//------------------------------// // Organized Chaos // Story: Silver Marriage // by cdcdrr //------------------------------// Chapter 12: Organized Chaos The day had not gone as Diamond Tiara had wished. Obtaining a loan had proved more difficult than thought and she had to pay for window repair after somepony threw a stone through it. Even with the money to start up her venture, Diamond didn't feel like a winner. As she thought her day couldn't get any worse, something proved her wrong. "If it isn't Diamond Tiara. Why the loooong face?" Discord, the resident embodiment of chaos asked as he appeared before her, jaw stretched out to be at least two heads long. "Why do you come to me of all the ponies in Ponyville on this day? You normally don't reveal yourself, why not torment anypony else?" Diamond Tiara complained as she kept walking, ignoring all the antics that seemed to follow this draconequus. "Yes yes yes, I know I am not the most friendly face around and you all would rather see me go. It's just that my omniscient ear heard what happened to your house and I was wondering if you needed a good friend to share your worries." "Then you know it was Berry Pinch who threw that stone." Diamond paused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, I do. But I'm afraid you will have to look further if you wanted a credible witness. Judges do not like me very much." Discord sighed and raised his paw to his forehead dramatically. "Whatever must I do before ponies will ever trust me again? Must I forego mathematician's answers to any questioning and cease all body transformation jokes at every subpoena? Dreadfully boring if you ask me." "Even if I trusted you to give evidence, I am not about to bring in the resident trickster before the mayor as my witness. She's not inclined to even hear what I have to say anymore. It'd take somepony credible and of known integrity to advocate bringing up Berry on charges of vandalism and intimidation." "Well aren't you a suspicious and judgemental little pony." Discord crossed his arms before looking away, offended. "You just admitted you were not the pony I'm looking for the testify against Berry." Diamond rebuffed. "However, if you want to help, I can think of something that would greatly cheer me up and would be right up your alley." "Certainly I would help cheer you up. Isn't that what friends are for?" Discord leaned in with his claw wrapped around Diamond's withers, a conspiring tone in his voice. * * * Diamond Tiara stood outside the home of Berry Pinch, near the centre of Ponyville, waiting for its occupant to return. Adopting an admiring pose, she waited until the mare had entered her field of view before breaking it and waving. "Oh hi Berry. I couldn't help but notice what a splendid house you live in." Berry turned towards the pink pony with a glare. "What are you doing here? Don't you have something better to do? Like look after your own house?" "Oh, I'm just admiring Ponyville's architecture. That place must have cost you a good amount of bits. I hope you're insured. We wouldn't want anything to happen to it." She gave Berry a knowing look and a sugary sweet smile. "Whatever you're up to, I'm warning you to stay away from my place. You lay one hoof on my house and I'm calling the guard." She prodded Diamond Tiara in the chest with her hoof several times before turning to enter her home. Diamond suppressed her giggling until after Berry Pinch opened the front door. And was immediately confronted by a vision from a surrealist nightmare. Windows on the inside looked tilted at strange angles, furniture was angular and distorted, the stairs led into the wall, the floor, walls and ceilings slanted. And instead of soothing colours, everything was loud and garish. "Wha- how? Who... Why!?" Berry Pinch uttered in disbelief, checking the door number to make sure this wasn't Derpy's house, which wasn't anywhere near hers. After that, she turned on Diamond Tiara, confusion replaced by anger. "This is your work! I don't know how, but it's your work!" "What, me? How could I have renovated your house within maybe a few hours? I don't think half of these changes could be done in days." Diamond rubbed a hoof against her chest, feigning ignorance. "Discord!" Shouted a voice from down the street. Diamond know that voice, and she expected the pony to ruin her little scheme in front of Berry. The draconequus popped his head out from behind a tree that was far too thin to conceal his body, yet somehow managed. "I know you've been using your magic around Ponyville. What did you do?" Twilight Sparkle trotted towards them, her expression one of anger. Berry Pinch looked at Discord, then glared at Diamond Tiara again. "Me? Oh, I