58 - The Village Pt 3
It was early evening, and the faint glimmer of stars peeked overhead. Shooting Star was still hours away, and we needed to do something, so we made four fires at the centre of the village and borrowed cauldrons to make soup with what rations we had. We pooled our rations and had a little meat from my own supplies and a good supply of peanut butter based protein bars. This, along with our dried vegetables, were all divided equally between the large pots. With more food coming soon, we managed to supplement the stews by stone souping them with what meagre supplies they had. The resulting stew wasn’t a gourmet meal by any stretch of the imagination, and some turned their snouts up at it, but we managed to feed most of the villagers. The young, the sick, and pregnant females had priority in the lineup. I wished we had more, but this was a start.
Bea had gathered a small crowd of younger dogs around her, now all sipping from their soup bowls. “Behold, the Great And Powerful Trixie will amaze you with illusions never before seen by diamond dog kind!” After the obviously magical illusions, she continued with card tricks, appearing and disappearing handkerchiefs, and various other close magic, much to the delight of the pups. A few adults, bowls in paw, gathered to watch the show.
One pup with a black coat and white muzzle watched in particular amazement at her tricks. I caught Bea’s eye, and she winked at me. She accidentally dropped a handkerchief right in front of him. He timidly grabbed it and examined it.
“I’ll now need a volunteer from the audience.” She pointed a hoof at the amazed pup, “You! Trixie senses great power in you, but not, of course, as much as Trixie herself!”
The pup held the piece of cloth in front of him and shyly nodded.
Trixie smiled widely, “Now, say the magic words Alakazim Alakazam Bright Sham Disappear.”
The young dog slowly repeated the ‘magic’ words. I could make out a very slight glow around Bea’s horn. There was no way a pony would have spotted that, and I suspected no diamond dog could either. The handkerchief disappeared in a little puff of fireworks.
The little dog was gobsmacked, grinning from ear to ear, the other pups oo-ing and ah-ing at their friend's newfound magical powers.
“Ha! Not bad. Not bad at all. Now watch this!” She pulled out a green kerchief said the magic words and… nothing. She laughed sheepishly, “A minor miscalculation. Here, I’m sure you’ll never get this one.” She hoofed the piece of cloth to the excited pup. He said the magic words again, and poof, the cloth was gone.
“Trixie congratulates you, young one. Now, Trixie shall match your mighty magical feats!” Producing a yellow hanky, she said the magic words slowly, over-enunciating each word, then, with tongue sticking out in concentration, waved her hooves. Everyone around roared with laughter.
“This is impossible! How can Trixie be bested in a magical duel? Oh, mighty wizard, you have truly shown your magical skill. May I offer to teach you the tricks of illusion? In fact, you are all invited to learn the magic kerchief trick.”
She then started to hand out brightly coloured bits of cloth and showed them how to distract, how to palm (hoof?) the cloth, and so on. Soon, the dogs were making a small handkerchief disappear. I beamed at her. She had distracted these poor souls from their troubles, even if it was just for a short time.
Late that night, with a crescent moon shining down on us, Shooting Star arrived. She was a few minutes ahead of the rest of the aerial caravan, saddlebags stuffed with cans. “I got it! I got as much as I could! It should last them a few weeks, at least until those idiots in Sustenance can get their heads out of their plots, sir.” Soon, aerial chariots loaded with food, pulled by grumbling day guards and happy night guards, started arriving—those who had the strength started unloading and organizing the welcome gift. “There wasn’t much in the way of meat, but I cleaned out the pet stores of their dog food. Made sure to have can openers, too. I wasn’t sure if they had any. Got gems for the foals. Your coin pouch is empty, but don’t worry, I got the receipts. There was some problem with the I.O.U.s-”
I interrupted her, “We’ll worry about that later. For now, help with the unpacking and organizing, alright?”
She saluted, “Sir, yes, sir!”
Roughbone approached me, roughly shoving what looked like a young female. “You dun what you say. Dis bitch whelp of Grass Runner. Her name Summer Blossom. Grass Runner say you take care of her.” With a final shove, he pushed her towards me. The girl stumbled while scowling at Roughbone, but she kept to her feet.
My hand went to the handle of my knife, “Watch it, sport. She’s just a kid.” I put my other hand out, “You alright, Summer Blossom?”
