Equestria Copes

"Rainbow! Applejack!" Twilight waved across the room as the last two entered. "We were wondering when you two were going to show up!"

"Yeah," chuckled Rainbow. "Sorry about that."

"We was jus' makin' sure our charges was gonna be okay. Ah never like ta leave a job half-done, ya know?"

"Indeed," nodded Vesper, walking in behind them. "Now that we're all here, I'd like to call this meeting to order. If you would all please take your seats?"

Everypony except Fluttershy summoned a chair from the clouds, mostly because Fluttershy had skipped that lesson to rush down to Equestria. Twilight, however, gave her a seat.

"Now," Vesper began, "we're not always going to have meetings like this. In fact, I trust that it will be a seldom occurrence. That is, I expect you will check in with each other and communicate, but having me in attendance should not be expected. I trust that you all know what you're doing, and I trust that you will all do your best. Having me step in is just for important things, and I'd say that having your first missions completed is pretty important."

Spike shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"So, who would like to report on their results, first?"

Several hooves went up, but it was Pinkie that was selected.

"I think that Fluttershy should go first!" she said.

"That's... not what I had in mind," huffed Vesper. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, her chapters came first, so the readers probably want to know what's been going on since we last saw her. Plus, she was the most concerned about what she left behind, so I'd like to know if it was resolved."

Vesper tilted her head to the side. "Chapters? Like one would find in a book?"

"Yep!"

Twilight waved her hooves. "Don't worry about it. It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie."

"...Okay... Fluttershy, would you like to go first?"

Fluttershy nodded. "So, Angel's fine. I was sent to help Discord find his kindness, and he was really trying. It took some work, but he's doing better now. He's taking care of Angel, and I'm going to check in on them at least once a week until I don't need to anymore. Probably long after I don't need to anymore."

"Ye'r worried 'bout the boys in yer life," nodded Applejack. "Ah prob'ly should a' worried more about Apple Bloom, but Ah'm confident that Granny an' Big Mac'll keep 'er on the right track."

"Yeah, the Apple Family's a pretty good bunch," smiled Rainbow. "If there's anypony we can put our trust in, they're at the top of the list. Scootaloo is in good hooves. She even gave in and asked for help bringing Tank down from my place, so he's in good hooves, too!"

"Sweetie Belle's fine, too," interjected Rarity. "I had a bit of a nasty scare, but we managed to settle her differences with a generous offer of peace... Well, actually, that didn't work, but it did draw attention to the problem, and also brought in somepony who did solve the problem. Being nice to other ponies won out in the end."

"Speaking of being nice, Ember and Thorax are now on friendly terms again," added Twilight. "Thorax offered his services, which Ember needed, Ember opened up to Thorax, and now they're sharing a stronger relationship."

"And I helped Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stop fighting with each other and start healing!" squeaked Pinkie.

They all turned to Spike, expecting his response next. He fidgeted with his claws, then sighed. "I... didn't really do anything of value..."

Twilight, who had been smiling before, looked hurt. "Nothing?"

Spike shook his head. "I either took too long or was too ignorant or messed up the location where I was supposed to wait or left my post too frequently. I stood there for a day and a half, and I didn't see any sign of a catastrophe."

Twilight furrowed her brow. "Why'd you leave your post?"

"Somepony was in trouble," admitted Spike, his voice cracking. "I couldn't just leave them there..."

Vesper snapped her fingers, and a stack of papers appeared before her. "Actually, you did do your job, Spike. The reason I put you there was because several things were going to go wrong nearby. You stopped two refrigerators from falling onto a small crowd of pedestrians, saved a stallion from a concussion, added an estimated twenty years onto that one mare's life expectancy, and also saved that elderly mare and another stallion from a fire."

Everypony's eyes went wide as they turned to look at Spike.

He just shook his head. "I barely helped. The firefighters did all the work."

Vesper clasped her hands together. "When the firefighters arrived, where did they go?"

"Upstairs."

"And what would they have done if you'd done nothing?"

"Saved that mare and her foal."

"Right. But you'd already done that."

"They would have, anyway."

"Ah, but that would have taken time. Time that the elderly mare would have spent breathing in more smoke. How long do you think she'd have lasted?"

Spike just shrugged.

"Then there's the stallion. Tell me about the stairwell, Spike."

"...It collapsed under his weight..."

"So what makes you think the fire crew could have ascended the stairs? Twice the weight? And carrying him, how would they have made it back down the stairs? And furthermore, would they have been able to lift that beam off of his leg?"

He shrugged again. "I guess not..."

Vesper tented her fingers. "And why did you do that?"

"I just... I wanted to make sure they were okay..."

"Why? They were complete strangers."

"...Because it was the right thing to do..."

Vesper nodded. "The right thing to do." She stood up and pulled from beneath her robes Spike's tabard, now extended to be a surcote, as well as his circlet. "I believe these belong to you."

Spike accepted them, but instead of putting them on, just set them on the table. "I don't know if I deserve these. I kind of lost them already."

Vesper shook her head. "These are ceremonial. The armour does nothing but show your rank. The fact that yours is bigger now means that you ranked up. You gave your coat to a mare that was in need of warmth. It didn't do much, but it made her feel better. That was good of you to do. And you even said you were okay with suffering the consequences for showing up without it. You were ready to help somepony you've never even met, and you were willing to put yourself in harm's way to save them. You know what that is?"

Spike shook his head.

Vesper held out her hand, and in it, a small stone was formed. It was similar to the original Elements of Harmony. "This is going to be a new force protecting Peace in Equestria and the lands beyond. This is the new element that was born from your courage, Spike. This is the Element of Valor."