Arc 1 - Part 3: Sowing Seeds
Sowing Seeds
Active Log: 42 of 50 - Day 9 A.E
Present location: New Ponyville, Third Level Observation Balcony
Status: facilitating two-way communications
M.P. Sparkle in conference call with Citadel News Net Reporter, Emily Wong
Madam President Twilight Sparkle took a breath, nodding as she came to her decision after a few moments of silent contemplation.
“I don’t think most ponies are ready for the spotlight just yet,” the mare stated. “However, I would be more than happy to have the Directors sit down with you for an extended interview.”
“Alright, can you give me a moment to contact my producer and set it up?” came Emily’s voice from Forty-Two, her inflection pleasant.
“By all means,” Twilight said before drawing a hoof across her throat, a motion which Forty-Two immediately interpreted and executed as a signal to cut the connection, his eyes returning to full illumination. “Forty-Two, can you send a directive to the mechs to contact all of the Directors, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, and inform them of the situation? If they are available, we’ll likely be needing their assistance immediately.”
“I have already done so,” the mech assured her immediately upon re-establishing his own vocals, before voicing a concern. “I have to ask: Are you really sure about this, Twilight?”
“Of course I’m sure.” Twilight nodded. “I have faith that the others can conduct themselves in a respectable manner.”
“With all due respect to the Directors, Madam President, Applejack is honest to the point of embarrassment, Rainbow Dash tends to be brash and easily excitable, Rarity is an unrepentant show-pony, and I fear what the pressure of an audience will do for Fluttershy’s psyche,” Forty-Two pointed out bluntly. “And you would be asking them to answer unfielded questions in front of a live viewership of millions… potentially billions of sentients.”
“Well, I wouldn’t consider Pinkie Pie to be entirely ‘stable,’” Twilight countered, shuddering just slightly at remembering the experience in Sugar³. “And she managed just fine with Miss Wong. Besides, the alternative would leave the reputation of the entire Herd open to the reactions of a random sample of ponies. Can you imagine her interviewing the Crusaders?” The unicorn gave a tired chuckle. “Speaking of which, we really should set up some sort of town meeting or something to get everypony on the same page. I’ve been so busy, it hadn’t occurred to me to lay some ground rules out for everypony.”
“I’ll set some time aside to organize it, Twilight. But couldn’t we have simply rescheduled the media access until after addressing the Herd?”
“Maybe, but that would’ve likely put Emily, or more likely her employers, off,” Twilight defended herself and her decision. “If we are going to do this, then I want to present our best to the galactic audience. Emily’s a good person, but she’s also a journalist. There’s no doubt she would investigate if she thought we were hiding things.”
“But Madam President…” Forty-Two’s tone was flat. “…we are hiding things.”
“Details.” Twilight waved a hoof at the mech playfully as his antennae lit up, indicating he was receiving some new data.
“Miss Wong is addressing Seventeen of Twenty. Shall I re-establish contact?”
Twilight nodded, permitting the reopening of communications as Forty-Two’s eyes again turned to lines of audio feedback.
“Yes, Miss Wong?” Twilight asked, keeping her tone pleasant.
“Good news, Madam President,” Emily informed the mare. “My producer has given the green light and I’ve also been authorized to offer some monetary compensation for your time. With your permission, and if the Directors approve, we can set up a group interview at the Zakera Ward News Net Studio and have it all put together in under an hour.”
“A studio?” Twilight tilted her head, a little confused. “I thought you were going to perform the interviews on the spot here in New Ponyville.”
“Well, for the random streetside interviews I was originally aiming for, that would have been the plan, but this is a different animal altogether. Something of this nature involving cultural and diplomatic VIPs calls for a professional, high quality approach. My camera drone could do the job, but they have all the equipment and facilities at the studio to give the Directors’ interview the level of quality and attention it deserves. The controlled environment would also add to the professional setting and atmosphere and prevent unforeseen ‘interruptions’ during a live broadcast.”
“I can see your point... As long as they’re comfortable with it, I approve.” Twilight nodded to herself before a thought occurred to her. “Can you provide transport?”
“Of course. News Net can dispatch another shuttle to ‘discreetly’ bring the Directors to the studio and return them home when it’s done. No need to draw undue attention.”
“That would be appreciated, but I also have to insist that they are accompanied by their personal changeling drones at all times.”
“I don’t think that would be an issue,” Emily quickly agreed. “Having celebrities accompanied by bodyguards is nothing new.”
“And I would like the mechs to be kept strictly off camera,” Twilight added as a sudden afterthought, realizing that she had a responsibility to also work the angles to protect certain assets of the Herd.
There was a moment of silence from Forty-Two as it was clear the request had taken the reporter by surprise.
“May I ask why, Madam President?”
“They are an Equestrian-exclusive technology and I would rather they not be observed and visually analyzed in high definition by outside parties,” Twilight explained, which she noted elicited an approving nod from Forty-Two. “I’m sure you can understand.”
“Of course. Don’t worry, they will be kept out of the interview,” Emily replied before Forty-Two’s eyes lit up again, the mech retaking control of his vocal units.
“Madam President: The Directors have been notified of the situation and all four have accepted the proposal. They are standing by with the drones for further instructions.”
“Alright,” Twilight set her hooves together on the table in front of her. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
——————
Active Log: 42 of 50 - Day 9 A.E
Present location: M.P. Twilight Sparkle’s apartment
Status: observing Citadel News Net’s live extranet feed
“Welcome to Citadel News Net. I’m Emily Wong, here with a special extranet broadcast, live from our Zakera Ward studio.”
Twilight tapped her hooves together in a clearly nervous manner as she lay on her bed, watching the holographic projection of the two-dimensional display on the wall of her modest apartment. Emily Wong’s disarming smile and well-versed introduction spoke of her flair and experience despite being watched by an untold number of sentient beings that were in easy broadcast range on the enormous space station.
As Emily proceeded to speak, pleasantly introducing the four ponies that she was interviewing to the audience as their names scrolled by along the bottom of the screen, Forty-Two took a moment to look about and take in their surroundings, this being his first time actually inside his mistress’ “private sanctuary.”
The single room studio apartment of the Madam President (while quite spacious) remained utterly undecorated, with an unpainted grey bulkhead surrounding them, the serial numbers stamped into the prefab material still clearly visible. While a standard human style foam bed had been set up for her comfort against one side wall opposite of the projection, it seemed to be the only thing inside the apartment that had seen any real use. An empty kitchenette stood at the back of the apartment, and off to the side was a sliding doorway that led to the washroom.
However, far more interesting than the apartment itself, was the company that Twilight had invited to watch the interview with her on her surprisingly large extranet projection screen. At the foot of Twilight’s bed, the four young foals known as the “Cutie Mark Crusaders” (at least, until they could come up with a new name for their group) made their presence known as they cheered on the four mares now sharing the galactic spotlight.
“AJ looks awesome!” Apple Bloom commented, reaching over to the communal bowl of popcorn the four had been offered (which was quite a treat after days of hay and alfalfa) and taking note of the clever angling of the mobile camera as it panned over the stetson-wearing earth pony.
“Rarity’s been working on that outfit for days,” Sweetie informed her compatriots as the shot panned over Rarity, the only one of the four who had actually dressed for the occasion. To Twilight, the clothing somewhat resembled the ensemble worn by Commander Shepard’s XO back aboard the Normandy, the woman who called herself Miranda.
As she watched Rarity subtly angle herself so that the camera caught a full view of the outfit, the Madam President couldn’t help but be impressed (and slightly put off) by what the fashionista had decided to spend her small amount of discretionary funds on.
“Check out Rainbow, she looks like she’s ready to kick some flank and take some names!” Scootaloo grinned as the mare she still idolized stood at attention like a trained Royal Guard, nodding gruffly as if trying to project a sense of authority and aloofness.
“Aww, Fluttershy looks so sweet,” said Silver Spoon, who had joined her new friends for this little get-together while her mother had stated she had “real work” to do at her office in the neighboring Administration Building. “Did they put makeup on her or is that the camera doing that?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s real blush on her cheeks.” Apple Bloom shrugged.
“Nah... That’s definitely the camera.” Sweetie tapped her chin thoughtfully as she squinted at the image of Fluttershy.
As the four amateur political commentators lounged on the floor, Forty-Two considered the last of the figures in the room, who was standing stoically on the opposite side of Twilight’s bed. Big Macintosh watched with a silent, contemplative expression as the various pleasantries were exchanged between the Directors of the Equestrian Herd and their human interviewer.
“Ya’ll okay, Twi?” Big Mac asked in his usual slow-paced, heavily drawled manner, taking note of Twilight’s anxiety as the interview began in earnest.
“Of course I’m okay!” Twilight responded quickly, rubbing her hooves together with a forced grin. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“The Madam President’s current level of stress is likely due to a combination of second thoughts concerning allowing the interview, a sense of helplessness at being so far removed from them that she is now unable to intervene, and social anxiety from putting herself into a non-professional setting with other ponies.”
Twilight glared at the mech, who did not even bother to turn his eyes to her as he seemed to be paying total attention to the unfolding interview.
“Thanks, Forty-Two,” Twilight managed through gritted teeth as her sarcasm kicked in. “I sorely needed to have that thrown out in the open.”
“You’re welcome, Madam President,” The mech answered in his flat, artificial voice which showed no reaction to her clear discomfort.
“There’s no reason ta be so nervous,” Big Mac observed, a simple statement that made the unicorn’s posture slump. “Ya’ll know ya can let yer mane down with us, Twi. We’re your friends. Hay, we’re practically family.”
Twilight looked to the large red stallion, letting go of a breath as she deflated in response to his slightly pleading tone.
“I know, Big Macintosh. And you’re right. I need to relax. I just… It’s weird to shift gears from having to be ‘Madam President’ to just being ‘Twilight,’” the unicorn confided in the stallion. “And besides, it’s not like we’re simply watching a vid. What’s happening right now could have all sorts of ramifications on--”
“Twi, shush!” Apple Bloom looked up over the lip of the bed glaring at the two adult ponies. “It’s startin’!”
Forty-Two had to actively suppress a mechanical snicker, as the filly scolding the two adults and asking for quiet set off his irony-detection subroutines. This reaction only took a fraction of a second before the room grew silent again, all eyes (both organic and mechanical) focused on the projected screen as the mech committed the events unfolding before him to memory.
——————
Active Log: 42 of 50 - Day 10 A.E
Present location: New Ponyville, Administration Level
Status: idle
Currently reviewing archived footage of CNN’s interview with the Board of Directors
“How would you describe your reception after coming aboard the Citadel?” Emily Wong asked, her tone pleasant as the four mares looked to one another.