She batted it away, “Me no goat, me diamond dog whelp. Me almost of age.”
I took a step back, hands slightly raised, “Alrighty then. Duly noted.”
Roughbone chuckled, “She paw full. Luck spirits guide you. Oh, and she only thirteen summers; she not adult for three more.”
Celestia took a dainty sip of her ale. Inside, she raged, but a millennia of experience allowed her to keep her appearance and voice calm. “He must follow procedure. It has been developed over the course of over nine hundred years. It is utilised and appreciated by all my little ponies for a reason.”
Luna swallowed her tea with disgust. “Fie on thy paperwork. Those poor souls hungered under your benevolent rule.”
Only Luna could have seen the muscle under her sister’s left eye twitch. “You mean under our rule, dear sister. Now that we know how we failed them, they can receive proper food. There will be an investigation, but I suspect the cause is one of error on the filer’s part. Had the paperwork been properly filled, this would not have happened. Instead, your blessed champion fed them pet food. Luna, they had to eat animal feed because of this champion you put so much trust in. Trust that has been wholly unearned.”
Luna slammed her hoof down on the table, upsetting her teacup, “You will not speak of him in such disrespectful tones. He has—”
Celestia stood, her ethereal mane flowing on imperceptible winds, her tone questioning, “He has what, dear sister? Saved a small hoof full of ponies? Saved his adopted daughter? Saved himself?” She lifted a delicate hoof to rub her temple. “Even a wolf will save its own, yet you would not keep one as a pet. He”, she paused to emphasize the word, “is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” She sat back down with a sigh. “You have to understand he is outside of the Weave. This means he is outside of harmony, which means that, in the end, he cannot be trusted. Can’t you see this was simply another example of his willingness and ability to casually circumvent the rules and procedures we have in our beloved kingdom?”
Luna composed herself, "Sister, I tire of you blaming him for every failure and chipped hoof. I can understand if the weave is not attuned to him, he is not of this world, but now you say he is an actively malicious force, as was Tyrek. He is hardly only protecting his kin. He has offered compassion and mercy to those who attacked his loved ones. Mercy that, I should point out, was lacking from your little ponies. We shall see whether the error was in their understanding of our paperwork or thine own precious ponies’ tribalism. Could it be your grasp on the Weave is faltering, like it did to Father in his last millennia?"
The alabaster princess snorted dismissively, “Don’t be ridiculous. My time was foretold to last ten millennia. It has only been three.”
Luna’s voice was quiet, “Perhaps, dear sister, the foretelling was in error.”
Shooting Star trotted up to me, “Paladin Roberts, sir. Do you have a few minutes?”
I was finishing up organizing the supplies with Moon Howler. “Sure, I can make some time. What’s up?”
She hesitated, “It’s about the IOUs. There are a few muzzles out of joint, even with your note. Lots of the townponies didn’t like the idea of, and I quote, ‘A minion of an agent of Nightmare Moon bossing us around’ and ‘Why should we help those filthy dogs’. Lucky for me, they were happy to part with the goods once they saw the bits. Let’s just say I paid more than retail for a lot of the stuff. Not one of them offered a disaster discount or anything. The day guard were no better. I had to threaten to get Princess Luna herself to order them. Not sure what I would have done had they called my bluff.”
“You did good. As for the price gouging, I’ll get that looked into when the dust clears. There is no point in arguing at this stage. So, roughly, what were the damages?”
Her tone was worried, “A little over ten thousand bits in IOUs.”
“Ouch. Well, I hope Luna has deep pockets. If not, I still have a few kilos of aluminium stashed away for a rainy day.”
Shooting Star did a double take, “Kilos? Of aluminium? I heard you were loaded, but Luna’s teats, that’s crazy. I think only the princesses have that much. Where did you get it?”
I chuckled, “Dumb luck, mostly.”
The sun was peeking over the mountains, the beginning of a bright, beautiful day. I made sure we had done all we could. “Moon Howler, I want to assure you I’ll do everything in my power to fix this. These supplies should last about two weeks. I wish there was more I could do for now.”
“You have done more than your pony masters have ever done.” He handed me a necklace with a small stone token carved into a stylized diamond dog head. “Take this. It will mark you as a friend to diamond dogs.”
