Chapter 70: Fixing A Hole
After a good night’s rest, Rarity had gotten up (doing her best not to wake Fluttershy as the sun had not yet risen) and made her way to what was technically her contractual workspace to see what she’d gotten done during that hazy period of her being under magical influence.
She’d found stacks of precut dress pieces ready for assembly (the final stitching having to be done by hoof, as agreed), several dresses that had been assembled already and only needed final accents (apparently already having been hoof-stitched, which boggled Rarity’s mind), and a towering stack of designs for future lines for the next five seasons.
Rarity felt simultaneously amazed and disappointed with herself.
While she was impressed that she’d apparently managed to get a large chunk of the order done, the designs were, sadly, useless. They were intricate, and clever, which was exactly what she’d expected to see, but not practical in the slightest. Some of them didn’t even seem to conform to the basic laws of physics, as they looked ready to collapse under their own weight.
She kept them regardless. They’d make for interesting study, and could perhaps spark something in later times. It was also intriguing to her to have something tangible from that other self.
She recognized that it was slightly odd to think of her own actions as being of some other pony’s, but it was the only way she could reconcile it in her own mind. Ponies were often said to not be themselves while intoxicated. What had she been if not that? From what she’d pieced together and been told, she’d had a spell constantly staving off mental fatigue while keeping her from feeling any signs of physical fatigue, and Luna feeding her magic in a constant stream to prevent any deleterious effects. A headier concoction had surely never been felt.
She flipped over one design for another, shaking her head ruefully. Intoxicated, apparently she was quite flighty. These designs were not entirely unrecognizable as her own work. They were the designs of a mare unfettered by concerns of anything beyond the aesthetic of the piece. She’d had visions of such things in her dreams, but her waking mind had the discourtesy to remind her of things like material cost, current trends, and whether the piece might sell. As much as she thought of herself as an artist first, it was nice to not have to be a starving one.
To that end, she needed to get back to work, and a big part of that was having materials to work with. Materials which she had in abundance here, but needed to get to her workspace in Ponyville to be of any real use to her. She needed the comforts of her own boutique to create properly.
The more she looked around the workroom, the more she realized what a daunting task moving all of the material would be. The collection of fabrics absolutely dwarfed her own in Ponyville... or rather, dwarfed what she’d had before it had been turned to ash and soot. As well it might, since the royal seamstress had made uniforms and repairs thereof for an entire castle here.
“Maybe I should just take what I need for the moment,” she mused out loud. “Honestly it’s not as if I have a proper place to store it all right now anyway...”
She took a last look around the room, making note of which rolls she would require. Then she began packing the precut pieces and half-finished gowns into a set of trunks she’d bought specifically for the transport of those items.
The designs went into a little portfolio, safe and secure for perusal later. She took one last look at the sketch on top before she closed the latch. Really, some of the ideas therein were simply amazing, impractical as they were. As for the rest... they were still fascinating, if only for curiosity’s sake.
She left the workroom, stifling a yawn with a hoof. Through the various windows that lined the hall she could see the barest signs of dawn outside. She smiled, stopping at one of them to admire the colors. From this high up, the cloud cover below was tinted in gentle pinks and yellows, slowly deepening into golds and reds as the sun made it’s way into the sky.
Since the sun was coming up, Luna would be up, which meant she and Fluttershy could perhaps join her for breakfast and make some arrangements for transport of all the baggage they needed to bring home. But first, Rarity wanted to check on Fluttershy to see if she’d woken up yet.
By the time she’d gotten back to their suite, the sun was halfway past the horizon, and the day had well and truly begun. Before she opened the door she caught sight of a small trolley being pushed along by an earth pony mare in castle uniform. She had a prim, no-nonsense hairbun of silver, a coat the color of smoke, and a short little tail of the same silver that made Rarity think of how cute it looked on her. Rarity waved excitedly as the mare approached. “Yoohoo! Is that by chance for us?”
The mare smiled genially. “Yes, ma’am. Tea and coffee service.”
“Thank the stars, and you as well!” Rarity said, rushing forward to meet the mare. “I’ll take this inside, I fear my marefriend may only just be stirring and I’d rather wake her gently.”
“I understand, ma’am.” she said, flashing Rarity another smile as she relinquished the trolley. “If you need anything else, ask for Jasmine.”
“Thank you!” Rarity said, hesitating as she tried to recall if she was meant to tip castle staff or if that was only hotels and tipping in a castle was considered gauche. In the time she’d spent thinking about it, the mare had gone on about her business without comment on if tipping was expected or not.
Rarity looked down at the trolley with a frown, hoping she hadn’t committed a dreadful faux pas, and resolving to ask Luna about it when next she spoke to her.
The trolley had a number of trays, and Rarity lifted the lids one by one to find a selection of muffins, donuts, and scones. There was also, as promised, coffee and tea, and all the accoutrements one could ask for to go with either. And in the middle of it all, a small scroll sat on its own little plate, sealed with wax and imprinted with a tiny crescent.
