Chapter 3
Discord was nowhere to be found. He was off somewhere, perhaps in some universe next door, or perhaps some other place on the planet. There was no way to know for sure. Charis had questions. Charis wanted to know what other versions of her were like. What was her potential.
She supposed it all came down to destiny.
Ponyville was in a state of commotion. Charis wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, except that there were a lot of shouting angry ponies. Something about a new tax, and it was hitting the farmers pretty hard.
And all of the farmers were earth ponies.
There were a large crowd of them out shouting in front of the town hall even now, protesting the new tax, and protesting what was believed to be another means to hold earth ponies down while the other tribes prospered.
The situation was rapidly getting out of hoof.
Charis felt herself drawn to the chaos, pulled in, and there was this gentle buzzing in her brain, a need to be in the center of all the chaos… and perhaps rile it up just a tiny bit. Perhaps add a little fuel on the fire.
She began to push her way through the crowd, the sound of angry voices urging her onwards, a mad frenetic feeling building up inside of her mind. There was something glorious about the disharmony around her. The excitable equines were straining against their own herd structure.
It wouldn’t take much to push them into a frenzy.
Nervously licking her lips, Charis pushed her way up on to the wooden platform with Ivory Scroll, the mayor of Ponyville. She gently pushed the mayor away from the podium. An odd terrifying silence settled over the mob, and furious eyes all focused on Charis.
If Discord had been here, he could have warned his student about quiet seething masses and the dangers of a mob fallen silent. But Discord was gone. And Charis was alone, all by herself, feeling the first itch of chaos.
“All of civilisation is built upon our backs!” Charis announced. “We earth ponies are the foundation from which the other ponies have built their civilisation! And for too long, we have been exploited! We carry the burden of this exploitation upon our shoulders, and we have done so for so long that it has broken us and crushed our spirits!”
There was an angry roar from the crowd.
“Who makes the food? Who toils day after day in the fields? And what do we have to show for it? Look around you! Look at Carousel Boutique! What does Rarity do that contributes to our society? She makes clothes! CLOTHES! Which most of us never wear! Yet her business continues to prosper, and she is one of the wealthiest ponies in town, aided by her MAGIC, which allows her to find gems. She has MAGIC that has allowed her to become fabulously wealthy! Meanwhile, the Apple family, who feeds us all, FEEDS us, had to take out another loan again to keep their heads above water. How is this right? We don’t need clothing, we need food! What is wrong with our priorities as a society?” Charis said, her words inciting rage in all who listened.
There was another angry roar and furious shouts began to ripple through the crowd.
“Meanwhile, Rarity and her gems continue to make us poorer and poorer. She can afford to offer extra bits to a merchant, so now the merchants expect extra bits from all of us! Inflation! The term is inflation! And as long as Rarity keeps dumping gems into our local economy, we are all going to become poorer and poorer as a bit continues to buy less and less. And bits come so easily to all unicorns. A little magic and their work is done for the day! Meanwhile, we earth ponies labour from sunup to sundown, breaking our backs, sweating, using our muscles and sinew, performing the sort of work that keeps our society together. Pulling goods from one place to another. Hauling food and supplies in wagons. Growing food. And we get paid what for it? Very little! And now, a new tax is coming, which will take away even more of the precious few bits we have, and we will all be poorer for it, while the unicorns like Rarity just have to go out and magic up a few bits to make ends meet!” Charis shouted.
A dangerous feeling of power flowed through Charis. Something glorious awoke within her. There was truth, and then there was truth. And nothing held more truth than an angry mob.
“We should stop making food and performing the services vital to our society until our needs are met!” Charis proposed.
The mob exploded.
No longer content to stand in place and seethe, the center failed to hold and the mob began to spread out into the town, trampling everything that got in their way. There was the tinkling of broken glass and smoke began to rise up into the air.
“What have you done?”
Charis turned and saw Discord standing near her, looking both amused and concerned. He stood akimbo, his forelegs folded and his paw and talons resting on his hips. As the situation began to spiral out of control all around her, a warm pleasant feeling spread through her brain.
