84 - Lines in the Sand
Far above them all, the universe moved. It was an inexorable thing, and the empire of man was but one piece of it, always moving, not always forward, but always in motion. A moderate sized vessel jumped between gates. Though moderate by their way of seeing things, it was far too large to enter the atmosphere of the planet it was near. It could have crushed the entirety of Ponyville in metal just by trying.
"Welcome to Equestria," came the radio broadcast from the Hawkwood frigate that floated defensively near the world.
"Good to be here," came the cheerful reply. "Not every day we get word of a new market opening its doors. We're with the Guild, of course." He had failed to specify more than that, meaning the one speaking was part of the Merchant's Guild, but not one of its larger and more known branches worth knowing. "And we come bearing gifts for those with the coin or goods to trade for them."
"Be cautious," cut in the broadcast of a new voice, coming from one of the church vessels. "This world's denizens are still being judged."
"Now now, I should hope they've shown if they're friendly or not." The merchant ship was approaching the world at a steady pace, not at all dissuaded by the cryptic warning. "What say you, Hawkwoods?"
"We'll broadcast the landing point. With local cooperation, a basic paved landing area has been arranged. We have an agent on the ground to help with local laws and to facilitate exchanges." The Hawkwood operative speaking could be heard shuffling a few papers about. "His name is Laud Mountbatten, one of ours."
"Of course, of course," acknowledged the merchant's radio speaker. One could hear the smile on his face. "Sounds like a reasonable sort. If they've made a welcome mat, I hardly imagine we have much to fear."
It would take time to prepare a landing vessel under the scornful watch of the church ships, but so far from civilization, they were the three sides of power, gathered there. Nobility, the church, and money, with no loyal people on the side to call upon.
Bon Bon raised a hoof to a door, rapping twice before glancing around, then tapping once more, the third barely a whisper of a noise.
A slit opened on the door, allowing a pair of eyes to peer down at her and her rider. "Drops?" asked a female voice.
"Bon Bon," she corrected, simultaneously telling the shadowy figure to be quiet about the clandestine origin of their knowledge of one another. "The dragon on my back is looking to get a sword, and I want to get him a good one. Lucky you, you happen to be the closest pony I thought of."
The pony inside snorted softly. "Lucky me. You brought bits or a purchase order?"
Spike tilted his head a little. "Should we have gotten one of those from Laud?"
"We have bits." Bon Bon inclined her head, gesturing with it towards her pocket. "Plenty of coins for talented smiths. Do you know where one of those might be?"
"Ha! Stop teasing, Bon Bon. You might make me angry." The slot closed, but the door opened a moment later, admitting the way into darkness. "Come in, bring the dragon, and tell me the particulars."
She proceeded onwards without hesitation. "He's a squire, officially. He's also still growing. I want a sword that will grow with him." She wasn't facing the smith, who was to their side as they entered, watching them.
The smith knocked the door shut. "Enchantments aren't free," she noted, eyeing Spike intently. "Mmm, I see you have a fake one dangling there. You know how to use it?"
Spike reached for his practice sword. "Of course, ma'am. Laud's been showing me how."
"Great, get down from there." She pointed to the floor. Spike jumped off of Bon Bon, going from above the smith to below. The Smith grabbed a metal pipe in her mouth. "Let's make sure you won't cut yourself. I won't make a sword for anycreature that doesn't know how to use one."
Bon Bon sat down out of the way, watching them. "He defeated Blueblood."
"Did he? Good for him." She swung the pipe a little before turning to Spike directly. "Show me what you have."
Spike drew his sword. "To the first telling blow," he declared, holding the sword forward before raising the tip into a more ready position. "I wouldn't want to hurt my smith; that wouldn't be very logical." Not that he really wanted to hurt any ponies.
"Not very logical at all." She suddenly darted forward, bringing her pipe down towards his forehead, but he saw that coming a mile away and deflected it to the side. Unlike his match with Blueblood, this carried her head with it, allowing him to dart around her in the moment she was recovering from the blow.
