//------------------------------//
// It is the law; for now anyways 
// Story: Unicorns 
// by Strythio 
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The Crystal Palace, the home of crystalline luxury and love. The crystal guards were diligent, but all in all, things were very peaceful in the Empire. Almost too peaceful for Shining Armor. As Captain of the Royal Guard, he could only spend so much time in the Empire, and as much as he hated to admit it, he really missed his old job of patrolling the ramparts of Celestia's castle whenever he was in the Empire with little to actually do. At least the daily shenanigans of the Canterlot residents could entertain him on slow days. 

Here, the only entertainment he could get was from Cadence, and that was if, and only if, she was not occupied with royal duties. Like smiling, waving, and reassuring their crystal subjects that the dungeons would not be filled to the brim for the slightest offense against them. The guards were hardly even necessary, nothing more than a visual deterrent to be frank. It was lonely at the top of the defensive pecking order when there were no tangible threats to the Empire, because if your job was to defend something that was never attacked, then how would you ever actually get to do your job? At least he was not permanently stationed here like most of the guards here. 

So Shining sighed heavily on the balcony. The ponies went about their business, gazing up every now and again at one of their two rulers. It was near the end of the boring day, with the sun dipping ever lower to the horizon, that at last a highlight to his day seemed within grasp with a shout from within the castle catching his attention. It sounded like Cadence.

"Hey Shining, we just received a letter from Twilight! Are you coming?" 

Hearing that Twilight had sent the duo a letter brought him into an excited frenzy. Even if it was nothing more than Twilight wanting to speak Starswirl, Shining would take that over overwatching the uneventful city for a few minutes. Not to mention taking time out to read a non-urgent leader of Twilight's meant that Cadence was not occupied any longer.

Hardly ever did Shining find himself crossing a floor so fast. He trotted so hastily to the throne room, the guards may have gotten whiplash from his mere passing. Just short of skidding, the stallion slowed as he came within sight of the throne room, not wanting to betray how eager he was to be effectively off duty for the night. It was not that Cadence would not understand, it was just a habitual courtesy that he had yet to break from their days back in Canterlot.  

Upon spotting him, Cadence began reading the unfurled letter initially with earnest.

"Dear Princess Cadence and BBBFF,

Recently Rarity came over with Sweetie Belle, and we had the strangest conversation. Long story short, is true incest accepted by unicorn society as a whole? I thought I might ask you two since that question is no doubt going to come up when you two finally have a foal of your own." 

Cadence's face went from overly excited to completely baffled. And not the kind of baffled that a stumped questionnaire answerer might have on their face when encountering a difficult inquiry. No, it was the expression of the kind of baffled that a reader would have while reading a joke that was intended to be funny, but the humor was completely and utterly lost upon the reader no matter how many times they went back to re-read. 

Shining had a similar expression written on his face. Why did Twilight write to them about that particular question? Wouldn't it have been easier to just consult her books, or ask Princess Celestia? Or couldn't she have just penned a letter to their parents? Did she just now have to acquire a curiosity about the seedier things in life?

"I do not understand, this is something that Twilight should be able to answer perfectly by now." Cadence rolled up the message, her frown deepening the more she thought about the question. "She has lived in Canterlot almost her entire life. She hasn't already forgotten such a thing has she?" 

"Well Cadence, it's not like Twilight socialized much when she was a filly," Shining pointed out, "And it's not like she's some loose mare who gives out easy-" 

"What does that have to do with teaching her the essentials?" Cadence now shifted her gaze towards Shining almost accusingly, as if it were his responsibility. "Of course incest is acceptable, not just for unicorns, but all ponies. This should hardly even be a question that a grown mare should be asking, much less a student of the chief legislator in the land." 

"What?" Shining trotted up to Cadence's side, intrigue written on his face. "Since when? My parents were pretty clear that incest was wrong." 

"There are always exceptions." Cadence looked to Shining quizzically, as if trying to wrap her head around his response. "Even still, it is not like your parents had to tell you not to fool with your sister. Did they?"