“Thank you.” I placed it over my head, “ I’ll treasure this.” I cleared my throat and called out, “Alright, ponies, time to saddle up and move ‘em out. We’re heading home.” The night guard ponies cheered, waving goodbye to the villagers who had gathered.
It had been a long day's march and we didn’t feel it would have been right to take any of the food we had just given. I was used to going without, but I’m not sure the ponies were. Still, they were stoic, even when their stomachs growled loudly. We had made camp on the side of the road and made a meal with some wild plants we found. Turned out this wasn’t the first time these guys had to do without. I was starting to get a bit of a belly, so I just had coffee. I did take a few cans of dog food and some other supplies for Summer Blossom. She was quiet, only occasionally glaring at me while she was eating.
We were all tired. Summer and most of the ponies finally fell asleep, leaving Tree Top on cloud duty and Noctus and myself to tend the fire.
Noctus spoke quietly, “Paladin Roberts, why don’t you get some sleep? Despite your stamina, you must be tired.”
I stretched and yawned, “Yeah, I am, but I can’t help but think of those people. How badly they were treated through official channels.”
“Yes, but thanks to you, they have food until, as Shooting Star put it, the bureaucracy can pull their heads out of their plots. You have saved the day and helped restore honour to Equestria.”
“Maybe so, but... “ I trailed off, deep in thought. “But, there was a time when my own people did something similar. It was a point of great shame to treat the First Nations people in such a shoddy manner. In my lifetime, we, that is, the government, did its best to rectify what was done in the past. There was history there, Europeans settled in North America, displacing the native peoples and decimating them with disease and warfare. In later years, they tried to eradicate their culture by forcing the children away from their families and to boarding schools.” I poked at the fire, thinking. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but the diamond dogs were here before the ponies settled in this area. I’m guessing the ponies technologically and magically outclassed them.”
“I warn you, Paladin Roberts, you speak of ancient history.” We sat quietly for a while longer, and then Noctus started speaking, “During the age of expansion when ponies came to this fertile land, they came with harmony in their hearts. We gave them medicine, engineering, law, and countless other gifts. I resent the implication that ponies could engage in a deliberate genocide of the diamond dogs.”
I sighed. “It may not have been deliberate, Noctus, but the net effect was the same. Where do they live now? How many are in the pony cities and towns?”
He sniffed, “Many, I’m sure.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Really? I don’t recall seeing one in Ponyville or Canterlot. Now, Ponyville is small, and while I haven’t met everyone in town, I’m pretty damn sure there aren’t any diamond dogs living there. I don’t think I even saw one in the market. As for Canterlot, maybe there are some that live there, but I doubt it. Can you name one?”
“No, Paladin Roberts, I can not. As you implied, Canterlot is a large city, and my duties preclude exploring all the nooks and crannies.”
“Celestia's mane, Shining Armour. There was no reason to treat those poor bastards like that. Mares and foals were starving, for goodness sake.” Tight Bracer, current second in command of the day guard, struggled to maintain a respectful posture for his captain.
“You’re exaggerating,” Shining Armor replied. “They just miss filed the forms or something. Thanks to Noctus submitting a FD110023/7 - Emergency Specialty Food Request form, there is a mandatory investigation. I’m sure those dogs just did something wrong.”
“Really, Shining, really?” the day guard realized his insolent tone and forced himself back into civility. “Moon Howler filled the required forms seven times, according to Master Sergeant Noctus. It’s a class A form. You know it goes to the top of the pile. If he had made a mistake, would there have been no follow-up? Would somepony not wonder why they keep sending the same form over and over with the same mistakes, assuming there was even was some kind of mistake? Do you ignore that type of request unless it’s perfect?”
“Of course not. We both know a class A form is always handled with great care. And, of course, they would follow up on any such thing. He must be lying.” Doubt started to creep into Shining Armor’s voice.
“Why would he lie?” The second in command asked with obviously forced deference.
“Because he’s a diamond dog, Bracer. Everypony knows they’re liars and thieves.” Shining grimaced, ears folding back as he realized only after it was out of his mouth how prejudiced that statement was.
Home. Finally home. In the distance, I saw Dash’s sky-blue coat next to Scootaloo’s orange coat and smiled. They were sitting on the step, no doubt waiting for me. After the crap I’ve seen, I could use a hug. I whistled to get her attention. Her head snapped up and she bolted at top speed toward me. I held my arms out to catch her and hold her tight. Summer sneered and rolled her eyes. Dash slammed into me, knocking me flat on my back. I realized she was crying. "... What's going on?"
