraeoh is, after all, the literal key to its interior - and no one but the Austraeoh herself has thus far managed to open it. The way it reacts to her seems custom-fit to me, like the Spark is inherently bound to the machine. After all, a key only fits a lock when the both of them have the same origins. It is likely that not even an Alicorn could open the doors without the Spark in her possession. Which leads me to my next point.
-The flames are located inside of the machine. It reminds questionable if the Alicorns even knew of the machine, and highly questionable if they ever entered it. As they said, they have lit up one side of the surface of the world, leaving the other in darkness - and never even mentioning its core.
-Bear in mind what Celestia stated quite a while ago: the world does not need the Prism of Harmony. The destruction of the Elements is not the reason why it is dying. Quite the contrary: as she said, they have already spread through the Equestrian populace to a degree where the actual pendants (and their Spirits) have become redundant. But if the powers of Harmony are fine and strong, just why is the world dying still? The only answer I see would be that Harmony is in fact not the world's true vital energy. It is run by another force, and that force is what needs to be replenished. I mean, why would it be Dash's destiny to rekindle a fire that has never stopped burning?
Well,that escalated quickly.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So I was correct about Kera at least. Also, I like her personality. She's got some spunk. I'm actually interested to see what would happen if she and Dash met...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Well, its official. Kera's loonier than a Canadian one dollar coin. And by that I mean I think she's going to make a perfect addition to Team Dash. I was hoping she'd step in to help Belle and Phoenix, but she gets points for creativity. Church of Minty? Pffft. Well, have to see how this little trio turns out - onward!
2636105 that's great, about the Canadian coin. Best reference for the loonie I have ever heard
And adorable orphan using her wits And quick thinking to make it in a big city? I feel like I just walked into a Charles Dickens novel! :scootaangel:
...
That was one of the most hilarious things I have ever read.
i love you kera be my best friend
-SPirit
Yep. Best filly.
Rainbow Dash is gonna hate me for saying this about somepony not her, but Kera is awesome!