"Of course not!" Shining stuck out his tongue in a 'bleh' motion, causing Cadence to giggle. "Twilight is my sister, younger at that. It is just that our parents taught us right from wrong, unlike that lot who brought Blueblood into the world." 

"Now hold on a minute." Cadence put a hoof to Shining's chest, a critical tone present in her voice. "Prince Blueblood is a product of carefully planned out, intentional incest, and he turned out just fine. There are really no consequences unless you go overboard with it. Besides, just because your parents believe it is wrong does not make their thoughts common opinion." 

"I know more than a few ponies who would tell you that incest should be against the law." Shining met his wife tit for tat, finding it more than a little strange that the alicorn of love would be so approving. "In fact, if I were in charge, I would have it join stallion flashing on the list of things outlawed for public health and safety." 

"Stallion flashing was actually a very popular pastime. The seasoned mares leading hapless stallions along with no intention of doing anything more than robbing them blind. Really taught me about the other side of love without having to get my flank dirty." 

Shining gave his wife a look of incredulity. "Did Celestia actually permit that? Like, really? Where was I for this?"

Cadence smiled  and tapped Shining's muzzle with a hoof teasingly. "Just yanking your tail, like you yanked mine when you told me in relative public that you don't accept incest."

Cadence returned her hoof to her throne and flipped her mane, giggling all the while. Shining, unfortunately, missed the joke, for he had been quite serious. 

"Incest is not commonly accepted. Case closed. The act is hardly anything to brag about, and is so unlikely to be seen in any respectable household that some ponies don't even know the meaning of the word." 

"Acceptance and performance are two completely different things!" Cadence once again was insistent, and by now had cast aside entirely Twilight's letter. "However unlikely that it is commonly practiced in Canterlot, if a brother and a sister, a father and son, or mother and daughter love each other in that kind of way, there is nothing wrong with their expression of said feelings." 

Shining raised a brow. On one hoof, yes, acceptance was not practice, and so was not as terrible as promoting through example. On the other hoof, Shining did not want to encourage anypony to start getting any ideas, or worse, to give ideas to a younger audience still developing their ideas about what was proper behavior. 

"The answer is that incest is wrong, no matter what, and is not commonly acceptable behavior. Done. I do not think anymore needs to be said on the topic." 

Cadence leaned back in her throne, gazing up towards the roof, as if words were written upon it. She took a deep breath, as if attempting to gather a way to explain what she meant without having to deviate too much. When she finally seemed to gain inspiration, Shining felt the makings of a brief, but academic discussion coming on. How could he tell? Cadence's chest filled with air, her mouth opened flexibly (not rigid like one about to deliver a curt reprimand), her ears flicked in a 270 degree swivel, and her eyes focused in on her target's very soul through their pupils. Attention was requested but not demanded, for who, at muzzle distance, could truly ignore the mare with a ready tongue and confident demeanor?

"Well, by Equestrian law, no pony can legally discriminate against another pony because of race, creed, nor choice of mate. And since laws are generally accepted rights and wrongs of a society, then it would stand to reason that by accepting that law and choosing to follow it, law-abiding Equestrians as a whole, including unicorns like yourself dear, accept any kind of pony-pony relations, including incestuous ones." 

Shining was neither convinced nor defeated, and with a frown he countered, "Cadence, just because you follow the law does not mean you accept it-" 

"Do I need to get the dictionary?" Cadence playfully teased, already having a guard on stand-by down the hall, "Guard, fetch us a modern dictionary!" 

The blue crystal stallion nodded and quickly dashed off to do the bidding of his princess. The likelihood that he had been listening in on the entire thing was high, and it seemed that he was awaiting his cue for retrieve a dictionary. It would not take long, the library was hardly a gallop's distance away, but  it might would seem ridiculous under regular circumstances. 


Shining did not believe that a dictionary alone would make the point, and he would make this perception clear to Cadence by a playful jest. He put his hooves up in surrender, his right arm bent over his head as if he were about to faint at any moment. "Oh no, not the dictionary! Celestia save me from the power of definitions! Help, help!" 