She barked out a laugh, throwing the pipe aside. "Good enough. Let's start the fires." She trotted off into the darkness only to banish it, stepping on a bellow that caused fires to surge upwards in a furnace, lighting the dim room fiercely a moment. "A fine sharp blade for an up and coming knight."
"But... I didn't finish?" Spike scratched behind his head, looking a bit confused.
"You want to pummel a smith that badly?" She kept pressing her hoof down, stoking the flames patiently. "It doesn't take much to see someone knows what they're doing, and that's all I wanted out of you. Bon Bon, are you bringing delinquents into my smithy?"
"What? No! I mean, thank you, for working on this." He bowed in the formal way Laud had shown. "So you can really make magic swords?" That was more than he was expecting, but not a bad surprise.
"I'll knead the magic right into it." She stopped forcing air across the flames and moved to where ingots of metal rested. "It won't fail you, provided you don't fail it. A sword can't be more powerful than the one wielding it, shameful fact. Probably for the best."
Bon Bon suddenly put a hoof on his shoulder. "She knows what she's doing. In fact, I bet she doesn't even need us here anymore."
"Nope." She selected one of the bars and grabbed it in her mouth, bringing it over towards the raging fires. "There's work to do. Leave the bits."
Spike raised a hand. "One thing... You, uh, you're an earth pony, right? How do you do magic?"
The smith stopped, peering at him before setting the ingot down. "One, that's just ignorant. All ponies have magic. Dragons have magic. Changelings, magic. Most creatures got some, just a matter of knowing how to use it. Two, what I am is none of your business, Sir." She turned back to the fires and picked up the ingot, setting it down in those raging fires to begin heating. "Go on then. I'll send word when there's a blade to claim."
Bon Bon set down the heavy bag of bits. "I'm 'just' an earth pony too, Spike. Are you a little tribist, hmm?" She approached Spike with a little smirk. "I know some magic your high and mighty unicorn of an older sister will never know, but that's my secret."
"I didn't mean that!" he squeaked in defense. "I just, you know, thought you had to be a unicorn to make magic... stuff..." He lifted his shoulders in a helpless shrug. "If it doesn't work that way, cool." He hiked a thumb. "Thanks again, we'll get out of your mane."
"Good idea." Bon Bon turned, offering her back towards Spike. As soon as he was in place, she trotted away. "See you later." All she got was a grunt, but the two seemed to understand each other clearly enough. They emerged into the light of day and Bon Bon gestured widely. "Well, that's done. We'll be told when she's done. Until then, you're on your own."
"Thanks!" Spike hugged Bon Bon around the neck from behind. "Oh, huh, just realized you're my sister-in-law now. Neat."
She squinted a little before a soft smile appeared. "I suppose that makes you my little brother-in-law as well. I haven't had one of those before..." She raised a hoof to her chin, considering him. "Odd, but you're free to go." She leaned a little, prompting him to jump free. "I'll be back at the castle." She pointed towards the tower. "Be good."
"As if I'm ever not," he huffed a little, but waved as she departed. He looked towards the smithy, its door shut. It had no open windows. It had no sign. No one would even know it was a smithy. "Weird..." He dashed off, having a particular pony in mind to visit.
Laud grabbed for his hip where a sudden noise was issuing. "Yes?"
"Sir," replied the voice of a man. "A merchant ship's arrived. We gave them the coordinates for your pad and have them on scanners. They seem friendly, but you know how that goes."
"I do." He hadn't, truly. He'd heard stories, but since becoming an actual noble with a land that was his, it had been a crash course in how the universe really worked. "I'll inform the visitors here now that they'll have company. Any idea what manner of goods they're bringing or seeking?"
"Not a clue, Sir," admitted the operator. "They didn't proclaim any specific merchant ties. They check out for the moment."
There was so much more he wanted to ask or talk about, but there was no assurance others couldn't be listening to their conversation. "Very good." He hung up and slipped the radio away where it had come from. "The show must go on. Twilight?"
She appeared with a flash. Unnerving, but almost reliable. "Laud?"
"We're getting more visitors, merchants this time," he explained expediently. "I'll need to know the local laws regarding that."