Forty-Two paused the playback, analyzing the facial cues of the four mares… that slight unspoken agreement between them that delegated the task of answering to the most approachable among them: the demure yellow pegasus who hesitated for one-point-zero-eight seconds before responding.
Forty-Two resumed playback.
“Oh, everypony has been just amazing,” Fluttershy answered, her soft smile rating a twelve on a one to ten “cuteness rating” (or so Sweetie had described in her commentary). “When we first arrived, many of us were so scared… lost… and afraid of what was to come. To think that the galaxy would be so generous as to take us in. Well, I know that we are all quite eager to prove ourselves worthy of the kindness that we’ve been shown.”
Forty-Two paused the image.
There it was again; the slight, commanding undertone she projected while maintaining a perfectly soft voice. The passive-assertive manner in which it was said made absolutely certain to the audience that the Herd had no intention of freeloading.
Considering this in conjunction with a later point in the interview, the mech fast-forwarded his playback and came to a particularly memorable scene about twenty minutes later, when Emily Wong had started to use screened questions from viewers commenting on the extranet.
“Director Applejack, this one is for you. IntrepidDuty4731 from Palaven asks: ‘With your species displaying so many incompatibilities with technology available on the galactic market, how can you expect to compete in said market?'”
“So what he’s askin’ is: ‘How are we supposed ta get by if we’re so different from ya’ll?’” Applejack chuckled at the question before her expression turned more serious. “Well, ta tell the truth, it ain’t been easy. We’ve already been tryin’ since we came here ta get our hooves wet in the jobs market, and there ain’t no shortage of desire ta put in some hard work. Most folk’ll say it’s on account of us lackin’ any real experience, but if ya ask me, the real problem we’ve been havin’ is because a’ these.” Applejack raised a forehoof to illustrate her point. “Just because we can’t so much as type on a dang keyboard, most folk don’t think we’re fit for the kinda jobs you bipeds can do.”
While this may have been Applejack’s personal belief, Forty-Two didn’t think it was entirely accurate. The real issue that the Herd had been dealing with was a matter of liability. The companies that were rebuilding Tayseri didn’t want to risk being held accountable if a member of their “endangered” species was injured on their watch.
“But them same folks are forgettin’ somethin’ important.”
“And that would be?” Emily asked, clearly intrigued.
“Deep down, we’re just like everyone else on this station. When trouble comes a-knockin’, we find a way to do it.” Applejack nodded, firmly rooted in her beliefs. “Life is all about overcomin’ all sorts of obstacles.”
“Yeah, just think of the Hanar,” the Director of Defense interrupted brusquely. “I mean, flying jellyfish! That’s way weirder than a pony if you ask me. If you go by the ‘incapable due to being different’ theory that we keep hearing, then don’t you think they should be stuck in an aquarium somewhere? And yet here they are on the Citadel, putting up shops and starring in entertainment vids. I mean, you have one right over there…” Rainbow pointed off camera, presumably to a hanar employee of Citadel News Net. “…who is making this awesome vid of us.”
“What Ah’m sayin’ is…” Applejack took the scene back, nudging her friend in the ribs to bring the point back around. “All we’re askin’ fer is the chance ta prove we’re just as capable as anyone else.”
While Forty-Two would have grimaced internally at the less-than-flattering depiction of the Hanar, the message as a whole at least had been well-delivered. That made a total of six separate instances attempting to put forward the idea that the Herd was eager and willing to integrate into Citadel society. Hopefully enough to get the point across to the general public and engender the Herd’s public image.
Forty-Two let the playback continue.
“Alright. This next one is from CerulianInspired writing from all the way on Cyone: ‘Directors, as an aspiring anthropologist, I find myself wondering how a people that has been so isolated from galactic society could so quickly have their spoken language integrated into standard translation models without requiring so much as a minor patch. Can you explain this?’”
“Oh! I can take this one.” Rarity raised a hoof, quickly cutting off the other three Directors as she cleared her throat and making grand gestures as if she were addressing the crowd in person. “I had the very same question when we first encountered the Systems Alliance. As I understand it, the reason you can understand us, darling, is because we are already speaking a variation of standard Earth English, which is recognized by all translation software available in the galaxy.”
Emily gave the white unicorn a thoughtful look.
“So you were speaking in a human language before you even met your first human?” she queried, putting forward the obvious question.
“Why, yes. As Fluttershy explained earlier, we were raised in suspended animation; our interactions taking place in a virtual setting until we were rescued. The programs in charge of that world made it a point to introduce us to different languages common in the galaxy for when we might be able to communicate with our rescuers once we were found. Earth English was most recently chosen due to being the most likely we would encounter, given our former home’s proximity to Alliance Space. Before they came onto the galactic stage, I’m quite sure we were all speaking in an asari, or perhaps even a salarian dialect. But to us, it’s simply a native tongue. I suppose that the best way to describe our usage of the language would be ‘Equestrian English.’”
Forty-Two couldn’t help but huff in an electronic snort of amusement. This was only partly true.
Honestly, the human language had supplanted the galactic “trade tongue” dialect (which had long been determined to be the most commonly spoken language in the galaxy) as the Equestrian “default” for one simple reason: His former mistress had adored human culture. In particular, the works of human poets and writers of the English language, such as Twain, Asimov, and Frost. Particularly Shakespeare; Astrolia loved Shakespeare.
“I see...” Miss Wong offered, not needing to ask about how Equestria was aware of such things, as the issue had already been addressed. “And here is another question for you, Rarity. ImpeccablyDressed from Bekenstein asks: ‘Director Rarity, I and many of my colleagues have noticed with some disconcertion that your people tend to walk around completely unadorned, and yet, in this broadcast you are sporting what looks like a redesigned rendition of an asari-made Sasali suit. Is the nudity of your fellows a matter of tradition, choice, or simple practicality?’”
Forty-Two couldn’t help but be amused as he watched the replay of Rarity’s eyes lighting up like a foal in a candy shop, and was prepared to replay Twilight’s reaction to Rarity’s response side by side with the interview footage.
He could appreciate a good laugh as much as any flesh-and-blood pony.
*chirp-chirp-chirp*
All memory files were put on hold as Forty-Two’s eyes resumed their normal illumination, turning to quickly identify the surprisingly loud electronic sound that had echoed through the door he was guarding.
*chirp-chirp-chirp*
“AGH! WHAT IS THAT!?”
*CRASH*
*BANG*
Forty-Two instantly sprang into action, hacking the lock to the Madam President’s apartment in a few milliseconds so that it slid open as he brought his body around, quickly analyzing the situation.
The mechanical chirping kept repeating with an almost earsplitting volume as the changeling realized the Madam President was now splayed out on the floor, having clearly fallen out of the bed in a tangle of blankets. She was looking around with a frantic, spooked expression for the source of the sound.
“WHAT’S GOING ON!?” Twilight shouted, more out of her need to hear herself over the blasted chirping than out of any need for Forty-Two’s sensitive audio-receptors to hear her. All it took was to notice the blinking orange light centered on the unicorn’s front left hoof, and the changeling drone was made instantly aware of the situation.
If Forty-Two had a mouth, he would have grinned.
“You have an incoming call, Madam President,” Forty-Two informed her, his volume intentionally low.
“WHAT!?”
“You have a call,” Forty-Two tried again, increasing his volume levels.
“TALK LOUDER!”
“ANSWER THE CALL, TWILIGHT!”
“ANSWER TH--?”
Twilight’s questioning response was cut off with a startled gasp as her foreleg suddenly lit up in brilliant orange, causing her to recoil again as the transmitter at the base of her neck interpreted the proper command.
From the top of her fetlock, a screen expanded outwards, showing the pixelated image of a wide awake and still-damp Pinkie Pie, who had clearly just stepped out from a vapor shower, grinning broadly.
“Hey, Twilight! I got the two-way comm software working!” the Director of Technology informed the Madam President as the unicorn tried to catch her breath. Unfortunately, the volume of her omni-hoof was still apparently set to the maximum and it caused Twilight to cringe as she flattened her ears back in a vain attempt to protect her hearing.
“HOW DO I TURN IT DOWN!?” Twilight all but shouted at the screen.
“Oh, you think it, just like everything else,” Pinkie explained. Focusing her will with supreme determination, Twilight then thought hard about reducing the sound coming from her implanted tool, and what Pinkie said next, mercifully, came through at a much more reasonable volume. “Sorry about that... I forgot I had all the settings maxed out for testing purposes before I gave it to you.”
“My ears,” Twilight moaned piteously, rubbing the sides of her head. “My poor eee-he-hears…”
“Sorry, Twi, I thought you would already be up. And I really didn’t think it would be that loud...” the pink scientist apologized, now keeping her tone down as if speaking softly would matter at this point. “Vinyl just told me about your plan to meet up, and I wanted to know where we were gonna do that, then I figured I needed to get in touch with you and that would be the perfect chance to test out the omni-hoof’s communications suite, and then I realized I needed to clean up before I worked on getting the program just right in order to call you, so I--”
“Pinkie… I can’t hear a word you are saying,” Twilight deadpanned, clearly intending to cut the rambling earth pony off as Forty-Two chuckled to himself. “Give me a minute to recover my eardrums. I think they flew somewhere over by the kitchen.”
“Sure thing, Twilight. Again, I’m super sorry,” Pinkie offered, grinning sheepishly.
Meanwhile, Forty-Two’s earlier amusement faded as he analyzed Twilight’s body language while she tried to shake the ringing out of her ears.
Her fur had a pale, damp quality to it, indicating her body was slick with sweat, and his chemical sensors could detect a decent amount of anxiety-related hormones saturating the air.
A rude awakening wasn’t the only thing bothering his mistress, of that, Forty-Two was certain.
“I just need to fully wake up and get ready. Grab Vinyl and meet me at the balcony on the third level. I’ll be along in a little bit after I take a shower.”
“Sure. I’ll go ahead and bring some containers of tea, since it looks like you could use a real pick-me-up. I would bring some coffee, but...” Pinkie’s face took on a sour, but playful expression as she regarded Twilight through the interface. “...somepony converted my coffee machine into a puddle of omni-gel...”
The screen closed as Twilight mentally commanded the omni-hoof to hang up on the call and enter sleep mode, shaking her head as she looked up to her assistant through bleary, red-rimmed eyes.
The mech’s expressive optic lenses were alight with worry. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”
Twilight’s ears flattened again as her eyes narrowed.
“Nothing. I just need a shower. Please wait outside, Forty-Two.”
“Twilight, I--”
“Outside, Forty-Two… please,” the unicorn reiterated.
The mech, although hesitant, obeyed. Nonetheless, he filed this event along with other, similar observations for further investigation.
——————
The Sugar³ meeting had taken a couple of hours longer than Twilight really wanted it to, as Pinkie Pie and Vinyl laid out their options in extensive detail, as well as providing a list of possible recruits for the fledgling technology firm.