Giggles and laughs abound concealed the hoofsteps of the returning guard. From his magical grip to Cadence's, the large dictionary that had served the royal couple well had already begun to show signs of wear; the cover was worn and slightly tainted, and a few pages were sticking out from the abuse that the book had been through in the tussles of bedtime battles. Shining was no literary, but he never would have thought that he would enjoy cracking open a dictionary with his wife before bedtime.

"Thank you." Cadence nodded to the guard in dismissal. The guard bowed in return and left without a word. 

It did not take long for Cadence to find what she was looking for. Like a master at work, she scanned the page, searching for the definition that would most make her point. Shining looked over her shoulder, but knew it was in vain to try to pick one that would favor him. Cadence would have never brought the dictionary into this had she not known it would favor her side of the discussion.

Shining raised a curious brow until his wife, with her magic and a smug expression, turned the dictionary in mid-air so that it would be directly in Shining's sight the definition of the word acceptance.



ac·cept·ance
əkˈseptəns/
noun
noun: acceptance; plural noun: acceptances

1.
the action of consenting to receive or undertake something offered.
"charges involving the acceptance of bribes"
synonyms:	receipt, receiving, taking, obtaining More
"the acceptance of an award"
undertaking, assumption
"the acceptance of responsibility"
yes, affirmative reply, confirmation
"acceptances to an invitation"
a draft or bill that is accepted by being signed.
2.
the action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group.
"you must wait for acceptance into the club"
synonyms:	welcome, favorable reception, adoption
"her acceptance into the group"

"And?" Shining could read, and he already knew the definition of acceptance. This did not seem to really drive either of their points into the ground anymore than they had been before this supposed revelation.

"Well law abiding citizens accept the law, and thus accept the principle that all ponies of differing mate tastes are worthy of being protected by law, and thus accepted members of society. Hence, their actions are also received as adequate for that protection, as the law forbids ostracizing over it, and with that is my argument. What then is your argument that unicorns do not technically accept incest?"

Cadence had the dictionary. But Shining Armor had reality, and in the context of things, that was certainly more valuable. Shining cleared his throat, a warm feeling in his chest as his wife's attentive and rather large eyes sought to extract his rebuttal from mere eye contact alone. Her ears were more in a relaxed state, but they now faced outwards towards him. Shining began in brief, knowing that a full length story would take the rest of the night.

"When my folks sat me down and talked to me about the griffons and the pegasi, they made it very clear that, regardless of any rules or laws, incest was wrong," Shining argued, "When I went to school, any mare or stallion serious about their close family in that kind of way could only get a head shake. Maybe it was technically breaking the law, but colts and fillies will be colts and fillies, and they can be oh so cruel. Even I remember cracking a joke about Blueblood, asking if his parents just failed to attract anypony better than each other." 

"And how did he respond?" Cadence seemed interested to know, though Shining could have sworn he had already told her the tale. 

"He teared up and cried about how much it blew being an only child. I could only retort that it was a good thing so he couldn't carry on such a abominable tradition." 

Cadence gasped, and brought a hoof to her chest. She seemed very much concerned for some reason, perhaps even offended by the story. Seriously, Shining could have sworn that he had went over this story with her at least once prior to now. Even if he hadn't, it was not like this had been some private matter between the two.

"I don't remember any of that. I always thought it was Blueblood's pride in his lineage that caused some of his classmates to dislike him. I didn't think it was because of something completely out of his control." 

Blueblood taking pride in generations of incest in order to keep some kind of royal blood in the family when it was clear that Celestia was never actually going to kick the bucket and have to pass rule on to one of her descendents (and that is not even counting Luna's return from the moon) was exactly the reason he could have been considered a freak back in the day. His attitude towards his "lessers" that developed later in life did very little to smooth things over, and regardless of whatever shenanigans may have been given by outside appearances, incest was a no-no behind closed doors as far as Shining Armor was aware of. 

