The Code of Harmony

by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch

Chapter 10 - The Decree

Commander Spitfire had a headache.

Now, that wasn't unusual for a Thursday morning. Thursday was paperwork day, and Spitfire sometimes wondered how anything ever got done in the Equestrian government considering how much paperwork had to be stamped, read, and then filled out. Often not in that order. Today's headache came not from paperwork, but from an EIS report. Although she had to admit, the fact that her newest little agent had chosen the name "The Mustache" had been good for around ten minutes of laughter.

Still, Spike the Dragon was already proving to be an invaluable asset. It had taken one of her magical specialists the work of a few hours to modify his letter-sending flame breath to report directly to her. Although he had been... well, a little difficult to persuade to remain behind....

"You want me to what?" Spike said, his eyes wide with disbelief. "B-b-but Twilight's going to need me! More than ever! She's gonna need someone to handle her scheduling, and keep track of her new duties and make sure she gets sleep and..." he was rambling on and on - his voice becoming more and more panicked.

"Spike!" Rarity yelled, which shut him up almost immediately. "I know darling." She then said softly, running her hoof along his jaw. "I know you don't want to be parted from her for the least little while. I understand that feeling, but our ability to gather knowledge is naught but silken threads and hope right now." Spike was paying extremely studious attention to every word Rarity said to him... which was why Spitfire had recruited her for this task. "We need somepony to stay here in Ponyville and keep an eye on things. It won’t be forever sweetie..." She insisted, leaning down to give his cheek a soft little nuzzle... then she whispered something into his ear which made the dragon's cheeks flush somehow.

Spitfire stepped forward with an eye roll. She was never going to get used to the powerful sensuality all of the Elements now exuded as naturally as breathing. "Spike, We can make sure Twilight is taken care of in the little things - but we need you - she needs you to stay here for a while and keep us up-to-date on things happening here. Once we've got a proper intelligence network put together again, you can come back to Canterlot." Spike still looked a little worried, and Spitfire was in no mood for arguments so... Time to sweeten the pot a little. "You will be well paid of course. In gemstones." She said, with a pointed smile. "Regular deliveries every three days." That was going to play merry hell with her budget, but you couldn't put a prize on this kind of asset.

Spike crossed his arms, then looked at Rarity. She nodded and gave him a slow, sensual wink which put another blush on Spike's cheeks. He turned his head back and nodded. "Alright. You've got a deal." he said. "I'll stay." He paused for a moment. "Uh... Where am I staying?"

Spitfire looked at Rarity, who was stroking her chin in obvious thought - then smiled slowly. "Well, the Cakes are going to need a new foalsitter..."

So it had gone. The prospect of earning both free cupcakes and free gems was an enticement even Spike couldn't ignore. Plus whatever... weird thing Lady Rarity had promised him. Whatever. Spitfire had work to do, and she wasn't going to think about what sort of craziness the Night Court was getting up to nowadays. Not that she was going to have a choice, since this report was going to have to be reported directly to Twilight herself.

Spitfire sighed and rolled up the parchment. At least Twilight had learned the all important lessons of professionalism. Spitfire was loyal to Equestria, and that was the end of it. If Twilight wanted Rarity to be her intel liaison, well... That was okay, actually. Rarity had a remarkably good head for court politics and dealing with intelligence matters. But Spitfire wasn't going to be swearing any further allegiances, thank you very much. No matter how sexy Rainbow Dash was.

She grumbled and hopped off her chair in the wee wee hours of the morning, trotting down the hallway towards the royal quarters. The Queens would be having breakfast together, as was their new routine. That meant Shining Armor would be there too, and that would make giving this report easy. Spitfire might even be able to get a little sleep today. Maybe. She hoped.

Hey, a mare could dream, right?

Ponyville awoke to a new world. One full of brand new challenges, full of infinite possibilities. Full of strange new things and new possibilities. Of course, not everypony was excited about those things - but the world was certainly full of them. The decrees had been posted all over town, alongside the Mayor's printed announcement of a press-conference and her vocal support for bringing in new members of the community in the name of Harmony.