After they were finished, and Twilight had spent a little extra time with Pinkie to further elaborate on the omni-hoof’s functions, Forty-Two then presented the Madam President with some new information. Information that left no alternative than to propel her headlong into another important situation she had been dreading to face ever since the conclusion of Miss Wong’s interview.
This led her back in front of an enclosed storefront she’d paid a visit to once before, on the second level of New Ponyville, as she hesitated at the automatic door that led inside.
“I have sooooo not been looking forward to this,” Twilight sighed, shifting on her hooves uneasily and feeling like an absolute foal.
“I am sure that Director Rarity will be fairly amenable.”
“It’s not that. It’s just... Look, Forty-Two. We don’t have to tell her about those new reports, do we?” Twilight gave her assistant a hopeful, pleading expression. “I mean, maybe we can hold off a little while until--”
“The Director has already been made aware of the situation, Madam President,” Forty-Two informed his mistress, his expression flat as she slumped in reaction to this news.
“Why did you have to go and do that?”
“Because it was highly relevant to her position as Director of Culture,” Forty-Two answered, his mechanical tone taking on an undercurrent of annoyance as he checked to make sure there was nopony in earshot. “With all due respect, Twilight, shouldn’t you just go in and get it over with?”
“I’m the Madam President. If I want to stand around and postpone an awkward and embarrassing conversation with one of my friends, then I am going to--”
The door to the new “Equestrian Essentials” clothiers slid open suddenly as Twilight stood motionless before them, and a pleasant-sounding chime went off, immediately drawing the attention of the two mares inside.
Standing to the left, an absolute icon to Equestrian beauty, was Rarity herself, still wearing the white and black suit that she had sported during the interview the day before. Her violet mane was perfectly groomed and curled as it usually was, and several small instruments were floating around her, each held gingerly in a blue swirl of light.
To the unicorn’s right stood a grey mare sporting a darker grey mane whom Twilight was not immediately familiar with. Her mulberry eyes glanced up towards the Madam President with surprise before she took an awkward step back, as if unsure how to react, and the strange earth pony was wearing an evidently incomplete outfit which Rarity seemed to be in the midst of working on before they had been interrupted.
Twilight turned for half a moment to glare at the changeling, who stared stoically ahead in a mechanical fashion, showing no signs of guilt for prematurely opening the door.
“Oh! Oh... uhhh, Twilight... Er, I mean...” the grey mare started up, her tone bespoken of the sophisticated and upper class, as opposed to the more neutral accents most of her fellow Equestrian’s spoke with. Come to think of it, she sounded more in line with Rarity’s speech styles than anypony else that Twilight knew. “Madam President, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be... uhhh...”
“It’s quite alright, Octavia.” Rarity turned away from Twilight, smiling warmly as her various tailor’s tools floated over to a desk. “Fancy titles aside, she doesn’t bite.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that she would, I just... uhh... eheh...” The mare called Octavia looked to Twilight for a moment, then back at the half-finished outfit she wore which seemed to drape over her backside in a cape-like fashion, leaving her belly and hind legs exposed underneath while forming like a suit around her front legs and chest. “I’ll just... go take this off while you two attend to business.”
Octavia nodded as she backed away from Twilight, who now found herself begrudgingly walking into the store with Forty-Two at her side, the metal doors closing softly behind her.
“Good morning, Rarity,” Twilight said sheepishly, attempting to straddle the issue that had brought her here. “So... friend of yours?”
“Humph.” The white unicorn turned her nose up in the air, turning away from Twilight with as she projected an aura of indignation, causing the Madam President’s sheepish expression to melt into annoyance.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me, Rarity. Don’t tell me that you’re seriously going to--”
“Say it.”
“Rarity, we’re not foals here! I have to talk to you about--”
“Saaaaaay it.”
“Oh, for the love of...!” Twilight let out a grunt of aggravation as she stomped a hind hoof to the metal floor so hard it sent a painful jolt up her spine. “Fine! You were right!” The purple unicorn grimaced, shouting slightly as she admitted what she had been saying for the better part of the last five days had been in error. “There, happy!?”
“Quite.” Rarity nodded as she turned back towards Twilight, a pleased smile on her face.
“For a mare who’s always claimed to be so mature,” Twilight huffed in agitation. “You sure can act foalish sometimes.”
“There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t act a little foalish every now and then. Although, I am not so petty as to start saying ‘I told you so.’”
Twilight felt her upper lip curl in a half-sneer. “You just did...”
“Did I? Oh, I hadn’t noticed.” Rarity waved a foreleg dismissively before proceeding with the matter at hoof. “I assume you’ve seen the same reports that I have.”
“I didn’t have to see the reports to realize that you caused what amounted to a complete cross-cultural catastrophe in a matter of minutes!” Twilight scolded, getting to the heart of the matter. “And while we’re on that subject, what were you thinking!?”
“I was asked a serious question during a professional interview. I answered to the best of my abilities, and when Miss Wong requested that I elaborate, I told the truth,” Rarity defended herself, keeping her tone aloof as if she failed to understand the alarm in Twilight’s tone.
“‘And yet many ponies fail to consider that in spite of our own comfort among our fellow equines, most sentients are unable to avert their eyes in the same manner in which we have been brought up since birth, allowing something as simple as a flick of the tail to leave us scandalously exposed.’” Twilight quoted word for word, a flush running over her face as she recalled how the subject made even Big Mac turn redder than usual, and made all four fillies in the room very self conscious as they pulled Twilight’s blanket down over themselves. “Allow me to ask again, Rarity... What were you thinking!?”
“I was addressing a very real concern which you have been pointedly ignoring ever since we arrived on the Citadel, dear,” Rarity pointed out, her own smile fading as her tone grew more defensive. “And at the risk of sounding blunt, ‘Madam President,’ perhaps you’ve been too busy to notice that other species refuse to so much as walk behind us.”
“What I’ve noticed since I’ve been out and about today is that I have more than half of New Ponyville waddling around with their tails tucked firmly between their legs out of shame, when yesterday they didn’t have any problem at all being furclad! You did not have to embarrass our entire species in front of an audience of billions just to make your point!”
“Well, you’re here now, so it must have worked, did it not?”
“Rarity!”
“Look, I’m sorry if the truth makes you feel a little uncomfortable, Twilight!” Rarity huffed. “But you know quite well that I’m right. We are not in Equestria anymore! If we are going to be dealing with other species on a daily basis, we have to account for their sensitivities, which in this case, means we have to adhere to a different cultural standard, at least in public!”
Twilight found herself gritting her teeth as she looked away, letting out a primal snort before her expression started to soften, her ears flattening in a subconscious admission of defeat.
“Besides...” Rarity likewise began to cool off, as her friend’s body language indicated that the tense portion of this discussion was over. “It is better we get a little embarrassed and start developing a sense of modesty now while we can still claim ignorance, rather than a few months down the line when our reputations would be set as improper, naked beasts.”
Twilight looked up to the sometimes overly dramatic fashion pony, who was now speaking in a lighter tone.
“I took on this role for a reason, Twilight. Not just because I happen to be your friend and thus need to have a fancy ‘Director’ title, but because when it comes to these sorts of issues, I happen to know what I’m talking about.”
“When you said you wanted to open a boutique... I assumed it was just because you wanted to sell clothes like you did before all of this,” Twilight offered.
“I’ll admit, that’s not... entirely inaccurate,” the ivory pony had to concede the point. “But at the same time, it’s a ready solution to an issue that simply needs to be resolved. I’m just glad you’re finally seeing things from my point of view, darling.”
“Um... Rarity, I hope I am not interrupting.” Rarity’s guest, Octavia, drew attention to herself, tentatively moving out from the makeshift changing room in the back of the shop with the outfit she had been wearing folded over one foreleg as she moved to set it on the counter.
“It’s no trouble, Octavia.” Rarity nodded to the earth mare. “Twilight and I just have to go over a few things.”
“You two seem rather busy, though. Perhaps I should come back later?” Octavia queried, although she still seemed nervous with Twilight standing right there.
Twilight recognized that expression in the eyes of dozens of ponies who were in awe of the authority of her former Princess.
It was a sign of deference.
She found the sight of it put a bitter taste in her mouth.
“If you must, dear. I’ll meet you later for lunch, then.”
The grey pony mare nodded as she strolled casually out of the shop, clearly eager to leave the two to their own devices.
“Your new assistant?” Twilight asked, trying to regain her hoofing, pointing out something that she had noticed was becoming a pattern as each of the Directors seemed to be picking out like-minded individuals to help them in their endeavors.
“Oh, hardly anything so... ‘official.’ Octavia and I are just good friends that happen to share a few common interests. She used to be a classical musician in Canterlot, and we’d often get the chance to meet up whenever I happened to stop by on business,” Rarity explained. “As it happens, I was actually one of the only real ponies she knew, as much of the upper-crust of Canterlot were simply management programs. I must say, it’s rather refreshing to know at least somepony familiar with class and decorum.”
“Why would that matter?” Twilight inquired, honestly curious what point there was to emulate the ways and manners of high society when such distinctions were meaningless, given their low numbers.
“It’s a matter of maintaining our culture, Twilight. There is nothing wrong with being casual, and I don’t mean to act like I’m better than anypony else. But we also need to preserve our higher etiquette for the day when we move beyond our status as an endangered hooffull of refugees. In that case, I prefer to lead by example.”
“If we may come back to the matter at hoof, Madam President... Director Rarity,” Forty-Two interrupted the casual talk, all too well aware that there were other meetings to be had after this one.
“Oh, but of course. Business. Here I am babbling on like a brook and taking up your time,” Rarity huffed in amusement, nodding to the black mech. “By all means, continue, dear.”
“As you were both made aware, the new poll conducted at Director Rarity’s request following the interview indicates that eighty-seven percent of Equestrians now agree that it is absolutely vital to acquire some form of attire when dealing with other species,” Forty-Two stated dryly, bringing the facts to the front. “Also, since the interview aired nine hours ago, New Ponyville’s extranet information site has seen a dramatic rise in page hits, and numerous feeds across multiple social commentary sites have seen questions regarding when the district will be made accessible to the public at large.”
“Which needs to be soon.” Twilight nodded. “What are our options in the clothing department?”
“Well, of course you know I am more than happy to design and fabricate custom outfits for the Herd. I already have quite a few design ideas that will be both comfortable to us and acceptable to alien sensibilities,” Rarity stated with certainty, her horn again alight as she lifted a datapad from the nearby counter and brought it in front of Twilight.
Sitting back on her haunches, Twilight waved her left leg, which lit up in an array of shifting orange panels as the information was copied from the floating datapad to her omni-hoof.