Canterlot was a place of political correctness. And anypony specifically stating that incest was wrong and that the ponies who enjoy it should be imprisoned would have to kiss their political careers farewell. Because all it took was one pony to try to relate it to the double stallion standard for the courts to get involved. And once in the court system, no issue left unchanged and unblistered by precedence. So on the surface, or perhaps out of later guilt, a shocking number of unicorns in Canterlot did actually give the appearance of incest through forged "immigrants" of the unicorn variety. Most of the populace (including Blueblood) knew better though, and it was not like the rest of Equestria really cared much in the grand scheme of things. It was an inside joke sort of thing.


And yet, here was Cadence, showing some sort of sympathy for him. Then again, Cadence was rarely one to victim blame, either by profession or simply out of her nature. She was genuinely supportive of the idea that incest was legitimately an accepted concept in society. It had been laughable at first, but by this point, it had gotten somewhat concerning that she had been so oblivious. Cadence sighed, melancholy temporarily sinking in. "Poor stallion, it is not his fault that his family's efforts have been so vigorous." 


While Shining always enjoyed a good personal laugh at the stallion, the deviation from answering the question needed to return to the crux of why he had revisited that tale in the first place. After all, this was all out of Twilight's sphere of interests back during her time in Canterlot; it could be forgiven and understood how she completely missed this vital lesson on mature matters. The importance now was that she learned the proper response to her question.

"Anyways, if that is not proof enough that unicorns do not accept incest, then I do not know what to tell you. No title, no crown, no fancy dress is going to make it anymore accepted among unicorns." Shining might would have added "case closed" again at the end, but he did not want to give Cadence anymore reason to carry on challenging an issue settled long before it had began by the residents of Canterlot and beyond.

Cadence sighed in seeming defeat, levitated a clear piece of paper and pen, and looked about ready to write. The dictionary loftily remained in the air by Cadence's own will. Before she composed their lettered response, however, she shifted a glance towards Shining with a gleam of mischief present.  For all his efforts, Shining knew that Cadence insisted on ending on a bright note and tone. He sensed one last statement incoming. 

"So, if you and Twilight were the last of equine kind, and there was no other way to save equine society than to commit a few acts of incest to repopulate, then it would be acceptable behavior then to allow equine kind to forever fold into the pages of history?"

Figures Cadence would get around to asking that question. Of all of the possible questions to pose, Cadence had to pose the most predictable of them all as her final nail and hammer. Despite a duty to defend Equestrian and, by nature, attempt to preserve his own in all of his endeavors, his morality would certainly overtake duty on this one. Or at least, that is what he would say in this relatively private space; if Celestia were to ask him, he would have to be a little more conscious of why she was asking in case his position were in jeopardy for placing morals over duty.

"Yes, I would rather watch equine society die out. Wrong is wrong no matter the circumstance. To accept incest even in desperate times would be to also accept it as a possible course of action." No hesitation did he reveal, no thought-provoked pause to heighten the suspense or suggest that his answer was anything less than the complete truth. 

Cadence's slightly parted her mouth again, suggesting that she was either surprised by the answer or had intended on offering a comment. Words did not leave her mouth though, and after a brief moment of deep thought, she hastily wrote on the paper. She rolled up the letter in preparation for sending. Before she did though, she looked towards Shining one more time, as if to confirm the accuracy message that she was about to send out. 

"So we are going with the assumption that, as Captain of the Royal Guard, you would know and be of the same opinion of many of the unicorns in Canterlot and hence, many of the unicorns in Equestria, correct?" 

Shining nodded, and with that, Cadence sent the letter on its way. 







Spike had went to bed early, and had already gotten quite comfortable when Twilight finally came to her own bed. Lounging, she rested her head onto her hooves, thinking on the events from earlier. She would be disturbed by a noise that commonly announced the arrival of news from the Princess, but tonight would announce a response from a slightly different correspondent.

Breeelchk! 

Twilight recognized that sound, and at once her ears shot up into the air; the gentle sound of paper hitting floor alerted her to the response from Cadence and Shining Armor. It had not even been a hour ago that she had sent it out; apparently there had been very little discussion between the two regarding the matter. It was nighttime now though, and the gentle moonlight, though beautiful, was poor for the sake of reading. 

