The History Of The Human War

Chapters

After The War - Human Embassy
Foreword
After The War - New Baltimore
Chapter 1
After The War - Grand Galloping Gala
Chapter 2
After The War - Funeral
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
After The War - State Visit

After The War - Human Embassy

Canterlot
The Human Human Embassy

“Ambassador, there is someone here to meet you.”

“Who is it?” Ambassador Alisa Fahrenheit asked her aide. She was currently trying to figure out how to present her case to Princesses regarding possible expansion of the Zone.

“A pony. Said her name is Lyra Heartstring.”

“Does she have an appointment?” She really didn’t want to deal with anyone at the moment, but protocols demanded it.

“Actually, yes. It's about her idea of writing a book about... The War.”

“Well, let's hear her. Bring her in.”

The assistant gave small bow and left. Soon, the door was opened again and a pony with light cyan fur walked in. She had this book with her, no doubt her manuscript. She walked to the table and Alisa couldn’t help but to facepalm for idiocy of her aide.

“Excuse the rude manners of my assistants... HEINRIC! Get your lazy ass here and bring her a seat!”

Lyra gave a quick yelp at the sudden shout. A man soon came in carrying a specifically made seat that allowed ponies to sit, so that they could see over the table. It was basic rules of hospitality. If you were going to conduct a meeting over a table, you made sure everyone could reach over it.

“So.” The ambassador said, clasping her hands “How can I help you?”

“Ah, yes, you see... I... I want to write a history book about... about...” Lyra started nervously.

“The War. Yes. I am aware of it.” The ambassador said, pointing at her PDA. “However, I fail to see why would you want to speak to me about it. I would expect you to find everything you need in the Royal Archives.”

“Yes, that is true but... I want to also understand the war from human perspective.”

“Human perspective, you say?” Fahrenheit said raising her eyebrow. Lyra nodded before continuing.

“Yes, you see, the war, many do not try to understand why it was fought. They also seem to think humans were just bloodthirsty monsters who started the war for fun and games. Or they don't even realize how horrible it was. Especially those so-called nobles. They want to restart the war, lying how glorious it was... and... how it was all... just a game...”

“You lost someone important, didn't you?”

“Huh?”

“I know that look. You lost someone close to you during the war and don't want to suffer the same pain again. I can respect that. So. What do you need?”

“I would like to interview some survivors of the war. Hear their stories. Like the Invasion of Appleloosa. What went through their heads when it happened? I want to show them that humans... at least I hope so... didn't go into those place thinking murder, but thinking their loved ones.”

“And?”

“Well... maybe some access to military archives. For names.”

“What we called them. Operation Scorch Earth. Operation Planetfall.”

“Yes. Also human casualty numbers. How many people you lost. To show that it was not only us who lost loved ones, but you too.”

“You know, there is a saying that goes 'History is written by victors'...” Fahrenheit said. “It means that the winners get to decide who was the monster and who was the hero.”

“Please, I...” Lyra started, fearing for the worst.

“I will help you.” Fahrenheit interrupted her. “I have always had a soft spot for history, if just to know it. Where we came from. We have our own books being compiled right now. I guess having a pony version would be good too. Our books look the war from our perspective. How we fought for our species. Your focus will, undoubtedly, be on horrors of the war.”

“Thank you.” Lyra said, releasing a breath she had been holding.

“I will want to read it first, though. Just to check that nothing... unauthorized gets in. Although according to New Zebas Treaty, we are in peace now and all is forgiven, there is no doubt that should something... let's say 'sensitive' get in it might spark a whole new war.”

“This is no way to live life...”

“We once had two nations. Those nations, they never signed a peace treaty. They had an armistice that lasted until The Great Cataclysm wiped them both out. One single mistake, one single step would have started a war between them. This is nothing. Here we both want peace. We have a peace treaty. Ghastly Gorge DMZ is, perhaps, one the most heavily guarded areas of the world, but other places, such as New Baltimore-Fillydelphia border is closer to a normal border between two nations.”