Rarity’s eyes widened, a sparkle coming to her eyes as she realized what it was.
“Oh, my... Is that what I think it is? Where can I get one of those?”
“Pinkie’s working on making more of them as we speak. Hopefully, we’ll get one in the hooves of every pony by the end of the week,” Twilight informed Rarity as she accessed the datafile, going through the sketches of various styles of dress. It was clear to Twilight what Rarity had been working on since their exodus from Equestria, and while she was no expert by any means, she had to admit... they looked good. Better than good; amazing. Adapting various alien styles into Equestrian attire for some, while others were purely original concepts.
Then, of course, the reality of the situation had to present itself.
“...How much?”
“I have already used my share of the allowance you gave out to us to purchase materials and some basic machinery, which is how I put this little number together.” Rarity stood and waved a hoof in a presenting fashion over herself before gesturing to the half-finished outfit on the counter. “I’ve already started work on my next project, as you can see, and Octavia’s been essential in helping me get the proportions just right. The fabric is not exactly the Citadel’s finest, but I have a few tricks I can apply to compensate for that. For mass production, however, I’ve already given that list to your changeling over there.”
Twilight turned to the mech, who was bringing up the files and running the numbers.
“Processing.” Forty-Two’s eyes flickered. “Insufficient funds available.”
Rarity drooped as Twilight drew a sharp breath through her teeth. She knew this was coming.
Between food, amenities, Applejack’s still-lacking efforts in finding paying work, so many eager business startups, and Pinkie’s unanticipated splurge, their funds were being strained to the breaking point. And now they were nearing the bottom of the barrel.
“What about if we just bought off-the-rack prefabs and did alterations to make them fit? That way we can cloth everypony, and it would be cheaper, right?” Twilight suggested, which made Rarity take on a very sour expression.
“Well, I suppose… I could do that. But the result would hardly be ideal. Can you imagine everypony walking around in the exact same cheap, mass-produced, one-tone outfits? Oh, just the thought of it...” Rarity grimaced, making it clear she was not exactly thrilled at the prospect. “Besides, alterations can be just as time-consuming as original designs. I mean, it would probably be less expensive due to the savings in raw materials, but--”
“But you would rather be able to say: ‘Yes, we made that,’” Twilight finished for her, already seeing where Rarity was going. “I know, Rarity. I get it.”
“It’s not that, Twilight,” the Director of Culture explained. “Clothing is not just for covering our... ‘unmentionables.’ It is also a form of artistic expression. It’s a way of stating who we are to the outside galaxy and that is something of an imperative. The Herd has to reclaim its identity and this is one way we can go about doing it.”
Twilight sighed, having to grudgingly admit that the mare did have a point.
“Madam President, there is another Equestrian endeavor that has credits earmarked but has not yet been approved for spending. Diversion of these funds would release adequate resources for Director Rarity’s project,” Forty-Two spoke up suddenly.
Twilight turned, her heart sinking a little as Rarity’s eyes lit up hopefully. Not for the first time, the purple unicorn found herself wishing that her assistant could learn when to keep his speakers turned off.
“Which one?” Twilight asked, realizing that at the very least she had to look at her options.
“The Agricenter’s Greenhouse Project,” Forty-Two answered plainly.
Twilight cringed.
Golden is not going to like this.
*Updating Codex*
*Director Rarity: updated*
——————
I hate it when I’m right.
“Madam President! I can’t believe what you’re suggesting!” shouted the yellow-coated, bright orange-maned earth mare as she stomped a back hoof in indignation.
“Calm down, Golden Harvest,” Twilight attempted to sooth the forepony of what had come to be known as the “Agricenter”: a small group of former food providers that had banded together to form a lobby of nearly a dozen agricultural, floral, and green grocer specialists.
“You come out here and tell me that you’re going to cut off our funding before we even have the chance to get started and you want me to calm down!?”
“I haven’t made my decision yet,” Twilight defended, trying to keep a calm demeanor in the face of the earth pony’s clear displeasure. “That’s what I’m here, right now, to discuss with you! I wanted to talk about the possibility of delaying the Greenhouse’s startup until we’ve managed to stabilize.”
“The Greenhouse Project is exactly what New Ponyville needs right now!”
“We have food,” Twilight fired back, crossing her forelegs as she sat back on her haunches and tried to play devil’s advocate. “And after reviewing the specifics, I can’t help but think it’s far more ambitious than we were previously led to believe. I had no idea it would cost that much just to provide a proper growing environment.”
“We have dry hay, grains, and oats, all imported from human colonies. That’s not food, it’s ‘feed.’ There is a difference.” Golden shook her head in mild disgust. “I am talking about carrots, fresh flowers, apples... Real fruits and vegetables. It’s supposed to be ambitious, Twilight! We are trying to make New Ponyville self-sufficient. Think about it! If the ground doesn’t grow anything, we don’t have an economy.”
“Golden... We live on a space station.” Twilight made her point by clicking a back hoof on the floor, eliciting a metallic ring. “I know you’re proposal is for an enclosed hydroponic greenhouse, but that presents its own problems. One month of running the UV lights alone would cost enough credits to buy a luxury shuttlecraft!”
“That’s not the-- Are you gonna start getting technical with me, Twilight?”
“All I’m saying is that the cost of all of that equipment is enough to not only fund Rarity’s boutique, but there would be enough leftover from that to buy food--”
“Feed!”
“Fine... Feed enough for everypony for over six months!” Twilight was starting to get frustrated from having to hammer the point home so many times. “Look, I love fresh greens and veggies as much as anypony, but it’s something that we can start pushing towards after we get our hooves dug in. I’m just saying, we can stand to wait a few months.”
Golden growled, clearly agitated.
“And what are we supposed to do in the meantime? Join Applejack’s imaginary work detail? Yeah, that’s been a real upstart proposition so far.”
“Now, hold on just a moment--" Twilight objected, but was sidelined as Golden continued to vent.
"Just because Rarity went on the extranet and made a few mares feel a little awkward about our rumps showing, you're going to derail the entire Agricenter and have us standing around doing nothing? Do you think I don't see what's going on here? Favoritism, that's what this is! One of your friends wants to do something and you push the rest of us aside to--"
"ENOUGH!" Twilight's shout echoed across the first level of Ponyville, causing more than a few ponies to turn their heads before they quickly returned to their own business.
Golden took a sudden step back, her eyes wide and face pale, realizing she had gone a step too far as Twilight's eyes narrowed on her.
"As I keep trying to tell you, I haven’t decided yet. I’m here for your input on the situation and to inform you of the possibility that the Greenhouse might be temporarily set back,” Twilight fumed, her tone dangerously edged. "I have to consider the benefits to the Herd as a whole, not cater to any single group, be it my friends, the Agricenter, or anypony else. And I am most certainly not about to change my mind on any situation because somepony wants to throw a tantrum like a week-old foal!"
Golden, a strong-willed and stubborn mare in her own right, kept her eyes on the unicorn, refusing to look away as the two stared one another down, their snouts mere inches away from one another.
“Is there a problem here?”
Golden looked away first as the reverberating, alien voice cut in, retreating from the silent battle of wills and allowing Twilight a moment of relief as she realized the fur on the back of her neck had risen. Releasing a held breath before she looked to the source of the voice, she couldn't help but appreciate Golden's shocked reaction.
"I beg your pardon!? Who--" Golden turned, then had to crane her neck up as she took in the blue and black armor-encased frame of New Ponyville’s security liaison.
"Lieutenant Pyres?" Twilight tilted her head as she took a good look at the district's turian C-Sec representative.
Now in uniform, the turian certainly cut a more impressive figure than before, standing comfortably in his armor with a remarkably relaxed posture. And while she couldn’t be certain, on account of his scaled, plated face, Twilight got the feeling that Pyres was actually grinning.
“Who do you think you are? This is a private discussion between me and the Madam President!” Golden balked, only slightly intimidated by the alien’s overbearing presence and authoritative demeanor.
“I happen to be the one in charge of settling disputes in this district before laws end up getting broken,” Pyres stated matter-of-factly, his voice turning sour. “And to be honest, if you two ladies don’t start playing nice, I won’t hesitate to forcefully separate you two until you cool off... Understood?”
Golden cringed, unsure of herself now as she was faced with an unknown quantity. This hesitation allowed Twilight to step forward.
"That won't be necessary, Lieutenant," Twilight stated calmly. "Miss Harvest and I were just having a heated discussion. We were hardly about to come to blows over it. Right, Golden?"
"Do me a favor and try not to have them out in the open, would you?" The turian nodded, folding his arms. "I don't claim to know how you ponies settle your differences, but I’ve seen milder arguments end in someone getting shot, and I’m not about to let any of that crap happen on my watch."
"But we..." Golden shivered, unnerved by Lt. Pyres' hawkish eyes as he glared at the two of them, and her tone instantly shifted to be more apologetic. "I... think I've taken up enough of your time, Madam President. I hope that this... unpleasantness won't influence--"
"I'll contact you once I've made my decision, Golden," Twilight stated bluntly.
The yellow mare’s shoulders rose at this, but another sideways look to the turian took whatever she had to say out of her breath and ended the confrontation with her turning to head back into the warehouse she and her fellows had claimed for their project.
Twilight shook her head as she felt a pounding pressure behind her eyes, and tried to preempt it by rubbing her temples with either hoof.
"Forty-Two, could you--"
Information summarized. Projections phrased. Prepping asset comparison report between “Greenhouse” project and “Equestrian Essentials” project. Analysis comparison complete. File ready for review.
"--put together one of those reports for me?"
"Complying. Please stand by," Forty-Two chirped in a purposefully neutral mechanical voice, having already processed the request in the course of a few milliseconds before going silent and observing. He wasn’t willing to give the turian a good understanding of his capabilities just yet.
The C-Sec officer and unicorn quiet for a few moments as the black mech watched the two of them, trying to puzzle out this unexpected interaction.
"Lt. Pyres... I..." Twilight started before she took a breath. "Thank you."
"I’m not asking for your thanks, I’m just doing my job. Speaking of which, don't start screaming like that unless there's a real emergency. This armor's not made for sprinting, you know."
"Yeah, sorry about that. That got a little more tense than I expected."
"That was tense?" Pyres huffed in an amused fashion, his inflection sarcastic. "Well then, I’d hate to see what happens when you lose your temper."
"Yeah..." Twilight ran a hoof over the back of her neck, flashing back on a recent memory she always tried to keep far from her thoughts. "Uh... Lieutenant, I admit we didn't exactly get off on the right hoof. And seeing as how we're going to be working together for a while--"
"Yeah, just stop right there, Madam President." Pyres shook his head. "Like I've been telling these ponies all morning, I'm not interested in being friends. I’m just here to do my job until I get reassigned to more important work."
