//------------------------------// // Sun of Tomorrow // Story: Reconstruction // by MasterZero //------------------------------// Unbeknownst to the humans, the rulers of Equestria and their six greatest had found their capitol of Canterlot in the land of Europe, as beautiful and as majestic as the day of its completion. There, they would attempt to escape. To reverse the crossing of two worlds. The Elements of Harmony fell to the ground. They fell from the bodies of the six chosen heroines, clattering against the tiled ground. The eight stood in the room in silence, Celestia's....the foreign sun now setting, moving on its own accord, as it's smaller sibling became clearer in night. "The Elements...they...failed?" Twilight muttered, her tone hushed and shocked as she looked at the rulers of Equestria... "It was a long shot to rest our hopes upon them," Celestia sighed, as her sister recollected the Elements. "I don't get it!" Rainbow Dash shouted, kicking hers, sending it flying into the wall, where it harmlessly bounced off. "We're all friends still! None of us are brainwashed! We're all here! Why aren't the Elements working?!" She angrily stomped her hooves into the ground, her teeth clenched. "Maybe...Ummm...Maybe..." Fluttershy hesitated to speak, finding her words getting caught in her throat and falling apart in fear of the misconception the others would have. "What is it, darling?" Rarity, ever the friend, supported her, wanting her to voice her opinion. "If there's anything you may know, or think, please, Fluttershy, tell us." "Rarity is right, Fluttershy. If you have an idea, we could use it," Twilight agreed, nodding her head. "It's...not an idea. I mean, it is, but...You won't like it." "Can't be that bad," Rainbow Dash mumbled. "What if this isn't a bad thing?" A silence captured the room, almost choking the life out of it, it seemed. Applejack was the first to weigh her opinion, as the others pondered the truth in the pegasus' words. "Sweet Apple Acres is gone! As in, all gone! Ah don't know what fancy shcmancy words Twilight would use, but the entire farm is gone! Tarnations, Fluttershy, ain't none of us even seen a lick of Ponyville or Los Pegasus, or a half a dozen other towns! Not to mention all the folks hurt by this whole mess!" "I...I was just saying," the yellow mare whimpered, scolding herself for even suggesting that the death of so many could ever be a good thing. "Applejack, wait. Fluttershy didn't mean it like that, and you know it," Twilight argued, ever the voice of logic. "You know she cares about your farm, just as much as the rest of us. None of us would ever wish anything bad at it, or Ponyville, but the simple fact is that this...fusing of our worlds hasn't been all bad." "...One of those human doctors helped out Hoops after he got a dose of that gas stuff. He was helping Nurse Redheart with all the injured ponies. He even apologized to me about the whole gas, thing," Rainbow Dash suddenly stated, gaining everyone's attention. "Were it not for one of the humans, Sweetie Belle wouldn't have made it back to me. Nor Applebloom to you, Applejack." Applejack looked at Rarity and gave a solemn nod in response. "Don't get me wrong, gals. Ah don't blame anypony for this, but...part of me just wishes Ah could. Ah feel like it needs to be someone's fault. Ah don't like the thought that all those ponies got hurt just cause. Ah'm sorry." "You don't have to apologize, Applejack," Celestia assured. "I am not proud of the death and destruction, nor am I pleased at the forced merging of our two worlds. The thought that all of this happened simply by chance, is tragic. But humanity has been kind enough to trust us enough to give us a chance. We will give them the same. Twilight, I understand you and the human ambassador of America have quickly became friends. Do you have anything you wish to say about them?" The Princess looked at her student, who flushed as everypony paid attention to her. She wiped away her embarrassment and began to speak, speaking with a tone of leadership that she had inherited from her teacher, and from her adventures. "We've spoken a lot with one another. He hasn't tried to cover up his species' past. He told me and I verified everything he has said. Humanity does have a history of violence and aggression towards themselves. Looking through their history books, I estimate that they have experienced more than twice the amount of warfare Equestria has ever had." The other ponies, minus the alicorns, seemed to flinch at this statement. They had seen the evidence, and none of them were fools. They knew that all of the weapons they had seen their allies use were not always used on the monsters of their world, but to think that so much war and violence was spawned from a single race was inconceivable. "But there's more to them