“It's still horrible, living in the fear of war.”

“Yes, but hopefully things will get better. That new generations will grow up without the shadow of war over them and they can start again. To build a true friendship between our species. Now, I must ask you to leave. I have my assistant come to inform you and help you later this week. I have these complaints to deal with. One might think that work of an ambassador is party after party but noooooo. It's mainly dealing with idiots who can't find their own head even if was hit by a stick!”

Lyra gave a chuckle at this and thanked the ambassador once more before leaving. The meeting had gone better than she had expected.

Author's Note

Rewrite upload 1.10.2013

Foreword

Foreword from Lyra Heartstring

This book is written based on accounts of eyewitnesses of what has come to known as The Human War. This war, devastating as it was, is still something we should always remember. Why humans invaded our peaceful land and why they fought with such brutality and why, in the end, they were victorious. Some say war ended in a stalemate, but the truth is different: There is no doubt that if it were not for Princess Luna, humanity would have caused global extinction of all ponykind.

No, what happened is that Princess was able to give Humans what they wanted without further bloodshed: A place to call home, place where their children could grow without need for their environmental suits. To allow them to grow in world where they aren’t restricted by metal corridors that have defined their home for nearly 2 000 years.

We should always remember why humans chose their path, for if we do not, we are doomed to repeat them. Were we to do as those fools who demand war say, there is no doubt of end result: Humanity, though it's superior technology, is very capable of genocide and for sake of it's own survival, ready to commit such act. Even if it would cost them greatly. Yet, in the end, they wish for peace. They do not see reason to take upon path they loathe to take. Therefore, it would be monumental foolishness to take upon ourselves to force them on such path.

No, it is different path we should seek. To aid them to set up their new home, to become, if not friends, then at least non-enemies with them. As a human once told me: “When you become friends with your enemy, you have truly defeated him.”

I also wish to thank Alisa Fahrenheit, the Human Ambassador to Canterlot, who helped me greatly by giving me access to some information on human side and allowing me to interview several humans for their accounts of the events.

Lyra Heartstring, Research Leader and Lead Editor

On behalf of The Human Refuge, I wish to greet the reader and hope that this book will provide insight into the conflict that occurred between humans and ponies. To forget the past is to be doomed to repeat it.

Therefore, it is my hope that this book, alongside many others that will undoubtedly follow it, will provide enough context for future leaders and generations to avoid mistakes made long time ago. To understand, that there is always another option.

I do not wish to write a long speech of peace, friendship and cooperation, as I trust that the reader understands these concepts. Instead, I will quote one of our historical figures, who I believe understood how futile a war is.

Alisa Fahrenheit, the Human Ambassador to Canterlot and Assistant Editor

„Men live to prosper. Yet, for that same prosperity, we fight and die. Why must we contradict our own nature? Why must we seek conflict where it does not exist?“

Philosopher Augustus Zukof, questioning the need for the 2nd Human Civil War.

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

After The War - New Baltimore

New Baltimore (Formerly Baltimare)

“Name and ID tag.” Spinning Coin couldn't help but to sight when the 5th human patrol stopped him.

“Here you go sir.” He said giving his ID tag. He had dealt with some of the most annoying bureaucrats just to get one. “Name is Spinning Coin, a trader, on here to sell my fine wares to good people of Baltima... New Baltimore.”

“Looks like everything is OK. We are going to have to check your wares too, tough.”

“You and four others on my way here.”

“Security is tight. We got a warning of possible terrorist attack two days ago and we are not taking chances.” Guards quickly went over his wares. After 3rd patrol had stopped him Spinning Coin had left all his wares in plain view so that they wouldn't be thrown around too much. He couldn't help, but wonder who would be insane enough to try to commit an attack on humans. Didn't they know such act could restart the war? Then again, there were idiots who wanted just that.

“Right, some food for local ponies and cloth. Selling them to us or to ponies?”

