//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Equestria vs. Japan: A Civ 5 Story // by Bateman66 //------------------------------// William the First kept a brisk pace as he walked down the long maroon carpeted floor. Interesting designs of battles and heroes he’d never heard of dotted the tapestry; a careful attention to detail put in each picture. He tried to pay attention to what they were, but his mind jumped with a thousand thoughts as he moved down the hallway. A long line of armored guard stallions strongly saluted to him as he passed, a stone jawed expression on each of them without a hint of emotion. Their gold armor hung snugly on them, giving both an artistic and militaristic look to their formation. Although each one looked forward sternly, William felt their strong gaze on his back. He quickly glanced at the line of guards to his right, then immediately went back to staring at his feet while he walked. The presence of Equestrian ponies always bothered him slightly. They seemed too fantasy, too out there in world of reality, there species being so improbable in comparison to the rest of the planet. He thought about this whenever he pondered his over three thousand year life span. Shaking his head, he continued down the hallway until he reached a large marble opening with several well dressed ponies entering. A group of guards were posted outside the archway while a skittish looking mare stood around with a clipboard. On further inspection she appeared to be of unicorn descent with a well kept coat of lavender fur and a quite beautiful violet mane. As he walked toward her she jolted in surprise and rushed over to meet him. “Hello,” she said with shaky enthusiasm. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, official aid, student, and librarian to Princess Celestia of Equestria. You must be William the First!” She smiled and extended her hoof expectantly. Swallowing his fear, he slowly reached forward and barely grasped the tip of her solid hoof. From there he gave the weakest, limpest, and most feeble hand/hoof shake that had ever been given in the history of the world. “P-P-Please to meet you” he mumbled in response. The aid awkwardly moved her hoof away and quickly squinted at her clipboard. “Let’s see here…where is the…oh there it is! I’ve been tasked by the Princess to lead you directly to her majesty’s official private table. Could you please come with me?” She gestured for him to follow her into the arched entrance. Nodding with a shut mouth, he followed after her. The banquet hall was a complete contrast to what he expected from a meeting of nobles. String music blasted from every side of the room as the rumble of light conversation between the Equestrian high society roared through the entire building. Random bursts of laughter came from those standing around conversing, adding to the controlled chaos that was bubbling around him. Unicorn servers zig-zagged gracefully though the crowd, fancy and elaborate dishes suspended in thin air following after them. Flashy wigs, dresses, and suits pushed outward wherever there was an opening in the crowd, leaving William and the aid to duck and dodge around them like jungle explorers. The clitter and clatter of silverware became insufferable bell tolls that rung from every table that a pony was sitting at, giving him ringing ears that blocked out most of the sound around him. Somepony fell in front of them, spilling a pitcher of cider all across the carpet and being followed by a roar of laughter. An old mare pushed up against him, trying to get a better view of the spectacle, and immediately began to inaudibly insult him. Tugging him by the hand, the aid yanked him out of the hot zone and pressed on. This was a nightmare to say the least and William was ever thankful that the young mare was with him. Without her, he would have been immediately sucked into a sea of fancy enchanted equines; completely blind and lost to wherever he needed to go, and forever banished to wander till eternity. He held onto that thought the further the duo pushed into the mob. Reaching one of the room’s walls, they slithered along its sides until finally reaching a plain looking door. It was wooden with a square piece of blurry glass in the center, hiding whatever was behind it. Opening the door with her magic horn, the unicorn aid gestured for him to enter. Practically falling through the doorway, he was happy to finally be out of the madness that was still right behind him. Entering the doorway as well, the mare closed the door behind them. They stood in a sterile looking hallway with a creamed colored floor and a low ceiling. Bright natural looking lights hung in squares above them. William tiredly propped his back against one of the walls, and took several deep breaths. “That…was crazy.” The mare smirked. “Yeah, these kinds of parities can get crazy sometimes. I’ve never seen it myself to be quite honest, but I have a friend who’s done some pretty comprehensive research on these things.” He looked at her with query. “On