228 - Reporting for Duty
Samantha sat down at a desk. Her desk. It was in her office. She looked around slowly at it. It was like Silver's without the personal touches. She would have to furnish and select such, to make those who visited her feel at home with the impression that they were in her home, not just an office. With her magic, she turned the name on the desk to face herself. "Minister of Tribal Unity, Samantha Watch", it read, and she smiled to read it.
There were already some ponies awaiting her, so she saw no reason to keep them as such. She set the name placard down and rang the bell in her magic that had been left for her. "Send in the first!"
A lunar stallion entered. She'd seen him before. He had been swept up in the AmNeigh thing and was medium-low on that ghastly pyramid. He had not served under Samantha. "Hello, ma'am." He glanced left and right. "May I start with a potentially rude question?"
"If you're asking, it probably isn't rude," reasoned Samantha. "I'm here to serve, and if disclosing information will do that, please, ask."
He hopped up on the chair facing Samantha and sat down. It was easily large enough for him to lay down on it without difficulty. "Why are you here, ma'am, instead of a lunar pegasus?"
Samantha perked her ears. It was at once a good and awful question. She considered a moment. "The fact that you have to ask that question is part of why. I am neither the unicorn you see or the lunar pony you want to see. I am a pony, and so are you. Being both proud members of this nation, I will do everything in my power to set your place straight and fight for you."
He blinked softly. "Did you prepare that ahead of time?"
"Should I have?" She tilted her head. "I've never served this position before. You asked, and I answered as best I could. I can't promise I won't make mistakes. If I do, tell me, patiently please. I will work hard to be the best at this job." She offered a hoof. "I do mean it. You are a pony, and you deserve a fine place, like any pony, of any tribe."
The stallion quirked a little smile. "You're a curious pony. I feel like I'm talking to a foal, but one with a big heart and big dreams. Is that why the Royal Sisters picked you? Alright, so... I used to work at the cannery, east side of town. It was alright enough business, until it fell apart. Problem, I only really know how to run canning machines, and that isn't a skill asked for a lot. Even when it is, if they have a choice between a lunar pony and a solar pony, well... So here I am, no job, no support. I want to work, really, I do! I don't want a hoof-out. I want to earn my keep."
She tapped her chin as she considered what he might have done in his work. "Have you assembled machines?" He shook his head. "Repaired them?" He wobbled a hoof. "I imagine you've cleaned and up-kept them?" He nodded. "What about what goes into them and who they sell to?"
"What?"
"The machines, clearly they canned something specific, for a specific purpose. Are you aware of it?"
"Y-yea, why?"
"Why did the cannery you were at fall apart?"
"The owner retired, didn't have foals, so he let it go, and that was that," explained the lunar stallion.
"So it's still there?" asked Samantha, perking with hope.
"Covered in graffiti and broken windows, but yeah, why?"
"Why don't you run it? You and the other ponies that used to work there?" She clopped her hooves. "If you take on many ponies that would otherwise be out of employment and give them something productive to do... This would be a fine first expenditure of my royal stipend for just this sort of project." She clopped her hooves. "It will be good to have a lunar pony that ow--"
"Wait wait wait! Who?"
"You. Do you suggest another?" Samantha tilted her head.
"B-but..." The stallion looked overwhelmed. "I never ran a factory before. There's so many things..."
"That is why you will hire those who know what you don't. Assemble a crew of those who have the experience but are currently out of work, of any tribe, lunar or not. Give me the address." She levitated a paper and quill over. "I will oversee the legal matters of obtaining this defunct factory and we will begin remedying this fact."
He wandered out of the office a few minutes later, dazed, but happy. The smile wouldn't leave his face even as butterflies danced in his stomach. If things went well, he and his friends would have the factory back, and own it. But they'd have to take responsibility for it. There would be no 'boss' to blame for bad quarters or years.