than just that. I've been looking at their race, and there is history and culture to it. They're not so different than us. The reason they seem so much more violent than us is because their world seems to be so much harsher than ours." "Harsher? Our world's got hydras, and dragons, and buckin' Discord, for feather's sake!" Rainbow Dash argued. "I know, and you're right, and at first glance, our world is a worse place. But think about it like this: Early Equestrian history recites about how the Windigos nearly destroyed Equestria. The ponies avoided it by using the power of harmony. Humanity, on the other hand, had to survive a different beginning." "First off, their species is over 200,000 years old, at the very least," Twilight began. "Two hundred thousand...? That is surprising. To our knowledge, ponykind has only existed for roughly 60,000 years," Luna explained, stroking her chin at thought about this. "Then perhaps the abundance of war is not so surprising. Any species that lives as long as that could only be expected to have a large history of violence," Celestia added. "There is more. From what I can tell, the animals of this world and our world are different. We, we being the ambassador and I, theorized that early ponies and the animals were able to coexist. Perhaps it was because of magic, domestication, or even we evolved to form a more beneficial relationship, our creatures are, for the most part, less threatened by us. Humans, on the other hand, when food was scare, were forced to hunt the animals." "Sweetie Belle mentioned a human that helped her. He was a hunter. She said she saw him kill, cook, and eat an animal." Rarity stated. "They...eat meat?" Rainbow asked, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "Rainbow Dash, food was scare back then. It was how the food chain worked. We can't blame them for what their ancestors did, and we shouldn't blame them for biological and cultural differences," Fluttershy defended. Rainbow looked at her friend with a strange stare, which was met with a smile. "I've had to catch and prepare fish for some of the animals back home. I don't hate them for it, its simply how they live." Rainbow Dash nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry. Guess its just something I'll need to get used to." "My point is this. Humanity has done a lot of dark things during their time, but there's more than just war and violence. There's love, kindness, and..." Twilight smiled as she took a step forward, standing proudly, inspiring herself. "Friendship. They're more like us than it looks like at first glance." "Then it is decided," Celestia nodded, smiling at her student's words. "We shall stand by humanity, and we shall work to becoming allies, and with luck, become friends." ------------------------------------ After the actions of Professor Mandela, it seemed the world was filled with fear and distrust. The next day, the President of the United States came before his country, giving a speech to the entire planet. Simultaneously, Celestia and Luna were doing the same. Both speeches were being played across the world, by radio, television, livestream, and magically to those lost on the planet. The President began, sitting on his chair, within the Oval Office. He looked at the camera, before he began to speak. "Let history not remember me as an American." Miles away, within the royal land of Canterlot, Celestia and Luna stood within their throne room, their horns glowing as their voices were projected to their subjects, and to all those that were not watching the President's speech. "Let history not remember us as Equestrians." "Let history not remember me as a man." "Let history simply remember us as a voice." "A voice that spoke of what has happened, but also of what can still happen." "The works of Professor Mandela and his associates have been stopped, but their actions have tainted us all." "But we cannot punish all of humanity for the works of a single man, or even of a dozen men." "If the actions of so few spoke for all of us, we would all be guilty of horrible crimes." "Giving up is too easy. We are who we are, because we did not bend to the storm. We are stronger than that." "Let us be strong, and walk a higher path. Let us offer friendship to our new kin, and not persecute them." "Together, we can be stronger than we ever were alone. Together, we can make our new world a better home. There are so many stories we can weave together. Stories of friendship." ------------------------------------ Lyra's vision was gone, forcing her ears to become more sensitive. She tested each string of her lyre, making sure each one was perfectly tuned. Once the preparations were done, she began to play. A song played for the birth of New Ponyville. A song for everyONE to sleep to. The humans, the minotaurs, the mules, the