parties?” “Parties, shindigs, hootenannies, you name it. If there was degree for the study of parties, she’d have her professorate by now.” He moved his back off the wall and steadied his feet. “You’ve got some interesting friends, Ms. Sparkle, you know that?” She happily shrugged her shoulders. “You could put it that way.” Looking around quickly, she turned back to him. “You want to keep moving?” He signaled for her to continue. “Lead on.” They kept a steady pace down the much more modern looking hallway. Occasionally they would pass another door with shrouded glass but not once did they go anywhere but straight. The stopped at a set of two large double doors. They matched the hallway in modern appearances and had two golden handles on each side. Despite the lack of any identifiers, it looked strangely official. The mare turned to him nervously. “Well, this is it. The Princess and daimyo are just through this door.” She took in a deep breath of air and let it out through her snout. “Allow me to see you in.” She opened the door and led him into something that was completely contrasted to the utter insanity of the banquet hall. It was a moderately sized private dinning area with marble floors, high hanging purple curtains, and another set of wooden double doors at the end of the room. A massive glass window was in the center of the chamber, leading out to concrete balcony with a full view of the sprawling Canterlot. A single table stood vacantly near the window, not another piece of furniture in sight. At the table was both Princess Celestia and Oda Nobunaga, already sitting down and feasting on a plate of miniature sandwiches that resembled tiny pony wizards. They looked up with mouthfuls of food as the aid and William entered. “Twilight!?” called the Princess in surprise with chunks dropping out of her mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me that William had arrived, I was expecting him an hour ago.” The aid bowed her head. “I am sorry Princess; I thought that bringing him directly would be quicker than sending a messenger. I am very sorry for my mistake.” Celestia put her hoof up and smiled. “It’s alright Twilight, you did what you thought was best. Thank you for bringing him here and I do believe now we are fully prepared to begin the festivities.” “Looks like you already have,” mumbled William. The aid nodded to the Princess. “I’ll leave you three alone then.” She turned to William. “It was very nice speaking with you King William, goodnight.” She flashed a smile at him and trotted out of the room, leaving him there with a reddened face and something throbbing in his chest. Oda slyly grinned at him once the mare exited. “Who ever thought that the great William van Oranje had a way with the ladies, eh?” “Shut up,” he muttered as he moved over to the table. Taking his seat on the long wooden rectangle, he sat across from Nobunaga and next to Celestia. The party of three only took up one end of the table, deciding to sit in a friendly cluster rather than be spread out like strangers. Rolling up his silk sleeves, he reached forward and took a few samples of the hors d'oeuvre. Tossing them onto his plate, he looked at the Princess. “I assumed that we’d be dinning in the main banquet hall, considering most of your nobility is in there.” She raised one of her eyebrows. “Would you really want to dine in that asylum? All those ponies, all in one place?” He grinned while shaking his head. “Nope, not in a million years.” The Princess levitated a sandwich into her mouth and she gobbled the food down as graceful as any monarch could, with plenty of lip smacking and spare bits flying everywhere. “Tonight’s a special occasion,” she announced, “somepony in the Royal Planning Committee got too willy-nilly with invitations, and so we have at least three times as many guests as normal.” Oda giggled with a massive mouthful of cheese. “Shhwa za git en Qwestia.” “For Pete’s sake, swallow your food!” yelled an exasperated William. Celestia and Oda giggled at his anger, and he couldn’t help but smile at their enjoyment of it. It wasn’t always that he spent time with friends, even rarer for him to enjoy doing it. But it was on these infrequent occasions that he felt a very good sense of positivity and laughter. He considered doing it more often. A group of three server unicorns entered the room, three large dishes levitated above their heads. They were held up by strange auras of bright energy, fully enclosing the items but still leaving the contents untouched. William had seen displays of unicorn magic before, but a sense of wonder always encompassed him whenever he saw it right in front of him. His jaw hung open slightly as the servers set down the dishes, and quickly made their way out of the room. The dishes included a massive board of various meats, a deep bowl full of salad and a tray filled to the top with grapes, a giant pile of grapes. Without another word the three dug in. -------------------------------------- Not long after starting, the three had torn through