Conciliation
It is Hearth's Warming Eve and Equestria celebrates five years of peace. Twilight encounters Fancy Pants and the two exchange a cordial conversation in light of their history.
It was Hearth's Warming Eve in the reborn city of Canterlot.
Evening had already descended. A full moon hung high above in the starry heavens, perhaps Luna, if she knew the truth of everything, was smiling down upon the world as gentle powder sprinkled down from the sky, blanketing the region in a thick sheet of fluffy white snow.
Merriment and mirth echoed from beyond every household and building around the Canterhorn, but none were louder and livelier than what was happening within the recently restored Canterlot Memorial Hall.
Along extravagant walls of ancient stone, refurbished marble and modern steel, Fancy Pants' holiday charity ball was in full swing and everyone, both human and pony, were enjoying themselves to the fullest. As a well-known philanthropist and very wealthy socialite it came as a surprise to no one that he spared no expense in ensuring that the ball would be one to remember.
There was a large pine tree set up in the main foyer decorated with all manner of glittering ornaments and baubles, topped off with a lustrous crystalline figurine of the three leaders of the old pony tribes. A live band had been hired on and were playing a gentle festive ballad on the main stage of the grand ballroom for all to hear, filling with air with a wondrous melody that soothed the soul.
And then there was the food. A prodigious and tantalizing feast was laid out by one end of the room, characterized by a train sized length of buffet tables, mountains of colorful confectioneries and even mouthwatering cooked to order meals courtesy of the local catering company.
But tonight was more than just about Hearth's Warming traditions and charity, it was a celebration of five years of peace between Equestria and humanity.
A budding peace, but peace still.
It was a landmark achievement in the aftermath of the Conversion War and indefatigable evidence that coexistence between their kind is not only possible, but more beneficial than they could possibly have imagined.
In the time since the negotiations, Equestria has slowly but surely regained a sliver of its former brilliance. Only now that brilliance was tinged with the influence of the Earth, humanity and a renewed sense of cultural identity. The old Equestria was no more, and like a caterpillar undergoing metamorphosis something new begins to stir from within its chrysalis.
Some would call it a miracle, others merely the natural course of history. But one thing was certain, the future welcomes them with open arms.
As diplomats, authority figures, celebrities and more flocked to its gilded halls, there is only excitement and wonder to be had. Among those invited were Ambassador Twilight and her stalwart brother, Spike.
Twilight found herself relaxing by the edge of the impressive buffet table, a glass of cool crisp apple cider gripped in her hoof and a modest plate of delectable vegetarian foodstuffs levitating in her telekinesis as she observed the festivities before her.
She watched as fillies and colts played with little boys and girls by the children's table, running, jumping and overall being a noisy menace for their respective parents. There were small crowds of common folk all around the ballroom engaged either in polite conversation over their meals or dancing among their peers. Every so often someone would break out in raucous laughter, cheering and hollering as they clutched at their bellies to stem the laughing fit that gripped them so.
Throughout it all there was little in the ways of lingering hostilities or even visible discomfort. In spite of everything that's transpired it really felt like the wounds of the war burned a little less with each passing day.
It was still such an alien feeling to her, watching humans and ponies socialize with one another so naturally on this joyous of occasion. The atmosphere of amicability felt utterly surreal. Even half a decade later, Twilight had trouble believing that this was the reality she lived in, or that she was a crucial part of its inception.
"It's like a dream, isn't it?" Spike's voice snapped Twilight out of her stupor.
She turned around to see the tall purple and green dragon sauntering over to her with swagger in his step and a plate of food in his claws. He had picked out mostly vegetarian food, sauteed vegetables drizzled with a light butter sauce and daffodil tea cakes, simple foods he had grown up with, but there was also a few slices of smoked salmon on his plate, minor indulgences for his repressed carnivorous side.
He looked roguishly handsome wearing the tux she helped pick out for him, although it would appear his tie had come loose some time ago. Twilight smiled at him and set her plate down.
"It really is," she replied as she helped to fix his bow tie. "It can feel so surreal at times. I'm always afraid that I might wake up one day and find myself buried amidst the ruins of Canterlot with everypony else."
