Teacup, Down On The Farm

by Chatoyance

8. Working For Change

Lost In The Herd: Four

Teacup
Down On The
Farm

By Chatoyance

Chapter Eight: Working For Change

Teacup made another batch of biscuits. Mr. Nibbles -everyone in the restaurant just called him 'Tasty'- trotted over and watched the violet-maned mare as she stirred with a spoon in her teeth. "Just wanted to say that our business has gone up ever since you arrived. Good job Teacup!"

Teacup grinned around the long, wooden spoon. She enjoyed working at 'Nibbles', and the bits she was earning were just what she and Petal needed.

Somewhere, across town, Petal was out doing courier work for Speed Pony Delivery. Although she was not a fast, flying pegasus like the image on their logo, she had background enough, and skills enough, to be hired. Together they brought in sixty bits a week. They had a three-day work week, like most Hoofingtonians, overlapping their jobs with others who shared their positions. The bits were piling up, even with rent and the occasional feast. This was more money than either had ever made in their lives out in the country.

Both had quickly realized, after their first day in Hoofington, that travel was going to be much more expensive than they had imagined, and if they were going to see their quest through, they would need the bits to do it. Working for a while in the city was an excellent way to make the bits they needed quickly, and so they had gone out and found employment.

For Petal, it was fairly easy; her background in delivery fit well with the need for couriers at Speed Pony. But Teacup had only ever worked on a farm, and for the first week, she was at a loss. Petal assured her that she needn't worry so much, that her Speed Pony job was sufficient to support them, and it was just that it might take a little longer to save up for travel.

Teacup didn't like feeling useless, though, so as she wandered the streets each day, she struggled to find something she could do in the big city.

She turned a corner and smelled something that filled her with happy memories; the same sort of oat smoothie that Missus Provender had made for her long ago. Following that smell had led her to 'Nibble's Country Kitchen'. The help wanted sign encouraged her, and a quick demonstration of Missus Provender's Prize Winning Biscuits sealed the deal with the owner, Tastee Nibbles.

She had been working at the restaurant for six weeks now, and had proven herself to be an excellent employee. It was already clear that Mr. Nibbles wanted her to stay indefinitely, further, she was enjoying her new life in Hoofington so much that it was all too easy to forget entirely about her original plan.

Hoofington held many fascinations for Teacup and her friend Petal. There were shows to see, plays and musicals and strange avant-garde performance pieces the like of which neither had ever imagined. There was certainly no shortage of interesting and delicious foods from all over Equestria, and the temptation to 'eat fancy' every night was great. It became harder and harder to save up to continue their journey when the excitement of the city called out to them.

One night, at a cafe they had come to frequent, Petal broached this issue.

"Hoofington has been pretty darn good to us. What do you think, Teacup?"

Teacup bit into a crunchy roll and then sipped her water thoughtfully "It really has been good. I can't remember having this much fun. I hate to say it, but I find myself forgetting about the farm. I mean, the musical last night - that was just great!"

Petal giggled "It was pretty funny, too. Remember the part where the magical chicken sang?" it hadn't been a real chicken, of course, but the costume worn by the performing pony had been particularly whimsical.

"Gosh, yes! That was awesome!" Teacup giggled with Petal at the memory. "These past weeks have just been great!"

"I've been thinking... in all of that time, have you once had any troubling memories?" Petal had a strange look on her face.

"Huh? I don't know what you mean."

"About Earth. About before." Petal said the words quietly, as if afraid another table might hear.

"Oh!" Teacup was slightly startled "That. Funny... I really haven't. Not once. It's like all of that just went away for me. I haven't thought about any of that since I started working at 'Nibbles'. It's kind of strange. I guess there's just so much else to think about here."

"You know, we don't strictly have to continue the plan. We're making decent money, if we wanted to, we could even move to a bigger place. We could stay in Hoofington... for a while." The way Petal had said 'a while' somehow suggested a very indefinite period of time indeed.