“Cloth are actually for you. I got a tip that someone might want to buy them.”

“Try trader Fordenson. He is a tailor, owns a shop on Luna Aeternal. Ever since we had access to real silk and leather the fashion designers have been living a new renaissance. Fordenson pays a fair price.”

“I thank you for the tip.”

“Oh, and here is a permit for city. I wonder why others didn't give it to you.” The guard said, scribing a small document and handing it to him. “It’s only for one day, a ‘you’re clean’ paper so to say. Still, don’t wander too far or you might get searched again and brought into questioning.”

“Others were kinda busy, so it might have slipped from their mind. Anyway, thanks.”

“Have a pleasant day.”

Patrol left him alone as he pushed towards pony commune on the side of the settlement. Pony population was a lot smaller than it had been before The War, many leaving the city after it was given to humans. Locals tried to grow food, but complained that it tasted bland. So food from outside had become luxury around here. At least buildings were from pre-war era, the few little had survived.

“Any news from Canterlot?” One mare asked him.

“Depends. Peace is holding. I heard a rumor that humans are invited to Grand Galloping Gala this year.”

“Bah. Why should we invite them? Then again, I guess invitation is better than invasion...” The mare left grumbling about how unfair life was and everything used to be better back during to good old days. Many ponies who had stayed shared the same sentiment. Baltimare had become New Baltimore, named after some long forgotten human city. Apparently they thought it was just right since names sounded similar.

He made rather good deal with his food, having earner sizable amount of gems, local currency. Humans had little to no use to magical gems, so they had become de facto money around here. Ponied paid in gems, which humans then used to pay to diamond dogs for their services. Speaking of dogs, one was standing in front him right now.

“Uuh, good day.”

“Hrmph. What'z poni doi here?”

“Just trading. It has not become illegal in last 5 minutes, has it?”

“Poniz alwayz whine and complai. Poniz no good. Humans better. Muzt go now. Paycheck awaitz.” Dog started to walk away before being stopped by two others.

“ROVER! For soils sake get back here. You are NOT going to humans demanding paycheck until you are sober!”

“Leave me myself! I can take carezzzzzzz” The dog fell to the ground asleep.

“Damn... he did not harass you, did he not?” One the dogs turned to Spinning Coin.

“No, just muttered something incoherent and left.”

“Oh good. Okay, grab one arm and I take the other.” The dog said to his companion. “Let's haul him back to barracks to sleep it off.” Together, they started to carry off their drunken friend.

New Baltimore was really a place of many things. New buildings rose everyday. Ground around the place was low on gems, but rich in other minerals, so humans had hired diamond dogs to mine. It was also had trading post, a place where traders from both sides could trade, as long as you had permit. Spinning coin left his wagon in the guarded parking area and started to look for the man that the guard had mentioned earlier. Eventually, he found him.

“Mister Fordenson?”

“My name so melodic and beautiful.” The man responded.

“Err, right, I was told you were the man to speak of one wished to sell cloths.”

“Ah yes, fashion designers are pretty much holding a fighting tournaments just for right to bid on those. Let's see your wares.”

Spinning Coin lead Fordenson to his wares, with his guard following them to ensure no shady business would be conducted.

“Hmm, very high quality material, I see they have been held in low magic areas, yes?”

“Yes, indeed. They were stored in a storeroom that had two of those new talismans that humans outside the field use. So minimum magical residue. Very high quality silk cloth. Should be ready to use right away, without need to wait for magic to disperse.”

“Indeed, indeed. These will fetch a good price back on home. I can give you 5 000 credits for these. Let' see, with exchange rate currently...” Fordenson pulled a small handheld PDA out of his pocket and pressed it few times “... that's roughly 7 200 bits. Sounds good?”

