Unity Day

by Rated Ponystar

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Original Character, Adventure, Human, Sad, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 6507

400 years ago, humans nearly wiped themselves out and came together at last. Now one human has to help three ponies of different races before they follow in his race's footsteps

An AU of the Hearths Warming Eve Story

Four centuries ago, the advanced civilizations of mankind fell to the horrors of hatred and warfare; the holiday of Unity Day reminds them of what they've lost as they struggle to rebuild. Humanity passed through its trial-by-fire, and has finally set aside pointless conflict; not all are as lucky, however.

A recon unit, called to investigate wendigo sightings on the borders of human lands, encounters three lost ponies whose nations are embroiled in a bitter war of annihilation against one another as an endless winter ravages their homeland. Though reluctant to become involved, one human ranger will try to teach them the harsh lessons humanity has learned – before they suffer the same fate as the old world.

Commissioned by WesFox134

Edited by SoloBrony

Published 2016-01-12 23:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-01-12 23:20:02 UTC

The Day Ponies Met Humans

December 12th, 345 A.G.W.

I swear I’m going to kill Charlie. That bastard has been using my toothbrush. I found blond hair in the brushes and since he’s the only ranger here with blond hair, he’s naturally my number-one suspect. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s the Unity season I would have kicked his ass.

Day only got worse from there. We’ve got orders to head up into the mountains tomorrow. Wendigo activity has been seen from scout group A30. It caught us all by surprise since we haven’t had to deal with wendigos for about six years now. They were all heading south for some reason towards whatever lies behind the Ixion Alps. Wendigos only go to places where high levels of negative energy and conflict are taking place. Whatever poor land has those suckers, I pity them, since you can’t really kill the damn spirits,just scare them off with fire.

Still, orders are orders. We need to see if they’re coming back into their old territory or not. My outpost and outpost thirteen will be working together to see if we can cover their old stomping grounds. I really hope we don’t run into those bastards, last time I had to deal with those crazy icespirits one yelled in my face and made me nearly deaf.

Better get some early rest. Will write more when out in the mountains.

***

December 14th, 345 A.G.W.

It’s been two days, and while we haven’t found any sign of wendigos, we’ve found plenty of their handiwork. Bodies, but of a species I’ve never seen before. They were dressed in armor, like they were military, and frozen solid. They were about half my size, had four legs, different colored coats, tails, hair, even wings. Each of them had these weird tattoos on their rear ends; most of them were, as best we could guess, images that had something to do with weather or fighting. There was a flag, too, meaning this was from some civilized nation.

Private Rosh says these were “pegasus ponies”, one of three types of “ponies”, a race that lived on the other side. He said he read about them in some book. The other two are apparently “unicorn ponies”, who have a horn on their head and cast magic spells, and “earth ponies” who have neither horn nor wings, but are plenty strong, and good farmers. I’ve never heard of such a race before, but Rosh says they normally stay by themselves, and little is known about them.

Captain decided we should search around and try to find survivors; don’t know if there’s any point. It didn’t look like many had survived this cold. We burned the bodies of the pegasi and made camp not too far off. I hate sleeping in the mountains; you never know if you're going to get attacked by wendigos, wolves, or griffin raiders. I swear I better get the Unity Day vacation I was promised this year.

Time to take my shift. Write more tomorrow.

***

December 15th, 345 A.G.W.

By the Creator, today was intense. We finally managed to find the wendigos as they were attacking three ponies by a cave this afternoon. We scared them off with our flamethrowers before helping the three into warm blankets and into the cave. After restarting a fire, I almost got yelled at by one of them (the unicorn I think) because I nearly sat on the grave of some princess. There were three of them, each of them was one of their leaders who didn’t survive the cold.

The three introduced themselves after we fed them and they warmed up to us upon seeing we weren’t going to hurt them. The pegasus one was “Private Pansy” – no, seriously, that was her name. Little girl was as scared as they come, and didn’t look to be much older than out of her teens. She was under the commander of some guy named Commander Hurricane. The earth pony was named Smart Cookie – seriously, these names – and he was just a farmer and secretary to one of their chancellors back home. And then the unicorn, the one who seemed the most interested in our flamethrowers, rifles, and other equipment, was named Clover the Clever. Eh, I can get behind a name like that. I just wish she’d stop staring at my stuff like a kid getting a birthday present.