“I told the truth. My words were honest,” Charis said as flames began to rise into the sky. Pegasi hurried back and forth, bringing in rainclouds to put out the fires that were being set.
“So our little chat yesterday had an effect I see… did you do this out of kindness? Or personal satisfaction?” Discord asked.
“Both. Maybe. Maybe I did it because it had to be done,” Charis stated.
Flames crackled from the Carousel Boutique and screams echoed through the town. Bands of pegasi were busy trying to contain the many fires. The earth ponies were rampaging. There was nothing to hold them back. Order had broken down completely.
“Look what you did…” Discord said in astonishment.
“You were gone, where did you go and why did you suddenly reappear?” Charis asked.
“I was busy trying to talk to Celestia about you, and making a whole bunch of promises I only barely intended to keep, in a very vague and ambiguous sense,” Discord replied.
“Give me ambiguity or give me something else,” Charis stated.
“You are learning,” Discord quipped.
“Wow, the marketplace is really burning quite well… I wonder where ponies are going to buy food now. The farmers will have plenty of food, but the rest of the townsponies are going to be up the creek without a paddle,” Charis observed.
“Want marshmallows?” Discord offered .
“No thanks,” Charis declined.
“You did a bad thing Charis… and I am proud of you,” Discord said.
“What did I do?” Charis inquired.
“You told these ponies the truth. You stated the obvious. It was the lie that all were aware of, but nopony wanted to acknowledge. Life isn’t fair. You stated such, and then pointed out the most obvious reasons on why it wasn’t fair. Some have to work hard and break their backs, while others have to barely work at all and a trying afternoon is trying to figure out what to get from the overly generous menu at the posh cafe that is so popular… the wait staff of course are those sorts of ponies that have to work far too hard and get so little in return,” Discord answered.
“But honesty is an element of harmony… yet by telling the truth, I caused this,” Charis observed. “Where is the harmony to be found in the honesty that has taken place here? What happened to integrity being an asset to society?”
Discord said nothing, but watched the rain make a nearby fire sizzle. He heaved a sigh of boredom and scratched his back just above his tail. All around him the riot continued to become worse.
“I feel confused,” Charis confessed.
“Then something has gone right,” Discord announced. “We should go. It would be wise to vacate the area immediately.” The draconequus snapped his talons.
Charis found herself in a vast meadow, surrounded by green grass, colourful flowers, and flying bugs of all kinds. There were a few clouds overhead. Somewhere nearby, a brook babbled down a small waterfall. The setting was as beautiful as it was serene.
“What do you see?” Discord asked.
“A meadow,” Charis answered.
“Is that all?” Discord queried.
“No, I suppose it isn’t, I guess another lesson is about to happen,” Charis replied.
“Clever pony,” Discord quipped.
“Thank you,” Charis replied graciously.
“What you see all around you is well-ordered chaos. The illusion of calm. In a thousand years, the water in that stream will have worn away a ravine in the middle of this meadow. Or it might become a river, and we are standing in what might be a future riverbed. The clouds drift by overhead, free from pegasi controls, and many of the bugs you see are busy killing one another for food,” Discord explained. “Now, this is the illusion of calm. What do you think would happen if a tornado came through here?”
“Hmm,” Charis hummed. “I suppose we would see active chaos? The illusion would be dispelled. All of the seeming calm would be disrupted and… I don’t know. Changes would take place very rapidly instead of slowly in a way that few can observe,” Charis said, wondering how much change Discord must have observed in his long life.
“Today, the calm meadow of Ponyville was visited by a tornado,” Discord explained, his tone mildly sarcastic. “The illusion of calm in Ponyville was destroyed by one mouthy earth pony.”
Charis giggled and then flopped over to roll in the grass. She snorted a few times, feeling the sun on her body as she sprawled and stretched her legs. She became aware that Discord was watching her and that he was smiling faintly.
“Discord, what are the other versions of me like in other universes next door?” Charis asked.
“You only exist here,” Discord replied. “You are a mystery to me. I remain confused by you. I cannot peer ahead into your future. You are alone, a singular unique entity found only in this universe. I do not know what to make of you.”
