This story is a sequel to Three Hoofwidths To The Left
There's nothing like a surprise library inspection for discovering code violations, especially when the pony conducting that examination is determined to find something. But Twilight keeps the tree running to her own standards, and that means true offenses are hard to come by. Really, there's just one little potential issue.
'Little' as in 'the crests come up slightly short of your spine. Oh, and it breathes fire.'
For some strange reason, the local trotting incarnation of bureaucracy has a problem with this.
(A stand-alone, no-prior-reading necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome. While this story takes place after the linked piece, no knowledge of those events is required.)
Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.
Ooh, new story to experience on this hectic weekend. Thank you, Estee
Hah! Nice!
I mean, I'd have preferred something more viceral, but as we have long established at this point, I'm not a very nice person.
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there might have been a case for hauling him up on charges of poisoning or attempted murder. It seems at least plausible that exposing a dragon to a super-saturated atmosphere might actually cause serious long-term health issues. (I'm sort of thinking like the disease that was killing Thane in ME 2 and 3, caused by putting a desert race in a humid atmosphere.)
Aww, touching sibling moment all around. Your Spike stories are always fun to read.
Brought a new PC. Needed multiple trips to the shop to get additional cables. Currently transferring everything over and fixing the things that don't work. Getting increasingly annoyed. Estee publishes new story.
Well, something went right today. And a very good story it is too.
Now, how much in candy and comics that's worth...
Oh hey, they kept the book fort.
Oh dear, it's an equine Auditor.
So... can crickets actually be trained not to chirp by somepony other than Snails, or is that just bureaucracy allowing for the impossible so there's less room for ways to actually get around it?
But that's how he makes friends! In multiple senses!
How to tell a story in two sentences.
An excellent deep moment from Dash, and some exquisite irony. Thank you for a fantastic bit of sibling solidarity.
Minor continuity issue: this story is marked as being in the Triptych Continuum. Three Hoofwidths To The Left is not. This inconsistency bothers me.
Yes.
Well.
I think he.
:sunglases:
Got The Point.
Heh. I love these little slices into your universe. It’s amazing how people use laws and rules to push there own agendas over the intended purpose of said law/rule.
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I'll edit the earlier story's long description. The prequel was an experiment in not scaring people away through 'NO! NOT ANOTHER 'VERSE!'
I finally remembered the comment I wanted to make, before I got so caught up in reading this story that I completely forgot about it. Did anyone else hear Minor Technicality's lines in Mud Briar's voice?
She got the point across...and this time, nopony has to press charges.
Your lucky the princesses are old, petty, and sadistic. Most people who challenge their rulers to such a degree are executed.
Yeah, I’ve eaten hospital food. It tastes like a nutritionist designed it be nourishing.
Dude may be a jerk, but IMO he has a point
Sounds like a STORY!
NO! Legally, there IS no such thing as blackmail.
It’s extortion
Do please be precise
Yeah, but they're all on the first or second floor. You don't get a good defenestration until you hit third, at least. Fourth would be better.
FYI: If we're collecting Tropes, Blackmail is Such An Ugly Word fits just fine.
I originally thought the end was Twilight using blatant lies but after some consideration (and that Twilight doesn't do a brandishment bluff) I believe it is more properly taking refuge in audacity.
Congrats on getting the top of the featured list.
I’m guessing you’ve read Discworld, cause Minor Technicality is definitely an Auditor. And I love it!
This is your own fault, Minor Technicality. You succeeded in reminding two siblings that they just so happen to have an immense amount of favor (if seldomly utilized) with they who make the laws.
Minor’s weird horn had me thinking. In the Verse, a unicorn’s horn is pretty much indestructible and doesn’t transfer energy into the skull. His super thin horn is still sturdy enough to take a lot of stress from the environment here. It makes me wonder what Shadow Tempest would be like in the Verse. I don’t expect to see her, but I didn’t expect Starlight Glimmer to make an appearance either.
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Indeed. It is possible to catch pneumonia from constantly breathing air that damp.
I really do wonder what would have happened if Luna had been told what was happening with one of her underlings. Because Librarys and Books are her department.
That's what they always say, you notice that? Like denying it really makes it any less true...
The fact that he has to specify as precisely the strictest means that this interpretation of it is totally up for debate, and from that alone, one could start poking holes in his whole approach on this. Seriously, this is all a lawsuit (or three or a hundred...) against him waiting to happen if somepony would just take that step. It'd be way too easy to build a case against him on this.
Of course, as is always the case with the legal system, it'll probably drag this all out by months or more if the guy chooses to fight it, and of course he would, but...if he's going to try and use a bluff to force Twilight and Spike out, they might as well return the favor with a bluff of their own: "back off, or we'll sue you, dude."
That said, though, I like the solution they do come up with waaaaay better. Much cleverer too. And rewarding.
...and your point is?
Heh heh heh. Turnabout is fair play.
(Really, they did him a favor. As he gets older and more absent minded, the higher the odds of his accidentally stabbing someone important with that horn get, so they may have saved him from serious plot-rape prison time).
I'm pretty sure that his bureaucrat's Mark really has nothing to do with Libraries: as Twilight could acridly say, no actual librarian [1] would install a "safety" system that would put books at such immediate risk.
[1] By his own definition, someone with a Librarian's Cutie Mark.
This is how you get even, in grand fashion. And a lovely way to break a rules lawyer.
Awww! So much Heartwarming Sibling interaction!