All of them were from different “tribes”, which confused me – and a few of the others – at first, since all of them were ponies; the three seemed horrified at the idea that they were related, though, and each stated that they had no association with the others. Ironic, since they were huddled together in fear when they were under attack.

Before we could ask more questions, we heard the wendigos again in the distance. Captain decided we would sleep here for the night, and then head out back to the outpost in the morning – with the ponies I might add.

Smart Cookie objected at first, but changed his mind when it was pointed out that the alternative was staying here with the spirits, alone. I just hope we don’t end up babysitting these three.

***

December 16th, 345 A.G.W.

We made it back to the outpost in record time. We gave our “guests” food and beds which they took to like bees to honey. We’ve already radioed HQ about our discovery, and they’re going to send some ambassadors along with a Praetorian guard; the government must be taking this really seriously if they’re sending the most elite armed force we have as a precaution.

Don’t know why the captain decided to do this, but he decided to do so after talking to all three of them separately. Must have learned something he didn’t like. Hard to see these “ponies” as threats, though – they look sort of cute, in my opinion. We were going to keep them together, but apparently they wanted separate rooms. “Earth ponies don’t stay with snobs, liars and thieves,” was Smart Cookie’s response. “Unicorns don’t stay with barbarians, slavers, and murderers,” was Clover’s. And Pansy didn’t say anything, but she looked more scared of the other two ponies than she was of us.

Something tells me there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye; one racist would make sense, but three? Plus, the way they said it makes me think they were taught all of that stuff since a really young age.

I need to find out what’s going on. Damn my curiosity. Best bet would be to start with Pansy. She seems to be the most easy to break.

***

December 17th, 345 A.G.W.

Wow, things are a lot more messed up than I thought. Befriending Pansy was easy; she reminds me of my daughter when she was younger. Poor girl looks like she could use a friend, too. Apparently, pegasi put their children into the military at the age of thirteen, of all things; we don’t even have that option for them in the Republic until their eighteenth. Unsurprisingly, she hates it and doesn’t want to fight, but she has no choice; her father is in the military, as a general of sorts, and her mother died when she was young.

It turns out that her race and the other two are in a bitter war of survival against each other. They used to have some sort of agreement with each other where earth ponies made food for the three races, pegasi created the weather – apparently they can do that – and unicorns lifted the sun and moon with their magic, while also creating inventions. Now, however, the three races hate each other; Pansy says it’s because they’re jealous that pegasi are faster and can fly, being the rightful rulers of the sky and all. I asked if that’s what she believes, or what she was told, and she just said that it's what she’s known all her life.

Anyway, she said one day something happened that ruined everything six years ago; a bitter and endless winter storm came that the pegasi couldn’t fight off. It also became apparent that the earth ponies had been storing extra food instead of sharing it, and that the unicorns couldn’t control the sun and moon with their magic after all – they just made it look like they did. The other races accused the pegasi of making the storm, but Pansy denied that adamantly.

And of course, like all things when they escalate, war broke out. The three sides fought against each other – many were happy to, after years of hatred. Pansy said it was for the sake of survival; the earth ponies were keeping all the food and were even practicing slavery, using broken-winged pegasi or unicorns to field the crops in the bitter cold. As for the unicorns, the pegasi believe they were the ones who actually created the storm, in an attempt to wipe out the other races with their magic. I’ve seen magic before, on the rare occasion a zebra or buffalo shaman came into the city, but I’ve never heard of magic like that before.

However, after endless war with no chance at peace in sight, all three of the races were now seeking somewhere else to live; Pansy had been part of the team trying to find this new land under Commander Hurricane, ahead of the pegasus army that was making its way here now; in point of fact, all three races were gunning for our land. However, they soon found the earth ponies and unicorns doing the same thing, and they fought until the wendigos showed up and began slaughtering them. I would later learn that day that Scout Group A30 found that battlefield with hundreds if not a thousand corpses.

