//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 - The Dawn // Story: The Code of Harmony // by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch //------------------------------// ~~~~~~Golden Oaks Library, the next day~~~~~~ ♫ "There! Is a place! Where the grass is what's for din~ner..." ♫ Tia cracked open an eye to find somepony in her library singing. As her mind clawed its way out of sleep, it tried to process both the fact that somepony was singing, and also who that pony happened to be. The bright rays of sunlight streaming into her room made her wince just a little, the result of one too many hard cider's last night making itself quite cheerfully known. Ow. So this is a hangover. Ow. Luckily, Tia recalled there being pain medicine in the bathroom, and so made that her goal. ♫ "Charmed! Fun and wild! Wooo!" ♫ I know that voice, but I cannot place it. Tia thought grumpily as she swung open the medicine cabinet to retrieve the glass bottle. Two little white pills and a glass of water later, she stumbled out of the bathroom to take stock of her bedroom. The place could have been classified as a minor disaster area, if Tia wanted to bother filling out the paperwork. There was a small pyramid of glass bottles precariously stacked on top of one another in the corner, and all over flat bits of cardboard testified to how many six packs they'd gone through. In one corner, Bon Bon had curled up with Lyra - and it was a testament to the alcohol that Tia couldn't remember when Lyra had arrived. ♫"There must be somethin' in the wa~ter! Come on, Everypony!"♫ Tia eyeballed the large table in the center of the room - now covered in various glasses filled with what looked like hard cider and ping pong balls, and decided she really didn't want to know. There was more, but now she needed to find out who was singing and why they were singing. The door to her room swung open easily enough with just a hoof touch - she didn't dare use magic until she was certain her headache was gone - and began heading down the stairs into the main library. Ditzy and Cloudchaser were sprawled out on one of the library couches... and Tia blushed, averting her eyes as she realized the pair of them had not allowed the night to pass uneventfully. ♫"Sippin' Apple-Juiiice! We're talkin' Elements of Harmony!" ♫ But for some reason, the signs of easy intimacy didn't bother her like it should have. Perhaps it was the headache... or perhaps she'd come to understand why so many ponies used sex as a way to find comfort in difficult times. For a brief moment, her thoughts overtook her senses and she walked on auto-pilot towards the kitchen, where the singing seemed to be originating from. Poor Ditzy. Her thoughts began, her head lowered as the pain slowly began to recede from her noggin. I wish... I wish there was something I could do for her. It didn't seem right to Tia. Ditzy was such a kind, gentle, good hearted mare. Any stallion ought to account himself the luckiest gentlecolt in Equestria to have her favor! If only I... but no, Tia. That would not be... appropriate. ♫" Our Bronies, yeah, they hang out too! Cuz they know we're Sex~y Fillies!"♫ A hoof came up still on automatic, and Tia pushed open the door to her kitchen to find quite the amusing sight. Apparently at some point, Octavia had slipped in during the night, though Tia could not recall precisely when - and she and Vinyl were both wearing aprons with each other's cutie mark upon the front. A record player sat in the corner and was belting out the cheery bubblegum pop song as the pair of them danced amongst the counters and chairs of the kitchen - a half dozen waffle irons were cheerfully cooking away on the cooktop, and the rich smell of baking muffins and crispy hay-bacon strips filled the air. Tia for her part, stood stock still in the doorway and watched with amusement filling up her soul - the gentle and refined Octavia and the hard-core techno-music expert Vinyl dancing to a teenaged filly pop song. Well. Now I truly have seen everything. She thought with a slow smile as the pair of them continued to belt out the tune, completely ignorant of their sudden audience. This gave Tia a little time to think, thankfully - as she slipped into the room and shut the door, so as not to disturb the rest of their guests - and wonder where Cheerilee had slipped off to. Possibly some duty as a school teacher. Tia thought with a tiny sigh. Or something to do with yesterdays... excitement. It was truly unfair that it seemed Cheerilee, out of everypony she had met so far, worked three times as hard as most of the ponies in this town. Was being a school teacher in a small