“Can't argue you with that.” It was a good deal. Same cloth back home would have landed him 5 000 bits. Guard had not been lying to him when he said that Fordenson would pay fair. Then again, there was no doubt that Fordenson would make triple profit from these, especially since he could send them back in the next batch. Getting stuff to Luna Aeternal before your competitors, who had to wait until next merchants arrived, was always a sure way to make profit.

“Hey, is that gems I see? You could try to sell those to local governor. He is always interested in having dogs next paycheck ready, even if it's a month until that.”

“Thanks, but I think I keep them. There is some demand for them in Canterlot these days. Gotta support home industry, you know?”

“I guess so. It was pleasure doing business with you. I take care of the money side and send my boys to unload this. Should be by tomorrow.” Spinning Coin gave nod at this and left. He was going to need a place to stay. There were few hotels around the place, most of them for humans who had not yet gained permanent residence.

Baltimare had really changed since humans took control of it. Gone were nice little wood and brick houses. They had been replaced by typical human designed: functionality over aesthetics, either black, gray or brown, as if every other color in the world was banned and build from concrete and steel.

He missed old Baltimare.

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

Chapter 1

The First Day

The First Day of the war, or “Operation Scorch Earth” as it was called among the human military, was devastating. Humanity, in it's 1500 years of exile on the moon, had managed to capture 4 asteroids, large enough to pierce through the planetary atmosphere and impact the ground with massive force. Humanity, fearing for it's own survival after The Second Cataclysm, as it is now called, moved to invade and “kill magic, by any means necessary” in a desperate attempt to prevent extinction..

Humanity moved to tow 4 asteroids towards their targets. This attack would later be, rightfully so, decried as a war crime although humanity refuses to prosecute those responsible for actions.

The first asteroid hit Manehattan, completely obliterating it. The impact effectively destroyed the island Manehattan had been built on. The resulting tsunami hit the Griffin Kingdoms two days later, destroying several coastal cities. West Catsmere was also hit, although the damages were much smaller due to longer distances involved.

The second asteroid, aimed at the Cloudsdale, missed it's target. Instead, it impacted north of the city, sparing it from the fate of Manehattan. Cloudsdale did not escape unharmed however, as the following blastwave and heatwave destroyed much of the city. Later analysis revealed that the guiding rockets malfunctioned, causing the asteroid to drift off-course.

By the time of the arrival of the third asteroid, aimed at Canterlot, Royal Princesses were already alarmed to events by survivors from Cloudsdale and had moved to shield the city. Combined shield of two Princesses was strong enough to hold against the asteroid, although surrounding countryside suffered greatly from the debris. From here, two Princesses headed to different directions to counter possible future strikes.

Final target, Los Pegasus, was able, through co-operation of unicorns and pegasis survivors from Cloudsdale , able to break the asteroid into smaller chunks. When Princess Celestia arrived in a nick of time to deploy a shield over the city, most of the debris impacted harmlessly against the shield. Small parts were, however, able to pierce through, causing large amounts of damage. All in all, Los Pegasus, fared much better than other targets of the “Operation Scorch Earth”.

The attack took 16 hours to start and to conclude. During that time, over 2/5th of the total number of pony casualties of the war were suffered. At the time it was considered extremely weird event, as humans were still unknown. Initial assumptions considered possibility of an asteroid swarm and drafts were made to counter such storm.

However, as it was soon revealed, a different type of storm was coming.

The Second Day

The Second Day saw the actual invasion begin as the spacecrafts breached atmosphere to deploy troops to the ground. Human invasion, or “Operation Planetfall” was mainly centered around Appleloosa and Dodge City, though several unconfirmed human raiding teams were reported all over Equestria.

Appleloosa fell to the human army in less than a half an hour, although this time is estimate made by humans as pony witnesses are unable to give comprehensive details of the attack, some describing it lasting mere seconds, other describing it to take several hours. Canterlot was informed of the attack 3 hours later. One witness, Blackstone, describes the attack:

“Large, black machines fell from the skies, like some sort of giant vultures. Two of them dropped some sort of pods over the city and from these pods, black monsters surged forward to kill and destroy. I saw my neighbor trying to run away, when suddenly... he died. Just like that. I saw one of the creatures pointing strange device at him and then turn to me. I ran. I ran faster than I had ever ran before.

