Part 17
"DOOOOMED!”
“The horror… the horror!”
We're Mistaken
It wasn’t Escargot’s alarm clock that woke him up. It was the crying. It was so soft and meek. Escargot sat up, looking around to see where the sound was coming from. Something inside of him knew he had to respond.
Curled in a little ball on the end of his bed, Gisa was crying. Looking around, he saw the window open. The little griffin had likely come in sometimes last night, not wanting to be away from Escargot. She had curled up on the end of the bed like a dog, just to be close to her.
Moving around on the bed, he lay down beside her, putting his neck and muzzle over her protectively. She was still very small, so he was able to curl around her a bit. Nuzzling her back between her wings, Escargot looked down at the little ball of fluff and feathers.
“Don’t leave me, mama.” Gisa said softly in her sleep.
Putting her head over Gisa, he hugged her gently. “It’s ok Gisa, you’re safe.”
Gisa opened her eyes, looking up at Escargot. Blinking a few times, she hugged Escargot’s neck tightly. “Don’t abandon me… Everyone abandons me.”
He didn’t know what to say. Sighing softly, he looked down, hugging Gisa back. “I won’t abandon you. I can’t be with you all the time, but I won’t give you up.”
“Thank you, momma,” Gisa said, snuggling close to Escargot.
Escargot shook his head and just hugged the grifflet, not wanting to let go. Snails wasn’t the maternal type; he hadn’t even foalsat before. Of course, no one would ever trust him to foalsit, which was a good thing. Snails was still unsure of what sitting on foals had to do with keeping them safe or watching them.
Tapping on the door, Snails’ mother opened it, peeking in. “Escargot, have you seen Snails? There are… princesses here to see him. They say it’s important.”
Snails moaned internally. “Princesses”, plural? The doom factor had reached epic levels. Wait, they were looking for Snails. What had Snails done? With a sigh, he looked down at Gisa, “Could you check the castle to see if Snails is there? I’ll check Rarity’s, ok?”
Gisa nodded and jumped through the window. She couldn’t fly, but jumping and running were well within her abilities, and for such a little thing, she still had the speed of a cat on the ground.
Giggling, Escargot stood up, “Mind if I use the front door? I’ve been trying to avoid jumping through windows.”
As he walked down the hallway, he felt the temperature drop a good 10 degrees. There were a pair of thestrals at the living room door, and Princess Luna and Long Haul were having a battle of wills. Twilight Sparkle was hiding on the far side of Princess Luna, trying to stay out of it.
Shivering, Escargot opened the front door to see a pair of unicorn royal guards there too. They stood proud and true, on either side of the front door guarding it. Snails didn’t know why, or how, but he knew he was in such trouble. He was probably going straight to Tartar-sauce.
Running for Rarity’s boutique, Escargot knocked on the door in a total panic. “Rarity, Mrs. Rarity! Help! Please help me!”
Rarity opened the door mumbling, wearing her pink bed robe and night mask. Looking down, she blinked a few times, “Morning Escargot? What’s wrong?”
“Princess Luna, Princess Twilight… at my house… They want Snails. I’m doomed! DOOOOMED!”
Rarity had to fight hard not to laugh or even smile at the little filly running in circles in front of her. Little Escargot was obviously in a total panic, “Calm down, it can’t be that bad.”
Escargot kept running in circles, “But they don’t want me, they want Snails! Nopony wants Snails, unless it’s for punishment, and I don’t want to go to Tartar-sauce!”
Unable to help smiling just a little bit, Rarity sighed, “Now, now, this kind of behavior is un-ladylike.”
Rose ran by, yelling, “The horror… the horror!”
Close behind were Daisy and Lilly, screaming, being chased by a group of hungry rabbits.
Rarity covered her face with a foreleg, “Well, maybe not that un-ladylike for Ponyville but still. Best head inside and get changed. Then, we will both go back, to see what’s going on.”
Running inside, Escargot quickly hit herself with hot water and looked to make sure his normal green and orange colors had come back. Once satisfied, he trotted back to the door looking at Rarity. “I’m sorry... it’s just." Snails let out a sigh before looking up at Rarity." No one ever wants me as just Snails, let alone royalty.”
