Rainbow Dash's inclusion had been an immense help. She gave Fizzlepop her assurances that there were a few members of Ponyville's weather team who would jump at the chance for some extra bits, and sure enough, she had three more pegasi applying the very next day. Having delegated the fliers to Rainbow, she could focus on other matters as the Ponyville E.U.P. began to take shape. Rainbow even went as far as to suggest merging the weather duties into the guard duties and making the weather team full time E.U.P.
"I get where you're coming from, but weather is Cloudsdale territory, and I don't want to step on any hooves this early on. Lets keep them separate for now, and the volunteers from the weather team can have guard duty whenever they have spare time." She told the pegasus.
Rainbow Dash had also become her favorite sparring partner. Fizzlepop knew that constant drilling was the number one priority when it came to an effective defense force. The two of them knew they needed a wide open space, so much to Twilight's annoyance, Rainbow's first choice was the library, and when she pointed out that's where she and Starlight held their magic tests, the Princess of Friendship didn't really have a hoof to stand on. With shielding assistance from Starlight, the two of them weren't afraid to not hold back as they practiced melee combat, and that was precisely the reason why Fizzlepop was walking down towards Carousel Boutique with Starlight, with a brand new dent in the right side of her helmet.
"I'm sure she'll completely understand, Fizzle. It's guard duty, it comes with the territory." Starlight told her, attempting to calm the Captain's nerves when she saw how frazzled she looked.
"I... Suppose..." Fizzlepop replied as she stepped up and knocked on the front door of the Boutique. Rarity answered moments later.
"Captain, pleasure to see you again so soon. What can I do for you?" She asked, ushering them inside.
"We had a little accident this morning." Fizzlepop explained, showing her the helmet. To her surprise, Rarity only chuckled in response.
"Well, finally. I've been wondering when you'd be in here for repairs, what with how often you and Rainbow have been at it all week." Rarity said, taking the helmet in her magical grasp and leading them down to the basement.
"Still," Fizzlepop began, her and Starlight following Rarity down the stairs. "I know how much more work you've taken on in helping me get the E.U.P. started and outfitted... All the sets of armor you're making for the volunteers that pass the basic tests... Once we really get drilling, you'd be overwhelmed with all the fixes. If you want to hold a class and teach us basic maintenance for these pieces, I'd clear whatever time you need."
The trio of ponies came into Rarity's basement; a cobblestone foundation that was the size of the building above them. In the center was a blazing open furnace, along with an anvil and smithing tools. For how prim and proper the ground floor was, Fizzlepop could never imagine Rarity as Ponyville's blacksmith. She had told her of Rainbow's first "gala dress" made to her exact specifications, and luckily for the Ponyville E.U.P., Rarity made much more functional sets when left to her own devices.
"I'm also wondering how we could go about... Modifications..." Fizzlepop told Rarity as she began slowly manipulating the inside of the dent with magic as her horn glowed.
"Also overdue, darling. I'm sure forming this guard is quite the daunting task, so if modifying any pieces makes it an easier job for you, you need only say the word. What did you have in mind?"
"The conduit, on the helmet. I'm wondering if there's anyway of removing it so I could wear it securely without the helmet." Fizzlepop told her.
"Ah, so if anything happens to the helmet, your horn is still functional." Rarity correctly surmised.
"Exactly. I wish that dent was the only thing that happened. Next thing I knew I was on my side and the helmet came clean off, sliding half way across the room. If that happens in a real fight, I'm in trouble. At first I thought of a simple fix like a chin strap, but then I thought of how nice it would be to have the use of my horn while not in full armor."
The dent warped for a moment, then after a metal popping sound, the helmet looked good as new. Now, Rarity turned it over and turned her focus to the notched and enchanted ring that had been built into the helmet where Fizzlepop's horn would go through.
"You'd still need your aetherial staff when not in uniform, and even when you are, that could also theoretically be knocked away in a scuffle." Rarity pointed out. Fizzlepop nodded, and Starlight stepped forward.
"True, but the aetherium gives off an aura that allows the enchantment to work; about fifty feet, so she wouldn't have to be holding it." The unicorn said.
"Hm, that's true. Well, I'll certainly look into it. For now, here you are, good as new, Captain, and I believe I'll take you up on that maintenance class once you have your squad squared away. In the meantime, don't fret over any dents or dings or improvements that you need me to address. Rest assured, that's what Twilight is paying me for." Rarity told Fizzlepop, handing the helmet back to her. With that, she and Starlight made their way back up the stairs while Rarity resumed her work on the next set of armor for the volunteers.
"See, told you she'd be fine with it. You were worrying over nothing." Starlight told her as they left Carousel Boutique.
Fizzlepop gave her a smile.
"By the way. I never thanked you. This was your idea, and it's given me something to push for and accomplish every single day."
Starlight scoffed.
"Don't thank me. Thank Twilight for keeping it unguarded for all this time. Equestria being the land of friendship and magic is all well and good, but it would be nice if we could also learn to detect a fleet of airships before they get to the capitol in the center of the country."
Ah, Starlight, I love your sass.
Whene are you planing to make this a bigger story?
This is way to briliant idea to be this small!!