“All over the town, more and more monster arrived. Machines landed just outside of the town, releasing a swarm of monsters, as well as more of their machines. Those machines, they reminded me of diamond dogs, except their hands were shorter and lacked fingers. They had strange, long tube sticking from their back.

“This went on and on for what felt like hours. They started to round us survivors up, taking us aside as they raided the buildings. We were all scared, especially when they started to isolate unicorns off from us. Group of them started to kill them, before another creature started to speak to them. They seemed to disagree, but in the end, they stopped killing the unicorns.”

Similar stories can also be heard from survivors from Dodge City. I do not believe that I need to repeat numerous horror stories here, all with the same basic template. However, I did manage to talk one of the humans who participated in the attack. She describes the attack:

“We sat in the transport. We had our orders. Get in and destroy everything that could mount resistance. I was lucky one, I was on a landing craft instead of on those drop pods. I could never stomach them. Landing on Earth... or Equestria or whatever... it was... weird.

“It's different to look up in the sky and instead of blackness you see... blue. It was weird and disorienting. At least the ground was similar to that on the moon, except brown, instead of those weird... trees you call them? He had trained on the moon, but back there it was either outside in lower gravity or inside the caverns. I guess we should have felt thankful that we could feel gravity pulling us down. On the moon, outside our gravity field, you felt like one minor step, one too quick jump and the space would claim you.

“Anyway, the ship landed on the edge of our target and we poured out. It was mainly Type-1s there. Earth Ponies you call them, I think. I was part of the infantry. I rushed towards the town, expecting pretty much anything. It turned out that whole place had really nothing to fight with. Oh, few ponies tried to put up a fight. We gunned them down. They were a threat and we were not taking any risks. If it fought back, kill it with extreme prejudice. That was what we were told.

“I think it was 15 minutes after planetfall when we got an order to start taking prisoners. That was nearly an hour earlier than even our most positive estimates. So we gathered them. One pegasus tried to attack me, so I shot him or her. Turns out, it(sic) had been protecting a foal. Didn't care at the time. I took another shot at the body, just to be sure.

“Me and Jon, we took the foal and carried it to rest of the herd. Several ACES were guarding the prisoners. It was sad to look, really. Scared ponies hurdling together, trying to piece together what was going on. Not what we had been expecting. It had not been a battle. It had been a massacre”.

Humans suffered only single casualty during the initial invasion: Lieutenant Otto Kursk of the Shock Troops. His drop pod malfunctioned, causing it to hit ground sideways and causing a rupture in his suit. Magic seeped through this suit, instantly killing him. He was first human casualty of the war.

In human media, he was described as having died due to attack from an unicorn while protecting his fellow soldiers. This has since become popular parody matter regarding human propaganda during the war.

Canterlot response and Disaster of Ghastly Gorge

After news of the invasion were heard, chaos reigned in Canterlot. Already trying to figure out events behind the asteroid drops, sudden invasion, aided by numerous different tales, caused command of the Royal Guard to make several rushed decisions. With Princesses away to help survivors of the asteroids, Royal Guard dispatched a regiment of guards to Appleloosa to fight against “sudden influx of unknown creatures”.

This turned out to be one of the greatest miscalculations and one that sealed human control of Appleloosa for the rest of the war.

Human ships took 3 days to move between the planet and the moon, but humans only had limited amount of ships to spare. Furthermore, ships needed repairs and refueling, leading to month long breaks between supply runs. Looking back in the history, had Royal Guard managed to dislodge humans during that first month, war could have taken whole different route. However, as it was, humans gained crucial victory in the first “battle” of the war and secured a bridgehead on the planet.