“Snails, stop right there.” Rarity said firmly. Shaking her head she walked around in front of him before looking at him sternly. “Do not belittle yourself. You are special as you are, never forget that.”
Blinking Snails nodded once. “Yes ma’am, sorry.”
“Now, chin up, head high. This is no different than meeting Princess Twilight normally.” Turning, Rarity started walking towards Snails’ house.
Shaking his head, the colt followed, head high and walking proudly beside Rarity. Well, up until he saw the two big stallion guards at the door. Gulping, he fell behind Rarity a bit, hiding in her shadow.
Trotting over, Raven smiled brightly, “Hello Snails, I’m Raven! Princess Twilight has brought some concern about your skills and training to the royal court.” The white unicorn mare smiled softly at Snails.
Looking between his father and the princesses, Snails bowed his head. “Sorry ma’am, my father does not like me using magic in the house. I’m not very good or strong with it.”
“That’s why we are here. Princess Twilight has suggested you be tested for the school. Normally, we won’t push an issue, but due to your… ancestry… and her importance, Princess Luna has decided to show up to administer the test.” Raven said, lifting a clipboard and laying it in front of Snails.
“Oh, Twilight dear, I know how eager you are about being a mentor. But couldn’t you have let this rest for a while till the family was ready?” Rarity said with a sigh.
Twilight shook her head, “You don’t understand how important pendants like that are. How special they are to unic-” Twilight blinked as Rarity scowled at her, her horn glowing as if to prove her point. While Rarity may not have been Canterlot elite, she knew more about them then almost anypony.
Lowering her head, Twilight sighed, “Sorry, Rarity.”
Snails blinked, looking between the two, then at his father. Long Haul scowled sternly at the little foal. The look in his eyes said it all. He would have to honor his family.
Luna walked over and unrolled an ancient scroll out on the table in front of Snails. It was one of Starswirl’s tests. Starswirl had several of these ‘games’ to judge a unicorn’s power. He had often used them to tease Luna. The scroll had several circles and lines on it, patterns and mystic formula Starswirl had worked out.
“All you need to do is place the crystals where you think they belong on the scroll.” Luna said softly, offering Snails a gentle smile. “Take your time. Don’t rush, just look at it and see where they need to go.”
Snails looked down at the words on the paper. His mind sorted through patterns and spells. He had seen this before in books with Twilight. Some of it was fundamental training, some of it was about cutie marks, and some of it was about first spells. A lot of it Snails didn’t understand but he knew he could make sense of it if he tried.
His father cleared his throat sternly.
Twilight sighed, “I’m sorry Long Haul, but this needs to be done for his health. If he is strong then going untrained could hurt him or others.”
Lighting his horn as dimly as he could, he picked up the first crystal. It was a multi-faceted clear gem that glowed bright pink and when he picked it up. Jumping back Snails dropped the crystal and squeaked. Looking at his father timidly he reached out with his hoof and touched the gem with the tip of the hoof.
Closing his eyes he knew he couldn’t do this- if he passed his father would kill him, if he failed he’d let down Twilight. If he passed, he might be taken away from his family, friends, from the girls. Shaking his head vigorously he used his forehoof to move each stone to a random place on the map.
Each stone glowed a different color as it responded to the touch of his hoof. Pink, yellow, blue, purple, green, red, and finally a soft gold color each held the color until it was let go or broke contact with his hoof. He knew he had placed them in the wrong places. But it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be responsible for hurting the girls or his family. Looking up he signed, “I don’t know, I don’t understand but I guess that’s right.”
Twilight looked over at the paper and blinked, “Shouldn’t they be-” She started, before Luna picked up the gems with a bag, not touching them herself or with her magic. She sighed. Curiously, Twilight looked at Luna, confused. “Princess, is that all?”
“Yes Twilight,” Luna said shaking her head slowly. “I guess we’re mistaken. He is not ready for the school.”
Blinking, Twilight sighed, “I guess he didn’t inherit as much of her magic as I thought.”
Long Haul looked down and nodded once to Snails. “I told you, now go to your room. I will talk to you later.”
