Chapter 8: A new deputy, and a troubling friendship problem. (Edits HorseWordFan)
Hearth's Warming came and went with a flair on par with the Summer Sun Celebration in Equestria, and much of this excitement correlates with the rebranding of the ancient tradition.
To my understanding the act of gift giving was a way to show appreciation for another while promoting the feelings of love and community to prevent the return of the icy foe from the story; this tale was told very differently in the Crystal Empire with enough differences to make the modern portrayal more appealing to a society attempting to forget Sombra. For the foreseeable future, the Crystal Empire’s Hearth’s Warming will last for the rest of the year.
This extended vacation left me feeling anxious, being unable to perform my duties as expected, but it didn’t mean I was completely incapable of doing any work for the duration of the surprise break. Most of my time was spent with Topaz and Cersus exploring the city’s notable landmarks to further our knowledge of our new home, and the ponies that live here. During our outings, we learned much of what the city had to offer three displaced Equestrians trying to adopt.
"Celestia above.. You have me doing that Idol, but Celestia above, I’m experiencing a flurry of emotions I can’t even comprehend.” Topaz vented to me as we made our way back to the castle after spending the morning visiting her future place of employment.
The Institute of Crystallography & Assorted Magics, or ICAM, as the secondary school is often referred to by the returning student body, would be Topaz’s new source of employment. Having suffered during Sombra’s rule and a millennium of advancements made during their absence had left them disposed of as the premier center of learning forcing them to play catch up; Once they had learned of Topaz’s previous occupation, and achievements, she was quickly offered a senior position as head of a new department.
I am happy for her, and by the emotions she keeps radiating is as well, but all of that excitement is masking a subtle layer of doubt underneath it. Topaz is currently venting as she rapidly switches between topics, I have little knowledge about, but will make the appropriate effort to rectify this handicap.
“... you a new uniform.”
“I’m sorry Topaz, but I missed that first part.”
“It’s not important.” She brushed my confusion off with a wave of her hoof as I noted a mixture of lewd suggestions before being buried quickly. I’ll have to investigate later.
“It might not be important to you, but it is concerning to me. Your emotions are worse than a hive of swarming bees, and the inconsistent fluctuations are beginning to worry me. What’s wrong?”
The raging emotions settled slightly, and I couldn’t tell if it was because of myself or the understanding her mood was affecting more than herself, but it calmed enough to allow the Pegasus a chance to talk without rambling.
“I’m in charge of the biology department Idol! It took me years to gain the respect of my peers in Canterlot, and suddenly I’m expected to build an entire department from scratch?”
“It’s no different than my current assignment, but you do have one advantage I do not have. You have freedom of choice.” She turned to me; the question was in her eyes. “I have a choice, but it's confined to following a set of protocols listed in the guard manual while you don’t.”
“I have the school board, and the ICAM to worry about.” She countered.
“The Empire, while a part of Equestria, is considered autonomous enough to forgive some leniency. Just like me, I believe our respective professions have a problem and sought us out accordingly.”
“You really think so?” Topaz questioned as her left wing rubbed the bottom of her muzzle, a habit when in thought. I didn’t respond to give her time to assess her new role, but feeling the worry fading told me everything I needed to know.
Excitement was my mood after leaving Shifting Wind’s office, and for good reason.
After an estimated two hours of discussion, we finally reached a compromise on two very important matters: Chain of Command and recruitment. In a move most uncommon, I have decided to leave Shifting Wind in charge of what remains of the Crystal Guard while myself will act more as an advisor in its day-to-day operations. Normally, the superior officer would assume all command responsibilities that included the ability to replace and select his own subordinates if so desired, but that wasn’t what I wanted nor desired.
My task was simply- rebuild the Crystal Guard. Neither, in the transfer papers or my discussions with the princesses did it state I would assume permanent command of the guard, and with this directive in mind, I will strive to keep my involvement to a minimum leaving most of the decisions with the sergeant.
Back in Canterlot, Shining took a different approach with his leadership philosophy by allowing the chain of command to handle every matter that didn’t directly need his input with much success. I aimed to mimic this style in stark contrast to how the Crystal Ponies, Celestia, and even Chrysalis shared a similar mindset of involving themselves in every facet of the decision making.
My duties only state to rebuild the Crystal Guard, and that will continue to be the extent of my involvement.
I took the stairs all the up to my shared quarters on the ninth floor only stopping to greet the occasional staff going about their own duties, but to my embarrassment three of them began giggling once they recognized who I was with one maid even waving to me as we passed. This caused the other two mares to laugh even more before the three hurried around the corner, and down the stairs.