Most ponies were more than a little skeptical of the benefits of this arrangement. A few were outright hostile to it, already planning to take to the streets in protest. Somewhere elated and excited at the prospect of brand new business and businesses to cater to the new townsfolk. And some very few were trying their damnedest to help others see the silver lining.

Tia was completely unaware of these things for the moment. Right now, she was aware that her mane was quite completely out of sorts, her coat was matted with sweat, she had a funny taste in her mouth, and she had a hangover. She was also aware that she didn't care one bucking bit about any of that, because the forehooves of the pegasus lying next to her felt good wrapped around her gently. Because the bed was soft and the light was gentle as it flowed in through the windows, and so much of her tension was just... gone.

Tia stirred a little out of her sleeping pose, and smiled as she felt the warm body of her companion snuggle closer to her. It was hardly a chilly morning, for all that Fall was more or less upon them, but it still felt nice. Chaser had been right last night - she'd needed to unwind a little. It was funny, though. She'd never quite had a lover like this. Never anything more than the needs of the throne. Only a few children, and those accomplished through the aid of magic and Harmony. It was sad she'd waited so long to explore this particular past time. No wonder Luna was so fond of it.

The gentle breathing of Chaser told her that she'd woken up... and much to Tia's delight, decided to open the morning with a gentle nibble down her spine, and a kiss on her cheek. The first made Tia's cheek's flush brightly, the second made her smile. "Good morning, little pony." Cloud Chaser teased softly, and squeezed her in a hug. "I do hope you haven't woken up with a mind full of doubts and regrets about the previous evening, because I certainly enjoyed myself." she continued on, and Tia giggled softly.

Tia wiggled to turn herself around and return the good morning cheek kiss. "Not at all, and I most certainly have not woken up with a... how did you put it? All consuming desire to make you my very special somepony." Tia finished with a sly smile. "I'm presuming that's happened to you before?" Tia asked as Chaser stretched out all four limbs and her wings to their farthest extent before smacking her lips a little bit.

"Eeeyup." Cloud Chaser said in her best Big Mac imitation. "Was a long time ago, but geeze was that awkward." She shook her head. "Glad to see you understand... Especially since that was your first time." She paused and grinned. "With a mare at least." Chaser corrected and planted a whisper-soft kiss on Tia's nose.

Tia giggled gently, rubbing her cheek up against Chasers.. "Thank you." she whispered softly, her eyes closing in relaxation. "You... Oh, fie. Just thank you. I'll come up with something more appropriate later." Tia muttered, which conjured a quiet chuckle out of Cloud Chaser.

Chaser grinned softly. "Normally, I'd just tell you to do it again..." She said with a hot whisper of promise... "Buuuuut we've been lazybones enough today. You've got a library to open, and I've got cloud-bucking to do." She said with a much put-upon sigh. "As much as I would love to spend this morning reacquainting myself with those cute sounds you made when I-"

Tia cut Chaser off with a squeak of embarrassment and a smack of her hoof against her shoulder, sending the pegasus tumbling out of the bed and laughing the whole way. "You say it, and I shall never let you do it again. Ever." She sniffed and tumbled herself out of bed, stretching out aching, sore-in-a-good-way limbs and trotting over to the door. "Now, you did say you had a shower, yes?" Tia asked with an arched eyebrow.

Chaser grinned and nodded, hopping up and leading her along down the hall... with one wing holding her tight up against Chaser's side. One.... very long, very interesting shower later, Tia was brushed, combed and ready to face her day with a bright mind and a willing heart. No more lazing about and feeling sorry for herself. She'd been given a new life, one which she could do almost anything with... and she was going to make the most of it!

Growwwwwwwl...

...Right after breakfast!

The three individuals sitting at the breakfast table all had thoughtful looks on their faces... which was the very last thing Spitfire expected them to have right now. In fact, it was kind of unnerving the way they seemed to be speaking without actually speaking. This silence had dragged on for nearly twenty minutes before finally, Twilight spoke. "Oh fine. You were right. I should have moved a little more cautiously instead of being obsessed with seizing the initiative." She said in a half growling voice, like she often did when she was frusterated now. "I screwed up, I admit it. At least I was right about the impact." She concluded, stabbing her hoof across the table toward Cadence.