Twilight gave the turian a blank expression before something occurred to her.
Cultural sensitivities.
"I was going to suggest we have a meeting so that we can go over the ground rules in New Ponyville," Twilight improvised, shifting gears as she put on a mask of professionalism. "I got my hooves on a copy of your record and if you can keep in line with that, then I'm not going to fire you."
"...Damn," The turian swore, although his inflection sounded amused, at least.
"Your personal quirks notwithstanding, I like to think that your superiors know what they are doing."
"You haven't been in politics for very long, have you?"
"Like it or not, we're stuck together. Deal with it." Twilight shrugged. "Now, if we’re going to do this, then let's at least make sure it's done efficiently. Make it clear what either of us can do so that you don't step on my tail and I don't interfere in your procedures."
"That..." The turian seemed to consider for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I can work with that."
"I was about to take lunch. Care to join me?"
*Updating Codex*
*The Agricenter: updated*
*Intraspecies Conflicts: updated*
——————
“It’s not something we think of consciously,” Twilight explained as Pyres nodded, paying very close attention as the unicorn briefed him on pony body language. “It’s one of those old, primal instincts, the kind we never quite evolved out of. If you see a pony dig their forehoof into the ground and keep it raised, that’s the important part, keeping it raised, then you know we are past words and somepony is about to get hurt. It’s very rare that it happens, but that’s the signal you want to look for before intervening.”
“And until you reach that point, it’s just a staring contest?” Pyres sounded shocked. “Not even the Hanar are afraid to get physical when the situation calls for it. And have you seen two hanar fight? That’s the kind of stuff the extranet was made for.”
“We’re not an inherently violent species, but we do have our disagreements. This works as a sort of way to determine who has the greater conviction. The first to flinch away tends to back down completely, admitting they’re wrong,” Twilight answered, setting her hooves together as she leaned forward in her seat. “It’s not something we do with aliens. No offense, but if one of us gets mad with you, don’t expect the same sort of warning.”
“So I should shoot first. Good to know.”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all!” Twilight huffed.
“...I was joking,” Pyres told the unicorn flatly. “Looks like you still have plenty to learn yourself, Madam President. Besides, could you imagine the paperwork I would have to deal with if something like that actually happened to one of you ponies?”
“So I trust you’ll use this knowledge to keep the peace...?” Twilight asked, not amused by the turian’s twisted sense of humor.
“Hey, I am all for letting you ponies take care of your own little problems. Hell, I wish other species did the same; Headquarters wouldn’t be so packed with people complaining all the time. In any case, just consider me window dressing, patrolling the district or at my station until some real issue comes up.”
Twilight nodded understandingly, having taken more than an hour longer than she usually did for her lunch and postponing a few less urgent meetings in order to brief the turian on what he might expect from New Ponyville. She also paid close attention to his thoughts on the district in regards to security, and how they would be best able to handle the (hopefully large) influx of visitors once the district was “officially” opened for business.
They didn’t agree on everything, and the turian’s offbeat way of talking sometimes made the pony want to groan, but as Twilight continued to speak with him, she found herself more convinced that Forty-Two had made the right call by preventing her from immediately calling for his dismissal when they had met the day before.
“Alright, is there anything else?” Twilight asked, keeping her tone even and professional.
“Just one other thing: your ‘Director of Defense,’” Pyres offered, jumping into the subject quickly and getting straight to his point. “I know that you are friends with her, but you have to understand that she really has no idea what she’s doing. It’s not biotics keeping her flying, it’s hot air. She couldn’t handle herself in a combat situation with a waste-disposal drone.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate her...” Twilight stated testily. “Rainbow may come off as hot-headed, but she won’t stop at anything to try and protect the Herd.”
Twilight wanted to further refute the lieutenant in regards to Rainbow’s lack of training and discipline, but found that she really couldn’t argue much further without undermining her own argument.
“Yeah, emphasis on ‘try.’ Don’t get me wrong, she’s passionate about what she’s doing, I’ll give her that,” Pyres continued. “And maybe where you come from that was enough. But in the Wards, that’s just not going to cut it. If she just rushes into troublesome situations like she did yesterday, she is going to get hurt. If she wants to claim any kind of authority over security around here, she needs the formal training to back it up.”
“Could you help her with that?” Twilight asked.
“...Maybe. But I seriously doubt she’ll listen. Besides, I think she’s still upset about yesterday. Didn’t say much to me at the security station this morning except for pointing out that most of the office was ‘her’ side and that I could only walk around on ‘my’ side.”
Twilight shook her head.
“Yeah, she can be a little foalish sometimes. Don’t worry, she’ll listen to me,” Twilight assured the turian.
“Oh, Twilight!”
The unicorn’s eyes snapped open as a familiar voice came from her left. Pyres also seemed to notice this and was for some reason shocked seeing as how to the left of the table was an open, empty space where the balcony on the third level of New Ponyville ended.
“There you are. I’m so glad I found you.” Fluttershy drew her fetlock over her brow, having clearly worked up a sweat as she hovered effortlessly in place over thin air, something that the turian sitting across from the unicorn was watching with a still-amazed expression. “I’ve been looking all over New Ponyville for you.”
“Uhh, Shy?” Twilight started, clearly having no issue with what she was seeing. “You do realize that you can contact me by talking to any changeling unit we have, right?”
“Oh, we can? I didn’t know that...” Fluttershy drew back, lowering her eyes demurely before she turned to look at Taxar. “Oh... Hello, Lt. Pyres. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Uh... Hi.” The turian was unsure of himself at first before recognizing the yellow pony. “Director... Fluttershy, right? Interspecies Relations? From the interview last night.”
“Yes, that’s me. Um, I know this may not be the best time, but have you had that looked at?”
The turian drew back. “Excuse me?”
“It looks like a mild case of plate ostrea dermis, the turian equivalent of psoriasis.” Fluttershy motioned to the side of her face, drawing Twilight’s attention to a very minor discoloration along the turian’s jawline. “Right there. Have you tried any dextro-amino balms?”
“How did...” Pyers turned away from Fluttershy, actually off guard as the pony diagnosed a very minor issue that he had dealt with since childhood, but most aliens, even those with xeno-medical training, were unaware of.
“She does that,” Twilight explained swiftly. “Part of that specialized Equestrian training I was talking about. Fluttershy is very good at observing things about other species.”
She turned to the pegasus, who was nodding in agreement.
“Anyways, you needed to see me Fluttershy?”
“Oh, yes, that’s right. I think we may have a teensy little problem,” Fluttershy said, moving up over the railing and landing gracefully on the balcony next to the table, a very faint yellow glow dissipating from around her body as she folded her wings against her back. “We have some visitors.”
Twilight huffed in annoyance at this new “problem.”
“You too, Fluttershy? I had this talk with Rainbow yesterday. We are not turning away everypony that comes to our door just because--”
“Oh, no, it’s not that. I let them in,” Fluttershy quickly admitted, although she cringed a moment later. “I’m... kind of regretting that now, because they don’t seem to want to leave.”
Twilight gave the pegasus a curious look.
“Okay, Fluttershy. What exactly is the problem here?”
The yellow pegasus gulped slightly. “...Krogan.”
“And so much for being window dressing.” Pyres’ mandibles clicked, a motion that Twilight was starting to connect to either nervousness or frustration.
She wasn’t surprised to see his reaction, at least, if what she had found out upon reading up on the conflict-prone species was anything to go by. Close to two meters tall, armor-plated, incredibly long-lived, and with a penchant for violence, krogan often meant bad news in any situation they were involved in.
“You let a bunch of krogan just waltz right into the district!?”
“Well, they were yelling at the drones near the elevator and I was worried that they might be labeled as hostile, so I offered a tour as compromise,” Fluttershy explained. “From what I can tell, they’re young for krogan. I don’t think any of them are over a hundred. They seemed genuinely interested in seeing us and learning about Equestrians, so I didn’t think there would be a problem.”
“I have a feeling I know where this is going.” Pyres shook his head.
“I showed them around the lower levels and they seemed interested enough. But now they’re refusing to leave. I tried asking nicely and reasoning with them, but they won’t listen to me.”
“How many?” Pyres asked before Twilight could.
“There’s four of them, Lt. Pyres,” the pegasus offered.
“Armed?”
“Oh! Of course not! I would never have let aliens into New Ponyville if they had weapons with them.” Fluttershy put a hoof in front of her mouth, as if she found the very thought detestable. “I know krogan don’t have the best reputations, but I didn’t see anything wrong with letting them take a look around.”
“Have they done anything yet?”
“Um, no,” Fluttershy answered a bit meekly. “Not anything bad. They just didn’t want to leave. Maybe you could say something to them?”
Lt. Pyres sat back in his seat, his three-fingered hands folded together as he considered.
“Well, if they haven’t done anything illegal yet, there’s not much I can do. The district is a protected habitat, but it’s not eminent domain.”
“But, krogan are dangerous aren't they?” Twilight objected, shocked that the turian was not rushing to perform his duty.
“Definitely.” Pyres nodded. “But even they know the rules on the Citadel. I can’t take action until they’re about to actually try something.”
Twilight clenched her eyes shut in realization as she remembered something that the turian had told her just a little while ago during their meeting.
“And it falls to the local conclave leader to set forward preventative measures in their individual districts,” Twilight sighed.
“That’s right,” Pyres confirmed with a nod.
“Wait, what does that mean, exactly?” Fluttershy tilted her head, unsure of herself.
“It means that unless a crime is actually committed, I’m the one who has to deal with our new krogan guests,” Twilight explained.
“Well, to be fair, most conclave leaders delegate that responsibility,” the turian suggested.
Twilight seemed unamused at the suggestion. “I would have to delegate it to Rainbow.”
“...Point taken. You should handle this yourself,” Pyres agreed.
“I’m within my rights to throw them out of the district, right?” Twilight asked.
“On paper you are, but the issue there is enforcing it,” the C-Sec officer explained. “It’s entirely possible they’ll just get bored and leave after long enough. Krogan may be long-lived, but they have the attention span of a space hamster when they aren’t busy shooting at anything.”
“Well, I’m not just going to wait around until something manages to provoke them,” the unicorn countered. “I should at least try to convince them to go before that happens.”
“But, Twilight, what if somepony gets hurt?” Fluttershy looked worried, as the Lieutenant got up from his seat.
“I can be there on standby in case things get out of hand. But until someone crosses a line, I can’t do much more than glare at them. Which, me being turian, would likely just egg them on. Keep in mind, krogan usually don’t respect anything except brute force. You can try talking them into leave peacefully, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
Forty-Two, who had remained silent off to the side as the events unfolded before him, watched as Twilight took a breath, trying to weigh her options.