Samantha kept going until she calculated she was within the limit, with a generous 50% leeway in case her calculations were tragically off. She prioritized things that would help more than one pony, and those that would theoretically turn a profit to help more ponies. She would make a pyramid of her own, but instead of the top laughing cruelly at the bottom, the money would flow up to her just to fund more pyramids, and everyone at every level would be treated fairly.
With the final t crossed, she hopped down from her chair and trotted out of her office. She flipped the card from 'In' to 'Out' and smiled. She had completed her first day, and she liked it. Checking her trackers, Moonbeam was doing a circle around the castle. She detected no other ponies with him, so she trotted outside and looked up to find him, then began to wave energetically. He came in for a smooth landing.
"Yeah?" he asked, looking her over.
"It's time to get you into school."
He wrinkled his snout. "Yeah, sure, you can try, but don't blame me when it doesn't work..."
Samantha raised a brow skeptically, but since Moonbeam was following her, she set it aside and made for the main office of the united Canterlot school districts. She entered the well-manicured building and made her way up to the counter. "I'd like to register my foal for school please."
"No problem, miss." The mare pushed forward a form with her magic. "Just sign th-- Who is that?" She was looking past Samantha to Moonbeam.
"That's my colt. Why?"
"He's a bit... old to be entering school," she noted as he rolled his eyes. "We usually accept young foals who remain until graduation."
"Surely an exception can be made? He's had some difficulties at home that are thankfully resolved and he's ready to en--"
"I'm sorry, ma'am." She pulled the admission papers away with a soft tug of magic. "He's too old to enter school."
"But he was in school before!"
"How recently?" asked the secretary.
"About a year," offered Moonbeam.
"Sorry, ma'am. Can I help with anything else?"
Samantha was red with frustration and anger, not directly at the mare, but there was a good portion aimed at her. "Where do you recommend I go?"
The mare shrugged. "Maybe a college?"
Samantha huffed and turned away. Her colt wasn't ready for academy, not yet. "Good bye."
"Good luck," offered the mare as she returned to her work.
Samantha stormed out of the office. That was a--
"I told you." He circled to her front. "Nopony wants a lunar colt, especially one as old as I am."
She pointed a hoof at him. "When Silver is told he can't have something, do you know what he does?"
Moonbeam blinked softly. "Uh, no?"
"He finds another way." Her magic grasped him firmly and hefted him up as she got to trotting. "I will not fail you as a mother so quickly. You're going to school and you're going to receive the education you deserve."
"It's alright, really," he insisted, floating along behind the incensed unicorn. "I know how to fend for myself."
"It's time for me to fend for you. I am your mother and I accepted that responsibility." Samantha looked over her shoulder. "There's another place we can try."
Silver was in his own office, but he was far from alone. Night was there, sorting papers about shamanism she could find and those she had penned and both were keeping half an eye on the two energetic foals. They were an occupied family, but their duties seemed smaller shared, even if it meant being in the same room.
His duties, besides foalwatching, were mostly involved in making sure he didn't get the coronation wrong, or the ritual to accept Luna and Celestia to the herd. "With him gone, and Samantha doing her part, we can move forward soon."
Night nodded as she shuffled papers. "I look forward to that, but I've been thinking. We should honor tradition, but we don't need to be enslaved by it. We should take this chance to show we're doing it our way, but we're not rebels without a cause. We appreciate the old ways."
"They let us be together," noted Silver as he flipped papers in his magic. "What do you suggest?"
She reached out a wing and scooped up Morning Glory, just to drop him by his box of magic goodies, which he began to dig through eagerly. "I have something in mind. It will catch Celestia and Luna off-guard, because we won't tell them, but they'll have enough poise to roll along and we'll have a good time with it."
Silver smiled faintly. "So long as it's nice and won't make too big a stink." He put his papers down and took a deep breath. "Do you think Samantha's doing alright?"
"It won't," assured Night as she rose to her hooves. "Look over this." She dropped a collection of papers in front of Silver. "This is my primer on shamanism, assuming you know nothing. Scan through it and see if it makes sense."