A book appeared with a flash much as Twilight had done herself. "Here you are, oh, and--" Another book joined it, hovering in the air. "Here's Ponyville's specific bylaws. The first covers Equestria as a whole. How exciting!" She brought her forehooves together in a delighted little clip-clop. "I can't wait to see what they're bringing. Now may be a good time to have the local ponies gather what they may want to trade. I wish they had given more warning, we could have made this more than a 'Ponyville' thing."
He imagined that, the entire country made aware they could try to peddle to aliens on a particular date. It could become quite the event. "We'll be sure to tell them to give more forewarning if they want a greater supply of goods to choose from. Can you spread the word to the ponies in town?"
"I can do one better!" She vanished with a burst of sparkles.
He nodded at the space that once held Twilight, catching the books just as they began to fall without her there to hold them up. He had a bit of reading to do. "I won't mess this up." He had laws to uphold on either side of the line.
Browsing quickly for the largest laws, it quickly became clear that most of them were in regards to keeping things honest, and not what was being traded. Ponies appeared to have basically no goods clearly marked as illegal. Even obviously harmful substances were written about in the laws only in ways to handle them safely and clearly, but never in such a way that their trade was outright banned.
There was an entire chapter about the handling of a dangerous local flora, Poison Joke, and how it should be contained and moved and labeled, but if one pony wanted to sell it, and another to buy it, nothing stopped either of them.
This was a relief, and horribly worrying, all in the same instant. There were many things he didn't want his little ponies getting their hooves on.
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Fauna is animals. Plants are flora.
9710556
Damn legal typos, the worst!
9710560
Legal Typos: "Hey! I work hard as a business lawyer! Just ask Flim and Flam! Or my wife, Legal Loopholes!"
Legal Loopholes: "Type, stop helping..."
Already seeing them as his little ponies? Laud's starting to go native.
Wait, what about ambulatory carnivorous plants like timberwolves? Or dryads?! Do they count as flora or fauna?
If spaceship computers can be corrupted by a virus and fried by coffee.
just what Poison joke pollen and sap is going to do to them?
I think Laud should get into talks to lable Equestria as a Hazerdous material zone, and therefore wich materials etc are banned from trade, just so the merchants etc dont have to deal with them, or the cost of cleanup?
Would agreeing to ban transfer, trade, use of such materials by seal of Pinkie Promise be classed as under Duress and so non binding or even worse? Or accepted when the cupcakes appear?
9710786
Elementals are neither, they are categorized as a subtype of spirit.
baring gifts - bearing gifts
9711285
Fixed!
How many chapters long will this story be? I won't read a story that doesn't end.
9711456
I can offer no sure time frame. You are free to check my other stories.
9710984
Hate to be pedantic but that doesn't answer the question for Timberwolves as spirit wasn't an option. Are spirits plants or animals? Or does it depend on the type of the manner of manifestation? Plants that can move are still flora inncidently.How ever I would assume for simplicity sake anything that manifests as a plant is considered and plant and everything else is an animal. Undead would be classed as animals if spirits where attached and constructs(ie robots) if not.
I foresee Flim and Flam making an appearance.
"church vessel. "This "
"church vessels. "This "?
"telling bow," he"
"telling blow," he"?
"furnace, lightning the dim"
"furnace, lighting the dim"?
"it has been a crash"
"it had been a crash"?
Ugh, merchants. Let's see how genuine these are.
Cryptic warning indeed. Haven't they already concluded? They're only awaiting enforcement at this point...
Keep going! ;)
9711858
Such a large field of stars, full of typos.
9712046
Heh. :)
I think Bon Bon has forgotten Spike's sister is now an alicorn who will probably learn earth pony magic herself one day.
9711651 Here's hoping!
9715145
But! Will Twilight ever learn super spy magic?
So technically speaking, if somebody wanted to sell some dangerous weaponry or substances, they can't be banned, but if their not safely/properly transported then they can't be sold... so in other words, if you wanted to sell a gun to somepony, you had to both teach them how to use the gun, and give them a basic run-down on gun safety and maintenance... wow, just wow.
11341089
These are pony laws. Why are you surprised?