——————
Log Entry: 42 of 50 - Day 10 A.E
Assets Acquired:
+15: New Ponyville - Following the live broadcast of CNN’s interview with the four remaining members of the Equestrian Board of Directors, the public of the Citadel has gained a firmer understanding of the Equestrians as a people. This has led to increased awareness of the Herd’s difficulties and interest in pony-based goods and culture.
Codex Update: Director Rarity, The Agricenter, Intraspecies Conflict
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Option A Leave the krogan be
[X] Food. Food would probably be good for morale.
-[X] Buy clothing. While I think that they're over-reacting (Elcor don't wear clothes, after all), it would make them more comfortable.
[X] Leave the Krogan be. They don't have any allies, and may just enjoy people that don't hate them. Plus, any unicorns would probably be able to hold them off them until security got there if they DO become violent.
Simply brilliant work so far!
Although, was it intentional that the text suddenly shifted entirely to Italics halfway fown the page? It doesn't quite look right.
I think Twilight should go with Options A, and leaving the krogans alone.
I assume the last quarter or so of the chapter being in italics was a mistake?
Anyway, Clothe, and leave the Krogan be.
Option B
Confront the Krogan.
For The First issue I say rarity.
For the second leave the krogan be, even though its probably a bad idea
To Clothe or To Feed: Invest in the Greenhouse
I had to give this some thought. While the exquisite outfits may provide an outstanding first impression, the first wave of tourists would probably find that the Equestrians would be a mediocre bar wrapped in shiny. Food is a part of culture too. If the Equestrians have fresh ingredients, they can prepare the best Equestrian dishes for their tourists instead. Clothes are a first impression, but food will have tourists coming back. After all, food is universal.
The Worst Kind of Company: Confront the krogan
Krogan have a really short temper. As stated, krogan are interested in action and force. Leaving them to their own devices is going to get them restless. But, krogan do happen to like sports. Perhaps a friendly game with the Director of Defense is in order?
EDIT: I wonder how many people are just automatically picking Rarity?
EDIT: Based on the author's clarification of confronting the krogan, I have changed my decision.
As much as I understand Rarity's point of view, 'individual' clothing can be done at a later time, maybe a hologram or some sort of embroidery of ones cutie mark would be enough to recognize them. So I vote for the food, once it's up and running, it will provide at least some form of income, which is more important right now than clothing.
As for the krogans, if I know anything about Urdnot Wrex, than it's this: Should they do anything that he doesn't approve of, they are in a lot of trouble, and I guess they know that too. Also, Twi knows one or two spells that can 'slightly' hurt, so there is no point in throwing them out as long as they are clearly not hostile. So let them stay, the herd is bound to run into them one way or another, and this could be a way to observe them and develop solutions how to handle them if the need arise.
On an unrelated note: Dashie getting C-Sec training? Hell yeah!
Option A and Confront the Krogan.
If Twilight shows dominance than she will be respected by the Krogan since they do see minor violence as a sign of strength in a positive view. They would most likely come to respect The Herd for showing this off instead of believing that they are weak and easily pushed around.
Directive Decision
To Clothe- As was stated above the ponies won't be going hungry anytime soon. Establishing an equestrian culture will help the herd develop an identity and will also help to improve how other species view them.
Choice
Leave the Krogan be- There is no point in agitating the highly aggressive reptiles, instead I would rather we went about finding away to satiate their curiosity. Hell I'd even go as far as to try and make friends with them as Krogan can be powerful allies.
Option B
Confront the krogan
Honestly, fancy clothes vs. a step towards self-sufficiency and a potential source of income? Rarity raised some good points, but when it comes down to it, the clothes she wants to make are a luxury, and food is a necessity. The Equestrians can't keep importing "feed" forever, and the prospect of selling off surplus harvests seals the deal. Option A has no real tangible benefits, and would drain their already dwindling resources. I don't mean to diminish the importance of culture, but really, let's get our priorities straight, here. Parents of low income families shouldn't force their kids to eat bread and water so they can wear fancy clothes and impress the other kids at school, which is essentially what Rarity's option boils down to.
As for the krogan, I'm not saying Twilight should give them to boot, but the situation deserves her attention. We don't know what the krogan's motivations for being in Ponyville are, and it warrants investigation. Maybe it's just idle curiosity, or maybe they want bragging rights to claiming the first kill of a newly discovered species. At this point, there's not enough information and we need to gather more. Ignoring them just introduces an unknown quantity into an already volatile situation.
Option B and leave them alone
I must say, the choices are a little tougher to make this time around. I suspect that's what you were looking for.
To Clothe or To Feed – Option A: Invest in Equestrian Essentials
Possible income source there.
I suspect that this may cause some nutritional issues down the line, but perhaps part of AJ's troubles with finding work is the fact that all the ponies are completely starkers. And I have not noticed anything that says Rarity can't make outfits for customers who aren't Herd members…
The Worst Kind of Company – Confront the krogan
This was the really tough one for me. But I think it would be best to at least ascertain why they won't leave, and that can't be done by avoiding them. That said, I do hope the Madam President will at least endeavour to not piss off the space-dinosaurs before whatever escort they have can take up positions to quickly resolve any situation that should arise. I just hope nopony dies because of this.
Cloths
Let the krogan be
On To Clothe or To Feed I'd have to go with option b. Sorry Rarity.
While it is a risk, if successful it would provide both food and , i stress the second benefit, revenue something the ponies have been worried about. if all goes well they can recoup the money spent quickly both in sales of both raw food and cooked Equestrian dishes. that money could then be put into better clothes. 
As for The Worst Kind of Company i also go with option b. as it has already been stated Krogan respect strength
and roll over anyone they think they can push around.
Remember Twilight 
would be the one dealing with them. I'm pretty sure if things got dicey she could throw them all out on their quads pretty easily. While that might cause them to go get their friends and cause trouble, it again could also get the Krogan to respect the ponies.
Wow, this is a pretty tough choice, if only because I don't like either option for either decision.
For To Clothe or To Feed, I choose feed. Giving each member of the herd a custom tailored suit would take up way too much time and money, and growing fresh produce on a space station seems highly impractical and expensive. Nevertheless, the fresh produce will be marketable (and desirable on a space station) once harvest rolls around. And in the mean time, covering up the naughty bits of ponies can be accomplished with whatever rags they can get on the cheap.
The Worst Kind of Company is a pretty difficult decision to make. No idea if the krogan are there to bring the ruckus, or if they are just checking out this new species. My ideal choice would be to closely observe. But I also get the feeling that they'd respect Twi for standing up to them. Fuck it, confront them. Why not?
the krogun are not evil or even vicious unless provoked the wrong way. rather then making enemies twilight could get a certian volus off her back if she where simply to treat the krogun kindly. i say not only leave them be, send rainbow and applejack in to talk to them. now remember i said if you provoke them the WRONGE way. done right provoking krogun can endear them to you. as for the food and clothing issue. i'm sorry rarity was outta line as such she should be made to suffer it until funds are available. pinkey lost her funding for stepping ut of line and she apologized for it. rarity stepped out of line and now she gets what she wants for it? no way feed before clothing. also twilight should get pinkey on making four more omni-hooves right away, get the directors all linked in ahead of time.
Please forgive my long winded and multiple edited analysis of this chapter and the votes I cast...I am probably over thinking it. Awesome story by the way, huge fan!
To Clothe or To Feed
To Clothe gets my vote, two out of three lines of thought go with it...plus the Equestrians can always start up the Greenhouse in the future, as Twilight says it is something that can wait for a few months...further thought though is making me wonder about my choice here...hmm...should probably discuss more.
From a human social-psychological perspective, I would have to side with the clothing issue. Resisting a cultural assimilation, in this case probably Human given a shared language and the actions of Shepard. The goal of New Ponyville is to establish a ethnic enclave within the Citadel and stabilize a new Pony culture. With the food would provide a great pleasure now, and presumably a source of income as a source of local fresh produce in a place where importing said produce would be super expensive, it is not a culturally sensitive issue. To side with food is to risk a factionalism as Ponies take to the cultures of others, and next thing you know the grandchildren of the current generation would not be Equestrians...they'd be System Alliance citizens, Asari disciples, etc.
On an historical perspective. Bergen-Belsen, Concentration Camp. While not totally relevant, there are two instances of where both fashion and food became very important with the rescue, rehabilitation, and normalization of survivors. Lipstick, and Paprika. After Liberation, another 13,994 people would die, starvation and hopelessness was rampant. The Bengal Famine Mixture the British tried to use to ease and treat starvation was not palatable to the surviving European survivors, only when efforts were made to make the mixture taste familiar and comforting did it really begin to have I effect. I believe Paprika was used to simulate local flavors. A shipment of lipstick was also sent in, British personnel on the ground were shocked that such a needless and pointless luxury item was sent to a camp where medicine, food, sanitation, and rescue workers were all in short supply. But it was something amazing, a unadulterated brilliance in the words of Lt. Col. Mervin Willett Gonin, a eye witness to the horror. He states it is his belief that nothing else did more for the internees at Bergen-Belsen. In a camp of death and suffering and ungodly lacking of even the barest of basic necessities, women had scarlet red lips. Those pieces of lipstick gave the people of Bergen-Belsen hope, and it gave them back their humanity. A bit of the life outside the wire and walls, where home was. While it is crass of me to put this here, probably, it is a interesting historical perspective that might hold some relevance to the direction of the story. The options of the Ponies are food or fashion. As they are not starving, and they are not in need of comfort food, fashion would give them a sense of identity. This is Equestrian Fashion, and we are Equestrian. These things were cut and styled for us, made for us, these things show our cultures, both new and old. This is something for us, we are us.
On a business perspective. Food definitely wins. Rarity's fashion, in a best case might be able to move slightly into the Elcor market as both species are quadrupedal. Her accessories and fashion accents and techniques may find market share in the other species markets, Humans and Asari definitely. However food, fresh levo protein food. That is worth its weight in gold. Take a apple, in order to ship it to the Citadel, there must be dozens of things that would case both a huge mark up and necessitate preserved and processed food for the masses. A fresh apple would no doubt cost dozens of times more then a package of dehydrated or preserved apple slices and would probably be a luxury item. Producing fresh produce on the Citadel would under cut the shipping fees and shipping inspections, and thus provide a cheaper source. While it may not allow the lower classes to partake regularly, due to supply and demand logically inflating the price to something still expensive...middle class levo species would probably have their first regular access to fresh produce on the Citadel. It is mainly human produce, but still a huge market there. From non-humans wishing to sample human produce to even a availability of fresh flowers. While Equestrians would eat flowers, there are no doubt some crops that would not be fit for consumption, and thus would be available for sale to humans who wish to decorate their homes. Then you get into the upper classes and what they might want. Massive amounts of money to be had.
The Worst Kind of Company
Unknown?(Fact finding meeting?)