was just pulling an innocent prank. Innocent as a colt's smile." He reached behind him to pull a golden halo from behind his back and place it over his head, giving Twilight the sweetest smile. Twilight was unimpressed. "And just like a smiling colt, it's to cover up your shenanigans. I can tell when there's an extraordinary residue of chaos magic and I'm getting warmer by the second." She stopped to look inside Berry Pinch's house, appraising it before turning her scolding look back on Discord. "I hope you have a way to fix this." "Oh yes yes yes, I wouldn't do anything irreversible. I installed a lever in the basement that will undo all my magic and return her house to its original state. I just don't remember where I put the stairs to her basements. You see, I'm going through somewhat of an impossible objects phase and thought it nice to make every door or stair lead to a random room. Though I may have accidentally put some parts in the neighbours' houses to. Well, it shouldn't take too long to find. I mean, this isn't even my best labyrinth." "I'm reporting this to Fluttershy. If this hasn't been fixed tonight, I'll be writing a strongly worded letter to Princess Celestia about this!" Twilight began to walk off to the edge of Ponyville. Discord floated after her, the last of his conversation fading with distance. "Don't be such a tattletale, Twilight. I'm sure that by tonight she'll have found it. I can even help her if she doesn't!" Berry Pinch, now understanding what had happened, pointed a threatening hoof at Diamond Tiara. "This isn't over. Not by far!" She slammed the door shut as the entered her house, leaving Diamond Tiara with mixed feelings of joy and dread. * * * "Silver, I'm home!" Diamond Tiara announced as she entered. The broken window had been boarded up for safety, and Silver Spoon was reading at the dinner table, a stack of books beside her. "Oh, hi sugar lump." Silver Spoon placed the magazine she was reading inside one of the opened books before closing it rather conspicuously. "What are you reading?" Diamond asked as she approached and opened the book again. "Oh, it's just something Apple Bloom shoved in my hooves today about her political stuff. I was just doing some fact checking." She said dismissively. "And...?" Diamond Tiara pressed. She was rather suspicious of anything Apple Bloom would shove in their directions. Magazine, or loaded apple cart. Silver Spoon sighed as she leafed through the political digest. "There's this historical article regarding Equestrian rulers and single gender couples that shook me up. Did you know Queen Platinum decreed all 'unnatural acts' punishable by burning at the stake?" "Why? She is supposed to have been the monarch who founded and united the fledgling Equestrian kingdom! Why was this never mentioned in Hearth's Warming Eve tales?" Diamond was aghast by the claim their ancient queen would pass such a law. "It's not suitable for foals. It's also beyond the scope of the story. It seems this was censored along with other heinous things ponies did to each other to protect our fragile little filly minds so we'd live in harmony and wouldn't be inspired to repeat such tragic events." Silver hypothesized. "They're lies! It has to be lies. You said Apple Bloom gave it to you. She's trying to scare you." Diamond Tiara insisted, but Silver shook her head. "I didn't want to believe it, so I rented some books from Princess Twilight's library to double check the sources the Apple Front cited. Aside from minor embellishments, they have a point. After Clover the Clever admitted her feelings for her queen, Platinum panicked. Thinking that because Clover had been her teacher and mentor since foalhood, she must have lusted for her at an early age. Her decree may have served as a warning to her friend to never try and flirt with her. Clover was gradually given assignments and positions that distanced her from the royal court until she joined a convent and made a vow of celibacy. Poems and diary entries that have been preserved reveal she still had feelings for her queen, and had several relationships with the sisters of her order." "What kind of horrible pony would want to make others aware of this? What sort of politics is Apple Bloom into?" Diamond asked, grabbing the digest to see this article about Queen Platinum. "The Apple Front draw attention to this because it works in both directions. It either reinforces their message that unicorn nobles are all horrible ponies, or it tarnishes the spotless reputation of Equestria's unicorn queen with those who only remember what a good queen she was." Silver Spoon explained the logic behind the article. "It's all lies! Falsehoods printed to stir up hatred." Diamond