Opening it, she found a nigh-incomprehensible note. With great difficulty she managed to make out that Luna was thanking them for their visit the previous night, inviting them to make further visits in the future, and asking that if they had time in the morning that they join her in her breakfast repast.
Rarity blinked a couple of times, squinting and murmuring to herself to ensure she’d read it correctly. It wasn’t so much disbelief as it was the nature of Luna’s absolutely unreadable script. Rarity had seen prescriptions scrawled out by busy doctors that could not even compare. Even Sweetie Belle’s earliest efforts seemed utterly comprehensible in retrospect. Luna’s script was beautiful, it just failed at doing the job script was meant to do.
Or, nearly failed, she supposed. She’d managed to get the jist, at least. And it sounded like a lovely idea. She just needed to rouse Fluttershy.
She opened the door as quietly as she could, but quickly realized further stealth was unnecessary as she heard the distinctive sound of the shower running and the absolutely heavenly voice of her marefriend singing therein.
“Rarity? Is that you?” Fluttershy called out.
“Yes, dearest! I have coffee here if you want it!”
“In a little while. I need to wash my mane still!”
“All right, I’ll get you a cup ready!” Rarity called back, pulling the trolley over to the tea nook and setting out the trays.
“Did you sleep okay?” Fluttershy asked as she turned off the water.
“Well enough.” Rarity replied, snatching up one of the scones and buttering it. “I needed to go check the workroom so I could see what the state of affairs was before we ended up leaving so abruptly.”
“I missed you when I woke up.” Fluttershy called back. Rarity could clearly hear the pout in Fluttershy’s voice.
“Sorry, sweetness. I’m afraid there are times when I just wake up and cannot sleep again right away. I get some of my best work done during such times. Something about being in that state between dreaming and wakefulness seems to get my muse humming in my ear.”
Fluttershy stepped out of the bathroom with a towel carefully wrapped around her dripping mane. “You could have woken me, I wouldn’t have minded.”
“You say that now, dearest, but you have no idea how erratic my sleep can get.” Rarity replied with a chuckle. “I think it’s in large part why Opal gets so very cross with me all the time. Though if I could get even half the sleep she does I’d be a much happier mare.”
“I don’t mind, Angel Bunny wakes me up in the middle of the night too,” Fluttershy said as she sat down, gratefully accepting a steaming cup of coffee into her outstretched hooves. “I mean, we’re going to be sharing a bed more often than not, now. I may as well get used to it.”
No matter how many times she’d thought about it, and indeed, how many times they’d made love, it still gave Rarity pause to hear those words coming from Fluttershy with such casualness. She could feel the blood boiling in her cheeks, and coughed uncomfortably. “Yes, well, that’s true enough. I suppose. At least I didn’t steal all of the covers this time... I hope.”
Fluttershy shook her head solemnly. “No, you didn’t.”
“Good, good.” Rarity said, feeling genuine relief. “Well, we have a little breakfast here, but Luna sent along a note inviting us to join her for a more proper repast before we go. I was thinking we could take her up on that, if you don’t mind.”
“That sounds nice.” Fluttershy replied, unwinding her mane and beginning to brush it out with long, careful strokes. “But after that we really need to go back. I told Angel Bunny I’d be back by this afternoon at the latest.”
“Easy enough, then.” Rarity said, finishing her cup and pouring another.
Breakfast was pleasant, if a bit rushed. Luna apologized for not having more time, explaining that she had a press conference that morning and had to rule on a case of embezzlement afterwards.
“I plan to throw books at him.” Luna said with glee.
“I think you mean throw the book at him, Luna.” Rarity said, answering Luna’s mischievous smile with one of her own.
“No, I have many. Several libraries' worth, should I choose. I think I might start with the dictionaries...”
Rarity told her it was fine if Luna had to leave, since they needed to go back to Ponyville to tend to matters at home in any case. Upon hearing of the need to ship Rarity’s luggage and the various fabrics back, Luna called for a messenger and left instructions for some of the staff to assist Rarity in the packing and transport of her materials. When Rarity mentioned that they planned to travel by train, Luna all but insisted that they take her personal chariot instead.
Finally, it was time to say goodbye, and hugs were exchanged all around. Before she left them, Luna told them both that, regardless of what shape their relationship might take in the future, she counted herself lucky to have two such good friends, and further that they were welcome to stay as her guest whenever they wished.
“I’d extend the same, but our homes are sadly not castles. I do have a guest bedroom, but it’s usually occupied. And my master bedroom is not fit for use.”
“I... I have a couch?” Fluttershy offered with a little smile.
Luna laughed good-naturedly, saying that dinner or breakfast would be more than enough, as she didn’t want to leave ‘her poor Middy’ having to run the country in her stead any more than she already had. She asked if there was anything more she could do to aid them, and Rarity demurred, pointing out that Luna had already done far more than was needed.
