Chapter 78: Vesper
It didn't matter how hurt she was, and how badly she probably needed it; Vesper couldn't sleep. The moon was high, and with it her anxiety.
The rescue was successful—Kaelynn was free, and a terrible pony who had caused harm to so many wouldn’t be able to hurt anypony else again. It was the kind of results she might've called a "huge success".
But now Equestria knew about them. They were no longer hidden, and their reveal had hardly been positive. Everything Twilight said about the stupidity of their plan, not asking for help—it was all true.
We should've listened to the changeling information on where Kaelynn was being held, and ignored all her instructions for how to rescue her.
Vesper paced back and forth at the edge of the hospital room, beside a single wide window open to the sky. She could probably remove her bandages and escape that way, vanish into the city and flee the legal consequences of what she'd done. She could probably even reach the portal through to Poland and leave Equestria behind.
Blake might suggest escape, if it gets bad enough. What do I tell him then?
"Canterlot is beautiful, isn't it?" said a voice from behind her. So quiet that she almost missed it—the pony obviously didn't want to wake the sleeping injured. Even Ryan was sleeping now.
She didn't turn around, just stared out over the city of cliffs, nodding her appreciation. "There are places like this where I came from, or there used to be."
Princess Luna could try to be subtle and quiet all she liked, her wings would still cast a shadow. Even with her eyes closed, Vesper would've sensed the power there. Like standing beside a campfire, radiating heat that penetrated deep into Vesper's mind.
How could I dream of escaping from her? "Were you just testing us? Waiting to save Kaelynn yourself if Morningtide was ever going to do anything real to her? We fucked that one up."
The princess didn't answer for a long time. Long enough that Vesper could see a little group of ponies moving over the streets far below. She squinted, and her eyes adjusted. They were bats, laughing and singing some raucous song as they passed between buildings on the single street still brightly lit. Night district, right. I really need to check that out.
"I did not lie to you," Princess Luna said. "I could not find her, and you did." She lowered her voice to a throaty whisper. "The creatures of today are too gentle, too unaccustomed to pain. Sometimes a blade is the only solution to evil spreading in your midst.
"The seapony male, Tellin Shell, suffered a life of mistreatment no creature should experience. I fear if that had gone on much longer, he would have been transformed from a victim to an instrument of that same evil. All this accomplished with a minimum of casualties. The staff of House Shimmer will recover. Perhaps in Morningtide's absence, her long-vanished scion will return to take her place in Equestria at last."
Vesper turned, looking up at the strange princess. She expected something more mundane than the vision she saw in dreams—in that space, any creature could look however they wanted. Mastering that magic would not require Luna to look like much.
She was wrong, though. Her mane lifted to an unseen wind—but not unfelt. It was the warmth of another place, somewhere familiar. Through it, she could see the stars of a cloudless night, swirling galaxies, and other things only a fine telescope should have let her see.
"Does that mean we aren't going to be punished?" she asked, cautiously.
Luna shrugged absently. "Equestria has a long history of brave creatures doing what is right, even when it isn't wise. If it were up to me, I would not censure you. But you should understand... your faces are known now, to some of the most powerful families in the nation. Even if Twilight agrees, I would leave this city, and stay away until they find somepony to blame for Morningtide's disappearance. They are all eager to have her gone, they just won't say so out loud."
"We're here from another world," Vesper said. Not that Luna didn't already know—but the more they spoke, the more that part seemed forgotten. "My friends think we both have a lot to benefit from an exchange. Your magic, our technology, cultures... they think it should be shared."
"Do you?"
At least she didn't have to stand there awkwardly, confused about it. Vesper had been thinking about it for weeks. "If it was done right. It could go badly… but it could also help both of us in ways we can't even imagine yet. More to our benefit than yours, if I'm being honest."
Luna looked away, back into the night. "That decision isn't mine to make either. Pieces have been in motion since before you were born—even Princess Twilight has little say in it. Magic is like water, it flows. First a trickle forms a stream, then a river, and finally a canyon is carved."
Luna gestured with a wing, gently pushing Vesper around. "You should sleep now, my little pony. Tomorrow is your judgement—face it on your hooves."
Vesper didn't imagine she'd be able to obey that command—sleeping during the day wasn't just a choice anymore, it was an inevitability. But when she did crawl into the uncomfortable hospital bed, she found consciousness fled from her almost at once. She did not see the gates of deeper slumber that night.
Another shame—she did want to speak to Pale Light, and tell him how her misadventures had gone. But it could probably wait one night.
Princess Luna was right. When the sun came up, a pair of royal guards in bright armor arrived in the hospital, with instructions to bring them to the throne room.