While it is "respectful" and safe to leave them be, the "Leave the Krogan Be" options seems to suggest that Twilight would not even meet them. This would be a mistake...and the "Confront the Krogan" seems to imply conflict and throwing them out. Which is also a mistake.
I am going to be wing it...if Confront is the only option for a face to face meeting, I am probably siding with that...though here is my analysis and what I hope occurs.
It is best she finds out their intentions and learns why they insist on staying, if they prove non-malicious in their strange display, they can stay...though they must understand that there are limits to the Equestrian people's patience. Not defending her territory and her clan would send the wrong message to these adolescents. There is also the fact they passed Fluttershy's scrutiny to a point, so meeting these young Krogan may prove interesting and maybe even beneficial. Not confronting them may also bring about other seedier elements if a sign of weakness is reprieved.
If they prove malicious, then Twilight can do what she must. Though in any other case, she should be respectful and polite though make it clear she is not a prey animal...and perhaps even research things about the Krogan would be good before the meeting, she may have met Grunt on the Normandy, yes? Given a possible previous experience, Twilight might know that she should hold a position of reserved strength if dealing with Krogan. Being seen as a target would be something to be avoided.
However there is a complication, in that while Krogan do leave Tuchanka in numbers, the fact these are unarmed adolescents brings up a question...what are they doing on the Citadel? They at first glance do not seem to be mercenaries. Another reason to investigate.
Best case scenario, is letting the Krogan into the Equestrian community if they wish it. Shows a level of cultural understanding, and racial tolerance. New friends and neighbors and all that...and some of the fighty ones might be interested in joining the security forces, though given that it is stated they are adolescents, this is not likely as they could be considered child soldiers...though a neighborhood watch volunteer community program might be interesting to see.
Really, Twilight needs to sit Rainbow down and have her attend classes or something with Pyres or something after she deals with it. As the top leader of the Equestrian people, she should be able to delegate.
I choose rarity on the first issue and confronting the krogan be on the second.
editing thought: did you mean to leave everything in italics after she yelled at golden harvest?
I'm going to go ahead and say start with clothing seeing as this allows for a cultural expansion and looks as though it could be immediately useful to the ponies, especially seeing as Rarity seems to be able to do well with military grade outfits or at least understands them. This might eventually lead to Rarity and Rainbow to start setting up some sort of defensive or police style group.
I'm also voting Confront for the choice, if they cause trouble and we have to subdue them then so be it, but at the Pyres pointed out that they know the laws and are unlikely to do anything too retarded. But if in confronting them they prove to have no ill intent I say let them be.
BTW I want to get Rainbow a Ship so that her skills as a Pilot can be brought to bear and allowed practice. If not her getting training is essential as it has been shown that though she prefers the lead role, if you spell it out for her she can take a position of trainee. I'd merely let her know this would allow her to eventually train her own troops.
Wow
, as always, very good chapter, worth the wait
, anyway, here are my choices:
Directive Decision: To Clothe, I think is very important to stablish a cultural way of living that the ponies can call their own as soon a possible, fresh food can wait a little longer, and besides it will give more time to resarch the new system and improve it before money is invested on it.
//EDIT//
(Thanks for clarify the point, I'll change my vote)
Choice: Confront the krogan, Let's find out what exactly they want, New Ponyville is not open to the citadel yet, and letting aliens get into the Herd just because they demamded it, will give the impression that the ponies are pushovers.
To Clothe or To Feed
This is a no-brainer. Go for the greenhouses. Okay here's a little economics lesson for all you guys. Do you know how much food a city consumes a day? Shiploads. And with a city the size of the Citadel, there should be lines of frieghters carrying food coming in every day to feed the place. This leads me to my second point. Fresh produce. Would you rather eat fresh produce that very day picked from a tree or one that has been in a cargo hold for a couple of months. And I'm sure the high-class restaurants catering to the rich, important and powerful would like that. In fact, let Rarity handle that. She can find high class places willing to accept our goods. Final point. Has Rarity seen what people are wearing? They go out into the street in off the shelf clothes. Even in the Presidium. If the Equestrians wear tailormade stuff, they will lose some support as right now, they are bunch of refugees. And refugees in nice clothes and empty pockets don't get any sympathy.
therefore, Option B: Invest in the Greenhouse
The Worst Kind of Company
This is a more difficult situation when compared to the above. On one hand if Twilight leaves them be, they could create a problem. One the other hand, if she confronts them and bars them, the equestrians will have a reputation for being aloof.
So its a case of "could be" and "will be" so I'm willing to leave the krogan be. I believe they're just curious and finding out about the new species in the citadel. Still Lt Pyres better keep an eye out or there will be trouble all the way up for him.
My answer: Leave the krogan be
Give raity her funding equestian stlyed clothe could be used as exsports as well once she is done dressing the herd she can do some lines to sell to other races.
let the krogen be krogen friend are good to have..... after all you want frieds that can be counted on and nothing bets a krogen, maybe talk to them her self to try and get to know them. The maybe even willing to be of help to the herd.
Option B
Confront the Krogan
Considering the cost of running the greenhouse lights, I'm going to go with "Invest in Equestrian Essentials." Once there's a more steady income (which could be made more possible by selling Equestrian clothing tailored for non-Equestrian bodies), then running the greenhouse could be considered more feasible.
As for the Krogan, I would mostly Leave Them Be, but still have somepony let them know that violent acts would result in formal charges. Considering Fluttershy's kindliness and knowledge of other species, she would likely be the best candidate for that. Just make sure she has a drone with her in case things go south.
And others have mentioned this, but it seems the italics forgot to stop after the word/sentence you were italicizing.
Directive Decision: To Clothe or To Feed
I vote to invest in Golden Harvest's greenhouse. For one, clothes, while nice, are a comfort in a place like the Citadel. They're not strictly necessary, and poor diet can have serious immediate effects on every Equestrian. Also, an alternative was already presented: buying cheaper clothes and altering them later. What Rarity forgets is that some ponies (like Golden Harvest) may not care about having custom-tailored outfits, and that Equestrians who do want them will seek out the alterations for themselves. That sort of of thing will help drive the markets - ponies investing what they have where they want.
Choice: The Worst Kind of Company
I don't like either option. Where's the option to visit them to figure out what they want and only kicking them out if we don't like what they're up to? (Which seems like the more Equestrian mindset than predetermining eviction based on hearsay.)
So I have to vote for confront them. Ignoring the Krogan is a very bad idea - they could find something of interest, or create their own interest, and then decide not to leave.
Hmm, are we suppose to discuss things with each other or just cast votes? Because I find this new chapter to bring interesting topics for a discussion.
You have to talk to the Krogan. This is due to the fact that Fluttershy asked for them to leave an dthey refused. Not talking could be shown as a sign of weakness and that you can be pushed around. The key here is to talk as you can decide to allow the Krogan to stay but on your terms. Also you want to talk to them on your own terms prepared for all scenarios. Ignoring them after you told them to leave opens up the possibility of you being surprised and unable to quickly cope with the problem. I think it is key to make sure you don't go in with a negative attitude and find out what is going on with the Krogan. Krogan are violent but they are also have some depth and sometimes all they are interested is in something minor (such as the fish incident in the citadel) or things of exotic beauty (such as the krogan making love poems for an Asari). The ponies need to learn and show that they can interact with other species and ignoring problems is not what a leader should do.
The other question is much tougher. I would go for clothes however. They will be fed so survival is not an issue. It is already stated that personal funds could allow for buying of better food if needed and while food could be sold it would take a long time to make it a profit venture (all that money to be recouped and in addition there is already a lot of competition in the food market). At best we are talking about creating a niche market on the citadel for fresh produce that does not need to be shipped in by freighter. I would imagine that IF they get this running (which may take a while) then it will take a while to bring costs down and production up so that just the ponies can use it and then it would take even more time before it becomes cost effective to be competitive to the already established food production scene. That is a lot of ifs and maybes for something that is not time critical (as of right now this job is going through it is a qustion of now or later). The clothes issue is potentially time sensitive. It sounds frivolous but if it can possibly improve the perception of the ponies that would be a big bonus and as we all know perceptions become sadly set all too quickly so if you are going to try something to improve your image then earlier is far better hence the time crunch.
Yay a chapter with some Pinkie (and she is still best pony). I can't wait for more Pinkie scenes interacting with Twilight (because they are funny together) or with other races (as I am sure it would be interesting). In addition I think it would be fun if she constructed her party cannon (a sentry turret that can fire lethal weapons and create party decor...somehow) and "G.U.M.M.Y" (a combat drone and I am sure we can come up with a fun acronym for Gummy) among other technologies.
Option A and Leave them be
You've left an italics open. It starts here -
A
Go for rarity, I belive clothing will give the most back in the short term. And right now I belive the shorttherm goals are most important
B
confront the Krogan, it might escelate whit these group of Krogans but they are unarmed. The end result will probably end in some paperwork and incresed respect from the Krogan race as a whole
Love how Fluttershy have devoloped by the way
To Clothe or To Feed: Invest in the Greenhouse. If/when there's a surplus of food, the ponies can perhaps sell the extra fresh greens and vegetables, etc to various vendors or restaurants on the Citadel, making a little income. Also, to quote Shyguy7829, "Food is a part of culture too. If the Equestrians have fresh ingredients, they can prepare the best Equestrian dishes for their tourists instead."
The Worst Kind of Company: Leave the Krogan alone. ... Sometime later several pony foals appear to go missing; later they're found sleeping, cuddled up near, or next to the Krogan, who are actually real softies when it comes to kids as they can't have any of their own due to the Genophage.
Wow. The first truly hard decision, on both topics.
Clothe or feed:
Option A would maintain the Herd's cultural identity, but having their food be so much less than they were used to would probably hurt morale.
Option B would feed the Herd the food they were accustomed to, as well as earning them revenue they can use to develop New Ponyville. This could also prove to be extremely expensive and is a risky investment at best. It is also easy to sabotage.
The worst kind of company:
Leaving them be could possibly be the worst way to handle them. Krogans only respect those who show force of will.
Confronting them may cause them to react violently, causing untold ammounts of property damage and possibly casualties, yet Twilight can handle a few Krogans if things get out of hand. They probably are unarmed only because they don't feel they need weapons in the case of a brawl.
Option A and Confront the Krogan.
Confront them calmly and assertively. If they attempt intimidation, show them you are not to be trifled with. A good old-fashioned stare-down.
My vote goes to Rarity on the first issue. I understand Golden Harvest's intentions, and support the idea, but it is less necessary to do so immediately. They can even start smaller projects by planting in an 'urban farming' approach. It's not ideal, but at this stage, it's less important than mending inter-species relationships. (also, 'Tavi! Yay!)
