The Last Cutie Mark Crusader

by Jatheus

20 - Revolution, Part 7 of 10

Time was growing short; Swiftlight was certain about that much. He took a deep breath, already feeling shame in anticipation of his next action. He knocked on the door of General Mane Crusher's room and waited for a reply as dread began to fill him. It was a quiet evening, which only underscored the anticipation that filled the stallion’s mind. The door opened, and Mane Crusher was there.

"What is it, Captain?" the general said directly.

"Sir, we have a situation," Swiftlight said in a hushed tone. "I was approached only moments ago by a captain from Brax's battalion. He was in our meeting earlier."

“You mean Radiant Pyre? Go on," Mane Crusher said slowly.

Checking to make certain that the hallway was empty, Swiftlight continued, "He seemed to think that I was not committed to our cause, and he suggested that we work together to prevent the plan we discussed in that meeting."

"I see," the general replied; a look of deep concern etched itself on his face. Looking directly at Swiftlight, General Mane Crusher said, "I want you to take care of this, permanently."

Swiftlight swallowed hard and heard himself say, "Affirmative."

The door closed, and the stallion stood alone in the corridor. That had gone about as he’d expected, and certainty was assured of Mane Crusher’s determination. The captain turned and walked to the clerk's office. The hallways seemed much larger, or perhaps he was stepping more slowly than usual. A member of their group would be stationed there at all times to assist with monitoring information that came and went. He was sitting outside the door, looking rather bored.

"Corporal," Swiftlight addressed him.

The corporal stood and saluted, "Sir!"

Speaking softly, Swiftlight said, "Go find Captain Radiant Pyre in town and keep him in your sight at all times. He is not committed to our cause, and you are to do whatever is necessary to prevent him from telling anypony else about our plan. If he does not attempt to do so, just follow him. Is that understood?"

"Yessir!" the corporal said, trotting down the hallway.

Swiftlight entered the corps clerk's office. There were stacks of paperwork everywhere. It would have looked messy if not for everything being so neatly arranged.

"You're in late," the clerk's squeaky voice greeted him.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to double-check some paperwork for discrepancies."

The corps clerk pushed his glasses up, looking a bit offended, "There are no discrepancies on anything that comes through this office!"

"Look, I just follow orders," Swiftlight said with a tone of bored exasperation. "Just give me the last five sit-reps we sent to Cloudsdale, will you? I don't want to be at this all night."

The corps clerk rolled his eyes, "Fine, do you want the new one?"

"Huh?" Swiftlight played dumb. "Oh, yeah, better get me that one too."

The clerk went about his files and rapidly gathered the requested documents.

"You'll be needing a pen?" the clerk asked indignantly.

"No, there are no discrepancies on any paperwork that goes through your office," Swiftlight replied sarcastically.

The clerk snorted as he dropped the files on a desk for Swiftlight.

"If you need anything, I'll be in my rack," the corps clerk said.

He exited into a small room next door. Swiftlight tried desperately to contain his excitement. For several minutes he went through the old paperwork, exactly like he’d said he would. When all was quiet, he took a paper and pen from his pocket. Quickly, his heart racing, he composed a brief, but direct letter for Shining Armor's aide. He described the details of the conspiracy to overthrow the prince that they had discussed. Then he added the names of the conspirators that he was sure of. He had strongly considered not signing his own name to this, but in order for it to be believed, he thought it worth the risk. Additionally, if things went badly, he would need the prince to know that he was still loyal. He completed the message and buried it in the new report. After this, he put his pen back into his pocket and continued pretending to pour over the reports in search of anything that was amiss. Now that this was taken care of, all he had to do was finish betraying Radiant Pyre. The thought sickened him, but it would ensure that he was completely trusted by the conspirators. Also, it had served as a fantastic excuse to send the guard away so that Swiftlight could get his message to the prince unnoticed.

...

Several hours worth of questions had come and gone, effectively consuming half of the night already. The full moon hung almost directly overhead now, and Scootaloo was tired of waiting in line. Moonlight aside, the paper lanterns that had been strung across the square for the occasion provided a soft glow. The murmur of the audience was a low background noise to the speakers bandying their words.

"So, Applejack you're saying that you don't believe in taxes? How would you fund the city without them?" a stallion asked. Scootaloo suspected that Diamond Tiara had many supporters that had been given incentive to be here.

"Oh, my, no, now that's not at all what I'm sayin'," Applejack replied. "I don't have a problem with taxes; I just think they should be fair is all. Let me put it this way. If we're going to have a sales tax, everypony should pay the same percent of it. If it's going to be an income tax, everypony should pay the same percent. Now, that would mean that anypony earning more will pay more tax, but it won't be as convoluted as what we have right now. Our tax code is longer than the city charter. Basically, I just don't think any government should be giving things to one pony and not to another, especially if they have to take that from somepony else. The only way to be completely fair the way I see it is to have the taxes the same, and the services offered the same too."

Scootaloo could tell that Applejack was still nervous, but she was at least able to speak intelligently to everything that had been asked of her.

"An excellent question," Diamond Tiara began; it was her turn to answer. "I for one wouldn't try to fund a city without taxes. My opponent speaks of fairness, but what could be more fair than protecting the citizens of Ponyville? What Applejack is asking you to accept is a tax code that puts more of the burden on the middle and lower classes. Right now, we have a more comprehensive approach to our tax code than the idealistically simplistic model that was just suggested. If such a system actually worked, we'd already be using it...”

