Chapter 4
Blunt blades, flags, music, uniformed ponies, and many more, these were the things Twilight saw as she and Spike arrive at the sight of the event, bombarding her with the mood of the activities. Filled with re-enactors from all over Equestria, the ponies who were there came so that they relive history or watch it unfold in front of them.
With tents surrounding the entire event area, the place was basically another community that was located right next to the town. Designed so that they could replicate a camp during the Changeling War, the event managers did their best so that the ponies who were there could be immersed with the environment that they were trying to replicate.
“So this is it?” Twilight asked, amazed at how intricate the entire set up was. With camp music and realistic uniforms, it really felt like they were in an army camp posted in the Badlands.
“Yup!” Spike said, nodding as the made their way. “Isn’t it cool? The best part of this all is we get free food!” The smell of food being cooked by the camp fires were flowing through the air and entering his nostrils, exciting him for the buffet to come.
“Hey, Spike, is that Big Mac?” Twilight asked, with a curious look on her face, as she glanced towards a familiar looking farm pony.
Turning his glance towards the direction Twilight pointed, Spike saw the large pony and smiled.
“Hey it is him.” He said before calling the farm pony’s attention. “Hey Big Mac, over here!”
“Me and Big Mac are in the same reenactment community…” He explained to Twilight. “…in fact, he was the one who suggested I get this type of armor.”
“So I guess I should be thanking him for all those bits that you wasted.” Twilight muttered as she shook her head.
“Hey there, Spike.” Big Mac greeted with his deep voice. He then turned towards Twilight and gave a short bow. “Hello, Princess. That’s one fine costume you got there.”
“Uhhh…your costume is quite nice too, Big Mac.” Twilight just gave a small awkward smile, as she stared at the big stallion and saw the intriguing uniform he was waering. Despite wearing the same bulky set of armor like most of the ponies were wearing, Big Mac also sported a piece of clothing that looked very similar to that off a skirt. Looking at it, she gave him a weird glance, unsure why a though looking pony like him would be wearing a skirt.
“Hey, nice kilt you got there.” Spike said, pointing towards the skirt that Twilight was glancing at. “Good material too.”
“Kilt?” Twilight questioned.
“Eyup.” Big Mac said, nodding.
“Yeah, Twilight, a kilt.” Spike said. “You know, the ones worn by Royal Griffon Legion? These things helped them fight battles, due to the fact that it was easier to kick an enemy behind you wearing a kilt, rather than wearing a heavy flank guard.”
Twilight stared at him, completely clueless at what he was talking about. Despite knowing the events that happened during that Changeling War, Twilight was no expert to every single everything about the war. All she knew about the war was that there were two phases, the invasion phase, where Queen Chrysalis tried to invade Canterlot, and the mop-up, where the Equestrian Army was mobilized to sweep the Bad Lands for the remaining Changeling forces that were flung there. Aside from that small details like what the Griffon soldiers of Equestria were completely unknown to her.
“I’m sorry, Spike, but not all of us are experts on these things.” She told him.
“Then why did you go here if you lack the knowledge?” Spike asked, forgetting the reason.
“The contest…remember?” She said, trying to remind him.
“Oh yeah, that.”
“You mean the look-alike contest?” Big Mac inquired.
“Yeah, that one.” Twilight said, nodding.
“Well, the managers of that contest are taking applications over there.” He said, pointing towards the general direction of the area where the contest would be held.
Twilight looked towards the direction and saw a small stage with ponies gathered below it. Smiling, she looked back towards the two.
“Well, I have a contest to register for.” Looking towards Spike. “I’ll meet you back at the entrance by sundown, bye.”
“A commendable costume of my sister, if I don’t say so myself. But if I may make a suggestion, Celestia has white fur, not lavender.”
Only seconds after leaving Big Macintosh and Spike, Twilight now found herself in new company, in the form of her friend Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna, who she ran into as she was trotting towards the registration area.
Twilight was actually surprised to see the two of them there, more so for Rainbow Dash, as she had never shown any love for history, no matter how recent it may be. But after a quick scan and seeing that the young pegasus was wearing a Wonderbolts uniform, she quickly understood why. She would gladly take any excuse to wear the Wonderbolts uniform, even if it meant going to an event like this.
Luna on the other hoof was a completely different story, as Twilight had a difficult time interpreting the costume the Princess of the Night was wearing.
With badly colored cardboard wings, stuck to her own wings, and a mishmash of black paint that made her look like an innocent pony caught in the crossfire of a paintball fight, Luna looked like she needed a little more money to make her costume work. If not for the fact that Luna had turned her mane and tail from blue to teal and that this was a Changeling War Reenactment, Twilight would have never guess that she was supposed to be Queen Chrysalis.
“Wait…” Twilight said, thinking about Luna’s remark. “…I’m not dressed as Princess Celestia. What would make you think I’m playing as her?”
Luna shrugged as she gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Twilight, I just thought that with you formerly being her faithful students, I just assumed that you would be playing as her during today’s event.”
“Umm…alright…” Twilight said, accepting the answer. But deep inside, she was eluded by the fact that Luna managed to confuse her to be playing as Celestia.
“So….uhh…Luna, what brings you here?” Twilight asked, wanting to move forward towards another topic.
“Why to enjoy the festivities of course.” She said, with glee in her voice. “We may have missed the first invasion by the Changeling, but we will not miss its reenactment. So excited was I, that I even made my own costume of the Changeling Queen. A beautiful job, don’t you think?” She said, taking a pose to display her costume.
“Uhhh…” Twilight trailed, not sure if she should be honest or not. “…yeah….it’s…umm…amazing, Luna.”
Smiling, Luna gave a confident nod as she commended herself for her achievement.
“So, Twi, how about you, what brings you here?” Rainbow Dash said, glancing at her friend.
“Oh, well, I’m here to join the contest.” She said, pointing towards the nearby registration area.
“Cool. I heard the prizes there are awesome. I would have joined in as myself, but the only prize I would have gotten would have been a Daring Do book that I already have. So I decided to skip that contest and dress up as a Wonderbolt instead.” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, proudly showing her costume.
“So..uhh…who are you going as?” She asked, looking at Twilight was a baffled expression on her face.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Twilight asked. “I’m going as me.”
“Oh, really?” Rainbow Dash asked, clearly surprised by this revelation.
“Yes…” Twilight said. “…and I’m determined to win it.”
“Huh…” Rainbow Dash said. “…well, good luck, because you’ll be needing it.”
“Hey, what does that supposed to mean?”