Nodding Snails stood up and walked out of the room head low. He didn’t feel right not trying his hardest to do the test or doing it right. It felt like he lied, but that was his life now. It was a lie to everypony.
Plopping down on his bed, he hugged the pillow, burying his face in them. Hearing his door open and close, he twitched an ear, but fought back the tears. He would not cry in front of his father. His father would never accept that. Taking a deep breath he sat up and turned to face Princess Luna.
“Princess? I… I…” Snails wasn’t sure to what to say. Looking down, he whimpered softly, “I’m sorry.”
“It is all right Snails, may I ask you one question though?” Luna spoke gently, almost mothering.
Snails rubbed his cheek and eye with the back of his foreleg, “Anything, Princess.”
“Why did you try to fail the test?” Luna asked softly.
“Try to?” Snails blinked, looking up.
“Yes, you passed by a wide margin.” Luna said softly.
“But I put the crystals in all the wrong places.” Snails said.
“I know. It was easy to see you did that on purpose. The placement, however, was only part of the test. That was merely to demonstrate practical knowledge,” Luna said as she climbed up and lay on the bed, looking at him.
“So you lied? You said I failed.” Snails blinked.
“I did no such thing, I simply said you were not ready for the school.” Luna said with an innocent smile.
“If dad knew, he would disown me or worse. He tells me all the time I have to be his perfect stallion. It’s my duty to the family, and magic is not part of that.” Snails said, looking down at his hooves.
“I see, but you cannot always stay in his shadow. Someday, you will be ready to step into the light and shine as bright as your heart.” Luna stood up smiling.
Snails let out a soft sigh, then looked back up at the princess.
“I will let my sister know. When you are ready, the school will be there for you.” Luna said and stood up, heading out.
Yes! Luna knows and can help out poor Snails! I love how Long Haul missed what Luna said, "He is not ready, yet". It means he did not fail but is not fully ready yet. I cannot wait for the moment that he finds out that his son is going and nothing he can do to stop it anymore. Now if only poor Twilight would be able to be brought into the whole secret Snails life would be a whole lot better!
6918904
I'm not sure Luna knows about Escargot yet (she obviously discovers it before winter, of course).
So the only thing she might try to help with at that point is Snails' proper education.
Well, at least she'll ensure no one steals the school in the meanwhile.
That was a wonderful chapter, and i loved it when Gisa caled Escargot "Mama" The Royal family will also probably be watching Long Haul VERY closely in regards to Snails as it is quite obvious of his stance on magic and Snails using it
Long Haul has jumped deep into sudovillian territory. The royal family come to see if my son is amazing. He doesn't pass the test comfirming my belief that Snails should focus mor on earth pony things. So the only appropriate responce is to order him to his room and "talk" with him. At this point, I'm just waiting for it to be revealed that Long Haul is the leader of an anti unicorn terrorist cult.
6919131 Yep
Got to remember, Ponyville was built by earth ponies, and there are more then a few traditionalists there.
Even Apple Jack at times has issues with magic. Especially during winter wrap up.
Long Haul, your son is a unicorn. The Creator gave Earth Ponies the gift of great strength, longevity, and tending the land. The Creator gave Pegasi the gift of flight and controlling the weather. The Creator gave Unicorns the gift of harnessing all the other magic in the world. By not allowing your son to use the gift the Creator gave him, you are not making him a perfect stallion. You are making him a weak, sickly colt. Now, no magic in the home is fine. But telling him he can't use it at all is beyond stupid. I am tempted to ask Luna to have you experience the level of fear that you cause your son.
Long Haul's backstory better be DAMN good.
6919131 I know right? His bbackstory better be damn good.
I love it this chapter is just supper good.
some one hand long hall a shovel so he can dig his own grave some how I thing he will need it.
exultant righting KC.