Queen Cadence nodded with a slow smile on her face. "Indeed. I was rather surprised to find out how well things have already gone. Still, the ball is up in the air now. No telling what's going to blow it about until things have had time to sink in." She lifted her teacup up and took a sip from it, and some of the subtle tension drained out of the room. "Are you certain you don't wish to send some of your friends to help corral the situation?" Cadence asked with a slow smile, as if she already knew the answer.

Queen Twilight hesitated then, her hooves pressing together. In spite of her natural brilliance with much of what had happened so far, she was still a novice in the halls of power. Much of what she had accomplished had been done so thanks to her daring and careful manipulation on Luna's part. "Who would you have me send, sister?" Twilight asked in a quiet voice. That got a raised eyebrow from Shining Armor, and Spitfire blinked a little. Well, this was certainly new. When did Twilight start to learn about deference?

Cadence paused, fiddling with her teacup a bit before speaking. "Applejack and Pinkie Pie, if I had my preference. I know you have been getting them... settled in to their new jobs, but they both have long had hooves on the pulse of Ponyville. Applejack is still widely respected in town, and Pinkie Pie knows everypony." Cadence stopped, lifting her teacup again and draining it. "They would be invaluable in guiding the local populace."

Twilight perked up then, and not for the first time Spitfire wondered what they had talked about in that four daylong conference they'd held when they first returned to Canterlot. "So you agree with my original intent then?" Twilight half asked, half stated as her face animated with pleasure.

Cadence sighed but nodded slowly. "If anything, this... incident has proven to me that the only way to keep the pain to a minimum is to simply rip off the bandage." Twilight did a little bounce in her seat then, clapping her hooves like a filly who has just been told Hearths Warming came early this year. Cadence held up a gold-filigreed hoof with a smile. "But I expect you to listen to me when I say we need to change up our strategy. We are going to have to put out a lot of little fires, and there's a good chance there's going to be considerable legal wrangling in the courts to deal with." She frowned. "And no sister, we are not going to dismantle the courts to make it easier on us. That is far too dangerous a path for us."

Twilight sighed in regret, but nodded with enthusiasm. "Well, that will certainly keep Rarity happy." Her face twisted into a wry smile. "Speaking of keeping ponies happy, Luna would like to thank you for letting her continue to teach Trixie." She paused and shook her head slowly. "Why anypony would want to teach her is still beyond me." Twilight muttered, rubbing at her temple. Spitfire idly noted that while Cadence had donned all of the royal regalia, the only adornments Twilight had so far given into was her now silver crown from the Elements. Intriguing.

Cadence smiled. "As much as I would enjoy teaching somepony right now, we are far too busy to handle that unique sort of stress." She eyeballed the sunrise out of the window with a slow smile. "You need to go get some sleep, Twilight. I need to deal with the inevitable fallout in Day Court. If something important comes up, I will wake you." She gently, elegantly dismounted her chair and trotted around the table to kiss Twilight on the cheek. "And don't worry so much, sister." She said quietly, before trotting off with a spring in her step, Shining Armor in close attendance.

Twilight folded her hooves together in thought, then nodded as if to herself. "Spitfire, could you do me a small favor?" She said in a quiet tone of voice.

With muffins secured for breakfast, Tia dutifully unlocked the front door of the library, and was surprised to find the place very much clean. There were no piles of detritus or signs that a wild party had been here - aside from the trampled grass all around the place. She'd probably have to get that smoothed out later. She called magic into her horn and lit a few of the candles as she began to throw open windows and curtains, shining natural sunlight of the morning into the library. Just the feel of it upon her coat was revitalizing, and so at long last she turned to The List.

Okay, first thing is first. Check mail. Well, that was easy enough. It was already stacked neatly on the door's side table, along with... all of the large packages she'd received yesterday morning. Huh. I guess I'd better deal with them! She thought with a soft chuckle - doing a quick eyeball of her post and finding nothing in particular to be important for this moment. She snagged the sharpened letter opener from the basket and began going at the paper-wrapped parcels with a gleeful vengeance.

