//------------------------------// // Genesis Terminator // Story: Silver Marriage // by cdcdrr //------------------------------// Chapter 19: Genesis Terminator Diamond stood at the doorstep of her father's mansion for a long time, working up the courage to knock. When she finally did, she was greeted by one of the staff. "Welcome missus Tiara. I take it you are here to see your father?" The butler inquired. "I am, I need to speak to him." She confirmed and was let in. Filthy Rich arrived in the living room a minute after Diamond had taken a seat on the couch. "I hadn't expected you angel. This isn't really a good time." Rich protested weakly, but Diamond wasn't having it this time. "Wrong, this is exactly the time. We need to talk about your divorce to mom, and what led up to it." She demanded forcefully. "So you've been talking to Suri?" Rich guessed, not bothering to wait for Diamond to confirm this. "It figures you would one day. So I guess we'll have to talk this out now." Diamond could tell he wasn't happy this was happening now. Although he probably wasn't happy about it ever. "Yes, let's talk. Did you push us both away just because mom couldn't have another foal like you wanted?" "It's not like that. Is that actually what Suri told you happened?" Rich was pacing before he stopped to lay out the truth of the matter. "I pushed her away because she aborted the foal she was carrying and knowingly took the risk she'd never bear foals again. Suri went behind my back to do it, broke the law doing it, and expected me to not report her crime." "What? Mom never mentioned anything about terminating her third pregnancy." Diamond declared. "Maybe she's ashamed to let you know. Maybe she is psychologically scarred by the ordeal and convinced herself it was a miscarriage. Maybe she is just a manipulative mule who doesn't want to look bad in front of her daughter." That was just too far for Diamond Tiara. There was no need for epithets. "Dad! There is no need for that. I doubt you were free of blame yourself in the whole ordeal." She accused her father. Despite her years of adoration of him, she now wanted him to own up. "Maybe that's true. We did have a fight over 'it' over the course of weeks with her screaming how she was never anything more than a brood mare to me. She told me she had attempted to get through many times before the incident. Maybe she was lying about that, maybe I was too obtuse to see it or maybe she was right I was more concerned with my work. Maybe we stallions do have trouble picking up subtle hints that mares give or notice. Regardless of how it happened, we never really went back to loving each other as we should have. I kept quiet about the whole thing for her and was frankly relieved when she finally announced by letter she wanted a divorce." Rich retold the times that followed the breakdown. "And you never told me this for as long as I lived here." Diamond finalized the story with a sense of bitterness. "You were just so young and wouldn't have understood what this was about then. I didn't want to confuse you. Give you the impression your mother's example was to be followed. You two are much alike after all." There was enough silence following that for Filthy Rich to think it was okay to switch topics. "But since you're here now anyway, I've been somewhat concerned by developments since we last met. Has it been months? Anyway, I noticed the Ponyville Express no longer carries your name as Chief Editor." "Yes dad, me and the mayor had a falling out." Diamond Tiara admitted, feeling like she had been brought in by miss Cheerilee to explain something mean that she had done. "You were fired? Honey, your job is your future. How are you supposed to be the future CEO of Barnyard Bargains if you haven't completed your rise through the world of business and finance?" Somehow, his concern about family legacies still made Diamond feel ashamed of disappointing her dad. "I resigned from my position of free will to pursue a better business venture. Silver Spoon and me are opening a jewellery store." Diamond explained with exasperation in her voice. "I hadn't noticed. Then again, I'm hardly the target demographic for jewellery. A shame though to see you leave the Ponyville Express. I had thought the public trading had been a sign you had finally gotten your wish." Rich commented off-hoof. "Wait a minute, what?" "Oh, didn't you hear? Well, since you're not the Chief Editor I guess not. The Ponyville Express made it onto the Canterlot stock exchange. I already bought a substantial share thinking I was supporting my daughter's good ideas. A shame it was apparently not helping you." Filthy Rich revealed as he approached the stock ticker machine he always kept in the living room. Diamond was on her hooves and watching the reel of tape it had spun last. Sure enough, her father was right. The gears in Diamond's head started turning like the clockwork of the machine as she considered how she could use this turn of events to her benefit. The mayor thought she was being smart stealing her ideas and thinking it wouldn't come back to