Charis found no words to reply. She lay in the grass, looking upward at the clouds and the sky, wondering what we she was and how she could confuse Discord. She suddenly felt very unsure about herself.
“I suppose you might be a chaotic anomaly. You just exist because you need to, and not for any particular reason. Or maybe a very important reason. I can’t tell. It is part of the reason I rejected you for so long. I do not know what to make of you,” Discord confessed.
“Have you spoken with other versions of yourself?” Charis asked.
“Yes. Many times. I cannot stand some versions of myself. We are all very different, even though we all serve the same purpose. I met a version of me that murdered my dearest Fluttershy… It left me very disturbed. He did it because he felt the emotional attachment was simply too much and the temptation would lead him astray from his purpose,” Discord replied.
“That’s really sad. And depressing. Do you love her?” Charis inquired.
“I suppose I do. I certainly love everything about her. She is a creature composed of contradictions. She is a gentle monster. A quiet storm of fury. She is a calm panic. I cannot help but notice that in almost every reality that I am aware of, we meet, and something happens between us. In this reality, I love her,” Discord admitted.
“Does she know?” the earth pony asked.
“She knows that I am her friend, and that she is very dear to me,” the draconequus answered. “I love the quiet way she walks. The way she moves. The way her mane bobs over her eyes when she trots. The way she can be so timidly fearless.”
“So what is stopping you from loving her and telling her all of this?” Charis asked, her face contorting with confusion and her ears splaying out sideways.
“Watching her age as I look at her. Seeing her slowly withering like a beautiful precious and rare flower. Everything I look at dies by degrees. Well, mortal things anyway. And then there is you, I can’t peer into your future,” Discord confessed. “I don’t know what you are, but you do not age.”
“That’s awful,” Charis said. “But you could still love her… how is just being her friend any different?”
“I don’t know,” the draconequus heaved sadly. “It is the lie I tell myself I suppose. I choose to remain the peaceful meadow, and Fluttershy would become my tornado if I allowed her to.”
Charis did not reply. Perhaps some truths were best left unspoken.
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You did your job. I'm even more confused than normal because of all this talk of chaos and philosophy. I like it. Keep it up
Well that a little delightful chaos, I wonder how many of Discords promises were broken by Charis' speech, before they were even made.
Be interesting to see the ramification of her speech on Applejack and Rarity's relationship.
Only spotted one error.
Chaos is the beauty of the world, for without it, life is nothing, it gives people a purpose and a reason for peace. A reason to fight and a reason be alive. Adrenaline? Just your own body wanting to keep the chaos a little bit longer, just a small amount. Just, think about it.
~OreoKookie
Huh... this chapter really pointed out how useless unicorns are. I mean, what do unicorns contribute to society that is canon? Clothes, cider, music/entertainment, playing God
...
And how dare they tax the farmers! Farmers are needed a BUCK ton more then any unicorn! Why make it harder for those that put food on the table, make it harder for the rich unicorns living the good life!
...This just got very real hasn't it? Huh, maybe pony society isn't that much different from our own after all... at least in this story.
Am I the only one who felt bad for Discord?
So, how long till the farmers roast marshmallows with their Molotov's?
I'm really curious about what's going to happen in Ponyville and how much Charis is going to change things. I also want to se how a conversation between her and Twilight would go, while Charis seems to seek chaos, she also being very balanced with what her do, and Twilight is the some sort of 'student of harmony' being very chaotic herself. Both of them don't differ that much.
I really loved this chapter, it helped hammer home some very uncomfortable truths. People often try very hard to come up with a good excuse why pony society is the way it is, but sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones. Life isn't fair. A Pegasus can always count on weather duty to get by, if they'll hire Derpy, despite her lack of talent for weather magic, they'll hire pretty much anyone. It helps that cloud homes aren't as dependent on finances as their earth-bound counterparts. Rainbow Dash lives in an enormous mansion for Pete's sake.
As long as a Unicorn has their magic, they'll have a reliable source of income. Magic is an expensive commodity that comes in high demand, and a clever Unicorn (like Rarity) can always find ways to make their own money. There's also the fact that some things, by their very nature, just need a Unicorn in order to work.