Several moments of paper massacre later, Tia blinked at the collection of boxes and crates... all of which appeared to be full of a wide variety of stuff. Once they were levered open, she discovered they were... her things. Well, as much as she'd ever had anything personal in Canterlot. Her bed sheets and pillows, some various knickknacks from throughout her reign. Some of her hoof written books, her photo books, Philomena's necessities and a proper stand for her.

Her various mementos - reminders of past mistakes and past triumphs alike, and... her personal journals. All eleven of them - one for every century since she'd sent away Luna. Including the most recent one, which came packed with a small pile of scrolls. She picked up one, and it only took a single line of words on the top to identify them all. Twilight's friendship reports. Tia thought softly, dropping the scroll back into the box.

For just a moment, all of the triumphs of her previous evening vanished like mist in the sunlight and the terrible weight of her decisions bid fair to crush her completely. Tia sucked in a deep breath blew it out. No. Focus, Tia. You have a job to do, now go and do it. her mind growled in determination, and she shoved all of the boxes into the kitchen where she could deal with them... later.

She gently turned the sign in the library window to 'open' and went about her other daily tasks. Cleaning... well, that was done for me. Tia thought with a smirk, giving the list a little mental check. The shelves have been stacked, no books to check in. Hmm.. where did I leave... right, the door. Tia's thoughts ran as she picked up the 'critical' checklist Twilight had made for her.

Tia needed an assistant, she needed to restock the pantry, and she needed to write Twilight a letter. Oh, and she needed to unpack her things. She was probably going to be here for a long while. Tia sighed and took a bite out of the banana nut muffin before setting to work on her first task. At least this isn't court! She thought with a wry smile.

Unfortunately, carrying out that first task would already prove to be very difficult as the first citizens of ponyville interrupted her work on trying to find some professional help. Tia was quickly set to her hooves with work, finding books and signing them out to various ponies who were both permanent residents and families of the temporary workers. But even more than that, she was sought for knowledge as they had once come to Twilight for the same purpose.

Even worse, the questions were almost always the same. They all wanted to know as much as they could about every single creature on the list from the Decree. Especially changelings. Tia knew a problem when she smelled it, and this had all the earmarks of a major issue. Her library was filling up, and she hadn't gotten a thing constructively done this morning as more and more ponies lined up to ask her questions. Finally, she knew she had to take dramatic action.

She held up a hoof to interrupt a pretty young earth pony mare with a perpetually worried frown before hopping up onto one of the chairs and waving her hooves. "Attention! Attention, if you please! I know you are all very concerned about these new developments! I shall be preparing and hosting a class on the subject, in which I will do my best to answer all of your important concerns regarding the new laws! The library will be posting the date and times..." She paused for a moment, thinking on her hooves. "Tomorrow evening!" She concluded.

That got some startled looks, but slow nods from most of the crowd inside of her library. Soon, little by little, they were filing out of her library with just a few lesser questions on if they should bring quills and the like. Tia sagged into her chair and rubbed at her temple. Now she HAD To get an assistant. Preferably by tonight. She needed someone with experience, someone who could help her immediately, someone... "Whoa. And I thought Twilight had it bad." said a young, distinctly male voice with a touch of growlyness to it.

Tia's eyes shot open and regarded the young purple dragon whelp standing before her with a cheeky grin on his face. Spike grinned right back at her. "You look like you need an assistant." He said, in a knowing tone of voice.

Outside the library, things were not so calm.

All throughout ponyville, ponies were proceeding from thought into action. Nearly every shop was putting up one kind of sign or another. Some welcoming the newly arriving citizens of Ponyville. Others were telling them to stay away. But everypony was doing something in response to the massive arrival of new creatures to their town.

