[EaW] Harmony's War

by Flying Dutchpony

Chapter 1: Life Goes on

Diamond slept soundly that night and breakfast was almost normal, except for the big headline in the Vanhoover Tribune that Librus Harmony, her husband, was reading: “WAR WITH THE CHANGELINGS”. Librus would take Rasp, their daughter, to school today and Diamond would pick her up in the afternoon. That was the way they had done it since she went to school. Instead of a cheery morning of the two parents poking fun at each other, there was an awkward silence that was only broken when someone had to pass something for breakfast, both parents afraid to talk about the one topic on their minds. Rasp could sense something was off, but didn’t know exactly what was going on, keeping silent as well.

When everypony was done eating, Diamond turned to her daughter, it was already getting late and she needed to prepare. “Go pack your bag dear, or your father will be late for work.” She said in the soft, but guiding parental tone she always used for her child. This was just the cue Rasp needed to escape the weird atmosphere that had taken hold of the kitchen. She sprinted upstairs to her room, leaving the deep purple stallion and the cyan mare alone.

“Don’t worry Diamond,’’ Librus put down the newspaper and but a hoof around his wife’s neck, his dark blue eyes peering into her eyes with serene confidence. “It will be over before you know it.” He grabbed the newspaper again with his free hoof, holding it up next to his face. “They say Princess Luna is coming up to Vanhoover. She’ll know how to sort this out.” His eyes wandered to the staircase and Diamond found herself looking the same way. “I’ll tell Rasp that everything that’s happening outside is just for her arrival, I’m sure she would love it if you went to see the Princess with her after school.”

Diamond gave a soft smile. As always, her stallion had it all figured out. His calm was infectious and the pony could feel some of the worry in her heart melted away like snow in the springtime sun. “Do you think we are ready?” She asked, not quite giving up her insecurities from last night.

Much to her relief Librus turned his gaze back to her and gave a soft nod. “We are prepared, Princess Celestia has been ruling for thousands of years. There hasn’t been a crisis harmony hasn’t seen us through in the end. As long as we stay true to ourselves this will be over before summer begins.”

Diamond chuckled, her shoulders shuddering as she moved a hoof to her mouth to cover it up. This made her husband give her his characteristic frown, before his mask broke and he smiled as well. It was clear to Diamond why he was so high up in the ranks of Vanhoover’s administration, he was steady under pressure and could radiate that confidence around. Librus let go of the mare, before checking through some of his work, leaving Diamond in thought. I should not worry today, Diamond promised herself, thinking it better to enjoy the Princess’s arrival.

She was just about to ask her husband if he knew when she was expected to arrive, when the sound of hoofsteps on the stairs of her house pulled her away from her thoughts about royalty and Librus stood up, smiling at his daughter, who was carrying her full school bag. “Ah it’s time for us to depart love, have a good day and don’t tire out old Silverline too much.” The civil servant gave Diamond a quick kiss on the cheek before hugging their daughter.

Rasp waved at her mother, her eyes beaming with excitement for another day. “See you later mom, love you!’’

Diamond waved back, her smile now widening as the warmth of family made her forget the rest of the world for one heavenly moment. Looking on from the window, she watched the two until they were out of sight.

Diamond did the dishes and then packed her lunch and went to work herself. By the time she entered the streets the day had already started and a nice spring sun had overpowered the clouds, warming the ponies outside. The streets of Vanhoover were busy as always, but there were other sights than the usual. Ponies with helmets on were passing sandbags and putting spotlights and what looked like anti-air guns into position in squares. The grim machines were an ugly contrast to the cobblestone streets and brightly coloured buildings of the city. The soldiers seemed to not mind their task and were making jokes while working, almost as if they were preparing for a festival instead of a bombardment. Diamond shook her head at them, feeling a bit of her worries about Equestria coming back while she continued on her daily commute through the wide boulevards that were the city’s main arteries.

Were these silly stallions the ponies that would defeat the fearsome Changelings? Then she remembered her promise and decided to think about other things instead. After a ten minute walk through the winding streets of the city, Diamond reached the jewelry, a cozy shop where she had worked since she got her cutie mark. Although the shop was small, it imported and cut its own stones and handmade its own jewelry. Diamond always prided herself in the shop since it made both pretty jewelry anyone could afford and exquisite items with priceless gems for the richest people. While most of the city had industrialised since Diamond was a child, the jeweler stayed the same, only using a few of the modern tools in the workshop. It was a relaxing job and almost a second home to her. It would probably still be there in a hundred years. What if they blow it up. The mare closed her eyes and shuddered at her own thought, flashes of her imagination attacking her. Being good at visualising things in her head surely helped Diamond in her job, but now the image of a burned out workplace had nested itself in her head. Opening the door and taking in the familiar moldy smell, however, felt more reassuring than the soldiers outside or Celestia’s speech and the evil thoughts left the front of her mind as quickly as they came.