Chrysalis: "What do you mean 'our spies got caught'!? They missed an entire fleet of hostile foreign airships closing in on their capitol! How did they manage to catch actual shape-shifting spies!?"
Drone 525: "Well, um... The Castle of Friendship actually has guards this time."
Chrysalis: "And you're point is? Canterlot has guards and I got in!"
Drone 324: "But these guards actually asked questions!"
Chrysalis: "Okay, that is new for the pony guards. What question got the spies caught?"
Drone 911: "They asked for names!"
Chrysalis: "Oh, for the love of..."
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As of now, I'm not. Just writing out ideas as they come.
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Dude that's hilarious!
Living this little 'verse you got going on here
This totally needs a follow up :)
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I'm writing them as I think them up.
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Woo!
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Coolies, no pressure! I'm enjoying the one-but-not-quite shot you've got going on. These highlight chapters feel really pleasant to read, rather than forcing an ongoing narrative upon yourself.
Keep up the good work
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And by all means, if you have any ideas, let me know!
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Just checked. No MLP movie tags yet.
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Actually according to the search bar, there is. Why can't I see it when I edit the story?
Rainbow would be practically useless as a sparring partner for Tempest. She practices karate, a striking martial art. Tempest is more judo or jeet kun do, diverting and utilizing momentum in strikes and body throws. Strikers vs grapplers/throwers doesn't end well.
Also when in the everloving fuck and why did Rarity take up something as gauche and uncouth as blacksmithing. Plot convenience!
Tailoring/seamstressing =/= ability to make armor.
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She made Rainbow's armor in the first attempt at Gala dresses.
Missing a quotation mark at the end of the paragraph.
Yes, that does rather sound like a bit of a flaw in Equestria's organization, doesn't it?
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Classic example of someone taking a fic too seriously.
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i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/765/687/b0c.png
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As someone who's practiced both karate and judo to varying extent I can personally say that the two can absolutely go together. I often see sweeps/throws/etc. used in practice and even sparring and do so myself too. Plus principles of diverting and using momentum come up all the time in my karate training, both to set opponents up for more effective strikes and also to off-balance or take someone to the ground.
That is to say if one is more a striker and the other more a grappler or thrower that could make for a great partnership, they can pick up a lot from each other. Tempest could learn additional ways to harm foes when she opens their defenses by manipulating their weight and momentum while Rainbow could learn how to better avoid compromising her defenses when attacking so she can't easily be thrown around, not to mention picking up momentum and weight manipulation would be aces for a Pegasus given their extra mobility.
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I believe that flaw falls directly onto Celestia: 1000 years that she spent isolated from the rest of her subjects; not to the point of complete isolation, but enough to have others view her as a flawless god. Because of her not getting or staying close with her subjects, many of them became reclusive and retreated inwards, including the Nobility who pulled out of their connections with their one-time allies like the Hippogriffs and the Abyssinians if the Expanded Universe is anything to go by, leading to Equestria becoming more-and-more isolationist as a result of this. And with Isolation comes a periodic decrease in the military due to the loss of contact with allied nations and the changing policies of the Education System to reflect the nature of the new government body that forms in the absence of Celestias' involvement. Because of this, older hatreds start to slowly boil back up to the surface again to the point where there is little difference between how Ponies treat each-other today than they did back in the time of the Three Tribes. Only whenever Celestia discovered her effects of her inaction, the damage to Equestria she caused has already been done and that from the very first episode, she has been devoting her efforts over the last few decades into bringing Equestria back from the brink.
However, this is a slow process, and from what we can tell already: any changes that they are wanting to implement are not moving fast enough to both make up for lost time, and to keep Equestria safe and secure.
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I don't remember seeing this. I personally do have a bit of a hard time seeing Rarity as an armorsmith, while perhaps not quite as dirty as its iron-working counterpart (blacksmith) it is still from what I vaguely recall from visits to Renaissance festivals and my own miscellaneous research binges on the internet, a hot and sweaty occupation which as someone else pointed out is kinda anti-thetical to Rarity. I'm not saying it is impossible, mind you, but perhaps Rarity could work in tandem with Ponyville's full-time smith doing the more intricate bits like gem-placement, helmet crests, capes of office and the like.
Also, I read a story a while back where Kerfuffle did some sparring with Tempest and she was put through her paces, IIRC, Kerfuffle did a stint in the guard hence her prosthetic limb.
Also, it is very possible to show Tempest needing to prove her reformation and not be welcomed with open hooves. Not that there is anything wrong with that mind you, but if you wanted to take a more dramatic route, I read a story where the CMC "try" to help her, and the best interaction she got was an Icy "I'm watching you" kind of reception again this is presuming that IIRC.
I can totally see Rares making designs as well as prototype armor sets for Twi's guards, but not necessarily go into full mass production to outfit an entire regiment. She is canonically very good at manipulating a large number of objects with high precision, so operating machines/tools wouldn't be a problem for her. It'd mostly involve cold-working sheet metal and pre-fabricated materials like chain mail (not so sure how she'd feel about real leather) so she should be able work on those pieces while keeping her dainty flank clean.
Borderline but certainly not the most ooc thing she could do.