"Come on, Twilight. Don't say that," Spike frowned, fidgeting under Twilight's telekinesis. "It's Hearth's Warming Eve. Don't think about that kinda thing. We should be enjoying ourselves. Look around, everyone is."
"I know, I know," Twilight sighed. "It's still... hard to come to grips with everything."
"We both knew it wasn't going to be easy. Between your duties as ambassador and finding a cure for the ponification potion, you're a mare stretched thin," Spike quipped as he pulled away, examining his tie. "You need to relax. You've accomplished so much already, give yourself some time to breath. I mean, you haven't even touched your food."
Twilight looked over to her lukewarm plate of food, grinning sheepishly. "Heh heh, I guess I'm not all that hungry."
"Well, that won't do. Come here," Spike rolled his eyes and grabbed his sister by the hoof, dragging her over to one of the many open tables and setting down their plates. "Eat up," he gestured, "it's really good."
Twilight did as instructed and gingerly picked at her meal. After the first bite she was hooked. Even though it was no longer hot It was still delicious and she found herself eating a little quicker than she would've liked. Spike couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm as he cleaned his own plate. Before long they finished their meals, letting out a content sigh as they leaned back in their seats.
"Phew, I really needed that," Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she dabbed at her cheeks with a napkin.
"What did I tell you?" Spike flashed her a toothy grin as he picked at his teeth with his claws. "Fancy Pants sure knows how to serve up a proper feast. Speaking of, there's the stallion of the hour himself." He pointed over the other end of the hall where a small crowd waded through the other partygoers.
Mobbed left and right by members of the paparazzi, journalists, state officials and the odd celebrity or two was none other than Fancy Pants, his beautiful wife, Fleur De Lis and their young son, a short but animated creamsicle orange colored colt named Smarty Pants.
Twilight glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of the stallion as he cleanly broke away from the rabble with his family, quickly making their way to the buffet table before they could be swamped by more guests. The moment he picked up a plate he dropped his professional demeanor like it was a heavy coat, letting out a long-winded sigh and slouching his shoulders as his wife giggled beside him.
She wrinkled her nose at the peculiar sight. It was fascinating to her that this was the same stallion who was not just her strongest supporter, but, unbeknownst to her at the time, had been a deadly enemy conspiring against Equestria during the war.
It was years ago during her first few months as ambassador that Fancy Pants revealed himself to be a member of the Resistance shortly after pledging himself to the new Equestrian government, to the shock of many in Equestria's dwindled political sphere.
Many ponies, herself included, had been thoroughly convinced he was a hard-line believer of the Equestrian ideal, that he was a patriot of different stripes whom many would compare to her late brother Shining Armor himself. He'd been present at all the rallies, publicly endorsed Princess Celestia's vision of a human free future and given generous donations to various charitable organizations to better support the war effort.
He was a face of the conflict on par with the alicorns themselves... Only he wasn't.
In reality, it was all a carefully maintained façade. Political smoke and mirrors to mask his ulterior motives, and ponies, especially his fellows among the nobility, ate it all up without hesitation. The only other pony outside of the Resistance members to know of his true allegiance was his wife, Fleur De Lis, who remained by his side no matter what.
Fancy Pants had been loyal to Lyra and the Resistance from the very beginning, spurred on by her impassioned courage in light of such hypocrisy as well as his own gentlepony upbringing. He risked his life and potentially those closest to him as well as his entire estate and commercial enterprise to act as a saboteur behind enemy lines, undermining Equestria under the guise of zeal and loyalty to his own people.
So deeply entrenched within Canterlot's upper echelon was he that no one outside of the Equestrian Secret Service were able to pick up on his shady dealings years after the others escaped. And even then, he had managed to throw them off his scent through a terrifying combination of guile, charismatic charm, and, if the rumors are true, a mean uppercut.
Twilight knew little of the true extent of his involvement, nor the sheer size of the web of intrigue he had spun along the breadth of the political landscape, only that he played a crucial part in many of the Resistance's clandestine activities.