This was the only noteworthy moment of my walk back, and I was thankful for the lack of conversation topics. Castle staff are one thing, but having to explain it to Shining and Cadence is another, and one becoming increasingly more likely by how Cadence keeps suggesting ‘specialized tailors’ Topaz and I should visit. Presumably, the custom of mare talk has happened and our friends are aware of what happened that night, but I couldn’t say anything about it.
I could recall several instances of Cadence, Topaz, and Honey learning of an event in a moment's notice. Sooner or later this feline will escape its confinement of the burlap sack, but until that fateful day I will do my best to keep it contained.
‘Addressing it will only encourage it.’ I told myself as I finally reached my assigned room, I did the customary three knocks to alert Topaz and Cersus of my arrival before letting myself in.
The first thing that I noticed was a large box sitting on the bed, horrendously tore open with its wrapping shredded and discarded on the sheets and floor with no care for cleanup. Topaz and Cersus were on the other side of the package examining something, with the foal dressed in her Daring Do costume trying to extract the mysterious item from her guardian’s hooves.
“Let me see it!” Cersus whined while making another attempt to grab the object, but was held back by a forehoof.
“I recognize the logo. Maybe it’s a custom order?” Topaz wondered as she held the excitable filly back, before hearing me approach “Idol look!”
She released her hold over the filly who threw herself off the bed trying to get the..doll? Oh. Oh no.
From behind the opened box, Topaz revealed a foal size doll made from felt that had a very uncanny resemblance to the Pegasus. They each shared the simple wire frame glasses, and colors, but the difference was the uniform the doll was wearing; a simple dress blue coat and matching skirt long enough to cover her flank with a functional square cap resting on the doll’s head. I moved closer to examine this strange, but prophesied doll the toy owner warned me about just to confirm it wasn’t a part of my own mind.
It wasn’t.
“It’s me, Idol! Isn’t it just adorable?” She pushed the doll into my muzzle, until I took it with my magic. Cersus’s wings were buzzing fast as she tried jumping up to snatch the doll away, but I lifted it higher instead.
“It is…”
“Her name is Deputy Affectionate, and it’s the sweetest thing! Do you think we could get one for my mother? OH! And maybe my one for my cousins foal as well?” She began rattling off many more ponies that would need their own doll based in her image.
I kept rotating to absorb every detail in its construction, and discovered it indeed looked and felt like my own doll currently being produced. Without the uniform, the miniature Topaz doll was a near match for the Pegasus still gushing emotions over its felt design, while my own apprehension for the line it hails from was momentarily forgotten.
“She is rather lovely.” I finally said earning myself some of those gushing emotions.
“Let me see!” Cersus cried once more, and with Topaz’s permission relinquished the doll to her waiting hooves.
“Did you order it, Idol?” I looked to Topaz whose expression had softened significantly at the surprise toy. I never understood until after the wedding and my talks with Princess Luna, but I liked seeing her happy more so than any other pony, and this made hiding the truth from her much harder, and so I shook my head no.
“Its creation is not of my own accord, but that of the company that makes the Officer Friendly line of dolls.” I admitted, and seeing her perk up meant she caught it.
“Line of dolls? But isn’t Officer Friendly the only one…” She trailed off before looking toward the Pegasus doll Cersus was currently using as her sidekick before looking back to me.
I waited for the outburst to follow, but instead found myself watching the mare devolve into a fit of foalish giggles and snorts before fluttering around in circles.
“Celestia above, you’re not joking are you!? Oh, my stars, wait until Cady hears about this!” She declared before rushing forward to hug me tightly “Thank you, thank you!”
I couldn’t address her misplaced appreciation of the product before ending the hug, and bolting for the door. In her need for speed, she forgot to close the doors allowing me to hear her hooves lightly tapping against the floor, meaning she might be prancing down the hall.
“Do I get one?” Came a high pitch voice, to me right. I turned to look at Cersus who moved closer to me with the doll resting on her back, looking up at me expectantly.
For her insistence on being a good drone, the nymph had slowly been inserting herself into our activities as of late to Topaz’s glee. The early part of the train ride over is a prime example of this gradual shift in attitude, from using us as resources to further her own independence to becoming increasingly more codependent. Before leaving Canterlot, Cersus was already spending less time in her lair in favor of using the room Topaz provided, and has eased my own worries for the nymph.
I tried my best to provide what Cersus might need to one day return to the hive, sparing her the fate of a lowly exile, yet the wedding attack ended that dream. This could be the explanation for her recent clingy behavior, or maybe life away from the hive had changed her far too greatly to ever function in that environment again?
Those answers will likely avoid my hooves for the remainder of my life, but what I do know was the nymph and myself will remain reliant on each other for the foreseeable future. She needed me for shelter and care, and I needed her to provide a measure of purpose to my life.
“At the current rate, the odds are greatly in your favor Cersus. Maybe writing a letter to the company might yield the results you seek?”