After Luna had gone, Rarity met with the castle staff who had been called upon to help her, instructing them to gather the bulk of her luggage and have it shipped via pegasus mail to Fluttershy’s address. Then came the difficult decision for Rarity: deciding which baggage was essential.
“Do I bring the exfoliants? Oh, or the shampoos... but the perfumes are—”
“Rarity?” Fluttershy said. “I... I could take the train back, if you need more room...”
“Oh! That would help—” Rarity’s eyes narrowed into pinpricks and she gave herself a little slap. “No, no that won’t do. You need to tend to your friends at home.”
“Well... we’ll be traveling by flying carriage, and I do have wings, I could fly alongside—”
Rarity considered that for a long moment, eventually shaking her head. “No, darling. I’m glad your wings are feeling better but the doctor said you are not to do any lengthy flying until you’d had at least a week to rest. You did a number on them while giving that little exhibition with Posey.”
“Well, I’d just be gliding—”
“Which still puts a strain on them.” Rarity said in a voice that brooked no argument. “I’ll... just have to pack a survival kit, so to speak. And the rest will come soon enough.”
She looked around the room, opening the suitcases containing her toiletries and carefully picked out the bare minimum she would need until such time as she could get the delivery in Ponyville.
When she had finished choosing, she found their king-sized bed entirely covered in shining bottles, and all of her suitcases empty.
“Rarity?” Fluttershy said after a long moment.
Rarity groaned in frustration, putting all of the various bottles back one by one, firmly closing each suitcase. “You know what? I’m sure they’ll deliver everything in a timely manner. It’ll all be fine.”
“But your shampoos—”
Rarity turned resolutely from the stack of luggage, walking over to Fluttershy and planting a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll simply have to be frumpy for a bit, that’s all. I just hope you’ll forgive me for not looking my best.”
“Oh, Rarity, you always look gorgeous!” Fluttershy said quickly. “But I know all of these things are important to how you feel about yourself.”
Rarity smiled, saying: “While that’s true, I mostly want to look good for other ponies, and for those I love most of all. And, well, you’ve climbed to the top of that list rather quickly. I only really need you there with me. Everything else is just things.”
Fluttershy smiled back at her, and Rarity caught just a hint of smugness in the smile. It seemed that she’d been tested again. At least this time she didn’t have to question whether she’d passed.
“Okay,” Fluttershy said quietly, turning away to fetch her own luggage, which consisted of a single suitcase and two mostly-empty saddlebags.
Rarity gathered the baggage and carried it in her magic to the pile of other luggage being shipped that afternoon. With any luck it would reach them by evening and she could have a proper shower with the correct shampoos and conditioners the following morning. For now, she would simply have to ‘rough it’.
“Are you ready to go?” Fluttershy asked as she laid her saddlebags over her back.
Rarity took one last look around the room, casting a longing look at the large and opulent bed with its many pillows and its lovely bedspread. Fluttershy’s own bed was very cozy, of course (as was everything else in Fluttershy’s cottage), but there was something about a bed you could comfortably fling yourself into and have reasonable certainty you wouldn’t overshoot and land on the floor.
I’ll need to get with Davenport about a new bed, she thought with a wince. It was just one more thing on top of everything else. It all seemed a bit overwhelming when she thought about the sum total of everything that had been destroyed. So much of her life and livelihood all in ashes and soot. But at least she finally had the means to make it all right.
Also, she had a very good reason to get a larger bed.
“Yes,” she said at last. “I’m ready.”
The flight back to Ponyville was exhilarating. Rarity had traveled by magical wings, and by balloon, and once by airship, but Luna’s carriage was a mode of transport that topped all three. The seats were comfortable, the carriage itself was spacious, allowing for plenty of room to stretch out one’s hooves. Rarity actually lamented that fact in retrospect. She would have been able to fit one or two bags in with them with relative ease. Of course, one or two would never have been enough, but it was the principle of the thing.
Still, she had the one thing she truly desired next to her, looking around in evident excitement. For all that she was a pegasus, Fluttershy did not normally travel at higher altitudes, and when she was doing so under her own power, Rarity imagined it was not terribly fun to try to admire the view. Which was, of course, spectacular as they flew down from Canterlot to Ponyville far below.
The most impressive features of the carriage were of course pulling them along in swift flight. There was just something about Luna’s guards that was attractive in an aesthetic way. The wings in particular gave them an air of being feral and dangerous.
It brought to mind some very shameful novels she’d read in her formative years about nubile young mares and seductive ageless stallions who flew in through the window despite being neither unicorns nor pegasi. Logically she knew vampire ponies were romantic nonsense, and these bat-winged guards were entirely normal save for the unusual wings, but it was difficult not to feel that sense of giddiness she’d associated with those stories from so long ago.
Plus the one on the right had a very well-toned posterior. Which wasn’t to say the one on the left was bad, per se, just that the one on the right apparently took his regular training regimen more seriously. Either one of them looked smashing in the Lunar Guard uniform, which admittedly was looking very out of place given that it was the middle of the day.