As the mare entered the shop, a little bell announced her arrival, which made an older stallion with a grey moustache and round glasses come from the workshop in the back.

“Good morning misses Harmony,’’ he said in a slightly cracked voice of a stallion approaching old age.

“Good morning mister Silverline,” Diamond responded with renewed cheer, “Everything alright today?”

Gustav Silverline, the owner of the jewelry pursed his lips and nodded, more eagerly than usual. “It’s quite alright dear, some new gems arrived from the south of Equestria and I’m sure you can make something lovely out of them, also,’’ He paused for a moment, and Diamond could see in his eyes, which were beaming pride and his confident smirk, that the stallion had a pleasant surprise. “The mayor will come along today to buy something, and I think it will be a gift for the princess!”

Diamond could feel her jaw drop at this sentence and all sorts of feelings flooded out from her heart. She held up her hoof and took a deep breath. And another one. Princess Luna was coming! And she would get a jewel from their shop? For a moment she stared into Gustav’s eyes, fully expecting him to start laughing at her for falling for the joke.

After a few seconds, when she saw that the jeweller’s face didn’t change and he wasn’t joking, she exclaimed “Gustav, that’s amazing, so excited, so excited!” Despite her best efforts, Diamond could not stop her heart from pounding uncontrollably in her chest, she felt like a filly who just got a gift.

The old stallion smiled and put a hoof in his neck. “Yes, yes, that would be a literal crown upon my work.” Diamond laughed with the jeweller at his flimsy joke, and before long the both of them went to work, the excited feelings ebbing away from the familiar act of work.

The day went by like a breeze as Diamond was enjoying cutting and polishing the new stones that came in from the Equestrian jungles. She noticed that there were significantly less customers today, which was understandable, most ponies would have something else on their mind than buying jewelry. It was almost half past two in the afternoon when Diamond, still sitting in the workshop, could hear the little welcoming bell again.

“Good afternoon mayor Mareadoo!” Gustav greeted the new customer, which made Diamond’s head perk up from her worktable. She’s here. After wiping off the sweat that had piled up on her forehead during the day, she headed to the shopfront. Diamond could feel her doubts returning to the foreground. What if she didn’t find anything she liked. What if Princess Luna wouldn’t like the gift?

“Yes, so I’m looking for something for our special guest. It has to be something that matches her… nocturnal appearance.” The mayor was about the same age as Silverline, but where the years had a mellowing effect on the stallion, they had made the mayor seem sterner. When the dark-gray unicorn saw Diamond, she gave her a short nod. “Good afternoon.”

Diamond responded in kind; “Good afternoon mayor.” Miraculously, Diamond managed to keep a straight face.

Luckily, the unicorn turned her attention back to Gustav, who had already laid out some jewels on the counter. Most of them were made by Diamond herself. The unicorn took them one by one, inspecting each of them rigorously as Gustav told stories about the pieces. Diamond stood in the corner, rubbing her hooves together and clenching her teeth. She was usually confident of her work, but the way the mayor, whose face didn’t reveal any clue of what was going inside of her head, looked at the jewelry, almost made her shake on her hooves. After reviewing all the pieces mister Silverline had stalled out, she took a second pass, skipping some pieces that had not made cut. She then repeated that process for a third round, after which only two necklaces remained: The first one a silver necklace, with a ruby laid in at the center pendant, while the second one was perhaps a bit less extravagant. A black leather strap set with a deep green sapphire stone.

After taking yet another look the mayor looked at Gustav, nodding gently and biting on her lip. “I cannot decide between these two.”

Gustav’s hoof scraped his moustache. “What are you pondering exactly?” He asked the mayor, who pointed at the ruby.

“I like this one, but I am afraid it doesn’t fit the princess very well.’’ She took the second one in her hoof, “On the other hand, I am afraid this one might give a simple impression, perhaps it is not fitting of royalty.”

Diamond stepped forward, her pride now pushing out her fear. That sapphire gemstone was one of her best cuts. It would perfectly suit a princess. “Excuse me mayor,’’ she blurted out before she could stop herself. The two other ponies jerked their heads towards Diamond and Mareadoo blinked a few times and Diamond gasped at them, still surprised by her own initiative. “In, uhm in, my humble opinion, I believe the sapphire gemstone would fit perfectly! The strap might be simple, but that is intended to focus the attention on the centerpiece. Just for your consideration.’’ Diamond took a deep breath to regain some air after all that.

The unicorn, meanwhile, thought on it for a few moments, looking to and fro from the two jewels and Diamond, before giving an approving nod. “Very well then, I will listen to the expert. Vanhoover would love to purchase the sapphire necklace.” Diamond cheered internally; she swayed the mayor!

Gustav packed the necklace in a little black box when the mayor gave him the bits and just like that the jewellers said goodbye to the mayor and the precious gift was off to city hall, destined for the princess’s neck.

Author's Note:

Dear reader, thank you for reading the first real chapter of the story!