Layin' Down the Law
Rin shivered as she walked out of Tuber Lane the next day, facing the light of the morning sunshine. Trip Wire flew down from the canopy to stop her. “Is there an emergency?”
Nectarine smiled at him. “No, Trip, no emergency. I’m off duty for a few hours, so I’m going shopping.”
“But it’s daytime. And you’re not glamoured, or carrying a weapon. What if the ponies notice you?”
Rin shrugged. “Let them notice me. I’m off duty today.” She cast a glance to the side. “Why is there a road block sign on the ground?”
“Pinkie Pie came over the other day. We had to think fast.”
“Uhuh. And why does the sign say ‘No artillery allowed’?”
“Again, Pinkie Pie.”
Rin squinted and took a closer look at the thing. “Are those crumbs? Did you eat a pie on duty?”
“Well, I had to make sure she wasn’t delivering poison, Ma’am, so I risked my health for the sake of our kin. The rest of the squad suspected it might be cyanide or poison joke. Turns out it was pineapple.”
“Ah, yes, that most insidious of poisons,” Rin joked. “Very brave of you to take all of it for yourself, Trip.”
Trip Wire blushed. “Well, technically we’re not entirely sure if she thought that pineapple would poison any of us, but at least it wasn’t garlic.” He gagged.
“And you’re sure she meant to bring it here? She didn’t take a wrong turn?”
“It was an upside-down cake.”
Nectarine rolled her eyes. “Of course it was. Right, you seem to have everything under control, Trip. If you can handle Pinkie Pie, I’m sure you can handle things while I’m out.”
Trip didn’t stop her, but he sounded anxious as she passed him. “You know ponies are going to stare at you.”
“I’m counting on it. I’m a Captain of the Night Guard, after all. If I have to suffer them staring at me so they know I’ll protect them, I will. No harm in socialising with a few ponies, after all, we do live and work in the same town. I’ll be back before nightfall, Trip.”
With that, Nectarine took off. She didn’t have her dagger on her, she only had her badge concealed in her saddlebags, and no armour. She was, for all intents and purposes, naked. But, as she set down on the street, she noticed so was every pony. She would blend right in.
And she did, at least, for about three seconds. Memories of the inconvenient truths regarding pony culture bubbled and churned in her mind as the ponies stopped to stare and gasp and gossip behind her back. They were herd animals, she knew, and would unite against a common foe at the drop of a hat. They feared strange things, and would undoubtedly shun her for her bat wings.
But that’s what every thinking creature with a sense of danger did, and it wasn’t their fault that they did not know her. For all their flaws, ponies were still rational creatures deep down, she reminded herself. Very, very deep down, but it was there. Nectarine had sworn she’d protect them, as had every other Captain before her. Unlike every other Captain before her, she thought she’d do that best by letting ponies know she could be addressed without fear. So it was with a genuine smile that she greeted her new pony friend, rocky though their start may have been. “Good morning, Applejack.”
“Top of the mornin’ to ya, Nectarine. Or is it still officer?”
“Not on duty right now, AJ.” Rin scanned the stall and did her best to hide her surprise. She’d seen fresh apples before, of course, and she’d occasionally had Night Guard duties near Sweet Apple Acres, or near the Everfree Forest, rather, but she’d never have guessed there would be so much choice in apples and apple products.
“So what can I get ya?” Applejack grabbed a paper bag and shook it to fluff it open.
“Hmm…” Rin looked over the stall and realised she hadn’t thought this through. Behind her, a threesome of mares with flowers for cutie marks -- the drama queens of the town, Rin knew, but in Ponyville that title wasn’t much of a distinction -- were making gestures and preparing to gasp.
Applejack quirked an eyebrow at the trio, and to any onlookers who caught themselves staring. “I guess pony folk just ain’t used to seein’ bat folk around here yet.”
“No, but we can get that sorted out eventually. I’ll have six apple fritters, that apple pie over there, and… six of those, please.” She pointed to the shiny red apples to her left.
“The Red Delicious?”
“Yes, that. I’m going to have to learn what they’re all called now.”
“Oh, you get used to it,” Applejack said. “Most ponies don’t keep track of it much, either, they just say if it’s for fryin’ or bakin’ and that’s all I need to know.”
“Right, speaking of needing to know, I don’t suppose you have any ideas for increasing social cohesion between the Night Guard and ponies?”
Applejack winced. “You mean regarding the wedlock thing?”