She sobbed, "They're trying to take Scootaloo away from us!"
I was shocked, “Who? When?”
My daughter grabbed my arm, bawling her eyes out, "Dad! I don't want to go! They want to take me!"
I tried to reassure them. Ponies have a way of overreacting, and I hope this is just the case now. "Now everyone calm down. Who’s 'they'?"
The trembling little pegasus, in a quivering voice, simply said, "My birth parents."
My beloved explained, "Miss Sweetheart is getting her this afternoon, Alex. She'll be here any second."
I kissed them both and stood, "Over my dead body. Dash, go get Twilight. Scoots, go to your room. Summer, go with her, “I pointed at Scootaloo. Before anyone could argue, “I’ll explain later. I don't want you to see Daddy mad."
My little girl sniffed, confused, "I already saw you mad at the school."
I smiled sadly at her, trying not to let my anger show. "I wasn't mad. I was just worried. Now? I'm mad. Now, please help Summer. She’s going to be staying with us for a while."
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welp the fan has been set to max and the dook is in flight, let the shit storm commence!
*swats Celestia's nose with a newspaper*
No! Bad 'Tia!
Fucking speciesists everywhere \Ò3Ó/!
I love the giant hypocrisy of Celestia insisting her and Luna's rule of Equestria is actually equal, despite her having had no say in the way the government has taken shape for 1000, years, and her apparent need to undermine Luna's current actions just because she chose an agent Tia herself disapproves of.
And I smell incoming gold diggers...
first I am supper happy to see a up date.
now this chapter is super good but it leaves so many questions in answered, but o think this is the plan.
I can see a hole bunch of crap hitting the fan before to much longer.
That moment of clarity when Shining thinks to himself, 'Holy crap, I'm a racist...'
Can't wait for Celestia's turn
Anyway, really glad to see a new chapter of this up! This is still pretty up there for me as far as FIM stories go
Sorry for the colorful outburst, but holy fucking shit, Celestia, are you arrogant and stupid.
First, just because Luna is now there, doesn't mean you can now push all of your governmental issues onto her. She was not there when they were established, nor there for as long as this situation has been going on. You shat in your own bed, now sleep in it, for fuck sake, or better yet, clean it up yourself because you know you are the one that shat in it. In short, take responsibility for the government you established.
Second, just because something is outside your control (more on that later), like Robert, doesn't automatically make it a bad thing, so don't blame him for showing up your fuck ups. Unless he's actually knowingly fucking up this "Weave" then cut him some slack, or just leave him the fuck alone.
And lastly, fuck your prophecy bullshit thing, never fucking works, as there will always be unknown uncontrollable outside elements. And if you are going to employ the whole "I believe I can see the future, therefore I know more then you, therefore I'm better then you" bullshit, then refer to the first point more strongly, as it just goes to show how much of a fucking arrogant piece of shit you're being at the moment.
Sorry, I am aware that I'm coming on to strongly with this, but fuck sakes, someone bitch slap Celestia, PLEASE!
Hooboy. First, I'm extremely glad for the new chapter; thank you! I look forward to reading more whenever possible.
And whoof. I bet I know what's going on here. The absolute disdain for even the slightest chaos (and what little chaos there is, concentrated in ponies like Scootaloo's sire and dam, or that group Diamond Tiara's been snagged into) - the focus on the utter application and the sheer certainty of faith in the Bureaucracy - and Celestia's demand that her hooves control the entirety of the Weave? Not to mention the increased volatility of the Everfree... Why, hello there, ancient Spirit of Order, how nice to see you again! Wait, weren't you inside Luna a few years ago?
It is on.
Ha, Ha, Ha.... This thing is still alive? I Was here when it first started... Snrk, can't believe it's gone from 2012 to 2017 so faaassst.
8102367
, being shown by how the hell those child abusing, chaos worshiping, motherbuckers are immediately allowed to have scootaloo back after what they did to her!
sorry about the language but it's true.
I think the shit storms been coming down for over a month and still hasn't let up
This is now one of my favorite stories on this site. Thanks for this awesome piece of literature.
Did you delete a chapter or am I going crazy? Could have sword this story updated more recently.