With the wendigos after them, it was every pony for themselves as chaos entered the ranks. Pansy, Cookie, and Clover had made it to a cave with their dying leaders, Hurricane, Platinum, and Puddinghead. Those three apparently died while cursing the other two with their last breaths.

I’m not surprised their people are being wiped out, now. Wendigos were the ones behind their storm, and they were the ones wiping them out; it was all sounding very similar to my history lessons on the Great War.

I thanked her for thoughts on this; her account sounds one sided, but I learned a lot. I’m going to ask Smart Cookie and Clover for their opinions.

***

December 17th, 345 A.G.W.

The other two were more than happy to give me their version on what’s going down – so quickly that I had to put in another page. It really is a he-said-she-said contest going on here with these ponies.

According to Smart Cookie, the pegasi had been bullying the earth ponies for years, and were murderers, too – for instance, kidnapping a stray earth pony from their home and dropping them to their death for fun. I asked about the accusations of the food savings, and she said that was over one earth pony, who stored extra food for his sick children – to which the pegasi responded by killing the family, and began thinking all earth ponies were keeping food from them. As for unicorns, they saw them as abominations because of their magic, and feared them. They were also the ones to realize the sun and moon moved on their own, and that the unicorns lied to them and couldn’t be trusted. He even said he was sure Clover was trying to “get into my head” with some mind magic or something. Quite a paranoid guy.

Clover was a bit different to talk with. She was very smart, I could tell, and explained to me she was a student of Starswirl the Bearded, the most powerful unicorn of their time. According to her, the unicorns that said they could “raise the sun and moon” were an order that existed since Unicornia was founded. Even the unicorns themselves held them sacred, like priests and such – until they were exposed as frauds. Even the unicorns were shocked – and enraged – by that revelation.

She said the other two races were uncivilized due to the way they live. The earth ponies feared anything that disrupted their way of life, and instead of seeing magic as an advancement, they saw it as evil. Pegasi were warriors, but always tried to solve their problems with brawn, rather than brains. They loved violence and war. Clover believed that unicorns were discriminated against by both races, and that for the sake of modern civilization – and her race – they had to be better.

It’s just as I feared; these ponies are in a full-on race-war, and they don’t see that it's the cause of all their misery. They are... just like us before the Great War. My mind goes back to all my days in history class, where I learned about how all the civilizations of man went to war, and drove ourselves to near annihilation, saved only by the fact that we finally laid down our arms and embraced each other as one race, one people. That’s what Unity Day is all about.

I don’t know if the Creator sent them to us, or if this was just by chance, but if the captain doesn’t know about this I’m sure he’ll want to know. Maybe it’s not my business, but I don’t think I can stand around and let an entire species kill themselves off out of prejudice and ignorance.

***

December 17th, 345 A.G.W.

The ambassadors and Praetorian guard made it to our outpost today. I always get chills when I see the Praetors. We may no longer be at war with each other all the time, but we still have to deal with griffin raiders and tribes who want to take us on. Their golden armor, heavy double barrel shotguns, and giant swords were enough to make all three ponies nearly piss themselves. Pansy actually fainted.

The ambassadors wanted to talk with the three about the situation, and I was asked to join them – word of me talking to the three has spread, apparently. If it wasn’t for the fact that I held some pity for these three, I would have declined, if given the choice, but orders are orders. Apparently, their nations were thinking of setting up a new land here in our Republic. Clover said they didn’t know that humans were still around. They thought we had been wiped out over 400 years ago. She’s not too far off; we almost were.

Needless to say, the ambassadors and some of the others weren’t pleased to learn that three different nations were trying to invade our land. All three of them tried to defend their reasoning as a means of survival for their kind, which soon turned into a bickering match about which race deserved to live and die. I ended up yelling at them – both to shut them up, and to tell them the obvious: that they were all of the same people, but too blind to see it.

They look disgusted at the idea of being the same people; even Pansy, who was normally timid, looked horrified. We pointed out that the wendigos were feeding on their hatred, chaos, and distrust, and bringing about the endless winter they kept going on about. Smart Cookie denied this, saying it was either the pegasi or the unicorns who caused this mess; Clover looked like she had something to say, but stopped herself, and simply asked to be allowed to retrieve something from her room.