And IIRC, Spike will get paid, as said in a story set in the future of this one, so that makes me feel glad!
I thought they would've got him with an assault charge or something, but, this way works too, getting him to mind his horn, while also not needing anyone to be injured.
I wonder if that law actually was an old one, when times were more violent and stuff, so ponies who sharpened their horns or something, *had* to be policed for the safety of others.
I guess I'd know if I see what other laws have been referenced in the series.
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Lol if he also has to pay for fixing their door. Likely not?
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Rainbow deep in thought is really something!
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Cool short description!
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Typos:
enterthe > enter the
unsubtlely > unsubtly
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I wonder if the book fort has been magically enchanted against rain and other environmental damage, or whether That Book is so horrible that natural forces dare not touch it.
It's always fun to see someone get shown up.
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Estee-verse Luna? Minor's darned lucky Twilight and Spike decided to handle the issue themselves.
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I feel that they likely consulted Luna. They were, after all, planning vengeance against one of hers, since he's employed by the Archives.
And thus my head canon that Discord can’t actually read, and will use his magic to impart a book’s contents to him some other way is reinforced. Just imagine the rules that go along with reading, and how much they must hurt him. Spelling, grammar, synonyms, homonyms, antonyms, contronyms, orphaned negatives... Reading must be like a knife to his chaotic soul. But I do wonder how he might change the world if he were to discover thaumatic fiction.
Ooh, that was some beautiful vengeance by Spike and Twi. And yeah, an unusual but awesome moment of depth from Rainbow!
The best part was that by damaging the door, he literally gouged an example of unsafe hornuse into a public structure.
And we know the law can't be that recent if Pokey had a license for his.
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Unless it takes a lot of energy to grow the long sharp horns or they're selected against sexually it's surprising that natural selection doesn't mean than most unicorns have long horns they seem like fairly useful weapons. Sure maybe ponies first reaction is to run away but for when that's not possible being able to stab a predator without getting hurt yourself seems like a survival trait.
Of course it may be that ponies were created rather than evolved, certainly the bits about their instincts being stronger than most other sentient creatures might suggest they were uplifted in some way.
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They took care of Pokey before they left Ponyville. Both as practice and as a alibi. Cant claim they targeted him if someone else was checked first.
nice story, though I feel like this guy does need to be dealt with for harassment besides just Spike and Twilight putting him in his place
"the possibility of a mention, having a"
"the possibility of a mission, having a"?
Nice. :)
I wonder how many of the staff have OCD in your verse now.
The whole thing was great, but that sibling bond at the end? Perfection.
So, his solution to a safety violation... was to introduce a health violation? Never mind the books disintegrating, those are the optimal conditions for mold to grow, most definitely on the books, but it would likely also grow on the timbers, rafters and even the floors and any unpainted walls. Heaven forbid that the tree itself should begin to rot from the inside out.
So, in his quest to mitigate a minor fire hazard, he would have endangered — with malice — the health and well-being of anyone who happened to want to check out a book or who lived there, necessitated the complete renovation of the town’s library — at the town’s expense through no fault of their own — with reckless disregard, interfered with the regular and lawful use of a government facility, and potentially facilitated the destruction of a cultural landmark. Oh, and then the cloud kept over the dragon, diverting an agricultural resource for improper use, as well as tying up the time of duly appointed first responder to settle a personal vendetta.
That’s a few years in the clink....
Is there such a law where a dragon and a griffin can legally get married?
You need to be a special kind of stupid for trying to use regulations against Twilight Sparkle. Even if the only thing you know about her is that she is pet prized pupil of the mare who approves all regulations and incidentally rules your country.
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He is a bigot and a bully. As Rainbow mentioned self projection and refusal to take responsability are a big part of people like him.
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I was expecting Mrs. Cruelneigh, Ponyville building inspector, to get involved at that point.
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Technically--no, there isn't.
With extremely few exceptions, laws are meant to forbid things from happening, NOT to permit them to happen NOR require them to happen.
Only in the most repressive authoritative regimes have there ever been laws that permitted an action or required an action by its citizens to take--such as a certain infamous recent requirement for a nation's citizens to BUY a specific commercial product or risk a substantial legal fine.
edited--> What I meant to say above was regarding "repressive authoritative cultures" that somehow had automatic bans on any action unless a specific law was made to allow it. Also, that comment wasn't intended to refer to any nation or state making a law rescinding a previous restricting law--thus undoing a taboo.
Sorry about any confusion I may have caused.
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There's only so long it could grow before it becomes unwieldy, and in the Estee-verse hitting your horn when trying to cast hurts like a mofo.
Using the horn for stabbing is more of a backup last-resort like a modern combat knife.
Can fanfictions be filed under r/ProRevenge? Because this one definitely fits. That last line is SO cathartic.
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Not sure what you’re getting at here. Leaving aside everything from the Magna Carte to the Bill of Rights, pretty much every Tax Code alone is full of laws permitting actions in order to exempt income from being taxed.
I'll be honest. While the very end was indeed quite heartwarming, my favorite bit of warm fuzzies comes at the beginning of the story; reading about how Twilight schedules Spike's playtime to coincide with the best weather on any given day just does it for me.
This was a sweet story, and it shows how Twilight is growing as a pony while capturing the interesting mix of inherent responsibility and childish interests that makes Spike such a charming character. Their sibling interactions gave this story a lot of heart and humor... and the resolution was extremely satisfying.
This is the second r/revenge story I read. Why isn't there a r/ group?