cows, and all the others who came to help with the reconstruction of the town. The gentle, enchanting lullaby was heard by many, and most found themselves drifting off to sleep thanks to it. It was only when she opened her eyes did she discover that her music had gained a one man audience- a human female, most likely one of the workers that had either volunteered or were hired to help. She was wearing simple pajamas. She looked like she was about ready to sleep, as she stood barefoot on the grass. "Oh! Hello there," Lyra greeted. "I'm sorry, did I wake up you up with my song?" "Oh, no! I was awake long before it. I have a hard time sleeping sometimes, so when I heard you, I wanted to see who was playing that awesome song." "Heh. Thanks," the green unicorn smiled, putting her instrument into her bag, before standing up. "You headed back to the temporary homes?" Lyra nodded in response, before the sound of hooves crushing grass was heard. Another pony, this one tan colored, with a blue and pink mane, ran over and smiled at the mint colored one. "Bon Bon?" "Lyra, I was wondering where you went. Why didn't you tell me you were playing everyone a song?" She smiled, lightly poking her fellow pony. "Sorry, Bon Bon. You were just so tired today, I wanted you and Tootsie to rest." "Aww, you're so sweet," Bon Bon complimented, petting her wife's cheek, before noticing the human girl. "Oh, sorry. Hello there." "This is my wife, Bon Bon. Bon Bon, this is...Um...?" "My name is Amy. Wait, did you say wife?" The human woman was visibly shocked by the statement, looking back and forth between the two. Bon Bon seemed to cringe at the shock, a familiar look they had recieved in the past. She was quick to the defense of her lover. "Is there a problem?" Amy realized her mistake and held up her hands. "Oh, no! Not at all. Sorry, I just didn't think any of you ponies...um....swung that way. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I'm glad you two found each other." The couple relaxed at the girl's words and smiled at her. They thanked her, before Bon Bon kissed her wife's cheek. "We should get back to Tootsie now, sweetie." "Yeah, you're right. Don't want her waking the neighbors," the musician chuckled, before looking at her new friend. "We'll see you later?" "Definetly. In fact, tomorrow night, some of the workers are having a party. One of them is talking to this pony about getting some drinks. Think her name is Berry, or something. Anyways, I'm sure everyone would love for you to come over and play a song or two." "Heh. I don't think my kind of music is the kind you want at a Berry Punch drinking party." Lyra smiled as she remembered she and her then-marefriend drinking a bottle of Berry's special stash. The two had woken up to a mess in their kitchen and living room. "But we'd love to come by still and meet everypo-everybody working on New Ponyville. That okay with you, Bon Bon?" "Well, we'll need to find a foal sitter for Tootsie, but it does sound fun," the cream colored earth pony thought aloud. "We'll see you there, Amy!" ------------------------------------ "Stories of discovery." ------------------------------------ "And that is story of the Return of Harmony." Cheerilee closed the book and looked at her new class. Had someone told her that she would be teaching a class of ponies, along with a class of strange, primate creatures called humans, she would have called them crazy. While there was a vocal group that was against a 'talking horse' teaching the youth of tomorrow, there were also many that argued that Cheerilee still had a right to teach, and that giving those teachings to humans would not be so bad, and for now, they seemed to have won. The purple earth pony closed her book and finished the story. She was reminded of yet another problem many had with her. She was reading a story of Equestria history to the foals, and children, in the room. She made a mental note to read a human book later, before she continued her lesson. "Now then, can anyone tell me the moral of the story?" A batch of hooves and hands rose up, waving in the air with childlike excitement. "Hmm...Yes, Richard. What do you think?" "That friendship is stronger than chaos?" "Exactly. Together with our friends, we can overcome any problem. Now then, everyone, please take out a sheet of paper and pencil," she instructed. "I would like everypony, er...everyone to draw a picture of their friends and to keep it so that they can remember they're never alone." The students went to work, save for one. Cheerilee walked over to one of her human students, Richard, and stared quizzically at the blank paper. "Richard? Is something the matter?" "Miss Cheerilee, I don't have any friends! I don't have anyone to draw..." "Nonsense! I'm your friend," the pony smiled. "But you're my teacher...?" "That