Teacup fell quiet for a moment. "Is... is that what you think we should do? What if we start feeling sad again? It isn't like our pasts have gone away." She looked uncomfortable now "Besides... I worry about Cornflower and Durum, back on the farm. I feel a little guilty having all this fun, while they're stuck without any help. Harvest will be coming up in a month or two..." Teacup's voice trailed off and her ears drooped a little.

"It was just a thought, Teacup. Just a thought." Their main course had been brought by a unicorn waiter, who floated their plates down to the table. "This looks tasty! One thing is for sure - we eat pretty well here." The unicorn smiled at Petal's comment and turned to another table.

"I did think of one thing, though." Teacup sounded strange and serious now.

"What?" mumbled Petal through a mouthful of pasta.

"Back when... when we were in the forest. When you were turned... when you were in trouble." Teacup hadn't touched her pasta yet "I was really afraid, and I couldn't turn back from the road."

"But you did! You were brilliant, Teacup! You kicked that creatures' ass! You totally rocked that thing! You saved us both!"

"I never could have done that, I really would have just run away, except..." Teacup's face contorted with strong, mixed emotions.

"Except... for what, Teacup?" Petal had stopped eating to pay more attention to her friend.

"I remembered my life on Earth. I remembered my days in the favela, in the slums. I remembered what it meant to be human. I felt like...." Teacup's head sank "...Like the biggest monster in that forest. Like I was the real monster, and when I felt that, I felt like I could kill that thing."

Petal broke the silence that followed Teacup's words "Then I am grateful to your days in those slums. You saved my life, Teacup. If that part of your past gave you the courage to fight, then I am grateful for it, as I am grateful to you." Petal paused for a moment "'Eat me too! I can't live without her!' - that was just the cleverest trick ever!"

"It wasn't entirely just a trick." Teacup stared at her pasta "I wasn't... I couldn't just leave you like that. I couldn't have lived with myself if I had."

Petal looked at Teacup for a bit "Then I guess that makes you my Bestest Friend Ever, Teacup!"

When Teacup looked up, she was greeted by a soft smile that somehow shone brighter in her heart than the biggest grin. "Best friends?" she asked.

"The very best." Petal was definite.

Several weeks passed after that, with work and the delights of the city consuming the pair. They discovered the park, and enjoyed strolling its beautifully cultivated gardens. They found that Hoofington had a concert hall, and found the charms of the symphony. They spent a very silly afternoon in a toy store, imagining an Equestrian childhood they had never known.

Then one day, they chanced across the bookstore.

Unicorn Books was an entire store dedicated to books about magic. Thaumaturgy was their specialty, and their stock. Row after row of tomes, thick and thin, inexpensive pamphlets as well as incredibly costly tomes filled the tidy shelves. New books, rare books, even a section in the back devoted to ancient scrolls, carefully preserved inside a glass case, greeted their astonished eyes.

The two newfoals wandered in silence. They had never seen a bookstore like this. It seemed somehow sacrilegious to speak above a whisper. This feeling did not extend to the sharply dressed, monocled unicorn that approached them "May I be of assistance today?" he boomed, in a voice that made Teacup jump a little.

"We...I am interested in..." Petal apparently felt the same way as Teacup did "Ahem. Let me start again." Teacup could tell that Petal was putting on a false persona. "I and my assistant here are intrigued by the relationship between thaumatic practice and mnemotechnics."

Teacup was always impressed when Petal pulled out the part of her that had, as she had once explained, 'been sort of a unicorn' even back when she had been human. Petal clearly had a head full of all sorts of knowledge and thoughts that she tended to keep hidden behind her light-hearted personality, and Teacup found it fascinating when that side of her friend showed itself.