A streak of blue flew by, followed by a blur of rainbow colors. It spiraled around them in a dizzying display, then darted back in their direction, hovering alongside the right of the carriage.
“Hey! You’re back already! I thought for sure you’d be at least a few days again.” Rainbow Dash said with a big grin as she matched the pace of the carriage.. “And you’re in Luna’s carriage! Does that mean things are cool, now?”
Fluttershy clambered over to the side Rainbow had stopped on, taking care to hold onto the side of the carriage as much as she was able. “We talked, yes,” she said. “It was nice.”
“Nice? Uh, okay, nice is good. Better than bad anyway.” Rainbow replied, scratching the back of her head. “We really gotta work on you with descriptions, Shy. Like... better words, or... you know, more of them. I’m not expecting a ‘cool’ or a ‘radical’ or anything because, you know, you’re you, but something I can get a better handle on would be good.”
Fluttershy thought for a moment. “It was... super nice?” she offered.
“See? That’s what I’m talking about!” Rainbow got a little closer and gave Fluttershy a hug. “Glad things worked out.”
Then Rainbow leaned in very close to Fluttershy’s ear and whispered something. Rarity couldn’t quite hear, but she caught the words ‘Canterlot’ and ‘voice’. Whatever it was, it made Fluttershy blush furiously.
“Heya, girls!” a folksy voice called out from the other side of the carriage. Rarity turned away from Fluttershy and Rainbow (despite desperately wanting to demand to know what the whispering was about) and found Applejack flying alongside them on the left side.
Rarity’s eyes grew wide in fear for the full three seconds it took to recognize that Applejack had a pair of ephemeral blue pegasus wings keeping her casually aloft.
Applejack’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle ya. I can’t quite figure out how to keep up with ‘Speedy’ over there. These things just kinda go at their own pace.”
As Rarity pried her eyes from Applejack’s wings, she noticed a flash of something shiny dangling around her friend’s neck. She also took note that the braid remained in place, and was gratified for it. It was, after all, one of the few pieces of fashion advice Applejack had ever taken from and not discarded a day later. “Right,” Rarity said after a moment. “Right, Twilight’s spell. I had forgotten they looked a bit different on you.”
“Yeah, these ones are special.” Applejack replied with a grin.
“So, I assume you two talked things out?” Rarity asked in a lowered voice, being mindful of Rainbow and Fluttershy still chatting on the opposite side of the carriage.
“Yeah, after I stewed a bit. She was actually kinda flattered that I was jealous.” Applejack said with a fond but exasperated sigh. “She’s too danged loveable to stay mad at. An’ it wasn’t like she actually did much to be mad at, other’n be kinda—”
“Thoughtless?” Rarity supplied.
“I was gonna say clueless, but yeah, weren’t so much not having any clue, I suppose. She just wasn’t thinking about if she was bothering me. She tries hard to do things I like.” Applejack’s smile grew just a little, her cheeks turning a darker shade of orange.
“You not being able to tell her outright wasn’t helping anypony.” Rarity added with a nod. “Believe me, I can sympathize very well, from both ends of the equation.”
“How about you?” Applejack asked. “Things go okay in Canterlot?”
“Well, for the most part—” Rarity began.
“Whoa! How many?” Rainbow exclaimed from the other side of the carriage.
“Um... five, I think. I wasn’t really counting.” Fluttershy said with a wince.
“What’re they on about?” Applejack asked Rarity in a hushed voice.
“We... we had an altercation with some stallions who tried to rob us—” Rarity responded in kind before being distracted by another exclamation from Rainbow.
“And you just broke his leg?!” Rainbow said incredulously.
“He kept trying to hit me with it and I was trying to get to the big one that had hit Rarity,” Fluttershy said defensively.
“Ouch, that’s cold.” Rainbow said with a wide grin that spoke volumes about her actual opinion of Fluttershy’s actions. “So did you get the guy?”
“After I got the rest of them to stop trying to hit me, yes. I was very upset with him.”
“Yeah, I just bet! Geez, if somepony tried that on AJ I’d knock their block off.”
“Wait, so somepony tried to rob you?” Applejack asked.
“Several someponies in a little group, yes,” Rarity said testily as she turned back to Applejack. “It was in broad daylight, in the middle of a street, no less. I was livid.”
“Uh... right.” Applejack said, a single eyebrow raised high incredulously. “But you’re okay?”
“We came away a little scuffed, the leader dealt me a glancing blow that made my head ring for a bit. Apparently Fluttershy destroyed them all utterly in the time it took for me to recover.”
“You really said that?” Rainbow demanded. “You told him he shouldn’t hit girls?”
“Well... yes.” Fluttershy replied.
“I...” Rainbow paused, her expression shifting from awe to frustration and back again. “I can’t even say if that’s cool or not! I mean, as a one-liner that’s so weak, but if you were saying it while beating the snot out of him that’s kinda awesome—”
“It didn’t feel awesome.” Fluttershy said quietly. “I was just so mad at him, and I wanted him to hurt.”