doesn't mean we can't be friends too." The simple words spoke to the child, and he smiled as he nodded his head. He quickly began to get to work, creating a poorly done drawing of him and his pony teacher, both smiling. Cheerilee was proud of her student, all the same though, and was happy that foals and human children were not so different. Both needed a teacher. ------------------------------------ "Stories of laughter." ------------------------------------ "It was very nice of you to visit, General Fallon," Fluttershy smiled, as she and her human friend sat at a table. The ponies at the restaurant stared awkwardly at the primate creature with her, but no one said anything. "I'm off duty, Fluttershy. You can just call me, Max," the man assured, as a waiter walked over to the two. "And what shall we be having to eat today, madam?" The stallion waiter inquired, walking over to the table. "Oh, um...I'll have a daisy sandwich, please, if that's alright, thank you," Fluttershy nervously ordered, looking into the eyes of the unicorn, who wrote it down. "And for you....sir...?" The man may have just been hearing things due to his old age, but he could have sworn there was a touch of contempt within the colt's voice, intentional or not. "I'll have a....Um..." Max struggled to find something he could eat, but all he found were flowers, grass, and hay. It suddenly dawned on the general what a terrible idea it was to eat here. "You know what? I'll just have some water, son." "Of course." The waiter left, and the pegasus looked at her human friend. "I'm sorry, is something the matter?" "No, no, its fine! I just don't think this restaurant is used to serving my kind," Max responded, as their food was quickly brought to them. "Wow, you unicorns are magical." "Sharp as a knife, sir," the stallion replied, placing the plate in front of Fluttershy and the cup of ice cold water before Max. The unicorn placed a flower into the water, before walking away to serve another customer. "Right," the old man chuckled, taking the daisy out of his drink and taking a sip. "So, um...Max. How are-?" "GAAAAAASP! Wait right here! Don't move!" Pinkie Pie suddenly ordered, standing on the general's wrinkled head. She vanished in a pink blur, before returning with a wagon behind her. "Ahem." With the press of a big red button, the wagon opened up, revealing flags, trumpets, and other things Max couldn't comprehend that could fit in there as music filled the air. "Welcome, welcome, welcome. A fine welcome to you. Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say how do you do? Welcome, welcome, welcome. I say hip, hip, hurray. Welcome, welcome, welcome to New Ponyville today!" Pinkie Pie sang, sliding over to the two. "...What?" "Wait for it..." The machine suddenly fired, and Max jumped out of his seat in shock as confetti was suddenly fired at the patrons of the restaurant. The man stood back up, just in time to get a face full of cake mix. "Can you believe I used to put confetti in the confetti cannon, and the cake in the oven? Mmmm," Pinkie Pie moaned, eating away at the cake mix that covered her body. "Confetti in the oven and cake in the confetti cannon is a much more super, amazing, fantastical mix! Yummy." "Oh, I'm so sorry, General Fallon! Are you okay?" Fluttershy wondered, flying up to eye level with him, some of the cake mix on her as well. To her surprise though, he was smiling. "Heh. Least I can eat this," the man laughed, licking away at his lips, tasting the delicious mix. "Thanks, Pinkie." "No problem, Maxy!" ------------------------------------ "Stories of new homes." ------------------------------------ "Welcome, human ambassadors, to Cloudsdale!" Twilight Sparkle announced, motioning a hoof to the city made out of clouds. The ambassadors huddled closer together, staring out the door with a look of shock, nervousness, and worry. Their plane, enchanted by unicorns, had landed upon the city. Now they were asked to begin walking upon the clouds as if they were pegasi. Twilight had claimed everything in the plane had been affected by the spell, but the humans did not seem so easily convinced. "I told you, we ran several tests. The spell affects humans just as well as it affects ponies. Here, watch," the unicorn advised, walking out of the plane and taking a step onto the soft clouds. "See? No problem. Now you try." The humans were starting to relax, but still they seemed worried. One of them though, a young African American representative from North America, was brave enough to take the first steps. He walked forward, a line forming behind him. He was the first human, in history, to step onto a cloud and walk upon it like it was earth. "I'm...walking on a cloud. This is amazing!" He laughed, tapping his foot against the 'solid' floor. "See? No problem!" Princesses Luna and