Fancy Pants was the one to bring to Lyra's attention that there was an old but seaworthy cargo vessel called the Jumbo Shrimp that was about to be decommissioned in a modestly secured shipyard by the western bay. He had pulled some strings in order to reduce the overall presence of soldiers in the area to aid in the seizure of the ship, the metaphorical topple of the first domino that would lead to Equestrian's surrender.
Allegedly, he may also have been responsible for acquiring the information about the attack on Jerusalem, though he claims to have taken no part in such a pivotal moment of the war, indirectly or otherwise.
But what he was known for the most was in aiding and abetting the escape of hundreds of disillusioned Equestrians who wanted to flee the country. He was a major player of Equestria's very own 'Underground Railroad.'
For years the Resistance had been a thorn in the side of the Equestrian government, the railroad chief among the most irksome of their conspiratorial endeavors.
Twilight could remember Celestia expressing her frustration over it, distraught that her little ponies continue to stray from the righteous path, how their flagrant betrayal besmirches Equestria as a whole. Twilight was willing to admit that she loathed it back then as well as it was a bitter reminder of her failure as princess.
The ESS did everything they could in their power in order to suppress even the barest hint of its existence whilst simultaneously trying to dismantle it, fearful that more ponies will follow in Fluttershy's hoofstep and defect. Try as they might however, the railroad was never stopped in any meaningful way, barring the dozen or so ponies unlucky enough to be caught beforehand, and was swiftly dissolved shortly after the peace negotiations when it became obsolete.
Those who wanted to leave would seek out other dissidents, either those hiding out in the wilderness or in plain sight, effectively throwing away their livelihood at the slim chance of freedom from an increasingly oppressive regime that wouldn't hesitate to have them removed if the situation demanded it.
The dissidents in question didn't have the courage to make the journey themselves and were often paranoid and distrusting of new faces, understandably fearful of ESS sting operations looking to smoke them out. It usually took a bit of convincing for them to get over their initial apprehension but once their trust was gained they would not turn away anypony who were bold enough, desperate or both to try to leave.
The fleeing ponies would then be taught an ever-changing series of complex codes and cryptic numerical ciphers that would help guide them throughout their journey, usually from safe house to safe house, far away from the myriad of ESS agents that would undoubtedly be hot on their tails. Eventually it would lead them to secured coordinates where they would be picked up and whisked away to safety by Discord and whichever companion accompanied him at the time of the rescue.
Fancy Pants' job was to collaborate with other Resistance members from behind the scenes on which location to have the meeting take place and the safest route to reach it. He was also responsible for propping up a fair number of the safe houses all over the country. All of this was done so on his dime and always at great personal risk.
He was a public figure, success and fame meant that the spotlight was on him at all times. He had to cleverly disguise a lot of his actions as being business related in order to trick others, including his own employees, into believing it was all just another day on the job in glorious Equestria. Things like scouting new prospects to undertake or even something as mundane as balancing the books needed to be carefully presented in a way that wouldn't dredge up suspicion, even if ponies took a magnifying glass to it.
It was a constant juggling act between making public appearances for the masses, overseeing his own enterprises and sneaking ponies out of the country, all of which steadily pushed him to the very brink of his physical and mental health. Each day proved more stressful than the last as even the smallest slip up or oversight could out him as a traitor and have him be detained or outright executed for committing high treason.
Thankfully, the unwavering love of his wife and the thought of their unborn child gave him the strength and motivation he desperately needed to soldier on day after day.
Eventually, as the war's momentum swung in humanity's favor and the invasion began, Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis enacted their own escape plan. Days prior before the assault on the northern beachhead, the pair, along with a small entourage of their estate's most trusted staff, left for a small town by the western shoreline on matters of personal business where they were presumed dead as the human invasion force swept across the continent.
Of course, as Twilight had come know, that was all malarkey.
Fancy Pants, Fleur De Lis and their entourage were picked up by the UN forces where they continued to assist with the invasion through tactical supervision up until her surrender. After that, it was all a matter of picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild Equestria from the ground up.