Rainbow considered that for a long moment. “Eh, it’s still a little cool. I mean, if either of you got hurt, whole other story. But yeah, long as you came out okay, pretty cool.”
Their chat became quieter, with Rarity only catching the odd little snippet here and there. Apparently they were talking about the food Luna had served. Rainbow seemed to rather like the description of the ‘little potato thingys’.
“Can you make sense of any of that mess?” Applejack asked over Rarity’s shoulder.
“I can, at best, help fill in the blanks for you. It didn’t make very much sense to me either, and I was there,” Rarity replied as she returned her focus to Applejack.
She caught sight of the glint again, and with it being closer she recognized it as some sort of pendant. A pendant on a mare that normally refused to wear jewelry of any sort. “And after I do that, I would like to hear all about your conversation with Rainbow. Perhaps starting with why you’re wearing a new accessory?”
Applejack’s eyes glanced downward self-consciously, but her expression was happy enough. “Yeah, it’s a deal. Now spill.”
Luna was feeling very pleased with herself.
Her press conference had gone wonderfully. Every eye in the room had been affixed to her in rapt attention. Her every word and nuance doted on. There had been appreciative laughs from Middy’s attempts at jokes, and when she’d asked if they had questions, an entire room’s worth of eager hooves had shot up.
She’d actually spent far longer with them than she’d intended, giving them perhaps more information than she should have about the state of her sister but being careful to maintain that Celestia was safe, and recovering, and would return as soon as Luna, being her fellow ruler, was certain that she would not be placing undue strain on herself. Collectively, the newly appointed Press Corps was incredibly respectful of her, actually asking relevant questions that helped her get her message out and them write a better story. As Middy had promised, they were simply pleased to be given a chance.
Luna knew that feeling well. When she took her leave of them, she wished them all fruitful careers, and promised future gatherings as need arose.
She very much wanted to see what the headlines were going to look like the following morning.
Afterwards, she’d had the hearing of her embezzler. He seemed surprised to see her, clearly expecting her sister. As the charges were read off, she’d simply looked at him, not saying a word.
At first, he’d seemed somewhat recalcitrant, openly returning her gaze. But as the list of charges grew longer, sweat broke out on his brow, and he’d finally bowed his head, unable to maintain eye-contact.
She smirked just a little, quickly composing her face to appear more regal. She had thought him some master criminal, but here, in the cold light of the courtroom, he was but an ordinary pony.
“What do you plead?” she asked him.
For all the trouble he’d caused, he wasn’t much to look at. A mousy little thing with a coat of brown and mane the color of tar, with a simple golden bit for a cutie mark. Even his name wasn’t anything remarkable: he was a distant cousin of the Rich family, called Get Rich. Luna privately suspected that it was both why he’d been placed in his position, and why nopony had questioned his lifestyle. His family was known for having a sense for money, and for extravagance. In his case, he’d simply made the mistake of using the crown’s money as his own.
“I wasn’t trying to cause anypony any harm—” he said quietly.
“We did not ask thee thy intent.” Luna snapped back at him in a stern voice. “Thy crimes are a matter of record. The question remains: what do you plead?”
He looked so very small below her. In reality he was of average height for a stallion, but he’d shrunk in on himself. As much as she’d joked about hurling dictionaries at him, the reality of this sad little stallion left her with little taste for it. He was a very foolish pony, who had made a very foolish mistake, but she did not feel vengeful towards him so much as she did disgust.
“Get Rich,” she intoned in a dark and terrible voice. “You have been charged of misuse of crown funds, breaching the public trust, and a host of other crimes I have no wish to waste my time repeating to you. For these crimes I would see fit to have thee placed on public display, or worse still, turn thee over to the justice of the very workers you deprived of their incomes—”
He shook his head violently. “Please, I’m begging you—”
“Silence!” she said with just a touch of power. “Gratifying as it might be, it will not aid those very workers beyond a momentary satisfaction. You have created a morass of your department, and have made it difficult for my investigators to locate the funds you took so that work may continue. The assets seized from you account for but a fraction of what disappeared, leaving several million bits unaccounted for.”
“I... may have made some investments...” he said uncomfortably. “I figured when they turned over... the money would go back into the road fund. I never intended to steal so much as borrow.”
“Borrowing without permission is one variant of theft, yes.” Luna said with an irritated look. “Your intent to return the funds has clearly not been followed through with.”
“Well, your sister kinda put me under house arrest and tied up all of my accounts before I could do anything. One investment kinda went sour, but I had a sweetheart of a deal on another that was gonna recoup the first. I needed some more funds to keep the roadwork going, but—”
“But you made the mistake of thinking my sister would approve more funding without asking why you ran out of money,” Luna supplied. “How is it that you thought to get away with this deception to begin with?”
“Eh.... eheh.” Get Rich coughed uncomfortably. “I’ve kinda been doing this a while. I usually know how to pick 'em, and make a little extra without costing anything in the long run.”
“And the profit?” Luna asked pointedly.
