//------------------------------// // After The War - Grand Galloping Gala // Story: The History Of The Human War // by Scorched Earth //------------------------------// Captain Iron Wall was nervous. It had been 8 years since The War (Yes, with capital initials. It was that big and important) and the second Grand Galloping Gala was going to be held at the rebuild Canterlot castle. Every guard was nervous, since this year there would be humans attending to the gala. Well, only the ambassador and her 2 guards but still, it was nerve wrecking for anyone with slightest knowledge of the political situation. Any false movement, one misstated word could reignite the war. Nobody, not even the humans wanted to do that. One mistake could bolster war-hawks on either side to do something rash. Iron Wall looked as guest started to arrive. Nobles, whom he had learned to despise during the war. Bastards had demanded guards and resources for their “protection”, while being safely far behind the lines. Guards and materials that were much needed on the front lines. Well, at least some of the most troublesome had died during Battle of Canterlot. It was not a good thought to have, but still, Equestria was better without them. Now arrived several decorated war heroes. Captain Trixie Lulamoon (HERO OF EQUESTRIA!), whose actions during Battle of Ponyville had saved several hundreds of civilians and who had enlisted after the battle. Had fought in nearly every major battle after that. Looked kinda scared despite the tales. He had been expecting someone taller with either stoic face or face that told deep darkness in her heart. Oh well. Didn't remove the fact that she had Medal Of Honor and Medal Of Valor from Equestria, with accompanied knighthood making her one of the few female knights in Equestria, as well as Golden Feather from Griffin Kingdom. Private Gilda Fairweather. Never rose through the ranks thanks to her attitude, but nether the less, received Golden Feather thanks to her actions to protect her fellow comrades during the chaotic retreat after the Battle of Los Pegasus. Was wounded later in the war and sat out most of it. Seemed to have healed pretty well. A real pain in the ass. Private Shell Shocked. Now, when you got 3 Purple Hearts you were given honorable discharges from the army. Somehow, this guy had gotten back TWICE, earning total number of TEN Purple Hearts. That meant getting mortally wounded ten times and still living. Even human soldiers, when they were told about this, did their weird “raising a hat”. Apparently it meant that one give his respect to other. After the tenth one they just gave up and told him to do whatever he wanted. Never accepted promotion. General Broken Steel, the greatest military tactician in Equestria. Had it not been for his battle plans and thinking, Equestria would have fallen long time ago. He still wished that he would cover up that missing eye. It made everyone, including Princesses, uncomfortable. It was really freaky to look at yet nobody wanted to disrespected him by looking away. Captain Xandiers, commander of Zebra Volunteer Corps. Went against his leaders orders and brought his volunteers to Equestrian side. Too back it wasn't enough to drag Zebra Union into fight. Having humans surrounded from all sides would have perhaps allowed Equestria to win the war. Received Silver Star for his efforts. Was apparently wanted for treason in Zebra Union and thus had asked for and was granted an asylum in Equestria. Several others started to arrive, few more griffins, two more zebras and more and more ponies. Then arrived the Elements of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be still depressed, through at least she was holding her head up instead of staring floors like during the first days after Battle of Canterlot. Applejack had that nasty scar on her flank, at least it hadn't disfigured her cutie mark. Rainbow Dash kept close to Fluttershy, who was still limping with her prosthetic leg. Pinkie Pie was... well, Pinkie Pie, but seemed to be keeping eye on everyone. She was also, with assistance of that dragon Spike, helping now blind Rarity get trough. It was still a wonder how she managed to keep her fashion shop running, even with her eyes having lost their sight. Some said she used magic to see, others said she had 6th sense to determine when the dress was complete and how it looked. And now arrived the humans. The ambassador wore special talisman that created a small anti.magic field around her. She was clad in typical black military uniform. One might have thought that humans would have expanded their color selection past gray and black after the war but nope, black was still in style. Two guards were in full uniform. At least they had left their rifles out and opted for pistols. The ambassador headed towards Princesses. Okay, keep cool, she is going to walk right past you, no need to panic, they won't start a new war... The ambassador bowed and greeted the Princesses on behalf of The Human Refuge. Then Princesses extended their right hooves and the ambassador shaked them. Weird human customs. Guess it made more sense if you had hands instead of hooves. Okay, good, she was leaving now. No new wars had been declared, diamond dogs weren't coming from underground, skies were still clear and... Twilight Sparkle and Captain Lulamoon seemed to be arguing? With Captain seemingly being ashamed? What was that all about? Change of the guard. Iron Wall was finally relieved for rest of the night and look around. He didn't get far before having fright of his life(apart from being nearly blasted into pieces during Fifth Battle of Ghastly Gorge) by nearly bumping into human soldier who came around the corner. “Running a check?” filtered and mechanical voice came from the helmet. “Uuh... no. I was relieved from the duty for rest of the night. Enjoying the gala?” Iron Wall answered hesitantly. He really never learned how to talk to these soldiers since you could never make sure what they thought. “Too flashy for me. Ambassador told us to leave her alone for a moment.” He then reached for something in his pocket. It was a small bottle. After