Silver plucked up the papers in his magic. "You should go over this with Nefer. She's been in the shamanism game longer than you, I--"
"No, please," stated Night firmly. "We've gone our separate ways."
Silver blinked softly. "Was it that bad?"
"She stole Samantha's mother and was ready to fight me, for real, to keep her. Yeah, I'm done with her." She snorted loudly and turned a little away only to find Clear Twilight peering at her. "What?"
Clear reached up and booped her mother's nose with a hoof. It brought a smile to Night's face despite herself. "Rascal."
"She's not wrong though. She lost, didn't she?"
"I won," corrected Night. "Samantha got to say a proper goodbye to her mother and send her off into the ether." She glanced away a moment. "That's all some ponies ask for, and never get." She trembled a little. "I'm proud I was able to give that to her."
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Hmm I wonder what Night is planning
Music for Samantha.
Opening a Co-Operative Canning Facotry?
We Are The Self Preservation Society.
Night and Silver are managing to work from home, with foals?
Welcome To The jungle.
Samantha is building a pyramid network that will put food and water on people's table...Nice.
I think you mean sorting
without difficult - without difficulty
assembled machine - assembled machines
i accepted - I accepted
shorting papers - sorting papers
*****
Samantha is off to a good start. The lunar ponies seem to be in good hooves
*****
I don't understand. Not wrong about what?
Oh Samantha. Don't you know that by saying "I don't recognize difference between races" you're committing a racist microaggression? That stance showcases your solar privilege because it denies the reality of what it means to be a lunar pony in a society steeped in institutional racism, and in doing so denies the unique lunar pony experience. As a "solar ally" to lunar ponies, the best thing you can do is shut up and listen when lunar ponies speak, instead of solarsplaining at them. That's why Equestria needs lunar-only healing spaces!
7402698
I have already wondered if Night is going to use her ancestor-calling abilities to blow the socks off Celestia and Luna by calling one of their relatives back from the Beyond. Who? Dunno. But it'd be a real mind-bender if it was Faust, although the author could pull any name out of a hat and call them the royal parents. Starswirl is a strong contender tho. The reason being she would be asking for the alicorn ancestor's blessings in some big ol' teary reunion that might exhaust the supply of tissues in the castle and the reader's gallery.
And what about other ponies? She said it herself, she gave Sam an opportunity to say her goodbyes to a loved one that they would otherwise would have never gotten. I can see this little tidbit of info getting out and leading to an almost endless conga line of requests.
7402746 The child is quietly calling her mom on her stuff. No thoughts on Moonbeam's situation?
7402772
It makes me unhappy for Moonbean and Samantha to see ponies putting up obstacles, but it's too soon to form any real opinions on the state of Canterlot's education system. Samantha is probably the best pony for thinking outside the box and coming up with a solution of her own, though. A separate school for Lunars would be B.A.D. as there is no separate but equal, but an intermediate educational institution for continuing studies for all comers might be a great idea.
7402762
7402762 Lunar lives matter lets shoot some guards!!!
7402785
For what it's worth, the crystal ponies have their own nation that de facto segregates them from the rest of Equestria - there are very few non-crystal ponies living there, and almost no crystal ponies living outside of it - and both they and the rest of Equestria seem just fine with that.
7402834
The difference being that they are separated by geography and not (I hope) arbitrary social distinctions. As long as a Crystal Empire institution accepts all comers then there is no issue. If they have separate schools for non-crystal ponies living in the Empire, then that's a situation that needs to be remedied as well.
Japan is an excellent example, They are a very homogenous society, but they do not segregate non-Japanese that wish to attend and are in the country legally, language and cultural barriers notwithstanding.
7402844
They're no more "separated by geography" than any other city in Equestria; it's not as though they're in some hard-to-reach locale that makes travel to and from the Crystal Empire particularly difficult. And yet somehow virtually all of the crystal ponies live there and nowhere else, whereas only a very few non-crystal ponies live there.