“Goes to me, yeah. Bought that yacht with it,” his chest puffed up a little as he told her of the fruits of his labor.
“A tidy sum, then.” Luna mused. “There are companies who actually hire investors, you know.”
He deflated again in an instant. “Yeah... but you gotta know somepony. It was easier to get into government work.”
Luna thought for a long moment, eventually relaxing her posture slightly. “So, you do know where the bulk of the public’s funds are?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I mean, it’s tied up in a little side venture I got into, but recoverable. Like I said, I lost some, and was planning to make it up.”
“Then your chickens became roosters.” Luna replied, nodding sagely.
He looked back up at her in surprise. “Uh... what?”
“Your chickens,” Luna repeated. “They returned to their roost.”
“Oh! Uh, yeah, came home to roost, right,” he said with a smile of comprehension. “Listen, I know I screwed up, but I was just trying to make a little bit more, you know? There’s not really much incentive for a guy like me where I am. If I manage to get a good crew or find a good deal on materials or if we finish up a week early... I don’t get another bit for it...” he trailed off uncomfortably. “I mean... that’s why I started trying to earn a little more. You know the rest.”
“You’ll be very lucky if you find gainful employment anywhere, now.” Luna replied.
“Well... I was really really hoping we could come up with something,” he said after a moment. “I mean, I get that I screwed up bad, but I did some good work for a long while, we always got the job done... I know I gotta make up for this somehow, but... I dunno. Might be too much.”
“I think you are in a poor position to be asking for favors, Mr. Rich.” Luna replied with a scowl.
“Not a favor, Princess. Just... a chance, you know?” he took a deep breath. “Look, I got greedy, I made bad calls. Somepony would have found out sooner or later. As it was, I only lost a chunk, coulda been worse. I wanna know if I can do anything to maybe come out on the other end with something.”
“Your bank accounts, property, and assets have already been seized.”
“Yeah, I get that. And I think that’s about right to maybe cover what I lost. But like you said, your people can’t find the rest.”
“Are you holding those funds hostage to get leniency?” Luna demanded, her eyes briefly flashing with power.
“Whoa! Not at all! I’m just saying I can contact a couple people and straighten all of that out right away if you’ll let me. And if I gotta spend some time down in the dungeons or something... I get it, I made my bed. But I was just hoping if I cooperated that maybe... I dunno, with somepony watching the accounts to make sure I don’t go trying anything...” he trailed off, looking down at the table before him.
“What exactly are you asking, Mr. Rich?”
“I dunno.” he shrugged helplessly. “I guess I’m asking if you can figure out something I could do. Some way you can trust me, so I’m not just a failure who got caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.”
“You know those same ponies in your Public Works department will not be pleased with you.”
“Yep. And they’d be right,” he said, nodding his head quickly. “That’s part of why I wanna make up for what I did. Those guys are good people. They deserved better, and I didn’t do right by them. I mean, you can find somepony else real easy, I’m sure. But you won’t find nopony more eager to do it right.”
Luna regarded him for a very long time before answering. “Why should I allow you to do this?” she mused. “You’ve broken the trust of your workers, your peers, and your government at large. By all rights I should simply toss you in the dungeon and throw away the key.”
He looked back at her, unflinching despite a single nod of acknowledgement. “Yeah, probably should. I did all you said, and I did it for a good long time before anypony caught on. Probably woulda kept doing it. It’s just... I wish you wouldn’t. I’m asking for a chance to do it right. Thing is... the money was nice, but I won’t miss it. I was going to parties, flying around like some big shot... But when I started to think about it, you know, while I was cooling my heels and your people were combing through my stuff... I wasn’t thinking about missing parties, or having the yacht taken away... I really missed just having a beer with the guys. I used to do that, back before I got stupid about it all.”
He looked happy very briefly before his expression darkened. “And... they’re probably not gonna want that from me. They’re gonna hate me. But if I work hard, work honest, maybe they’ll forgive me.”
“You expect me to put you back into your position?” Luna asked incredulously.
“No, not really. I expect I’m going into a small cell for a very long time, and it’s no more than I deserve,” he answered. “But I am asking you if you would.”
She pursed her lips, honestly torn in indecision. If what he said was true, and the funds could be recovered, that would help mitigate the crime for the most part. “One moment, Mr. Rich.” she said to him eventually.
“My time is yours, Princess,” he replied with a wan little smile.
She stepped down from the dais, motioning for Midnight to approach. When he was close enough she enclosed them both in a bubble of darkness that was shielded for sound and lit by a gentle spell from within. She did not say anything at first, simply frowning at Midnight.
“Luna, are you going to give him a ruling?” Midnight asked after an uncomfortable amount of time had passed.
“I... I don’t know what to do.” Luna admitted. “I was not prepared for this.”
“If I might offer an opinion on the matter, I think this might be better than we’d hoped for. With his full cooperation we will have at the very least the bulk of what was lost, and with the sale of his assets, quite possibly more.”
“But he’s asking to be placed back in charge of his department.” Luna said with a frown.