town like this that time consuming, or was Cheerilee merely that devoted to her duties? Whatever it was, she was but a piece in the larger puzzle Tia now faced... what had brought her powers out so strongly yesterday? something... took control from me. Some spirit of Harmony? Or was it merely my own mind, doing what I was too afraid to do myself? Or... perhaps... dare I hope? Unfortunately, that train of thought collided with a wall of white unicorn, as some mad dance move carried Vinyl straight into Tia with a mighty crash of bodies. "Ooof!" Vinyl let out, then grinned at her. "Tia! Morning!" She planted a huge, stun-inducing smooch right on Tia's lips and then spun her into the kitchen. "Join in! You want juice or what?" She hollered, a touch of bright magic swinging open the fridge to produce a carafe of freshly squeezed orange juice, one of apple juice, and one of ice cold water and laid them out on the table. Tia's voice gave off an involuntary squeal as she was spun around into place by Octavia, who had a vastly amused smile on her face. "Good morning, Miss Tia." She intoned in a remarkably elegant sounding voice while Tia steadied herself. "Vinyl's remarkably awake this morning, you might want to be careful." Octavia continued, guiding Tia over to the kitchen table and laying down a clean mug, which a moment later was filled with a rich and dark looking brew. "Here, I've been warned." She said with a soft chuckle, then swept off back into the cooking area while Tia gratefully sipped at her morning coffee. That gave her the chance to recollect her thoughts, as Octavia deftly maneuvered vinyl with subtle touches and a few strong words to keep her from overwhelming Tia too quickly... for which the young unicorn was very grateful. Goodness, but she is a strong personality. Tia observed... rather obviously. She snorted at the thought and sipped at her coffee instead. I wonder why her head is constantly bobbing like that though. That was distinctly odd. Perhaps there was some song she simply couldn't get out of her head - Tea’s had a few of those over the years, though they tended to be easier to dispel when you had the entire Royal Symphony to concoct an antidote for you. A few more deep pulls of the coffee later, and Tia felt a great deal more enthusiastic about her day - not the least of the reasons for which was her headache was gone. Vinyl and Octavia were still bouncing along to a tune, though this time it was a little less... teenaged. Nopony else seemed to have decided to wake up yet, so to the victor of sleep went the spoils of breakfast. A pile of freshly toasted up waffles was joined by a tall glass of juice and plenty of maple syrup. Faced with such a marvelous bounty, Tia elected in her most dignified manner to dispense with pleasantries and dig in. About midway through the stack of delectable delights, Tia was joined by Vinyl and Octavia at the table, and the kitchen quieted down just a little. "Ayo, Tia." Vinyl quipped as she began to cut up her own breakfast. "You mind if I ask you somethin about yesterday?" The words sent a chill into Tia's heart... but she did not drop her fork, nor lose her composure - a feat for which she was quite proud of herself. She gave a slightly stiff nod and took a mechanical mouthful of the waffles. The syrupy sweetness was an odd counterpoint to the fear that still grew in her that somepony had seen something they oughtn't. Vinyl did not seem to notice her sudden chill though, and continued on as though nothing was wrong. "Could you hear that sick beat?" She asked, quite earnestly... and Tia this time did drop her fork in surprise. Beat? Her eyes widened as she looked towards Vinyl... who was grinning like a maniac. "Yeah... Yeah, when that shield went up, I could hear this sweet beat just pulsing all around me. Kinda like a heartbeat or something, but not exactly. It's got this tempo that's been driving me nuts!" Her head was bobbing again in a.. curious sort of cadence. For some reason, Tia had to admit there was... something to it. Her hoof tapped in time with Vinyl's head-bobs and she felt a soft hum coming up into her throat. How odd. Why does this sound... familiar... Tia didn't know and, apparently, neither did Vinyl. "I admit, it feels... oddly familiar." Tia said slowly, lifting a much more palatable bite of the waffle up to her mouth as she thought. "Still, I cannot place it." She shook her head slowly. Some sort of effect of Harmony? Was Vinyl, of all ponies, that sensitive to Harmony magic? Tia wasn't sure - but the very thought set her mind down new and strange paths. The world was becoming even more complicated by the moment - Tia was beginning to worry she wasn't going to be able to keep up. ~~~~~~~~~~ The last of the paperwork floated atop the roughhewn desk and then the entire pile was carefully straightened by a touch of bright blue magic. "There, Captain. That's the last of it." Trixie proclaimed proudly, brushing a bit of unseen dust from her cloak. "I'll be returning to Canterlot today. I must report these events to Commander Spitfire in the flesh, and find out what our next course of action might be." Trixie grimaced a little at that necessity, but necessity it was - and Mother had agreed with her. Things were moving far faster than any of them had originally anticipated, and with a Chaos attack on the town within days of the incident, it was becoming clear that some force was driving events for them. Predictably, Captain Struggle looked mournful at this news. He had to not be particularly happy to see two obviously high-level mages leaving his town just as things were starting to spiral out of control. "There is no other option, Captain." Trixie reiterated, gently laying her hooves flat on his desk. "I promise that I will return as soon as it is possible for me to do so, but I might remind you it was your idea that I ought to take this position." She said with a sly grin - which startled a rueful chuckle out of the old earth pony. Captain Struggle shook his head and waved his hoof towards the door. "G'wan then, git yer flank movin." He growled out, crossing his hooves over his chest and practically sulking. "Faster you report back to your boss, th' faster we can get some real help keeping this thing contained." He finished, then grabbed a hoof full of his other paperwork and hid his face behind it. For just a moment, Trixie wondered if he really was angry... and then shook off the thought. No, he's scared. And why shouldn't he be after what just happened to his town? The door to the Ponyville Guard office swung open pretty easily, Trixie's hooves carrying her outside and towards the towns train station. Seconds later, Phantasma Lulamoon fell into step beside Trixie - and for just the briefest of moments, Trixie wanted nothing more than to dance and cavort around the mare, giggling madly and applying liberal amounts of hugs. She had no doubt she would give in to that desire once they were in their private car... but right now, in public - as Trixie wore her cape, her boots and her book and strode through the crowds of ponies surrounding the guard compound, she had an image to maintain. An image of power and calm, befitting a Mage of Harmony. Her mother gave off the same aura - and it certainly didn't hurt that they wore much the same outfit, right down to the silver-and-steel hoofboots. The ponies they passed in town bowed or whispered prayers as they passed by. In a way, it was disturbing - they were hardly holy ponies of any kind, and yet somehow these simple citizens saw them as such. "Ordinary ponies look to those who are strong in difficult times, Trixie." Phantasma said softly, as they passed by another older couple - who gently smiled and proclaimed a blessing of Harmony upon them. "It is why Dissonance is often so strong in times of strife. Their philosophy is seductive to those who cannot see that within them all is the power to bring Harmony onto the world." Trixie nodded a little - her mother had proven to be remarkably wise in this sort of thing, but then Trixie had been too young to know that before she'd vanished. Now? She had reappeared, just when her daughter would require her tutelage most. Irony? Fate? Perhaps the hidden hoof of the still missing Princess Celestia? Did it matter? Trixie didn't know... but she was going to find out, one way or another. The train station was much as she had left it - though obviously steps were being taken to rebuild it into something much more respectable for a growing little metropolis. And thanks to good fortune, the train itself was just pulling into the station - so they would not have to wait long. Oddly, the shades on the Royal Car were drawn tightly closed, and Trixie blinked. Odd. That means somepony is aboard, but who could possibly be...? The doors to the train swung open and a horde of worker ponies and specialists who routinely commuted from Canterlot offloaded, most of them shouldering rucksacks and saddlebags full of belongings for the next day or two. Only when all of the passengers had disembarked did the Royal Car's doors open, revealing an orange coated earth pony with a golden blonde mane and a very familiar hat. Before Trixie could as much as comment though, a tiny yellow foal burst out from between Trixie's legs and ran pell mell