"I have a theory - more of a hypothesis, really - that thaumatic forces underlie the functions of the mind, specifically the domain of memory itself. Are we magical beings merely inhabiting flesh, as one would clothing, and can it be proven? I think it can, and the answer must lie in the way that memories are retained, for memory is existence itself -without memory there would be no knowledge of identity, do you see?" Petal, in that moment, seemed like the most distinguished of researchers. It also helped that she had left her aging saddlebags at home.

Canter Star, the proprietor, was intrigued by Petal's concept "I see, I see... a most interesting premise. I think we may be able to be of some assistance. This way. I assume you are with the college of magic? Of course you are, this way, this way."

Petal did not feel inclined to disabuse the well-appointed unicorn of his assumptions, thus she and Teacup followed after him silently.

An entire row had been given to spells that affected consciousness and the mind, and it was clear that this was a section not appropriate for general use, but instead reserved for those involved in higher research, likely with some kind of clearance. Mr. Star left them there; thankfully another pony had entered the store, eliminating the need for further interaction, which might have accidentally revealed their true backgrounds.

Teacup kept watch on the bookstore proprietor, while Petal scanned tomes as fast as she could. When Teacup looked down briefly, she saw Petal using her horn to levitate multiple volumes, while simultaneously flipping through their pages at a rapid pace. Raising her head again, she saw Mr. Star busy with a new pair of unicorns that had just entered. They were dressed as if they had just come from a very fancy party in the wealthiest part of town.

Teacup heard a book slam shut behind her, an almost palpable 'thwap'. As she turned her head, she saw books slamming back into the shelf. "Ok, let's go." Petal motioned with her nose in the direction of the door. Teacup knew to follow Petal's lead, and they made their way to the exit. Mr. Star was occupied, so Petal used her horn to stifle the bell above the door until they were outside, and the door closed behind them.

They were some blocks away before Teacup spoke "So? What did you learn? What happened?"

Petal's ears flicked as if she had been awakened from some deep reverie. "Magic that affects the mind and the memory is surprisingly easy to learn. You can even figure out how to do it on your own, apparently, if you just know some simple basics. But..."

Petal stopped at the corner and turned to Teacup "There's a catch. All of that sort of thing is considered dangerous magic, because it can potentially violate the free will of others, and that is a big no-no in Equestria. There are some surprisingly serious punishments for playing with any of it, and the suggestion exists that..." Petal looked left and right as if worried about being overheard "There is apparently a garden near the palace in Canterlot, a garden with a hedge maze. Outside that garden are statues. Some are creatures, but most are ponies, just like us. They date back centuries."

Teacup wasn't sure what Petal meant. "Statues, okay, so...?"

"There is some speculation that those statues used to be living ponies. Ponies that may have used magic... incorrectly."

"Wait a minute. Capital punishment? In Equestria? I don't believe that!" Teacup felt like her world had just turned upside down.

"Think about it. What would you do, if you were Celestia, or Luna, and somepony started, say, raising an army of mind-controlled citizens, or started using mind magic for some terrible scheme?"

"But...but nopony would do that! These aren't humans here, Petal! They have no guile, no evil in them! They don't even know what war is, they don't even have police, because they don't have crime!" Teacup was not happy at any of this.

"Celestia has royal guards. Why would the Goddess of the Sun have guards. Armored guards?"

Teacup was feeling upset with Petal. "Griffons! Monsters from the Everfree like we fought! Dragons! There are all kinds of creatures that could suddenly show up! It doesn't mean she needs guards to protect her from evil ponies!"

"Not evil." Petal stared at her "Just misguided. They probably thought they were trying to help some cause or some purpose that might benefit everypony. Doesn't make them any less dangerous, though, if they were to refuse to stop."

"That's even worse! I won't accept that!" This was the first unpleasant conversation Teacup had ever had with Petal. It was bordering on an argument. "Celestia would never do such a thing! Ponies would never do... well... even misguided they wouldn't refuse... and if they did, Celestia definitely wouldn't do what you suggest. She wouldn't!"