“That was my first concern, yes. I’m afraid ponies might get the wrong idea about the whole thing.”
Applejack placed the bag on the counter of her stall and gave Rin the bill. “Then what is the right idea about it, really? ‘Coz I’ve tried explaining it when ponies come ‘round here, but I didn’t have any answers for them and the library got swamped. And frankly, I don’t know what to think of it myself. Why would you make a child do somethin’ like that, just so they’d be allowed around your kind?”
Rin sighed and paid her dues. “It’s just to make sure children learn to handle the other gender safely, nothing more. They learn how to act as individuals as well as a pair that way. And it ties families together. You ponies have Hearth’s Warming Eve, we didn’t have any unifying event like that. We didn’t get the Magic of Friendship or Harmony, which, by the way, is pretty ironic considering what ponies did to us around the same time. We had to make do and wedlock helped us survive, it still does. It teaches mutual respect, and creates bonds of power that protect our children from dark magic, just like Harmony protected your kind from the Windigos. Not to mention it provides a second family if one of the pair is orphaned, which was a lot more common back in the day.”
Applejack folded her arms over her chest. “Huh. Hadn’t thought of that yet. That sounds kind of reasonable, actually. I don’t think I agree with it, mind you, but at least it makes sense. But why still do it now? And do y’all really need to be so split off from ponies?”
“We do it now because we know it works. We avoid a lot of problems doing it like this. But, as for being so split off from you, not anymore, no, not all the time, but we have our traditions and we can’t afford to have them destroyed. It would tear our kind apart with infighting, what with all our different classes. Honestly, I don’t get how you ponies stay together at all, and I don’t think most rousettes do, either.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Think about it. You’re an Earth pony, you’re born into a tradition of farmers. Unicorns are born into a tradition of magic, pegasi are traditionally born as warriors, or weather manipulators. How is it that you get along with all your different traditions?”
Applejack shrugged. “We don’t. They’re all the same traditions: pony traditions.”
“Really?”
“Really. Pegasus ponies are the most isolated ones of the bunch, but even them ain’t that separate from us. We have the same holidays, the same hobbies, we teach our youngins the same things. There’s Royal Guards of all kinds of pony, and donkeys, too. Same with farmers; there’s unicorns that use magic for pest control, pegasi that grow the really finicky plants you can’t water too much or too little, stuff like that. We’re different, but we’re the same where it counts.”
“And rousettes are not,” Rin concluded.
“Sorry to have to break that to ya. It sounds like you’re just not gettin’ the exposure you need. If ponies knew what a rousette was and what they did, I’m sure they’d come around to ya. That’s what happened with Zecora: the spa twins and her get along just dandy, they just didn’t realise they had something in common. What do rousettes usually do? What kind of circles do they hang out in?”
Nectarine chuckled nervously. “Funny you should mention that. Our kind has somewhat of a preoccupation towards the finer delicacies in cuisine and the upper echelons of society in our social activities.”
“Beg yer pardon?”
“We’re a bunch of snobs, AJ.”
“Ah. Wish I could help you there, but I don’t know any pony snobs myself. Not around here, at least. I’m sure there’s a few, though.”
“Excuse me, darling,” a mare behind Rin said.
“Oh, sorry, am I in the way?” Nectarine turned. Uh oh.
Applejack smiled. “Captain Nectarine, I’m sure you know Rarity, right? Rarity, this is Nectarine, Captain of the Ponyville Night Guard.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Nectarine said, extending a hoof.
“And pleased to make your acquaintance too, dear.” Rarity gave that hoof a curt and ladylike shake. “I do apologise for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear you were saying something about, ah, social cohesion?”
“Umm, yes, it’s just that the Night Guard haven’t exactly been accessible for, well, ever. That’s working out fine in the bigger cities, but Ponyville’s a tighter community, and it’s starting to cause problems.”
“I see. And I understand you were planning on making some introductions, then? Just to the ponies who might relate to your kind a little more than others?”
Rin shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt. Most of the Weather Patrol knows me by now, or knows of me, but that’s about it. I mean, we’re not going to get every rousette and every pony together just like that, but there’s bound to be some who can relate to each other.”
Rarity chuckled. “The usual, Applejack.” She paid in exact change, as she always did, then propped up her mane to, supposedly, stop some sagging that wasn’t due to happen for at least another fifteen minutes, but really was an excuse to show off her hairstyle.