By that logic, it sounds like the lunar ponies have nothing to complain about either then. After all, Moonbeam wasn't turned away for his ethnicity; he was turned away for being too "old."
They don't practice any sort of legally-mandated segregation or apartheid, but that's not the issue being presented in Equestria in this fic. The problem isn't an issue of discriminatory laws being on the books (except for the Wonderbolts, apparently); it's a problem of it being present at the social level.
7402864 Are we forgetting they flat out didn't exist until recently and all came from that one city?
7402882 The crystal ponies, you mean? I'm not at all sure where you're getting that from, unless this is something from the (hideously non-canon) comics. The only thing that the show tells us was that a thousand years ago there was a Crystal Empire, which King Sombra then conquered, and that's it. There's nothing else there about their history or origins.
7402887 Huh? Show canon. They were gone entirely, then poof they came back. They ARE showing up at other places but it'll take a few generations for them to spread out truly. Saying they are similar to a disadvantaged people that are always there, is kinda odd.
7402891 Even so, the fact that there were apparently no crystal ponies anywhere else, nor any non-crystal ponies living there even when King Sombra took over (that we've ever seen or even had hinted), suggests that it was already a homogeneous society to begin with. Otherwise, why hadn't they integrated themselves into the rest of Equestria (and vice versa) already?
7402911 The lived in a remote place that was difficult to reach? We have no evidence there aren't crystal ponies living quietly elsewhere, mind, that's headcanon territory.
7402915 There's nothing to suggest that the Crystal Empire is either particularly difficult to reach or remote, however. Likewise, we have plenty of evidence that there aren't crystal ponies living elsewhere: every background pony in every episode of the show set outside the Crystal Empire! Now, that's not definitive, we might see some crystal ponies living elsewhere in future episodes, but so far the lack of any is pretty damning.
7402921 In the first episode, they have to travel through snow and wasteland from where the train stopped to reach it, and we don't know how recently the station was put there.
7402932 That was an irregularity due to the Crystal Heart being hidden; normally it keeps that weather at bay. Likewise, the railroad isn't a useful point of debate, since there's no evidence either way regarding how new it is (and not much of a place for saying which point makes the fewest assumptions, as per Occam's Razor, though in that case I'd suggest that it's not presuming that something's new just because that parallels Earth's development).
new story ark with a new story line, I like it.
7402864
I'm not sure what we are in disagreement on here. Your first response asserted 'de facto segregation' of the Crystal Empire from the rest of Equestria. Segregation can occur in a couple of ways, geographical/physical and social.
Your second response dismisses the fomer, which I dispute as it therefore suggests the latter. This is not something that has been shown in the canon series and I do not recall Mr. Silver introducing it into the Silververse.
CE is at least a day away by train possibly longer, but it hasn't been clearly established and we have no scale map of Equestria. There is also the gulf of a thousand years that they have only recently, within perhaps five years of story time, returned from. That is not a great deal of time for a society recovering from the rule of a despot to begin tonlook beyond their borders. It seems reasonable that some have left to explore the rest of the world, but it is too soon for a larger diaspora.
My impression was that the implication was that he was rejected for being lunar, but that the plausible excuse was his age. Similar to the way that rejecting students for low academic records with no consideration to their situation serves to hide arbitrary rejection by race or social class.
Do you feel I stated or implied otherwise? If not, then we are in agreement on Equestria, if not on the CE.
My sole exception to your first response was that CE suffers from socially generated segregation. It may, but that has not been demonstrated to be the case.
7403557
I'm not either. All the more reason to keep having the discussion!
It can occur in a lot more than just those, but in this particular conversation those are the two types that we're discussing, yes.