The two mares crossed the street, and walked towards their room at the Coronet in silence.

When they had finished their preparations for bed, Petal brought the topic up again.

"You saved me because you remembered your hard life on Earth. You crippled or outright killed that monster, even though you are a pony, just like anypony else. Equestrians may be innately kinder than humans, I won't argue that point, in fact I agree. I am certain that the Equestrian brain is wired for compassion, cooperation, and simple kindness in ways the old human brain never was." Teacup really didn't want to deal with this, but Petal needed to talk.

"Pony or not, you still had the capacity to take extreme action when you needed to. When you felt it was justified." Petal gave Teacup a little half-smile, trying to defuse the tension "All I'm saying is that even a gentle creature can become potentially dangerous, if a convincing justification is there. And magic is vastly more dangerous than any gun. Teacup, I saw relatively simple spells in those books that, if misused, could turn an entire city against itself. Trivial spells."

Teacup's mind could not help but race ahead where the implication led; if trivial spells could do that, then a serious spell could... do almost anything? How could a pony with that kind of power be controlled, if they were certain they were in the right?

It was a very long, and very troubling night, and neither pony got as much sleep as they wished.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Petal's technobabble-fu is still strong, I see.

Also, a fascinating hypothesis as to how to a pony might turn into a Discord-level threat to society. (Though one has to wonder, if those statues are petrified mind mages, how did Celestia get them all to pose like that?)

[Chatoyance]

15893
If you want to survive a battle with with a truly formidable magical power, never zap them from the front, never even let them know you are there.

Celestia isn't dumb. She'd turn a threat to stone while it was busy doing whatever it was up to. Look at the ponies in that garden on the show sometime. They were caught unawares. They are all in the middle of doing something: reading a scroll or petition, running, dancing, they had no idea they had just been zapped. They were ninja'd. Stealth kill.

My belief is that Celestia may be all smiles and soft voice, but that is velvet covering a cast iron, spike-knuckled fist. She's an immortal ruler. She knows how to rule.

[nemryn]

15893 Thaumobabble-fu, you mean.

[DreadedCandiru2]

15899

Which, of course, means that having troubling memories of Earth is simply something these two are going to have to deal with; it might be unpleasant for them but Celestia is not only immortal, she is far more intelligent and wise than they. She can see a harmful consequence to their plan that they do not.

15899
That's what she wants ponies to think. Being turned into stone for eternity is probably reserved for doomsday-level criminals i.e. Discord and Nightmare Moon (moon's made of stone). But as long as the thread exists, it's a strong discouragement to any mega-level crimes. Besides, you really think TURN THEM TO STONE is the only possible punishment for a criminal? Yeah, it's an equivalent to a death penalty, but stoned for eternity is kinda worse than death, yes?

Besides, what's to stop a pony from going into the very public garden and de-petrifying these hypothetical super evil criminals who've been undergoing insane psychological terror of being stuck in stone for hundreds of years? Discord's an exception because he got zapped by the Elements of Harmony. If there are petrified psychotic ponies then they're probably also banished to a dungeon somewhere far away from anypony.

15931
Oh jeez I'm such a crazy internet nutter.

[Anonsi]

Well I finally got around to reading this, and I ended up really enjoying it. The characters are good and believable, and this CB universe is solidly built. I will say that referring to humans as monkeys has always irked me, but I got over it fast enough.

Still, fun times ahead.

[Midnightshadow]

14713
You certainly may have Midnight make a cameo, I'd love for there to be one :)

It generally makes me smile to see such "cross pollination" - a "squee! I recognize that!" makes me so happy.

[Midnightshadow]

16021
Humans ARE monkeys. Apes are monkeys (yes, really), humans are apes. We're a very, very thin veneer of civilization over an old, violent mammal brain, wrapped around an even older lizard brain. It's easy to forget that we're animals, built (as it were) to survive in a cold, hostile universe.