Too bad Vesper didn't have anything nicer to wear. They barely gave her time to change old bandages for fresh ones before they were dragged off, and down the hall through the maze-like castle.
She did her best to memorize where they went, but it was a largely futile effort. Her anxiety was overpowering, and she could think of little else. All around them were artifacts of unbelievably ancient date, scowling rulers of a culture that wasn't theirs.
There was only one consolation; they were together. Kaelynn was here, Ryan and Blake weren't at each other's throats. Most importantly, Vesper had Blake to lean on whenever she felt nervous. So right now.
"This is worse than getting arrested in the Philippines," she whispered. "Who brought the bribe in their socks this time?"
Blake chuckled.
"Don't think they'll take American money here," Ryan said.
"I hope you're not seriously thinking about trying." Kaelynn glowered at her, stern. "We're already gonna look bad enough."
Vesper stuck her tongue out. "Course not. Nice wings, by the way. Do they work?"
The seapony was taken aback, enough that she slowed in the hall. Their escort gave her a pointed gesture, and she hurried to catch up.
"I'm honestly not sure," she said. "Probably. Feels like they should. Maybe you can teach me."
"With Janet complaining every minute, I'm sure," Vesper said. But she trailed off, frowning. She actually remembered those weeks fondly. Traveling through an alien world on their airship, learning how to fly. All they needed was a few solar panels, a projector, and a minifridge of snacks, and they'd be ready.
They reached a set of double doors, flanked by more uniformed guards. Like the ones who brought them here, none of these ponies were even armed. They just wore shiny armor, looking threatening. But some of them are unicorns. They're always armed.
Equestria was such a wonderfully strange place. Hopefully they would let her stay.
The throne room was every bit as awesome as that name implied. Huge stained-glass windows let in a shower of multicolored light. The guards marched them through too fast for her to get a proper view of everything. She saw the shapes of familiar ponies—the princesses, the Elements, and scenes she'd heard about in conversations with the natives.
So not unlike the American capital in that way—history was on display here. But this was a monarchy, and the ponies had clearly spared no expense. The ceiling was stories high, filled with spectacular crystal chandeliers. And at the far end of the hall there was a throne, more impressive than anything since the ancient Xerxes and his mountain of slaves.
There was gold, gemstones, and flowing water into a fountain of living plants and probably fish too. And standing atop it was Princess Twilight Sparkle.
If Princess Luna was a torch, this was a magical bonfire. Vesper didn't doubt that even a human brought here would sense her power. Incredible, intimidating... yet somehow not destructive.
There were seats along the wall, raised wooden benches for an audience. But not a single one of them was occupied today. Their judgement was not to be made before the Equestrian public, it seemed.
They stopped at the base of the throne. "Bow before your princess," instructed their escort. But they'd already started doing exactly that. It was one thing to be a proud foreigner, refusing to submit to the customs of another nation. That was how you ended up with a long time in jail, begging for the embassy to come to your rescue.
But her friends made a career out of breaking laws. That meant equal parts not getting caught, not causing trouble they didn't have to, and acting as humble and contrite as they could when they were caught.
Vesper would've bowed anyway. That kind of power just demanded respect, in a way nothing in her own world ever could.
"I hope your last few days as my guests have been... restful," she said, as soon as they were standing again. With a faint flash of her horn, she vanished from the upper seat, reappearing on the lower one, much closer to them. "Guards, seal the hall."
They saluted, then trotted back the way they'd come. Vesper could detect just a hint of disappointment. There was obviously curiosity here—they wanted to know about this mysterious case, and they wouldn't get the chance. Not this time, anyway.
"Yes, thank you," Vesper said. "I feel much better." She stretched with one wing, straining against her bandages. The damn thing picked a bad time to start itching...
The others muttered similar gratitude, except Kaelynn. She looked distracted, her eyes lingering on the little pool. What had she seen?
"I'll dispense with the formalities," the princess continued. "We all know why you're here. The judgement is already entered, and there's nopony here to perform for. Is that okay?"
"We don't get to defend ourselves?" Blake asked. His tone remained deferential, and he didn't make eye contact. But his words were still uncompromising.
The princess chuckled. "I learned everything I needed to know. Our conversations have been interview enough—with you, and the victims of House Shimmer. As well as yours."
Blake fell silent.
"It is obvious you broke the law. Taking justice into your own hooves, breaking into the house of a noble of Canterlot. Several creatures were injured in that attack, with burns that required magical healing to treat.
"But there were mitigating factors as well. Your friend, foalnapped. You didn't attack indiscriminately, as you could have. Most importantly, Morningtide's death was at her own hooves. I could never release murderers back into Equestria, no matter why they decided to kill. But you didn't."
