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."