[Anonsi]

16114
I'm not saying we aren't, it's just whenever someone goes around calling humans monkeys they are usually doing it as an insult (Usually it's aliens who can't think of something more clever). If anything, I'm more irritated that the term "monkey" doesn't do justice to how dangerous humans can be and usually are. I realize and accept that particular section was from a more Universe at Large perspective, but I still felt like I was being talked down to by some kind of casual cosmic observer.

That being said, I don't bear any ill will towards Chatoyance for saying it and I enjoyed the story as a whole.

[Midnightshadow]

16130
I personally roll my eyes whenever I hear about noble hearts and pure spirits. We're not. We're low-down dirty scheming conniving little monsters. It's what makes us what we are - as Chattoyance says, paraphrasing here, it's what's made us the top dog.

These CB stories are fascinating because it lets us look at such ideas as what does it mean to be human by the unlikely foil of making the protagonist not human. The casual cosmic observer is the narrator, not Chattoyance, whatever his/her personal opinions may be.

Sometimes, with such writing, it's clearly a soap box (Ayn Rand is a real bad example of this), this story doesn't say that to me.

Also, I just love the adventure.

[Anonsi]

16219
>I personally roll my eyes whenever I hear about noble hearts and pure spirits. We're not. We're low-down dirty scheming conniving little monsters. It's what makes us what we are - as Chattoyance says, paraphrasing here, it's what's made us the top dog.
I don't know if you're offering up a counter point to my previous post, but in an effort to not start an philosophical argument all over the comments, I'll just take it as you telling me what bothers you as I did here 16021 and leave it at that.

16130 would you rather they called us atom heads or something? (BOOM) Bai hiroshima!

[Toksyuryel]

Well there goes that idea. Probably for the best, considering.

[Reese]

"it hadn't been a real chicken, of course"
Well, not necessarily an of course in this universe. :)

"What if we start feeling sad again?"
Move on then.

The concerns about the farm, though… yes, that is rather a problem. You're happy here, except that you want to help the Provenders. If you were helping the Provenders, you might by this point miss Hoofington even if your origin-related sadness doesn't return, which it quite possibly might. I'm not sure what the best solution would be.

Oh, and the potential benefits of the human memories; I didn't even think about that angle.

[Madrigal Baroque]

Oh, for Luna's sake, Teacup. You're still determined to go through with this half-baked plan of yours even though you've clearly shown how important it is sometimes to remember even the bad things in your past (see OMG BEHOLDER! last chapter) and even though you have had zero problems since then regarding your memories. Maybe it's not what you've got that is causing your problems, but something you don't have. Something that you need to find for yourself, something that megic can't help you find, something not even the Princesses could give you.

A sense of purpose.

Oh, crud. Celestia turns bad ponies into statuary and then decorates her garden with them?! Now that is badass. My Viking heart salutes her. Definitely a dark turn on the sunshine and happiness world that Equestria is supposed to be, though.

Okay, so meddling with memory is forbidden. I can see the sense in that. For the reasons I outlined in my earlier review. Changes in personality, unexplained stress, the quest for recovering memories you asked to have removed in the first place.. the list goes on.

And still Teacup insists on going forward, even though she could see her new best friend permanently petrified for it? There's stubborn, and then there's mule-headed. To say nothing of single-minded selfishness.

I like Teacup a lot, and she's not a bad pony, but right now I have the overwhelming desire to buck her into a pond somewhere. Poor thing, she doesn't realize that she's looking for the wrong kind of answers and she's doing it the wrong way. And poor Petal, she wants to help even though she already suspects that a memory purge isn't the answer.

Excuse me? Teacup? Clue scroll. It's for you.

[Chatoyance]

11471631
I love how quick of mind you are. You suss things out very quickly! I hope I improved over the decade of my writing rapidly enough to eventually start surprising you! That said, I am having such joy from your posts, and how you relate to the characters imperfect, way too human personalities and drives. Thank you for your posts as you read.