for the car. "SIS!" She cried out joyfully, and flung herself up and into the much surprised Applejack's body... sending her tumbling rump over head onto the train platform. Trixie stared as Applejack's hat gently bounced off her head and the little yellow filly embraced her sister with all of the limitless enthusiasm of the young. She was so focused on that touching scene that she missed the arrival of the pink one by their sides. "Miss Lulamoon." She said in a surprisingly calm tone of voice, nearly causing Trixie whiplash. "And Miss Lulamoon, I presume." Pinkie Pie continued with a sly smile on her face. "Leaving town so soon, too! I'll have to organize a proper Pinkie Party for you two when you return." She continued in a voice much nearer to her normal hyper tone. Moments later, she bounced away as Phantasma and Trixie stared after her. "Was she... always this way?" Trixie asked in a somewhat dubious tone. Phantasma nodded once and Trixie sighed softly. "I wish I had that much energy in the morning." She said with tolerant amusement in her tone, then turned to walk into the Royal Car. Whatever was going on, at the very least it appeared that she was doing something about it. That was good enough for Trixie... for now. ~~~~~~~~~~~ There was something about a small kitchen, filled to the brim with warm smiles and laughter and the occasional stray bit of egg that Tia simply couldn't put her hoof on. Maybe it was Lyra and Bon Bon feeding one another bits of waffle, or Cheerilee's triumphant reappearance with a smile and a hug for everyone. (And had it been Tia's imagination, or had Cheerilee's hug for her been a touch longer than for everypony else?) Or maybe it was just the love that suffused the room like a cloying perfume. It was a feeling so warm and so strong you couldn't help but be wrapped up in it, and Tia reveled in it like she had nothing else since her exile from the throne. Conversation babbled around her like a stream, but little of it made sense to her - The comings and doings of a town that was still just small enough that everypony knew everypony else. That would change soon, and everypony knew it, but that didn't mean that the core of the community would change all that much. So Life went on, in spite of all of the insane happenings of the day before. Then a snatch of conversation caught Tia's ear - it was Cheerilee, fielding a question about the young changeling larvae. "... And yes, all of the Hive's uhm... parents, I suppose is the right term... They've all signed up for the new school system. I've even gotten some volunteers to help teach about changeling anatomy and history!" Cheerilee enthused, apparently to Bon Bon. Tia felt an icy chill crawl down her spine at those words, but nopony seemed to notice as Cheerilee went on blithely. "There'll be some frightened parents, but I think there'll be far less since little Dinky rounded up the Crusaders and went on a personal mission to make friends with every new child in town. Even the Batponies are enthused, if a bit dubious of a shared education system." Cheerilee took a big gulp of OJ, and spoke a touch louder as she continued, "If we're going to make this new system work, it's going to take participation from everypony. You should have heard her though, Bons. Every time somepony in the street said the word 'changeling', Dinky would pipe up and yell 'Bugpony!'" She mimicked, getting a soft round of laughter from the table - well, except from Tia. Cheerilee wiped away a tear with a laugh. "And they'd look confused, and Dinky would look proud and she'd keep going... but when I was coming back to the Library, the word was all over town." Bugpony. Tia rolled the word around her head slowly, tasting of the connotations and implications of such a word. Not changeling, Bugpony. Not thestral, Batpony. The meaning was as starkly clear to Tia as anything had ever been before. Not so different, after all. Would be the words on everypony's mind. Words that simultaneously thrilled... and utterly terrified Tia to the bone. On the one hoof, Tia could instantly see how this could become the last and most vital weapon in the supremacy of Harmony. Perhaps she had been going about things the wrong way - what if the answer was not annihilation... but assimilation? Oh, what a glorious irony it would be if it turned out that changelings could truly be turned to the power of Harmony, with nothing more than a welcoming embrace. Even more remarkably, it could mean that even her beloved Sister Starshine could be brought back to the Path. What an incredible jest it would be, if it turned out that Luna's precious children needed naught but welcoming