Vesper could feel the sword hanging over this. All this was the beginning of justification—Twilight was about to bring the hammer down.
"Even if what you did is not well known to other creatures, I can't just release you into Equestria without punishment. Seapony Kaelynn, you have done nothing wrong, and know that this punishment is not yours."
"I don't care," she said. "Whatever they get, I get. They did it for me."
The princess nodded once, respectfully. "I am not... surprised, you feel that way." She turned her attention on Blake and Ryan. "I am not unaware of your origins, creatures. Equestria has decided not to contact the nations that normally represent you. The Kirin are not responsible for you, nor will they be able to rehabilitate you. The same is true of King Thorax. Do you both agree?"
Blake and Ryan nodded. Ryan's relief was visible.
The princess vanished in another flash of light. She reappeared atop the throne, with a scroll levitating beside her.
"This is the judgement of Equestria! For your crimes, Thestral Vesper, Kirin Blake, and Changeling Ryan, will be hereby sentenced to:
"Two weeks of community service."
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*facepalm* Twilight, after how Fine Print turned out, are you being incompetent, malicious, or just stupid?
11075283
Eh, the thing with Tracy was after a year, so 2 more weeks isn't exactly an issue for the group in her mind. The thing with Shane happened after he decided to stay and that was payment to prove it was what he wanted.
From Twi's POV, this would seem perfectly reasonable.
11075294
So "incompetent" then. Equestria is close enough to narrative causality that she shouldn't be making assumptions like that... especially given how hard they've already worked to get back and who they've interacted with. Not only is it taunting fate, it could have unintended effects on them psychologically if they see it as being more urgent than it really is.
(eg. Suppose they panic and make a break for it. Is it Twilight's fault for that and any lost opportunities that follow?)
There are reanimated dinosaurs?
Celestia clearly trained her student in the fine art of trolling. And going by the prequel, Discord may have offered a few pointers as well. Now to see what the details of that punishment are.
The community service will be problematic for the meeting they planned in Poland but I doubt it's goign to have further consequences. Vesper and Ryan have already crossed the same treshhold as Spark Gap and I doubt 2 weeks is going to have much of an impact on Blake. I'm not sure where Kaelynn is when it comes to the transformation ar what she wants to do. If Ryan's change is permanent, which is pretty certain, Kalynn might want to stay with him.
11075327
Ryan would be a changeling, however. If this follows the same rules as other fics by the same author, he should be able to shift into a human. Potentially.
reminds me of an expression in teh online comic "tales of the questor":
"there's no such thing as an unarmed Raccoonan."
11075283
First of all, she didn't specify the form and location of their community service. Second, I'd bet dollars to donuts that at least two of them have already "gone native" in the arcane physiology sense. And third, for all your complaining about narrative causality, you seem shockingly blind to previously established narrative tropes in this series.
11075404
I'm not talking about the tropes in this series. I'm talking about how Twilight should be thinking as a responsible ruler.
Canon has shown that narrative causality does sometimes apply, and a responsible ruler should hedge against those she interacts with misinterpreting or reacting badly.
11075419
What makes you so certain that she hasn't? We only know what we've been shown so far, and I can almost guarantee that the next chapter or two will address some or all of your concerns.
11075432
Fair. Potentially irresponsible for the sake of a cliffhanger then. A mild hit to the "Don't do things that are too obviously motivated by needs on the other side of the fourth wall" rule of good writing.
Community service lmao. The three chapter build-up to that punchline was well done, kudos.
Grumbles about self defense and stupid arrogant naive purple horses
And a slap on the wrist... though do they need to mention to Twilight that if they spend too much more time in Equestria, they are stuck permanently?
11075614
Princess Twilight Sparkle: "Funny you should mention that, Mister Morden. My readings of their thamaturgic reaction indicates their deadline for being forced to remain in Equestria will be met in one week, six days. Please be sure to advise your clients that guards are posted about all the World Gates to prevent any attempt at escaping. Oh, one more thing: No one ever escapes from Stallage Ponyville.
"
11075436
I really don't see how this is a bad move from her PoV, even being aware of narrative tendencies.
Two weeks of community service.
i was kind of thinking something like this.
but at the same time if my memory is right two weeks will put them past the deadline for going back.
so in way Twilight is sentencing them to a life in Equestria.
11075696
Thinking about it more, the "potentially" is the important part... and it doesn't help that I'm not firing on all cylinders because I've spent all day half-asleep because I'm still working to recover a huge sleep debt and my body likes to demonstrate how big it is on days that I get enough sleep.