Rin recognised the vain gesture, of course; it was rousettes who’d invented that one. She idly wondered if this mare also knew the ancient technique of baring her pearly white teeth to wipe away some nonexistent food remains, but given the lack of fangs, that was probably a no.
“If you need any help getting to know ponies, darling, you need only ask me. I know most everypony in Ponyville, certainly all the artists and the high society. Or what passes for high society around here, at least.”
Applejack shot Rarity a glare that, to Nectarine, came off as practiced and mostly harmless.
Rin took the hint. “I’d be delighted to meet some of the artists in town. I presume you’d wish to partake in a mutual cultural exchange, then?”
“Oh, now, I wouldn’t want to intrude, but I did catch wind of your kind being made up solely of pairs. Just out of curiosity, if rousettes wedlock when they are seven, does that mean they decide whom they marry at that age?”
Nectarine chuckled. “Oh, no, not at all. That would be illegal. Most of them do because those are the partners they know best, and it is tradition to marry whom you wedlock, but there are cases when they remain single, or marry someone else. Wedlock is important, but it’s still only a an initiation rite, trumped by marriage. And, of course, not every rousette has the same, ah, preferences, shall we say. Can’t force a wedding when the two aren’t, ah, mutually inclined, if you catch my drift.”
“I see. So the odds of, oh, I don’t know, a pony meeting an exotic, noble and, dare I ask, unspoken for rousette would be-”
“I know three dukes and nine knights who are single, minimum.”
Rarity barely withheld the squee that had been building inside her. “Let’s talk socialite, darling.”
Twilight let out another sigh of exhaustion. The past two days had been quite the mixed bag for the poor unicorn. On the one hoof, she was thrilled to see that at long last, Ponyville Library was becoming popular among the general pony populace. Truly, she’d never seen so many ponies in the place for reading before. The occasional library party or Weather Patrol gathering, sure, that’s what a public house such as hers was for, after all.
But while she was happy to see more intellectualism in her town, she wished it didn’t have to involve racial prejudice.
“So you’re absolutely sure they don’t drink blood?” Daisy asked.
“For the last time: yes!”
“And they’re not supposed to sparkle?” Rose continued.
To that, Twilight planted a hoof on her forehead. “No, that’s just something some pony made up about vampires. Rousettes are not vampires.”
“So they’re not going to go away if we start planting garlic?” Lily asked.
“You want us to go away, then?”
“Gah!” The three mares jumped in surprise.
Twilight shot a glance to the pair who’d just entered. “Hello, Rarity. And you must be… Nectarine?”
Nectarine nodded in greeting. “Hello.”
“May I help you?” Twilight asked.
“Ah, darling, I was just showing Nectarine around, let her get to know the ponies in town with the Night Guard upping their overt operations, as it were,” Rarity said.
Nectarine arched an eyebrow at the trio that had stared at her at the market. Most of the morning had whizzed by with Rarity by her side. She knew a few more ponies now, at least, that was a plus. How she was going to redistribute guard duty, that was a different matter, especially if there were ponies who wanted her gone. “Well? You were saying something about garlic, I believe? I’m quite fond of it myself, especially on a nice salad. So hard to get it fresh, though.”
Rose, Lily, and Daisy all quietly backed away towards the door. Lily was the only one who got a word out. “Oh, we know everything we need to know, really. We’ll get out of your hair now. Bye!”
They bolted out with naught but a puff of dust in their wake. Rarity tried to cover the awkwardness of the situation with a chuckle. “Right, don’t mind them. They’re just quick to scare, and drama queens at that,” said pot regarding kettle.
“It’s okay. We do have a bit of an image problem to set right. Speaking of which, pleased to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Rin said.
“Wish I could say the same. Nectarine, was it?”
“Yes, I’m Nectarine, the local Captain of the Night Guard here. My colleagues and I have mostly been performing covert operations, but given recent events we thought the time was right to start making our presence more public, as it were. I’ve been going around town with Rarity here to see what the good citizens are concerned with. So, if you don’t mind my asking, what do you think of the Night Guard around here?”
Twilight recognised rote repetition when she heard it. She also recognised a ploy when she saw one. “What Night Guard?”
Rarity winced. “She means the one in Ponyville, darling.”
“Oh, I’d be very happy to see them in Ponyville. The Weather Patrol gets positively swamped from time to time.” It had been a while since she’d used her Canterlot accent, but Twilight was nothing if not a good student, and the occasion certainly called for it.