There is a dark side to this however, a Pegasus that can't fly, or a Unicorn that can't cast will face incredible difficulties in their lifetime. Not quite as many as a lame Earth Pony would, but close enough.
Earth Ponies... they have it rough. They can't preform the complex, delicate tasks that Unicorns use their magic for. They can't fly, or manipulate the weather. And to be honest... most of what they do can be replicated by the other races easily enough. Both weather and arcane magics lend themselves well to endeavors such as farming and construction. In short, while most ponies can do what an Earth Pony does, most Earth Ponies just can't do what other ponies do.
It's painful to think about, how much harder life is for them just because of their race. Just look at the Mane Six: Rarity; upper class entrepreneur - Twilight; dependently wealthy professional student (benefactor: Celestia), arcane theorist, part-time librarian (and most recently, regent) - Rainbow Dash; upper class weather manager, prospective stunt flier - Fluttershy (note: a Pegasus with a handicap); middle class pet sitter, amateur veterinarian, local wildlife warden - Applejack; working class farmer, semi-professional rodeo pony and debt-ridden salesmare - Pinkie Pie; working class baker, party planner, semi-professional performer, live-in dependent (benefactor(s): Mr. and Mrs. Cake). Thus far I've seen two wealthy Earth Pony families, Filthy Rich and Silver Spoon (whose parents may very well not be Earth Ponies), that's it.
4542795 don't you just love how canterlot, the height of fashion and class, seems to be occupied by only unicorns and guards?
4542816
I saw one Earth Pony, he washed windows. Considering how well he knew Rarity either he visits Ponyville often, he migrated to Canterlot to look for work, or he lives outside the city and has to travel there everyday for work.
When the amount of currency in circulation increases,
- Goods and services do not change in value. The price of the good or service will increase, but the currency is worth proportionally less anyway.
- As far as value of goods goes, inflation has little if any effect once prices adjust to the new value.
- In practice, the long-term effects of inflation are that amounts of currency change value. If you are currently rich, you lose value. If you are currently poor, it will not significantly affect you. If you are in debt, inflation will make it easier to pay it off.
- That, and taxes increase as people move into higher tax brackets.
- Note that the parties "creating" money benefit.
So if we assume that Rarity is causing inflation, then the ponies that benefit from it (other than her) are those with little money to their names. The earth ponies, and especially those in debt (such as the Apple family), benefit from inflation.
4542875
Tell the poor people of Zimbabwe that inflation has helped them as they pay a million of their dollars for a loaf of bread. I'm sure they'd love to hear it.
Saddlebags, an important part of anypones gear. They wear out in two to three years if used often. Can an earth pony make them? Take books, evidently important to twilight, but who can make them? Do earth ponies have the manual dexterity to sew up the bindings as well as a unicorn? In the super speedy cider squeezy ep, we see Twilight manipulate an entire section of field as fast as Applejack does three trees. a different question, how do the apple family pick up the baskets off the ground? probably acrobatics and luck...
There are, of course, exceptions. Manehattan seems to be the place to be if you're an Earth Pony looking to make it big, but it's a dog eat dog world out there, and not many ponies are ready for it.
4542892
And by baking a loaf of bread, they can earn a million of their dollars.
There are complications that I didn't mention for the sake of simplicity. In particular, the party that creates money is stealing from everyone who currently has money.
Even with those complications taken into account, those not currently holding money remain unaffected by inflation, and those in debt are positively affected.
So yes, I'd tell the same to the people of Zimbabwe.
The key you've forgotten is that money is intended as a convenient means of exchange but has no value in itself (unless, for example, you melt down coins). If you are paid $10 each hour and bread costs $1, this is exactly equivalent to being paid $10,000,000,000 each hour and having bread cost $1,000,000,000.
4542917
Most people can't bake bread. No homes. No ovens. So how do they get this money exactly?
4542917 Ordinary inflation isn't a big problem for the reason you state.
Hyper inflation gets really bad, though. If you can't save money to deal with the unexpected, then any small problem that interrupts your life becomes a huge deal -- poor people who have no money to save already hit this all the time. "Being poor is really expensive" is how people usually phrase it.
