Unicorn Attack!

by milesprower06

Heart of the Matter, Part II

It was becoming a beautiful, cool summer afternoon as Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer made his way through the outskirts of Maretime Bay. Nearly all of the earth ponies lived in city limits, and out here, all one would find is farmers, extensive gardeners, and ponies who preferred their solitude.

Posey Bloom fit all of those descriptions. She was one of Maretime Bay's most proficient gardeners, made considerable contributions to the local farmer's market multiple times a year, and seemed to enjoy being out here among the rolling hills outside of town.

Her home was the very definition of cozy; one story with a small attic, and two large garden plots on either side of the front walk. Hitch went right up the front walk, and knocked on the front door, hoping that he hadn't wasted his lunch hour in coming out here only to have her not be home.

But luckily, that wasn't the case, and the door opened to reveal one Posey Bloom. The yellow-coated, pink-maned earth pony greeted him with a light smile. She wore a lime green bow in both her mane and tail, to match her eyes, and wore a green clover necklace.

"Afternoon, Sheriff Hitch. What can I do for you?" She greeted.

"I'm actually here to see if there's anything I can do for you. To perhaps ease your mind a bit about this reunification?" Hitch asked.

Posey softly shook her head.

"As far as I can tell, you and Deputy Sprout have been doing a fine job so far; that unicorn that slid into my mailbox replaced it, and the flight ban within city limits is perfectly reasonable, if you ask me," Posey replied.

"Yeah well, that certainly depends on who you ask," Hitch told her, remembering how Zipp had reacted, and for all he knew, how she was still reacting. "But I know you're a pretty reasonable mare, Posey. If you feel that having unicorns and pegasi in town is bothersome, then I'd like to hear any, shall I say, ulterior concerns you have, that's all."

Posey gave a soft exhale. Hitch was always quite good at reading ponies.

"Give me one moment, Sheriff," Posey told him. With that, she left the door open while she went back inside. Hitch heard a faucet running, and a few moments later, Posey stepped out onto her front porch with a watering can. She stepped down to the front walk, and began walking along side her left garden, tipping the watering can forward as she went, with Hitch walking alongside.

"Why just them, Sheriff?" Posey asked.

"What do you mean, 'just them'?" Hitch asked.

"If I've heard your speech correctly, you, Sunny, and your new friends went gallivanting across the region in search of magic crystals, right? I don't mean to sound selfish, but... They give pegasi their flight back, unicorns their magic back, even instantly make a new lighthouse for Sunny, but what do the rest of the earth ponies get? Just a 200% increase in tourism and shop revenue?"

Posey knew that her sarcasm at this point was more than a bit biting, so she cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry. I'm just feeling a little... Left out. I think a lot of us are."

"Well, I'm not much of a student of what ancient Equestria was like, but even in the times I overheard Sunny, I don't think she even mentioned earth ponies having any magic at any point in history. But maybe a change of scenery? You've always loved gardening, so maybe visit Zephyr Heights or Bridlewood, and bring some new flowers to Maretime Bay," Hitch suggested.

Posey raised an eyebrow in concern.

"And potentially introduce an invasive species? You don't know much about gardening, do you, Sheriff?" Posey asked with a smirk.

"No, I suppose law enforcement was always my strong suit. I just don't want you to feel like you're stuck in a rut when everypony else is discovering something new about themselves," Hitch told her.

"Well, I'm not alone in that regard. I know a lot of shop owners are thrilled about the increase in tourism, I just want all this effort to bring us something more, you know?"

"I'll be honest, I don't completely understand, but I think I know where you're coming from; it's not easy seeing others grow around you and having no idea how to achieve something similar yourself. I just don't want you to be afraid to speak your mind, alright?" Hitch asked.

Posey smiled at him.

"No worries there, Sheriff."

Author's Note:

So here, I obviously wanted to make a Posey that was a little more reasonable.

I'm still not entirely sure how to approach the rest of MYM Chapter 1, which I think is some of the absolute weakest content that G5 got, right alongside Chapter 6.