I feel comfortable disputing the former, for reasons discussed below. If we grant the premise that the crystal ponies are segregated from the rest of Equestria, and hold (as I do) that location is not a particular factor for this, then we're left with the question of why that is. Given that there are no other particular factors that seems to keep the crystal ponies in the Crystal Empire that we've seen, nor non-crystal ponies away from it (outside of short-term visits), then social reasons seem like an answer that makes the fewest assumptions, in accordance with the principle of Occam's Razor.
This means that there's no particular reason to look at location as a segregating factor. If we think that Scootaloo actually towed her friends all the way to the Crystal Empire at the end of Flight to the Finish, then there's no reason to think that it's very far at all from Ponyville. Likewise, all of the instances of the Mane Six (and others) going there seem to imply that the trip doesn't take very long (or at least, no longer than trips to other locations, such as Manehattan), and isn't particularly onerous. Even the official map of Equestria (which says it's not to scale), doesn't seem to suggest any sort of geographic barriers or hazards between the Crystal Empire and the rest of Equestria.
Hence, I feel comfortable ruling out location as the reason for the crystal ponies being segregated from other ponies.
I honestly think that it's far less than five years (I believe that it's closer to two), but leaving that aside, I have some problems with this argument. For one thing, it not only presumes that there are long-lasting effects from King Sombra's rule that the Crystal Empire is still struggling with - which is not something supported by what we've seen in the show - but presumes to draw a specific conclusion from this assertion (e.g. that this is making the crystal ponies slow to spread throughout Equestria). If we want to make an affirmative supposition (e.g. that something "is" a certain way), then we need to produce evidence that reinforces such a conclusion, rather than citing a lack of evidence that would negate it.
What's more notable, however, is that this presumption maintains that - at the time the Crystal Empire disappeared - it was still the sole residence of virtually all crystal ponies in Equestria (or at least so many that there were no stable breeding populations outside of its borders). If that's the case, then this simply moves the goalposts on the original question, and leads us to ask why, at the time of Sombra's coup, were there no crystal ponies living outside of the Crystal Empire in large numbers? In other words, they were segregated even before Sombra took over and the Crystal Empire disappeared, so we can't use that as an excuse for their lack of presence in wider Equestria.
I agree with your impression, but at this point it's impossible to prove, as the scene (quite smartly) included no obvious hints one way or the other. As such, that makes the issue with the lunar ponies, at least prima facie, equivalent to the situation with the crystal ponies.
I felt that your use of Japan as an example was inapplicable here because it didn't speak to the issue under discussion, which was an issue of segregating a particular ethnicity to particular areas based on social, rather than legal, reasons (e.g. the Crystal Empire in particular, as well as lunar communities in general, which this fic has implied exist).
This goes back to my equating the crystal ponies with the lunar ponies, in that the pervasive discrimination that the lunar ponies suffer from has also not been "demonstrated" per se, using the example of Moonbeam being denied attendance at school (in other words, there's a benign explanation given for why things are how they are, which cannot be easily disproven). Given that, and the lack of any other reason for why the crystal ponies are so isolated to a single, near-totally homogeneous community, the parallels seemed to pretty much draw themselves.
he
7404414 So when I say "discussion," what you hear is "argument."
I understand you so much better now.
Samantha is diligently working to open paths for Moonbeam.
Keep going! ;)
7404630
Well, I didn't see it, so no harm no foul there.
That's because it wasn't argumentative, nor was I attacking Daremo in that discussion. Nor was their point a "silly joke," since I'm of the opinion that we were having a discussion in good faith.
I'm honestly baffled that you can't seem to understand that you can have a debate, at length, with someone without it being acrimonious.
You seem to have a greater affinity for comics and videos than textual explanations, so maybe this will help: When you say "argument"...
7405536
The word "argument" unto itself does not imply acrimonious motives, and I wasn't saying that it does. Rather, I was saying that you - in your previous posts - were using the term to imply acrimony in the exchange that I was having with Daremo. That you're now hiding behind a strict definition of terms, rather than being forthright about that, is disappointing but ultimately unsurprising.