Nectarine raised her eyebrows. “Really? By what?”
“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of the parasprite infestation, and the Ursa Minor-”
“And the dragons. Both of them, yes. If I recall correctly, for those occasions, there was a vigilante group who took matters into their own hooves. And correct me if I’m wrong, but those same ponies even became masked vigilantes and thereby intruded upon the jurisdictions of both Weather Patrol and Night Guard.”
Twilight and Rarity both felt their cheeks blush at that.
Nectarine smiled. “Oh, yes, I know all about that little stunt. You can’t keep taking matters into your hooves like that, Twilight Sparkle. Sooner or later you’re going to get in trouble with the actual laws of the land. So I do hope that you’ll think twice next time you decide to play the hero. After all, you are the Element of Magic and a personal student to Princess Celestia. We are Night Guards, and your brother is a Royal Guard Captain, same rank as myself, though he is more powerful than I am.” She bared her fangs a tiny bit. “Slightly more powerful. And not to be pedantic, but you of all ponies ought to know better. It’s a bit disheartening to have your purpose taken away with no warning.”
That was a sentiment Twilight could relate to, not to mention seeing it in Spike once or twice. “Yeah, it can be.”
“Then can I expect you to leave matters to the proper authorities next time something happens? Surely you understand the importance of protocol?”
“I would if there was any protocol to follow,” Twilight replied in reflex. “As much as you might dislike ponies taking matters into their own hooves, that’s what happens when you don’t even let anyone know it’s your job they’re intruding on.”
Rin smiled and nodded. “Well, I’m not the one responsible for that attitude, as you may be aware. But I am trying to mend it, one pony at a time. We’ll be making the proper announcements soon. Rest assured, we have no intention of bullying or harassing anyone. Just: next time you see any form of verbal abuse in the streets, or if you should notice a potential riot forming, or if, I don’t know, a monster should appear, please don’t try to handle it on your own? You’re not qualified for it.”
Twilight squinted, confused. “With all due respect, I’m the Element of Magic.”
“Oh, I know. You’re the Chosen One, I understand that. But, while we are being frank with each other, I didn’t vote for you.”
It took Twilight all her Canterlot high training to stop from gasping. “I don’t think you realise what you’re saying. The Princesses are the ones who tell me to step in. They’ll keep telling me to step in, and they’ll tell you to let me handle it.”
“Oh, if that’s the case, then by all means continue, and my apologies for the confusion. I wasn’t aware that it was Princess Celestia who ordered you to dress up like a superhero and upstage one of your so-called friends. I thought that Her Highness showing up and dispelling the mass mind-control spell you cast on a bunch of little girls and then the whole town was a sign that she didn’t agree with your actions. And, silly me, I was unaware that she taught you not to take any suspicions of a national attack to the higher authorities of the Royal Guard, and instead go on a tantrum without letting anypony in charge know of your suspicions.”
Twilight nodded. “Right. So if I’m hearing you correctly: you’re telling me you don’t want the Elements of Harmony to protect Ponyville anymore because you think we’re incompetent?”
“I’m not telling the Elements of Harmony anything. I’m telling you to stop acting like the ringleader of a lawless militia. What missions the Princesses send you on is between you and them. What laws you break in Ponyville is between you and me. Your friends are only getting in trouble because you lead them to it.”
“Now hold on, darling,” Rarity said. “There have been plenty of occasions where we did just fine. Rainbow Dash-”
“Rainbow Dash is a fellow Captain who knows the risks. She knows how to handle danger.”
“Oh, and we don’t?” Twilight asked. “Maybe you didn’t hear, but we are the Elements of Harmony. We beat Discord.”
Rin glowered at Twilight. “You’re not the Elements of Harmony. The Elements are locked away in a vault in Canterlot right now. You’re just the ones who pull the trigger. As for Discord, tell me: how did you, as you say, ‘beat’ him, huh? Did you have to duck and weave as he attacked you? Did you have to sidestep any lightning bolts to get a clear shot? Or did you, as witness reports indicate, just stand there and think happy thoughts until he kindly let that rainbow laser hit him?”
“I did what Princess Celestia told me to. And I’d like to see you do better,” Twilight retorted.
“What, with half a dozen state-owned weapons of mass destruction? Going against someone who doesn’t even budge when you take aim, six to one? I’d have loved the chance of wielding a piece of Princess Celestia’s private collection. So do a lot of rousettes, actually. But sadly, that’s not in the cards for most of us. She, apparently, prefers to let you pull the trigger and only use one of the many weapons she holds. Perhaps she’s trying to make the most of things before the batteries run out, who knows.”