I'm all for hearing suggestions and ideas!

Comments

[Cyana Flame]

poor Posey

[Raistlin]

Lauren Faust claimed Earth Pony's talent with agriculture was the most important because it kept Equestria well fed. I don't think she realized the implications, or the social consequences of EP having to compete with other subraces capable of flying, climate control or reality warping.

Is frequent in many MLP fics dealing with pre-modern Equestria to depict Earth Ponies as peasants abused and discriminated by Pegasi (military caste) and unicorns (nobility).

[Phazon]

I don't know where you got that artwork from or who made it. But one of the YouTubers I follow is an art grad. And the one bit of advice he always stresses to artists is that they must, must, MUST sign their work. An unsigned piece of art is either an invitation to have your work stolen, or has already been stolen. And if I didn't know any better, I'd think "Maren" was the name of the artist.

A long time ago, I saw this YouTube review of Chapter 1 that said that part of the conflict of Chapter 1 was a clash between tradition and change/progress. That Earth ponies' grievances and Maretime Bay Day represented tradition, and that they were, at least in part, pushing back against the changes that were happening with magic and the new races moving in. The thing is, much of the conflict with the races/magic is with the various mishaps that happen either through recklessness or magic malfunctioning. You really only see Earth ponies demanding that things remain/go back to what they were before during Maretime Bay Day (rejecting Izzy's take on the MBD wreaths, the moss ice cream and other snacks sold by unicorn vendors, and demanding that the original Maretime Bay anthem be sung, and by an Earth pony instead of Pipp).

So yeah, the whole tradition vs progress thing is also one of the things that Chapter 1 didn't do a good job with, and I don't know how/if you work that into this fic.

[Comickook]

REALLY liked the chat between Hitch and Posey in this chapter. Yeah, Posey and Hitch both have pretty good points. Posey is right in that the reunification has been more beneficial thus far to the unicorns and the Pegasi (though the Earth Ponies DO get a sizeable increase in revenue) - at least thus far. On the other hand, Hitch was right that Earth Ponies never had much beyond somewhat increased strength, durability, stamina and agricultural instinct (and that law enforcement was his strong suit rather than gardening). Of course, we know that Earth Ponies WILL get a pretty good upgrade in a pretty short amount of time. I can still appreciate that Hitch TRIED to make a helpful suggestion.

Anyway, really looking forward to more of this.

[Phetiamwantip]

Posey and Hitch are getting along pretty well. And I hope the grand opening of Canterlove will be great, along with the Flight school as well. I wonder how Sprout is doing, I better wait and see.

Flight school idea list:

Obstacles courses
Hiring Flight teachers

[Comickook]

11887661

Yeah. But those would both be for AFTER enough of them besides Zipp has gotten the hang of the basics - ESPECIALLY the obstacle course.

But, yes, once the group of Pegasi who know how to fly has been bumped up a bit THEN you can definitely get other instructors to take over the school so it can keep operating while Zipp is doing other things.

[Phetiamwantip]

11887742
I see, thank you

[Yoshifan30]

"If I've heard your speech correctly, you, Sunny, and your new friends went gallivanting across the region in search of magic crystals, right? I don't mean to sound selfish, but... They give pegasi their flight back, unicorns their magic back, even instantly make a new lighthouse for Sunny, but what do the rest of the earth ponies get? Just a 200% increase in tourism and shop revenue?"

Well you will probably gain a new magic ability not just earth pony strength

[Yoshifan30]

Okay so it looks like hitch is paying a visit to Posey to see how she's doing ever since this whole change and she kind of spoke her mind about the situation but also said something that unicorns and Pegasus had their abilities but what about the Earth ponies which I'm sure they will get it sooner or later they don't really have anything and hitch doesn't know how to answer that but he wanted to give her some advice and even speaking her own mind without going crazy I guess that's a pretty reasonable reason so I wonder what's going to happen next guess we'll find out next time