“You think so?” She looked up expectantly, and I nodded.
“One thing I’ve learned during my time with Topaz is polite words can often get you the results you want. And your guardian’s signature.”
“I thought I had to write it, why do you have to sign it?”
“You still have to write and sign the letter, but adding my signature wouldn’t hurt. I’ve heard it holds some importance.”
“Is that why we moved?”
Her question was a hard one to answer at the time, and one that stuck with me for many years to come. It wasn’t the structure nor the wording used that made it difficult to answer, but the look of dejection her eyes held while looking up at me, already knowing the answer, hoping it might be something more in our control.
That was the hardest question I ever had to answer, and would remain so. Not even the question Topaz asked me several years later was that difficult, and by then it was a simple question when the only choice was yes.
“Yes, it is Cersus, and for the ponies to receive a letter with two signatures would impress them. Two is better than one after all.”
“You think this will work? The Crystal Empire used to host tournaments for recruits to show off their skills before the branches made their choice.” I nodded as the white Pegasus sat across from me, continuing his examination of the doll.
“The Crystal Ponies are very strict in their traditions, but relying on Equestria to provide most of the guard force will only hurt us in the end. We need local recruits if the Empire is to retain its sense of identity as an Empire and not a protectorate.”
Shifting Winds nodded as he leaned back into this chair, setting down the doll as he did so.
The idea isn’t new, and partly an adaptation of Equestira’s own recruitment process reshaped to better fit the dynamics of the Crystal Ponies. I myself find the new proposal a bit silly when considering everything I’ve learned about the citizens during my two weeks so far, but the popularity of my alter ego can’t be overlooked.
“It could work, but I still have my doubts.” The Pegasus and my acting second-in-command leaned back in thought while crossing his forelegs behind his head to stare up at the ceiling.
The lack of formality was on my insistence. An attempt to melt the mysterious ice that commonly prevented ponies from interacting efficiently, and for half an hour this had proven the best method to push my proposal forward. My new rank made this unnecessary, but until I officially took command of the Crystal Guard, I felt it proper to seek Shifting Wind’s advice as a courtesy to the sergeant.
He brought his head back down from the clouds so to speak, and tapped the accompanying rough sketch I had finished shortly before our meeting. His whole demeanor was very Pegasus, drawing heavily on the culture from Cloudsdale- stoicism polished with fine marble.
“Would your wife be up for this? Until a few months ago I had never heard of this toy, let alone understand the Empire’s love affair for it.”
“We share a similar school of thought, Shifting Winds. Even my knowledge is limited about the matter, but from my experiences in Equestria all the way to the welcome parade, I’ve found myself humbled and confused. Shining Armor believes the toy appeals to the Crystal Ponies on a core level of beliefs, yet I hold some doubt.”
“What kind of doubts?” He asked, finding the sketch and doll no longer entertaining.
“Doubts that we should be relying on a foal’s doll to solve our problems, but the parade showed me that ignoring a given opportunity will only close more doors than open. The Empire loves the doll, and I would do the Crystal Guard a grave disservice by not pursuing this.”
Our talk lasted for an additional half an hour before an official agreement was drafted. Shifting Winds finally relented to my proposal under the condition he could oversee the training regimen to better reflect what the Crystal Empire would need, and I found the request acceptable. We bumped hooves together to bind the agreement together, before I gathered my belongings and left the good sergeant alone for the night.
There’s still plenty of work on my part, but what is another day? I’ve spent the last two weeks with Topaz and Cersus adjusting to our new duties in the empire, and perhaps needed at least one more, but time was starting to become scarce. Topaz and myself being saddled with the duties of our station with Cersus’s welfare being transferred to Shining and Cadence in our absence. The nymph has tolerated this well enough since it’s given her access to much of the castle and its food, with our two closest friends scrambling to learn the ways of parenthood.
Honestly, it amazes me how easily they’re struggling so much when they have one of their own on the way.
We struggled at first but with Topaz’s nurturing and my discipline, we’ve had little trouble watching over Cersus the past year with the rogue exile being the greatest surprise. Cersus is for the most part already house trained, but a newly born foal with no prior training on the proper ways of being a pony? Not so much. So, by asking Shining and Cadence to periodically watch Cersus, we’re providing them with the training needed to better care for their foal when it's only born.
But thinking about our friend’s struggles with Cersus alerted me to a matter I failed to consider before- would Topaz and I be required to foalsit their newborn? It would only be fair, and they were doing that with Cersus already, so it would only be polite to return the favor if asked, being good friends willing to help each other.
So how would you care for a newborn foal? I tried thinking of anything besides feeding and changing a newborn, but anything else was a fair guess.
‘Celestia's orderly room in Canterlot, this might be a long assignment.’