As for the Krogan... confront. They need to show they can stand up for themselves. If they let them be, New Ponyville will become little more than an amusement park for Krogans, who will have no respect for them.
To feed. Simple, it will give a better impression of their priorities to the galaxy. To get a better diet and become self sustaining is more important than looking pretty. The Hanar nor the Elcor have this problem. They can wear simple skirts is necessary.
The krogan are tricky. If left alone they might not do anything but can see the ponies as pushovers. While standing up to them, with biotics, can make them respected, it can antagonize them and give a poor impression on the galaxy.
Leave them be.
-----
I would recommend maybe a batarian slaver kidnapping ponies as it would be a feet of fame, showing RD how out of her deep she is when dealing with this threats.
Clothe and confront.
Aghhhhhh
I can't take all this awesome at once
whyyy
I just everything is it's all augh so amaaaazinggggg
...Okay, pulled myself together enough to comment coherently.
I'll just pretend that I was your muse for that event and be happy I contributed.
(*Cough cough* fashion on the Citadel and beyond is so uniform that Bioware used the same bodies for asari and human females and forgot to color some of the asari's bodies blue. Link to prove; she's in the middle. *cough cough*)
Yay, the coffee machine got 'gelled. :3
Oh, god FORBID everyone in New Ponyville starts wearing the exact same outfit.
Don't understand the sudden shift to italics. Did you forget to close with a [ /i ] at the end of Twi's dialogue, or did Forty Two go into some sort of detached state?
Eminent?
To Clothe Or to Feed: Fund Equestrian Essentials. Wow. Unless you're a rabid fan of Carrot Top, that's... a really easy choice to make. When I'm playing an RPG, the value (and sometimes usefulness) of in-game karma is higher than that of in-game currency. Rarity's option is a natural choice because as presented, it apparently gives ponies a prestige benefit (Charm skill points, as it were) as compared to Carrot Top/Golden Harvest's primarily monetary bonus (which is only directly mentioned in the decision summary box, lessening its impact on my opinion formation.) Between her competitor's status as Director/Mane Six and that little outburst, Golden Harvest wouldn't get the voter's support even if she bribed them with ME3 multiplayer packs.
The Worst Kind of Company- Confront the Krogan. Four krogan walk into a bar. The bartender does nothing. There were no survivors.
But seriously, Twilight's involvement will allow her to observe and assess the visitors while also impressing them with personal attention from the top brass and ensuring they are handled properly. This is really a choice between "Don't do anything" and "Do something," isn't it? That has an obvious answer. If it were a choice between dealing with two different groups that were on opposite ends of Ponyville, then it would be a real choice. (Of course, changeling mechs provide instant cross-community communication, but you get my point.)
If those krogan intend to rough any ponies up, they'll be sleeping with the fishes on the Presidium tonight.
To Clothe or to Feed
While Rarity has some very valid points, other more important concerns take priority. A lack of clothing, however, negatively impacts the Equestrians reputation. First impressions are one thing, and have mostly been made. Keeping up a presentable appearance though? That requires investment. Buy bulk goods to wear, and focus on customizing them later. Of course, this gives the impression that the Equestrians were caught off guard and were scrambling for the first possible solution, but sometimes you have to take a hit.
Option B is the way to go. Getting a self sustainable hydroponics factory up and running will both improve morale, but also the health of everyone in the district(Limited diets never help, one needs a wider variety.)
Additionally, surplus foods can be sold off, as well as be channeled into tourist restaraunts once the district has become more open. Having a small group of skilled chefs with access to high quality foods can do wonders for a community, and even more for tourism. That might also help make back the startup costs involved in creating and maintaining the farm as well.
The Worst Kind of Company
So Fluttershy let them in on a tour, but then they refused to leave? Where did they refuse to leave at; Are they in an unoccupied location? A public location? We do need to find these things out, however, as noted they aren't really breaking any laws at the moment. Of course, the District is also a private area at the moment, and if the Krogan aren't wanted, then they aren't wanted. Still, at least find out what they want, but otherwise...
...Leave them be. It's not like there are any current laws against loitering(or are there?). Besides, a promise of retaliation to any troublemaking could go a long way for dissuading conflict in the future.
(Well L2L, you succeeded. You made a choice[Rarity/Golden] that was a very pesky 50/50 split. Good work!
Also, I think you botched some formatting with italics in the last chunk)
Well, the quality of your writing is definitely improving, because these are both pretty tough choices, but I will ultimately have to go with:
Clothe the Equestrians. Unique clothing is another step to forming their identity in the eyes of the galaxy. Besides, it's not like having to eat FEED for a little while longer will make them starve to death, right?...right?
Confront the Krogan. I don't trust a random civilian to handle them if they do decide to cause trouble. Best to have Twilight take care of it.
I haven't finished reading quite yet, and therefore have no decisions yet (though I will soon), but I've noticed a massive formatting error. After
everything (as in the entire rest of the chapter) is still in italics. I don't know if that's been fixed since I opened the page, but I'm just posting this in case it hasn't.
I'll post a new comment when I'm finished and post my vote for the decisions.
For the krogans, confront them obviously. From what I know, they don't respect people who don't stand up to themselves or are a wimp.
For Rarity and the farmers...I say drop the farmer funding by half and try to get a more...urban farming approach I guess, if thats even possible.
If not, drop the funds,
and give it to Rarity's new 'boutique'. Obviously, she's right to some extent and if the ponies are to show themselves in public, they should at least do it in some amount of etiquette so some people don't mistake them as mindless brutes or...whatever evil they may think that may seem sensible.
I choose Option B - To Feed...It might be expensive and risky but much higher pay off.
Also leave the krogan be.
Finally at the end of the chapter. So, my vote on the DD is going with Rarity on this. She knows what she's talking about, and since the Agricentre is only an IF rather than a definite yes, it's kind of hard for me to choose that one.
For the Choice, is there a way to meet with the Krogan without being overly 'confrontational'? You know, make it a point that they can't stay forever (unless they all have the legitimate intentions of helping the herd, which I doubt, but it is still a possibility to me), but still be fairly friendly until they push back?
First decision: Is not investing in the greenhouse going to make it harder for them to eat? Is it going to outright prevent them from obtaining that necessity? No. On the other hand: Is not investing in clothes going to make it harder for them both to establish their own cultural identity and integrate into the rest of Citadel society? It already is, according to Rarity. And the money to trade -- the money to buy food -- won't come in fast enough if the ponies can't find profitable work, and they won't find that unless they either get clothes or find someone who's willing to hire two hundred ponies and doesn't care that they're all naked. Rarity.
Second decision: I don't like the way these choices are phrased. We're given no options between "let the krogan run riot if they feel like it" or "get up in their faces and boot them out". I'd rather we focus on finding out why they won't leave, but there's no way to get that information out of them without talking to them directly -- hence my vote for Confront. Krogan need to be firmly dealt with; they give absolutely zero fucks about the needs or desires of anyone who doesn't have the guts to be firm. And in case things start going to hell, at least Pyres knows exactly what an Equestrian's aggressive body language looks like.
To Clothe or To Feed: Option A- Equestrian Essentials. This one seems to be a bit of a coin toss, since choosing either option still results in the other need being met in a basic way. I'm initially inclined to say say support the Greenhouse project, since living on nothing but bare essentials for food doesn't sound like a particularly enjoyable experience, and that everypony could still get standard issue clothes and buy any custom tailored articles themselves. The bit that made me decide against this however is the long-term cost of maintaining the facility, and the fact that getting it started initially also has an apparent high risk of failure. This is a venture that needs to be temporarily set aside until the Herd is on more secure financial footing. Though I wouldn't prioritize much else that wasn't absolutely essential to the Herd at large before this too is taken care of. Rarity's Equestrian Essentials, on the other hand will be at the forefront of everypony's minds now that she has introduced the concept of modesty to them. Ponies will undoubtedly also want more than a uniform gray or white suit to wear. They came from a brilliant virtual world of colors and now they're clopping about in a dull prefab town, so I expect being able to indulge in this kind of expression will aid in the overall morale of New Ponyville somewhat better than higher quality food would. The fact that it would help the ponies retain their cultural identity just cements it as the more important venture.
The Worst Kind of Company: In light of the clarification on the krogan option, I say confront them.
Great chapter. Hope you update again soooooooon!!
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Personally, I think there ought to have been a third option for the Krogan thing. Like simply talking to them. I mean, they ARE kids (by Krogan standards) right? And throwing them out seems like overkill if they haven't actually done anything...
Besides, every pony is a bionic, and only a tiny handful of Krogan are.
...Throwing them out seems like the best solution up front, but you forget: I'd bet that they'll be up to schenanigans with the Crusaders (c'mon, you know it!). That? I want to see.
Let them stay.
...
Food v. Clothing.
... after careful consideration... I'd say... clothing, actually. Even if they got the hydrophonics up and running, they'd still need to wait for a crop before they saw fruits (pun) of their labors. And they need to maintain it, too. So it'd drain them dry and then keep sucking. Not good. clothing they could sell, right away.
As for comfort foods... they could invite food vendors for the grand opening party (One word: Pinkie. You know it!) and charge them a very modest fee for it (Rent, basically), and thus make some extra credits that way, capitalizeing on their own weakness.
Turn weaknesses into strength.
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Good points all! I know I put thought into my choices. Glad you did too.
Definitely gonna go with funding Rarity's boutique for clothing.
Also gonna go for confronting the Krogan, as it will show that the Herd will not let themselves be pushed around.
Why did half of the chapter turn italics all of a sudden?
Choice #1: Rarity - It's an unfortunate fact, but in order to more widely participate with their new multi-racial community, they need to adapt. Though the hydroponics issue is important, it's unfortunately not vital in the short term. In addition, Rarity's well known for her creative sense and this could well bring additional revenue in, especially if she branches beyond the immediate Equestrian requirements.
Choice #2: Confront - Fluttershy may well be having a bit of an issue with her training. Krogan only respect strength, and though they may not be an issue, they could be. Regardless... getting their intentions and wants into the open sets a firm example for the rest of them and establishes their place, at least relative to the Krogans. Though honestly... Twilight could eject all 4 of them with nary a problem if she had too, and the others could probably handle them quite readily as well.
Fund the Greenhouse.
Food has a major impact on moral. Specifically, eating the same kind of food for any length of time can have a negative impact on mood and and can create apathy. (Ever lived more than a week on rice? It's horrible.)
Furthermore, a trade market can be established for locally grown organic produce. Given the limited quantity that would be available for trade, it can be marked at a high premium rate which would not only add a stipend to the budget, could attract new investors and donations in order to meet demand.
Kick out the krogan.
These are an unknown quantity. They probably want to be the first to find out what pony meat tastes like. That was not a joke.