6919339 At this point in time, I think it's a little too late for a sypathaetic back story for Long Haul to explain his actions. With a character like Long Haul, there are three ways his character arc can go. The redeption ending, where LH realizes the errors of his ways and the power of friend ship, holding hands with unicorns yatta yatta yatta. The indifferent ending, where LH doesn't really change his ways or perception, but is accepting enough to compromise for Snails (or at least not disown him). And the villian ending, where LH go completly off the horrible parent deep end and does something horrible which lands him in trouble in the end (likely prison or divorce). The problem with the redeption ending is that there needs to be good moments in the character to show that the character does have a good side that can be redeemed. We don't have that with LH because every sence he is in, he is just horrible (as in we want to beat his head in). At this point in the story, no backstory would be enough to put LH in a positive light for redemption. So that leave us with the indifferent and villian ending.
6919380 I'm going for indifferent. Villain would just crush Snails
OH COME ON.
Look, this would HAVE to qualify as CHILD ABUSE. Magic is as innate to unicorns as wings are to a pegasus or strength to an earth pony. And Twilight outright said that there could be harmful effects of him not using or training it.... that has to be an understatement. Forcing a unicorn to never use their magic would have to be like binding another pony's legs or wings till they shrivelled away, or rotted off from loss of circulation!
Long Haul is outright emotionally, and arguably PHYSICALLY abusing his son to the point of potentially crippling him for life, right in front of all three Princesses of Equestria. And they're sitting on their hooves doing nothing.... that's an outright dereliction of duty. People in authority have thrown parents less abusive than that into jail so hard they BOUNCED. Dammit, Princesses, put the fear of God into the bigoted bastard.
6919633
The princesses are bound by the law, most likely. Technically, Haul is not forbidding Snails to use magic completely, just at home (which, in some cases, may be justified, like "don't play soccer indoors" rules or something), and he at least puts on a face that he stops him from wasting his time on something he has no hope in being good at (magic school), as the parent, in the eyes of more "traditional" cultures, should. The abuse in reality is hard exactly because of that - on the visible surface it can be perfectly legal and the authorities may know full well that it's happening, but unable to do anything about it since technically no one breaks the law. Child abuse is worse, because in many cases the child don't know that it's an abuse, so is unable to complain.
Of course, there's nothing good in such a situation, but Snails is quite lucky in this case, since he has this unique chance to see his own life from another point of view, know what he's missing. And he has all of the royalty to help him when he'll be ready to politely ask his father to go buck himself. Which is, at this point, quite inevitable, unless Haul would suddenly break down and ask for forgiveness. But unless someone will zap him with the rainbows, I doubt that would happen.
So, we just have to wait until that plotline concludes. I think no one would envy Long Haul when it does.
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I thought he had one several chapters ago? There was some kind of accident and unicorn magic wasn't sufficient to safe one of his family members or something? I think the gist of it was: someone close to him died and instead of dealing with it, he turned his sorrow and anger towards magic as a whole. I'll double check what chapter it was.
looking up at Rarity." No one ever wants me
1. Just your quotation mark in the wrong place.
I'm really curious here... How many people actually remember about Long Haul's story from when he was a colt? Judging from the comments so far... Not so much.
Fear not! I have found Long Haul's backstory. Waaay back in chapter 3...
6919990 Still not logical.
6920039
People, whether humans or ponies, rarely are.
--Spade
6920086 Damn it.
6919379 He's already 9 feet under, it's only so long before everything comes toppling down. (I hope.)
I hope whatever happens to him gives him a taste of what he's been doing to Snails all this time.
6922689
some how I have a feeling his house of cards will all come tumbling down with time.
6946170 Of course it is, but that's what we know, not the court. And the court might call upon multiple witnesses who would confirm that Snails had never shown any talent or desire to learn magic (do remember, Snails from the show used magic only once, and only for the basic light spell, and even then only Ursa and Snips were around to see it).
Then again, we see that earth ponies in the show can be quite opposed to unicorn magic without being marked tribalists (Applejack herself shows her distrust of it plenty of times), so Haul's quips about it won't be out of place at all.
And then we get to PRINCESS Twilight and her oh-so-important position of authority that she uses in the show TWICE. She can't cut in a taxi line with her "authority", and can't stop a feud with massive destruction of property and possible casualties by a royal decree. Yes, she is a ruler, but her legal power seems to be about as much, as in "dragonlord" title in Earthsea - there you are called a dragonlord not for actually controlling the dragons, but for the only reason that they find you worthy enough to speak to you before they decide if they want to kill you. That, probably, would make her word hold more weight in courts, sure, but she would still need some proof to back it up.