Now, it's possible that I misread you, but that doesn't give your previous posts on this topic any greater merit. I was having a lengthy discussion with someone else on a topic of interest to both of us, and you chimed for no other purpose than to snarkily decry having such a debate in the first place. If you weren't alleging acrimony, then you don't seem to be making any other point beyond a vague appeal to anti-intellectualism. Either way, you certainly weren't adding anything of value to the conversation, which makes it very clear that you were acting in bad faith; that you then complained about being attacked shows a level of hypocrisy that doesn't speak very well of your personal character.
In that case it would be more correct to use the term "counterattack," as it was a response perfectly in line to your glib suggestion that the original discussion - which didn't involve you to begin with - was pointless. You might not like that, but you absolutely deserved it.
Posting links and copy-and-pasting text isn't really operating at the level of posting a well-reasoned point, but I appreciate that you're trying.
7405565
Your assertion here is easily refuted, because if that were true you would have similarly supported my comment that concurred with Daremo in that regard. Instead, you did this:
And this is where your entire argument goes off the rails. If neither of us (Daremo and myself) were certain as to whether or not we were in agreement, then continuing the discussion is the self-evident way in which that uncertainty is resolved. At best you're guilty of not realizing that, but given that you've been nothing but discourteous during this entire exchange, it's hard to credit you with that much goodwill. More likely you were (and are still) just trying to cause trouble for your own petty amusement. Hence why that doesn't make you look good at all.
You don't seem to know what an "ad hominem" fallacy is, so I'll explain it here so there's no further mistakes on your part in this regard. That particular fallacy is based around attacking someone else's character rather than the point under discussion. In this case, I've firmly rebutted each and every point you've brought up on their own merits. The issue of your trolling, and what that says about you, is a separate extension of that.
That you brought up questions of who's "superior" is, once again, a reflection on your own state of mind. Don't project your own issues onto me, if you please.
7405582
This is you ceding the disagreement - due to being unable to refute what I'm saying - and attempting (rather poorly) to disguise that fact to try and save face. Given that you can't bring yourself to defend your points any further, which is the correct decision as they were quite poor to begin with, your acquiescence is understandable. Don't feel too bad about it.
Hopefully you'll remember this lesson the next time you try to troll someone.
7405600
It is entirely believable that you've been hitting the bottle during this exchange.
Your admission as to why it was a bad idea to engage with you is well noted. I have to admit, few people would be so forthcoming with their own failings after having had all of their points shot down in a discussion. I've gained some respect from you for that.
7407867
I'm sorry to hear that - I'm of the opinion that these sorts of minor squabbles shouldn't be given so much importance after they've burned themselves out - but it's certainly your decision.
For what it's worth, I don't hold any particular grudge against you, and will continue to look forward to your comments on future chapters.
As you like.
Thanks for that!
7402921
Except that, as seen in the Empire itself(S3E1), the Crystal Ponies look basically indistinct from other ponies when not under the Heart's influence making them look shiny. And other ponies get similarly sparkly under its influence, too.
7436548 All typos fixed! Look at the crystal ponies, starting with their eyes.
7436548 I don't believe that your interpretation is correct. Every other episode that takes place in the Crystal Empire shows that the default state of the crystal ponies is for them to look translucent and crystalline, and so it makes more sense to say that their subdued state in Return of the Crystal Empire is due to King Sombra's depredations rather than simply lack of exposure to the Crystal Heart.
Further evidence for this is that, when ordinary ponies are exposed to the Crystal Heart's power, they only turn crystalline for a short time. If the crystal ponies only looked crystalline because of the Crystal Heart's energies, then they should look lackluster most of the time, and we know that's not the case.
"He."
Whenever you reference two parties like that in a sentence, you can check for clarity by reading the sentence without the second party, and see whether it still makes sense. "If things went well, him would have the factory back, and own it."
7841515 Fix'd
Visited