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// 121. And The Band... 
// Story: Short Shorts 
// by Coranth 
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"You're over seven hundred years old, so you've probably been in a few battles, right?"

Gathered about me on the futon in Weyrhome, the 'Mane Six' waited for my response to Rainbow Dash's question. Gazing back into the cyan pegasus' eyes, I guardedly responded, "Yes..."

"That is so awesome!" Rainbow replied. "Got any war stories? Come on, you gotta tell us one! Please, please, please...?" Eagerly she looked to me with 'puppy dog' eyes. 

Before I could answer her, however, Rarity softly cleared her throat and then carefully she said, "Now, Rainbow, please remember: we are guests here, darling, whilst trade agreements between Aiur and Equus as a whole are being negotiated. I hardly think asking the human Ambassador for Aiur about things he'd rather forget is appropriate..."

Choosing to ignore Rarity, Rainbow wheedled, "Aw, come on! Just one little story...? Pleeaase...?"

As she asked the question, my expression turned thoughtful; then I responded, "I... don't like to talk about my early days as a Zealot. I won't tell you any stories; Rarity's right, they wouldn't be appropriate. I can, however, sing for you a song about a war; one that happened a long time ago on my native Home World, Earth."

At this, everypony perked up and all shifted a little closer to me. I continued, "This song is an account of the memories of an old Australian man, who, as a youngster in 1915, had been recruited into the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and sent to the Battle of Gallipoli, during the First World War. It is called, 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.' The Weyrmind will provide images and proper context for you to understand it properly. Let's begin..."

No sooner had I said this, then music filled the Dragon Weyr as a banjo began to play...


"Now when I was a young man, I carried me pack, and I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback, well, I waltzed my Matilda all over."


(The ponies were happy; the Weyrmind showed them the 'young man' as he traveled all over Australia, roving with his Swag on his back...) 


"Then in 1915, my country said son, It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done.
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun, and they marched me away to the war."


(Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were saddened when the Weyrmind showed them Conscription, whilst Rainbow shook her head. Only Twilight sat proud. She knew proper of the Royal Guard, and of Duty to one's Country...)


"And the band played Waltzing Matilda, as the ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears, we sailed off for Gallipoli"


(The ponies' expressions wilted, yet Twilight sat straighter, prouder, though her eyes were misty...)


"And how well I remember that terrible day, how our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay, we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well. He shower'd us with bullets,
And he rained us with shell. And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia."


(The Mane Six gasped, horrified, and poor Pinkie's mane went flat...)


"But the band played Waltzing Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain.
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all over again."


(Fluttershy whimpered softly than burst into softened tears...)


"And those that were left, well we tried to survive, in that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive, though around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head, and when I woke up in my hospital bed,
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead. Never knew there was worse things than dyin'.

For I'll go no more waltzing Matilda, all around the green bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs-no more waltzing Matilda for me.

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia.
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be.
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity."


(Now the ponies knew of the horror of war. They were holding each other close, weeping, weeping, futilely trying to wipe away tears that just wouldn't stop. Rainbow had moved to place her head on my knee as she looked up at me with saddened eyes...)


"But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away
And so now every April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore. They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, what are they marching for? And I ask myself the same question.

But the band plays Waltzing Matilda, and the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear. Someday no one will march there at all."


(The Mane Six sans Rainbow held each other close as they cried. Rainbow was practically in my lap now, her expression crumpled, eyes shut tight as she wept. To end the song, I lowered my voice and laced it with a little power such that it became echoing, ghostlike...)


"Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by that billabong, who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"


When at last the song ended, the Mane Six gathered about me, still weeping. They nudged, nuzzled, and softly touched nose and hoof to me, words unable to express their sadness, their shattered innocence. Gently, softly, I petted them; stroked their soft coats and manes, and scratched them behind the ears. They... they cried for hours... and when they were able to finally cease crying, Twilight Sparkle - her wings about my shoulders and head over my back - softly choked, "I... I won't let something like that happen here in Equestria--or anywhere on this world. I won't! I-I..." She snuffled, choked on a sob caught in her throat. "I need to visit my brother more often..."

I nodded, gently. "That might be a good idea," I softly intoned.