In recent years, Fancy Pants had regained his fortune and continued to maintain a considerable presence both in and out of the political arena, although he's arguably less involved than others would expect him to be. Understandably, between the constant stress of maintaining the Equestrian Railroad deep in the very heart of enemy territory and raising a family, he has decided to limit the amount of time spent doing actual work, barring the circumstances that requires his utmost attention.
"Hmm, it's crazy to think how he continues to be successful even after everything that's happened," Spike noted, pushing his plate to the side. "I wonder what his secret is."
"There's no secret," Twilight replied. "He held onto his values and those closest to him, channeling that into motivation to bear the brunt of his responsibilities."
"Punching someone's lights out certainly helps too," he quips, chuckling after. "Look. Here he come now."
"Ah! Ambassador Twilight, Spike, welcome to the party," Fancy Pants greeted the pair amicably as he trotted on over with his family. "A very happy Hearth's Warming Eve to you two. I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it this year." He extended his foreleg, offering Twilight a hoof shake.
"Happy Hearth's Warming, Fancy Pants. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. After all, celebrating five years of peace during our most hallowed of traditions is worth making time for," Twilight replied, gingerly shaking his hoof as she gave the stallion a once over.
His age was starting to show. There were long streaks of gray running along his coiffed blue mane, brought on by enduring years of near constant stress. The wrinkles and worry lines dug deep beneath his fur like the trenches of the beachhead, enough to be seen even at a glance. His eyes were well worn and heavy with bags from many a sleepless nights tossing and turning in bed, torn between his loyalty to the Resistance and the guilt of misleading everypony who considered him a paragon among his people.
Then there was his physique, once a prime specimen he was more willing to cut corners during his daily exercise regimen, resulting in a toned, if slightly muffin topped appearance in certain areas. Fleur De Lis would tease him relentlessly about his dad bod, though he would take it in great stride. As a doting father and loving husband, he bumbled more often than not these days during his private moments, even if his social acumen was as sharp as ever.
Overall, he was in good health and doing rather well for himself. Though, that didn't mean his life in the post war era was completely free of drama.
"Ah, how rude of me," Fancy chuckled humbly, gesturing to his family. "Allow me to introduce my family. You both know my wife, Fleur De Lis."
"A pleasure as always to see you, ambassador," Fleur De Lis smiled warmly, bowing her head respectfully.
"Likewise," Twilight bowed in return.
"And my son, Smarty Pants," Fancy pulled his son into a side hug, ruffling the colt's mane.
"Hello, ambassador!" Smarty cheered, smiling brightly.
"Well, hello to you too, little guy," Twilight smiled back, equal parts amused by his youthful innocence and humbled by what he represented: a future generation unbound by old Equestria's gravity. "Have you been a good colt this year?"
"The goodest!" He beamed, causing Twilight's heart to melt. And yet, she felt a tinge of sadness ripple throughout her. She'll never be able to know the joys and tribulations of being a mother. Stowing away her feelings of inadequacy, she playfully booped him on his nose, causing him to giggle at the touch.
"Continue being the bestest boy for your mom and dad, promise?"
"Promise!" he cheered before running along with to his mother. Fleur De Lis whispered something to Fancy Pants before uttering a brief farewell and departing with her son, leaving Fancy Pants alone with the pair.
"Smarty's a good kid," Twilight commented.
"He is," Fancy replied solemnly, anxiety briefly flashing upon his visage. "Fleur and I love that boy with all our heart. After the... incident, we were worried for him. Most children who would experience that kind of trauma never recover from it, and I was beginning to think he'd live the rest of his life meek and afraid. But, lo and behold, he's become so confident and outgoing. I think, no, I know he'll grow up to be a fine stallion one day."
"Just like his father," chuckled Spike, his tone warm and endearing.
"I..." Fancy Pants was left at a loss for word. He felt paternal pride swell up from within and struggled to blink back the tears that threatened to bead by the corner of his eye. Through sheer willpower he managed to compose himself at the last moment, taking a deep breath as he loosened his tie. "There still the matter of-"
"The EFF won't try to go after your family a second time," Twilight stated firmly, assuaging Fancy Pants' fears. "They failed kidnapping Smarty once before, going after you, your wife or your son directly would only prove to be a net negative on their end now that we're on the alert for them."