Heavily regimented groups of changelings marched together, resplendent in shining chitin armor and bearing bright and colorful banners they had chosen to represent their hives. Knots of thestrals, carrying family colors as ancient as Equestria itself were examining properties they had already purchased the week before. Dozens of new merchants of every conceivable race were setting up stalls in front of what would soon be their new places of business. And dozens upon dozens of others bearing obvious signs of wealth and status were already hobnobbing with the local elite and spreading around bits like they were candy.

Amidst it all, Mayor Mare was giving speeches, glad hoofing the powerful and welcoming all and sundry to her city. Everywhere she went, the new creatures who had chosen to live there greeted her with cheers and joy, even as large groups of locals formed up protest mobs to follow in her wake - bearing rude and oftentimes incendiary signs and placards. Yet the Mayor ignored them completely. Every speech she made spoke of Acceptance and Forgiveness. Nopony was perfect, and every race had their villains - Pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies alike had all had bad apples before. It was time to set aside the old hatreds, she would proclaim. Time to move forward - together.

Most of the citizens of ponyville took things in stride. All of them were at least a little nervous about their new neighbors, as talk began to circulate throughout the city about their plans. No few of them were worried about what the changeling Hives' might look like. Some worried at the sudden arrival of so much obvious nobility and their intent to build mansions and wealthy residences in and around the town. Ponyville was rapidly changing and there was little the average citizen thought they could do about it.

Still, this was Ponyville. This was hardly the most cataclysmic thing to ever happen to the town. Yet as the morning began to wear on towards luncheon, a subtle tension could be felt in the streets. Those ponies that had grievances with the newcomers were getting angry. They were getting frustrated and flustered. No matter how much they chanted, nopony in their government - aside from Valiant Struggle, who constantly plead to them for patience - seemed to care.

Emotions were beginning to boil in the streets of the new Ponyville...

Cheerilee could not have been more astonished if Celestia herself had appeared before her and named her the head of the Equestrian educational system. Her morning had been going along just fine - she'd woken up being cuddled and loved, and had a wonderful breakfast of waffles courtesy of Vinyl. She'd had her coffee and the day was looking bright - and then she'd been lassoed by her mother to man a "Educational Sign Up" booth in apparent preparation for a flood of new citizens into Ponyville.

Cheerilee had very much doubted that any of the newcomers were going to be so enthusiastic about signing their children - whatever they might call them - up for educational services... and yet, they had. In droves. Massive, massive droves. She'd been first approached by a changeling - a changeling for harmony's sake! Who called himself Blackedge. He apparently represented one of the new hives loyal to Queen Twilight, and they were intending to offer their services as guards for the town. He had insisted that they integrate themselves as much as they could, and that meant learning things the Equestrian way along with more traditional changeling education.

Cheerilee had been incredibly hesitant... at first. Until one of the young larva changelings (which was analogous to the pony 'foal' apparently,) had flitted up to the table and asked her in a bright and surprisingly adorable voice if she was going to teach them about... Harmony. Blackedge had given the youngster a stern look, but just the very suggestion had blossomed a passion inside of her teaching heart.

The little one was definitely odd looking, but once she'd seen one amidst the crowd of others... they were all distinct. Subtly distinct, but distinct. They were individuals, for all that they lived and breathed within a hive mind. Did not the book say 'Harmony is for all creatures of the world, and all creatures within it can know Harmony in equal measure. For that is the beauty of Harmony - that it accepts all within it.'?

Cheerilee's smile had grown three sizes that day - and she'd happily signed up all of the considerable larva of the Kilk'kkt Hive. That had been a considerable and daunting list all its own, but that was only the beginning. Batpony clans signed up their children too, as did a number of other... very strange individuals who appeared to have normal pony children, in spite of their odd physical appearances or choices of fashion. Cheerilee was deliriously happy at the thought of so many young minds to enlighten... but she was also soberly aware that she was going to need a lot of help, and probably a much, much bigger school house.

And then then the coup de grace for the day. The letter that had just been... well, claw delivered to her by Twilight's old assistant, Spike. Authorizing her... her as the new Superintendent of the Ponyville Metropolitan school system.

Along with a really, really big raise.

Cheerilee was still trying to process this incredibly mind blowing event, when things started to go very wrong.