She came back with a book full of teachings by her mentor… whose name I can’t remember right now. I think I wrote it in an earlier page. Anyway, she finally found what her mentor wrote about wendigos and, shock of all shocks, it was what we had just said. Pansy looked stunned, while Smart Cookie called it a load of “manure” – really not living up to his name, that one.

Clover had simply become unresponsive at that point. Our ambassadors stressed that if the ponies brought war upon us, we would be forced to defend ourselves. They stressed that the three ponies weren’t our “prisoners”, but strongly encouraged them to dissuade their races from attacking us; Smart Cookie said he would only agree if it meant not helping the other two races, while Pansy said she didn’t have the power to make that kind of decision as a lowly private. Clover just stayed quiet.

Seeing that they weren’t going to get anything out of these three, they sent them back to their rooms. I feel bad for Clover; she looked like she’d been told that her parents were dead, and that it was her fault. I’ll give her some space tonight before I talk to her in the morning.

***

December 18th, 345 A.G.W.

Well, some progress was made, but not a lot: Clover hasn’t come out of her room since she learned the truth about the wendigos, Smart Cookie’s still not buying it, and Pansy… I’m not sure where she stands. Clover seems to be the sharpest and most logical of the three, so it’s not surprising she’s come to terms with reality the quickest. She wasn’t taking it well when I spoke to her; I could tell she had been up all night thanks to the tear streaks on her face, and she cried on my shoulder for a while after I arrived. When she calmed down a bit, she told me the reason she was so upset: before she had left with Princess Platinum and her entourage in search of a new homeland, she had argued heatedly with her mentor, Starswirl (right, that was the name!) the Bearded. He’d become disillusioned with the idea of unicorn supremacy, and wanted the three races to work together for survival’s sake.

Naturally, the smart guy’s opinions were rejected because of the blind hate that had festered over the years; if he hadn’t been in such high standing among their people for both his brilliance and prolific spell creation, he would have been charged with treason; even as it was, many students left him – even Clover had considered it, so ridiculous his stance had seemed. His repeated insistence that the winter storm didn’t originate from any of the tribes, and that their war would be the end of them, got him labeled a madpony – shunned and ignored.

Now, hearing the exact same thing from us, Clover realized that her mentor might be right; they were causing the storm with their hatred, meaning their people were all dying because of it. I asked if this meant she wanted to make amends with the other two, but she was uncertain. She did say that, after learning of our government and military from our books, she fears that none of the three armies would stand a chance in open conflict. She said she feared the end of her species may be imminent.

Just as I was about to leave, Pansy came inside and offered Clover a tissue box, much to Clover’s confusion. Pansy asked if she was alright, and then explained that she had overheard our conversation, saying she was as uncertain as Clover. Her whole life, she had been taught that pegasi were superior; the idea that all three races would come to an end from their fighting left her uncertain of what to think.

I decided to leave them to chat. A thought has come to me, an idea of how to help them see reason. It would be a bit extreme, but if the captain gives me permission, it may help them realize why they have to stop their fighting – or face the same threat of extinction we did, 400 years ago.

***

December 18th, 345 A.G.W.

With the captain’s permission, I led the three ponies towards the old city; the last remnants of our old civilizations. I’m always amazed by the marvels of our past – the things we had before our downfall. It serves as a bitter lesson, too – a reminder. Hopefully, what I say when we get there will make the ponies understand what we went through, before it’s too late.

At least Clover and Pansy are talking; Clover seems very curious about pegasus culture, and Pansy is more than happy to talk about it. I think they’re starting to see each other less as enemies, and more as ponies. Smart Cookie was still being a prick; he clearly doesn’t like seeing the two of them getting friendly. Daniels overheard him talking about “how chummy they are”. I don’t know if he’s saying it because he’s worried they’re going to do something to him, or if he’s just getting lonely.

I did manage to get him to talk about his life back home; it turns out he’s got a soon-to-be-wed sister that he takes care of. Pansy launched straight into asking for details; she apparently loves weddings, and hopes to have a big one herself. Cookie humored her – despite obvious annoyance – for a while, until he commented that the reason he took care of his sister was because their parents were killed by unicorns.