Twilight was flabbergasted. “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? Oh, Heavens no, I’m not one to question Princess Celestia’s judgement. But again: what you do on royal missions is official, what you do here is not. Now, I understand that you come from a military family and that maybe you think you’re close enough to being able to do a Guard’s duty. But you are still, until further notice, a civilian. Leave the dangerous stunts to ponies who are qualified for them, like Rainbow Dash. Start letting her take command. She knows the risks and how to avoid them. She -- unlike you, as you admit -- knows the protocols. She has the insurance in case she needs it, you do not. You’ve been tolerated for this long because of your ties to the Princesses, but that will not help you when you are hospitalised. If you get hurt trying to do our job, we’re the ones who take the heat for that, even though you’re responsible.”
“I know what I’m doing, Nectarine.”
“Do you? That’s not what I heard. Any threat you’ve dealt with so far has always gotten worse because of your actions. The Parasprites managed to eat Ponyville’s food before eating Ponyville itself, did they not?”
“Well, now, that was a little miscalculation on my part.”
“Discord managed to disarm your precious Elements, did he not?”
“That was only temporary. I did dispel his influence over my friends.”
“And how long do you suppose it took for you to even realise they were under the influence?”
Twilight’s ears fell flat against her head. “Okay, now, that had some extenuating circumstances.”
“And let’s not forget that changeling Queen managed to get to both you and your brother, without anyone in the Royal Guard realising what was wrong, even though you had vital information that trained military personnel might have had a use for. You didn’t even let his best stallions know what you were doing, they didn’t even realise you were missing. The Royal Guard was left unaware of what you knew: that your own brother, the centre of Canterlot's defences, was compromised. You see where I’m going with this?”
Twilight growled. “You think you’d have done better in my situation?”
“You really don’t get it, do you? It’s not me you need to consider; it’s everyone you put in danger. If you keep ignoring the proper channels like you do, sooner or later you’re going to run into a threat that, by your own actions, is allowed to grow beyond your control, beyond anyone's control. If you’re not careful, you’re going to end up putting yourself in a situation where the only reason you manage to defeat your foes is because you’re destined to do so. The rest of us just have to trust that fate will let you clean up whatever mess you cause. And that’s not good enough for me or the Night Guard. It’s not good enough for the Royal Guard, either.”
“What?”
“I’m not the only one who feels this way, Twilight Sparkle. The Night Guard aren’t the only ones who have voiced objections to how you do things. So I’m telling you again: either you earn your rank by joining the Royal Guard and going through the same trials they do, the same ones your brother went through, or you run for office and become democratically elected to a position of authority, or you stop acting like you have any rank beyond civilian. Do we understand each other?”
“Crystal clear, Rin. I look forward to seeing you deal with the next monster that hits Ponyville, then. Provided one shows up, of course, and the princesses don’t tell me to take care of it.”
Nectarine turned towards her unicorn companion. “Good, have a nice day, then. Okay, who’s next? Fluttershy?”
Rarity raised a hoof to her chin to ponder. “We’ll make better time if we stop by Sugarcube Corner on the way, darling. I’m sure the Cakes would be thrilled to hear there’ll be some new faces around.”
“Lead the way.” Nectarine was about to leave when she almost tripped over a little filly. “Oh, sorry, Apple Bloom, didn’t see you there. Until next time, Twilight Sparkle!”
“Until next time, Nectarine.”
Twilight groaned when the pair left. “Thank goodness she’s gone. Hi, Apple Bloom. What brings you here?”
“Do you really not like rousettes, Twilight? She did have a point: you're not in the Royal Guard or the Weather Patrol.”
Twilight looked at the door. “Sure I like them, and it’s great that she’s trying to reach out, really, even if she is being so aggressive about it.“ Twilight moved to the window to make sure she wasn’t being eavesdropped on. “She’s still a Night Guard, though, and if she’s going to start taking patrol duties in Ponyville more seriously, that could mean trouble. Especially if she’s willing to confront me about it.”
“Trouble, how?”
Twilight’s left eyelids twitched. “Have you forgotten one of your friends is a changeling now?”
“Oh, right. Guess we will have to look out for that. But they’re only doin’ their job, they wouldn’t go attacking her if they found out, would they?”