And you can't even borrow money to cope because lending money is the dumbest thing that anyone could ever do -- everyone who's in debt now would have instead just had to deal with not being able to do whatever they borrowed the money for. No medical treatment, no house, no education, whatever it was.
Effectively, money stops doing its job and you have to use something else. That's why it usually only happens in corrupt regimes where they can force people to keep accepting worthless money.
4542917
There are bigger problems though, like the cost of supplies that you neglect. Plus, I don't think you really understand what is going on in Zimbabwe.
Most westerners cannot fathom what has happened there after the massive money printing to "fix the problem."
There were one hundred trillion dollar banknotes... And the next day, they'd be WORTHLESS as it would take THOUSANDS of them to buy one bottle of beer.
Click to be educated
What Rarity is doing is really the most insidious form of evil. Because she can afford to pay 10 bits for a tomato, now the seller believes everypony should pay 10 bits for a tomato.
And if this money was going to the farmers, Applejack wouldn't be worried about her farm. This money almost never goes directly to the farmers. People always take their cut, which is why farmers are always on the verge of bankruptcy.
And now that I think about it, Rarity would also be contributing to gentrification in Ponyville. And boy does that suck for anybody that is poor.
Gentrification.
Just imagine the long term effects of having her in your neighborhood.
4542754
I did.
4542754 Me too. That was beautiful and heart-rendingly sad.
4542965
Build (mud-brick) oven, bake. Go back to the barter system if necessary. Basically, get a job or make something.
In general, if you both have nothing and can create nothing, you are doomed regardless of how much things cost.
4542992
Well stated. I accept your analysis of the long(er)-term effects of hyperinflation, or more specifically continued inflation (even if the supply of currency doubles, cutting it's value in half, lending can continue if inflation is then halted).
I should point out, however, that lending will continue (at exorbitant interest rates) provided that inflation is sufficiently predictable. Suppose each year, the value of money is x times what it was the previous year. Then charging an annual compound interest rate of ((100 + y) / x - 100)% has the same effect on the value of the loan as charging an interest rate of y% annually without inflation. This effect is sometimes used by borrowers who use negative y to gain value through borrowing, provided that they can find someone willing to lend to them at those rates.
4542995
If you read what I wrote, you'll note that I said that the people with money suffer, and those in debt benefit.
In your example, someone who owes one hundred quadrillion dollars one day can pay back his debt with a beer the next.
Of course, anything that isn't money (or tied to money) retains its value. A bag of seeds is worth the same (in value to the owner) regardless of whether it can be sold for $1 or $1 trillion.
As terrycloth pointed out, there are problems in that inflation makes saving money worthless (investing, on the other hand, is unaffected).
If you read the Wikipedia article, you'll notice that this is exactly what happened in Zimbabwe. The solution to inflation (on a personal level) was to immediately (sometimes several times daily) invest all the money you have in something else (eg. another country's money).
4542201 Not what I meant, but okay.
There should be a "she" between these words.
It seems we have a little Charis Guevara in the making. "The proletariat Earth Pony shall rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie Unicorn and we will take back what is rightfully ours! Beat your plowshares into swords and we will take arms against the enemies and fight for equality!"
Somehow that does not make much sense.
KBO.
4543371
KBO?
Kuiper belt object?
4543389 Keep Buggering On. During the second World War, Winston Churchill ended all his phone calls with it. It means "do not give up," or "keep fighting."
Hmm...
So, what happens when one of the rioters sees Diamond Tiara walking by?
In any case, the ripples in the pond are definitely growing, if I may employ a completely different metaphor. Both Charis's temporal uniqueness and the Ponyville riot are going to lead to more down the road. I look forward to seeing what.
Also, I'm staying well away from any discussion about Rarity's effects on Ponyville's economy. Not my bailiwick.