Celestia were already upon the cloud, welcoming the representatives of several nations. They exchanged simple small talk and greetings, until one of the ambassadors went beyond that. "Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, if I may be so bold. My country suffers from overpopulation. If we could perhaps work out a system? If you would not mind indefinite occupation." The two princesses looked at one another in surprise, before smiling at the ambassador of Japan. Luna was the one to speak. "We are sure an arrangement that benefits both of our parties can be established." Another ambassador, this one from United Kingdom, asked a question. "What about agricultural benefits? Could this environment be used to sustain any flora?" "I have actually looked through several human books, and I believe that Cloudsdale and cities like it can be used to sustain your plants. The process is achievable through hydrponics, a form of plant growing that does not require soil, only water and mineral nutrient solutions. We have plans to begin furthering research here on Cloudsdale and several other cloud cities," Luna explained. ------------------------------------ "Stories of love." ------------------------------------ The cloudpolis bustled with life. New Los Pegasus was in a festivity, celebrating the foundation of the new town with the help of the ponies' new friends. Humanity and pony alike celebrated in the city of excitement and rainbow lights. In the center of town, music filled the air as the residents of the new town danced and partied. Two of the workers who had helped with the construction of the new city were Timothy Lopez and Luke Akins, both of whom had met many of the ponies during their time in Manhattan. "This party is awesome!" The military medic laughed as he grabbed a rainbow colored cupcake and took a bite out of the succulent treat. The off duty staff sergeant agreed, but he seemed miles away from the actual party. His friend gave him a slight shake on the shoulder. "Hey, man, you okay?" Luke nodded, but Tim followed the gaze of his friend, seeing that he was staring at one of the pegasi they had met, a blue mare by the name of Western Wind. "...Something you wanna say, Luke?" "I know what you're thinking, but no. No to every word of what you're thinking right now. We're just friends." "Hey, man, it's okay. I get ya." A smile tugged at the man's lips, and he couldn't resist the urge to joke around a bit. "When I was working with Nurse Redheart, I thought she was pretty cute, too." Luke flushed a bright pink, elbowing his comrade. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, very funny! Pick on the guy who just found out has has a thing for-" "Hi, guys!" "Western Wind!" Luke greeted, smiling instantly as he walked over to the blue pegasus. "Enjoying the party?" "Yeah! I love Los Pegasus, and New Los Pegasus is even more beautiful! Are you?" "This place is like a flying Las Vegas! You bet I love it here!" The raving, party music filled the air, and the two looked at each other. Luke handed his drink to his friend, before joining the mare on the dance floor. The pegasus took flight, hovering above the ground, to deal with the height difference, and she even placed her hooves into the hands of the human. Western Wind may have been the one with wings, but that night, Luke felt like he was flying with her. Maybe if he was lucky, they could fly together again.... ------------------------------------ "Stories of heroes." ------------------------------------ Russia was a frozen wasteland. Her people, her buildings, her land, her very essence seemed frozen by the unfathomable might of the Windigos. They feasted on the delicious hatred their powers wrought. The blizzard and their powers laid down seeds of rage, and like the Equestrians before them, it bloomed. Their blizzard only gave them a portion of their meal. The Windigos turned their attention away from their feast, their laughter stopping as they sensed new life enter their new domain. More food. These ones felt more familiar, though. Equestrians. The older Wingdigos neighed with delight, racing ahead of the others to begin to devour their hate. The race to the food was suddenly stopped though, as a burning pain shot through them. Fire. Heat. It sweapt over them, and they cried out in agony, the ones who could retreated far away, while the others were burned, being absorbed by the bright, destructive fire, until nothing of them was left. Princess Celestia flew through the air, as other pegasi, and human-made helicopters followed her. They began to land, helping those affected by the supernatural blizzard, dropping off human and pony alike. The process of helping the slowly awakening populace of Moscow was not an easy one. Many people were unable to form stable thought after the process of