So, while it seems that the easy way out is possible, they will have to find another one. Getting Snails himself to realize that he's being abused is a good start - though, he's starting to suspect already.
6919722
Bound by the laws? The princesses MAKE them. You have to remember something: the princesses are shown to essentially be absolute monarchs that are revered religiously by the population to the point that they panic when they aren't there to babysit them.
And Long Haul basically dismisses them to their faces hiding behind the laws that they could change or modify on a whim. They don't live in a democracy where one could essentially flip the bird to the president because he pisses you off. This is blatant disrespect to the ones whose words are literally law, and could give cause enough to even open investigations for suspected treason.
Oh, and they also move the sun and the moon. Only an ignorant moron dares to anger someone like that and act like an abusive asshole to their faces beings who are so above them they could crush the as an afterthought.
I know the author doesn't want an easy fix for Snails... But the way it's being done makes the princesses look like fang-less figureheads that can't even keep someone from helping a child that is being mistreated in front of them by telling them they are keeping a close eye on the abuser.
I know that the intent is to make the moment when Snails tells his dad where to get off great, but it just doesn't work if it's done by making someone incapable of acting who is supposed to be powerful and in charge. It loses impact when you have to make someone lame who isn't supposed to be lame in order to make someone else awesome.
6946280
Excuse me? Plenty of times when Applejack has shown distrust of magic? When? This is pure fanon. The only time Applejack has spoken against the use of magic is when reprimanding Twilight on Winter Wrap-up. That is the ONLY time magic use has been looked down on, and the it happened after Twilight made a goof with th snow plows.
If the tradition of not using magic at all inside an Earth Pony Household, heck, AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY was accurate there wouldn't be any unicorns living in Ponyville because no one of them would want to live in a place that was so blatantly racist against them.
Unicorns use their magic for fine motor manipulation, their telekinesis is THEIR FUCKING HANDS. Long Haul is FORCING his son to grow up a cripple just because he hates unicorns and then just slaps tradition on his excuses to justify them.
Equestria wouldn't be able to exist in its current state if traditions like this were allowed to go on or even existed. You can't have a society built around equality of the different types of inhabitants living in harmony and have traditions that prohibit the use of each other's specialties because it makes their harmony and equality out to be a lie.
6947179 Even if they make them, they are still bound by them. Also, we have no real proof of that absolutism.
What proof we DO have, however, is that ponies are extremely good in ignoring princess's authority when it's beneficial. Especially Twilights.
If we look at the show closely, we might see that even the eldest and most respected (to the point of being worshipped) princess, Celestia, never does anything that might point that she makes the laws and demands blind obedience to her every word. In fact, the most prominent "royal decrees" from ol' Sunbutt is her reassigning her personal student around. She's often around when someone needs to look important, but she never does anything. So goes for Luna, so goes for Cadence, and most ponies just ignore Twilight's wings pretty much every time she doesn't have Celestia around.
And that if we only look at show canon.
But there's also comics canon, and since it is being widely used in this story (look at the deer, for example), we can't ignore it... and there we actually DO have the proof that the princesses might be the highest authority in Equestria, their power is nowhere near absolute. In fact, there are several cases there, where Twilight directly admits that alicorns are bound by the same laws everypony else is, and if someone isn't breaking the law (or they can't prove it in court), they can do exactly as much as every other pony around.
So, while it might be not immediately apparent to someone who doesn't really understand how monarchy works (which is understandable with how little there's left of them), it is quite possible, and happened even in absolutist times, when someone defied a ruler and safely got away with this, protected by the law (sometimes, even the law made by the same ruler).
Now, to AJ frowning on magic. Look at Flim and Flam, for example. Who had a solid proposition on cider production, which was turned down on the grounds that the SSCS-6000 was a magic-powered machine, and that was not a traditional way to make cider (we know, that the end result was pretty much the same as with the traditional route). AJ is not calling the unicorns to be exiled out of the town, but if she can get away with doing stuff without their magic, she chooses exactly that route.