Good thing there was always hornlight. Lighting her horn so that it would shine much like a lamp, Twilight took the parchment from Spike's small bed, levitated it above the grumbling dragon, and unfurled it. Using the light of her horn, she read the letter in earnest:

Dear Twilight, 

Ladybugs and sunshine bright, the topic matter that you asked about seemed rather odd for a mare your age, but Shining and I have come to the conclusion that true incest accepted not just by unicorns, but by Equestrians by and large. The reason should have been very obvious to you, but it's okay if such topics are not a part of your research. By law, Equestrians cannot discriminate for any arbitrary reason, including a pony's choice in mate. Incest falls under that category. Since incest is not against the law, and most Equestrians both accept and follow the law and the morals behind it, then it stands to reason that most Equestrians implicitly accept incest. I believe you may choose what you wish, and that it is neither wrong nor unacceptable if there are truly feelings between the two. But I digress, Shining would suggest that I am a minority from Canterlot thinking such.

However, that does not at all mean that they regularly act on this legal acceptance. In fact, the population of Canterlot is less interbred then one may be led to believe; Blueblood and his lineage are the exception, not the regulars, at least nowadays. It is an old pegasus jibe that unicorns continued the tradition for the sake of maintaining as pure of Celestia's royal blood as possible on a wide scale. A stereotype. In private the majority, including Shining Armor, do not seem to accept incest.

Even so, by law, all Equestrians would technically have to respond that they do in fact accept incest if they were to be asked in a very public setting, since the law puts incestuous couples on an equal footing as all other types of couples. To not accept it in public would suggest that a shop owner might not serve known incestuous couples the same, and might be under scrutiny for their actions. It is politically correct to be accepting of all lawfully protected behavior that presents no immediate threat to the safety of the nation. Therefore, since incestuous couples are accepted members of society, then their actions are also deemed worthy of admittance into society. Acceptance is the law, but neither private acceptance nor participation is all that common, at least among the unicorns Shining Armor may speak for. 

To put this into perspective, Shining Armor would rather allow the entire equine race to die out than participate in such an act with you. Indulging in it even in that desperate of a situation would be considering it a last ditch effort worth of consideration, or so Shining puts it. 

Your ever loving Sister-in-law and Brother, 
Cadence and Shining Armor

Twilight had been expecting to have to go through her books some more to find the answer to some cryptic message, but oddly enough, this was very straightforward. Then again, Cadence tended to be less of a mysstic than Celestia in responding to inquiries, and-

Wait. 

"Shining Armor would rather allow the equine race to die out than participate in such an act with you". 

Twilight looked up from the letter. Now just what was that supposed to mean?  Is he suggesting that if it were their mother the situation might would be different? Twilight was unsure of quite how she wanted to take the message. Sure, Shining would decline because he was morally against incest (apparently quite strongly at that) but with their entire race at stake, wouldn't morals take a backseat to the salvation of the equine race?

"Apparently not." upon hearing herself say that aloud, Twilight picked up on a hint of surprise. Well, her question had been concretely answered all the same, and in a way that was not entirely out of her original line of thinking. "Huh. No wonder Rarity saw reason to correct Sweetie Belle if the objection is that strong. But what's the point in the law covering incest if it is so disliked?" 

"To discourage late night discussions on it I would guess." Spike grumbled sleepily, turning over in his basket bed. While it was unlikely that Spike had already fallen into a deep sleep, especially after being disturbed by the arrival of the letter, it stood to reason that he was at least tired, and not very keen on being kept up on the matter. 

Twilight chuckled and stored the letter in a drawer for safe-keeping. "You're right Spike. First thing in the morning I am going over to Rarity's to make sure she and Sweetie Belle are all caught up." 





The next morning, after a breakfast of waffles dipped in syrup washed down with a few glasses of apple juice, Twilight set off for the Carousal Boutique. When she arrived, she had expected to see Rarity hard at work with some client on the first floor. Rather, she instead entered the shop to the sight of a scattered mess. Papers were everywhere, pencils were haphazardly strewn about the floor, and the ceiling had what looked to be drawings on it. 