"Are you certain?" Fancy raised a brow.
"From what we know, the EFF can't commit to too many operations given their limited resources, especially one that requires strategic planning as directly attacking a high-profile politician and his family," replied Twilight. "They'll likely turn their focus somewhere else for the time being, probably purloining more ill gotten goods to fuel their next big plan."
"If you say so," Fancy swallowed thickly. "Then, there should be no cause for concern?"
"We can't guarantee that," said Spike, "but you can definitely rest easier knowing that we won't let the strongest supporter of the new Equestrian government be caught flat hoofed again. You have our word on that."
"A small comfort, but comfort still. You have my sincerest gratitude you two," Fancy Pants exhaled deeply. "Perhaps a change of subject is in order. I've yet to run into Fluttershy, I was under the impression she would be with you. She told me you mended bridges with her earlier this year."
"I did," Twilight nodded, cherishing the new memory. "It's... nice to be friends again. As for her absence, Fluttershy had originally planned to go but due to some last minute family emergencies they've decided to spend Hearth's Warming Eve back home in North Carolina. She sends you her best wishes."
"Ah, understandable," Fancy Pants chuckled heartily. "As long as she is enjoying herself, there's no need to go to all of trouble of indulging in this old stallion's whims. After all, we've been through so much together. But that's a story of another day, one that I hope you'll all be able to read in my soon-to-be released memoirs! Ha ha!"
"We'll look forward to it," Twilight giggled back. "Well, it's been wonderful speaking to you, but I do believe the other nobles have caught wind of your location and seek an audience with you."
"So soon? I barely got the chance to eat," Fancy scoffed. "Vultures, the whole lot of them. But, if keeping them happy helps you, it's a small price to pay to hold Equestria together. Farewell, ambassador. I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening. Try the chocolate fountain when you get the chance to, it's positively exquisite." With a polite bow, he turned around and trotted back to his family, hoping to get a few bites in before ultimately being badgered by his fellows and their less than noble intentions.
All the while, Twilight found herself smiling more brightly than she had anticipated. Spike noticed this and clapped a scaly claw on her back, sharing a laugh as the two went on to enjoy the festivities.
It was a time to be thankful of all the good that has happened and all the good that will happen as they continue to strive for that better future.
And hopefully, one day, Twilight will be able to see that future for herself.
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I want to see a story of the EFF and see how's things going out for them
Suprised that humans doesn't called Fancy Pant the Equestrian Oskar Schindler.
Wow, I actually thought this part of Choice is finished. What's next? Everyone, including the EFF's reaction to Celestia's execution? The attempted assassination of Twilight? Or Sweetie drops (BonBon)'s final moment?
11459789
poorly, I imagine.
Great chapter. I hope u had a merry Christmas
Merry Christmas! 🎄
I'm getting brief flashbacks to Truth
.
Another great chapter! Hope you had a great Christmas!
11459829
Nah, he's better.
Schindler did a whole lot good at enormous risk and a steep cost to himself, that can not be denied. But he started out as just another war profiteer and conman using the Nazis to get rich. He just had a change of heart.
Sounds like Fancy was one of the drives behind the Resistance and probably its biggest financial backer from the start. That takes a level of courage you just don't find in people, even in exceptional ones. That's the sort of courage you find in a unarmed man who refuses to move even as a bunch of Chinese thugs in a tank run him down.
Now I really want to see how Blueblood turned out if he survived. My guess would be as a minor official and power broker cadhing in on his knowledge of Equestria's skeletons.
But oh would it be rubbing salt in the wound if one of the biggest moles in the Equestrian tyranny was Celestias own nephew. In a way he would be the anti-Twilght; no special destiny, no magic powers, and a personality that might be compared to a cheese grater (the later coming out the better), but when it really mattered he put good above selfishness.
11472138
I hope Blueblood was working with the resistance I always liked him