And you may stop trying to explain me that Long Haul actions are wrong. I know that. I want to do bad things to him for that. But, at the same time, I understand how he can get away with them so far, and why even the princesses might be unable to help to deal with him directly.
6948782
The thing with the Flim Flams didn't have to do with magic or its use. They were a pair of con artists who had a very ingenious machine that could have helped the apples supply the demand for cider... And then tried to use it to take most of the profits for themselves instead of attempting to go for a mutually beneficial arrangement that might have landed them a steady profit. They tried to make out with 75% of the profits for themselves which would have been ruinous for the Apples, and then used the pride of the Apples to wager Sweet Apple Acres and get the whole thing for themselves.
And in applebucking season and the Super Cider Squeezy episode Twilight and Rarity used their magic to help out, so the Apples aren't really against the use of magic for farm work.
The whole thing about them not using magic in Winter Wrap Up has more to do with a Remembering Your Roots thing, because unicorn magic wasn't always available and they want to honor their efforts by doing things without the use of spells. Nothing more, nothing else. Trying to turn not using unicorn magic into an all encompassing tradition for the earth ponies makes no sense within the context of what Equestria IS.
And regarding Twilight's lack of any real authority, that's just the writers overcompensating because they realized they didn't have anywhere to go with by making Twilight a Princess and still keep her the same as usual. They wrote themselves into a corner and then made the change they made on the main character completely meaningless because they couldn't think of any other way to preserve the Status Quo.
And none of the explanations you are giving explains the bald faced disrespect that Long Haul has towards the Princesses. Again, religious reverence. It doesn't matter what laws there are, you don't act like that towards people that are so highly regarded by your entire society without killing your reputation.
The moment word gets around that the Princesses were concerned enough about Snails to intervene directly, no one should trust Long Haul with raising his own son.
Fact is, I don't think the story can work as long as it sticks to Ponyville without frustrating the readers if Kitsy insists on making the Princesses so incapable of doing the right thing "because it's the law". I think it's time to embark on a crazy Ramma style adventure that takes Snails and his friends out of Equestria and away from his crappy family so that our hero can spend some actual time away from his idiot father and properly realize how full of shit he really is and get some actual awesome moments that aren't accidental heroism.
6949526
Really? Somehow I fail to see the place in the episode, where Apples would try to make a counter-offer or negotiate in any way.
Also, and that bugs me to no end in the episode itself, at no point at all were the farm a part of the wager.
If they can't help it? Sure.
But remember, how much time it took to convince AJ to accept any help at all. We can safely bet that some ponies can be extremely stubborn, to the point of hurting themselves and others over some prejudice, and don't go to jail for it. Equestrian legal system seems to be quite soft.
And therefore, it's not in this story. Yet, we know that some of the earth ponies can have their personal unfavorable views on the magic, and while others might not approve, it's not something criminal. Long Haul isn't trying to ban unicorns, saw off his son't horn, or something extreme like that. He just forbids the use of magic inside of his house. Considering that young unicorns seem to be unstoppable forces of nature at times (look at Pumpkin Cake, for example), it could be a rule some unicorn families might have in place.
Maybe. But since we have it as a canon, we might as well learn to accept it's there.
And it shouldn't. Long Haul is ready to protect his home (you do realize, that it's exactly as he sees the situation, right?), from any force, even from the princesses. What is there to explain, really?
If it wasn't the general situation, that could've been a very positive trait of his.
...but they still need a legal reason to revoke his parental authority.
Also, you might want to remember, that in Ranma, Genma was never removed from the picture, despite his outright criminal behavior, outright abuse of Ranma and literally selling off his son for food.
But in any case, the story might need to shift the focus from Haul for a bit. It seems like people want him dead too much already.
6949604
Are you for real? They wagered the deed to the farm. That was always the bet. I'm suspecting you need to actually watch the episode, as it's looking like your knowledge is second hand from episode synopsis and reviews.