That kinda killed the mood. It got worse when Clover said she was sorry for his loss; he told her to shut up, that she couldn’t understand anything of what it was like to lose somepony, because unicorns like her were always high up in their castles, doing whatever rich ponies do, while ponies like him have to work hard every day just to survive.

He might have gone on like that, but Clover shut him up by telling him that she had to bury her own parents as a child. Not in a cemetery, but in the mud outside of the city, after selling their clothes just to get dinner that night. Her parents had been thieves, who stole to survive – until they were caught, and hanged right in front of her. She considered herself lucky; Starswirl later sensed her magical potential, and took her in as a student.

Things stayed quiet for the rest of the day.

***

December 19th, 345 A.G.W.

At last we had arrived in the old city. It must have had a name long before we called it that, but any records of it were destroyed. It wasn’t the only old city, but it was it was the most intact one after the Great War. The ponies were amazed by how high the buildings were and the remnants of the old technology we invented. I told them that there were these things called cars that could carry up to six humans from one place to the next in rapid time and that some even say we had inventions that could make us fly like the pegasi.

And if they thought our weapons were scary now, they should hear the horror stories of the ones back then: weapons that rapidly shot thousands of bullets, giant bombs, a set of beams that could disintegrate flesh. That we could be so advanced, yet so savage, amazes me. We showed them everything we could, from the library, to the schools, the hospitals, stores where items and foods we no longer used were sold, and what we think were the churches of worship in the old days. Some of the old religions are still around, but nowadays most of us just believe in a “Creator” and some “laws” that kinda make sense of everything – things like not killing each other, no hatred to each other, never steal, don’t cheat on your spouse, stuff like that.

The ponies were amazed by our past; they’d had no idea that such an advanced society existed all those centuries ago. They asked what caused such destruction, and we told them: war. A war so terrible that even adults are scared of the tales. A war of hatred and blood. Millions of deaths, every year, in a war that almost wiped out our species.

They asked who started the war, and we told them: we did. It was not a war against dragons, nor griffins, nor changelings (if those rumored creatures are real). It was a war of humans against humans, over every reason imaginable; race, religion, politics, class, skin color, eye color, old feuds – no one knows what started the war, but we fought to wipe each other out for any reason, any difference we could find, to the bitter end.

I pointed out that Private George was pale, where I’m dark; in the old days, we would be bitter enemies, due to our difference in skin color. Smart Cookie said that was a stupid reason to be enemies. I told him that killing someone for having wings or a horn was just as stupid.

They fell silent as I explained to them that, while the wendigos made things worse, they were on the same path that we were even before that. They were willing to let superficial differences divide them, and they were willing to go to war for it; sooner or later, either one race would have ended up on top, or they would have all been wiped out in the war – just like we almost were.

Pansy tossed her helmet in disgust, and surprised us by starting to strip her armor off. We stopped her before she was actually naked – I have no idea if that’s a taboo in their society or not – but the message was clear. Clover just looked sad and ashamed. Smart Cookie was the most divided; it was clear he understood what we were saying, but I guess his parents’ deaths were still lingering in his mind.

The soldiers and I continued the story, telling them how extreme the war became. We eventually blasted ourselves into a wasteland; our advanced civilization was gone, our leaders dead, our governments crumbled. All we had left were some ruins, and each other. Those that survived formed groups, unsure of what to do, and eventually we realized that we had brought this on ourselves. We let it all go too far. We had realized it too late, but we had a second chance; the survivors banded together, putting all of their differences aside, and worked on rebuilding. We built our first new city, Zion, on the day we now celebrate as Unity Day.

A day of celebration for the fact we came together and are still alive. A reminder of the bitter past we created that lead us to our current situation. A time for peace and love between all humans, regardless of who they are. Because we realized, at long last, after falling at our lowest, that we were one people. Different races, different beliefs, and different lifestyles, but we were all still one.

The ponies didn’t say anything. We just explored a bit more before we made camp. At first, I didn’t think I would see results quickly, but I was proven wrong. When Clover ended up messing up her dinner by dropping it, Smart Cookie slowly made his way to her and gave her some of his food. She thanked him, and, for the first time, they talked normally to each other. They asked each other what they thought of the human city, and soon Pansy joined in.