their feast, devouring all that was set before them and guaranteeing a week long fast to fully allow the food to digest. On suggestion from the Princess, they decided to get some fresh air outside on the balcony, before making their formal appearance to the rest of the castle. Now, they found themselves standing along the smooth stone platform that suspended them high above the skyline of Canterlot, admiring the twinkling lights of the city’s surface. A slight rumbling could be heard from where they stood, not doubt the vibrant sounds of activity reaching the heavens from where they were. “This is beautiful,” said William with comfortable amazement, “truly breathtaking. I wish I visited more often.” “Yes,” agreed Oda, “I’ve never quite seen something like this before. It’s just so…exotic.” The Princess smiled. “Thank you for the compliments.” “You're welcome,” said the daimyo and king in unison. The three stood silently, still staring at the shifting gleams of light within the city. There was something different about it, something that set it apart from normal lighting setups. It had a sparkle to it that seemed to shine brighter than any other lamp or torch in the entire world, emitting warmth that was more welcoming than a cabin bonfire. William breathed in deeply, the spell of the light seeming to wear off. “So,” he began awkwardly, “how are things going with you guys?” “The French are being difficult,” remarked Oda. “Claims are already being made about the last few bits of unclaimed land between us. It’s a race really; whoever can get the first settler there to claim it. They’ve already lost, they just don’t know it.” He turned to Celestia. “What about you Princess?” She didn’t look towards him but continued to stare down at the city. “An American spy tried to steal industrialization from us…again. He’s dead now, but still felt like a close call.” William nodded but didn’t respond. He looked back out towards the city but couldn’t find himself to relax enough to fully take it in. He looked back at his two friends. “You guys think it was worth it? Doing what we did?” They didn’t look directly at him, but he could tell they were uncomfortable with the question. He waited a moment for a response, patient with however long it would take them. “Yes…” said Oda, “it was the very best we could’ve down. And after everything was over, we came out untouched and healthy. I think that’s reason enough to be called a good choice.” “I agree” said Celestia, “I know it seemed harsh and cruel once the wars began to die down, but we would have just been apart of the wreckage if we hadn’t joined together.” William looked away, unsure with himself. He began to slowly rub the back of his neck. “But don’t you think it was bad, turning our backs on everyone? All those people, all those civilians, it just feels like we could’ve down more.” “Do you know what that would’ve been?” asked Celestia. “No…” he sadly responded. “Then that means we couldn’t have down anything,” assured Oda. William grimaced and walked a few paces away from his friends. Leaning his stomach against the railing, he sighed. “But what about the smaller countries, the weaker ones? They didn’t even stand a chance. The world still seems to be picking up the pieces and here we are enjoying wealth and happiness.” Oda raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t it good that while the world has been plunged into a sad period of reconstruction, here we are, safe and sound from any trouble?” “I just think we should help is all. Offer some free gold out to those who need it most. At the very least we can be charitable in times like this.” Oda gently rested his palms on one of the many hanging swords on his belt and slowly approached William. “Do you really think we should do that, William? Do you really think we should fund those who hate us? The entire world, even the smaller nations, will never think fondly of us. We control the most powerful economic, technological, and militaristic empires in the entire world, and the expectation that they’ll look past all that is a hopeless one.” “But that can’t be true,” said William indignantly, “they can’t all hate us. And for what reason would they hate us?” Oda looked at him sternly. “They hate us because we are strong and they are weak. They hate us because we have everything that they don’t. They hate us because we were able to see the bigger picture and decided to not murder one another. We succeeded and they failed, and they’ll try to kill us for that.” Celestia turned her head away from the city in surprise. “What do you mean?” The daimyo shut his eyes. “It occurred to me, not too long ago, that maybe, just maybe, we forgot something important with our alliance. Yes, with the three of us united as one, we currently contain the most power in the world, but I was thinking, what if that changes?” “How so?” asked William. “If these poor fools actual realize how successful we’ve become by banding together, what if they do the same? What if they pool their resources together to actually