The Crusaders must have paid Rarity a visit in the night. She could see crude images of ponies, some in admittedly akward positioning, and what seemed to be some little artist's interpretation of what the had learned. Sweetie no doubt would get a scolding for this if Rarity were unaware.

"Rarity?" Twilight called, but received no answer. If Rarity were not on the first floor, then she was probably on the second floor. It was not like Rarity to sleep in late, even on a weekend. While she might could return at a more convenient time, the schedule demanded that she first attend to this matter first and foremost.

Maneuvering about the pencils that seemed strategically placed to cause a pony to slip and roll about the floor in clumsy agony, Twilight passed the mess and started up the stairs. She could hear Rarity's voice, and what sounded like tapping. Pushing open the door to the second floor, Twilight looked to behold the headquarters of Ponyville's resident fashinista. 

It had been transformed from a room of cloth, linen, and an assortment of other stitching materials ready to be used into a sort of miniature classroom, with Sweetie Belle dead center seated on a cushion. Various images resembling the crude drawings downstairs were stitched to blankets all over the room, hanging either by thumb tacks or some unseen adhesive. These drawing were far more detailed, and Twilight could guess that Rarity and Sweetie had indeed carried on their conversation about incest, along with a few related topics. Closer to the center where Sweetie sat, was Rarity who seemed to have strung up a clothes line for the sake of weaving into blankets, very swiftly Twilight might would add, some sort of narrative together. The currently active blanket was yellow with blue thread used as to construct the desired image. The yellow background and the blue foreground at least made it clear to tell what was going on: a griffon and a pegasus together on a cloud home with a large sword stitched between them.

"And so, the griffons and the pegasi became enemies thereafter; but only after the rumor of Hurricane and Typhoon spending the night together had circulated. Much like unicorn incest, it is only a misconception, and not a fact, that griffons and pegasi ever have had any special relations with each other. Now do you understand Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie nodded, her eyes wide and her body seemingly buzzing with excitement. It was at this point that Rarity noticed that she had a visitor.

"Oh, hello Twilight! I was just clearing some things up with Sweetie Belle."

"So she gets that unicorn incest is accepted legally, but not privately accepted nor practiced by unicorn society?" If so, then Twilight had just made a rather blank trip.

"Actually, it is neither accepted nor practiced regularly!" Sweetie announced, hopping from her cushion like a rocket in order to come straight up to Twilight. "It's jut a myth, just like griffons and ponies mating together some one thousand years ago." 

Well, while Twilight was very sure about that not being complete myth, it seemed that they had come to a similar conclusion on their own. Twilight smiled, for that meant that she did not need to go over the entire response in order to explain to them the answer he had been offered by her elder siblings.

"More or less, since by law, all Equestrians, not just unicorns are required to accept incest in an implicit fashion. So not just unicorns, but all law-abiding members of Equestria technically accept incest as the law is now. But you are right, it is not practiced nor privately considered appropriate nearly as much as the joke suggests." 

"Sounds like we need to start a petition to change that." Rarity levitated about scissors and cut down the clothesline presentation, looking for a new space to hang her completed work of art. It seemed she might save them for another time, and for a brief while would leave them hanging in case she needed them. 

"Yup! I'll go get the paper!" Sweetie zoomed downstairs, hardly galloping and practically flying.

There was little doubt that Sweetie would talk to her friends about it, and they might very well come by for the same general lecture if they were confused. And considering how well Sweetie telephoned information, there was a great possibility of that. Not to mention she might require them in order to explain why ponies should or should not sign the petition. 

But, then again, this petition was a very public outlet. 

"Rarity, are you sure you want to go the route of a petition?" Twilight inquired, "Might be quite a few ponies who will be offended." 

Rarity laughed and trotted over to her friend, putting a hoof around her shoulders as she gestured about the wall. "You said it yourself, it is not commonly accepted except under threat of breaking the law. So if a few ponies get their manes in a ruffle over it, who cares? The majority will sign the petition, Celestia will alter the wording of the law, and we can carry on with how we truly feel about incest without worrying about the rights of others. After all, who worth noting would dare oppose?"