“Yes, he is.” Middy replied. “It would be a risk, to be sure. You’d need somepony else to watch the finances for him. But getting an accountant is easier than replacing a manager.”
“Does he deserve mercy simply because he is trying to make up for his crimes?” Luna pressed, feeling troubled by the idea.
“I think... nopony really deserves mercy, Luna.” Middy replied. “It can only be given.”
Luna pursed her lips thoughtfully. “And can I do what he asks? Can I simply grant him reprieve?”
“Well, I wouldn’t suggest that. Personally, I’d say give him a nice long prison sentence, then parole him into his old position. If he slips up again, he knows what waits for him.”
She thought about that for some time, finding the argument sound. And despite his crimes, she found his attitude of wishing to make recompense very appealing. “Very well. Thank you for your counsel, Midnight.”
She dropped the spell, ascending the dais once more. “Get Rich, please rise,” she said, imbuing her voice with a spell that made it reverberate throughout the courtroom.
He stood, saying nothing. He seemed resigned to his fate.
“Having been found guilty of the charges presented, I hereby sentence you to a term of not less than ten years, not more than twenty, in the castle dungeon.”
To his credit, he did not flinch, but his ears flattened in dismay.
“However,” Luna continued. “I see fit to place your sentence in a paroled state, merely holding you under house arrest.”
His jaw opened silently.
“This will continue so long as the funds are recovered, but your home is now property of the crown. You will be allowed the use thereof, with a leasing fee being deducted from any future earnings.”
“That’s... that’s fair.” he said after a long moment. “I’ll get a new job once I sort out the city's funds—”
“You will continue to be employed by the city, Mr. Rich.” Luna said, cutting him off. “Your first task after arranging for the safe return of your department’s budget will be to inform the investigators of how to navigate the labyrinthine system you used to hide your movements. You will then be writing letters to each and every employee that has been unable to cash their own paychecks apologizing for your crimes, as well as informing them all that new checks will be issued to replace the ones that proved useless.”
He did wince after hearing that. “Yeah... I can do that.”
“You will,” Luna said gravely. “For Our part, We will be appointing an accountant to take care of all future funding. Your duties will be decided based on your performance of the conditions I have set for your parole.”
“But... I’ll have a job? I don’t even care if you add me to the road crew, Princess—”
“It may come to that, Mr. Rich.” Luna replied. “Now, do you accept, or shall I have them dust one of the cells?”
“I’ll take it!” He said quickly. “Just... I don’t know how to thank you—”
“I’ve already told you. You’ve much to do, Mr. Rich.” Luna said, nodding to the guards waiting to take him back home.
When he had been taken away, her posture sagged, and she slumped down onto the comfy pillow beneath her. “Middy,” she said in a piteous voice. “Please tell me the next case won’t be so very taxing.”
“I think this one is rather open and shut, Princess.” Midnight replied as he went over the notes for the next case. “It’s the hearing of the attempted mugging that happened yesterday. The complaining parties were—” his eyes widened. “They attacked two of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, apparently.”
She sat upright in an instant, a wide smile on her face. “Send them in post-haste. And send word to have five cells made ready.”
She thought for a moment, and somehow the grin grew larger. “Also, I’m going to need some dictionaries.”
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Glad to see Fluttershy and Rarity finally heading home, and with things mostly patched up. :)
Also, Luna throwing books at ponies presents a hilarious mental image.
And once again we see that robbing someone in a back alley out of desperation is unforgivable while robbing thousands to the tune of millions is a social faux pas, to be gently chided and forgotten. The real crime, of course, is failure to be rich.
8063037 Heh. Well, remorse helps, also the violent nature of the crime and who the victims were.
In the end, he benefited from Luna's recent encounters going well, whereas the muggers... Not so much.
8063061
Indeed. If Luna had any sort of ethics whatsoever she would have recused herself, but it's abundantly clear that in this story nobody does.
8063077 recuse to who, exactly? Luna is the only court.
8063083
Temporarily. She keeps insisting that Celestia is coming back, you'd think she might behave as such.
good to see this is still going on!
8063098 While I don't disagree, the idea of recusal (and by that I mean for anypony to come up with the concept at all) presupposes that anypony would ever think Celestia the incorruptible and immortal would ever be less than fair and impartial. Luna does not consider this to be a problem for herself either. The problem, of course, is that this system is not designed with her in mind, and her ideas of justice are a tad heavy hoofed.
As for turning the case over to Celestia, that could potentially take weeks and months with no ruling. It would also imply that Luna felt her sister is needed to judge that case in particular despite the fact that they are supposed to be equals.
I understand your dissatisfaction, but your logic doesn't really apply to this situation, whereas it most certainly would in the real world.
Hmm, early. Not a bad thing....
And life goes on....
8063287 I never put out a chapter on April fools day that I want to be taken seriously
Well, that ending certainly made Luna's day
8063083
This is probably the flaw here. If Luna was the only court, even just in Canterlot, she'd be flattened by the preliminary hearings alone and wouldn't have any time left over for actual rulership. There's something to be said for speedy justice, but not even a pony princess is speedy enough to do it herself.