It wasn’t holding hands – or hooves, in this case – and singing campfire songs, but it was a good start.

***

December 19th, 345 A.G.W.

When we arrived back at the outpost, the ponies were shocked – as was I – at the number of soldiers that had been brought in since we left for the old city. It wasn’t the entire army, but it was a good portion of it; I guess the higher-ups didn’t want to take any chances, not just with the three armies coming our way, but also with the wendigos following their hatred.

The captain and I, since I had become such good friends with the ponies, were there when the ambassadors gave the ultimatum: while they didn’t want to go to war, they would not let their land be taken over by a foreign nation. The three seemed to understand this, but they were more concerned about ending the conflict in their own lands. This was agreed, and the ambassadors were willing to work with them in order to stop the needless war. Some Senate members were even thinking about what areas the ponies could live in while slowly integrating them into our society.

We already had a few zebras, donkeys, and minotaurs in our towns and cities. I guess ponies were going to be added too. Still, everybody was concerned about how they were going to convince their stubborn armies to lay down their arms and agree to peace. The captain felt like there wasn’t going to be much trouble doing that, since they were traveling in great numbers, with few rations, and had the wendigos trying to wipe them out. They were going to want help .

The three ponies requested that they go with us when confronting the armies, and left. The captain asked me to personally watch over all three of them – even promoted me to higher authority so I could command our troops. Didn’t think I’d advance in my career looking over a bunch of pastel-colored four legged creatures, but there you go.

Speaking of the three, they were actually getting along; they invited me to a round of one of our old boardgames. All the while they talked about how much they hated working under their deceased leaders. Hurricane was always stubborn, and angry all the time; Pansy was sure if he wasn’t killed in battle, he would have died from a heart attack. Smart Cookie admitted that Chancellor Puddinghead was a lazy pony who only got into office because the other one running for it died of illness; he would have Smart Cookie do all his paperwork, so he could eat pudding all day. And I thought my daughter was a stuck up brat, but Princess Platinum took the cake; she was always whining and complaining and demanding this or that. Clover didn’t like her at all, but she didn’t wish her cruel fate on the princess. I asked what her kingdom would do for an heir, but it turns out that Platinum was the third in line for the throne; her older sisters, Celestia and Luna, were much more likable, and actually cared about being good rulers. The only thing Platinum ever cared about were what jewels she should wear with her crown.

We all had fun, but soon it was time for bed, and I said goodnight. I really hope we can make these three races see reason; I would hate for these three good ponies to be the last of their kind.

***

December 23th, 345 A.G.W.

We finally got word about the three armies. Or rather, I should say, three countries. One of our scouts overheard a patrol of earth pony soldiers talk about how their home was destroyed and the entire remaining population was moving; already they had casualties from lack of food, warmth, and ongoing scrimmages against unicorn and pegasi forces doing the same thing.

Other scouts reported that they were all heading towards one spot: the same place where we found the three ponies originally. The wendigos were going to be all over them if they fought, and their races would face such losses it might even wipe them out. Although we had requested reinforcements, we wasted no time gearing up. We only had so many flamethrowers with us, but we were hoping we could convince the three to team with us if only for survival’s sake.

Clover, Smart, and Pansy wanted to join us; it was their people who were at risk, and they wanted to save them. Captain placed them under my command and I told them everything would be okay. I hope to the Creator that he decides to be a kind god tomorrow.

***

December 24th, 345 A.G.W.

I don’t think I can explain exactly what happened today in the best of details, but I’m going to do my best. First off, I’m lucky to be alive, as are the rest of us, but we lost some good soldiers. It started off with us arriving just as the three armies began fighting everything, including the wendigos. They fought each other like animals, even the civilians, while the wendigos fed on them like mosquitos to a neck.

We arrived and started focusing on the spirits, but the ponies saw us and began attacking us as well. It took Clover a few minutes before she used her magic to scream so loud it must have shaken the entire mountain. Her mentor, Starswirl, was there, and rushed to her during the temporary stop of the insanity. After a quick explanation, Starswirl teleported Clover and himself to princesses Celestia and Luna – their parents had apparently died during the trip – who soon ordered the unicorns to team up with us to fight the wendigos. It wasn’t an order they wanted to follow, at first, but when more wendigos emerged they quickly shut up. Smart Cookie and Pansy rushed to their respective leaders as well.