“I sure hope not, but no one seems to know how they operate, and if they do, no one’s telling. I’ve asked Rainbow Dash about it, but she said that was classified information, even for her. I’d have to grow wings and ascend to royalty to be qualified to hear the full details, and I don’t think I can do that anytime soon. But speaking of jobs, what brings you here? I take it you wanted a book on rousette traditions?”
“Actually, no. Since Rumble’s goin’ through with a rousette tradition, I thought I’d look into pony traditions myself. I remember Granny Smith mentionin’ somethin’ from back in the old days, have ya got anything on the Pioneer Era? Right before Ponyville was founded?”
Twilight looked around and grabbed a book with her magic, letting it land gently on the central reading table. “Do you know the name of the tradition?”
Apple Bloom read through the table of contents, then flipped through the pages to find the section she wanted. “Ahah! This one oughtta do.”
Twilight looked at the section in question. “You’re not seriously planning to-”
“Why not? The rousettes want us to respect their traditions, and we will. But that means they gotta respect ours too, don’t it?”
Twilight bit her lip and sighed, before looking back at the door. “I suppose. I don’t approve, but it would be pretty funny if you could pull this off.”
Apple Bloom replied with a confident nod. “And if they don’t, then we’ll see who’s got no respect for others around here.”
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Rin may like it when Twilight goes princess. Twilight is the type that likes to help ponies and do paper work. Long as you don't get on her bad side.
Rin: "When do I need to turn in a report on the Bugbear."
Twilight hands Rin 50 page report folder.
Twilight: "Here is a competed 403c after action report filled out. I have already signed off on it so you won't have to wait to have the 403dj independent summery. I filled out the independent summery. I put in two of your guards for Princess Commendation metals and three others letters of recommendation for keeping others safe while -- I and my friends removed the bug bear." * Twilight smiles at Rin*
Rin: *whispers* "smug ass."
Twilight: *smiles* "If you want to fill out the reports your self I need them in by 6:00 tomorrow. To bad it could take you all night to do that paper work. I hate you to miss your date with thunderlane."
Rin: "No. These should be fine. Think you for your help Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Well this chapter definitely sent it from a Track to a Favorite.
I think it the first time I've seen a fanfic write have a law or military operated force tell off Twilight/EoH for what they're doing. It makes me happy.
Garlic actually has a negative impact on rousettes? Or maybe it's just Trip Wire. Definitely a noble attempt to resist a pink incursion there.
Ah, cultural inertia. Ponies have been moving closer together for centuries, and rousettes have spent the same time largely separate and watching over them, like a moon orbiting a planet. No wonder it feels like they're from different worlds. And that greater cultural unity seems like it would be a disaster to some.
The story Just Dodge! comes to mind with regards to Discord. Nectarine has a lot of good points, but when it comes to the Elements of Harmony... Well, that story's in a completely different continuity, so I can't say how much it applies to this situation, if at all, but it's not like Rin's an authority on the properties of the Rainbow Beam of Fix Everything™. As for Chrysalis, that doesn't seem entirely fair. Twilight was doing the best she could there. She'd never heard of changelings; all she knew was that her old foalsitter had apparently turned into a jerk. There was no apparent need to involve the Guard.
Still, everything else? Valid points from both sides, and I have to favor Rin a little. That being said, alerting Twilight after the first vigilante incident would've been a much better idea. She didn't even know she was stepping on anyone's hooves. Yes, it isn't the rousette way to be up front with ponies, but traditions can or at least should be bent when lives are on the line. (Of course, you do have to account for canon.
)
Hmm. Given the chronology here, Ponyville still has to deal with the Mirror Pool incident, which could prove complicated; the return of Trixie, which could go a lot more simply, though that isn't guaranteed; the timberwolves attacking Spike, which could get really awkward if he feels he owes a life debt to a bat; Discord's reformation, which will probably have Rin pulling her mane out; and the cutie mark swap, which could go horribly wrong with Night Guard interference... assuming they aren't also affected by the memory alteration. And that's just Season 3.
In all, a very thought-provoking chapter. I quite enjoyed it. And I definitely look forward to seeing what Apple Bloom has dusted off.
6661219
Garlic having a negative effect? Yeah, it makes your breath smell awful and it's not the sort of thing you want in your cake, certainly. But Rin likes it on her salads.