That being said, the Apples have never been shown to be particularly business savvy. Think about it, they founded Ponyville and discovered the Zap Apples, yet Applejack always worries about making ends meet, while the Rich family came later and made money off the Zap Apple Jam and are now one of the two families in the town we know for certain are wealthy. The fact that the Apples struggle with the farm while the Rich family became wealthy off THEIR product should tell you all you need to know about the grasp of basic economics of the Sweet Apple Acres proprietors.
Aside from not trying to bargain with the Flim Flams to argue for a fairer profit split, the Apples were making a few mistakes that anyone with any common sense would catch: selling their ultra high quality cider at a pittance and not even enforcing a simple rule like "one mug per customer" to prevent one pony to make out with dozens of mugs like Pinkie Pie did. That was one of the problems they were having, they kept running out because customers kept buying multiples, leaving the ones at the back of the file with nothing. And then the next day the customers that bought multiples would come back AGAIN, buy lots of mugs AGAIN and the cycle would repeat.
And if they had followed basic supply and demand precepts and raised the prices to at least triple of the original asking price they wouldn't need to enforce a "one mug per customer rule", because the ponies would avoid buying more than one if it wasn't at an overly convenient for them low price and then more cider would be available for others to buy.
The Flim Flam Bros. don't cover themselves in glory, either. Their machine was four things in one: a picker that could take the fruit without it falling into the ground, a sorter that could remove the apples that were rotten with the quality controls, of course, the cider maker, and since it was a self propelled machine, it was also a hauler. The technology that went into the Super Cider Squeezy could have been used to make three or four different machines that could have revolutionized farm work. And they used it for a get rich quick scheme when trying to do honest business would have been better for them in the long run. Reality Check once had a character call them "the two stupidest con men in Equestria" for a reason.
Regarding Long Haul's attitude being understandable because he's "protecting his household"... NO DICE. He's acting like he's facing off against ponies that are on the same level as he is. He is mouthing off against essentially demigods that could crush him in an instant. It doesn't matter if they are beheld by the laws, you don't face off against beings like that unless you are either in the same level, or are sweating buckets, knees shaking like jelly and hope you don't get squashed if you make a mistake. He's not being made to look reasonable, he's been made to look like an arrogant jerk that thinks he can tell the princesses to lick his rump and get away with it.
As for Genma getting away with outright abuse... Are you really trying to play that card? Genma only got away with it because Ranma 1/2 was a screwball comedy where the main theme was essentially how to mess with Ranma's life to make us laugh at the shenanigans and misfortunes he would get involved in. It was setting wide comedic sociopathy. The situation with Long Haul is played straight, not comedic. The same standards DON'T apply here. Moving the story away from him is the smartest move that can be made, because suspension of disbelief is being stretched too far as it is with him getting away with the things he's doing. It doesn't matter if the limits to the princesses is "canon compliant": it breaks suspension of disbelief even then and people hate it that they make the highest authorities in the land into ineffective de-fanged puppies for no other reason than they have no real idea how to really make use of Twillight's Status as a princess without completely ignoring it.
6952937
Deadly serious. I've actually rewatched the episode three times just to be sure, the first time I've seen it.
But since you won't believe me, I'll provide you with a citation from the episode transcript:
As you may notice, the only thing wagered is the cider selling rights. That could be a problem if the claim about cider sales keeping the farm afloat is true, but that doesn't mean they have to give the rights to the farm away right there.
That they are, and it is proven by many other instances, show and comics alike. But that doesn't matter much to our current discussion.
"Understandable" doesn't equal "smart". Bravery rarely is smart.
...or you are stupid enough. Haul qualify.
And he gets away with this. For now.
How long will it last we don't know... yet.
Of course not. I just point out that there's a abusive father figure. I won't expect this one to get away with it.
6953060
You cut off at the end there....
6953137 Sorry, fixed already.
Don't tell me you're going with "Clover was a name that ran in the family"... his grandmother obviously can't be the Clover, but still.
Yeah. Now, it's really feeling satisfying... I just can't, in good conscience, recommend it to others, given how many chapters have to be read through to get to the point where it picks up.
6919131
suodvillains, the evil sysadmins? Or a pseudovillain? Or frankly, simply a villain?