It took a fricken half hour before the four of us were fighting side by side against the damn beasts. We fought for our very lives, all of us, just to survive. For every spirit we scared away, we lost two on our side. We were going to need a miracle, and a miracle we would get.

From what my friends told me, Pansy got one of her wings frozen and was seriously injured. Clover was doing what she could, but it was clear she was doomed. Cookie kept defending the two, begging Pansy to stay with him. He didn’t want to lose a friend. Before Pansy closed her eyes, she said she was happy to finally have friends. That’s when the three of them began to glow. A fire of purple and white formed into a heart, and all attention was drawn to them.

The fire suddenly spread like an arc in all directions. It attacked the wendigos and... I think it was killing them. They screamed like the damned and blew up, like a puff of white smoke. The wendigos, horrified that something was capable of killing them, fled in an instant. Whatever magic this was, it then started to spread across us all. Instead of burning us, we felt... warm. Our hearts calmed and we felt such a joy inside of us, such a sense of hope. I thought the Creator had actually touched us with his finger, or something.

When it faded, Pansy’s wounds were all healed, and the three hugged each other. So stunned were all the armies that nobody, or pony, did anything to keep the fighting going. It was like nobody wanted to.

Finally, the three turned to their leaders and asked if this can all stop and they could talk to us. The three agreed; everypony was just so tired, all they cared about was safety. We all worked together to escort everyone back to our land. The sight of the ponies seeing green for the first time in years was kind of fuzzy feeling. The children who were born into the winter had played in it for an hour before their parents summoned them.

Tomorrow, there were going to be talks about peace. Fow now, it’s just a day of rest.

***

December 25th, 345 A.G.W

Happy Unity Day. It sucks that I’m not with my family this year, but I heard I’ll be given leave starting tomorrow, so that’s good news. I also get a feeling that Unity Day isn’t going to be celebrated just by humans, anymore, either; the leaders of all three nations have decided to end their hostilities at last. I guess the fight for their survival yesterday opened everypony’s eyes. Some pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns were even interacting with each other. There was still some distrust, but they weren’t actively fighting. The children, or foals as they are called, were playing with each other in the grass.

My friends are now “ambassadors” to their people since they know more about us, but I think they are more happy with how things turned out. Cookie’s family all survived, Pansy’s father said he was proud of her, and Clover and Starswirl are on friendly terms again. I think those three are going to be alright.

We decided to give them a Unity Day welcome, with good food, cheery songs, and plenty of fun games. The announcement that the wars were over and they would rebuild with us humans elicited a cry of joy so loud the heavens themselves had to have heard us. It’s going to take a lot of work, but after that magical miracle I saw yesterday, I’ll believe anything is possible.

Well, I’m tired. Too much turkey. I’m gonna focus the rest of the year on my family. I’ll write more when holidays are over.

***

“That was amazing! An actual journal detailing the events of Unity Day when ponies first arrived in Republic! I can’t believe you kept your ancestor's journal after all this time, Professior Collins!” said Twilight Sparkle as she handed me back the old dusty book. “To think that I’ve been learning history from somebody who has a family member that interacted with the famous Three Ambassadors of Friendship! Eeee!”

I smiled upon seeing the cute and hyperactive face of my twelve year old student. The filly was a genius when it came to... well, everything. Rumor has it she is a descendant of Clover the Clever. That would explain why she was in high school at her age.

“Well, I’m glad you liked it, Twilight,” I said as I put the book away and activated my crystal powered laptop. “Now, I think you need to head on home. Don’t want to keep you away from your weekend do I?”

Twilight nodded before pulling out her cellphone. “Hey, Mom? Can you give me a ride home? Sure, I can wait a few minutes...”

I saw her leave as I looked outside my window at the vast city known as Zion. Filled with ponies and humans, magic and technology, a world better then we could have dreamed. It’s amazing how much we can do when we work together – and the hardship it can take to make us learn that lesson.

Realizing I had papers to grade, I went to work.

Author's Note

Commissioned by WesFox134

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