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There are definitely worse things than being the fuzzy, friendly symbols of law and order for Foals...
I kinda wanna see a officer friendly doll with a deputy affectionate doll.
i.imgur.com/B4JhM6F.jpg
10645462
I laughed harder than I should have. XD
The eyes on the pillow are a nice touch.
10645456
Does Deputy Affectionate have a kung-fu grip and several accessories like a baton? ...just asking for a friend.
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*Writes that down.
IT DOES NOW.
Idol's thought process is still one of the most unique and interesting I have ever read. Great job at portraying him thinking on recruitment ideas.
I do wonder, do Shining and Cadence already know they're going to have a kid, and if not, how did Idol notice?
10646134
In an earlier chapter, Topaz and Idol go after Cersus who managed to get into Shining and Cadence’s room. They weren’t quite enough and woke up Cadence who had grumpily thrown her bed covers off revealing her pregnant belly.
I continually forget what the Friendly doll is and why Idol has an issue.
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Oh, I thought it wasn't noticeable to anyone but Idol. My mistake!
10645462
Oh dang it you're here too!
10646143
On the discord, it was a ‘what if’ that Idol got Poison juked and turned into a life size pony doll of himself. The idea was he had a pull string that made him say foal friendly one liners and every time he used changeling magic, Idol would transform into another foals toy.
The event is non canon, but I loved the idea a lot and decided to use it, leaving it vague in case Vdrake or someone else wanted to write that story.
10645379
Indeed, but Idol’s main gripe is the attention he’s getting because of it. If it was a doll, he would praise its concept, but because it’s based off of him, he’s becoming too well known.
The parade when he first arrived was proof enough. It’ll take to adapt, and Idol is since he’s already using his name to get agendas pushed.
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I guess that in this universe that event is at least semi-canon if for no other reason than to have Idol think back to that time he had to pull a string before he could ask "what in the name of Order is going on?".
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🕈︎♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎❖︎♏︎❒︎ ❍︎⍓︎ ♑︎□︎□︎♑︎●︎♏︎⍓︎📫︎♏︎⍓︎♏︎♎︎ ⬧︎◆︎♌︎🙰♏︎♍︎⧫︎⬧︎ ♑︎□︎📪︎ ✋︎ ⬧︎♒︎♋︎●︎●︎ ♌︎♏︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎ ⧫︎□︎ 🙵♏︎♏︎◻︎ ♋︎■︎ ♏︎⍓︎♏︎ □︎■︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎❍︎📬︎ ❄︎♒︎♏︎⍓︎ ♋︎❒︎♏︎ ❑︎◆︎♓︎⧫︎♏︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ❍︎♓︎⬧︎♍︎♒︎♓︎♏︎❖︎□︎◆︎⬧︎ ⬧︎□︎❒︎⧫︎📬︎
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✌︎ ⬥︎□︎■︎♎︎♏︎❒︎♐︎◆︎●︎ ♓︎♐︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ♓︎■︎⧫︎❒︎♓︎♑︎◆︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎♋︎●︎♏︎📬︎ ☝︎□︎ □︎■︎ ❍︎⍓︎ ●︎♓︎⧫︎⧫︎●︎♏︎ ⬥︎❒︎♓︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎📪︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ✋︎ ●︎□︎□︎🙵 ♐︎□︎❒︎⬥︎♋︎❒︎♎︎ ⧫︎□︎ ❒︎♏︎♋︎♎︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ❍︎□︎❒︎♏︎ ⬧︎□︎□︎■︎📬︎
Woah. Didn't know you had a sequel to this. Whelp, I know what I'm reading tomorrow. So is the alternate ending of Moth X Idol non-cannon to this sequel? Personally, I think I'd be funnier if both were cannon. The dynamic would be hilarious if that were the case.
Well, I'll find out when I read it tomorrow. Goodnight everybody.
10671886
Oh hello there! For this story, I went with the official ending which Idol and Moth never got together. I decided to run with the Topaz/Idol pairing since Vdrake 'confirmed' it in the main story, and thought it would be funny to see how they might handle the next level of their relationship-being a family.
Well I caught up. Look forward to more.
It would be funny if the next doll is Cersus. Her name being Little Miss Trouble Maker perhaps due to her reputation in the empire overtime?
Or a new improved voiced doll that uses the more hilarious line Idol has said in the main story. Voiced perhaps by Idols other guard friends as a funny prank to Idol.
I also look forward to more Idol oblivious schenigans in the future
update?
Yes, politics. But you can't argue results...
...What was the question, Idol?
What was the question?!
11083083
That sir, is a question for another time. A time in which we hope will be answered according to the schedule we have set for ourselves, but in order to save some time, ill answer it.
styleblueprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Thats-a-great-question.jpg
Joking of course. If you really want an answer, shoot me a DM.