Whether it's a bad move on her part depends very much on what happens after the chapter break.
I am enjoying the story. About this point, though...
11075582
The implication is that even if Morningtide had used rape magic in addition to attempted murder and kidnapping -- which she explicitly said she was about to do -- it still would've been worthy of serious punishment to use lethal force on her, in order to rescue her prisoner. So if she shoots a lethal spell at you and you dodge and fire back with lethal force, that's "murder", but if she uses the same spell and your counter-move is specifically a reflecting spell, that makes it OK. I guess that's consistent with how some video games define "pacifist runs" but it's an odd legal doctrine.
Looking at this from a story POV, it looks like the comments many chapters ago about the pirates: "It would be morally wrong to kill the scout who obviously is stalking us to help his pirate friends kill us all, because the scout isn't literally in melee with us this instant."
Equestria certainly has a way with sentencing. Eh... two weeks isn't bad, either they've already been consumed by magic or they will be when they go back and forth. Just don't let the other nobles hear about this.
It certainly makes me wonder if the gang was your blade in proxy.
As long as the gates remain inaccessible, contact is unlikely. It would continue to be so if the gang decides not to reveal anything to the world. But we'll have to take Discord into account. How many more contracts will he make? Tracy won't be the last. The decision if anyone's is his.
No one but Earth could claim representation but that's a whole different issue.
Not the first time she had trouble with people from Earth. Hopefully, she knows that they'll have to leave to bleed off magical energy eventually.
Yep, that's well-meaning Equestria alright. XD Their sentence is to spend enough chaperoned time around the population that they can integrate later if they want to.
Mmm, well, the ones in Bydska are probably going to worry.
NOOOO! Not that. ANYTHING but that!
(Twilight really threw the book at them.)
11075614
11075706
That's certainly light for what is at minimum breaking/entering and assault. Though she should know about their magic situation by now. If she won't allow them to bleed magic off-world and those two weeks will make the difference if it isn't too late, then she's approaching Celestia levels of suspiciousness. But even if she isn't, circumstances seem to want to lead most travelers to a life in Equestria. At least from what we've seen so far. No doubt that'll freak Janet out some more. The planet does indeed appear to keep its claws around those it captures. Though Discord would know for sure.
Oh, sure. You just put on a performance for an audience of 4 :-).
Could be worse!
So basically, two weeks community service for taking the law into your own hooves.
Mitigating and agrevating circumstances included.
11075582
I think what Twilight is on to here - is that outright killing somepony requires a certain mindset.
You also have to recall Luna’s words earlier about soft ponies, and the fact, that these are people of a land where a sociopath becomes a national villan.
What Twilight is on to here with muderes, is possibly the line between self-defence, and excessive force.
You put up an untargeted shield/deflect spell = self defence.
You throw a spell/Move with the power/purpose to kill = excessive force / murder
If Blake or Ryan had succeeded, they'd at the least be looking down charges of Manslaughter by excessive force. - with the full bearing of the legal meaning of; intentionally.
(Blake might’ve been able to call intent to disarm, but with no one but themselves to vouch for that...)
It's about intent and effect here.
11077081
That's the problem. They shouldn't have been charged with even that. If someone expresses the ability and immediate intent to bring harm on another lethal force should be viable in their defense. Period end of story. Nevermind the intended slavery and rape.
Interesting. If not Luna, and not Twilight, then who? Is Celestia still the ultimate authority?
Equestria was always rather inclined towards forgiveness.
11077151
It's the nature of cultural differences. The ponies for the most part are probably squeamish at the prospect that lethal violence might be required to stop lethal violence. Not without good reason as most villains have been incapacitated nonlethally. Interesting to see what the outside world thinks though. If they share our views on justifiable homicide than that's one more reason to believe Earth and Equestria can actually get along.
11077206
None of them. Gate use or activation happens naturally regardless of their say. Might be metaphysical in a way if Harmony or magic itself are accelerating these events. That being said, there is a bit of "might makes right". Discord is the only known being alive capable of creating gates and if he decides to expand his contracts then there's little the princesses can do.
A bit early to tell. Twilight knows about magical consumption. An alternative interpretation is that she is keeping them there just long enough to run their magical clocks out for unknown reasons. It might not be an act of mercy. Though calling it a punishment might not be correct either.
Bruh, that's a fucking slap on the wrist.
My only complaint on the part of Twilight, and the ponies are that despite saying " we have laws and rules" everyone, even a former princess, told them that going to the authorities was a waste of time. Not only that, but due to how things function in our world I don't think they felt they would get an audience with the monarch at all, much less in a timely fashion. I think the two weeks of service is a good call.