challenge everything that we have? Yes, they’re all still in the Renaissance Era, but our lines of Gatling guns won’t do much against a sea of musketmen and cannons knocking at our door.” Celestia stepped away from the balcony and began to walk back towards the door. “The future is always uncertain, never fully showing itself until it has become the present. But we can’t dwell on this now. We’ll figure something out, as we always do, but for now let’s enjoy ourselves. We deserve it.” William nodded, some confidence returning to him. “You’re right, Celestia. We can focus on this some other time, let’s go have some fun.” Oda slowly shook his head and followed after his two friends back into the private dinning room. “I suppose we have to meet with the nobility now, Princess?” “Nope,” she simply responded, “we’re going to the Royal Eclipse Ball courts instead.” “What!?” asked the two males in unison. She nodded. “I told Twilight to inform all those in the banquet hall that I was not feeling well enough to make a public appearance. They’ll be sent home with goody bags, don’t worry.” “You sure they’d be ok with that?” said William. “They’ve put up with worse before. And besides, they’re running cleaning costs up by the second. Think of this as a repayment for what they’re putting the Royal Janitors through.” “Umm, Princess?” said a worried Oda. “We don’t even know how to play eclipse ball.” She waved his anxiety of with her hoof. “Oh, it’s easy. You just use two wooden paddles, and you hit an inflatable ball back and forth. It’s a lot like tennis, only the ball doesn’t bounce so well.” “Does that mean it can’t bounce it all?” asked William. “No, it just means that it won’t bounce well.” “How well does it bounce then?” asked Oda. “Not amazingly, maybe a few feet at most.” “Why can’t we play tennis then? I’m a lot better with tennis.” “Yeah,” agreed William, “we’re all pretty familiar with tennis.” “No!” shouted Celestia. “I didn’t have two concrete courts specifically built for eclipse ball to be placed in the Royal Gardens if I wasn’t thinking that I’d play eclipse ball on a regular basis.” “Well there you go,” continued William, “you just said they were concrete. That’d work perfect with tennis balls, and if there’s a net on the court that’d be even better. Is there a net on the court?” Celestia face hoofed. “Yes, there’s a net.” “Then tennis it is!” shouted Oda triumphantly. “No!” shouted Celestia again. “Can’t we play at least one game of tenni—I mean eclipse ball? Just one?” “Fine, but you then we have to play two games of tennis since me and William want to play it.” “William and I.” corrected William. “Whatever.” Celestia sighed. “How about two games of tennis, but also two games of eclipse ball, just to be fair?” “I don’t know,” said Oda, “then it’d be in your favor since it’s only you willing to play eclipse ball in the first place.” “No, it’d be fair; it’s the Princess’s castle so she gets an extra vote automatically.” Oda nodded his head. “You do have a point there. But she still hasn’t told us the rules of the game yet.” “Yes, I have,” argued Celestia, “I told you the rules right once I brought it up.” “No you didn’t,” responded William, “you glazed over it quickly and said it was like tennis, but you never went into full detail about it.” Oda put his hands up to calm his friends. “Let’s just start this all over again…” It took another hour for the group to finally decide what they wanted to do, and by the time they made their way to the Royal Eclipse Ball courts, it was almost time very everyone to go home. Oda and William were expected to return to their lodgings in the city, while Celestia was expected to go to bed in preparation for raising the sun the next day. However, they did not do any of this; instead staying late into the early morning hours, tossing ball after ball over the court and playfully hitting it back in all directions, not really concerned with playing any real kind of game. Green tennis balls, eclipse balls, foam dodge balls and kickballs flew from side to side, being systematically smacked by anyone who had their racket at the ready. At the end of it all, sporting goods of all sorts covered the concrete square, erasing any memory of a formal activity ever being played in the space. But after awhile, as the sky became darker, and the three friends became more winded, it was unanimously decided to part ways for the night. Branching off in different directions, they readied themselves for what the next day would detail, hoping to meet up once more before they departed at the end of the week. As he walked through the Royal Gardens, towards the front of the castle, William looked up at the massive stone palace he’d been in for the better part of his day. He smiled to himself, already recollecting on everything that had occurred in the past hours, feeling like he’d just formed some lasting memories to his life. Shoving his hands into his silk pockets, he continued to walk through the rows of bushes and shrubs, whistling a merry tune into the night.