Part 10: Trial Amnesty
" Ms. Mayor, I have a favor to ask of you." Twilight Sparkle said, returning from Derpy's home.
" Sure Twilight, what do you need?" Ms. Mayor asked looking up from her work on Ponyville's Archives.
" I need you to arbitrate a trial, without involving the Princesses." Twilight said in a hushed tone.
" My dear Twilight, most of the time I can solve a disagreement without having to put a trial on the books."
" This is a... unique situation, which requires your mostly unbiased opinion." Twilight stated, hinting at the gravity of the situation.
" Where is this arbitration supposed to happen? Am I to assume that it won't be in the Town Hall?" Ms. Mayor asked.
" At Ms. Hooves residence." Twilight said.
" Derpy? Isn't she in a coma, why would you need arbitration there?" Ms. Mayor asked, confused at the revealed location.
" She got better, but there is a matter of some urgence that requires your attention, I'll explain it on the way." Twilight said even more briefly than before, evidently in a hurry.
Twilight explained to the Mayor that an unusual guest had appeared in Derpy's house, as they had just returned to cure her of her sleep. The rest of the heroes of Harmony were already there, to testify. It was an issue they were evenly divided on, and required a tie breaker, since even the Hooves family was divided on the verdict for the unexpected guest.
" So who is this mysterious guest? Someone I know perhaps?" Ms. Mayor asked, before they entered the residence.
" Greetings arbitrator. With any luck, we'll be able to resolve this stalemate in short order." Discord said, sipping some chocolate milk. This time drinking the milk rather than the glass. The first two times he'd done this it was the glass and not the milk he'd drunk out of course of habit.
" Di... Discord? What are you doing here?" Ms. Mayor stuttered out, confused.
" I am the plaintiff my dear lady, and you are here to judge as to whether or not I can be allowed to live with Ms. Hooves and her daughter. These Heroes of Equestria and these two ponies are split evenly. You're relatively unbiased, my dear." Discord said simply.
" How...Why... When... Where?" Ms. Mayor stammered out, still very much in shock from the revealing of the spirit of Chaos.
" Ms. Hooves' use of the Elements wasn't to return me to the way I was, it was to weaken me sufficiently to free Dinky. I returned here at this time to proclaim my modest fondness for Derpy as a Spirit to a Pegasus. I deliberately arrived moments before Twilight and Dinky returned to administer the cure to her. I was hiding in the Everfree forest as I waited for my powers to return to me, and to await someone to transport the vital ingredient to her awakening. I would hope that in this, my actions speak to my dedicated sincerity in living peacefully with Ms. Hooves." Discord explained slowly and surely, pushing the heaped plate of muffins over to the Mayor. " Don't worry, I didn't bake these, Derpy did."
" It certainly would seem as though his story stands on its own. What would the opposition say?" Ms. Mayor asked.
" He's the Spirit of Chaos! Given his track record we can't trust him to keep his word!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
" He ruined part of my orchard with his chaos, what's to say he won't do it again?" Applejack declared.
" He made me think a common rock was a DIAMOND!" Rarity said in indignation.
" All valid arguments. Hmm... He did enable you to find the cure though. Saving a life against the inconveniences you all mentioned... and I'm sure he can undo the damage to your orchard and crops. His current behavior indicates a willingness to atone. There is a lot of good that could be done if he were willing..." Ms. Mayor said thoughtfully.
" Your decision?" Twilight prodded hopefully.
" Do those who approve have nothing to say?" Ms. Mayor asked.
" Discord seems to have made the argument fairly well himself." Fluttershy said quietly, tracing circles on the floor with one of her front hooves.
" If you have nothing else to say, it is my ruling that Discord, the spirit of Chaos and disharmony is hereby permitted to reside with the Hooves ladies, assuming he allows occasional check-ins by either myself or my appointed representatives." Ms. Mayor announced to the gathered ponies, taking a celebratory bite of a randomly taken muffin.
The crowd dispersed, some in discontent, others in satisfaction. Regardless they respected the Mayor's tie breaking vote of confidence in Discord.
Reader's Note: This seems like a good enough place to stop this story, I'm sorry if it seems like it dragged on a bit. I couldn't be bothered to remember the Mayor of Ponyville's name, if you remember and would like me to replace any mention of 'Ms. Mayor' or 'Mayor' with her 'proper name', I'd be willing to do it. At this point Dinky's Quest really is over, and if anything I'd be writing anything more in this storyline as a new story, something like 'Living with Chaos' if at all. I do have a lot of backlog I've given myself... (See Profile for the next 2-3 months worth of planned stories)-shrugs- I hope you enjoyed this story, and will at least look at my other pieces.