4542995
My problem with this example is what is Zimbabwe's currency based on? If an economy is based on a promissory note like ours (paper money) than it has no value than what is set. If you have a goods based economy like in equestria (assuming a Bit is gold standard and gems are also a form of goods) the market will fluctuate based on Supply vs demand. This fluid based economy is far more stable than the artificially based economy of promissory notes. Zimbabwe's economy crashed because instead of making or finding goods to increase their wealth they just promised more notes, (printed more money). Zales and their diamond company is the best example of why your theory is wrong. Zales has Tons of diamonds stockpiled for one simple reason to control the value of Diamonds. If they were to flood the market with diamonds then the price of diamonds would go down. If this were to happen yes those who had diamonds would not be able to buy as much with those diamonds, however those who had other goods could use those goods instead. So a 100$ dimons is now worth 25$, but an apple is still worth 2$, Instead of using diamonds to buy the apples Ill use something that isn't flooding the market, a 2$ quill. Now every street corner has budget diamonds on sale but a quill is still a quill and unless someone floods the market with quills their value will stay relatively static. Yes instead of being 50 quills per dimond it will be only 12.5 quills per dimond but it will be 1 quill per 1 apple. Bits also hold to this standard the only way to flood the market with bits is by trade to outside markets, this is actually a benefit to the local economy because it lowers value of imports, so local traders will be able to get more cheaper goods from outside. Thus bringing balance to the markets, yes the will fluctuate and violently at times but it will often reach equilibrium just as quickly.
4543539
Zimbabwe was only used as an example of hyperinflation, not for what is going on in Ponyville in total. See the gentrification post.
Rarity's problem is more than just money, it is wealth. Money and wealth are two very different things, in both sociology and economics. As Rarity continues to grow more and more wealthy, and has access to more and more money, ponies around her become poorer and poorer by degree. And Rarity is only one unicorn with a gem finding spell. There are plenty of unicorns with magic who could easily make more money in just a few minutes than an earth pony could make in a whole day under normal circumstances.
With more to spend, local businesses would raise prices, and with the gentrification, the raised prices would drive in even wealthier and more well to do customers, because of the exclusivity. Sometimes you can actually sell more of something by raising the price on it and then suckering the right people to believe that it is somehow better because of the price. This works with organic goods to a large degree. There is a broad group of morons who believe that by paying more for it, it is somehow better. So they slap on the word organic and raise the price by 200%. Astoundingly, this works, and people will buy it.
Meanwhile, the poor get poorer in Ponyville and in real life.
4543588
But you see that is the fallacy, if Rarity's wealth is gem based then as she pores more gems into the economy their value decreases. No matter how much you upsell them eventually everyone has them and they become worthless. Her success stems from her trade practices, which takes a lot of effort. going from market to market trading her goods, while being rich does make her impact on the economy we find that she is also generous, much of her impact on local economy is minimized because she barely make any commision on her local trade meaning all her wel goes back into the community. She uses her wealth much like Pinky by doing things like charity fundraisers for the animal shelter and the like most of which she pays for stimulating the economy. Bits come in from outside markets and go into the community. As a whole the value of the town goes up. Poor are not poorer because the value of their goods and services goes up as well.
it was a nessacary evil. without chaos how would you define because honesty and the other elements can be used to create chaos just as easily. it is like light and dark, you can define one without referencing the other. it is a subtle balance that on surface looks like a war. so just what is harmony? what is chaos? the world cannot be sure. for every good there must be an evil. so now on the true nature of the forces that rule equestria. it is simple. they are one. they have to be or it would be unbalanced.
enjoying the story so far. keep writing.
btw multiple discords = fun(for him at least)
4543641
But she doesn't sell her gems directly. She sells them in the form of exclusive dresses and clothing.
Like to Sapphire Shores, who paid her a fortune.
She is assigning an exclusivity to them that keeps them valuable and something of a, dare I say, rarity. Here, the gems aren't currency, they are wealth. Big difference. A Jaguar automobile isn't money, but it is wealth. See the difference? Really, it is a chunk of iron, steel, some plastic, some copper, some glass, and a bit of leather. It is really only worth a few hundred or maybe a few thousand dollars if you broke it down and sold it as it was, raw material. But as a Jaguar, its worth a lot more because of its exclusivity. It is a Jaguar. And Rarity's gem covered clothing is exclusive to her brand.
We're not dealing with a direct exchange rate. We are dealing with a great many other factors. Rarity literally has a license to print money.