he, reached for his faceplate (They were used to think them as “masks” before learning the technical term) and removed the lower part. “Oh, you got them talismans too?” “Yeah. Every soldier stationed outside the zone is issued one. We lost a lot of people to simple suit ruptures.” Then he took drink from his bottle. “Wanna try this? It's human booze. We call it Vudka. It's based on some pre-Cataclysm drink.” Not wanting to insult the human, Iron Wall agreed. “Sure, I can try” He wrapped the bottle in his magic and took a swing. Tasted bitter. “Bleh, if you don't mind me saying so I prefer Apple Cider.” “Suit yourself. By the way, I saw this one fell from one them captains, I think? Blue fur and light blue mane? You know her?” Human had retrieved a small blue diamond from his pocket, one normally used to hold up capes. “I think you are referring to Captain Lulamoon. I can take it to her, if you wish.” “That would be greatly appreciated, I can't leave for a long time. I have my duties to take care of.” Human left, while leaving the gem to Iron Wall. Iron Wall set off to find Captain Lulamoon. Rest of the ball went nice and quiet. He saw Princess Luna and ambassador talk about diamond dogs, with ambassador insisting that if Equestria wanted to relocate dogs from their homes, they should be aware of Diamond Treaty that was still enforced by both sides. However, she was willing to relay ponies wishes to Diamond Dog Protectorate and possibly set up negotiations to clear up any grievances either side had. In the garden, however, he found something interesting. Captain Lulamoon was being cornered by Elements of Harmony. “Captain Trixie Lulamoon, Hero of Equestria? What. The. Fudge.” Applejack said. “Look, there is perfectly good reason for all this, you see...” “Oh, I want to hear this. How in the million years did you went from a liar and a coward to someone who takes on entire human battalions alone?” Rainbow Dash was asking rather pointedly. “Look, I didn't ask to be called that!” “Really?” Rarity was asking. “YES! LET ME EXPLAIN!” Trixie exploded at this point. Elements fell silent. “It started after Battle of Ponyville. I was passing through the area. I saw this group of human vessels approaching an area where I knew evacuates were. So I ran to them, to warn them.” “Oh really, you really went into dangerous zone on your own.” Rainbow Dash sounded somewhat skeptical. “What else was I supposed to do!? You can think what you want but there were innocent fillies there! I SAW THEM RAZE FILLYDELPHIA! CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE!?” Trixie was shouting at this point. “After... after you ruined my show I barely had any work anymore. Then Fillydelphia happened. I ran from there. I got to Ponyville just in time for humans to attack there. I couldn't just let it all happen again. I ran to evacuates. Told them to run. Then humans landed. Didn't think anymore. All I could think was all those innocent fillies and colts lost at Fillydelphia... unable to do anything... I just attacked them. Slowed them down. Threw rocks and sticks and whatever I could lift with my magic. Just to buy few more seconds...” Trixie fell silent. “After a while... Guards arrived. They beat them back and brought me to a field hospital. Some fillies came later to see me. Thanked me... Me, can you imagine it? It felt... good... So I joined. From there, it was one nightmare after another. Fourth Battle of Ghastly Gorge. Los Pegasus. Operation Freedom. Canterlot. Fifth Battle of Ghastly Gorge. I almost died there. Hundreds of unknown and unnamed battles. Each and everyone, they took me there. I don't know if they hated me or thought I was some sort of 'hero'. Never did I even try to be a hero. Just wanted to survive. I was a coward... yet... somehow... somehow I ended up doing something 'heroic'. Tried to run away, encountered human group planning to surround us. Tried to hide, accidentally found snipers nest. List goes on and on. They promoted me. What I could tell to Guards under my command? Sorry, your commander is a coward and all those good things so far were flukes? They trusted me! I couldn't break their trust... So I kept the appearance. Great and powerful Trixie. Soon they added 'Hero of Equestria' to the list. I hate it. I am not a hero. Just a mare who has bad luck...” Everyone was silent. Until Twilight touched Trixie on the shoulder. “I'm sorry we doubted you. You are actually very brave.” She said. “No I'm...” “Yes you are. You stuck with your men to the end. You are still in Royal Guard, training and organizing new recruits. You oversee repairs. You are afraid of the dangers that your new position places you in, yet... you haven't given up.” Rarity said. “I remember when Ursa Minor attacked Ponyville. You ran back then. This time... you have stayed, despite being afraid. That's courage.” Rainbow Dash concluded. Trixie was looking like she could cry at the any moment. “Thanks guys... that means a lot to me...” Iron Wall thought for a moment. On the other hand, whole image of Captain Lulamoon (HERO OF EQUESTERIA) had been ruined in that discussion. But, like Elements had said, she had still stuck with her men even if she was terrified to no end. Besides, he had to bring her her gem back. He made slightly more noise than necessary before arriving at the scene. “Oh, greetings. Didn't know there was someone here. Enjoying the gala?” “Oh, yes it is very lovely.” Rarity answered rather quickly. “Captain, I was looking for you. You apparently dropped this.” “Oh, thank you. I didn't even notice it was missing... It a memento from time before everything went to hell...” “No need to thank me Captain. Just doing my duty.” “Yes, yes, duty, yes... Anyway, shall we return to the main event? Dancing is supposed to start soon. I think I just grab this nice captain here and let you find you own.” Captain Lulamoon said and moved to Iron Wall. “Hey wai-” Iron Walls protest were quickly silenced when Captain grabbed him and dragged him back to ball room. Oh well, he could worse ways to spend the night than being dance partner to a decorated war hero. His brother was going to be so jealous.