Tiara objected, but Silver Spoon sadly grimaced. "The books from Princess Twilight's library are approved by the Canterlot Royal Archives. They wouldn't print something like this unless it was the truth. We just never looked into it." Silver leafed through the "Founding of Equestria: volume 2" until she arrived at a specific page. "I could talk about what the pegasus city states generally did to their weakest offspring, their intricate customs in determining dominance within couples, maiming of unicorn heirs to disqualify them from inheriting, or the true origin of windigos. But Clover the Clever got off easy compared to Private Pansy. Being Commander Hurricane's paramour, she owed all her immunity to persecution to her mistress' political power. As much as she resented Hurricane, the old Lex Pegasi meant the pegasi cities could still bribe, pressure and manipulate their court system to ignore Queen Platinum's decree. Before Commander Hurricane passed away she was said to have warned Pansy 'you are nothing without me'. Hurricane's rival and posse awaited Private Pansy on the steps of the palace to make their move as soon as their leader and Marshall of Equestria had passed away. They..." Silver Spoon's leg shook as she traced the lines in the book. "They cut Pansy's wing tendons, hanged her from the nearest tree, and prevented anypony from bringing her body down as a message to Hurricane's followers that her time had passed and a new pegasus would lead them." Diamond Tiara trembled with fear. Silver's account left her speechless. "To her credit, Queen Platinum was outraged to hear about this. As long as she lived, the ringleader did not attain the coveted position of Marshall as Commander Hurricane once had. Even if she had to appoint weaker candidates. By the time Cloudburst was appointed the title by Platinum's successor, she was old enough that she had to look over her shoulder constantly to not befall a similar fate as Pansy." "Celestia! That is awful. Do they neglect to teach us this for the sake of national unity? Because it's too awkward to acknowledge these crimes?" Silver Spoon nodded. "Equestrians want to think of their heroes as wise and infallible ponies. Remember King Bon Vivant's parliamentary reforms? We are taught he woke up one morning and declared he had become liberal overnight. Because we want to believe his reform came from his wisdom. He was actually blackmailed by his lover stallion, who had exploited his orientation to achieve the goals of his circle of political activists. If the king would not instate a parliament to draft the new constitution, they would publish salacious details of his affair and criminal relationships." Silver looked at Diamond Tiara long and hard. "Are we... is there something wrong with us, Tiara? Maybe the Apple Front has a point if this is our history." "Don't say that!" Diamond Tiara put her leg around Silver's head and pressed it against her chest. "Don't ever think such thoughts! What ponies did centuries ago does not reflect on us now. Those dumb books don't draw any special attention to all the regular mares and stallions that did evil deeds." "But Apple Bloom-" "Is getting a buck to the face!" Diamond Tiara broke her off before Silver could express her worries. "She's making you confused. Wait till I get my hooves on that dirt-grovelling little-" Silver Spoon stopped her before Diamond could depart. "You won't find her anywhere but the guard station. The mayor had her arrested for what happened to our house. Did you somehow manage to convince her of that?" "I didn't, Silver, I swear I was at the bank. You saw the guard arrest Apple Bloom? Distributing these digests?" "Yes, they picked her up in the market. She said she wanted to challenge the mayor in the upcoming election. A lot of ponies were muttering about that." Silver Spoon testified. "Oh Celestia." Diamond Tiara brought a hoof to her face. "Now everypony will want to know what she was arrested for, and she's going to hand out these magazines to every pony. Now every pony is going to read all of this tripe about racist classical age ponies and fillyfoolers." "What do we do now?" Silver Spoon sounded worried about the prospect of more ponies learning the same truths. "We don't worry about it." Diamond Tiara drew her into another hug. "We did nothing wrong. No mayor of Ponyville can deny us safety under those conditions, lest we bring down a higher authority on them. My meeting at the bank went well, I promise I'm going to take care of us." "I'm scared, Diamond." "Don't be. Nopony's going to hurt us. I'll make sure we'll be safe and secure." Diamond gently held Silver in her hooves to calm her for as long as she needed her to be there.