She continued talking, but Scootaloo stopped listening. Those exchanges were becoming frustrating to Applejack, and Scootaloo could see it. When her time ran out, Diamond Tiara finally stopped, and the next question was asked.

An older pony spoke, "Mayor Diamond Tiara, you talked a little about your new farming initiative; why did you pick the orchard at Sweet Apple Acres?"

This had Scootaloo's complete attention. The entire gathering went totally silent. Somewhere on the other side of the square, Scootaloo could hear a foal crying.

"I'm glad you asked me that," Diamond Tiara said, still completely composed. "Our goal is to get oats and hay grown up as quickly as possible. Sweet Apple Acres is an ideal location for this, as it has already been very well-farmed and prepared. Once the attack on Ponyville was over, and the orchard had been destroyed, it only made perfect sense to begin there, as it is closer into town, and already irrigated. Even from the beginning, we had plans to expand beyond that, but we determined that it would be our best place to start."

She continued talking until her time ran out. Then Scootaloo noticed that Applejack was grinning ear to ear.

Applejack said, "Well, shucks madam mayor, I didn't know you knew that little about farming."

Stomping and applause broke out briefly, but Applejack held up a hoof to silence the crowd. The moderator was banging his gavel against his lectern to calm the outburst.

When order was restored, he scolded, “I’ll not have you turn this business into a circus! Keep your response to answering the questions.”

"My apologies, your honor," Applejack said to the moderator. “The part of Sweet Apples Acres that she picked is an apple orchard. I grew up there; I've worked there since I was just a filly, and I've been running the farm for the last twelve years. Everything that the mayor just said about it being so ideal for hay and oats is just a load of hooey. Just clearing the roots of the downed trees was quite an undertaking. Shucks half of you were there when we cleared the zap apple field; y'all know what I'm taking about. But there was also a lot of damage to the irrigation pipes that still haven’t been repaired. There are plenty of places around Ponyville, as the mayor even agreed earlier, that are good for farming. The fact of the matter is that they would have been as easy, if not easier to farm than the Sweet Apple Acres orchard. To answer your question, I've been a farmer my whole life, and from a farming point of view, I have no idea why she picked Sweet Apple Acres. It don't make a lick of sense."

Applause erupted again, and Scootaloo could see a crack in Diamond Tiara’s heretofore solid composure. The moderator banged on his gavel in an attempt to calm the crowd, but the noise was lost in the thundering applause.

...

Swiftlight turned his head to the sound coming from downtown. At first, he'd thought a storm was coming, but then he decided it sounded more like a crowd had become excited about something. ‘The debate must be rather fired up right now.’ Though he didn't have much use for politics, he'd have rather been there, if only to spend the evening with Java Chip. Each passing minute grew worse for Swiftlight. He was already filled with regret for how he had handled this situation. His choice was likely about to get Captain Radiant Pyre killed. Swiftlight wished that there was some way he could warn him, but it just wouldn't be possible. Even attempting such a thing would surely only serve get himself killed as well. A great swell of laughter washed out from the center of town as the captain headed to the barracks to get some more ponies to come with him. Three should be enough. That would make four, not counting the corporal that was already following Captain Radiant Pyre. After they finished the job, they'd have to dispose of the body. Five against one would be plenty.

...

Sparklefly felt hopeful, but not certain as to the outcome of the election as she listened to the questions and tried to read the crowd. A few of the others had gone to stand in line several hours before, but Sparklefly had stayed in their place with Sweetie Belle. Fluttershy had only just found them and was there also. All of them were still recovering. Pinkie Pie had asked a question that caused an uproar of laughter from not only the towns ponies, but both candidates and even the judge had also lost their composure. As they settled back down, Sparklefly strained to see but couldn’t tell who would be speaking next.

“Mayor Diamond Tiara,” Java Chip began, “with regard to Ponyville’s ‘small imports business tax’, when exactly was legislation for that actually first drafted?”

Diamond Tiara took a sip of water, “I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that on hoof. I know it was sometime last year, but we do so much city business every day that I can’t remember something that specific. I’m sorry.”

Her tone was cool, but Sparklefly suspected that she did in fact know. Applejack began to answer next.

“Well, Java, I actually took the time to look into that over the past few weeks.” Diamond Tiara’s fake smile became a slight grimace. “I can’t say for certain when it was first thought up, but the first record I could find of it in the minutes from city council meetings was from last year, one week after you catered Diamond Tiara’s birthday party. Also, ever since it passed, yours is the only business on the books that has ever qualified to pay the tax.”

A murmur returned to the crowd as Applejack finished speaking. Sparklefly felt herself grin as she rubbed at her eye patch.

Comments

[Emperor]

Looks like the two subplots may collide soon, especially if Diamond Tiara throws a tiff right about now.

[OmalleyCaboose5]

Checking to make certain that the hallway was empty, Swiftlight continued, "He seemed to think that I was not committed to our cause, and he suggested that we work together to prevent the plan we discussed in that meeting."

Oh
He has to betray the other officer to gain the trust of Mane Crusher for some sort of plan. A plan that does not yet exist but he intends to work out later

[Jatheus]

8740865
He's not a complete idiot... but it is rather heartless of him...