being frozen, and others were in search of their loved ones, lost to them during the frozen torture. Their saviors were quick to help as many of them as they could. ------------------------------------ "Stories of forgiveness." ------------------------------------ "Stop!" One of the soldiers pushed the gun towards the ceiling, before it could fire. The gun went off, and series of bullets hit the ceiling before the other soldier took his finger off the trigger. The sound of gunfire silenced everyone, and for a moment, the fearful ponies ceased their struggle. "Everyone, stop...Look, we're your friends," she assured. "You can trust us. Come on. We'll take you to your families and friends, but I need all of you to calm down first." The ponies stopped and looked at one another, before slowly relaxing, still in shock from what they saw. The armed soldiers began to escort the ponies, both groups on edge, but kept from attacking one another thanks to the work of their leaders. They walked down the hall, before coming to the infirmary part of the facility. The doors were pushed open, to reveal many unconscious, but stable ponies and humans. "Honey!" The red unicorn ran into the room and found his sleeping wife, a cast over her left forehoof. "I-is she okay?" "She's fine. She just needs time to heal. We didn't think you would have wanted to see her like this, so we didn't let you visit just yet." "See, dad? I told you they took care of mommy," the unicorrn's daughter grinned, flying over and looking at her comatose mother. She gave a sad smile, before glaring at her father. "I...I'm sorry...I just...I...I love my wife. If anything ever happened to my family, I wouldn't be able to live...I...I'm so sorry," the unicorn cried, realizing what had nearly been done. "I'm sorry...." The female soldier took a deep breath and sighed, nodding her head. "It's okay. I get it. You were worried about her, but people were almost killed today. You have to promise you won't let anything like this happen again, or else I can't promise I can prevent an incident." "Y-yes. I understand, completely." The unicorn bowed his head, before looking at his sleeping wife, whispering "I love you," again and again. ------------------------------------ "And stories of trust." ------------------------------------ Pony and humans worked to get the supplies out of the trucks. The people of Sudan watched as the workers began to form lines out of them, giving out food, clothes, and water. Earth ponies were at work planting new plants, and other pegasi were quick to deliver water to them from the rain clouds above. "Please, bring all sick or injured here to be examined. If they are too unwell to move, please notify a worker with a green tag on their clothes, and we will go to them," Doctor Stable commanded, before looking at a young boy. "Hey there, little guy. What can I do for you?" The boy stared blankly at the colt, before suddenly hugging the pastel colored pony. "Oh. You're quite welcome, but I haven't helped you yet." "Thank you," the boy simply said, seeing his mother being nursed by doctors and nurses. Some of children had surrounded one of the ponies and were clamoring to pet and hug the creature. The red earth pony looked at his family for help, only to see his sister laugh, and get back to work. "Eeyup," he sighed, as he felt some of the kids climb onto his back, begging and pleading for rides. The stallion was nice enough to do just that, starting to walk. "More charity from mighty America?" A dark skinned man bitterly asked, looking at a Caucasian worker. "Actually, I'm from Norway," the man chuckled, his voice thick with accent. "But if you want my opinion." "I don't." "Maybe you shouldn't see this as America helping Sudan, but just living beings helping other living beings." The Norwegian man then got back to work as the Sudanese man stood there. He walked off, getting in line for the free food, and considered picking up some new clothes for his family. Even if he saw this as an act of pity, he was not foolish enough to reject it. ------------------------------------ "Together-" "We can-" "Make a difference." "Together-" "We can make-" "A better tomorrow." ------------------------------------ There are no such things as Happily Ever Afters- not in the real world. There will be hitches down the long path of Second Earth. Tragedy and hardships await humanity and pony alike. An old enemy will return, and a new one shall follow it. There will be those who seek to continue the works of Professor Mandela, believing in his ideas. Some individuals will forever hold onto their hatred. What humans would call World War Three will threaten the planet in the years to come. But the strength, integrity, ingenuity, and determination of all races will stand against it. Together, they can make a better tomorrow.