4543666
Yes, but is that any different than Sweet Apple Acres Cider? Ponies come from miles around for their 'special' cider, Rarity puts just as much effort into her works and they do, and then sells it to rich ponies. Meanwhile she gives them away to her friends for free. Its like if Jaguar gave all its factory workers a free Jag (some car manufacturers do do this). The only reason Rarity is vilified is because her effort come in the form of art. Creative talent and intellect. you cannot compare physical labor with creative talent, its like saying red is better than blue.
That being said Earth ponies are biased against other forms of labor, Simply because they value physical labor more. How do you compare a ton of brick to a ton of feathers, obviously brick are better because they are solid and are useful in construction. But what if you were a pillow manufacturer. Those feathers would look really good. Their perspective is biased and so while i disagree with the argument I feel its fitting in the context.
4543735
The cider is a bad argument. They spend all year growing apples for cider, which is gone before everybody gets some. Plus, it doesn't pay the bills. What about the rest of the year? What do they do then?
4543742
Actually its the perfect argument,Cider season is a seasonal thing why? because they insist on doing it the 'Hard way' the physical way. No magic, not automation, just tradition and pony power. You can't eat tradition and pony power. If they had negotiated a better deal for the super speedy Cider squeezy they could have stockpiles for the whole year. If they automated or use unicorn power they could cut harvest time in half. But because it all comes down to Physical labor is better than any other form of work they are stuck behind the curve.
4543780
True on those points, but it takes a whole years worth of work to get a small return on cider.
If there was any real money to be had, the farm wouldn't be in trouble, would it?
this story is radical! love it
4543789
Again what is the value of physical labor? Mostly everyone can put forth some for of it, pegasi and unicorns can all run, pull, kick, plow, ect. Only unicorns can perform feats of magic, only pegasi can fly and control weather. Supply and demand, if a unicorn farmer makes more money because he breaks tradition and uses magic to do his labor, why is he vilified? If a pegasus uses their weather control to give his fields optimal growing conditions is he cheating? If Effort was all that was needed in this world the CMC would have had the Cutiemarks ten times over by now, Success and value is not measured by effort but by results, and nothing will change that.
The three-pony dynamics of Equestria are rather interesting, aren't they? Who knows if sometime in the future, or even in another reality, the three tribes are all embroiled in a civil war. Imagine: Celestia dead, Luna in chains, Twilight murdered. That would be an interesting story idea...
Another good chapter.
4543827
True. But where are the unicorn farmers?
Aside from that, I'm liking this story, a fair bit of philosophy in just about everything.
4543842
Flim Flam Brothers, here we see two unicorns with apple cutie marks. Now did they get that from making the SSCS6K or were they farmers of some sort. The two episodes we see them using produce of somesort. They wanted SAA as part of their bet. Now we can only form headcanons about weather or not they were apart of a farm at one point but I believe that its not unlikely to have Unicorn farmers. But what self respecting earth pony would hire a Unicorn farm hoof, or business banker sell property to a Unicorn wanting to start one? But until we see one in the show thats all it is theory.
4543893
Bucky, in The Chase, he has a hops cutie mark, but he isn't a farmer. He brews beer.
Flim and Flam might just use apple products.
And here comes the part of Truth. Which is good, the White Lies that keep everything humming or the Brutal Truth that would tear down society? Equestria is founded on Honesty, so which is better.
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Which keeps society functioning?
The fiblets of course.
4543912 True, but does that mean Harmony is wrong?
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What is right or wrong? Describe to a blind person who has never seen it the colour blue.
Some things are above any sense of right or wrong, but exist solely to serve a function. If we assign morals to them, we could potentially hobble their function and destroy ourselves.
It is the old virgin into a volcano argument.
What if a volcano really did erupt if a virgin wasn't thrown in once a year? Would it be right or wrong to sacrifice one virgin so that thousands might live?
Would you eat one human baby to allow a thousand other human babies to live, or would you follow your morals, refuse to eat the human infant, and then sit back and watch as 1001 babies die? If the infant was going to die anyway, and its death and consumption allowed 1000 others to live, wouldn't it be more moral to chow down?