8063472 Well, there is of course courts in other cities, Royal Court would be for matters of national concern like taxes, or city concern since Luna and Celestia are the acting government on that level as well.
8063164 Not only that but Luna comes from an older time and many times has been shown to live by that time's standard. As such, she's probably much more concerned with justice than legality. Since Get Rich is able to repay his debt, he has no assets since they now belong to the crown and all future work for him is going to be overseen by an accountant, in her mind why would he need to have a harsher sentence that what she gave? His debt will have been repaid, the ponies harmed recompensed, and since the ultimate point of a sentence is to teach a lesson that he already seems to have learned, there isn't much point in doing more than she had already.
The muggers, on the other hand? They seemed more upset that they didn't get away than they did with the fact that what they did was wrong. So, no lesson learned means they still need a punishment in order to learn it.
I would used geographical atlases. This books are enormously heavy.
Wheeeeeew... not sure what to comment here, except for nice update and I like where this is going.
Rich screwed the pooch on that one, hehehe.
Nicely done
8063610 Precisely. Somepony who screwed up badly and honestly wishes to atone hit a little close to home.
Nice chapter, and nice the bit of RD and Flutters talking, XD
Also tje part with Luna was great.
I just can't keep up with this story any longer. Used to be one of my favorites but things have just become so slow. I hate the iterludes, always skip them and the main story has lost its spark.
I will probably come back whenever this thing is finished, and I doubt it will be any time this or next year.
8064278 Can't please everyone, sadly. Thank you for keeping up for as long as you did, and just watch for a complete tag and see if you enjoy it as a complete read through. Often that helps with longer works, and the lulls in the story (like the interludes) actually help with reader fatigue.
I can remember being frustrated with stories like Bleach and Naruto when characters would go off and do things that weren't "important", or we'd go off with side characters. When you're invested in only one part of a story, it gets boring to go away from that, even for a chapter. Easier if you know that the main plot continues in just another chapter or two, and you know there is an end to it all.
All I can say is, thank you again.
8063610
For violent and unprovoked crimes, it's less about teaching a lesson and more about getting them away from potential victims. Honest folk don't need to be forced to deal with someone who'd knife them for a quick buck if it came down to it.
8065251 Well, in fairness, the leader attacked, and the rest came to his defense... though they were doing it against Fluttershy, who normally would not have looked threatening. Okay I guess there is no real bright side. They done fucked up.
Well, I hope those five will learn something from their sentencing, maybe a word out two at least.
8063037
Normally, I'd agree with you, however I would pose the following differences between this case and most of the ones that lead to the sentiment:
1: In this case, the funds were recovered, and all the damage done was undone.
2: This guy wasn't given a slap on the wrist and turned loose with a fine he can laugh off - he was stripped of all his assets and put on one to two decades of parole, under close supervision, with Luna taking a personal interest in the case. That's *vastly* beyond the *actual* penalties leveled against people like Dimon in our world. And unlike Jordan Belfort, I suspect that his assets aren't all in his wife's name.
3: We do *not* know how severe the sentences against the muggers will be, merely that they are being put in cells. And pelted with books, quite possibly. It's not like they're going to go away for life, though Luna may make them fear just that.
4: They didn't threaten a pony and then take their money. They *physically attacked* two ponies and tried to take their money. The leader, at the very least, is a demonstrably dangerous individual who *should* get some prison time for that attack, especially since it sounds like this isn't their first rodeo.
However, what I find more disconcerting is your later comment.
8063077
Why precisely do you say that nopony in this story has ethics?
Commence read.
Good ol' potato thingys.
I still enjoy a good misunderstood colloquialism, even if it's been done to death.
Mixing in some thesauruses might be good.
8093855 I try not to overuse it, but I really enjoy Luna getting it wrong with complete confidence.
8093872 That's probably the best part.
She just sticks to it. Rarity tries to point it out and Luna just doesn't care.
You don't get to many chances to legitimately throw books at people.
I think it's just the way you write, and how it mixes with everything and such.
It works, and I enjoy it.
I like Middy.
8259729
I like him too.
8063077
And why should she? She's a co-ruler of the nation. This isn't the US - "conflict of interest" doesn't really come into play here, or is even a thing. In a way, everything that goes on presents a 'conflict of interest' to her, does it not? To the both of them, in fact.
I suppose that's why you should have impartial judges, but then that'd be part of the reform they're planning anyway. And if nothing else, these little cases give her a little bit of satisfaction that is uniquely her privilege as a ruler that isn't elected. I'm not saying it's good, or fair - I'm just saying that's how things are.
Look into the history of real kingdoms and such, and you may find that this is actually very mild. And I don't think it kind to the setting to be judging it by our standards at all.
Now that bit I don't really get. Where are you even coming from?
That's one that isn't that easy to spot - it's missing a possessive.