As for the wedding thing, from Rin's perspective, knowing about changelings is beside the point. Twilight suspected her brother, the then key in Equestria's defences, was being exposed to harmful magic. And she didn't tell the other commanders, if there were any. She didn't tell his subordinates, who may have caught some other hints. A commanding officer might have decided to send him to an official healer who knows how to recognise that sort of thing, they'd know a changeling's influence. She might have told a superior that she would be confronting Cadence, which would have put at least part of the Guard on higher alert so they'd see the attack coming. Instead she threw a temper tantrum and got herself kidnapped, rendering her information useless.
I'm going to assume all this talk about a bugbear is something from Season 5, so I'll get back to y'all when I see it. I'm sure it's par for the course as far as the series is concerned.
And speaking of seasons, yeah, it's only after publishing that I realised 'Holy cud, these guys are going to get royally peeved pretty soon'. As I recall, the entire non-Pinkie population of Ponyville just demanded Twilight fix that Mirror Pool thing. If that happened in this canon? Yeesh, talk about harsh. As for Trixie, forget everything else, she used body-horror magic on two little boys. That's a sure-fire way to to get the authorities on your case. Those other two cases, I think Rin would sooner have a talk with the Princesses (not the one living in her town), or with Lord Nox, because that's just going too far.
It's also important to note: rousettes respect and revere Princess Luna more than they do Princess Celestia. Which of the two has been giving Twilight her orders?
Anyways, the basic idea of these past few chapters was to show that while ponies have good reason to question rousette culture, the other way around works, too. He without sin cast the first stone and all that jazz. And if you're going to defend a tradition, your argument needs to be better than 'It's tradition'. Wedlock has a function, and that function is necessary. Apple Bloom's answer is... well, you'll see.
And dammit, I keep getting drawn back to the comments, even though I said I wouldn't. I'm too damn anxious to see if anyone's noticed that sneaky little reference I slipped in at the start. Oh well, I'll explain it at the ending.
Oh, it would be just awesome to see Rin's face when Twi becomes an alicorn.
So the Apple family is plotting something...
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The 'masked vigilantes' didn't actually fight crime (or even monsters) or do anything else illegal. They basically saved ponies from immediate death due to various accidents, because Rainbow Dash got too full of herself to be bothered with the actual saving part anymore.
The Parasprites were out of control for hours (including an entire night) where the night guard could have handled them before they were entirely out of control and Twilight tried something desperate. Apparently, Nectarine managed to keep the Night Guard a secret by never actually doing any work, ever.
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Last comment I'm making:
-Rin's objection to what they did during Mare Do Well is the same as the rest of her argument: they acted behind the backs of a Weather Patrol Captain. They ignored proper channels, and that's not even mentioning the Windigos that were brought up at the Apple dinner. They willingly escalated a problem, rather than go to proper authorities (like, say, other ponies on the Patrol) to address the issue like rational adults. No matter how you slice it, no Captain is going to see that happen and not think "These ponies have no respect for authority". I would imagine Rin had a few words with the Mayor about that, too, but that's a different story.
-The Parasprites: it's only after the first night that they've reproduced to the extent that they're becoming a nuisance, or that they're even noticeable. The Night Guard would have had to go inside ponies' homes to notice, or maybe they'd spotted a population in the Everfree, and Fluttershy just found a straggler while the bats were handling the main swarm. But at that point, the Elements are still trying to deal with everything on their own, and the attitude of 'let Twilight and her friends handle it' had already settled in Ponyville, with the disasters following. You don't actually know what the Night Guard would have or could have done at any point.
But Twilight tried to fix it, and she made it worse. So it doesn't look that good in Rin's book, no.
-regarding Rin not doing any work: this has already been covered in the story itself. They patrol, mostly at night, and because of the tensions between distributing duties, as well as ponies letting Twilight 'handle' things, they've let the Weather Patrol do most of the day work.
But hey, Nectarine is a flawed character, like any other. She can be right or wrong at times
And if she's rage-inducing, it just means I did something right
Better that than to have her fizzle.
It could become a real drama if scootaloo dies soon and rumble finds out...........
Does anypony in this fic know that the weather patrol would be relevant to the proper chain of authorities for a disaster that doesn't involve weather?
On one hand, if they are authorities, Dash has no reason to keep that fact secret. Otoh, Twilight doesn't say she was just unaware of the presence of the Night Guard. She says she was unaware of the existence of any protocol at all for dealing with monsters. Yes she knows that the weather patrol sometimes does it, but that's consistent with them just being vigilantes too.
Oh boy that's going to be interesting