hooves and a gentle kiss on the brow to bring them into the light. As the tide of breakfast crashed around her, Tia gently put her chin in her hoof and felt wonder overtake her thoughts. How could she have missed such an obvious tactic? Was it not her way to be the teacher, the guide? She had always found nothing but pure joy in the act of teaching a young foal the ways of the world - of magic, of friendship, of Harmony... why had she not simply made the connection? Because you were so blinded by your own fear and hatred, you did not see the way. Truly the voice of Harmony had been right - she had been blind. But now I See. And it was my own student, my most faithful student who has shown me the way... Oh, Twilight! There must therefore be hope for you, too! It was a revelation, handed down through the warm beams of sunlight and the bright and happy friendship that surrounded her. She had lost her way - forgotten what made Harmony truly great. It was this, this wonderment that surrounded her. Love, intimacy, friendship, camaraderie, the happiness of a warm breakfast table shared by those who were close both in heart and in soul. This was the world she needed to focus on creating... not just for herself, but for everypony. Unicorn, Pegasus, Earthpony, Thestral and... Tia needed to come up with something better than bugpony or changeling. The first sounded silly, and the second had unfortunate implications. Maybe she ought to ask Twilight, she was always so good at coming up with names for things. Regardless, it made sense - and now, even more than before she wanted to dedicate herself to aiding Cheerilee with her new education program. Surely it would not be difficult to subtly guide the next generation into the welcoming and warm hooves of Harmony. Surely, it would not be difficult to institute such a program across the length and breadth of Equestria. Tia had lived for thousands of years, and was more than used to the notion of long term plans - this would certainly be a long term plan... but how could it possibly be better? Attack not the faith, but those that would grow into it - attack them not with swords and spears, but with love and knowledge. It was perfect. Tia felt a hoof on her shoulder and jumped a little in her seat, turning to look at who had touched her and finding herself momentarily lost in the kind eyes of Ditzy Doo. She was smiling, as she so often did - completely uncaring of the ill lot she had been given in life with her troubled eyes and clumsiness. She found the good and hope in everything, and never lost her love for her adorable little daughter... that same adorable little daughter who Tia now realized was showing her the way. Truly youth is the true font of Harmony. She thought as a bright smile crossed her own face. She owed this pegasus mare so very much... there had to be something she could do for her. "Hey Tia." Ditzy said gently. "You look like you're thinking a lot. Everything okay?" She asked, a little furrow on her brow. Tia softly leaned in... and when nopony else was looking, planted a soft kiss on Ditzy's lips. The blonde pegasus blinked in astonishment as Tia pulled back, a saucy smile crossing her face. "Yes, Ditzy." Tia said gently, and nuzzled her cheek against Ditzy's - again, much to the mailmare's surprise. "Thank you." Tia whispered softly, closing her eyes for a moment as a wave of powerful emotion swept over her. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. You are an amazing mare, Ditzy Doo." She continued, and a bright smile blossomed over Ditzy's face... and a little red blush in her cheeks too. "Of course, Tia!" Ditzy enthused softly to her. "I'm happy I've been able to help you. You're a pretty awesome mare too, yanno!" she chirruped, and then turned her still blushing cheeks away, fiddling with her fork between her hooves. "I'm glad I met you, Tia..." She whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the conversation. "I'm glad to call you my friend." She finished... and then... A bright ray of the sun's shine seemed to glow brighter as it streamed through the window, and pooled about Tia and Ditzy's hooves as they sat together. The light of the sun lit up the room like the first burst of light over the horizon, golden and orange and bright purple, all the colors of a sunrise shimmered about the room. Tia stared in awe at the light show, that it seemed only she could see or perceive... And... then... Everything... stopped. Conversation stopped. The world stopped. Time stopped. Tia stopped. And in that stopped moment, a soft voice - a voice Tia had not heard for four thousand years - spoke a single word. "Kindness."