hurt her. But she had studied to be a public servant, and not a businesspony like Diamond Tiara. "Perhaps you should keep buying those, dad. After all, it was the business plan for the Ponyville Express that drove me to resign. With this new development, I may see my vision come true after all. With your help of course." She laid a hoof on his foreleg, the way she'd always done when trying to convince her dad to get her a certain present. And this present was definitely one she wanted badly. * * * Her business with her father and the bank concluded, Diamond Tiara had travelled deep within the Everfree Forest. Alula had been surprised to see her back so soon, but it didn't take all of her business savvy to convince the banker of her plan for the Ponyville Express. After all, Ponyville Savings & Loan was itself a big shareholder of the newspaper now, and buying stock on loan for herself was perfectly acceptable to the bank's own interest parties as long as Diamond Tiara was going to be their steadfast ally. But that was not why she'd come out here. This was personal, not business. She knocked on the door of the hut built inside a large dead tree. "I'm surprised to see you wander into Everfree, Diamond Tiara, why have you come to me?" Zecora answered after she opened the door. "I need to ask a number of questions of you. They are a bit... of questionable morals. But I assure you it does not relate to anything I am considering!" Diamond forewarned the zebra alchemist. "You may want to come inside. There are more than just guards who would have your hide." Zecora invited her in and motioned for Diamond to sit on a pillow by a coffee table. Something about all the decoration, furniture and potions felt eerie to her, but Diamond Tiara complied as Zecora did the same. "Illegal services I will not provide, those things I cannot abide. Tell me what you wish to find, perhaps I can dissuade your mind." Zecora asked. "I need to know about abortions, and you live far enough away from ponies and know enough of strange things that I feel like you are the one to ask." Diamond got to the point. "This is about your mother Suri Polomare. That you'd confront me is nothing less than fair." Zecora looked grim, even though Diamond Tiara did not understand why. "How do you know? I haven't even said I wanted to know about my mom- unless... you!" Diamond Tiara's accusing tone put Zecora on edge and she raised her hooves in defence. "I would ask that you hear me out, before tattling something out loud. Your mother once came to me, it's true, seeking from me a forbidden brew. But other things that mix could do, so its real purpose was not something I knew." Zecora explained, proceeding once Diamond remained still. "Infertility was also what could result, and on this your mother's argument was built. Had I known she was with foal, I never would have helped her reach her goal. Birth control was what she claimed her motive, no more foals her womb would give. A justified plan to keep her family small, with no legal trouble for me at all. Had I known I was betrayed, outside my house she would have stayed. Your sibling's death became my fault, and ponykind came to fear my gestalt." "So... that is why Ponyville shunned you? You gave my mother a potion and everpony hated you for being duped?" That made a lot more sense to Diamond Tiara than some foalish superstition about strangers. Even though it was unfair if Zecora hadn't known at the time she had aborted a baby. "Aborting children is against the law, a child killer was all they saw. No safe procedure is known to medicine to remove an unborn equine. It's the field of hedge mages and witches, so harmful side effects come from these fixes. I would not inflict such folly in vain, I personally know your mother's pain." Zecora elaborated on the subject. "What do you mean?" Diamond was puzzled. Zecora was never married, or been pregnant. But then, maybe that was for a reason. "To the son of my elder's tribe I was to be wed, and share with every night the bed. Not to be husbanded in servitude, I devised a plan quite shrewd. My worth as a bride was measured in fertility, instead of my skills in alchemy. I concocted the potion to make my womb barren, never would intercourse I be sharing. The elder woman was not amused that her son's hoof in marriage I had refused. For my ruse I was reviled, and by my tribe was exiled. I made Equestria my new home, took up residence by my lonesome. Had I understood its laws at the time, I never would have repeated my crime." Zecora looked remorseful and solemn at the recollection of her past, but Diamond Tiara did not feel she had anything to be ashamed of. "I don't blame you, miss Zecora. My mom made her decisions and you made yours. I'm not mad about what could have been." To be honest, she wondered if her parents had wanted a sibling for her so they could justify their own neglect while giving their children another to play with. As if a brother or sister was a substitute for a parent. "Your forgiveness is a load of my mind. Should you ever need something legal, you know who to find."