Human Archives: It is often falsely claimed it takes 3 days to cross the space. In reality, it takes about 3 hour to fly and reach the moon when flying without safety systems and planning to crash into the destination. 3 days is the shortest safe travel time that humans have achieved with limited resources. It relies a lot of initial thrust and then simply taking advantage of lack of inertia in space, as well as planets gravitational field.. Most often, 1/3 of the trip is used for acceleration, 1/3 to maneuvering and gliding and 1/3 to deceleration.

Royal Guard encountered human advance guard on Ghastly Gorge. The First Battle of Ghastly Gorge was mainly humans defending their positions while Royal Guard attempted to breakthrough and figure out what they were fighting against. Battle saw 3 000 ponies against 600 humans.

Unaware of the threat posed by humans, Royal Guard attempted “Get close and beat them senseless” approach, as one of them put it, that had served for centuries. Against humans, however, this lead to near total destruction of the first division. Royal Guard pulled back, to re-evaluate their approach. Following attack was much more coordinated and successful, even managing to breach human defense on one location. However, this victory was short lived as humans rallied and lead counter-attack to take back their positions. Alexander Stürm, a human ACES pilot who participated in the The First Battle of Ghastly Gorge, describes the “battle” as follows:

“It wasn't so much of a battle as it was a massacre. Several soldiers had to be pulled out of the service, they got so... what was that the docs called it... 'desensitized to violence'. No wonder. Ponies just rushed towards us, like the ancient human wave tactics that had gone out of use with the invention of the machine gun. They just rushed towards us, neat lines and all.

“ACES suit is equipped with a tracking system that can track up to 10 000 objects size of a human head. ACES were originally designed to asteroid and meteor defense, you know? They only become 'combat' suits after The Second Cataclysm.

“I didn't even turn the damn thing on. I just pointed my guns in the general direction and opened fire. We didn't need to aim. Just point and shoot. No thinking. No aiming. Just... killing. It was disturbing really. It's one thing fighting against an opponent when you got same advantages. Against an opponent that can't do anything?

“Contrast what those so called 'nobles' claim, we are not bloodthirsty people. The amount of death we caused in those few hours was something human mind can barely comprehend. It was like being a machine. Point and shoot. Point and shoot.

“They were brave fools. Brave, but doomed.”

At the end of the day, Royal Guard regiment was sent running away, having lost 3/4th of its strength while humans suffered only 65 injuries and 44 fatalities. Defeat would make Royal Guard much more cautious, leading to month-long era of waiting before next assault would be carried out. During this time, humanity would reinforce their positions, waiting for the reinforcements that would arrive in a month. When next assault was carried out, despite being lead by Princess Celestia herself, victory could not be attained. Private Shell Shocked, who participated on both battles, describes second assault:

“We were sure we would win this time. I mean, Princess Celestia herself was leading us! How could anything stand against her!? Yet... when we approached their forward base in Ghastly Gorge, we could see it was no longer just a set of small holes in the ground. Concrete walls dotted the area, forcing any ground forces to channel through them. Numerous towers rose behind those walls, giving humans clear view of us. To make matters worse, behind those walls and towers was the bridge that we had to cross to get to their main fighting force.

Of course, we didn't know they were humans back then. Just some monsters who used technology. At first, generals decided to send in an air assault to soften them up. I can still hear their screams as the hidden emplacements opened fire and cut them down... and that sound... that endless, never ending 'DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA'. It never ended. During the whole battle, it never ended. It's like it was some sort of battle music for them! Always, always that same loud sound. Then, then there were those.... I think humans call them 'tracer rounds', we could see as air was filled of them. At first we thought they were only thing we had to fear, but... yeah... everyone knows how wrong that idea was.

So we moved to the most insane idea of all: rush them. Princess casted a spell to shield us as we tried to break through their defenses. My friend was shot when he wandered too far from the shield. Princess tried to hold the shield up, alongside the unicorns that had come with us but... the amount of projectiles humans threw at us was truly staggering. Slowly, but surely, shield eroded on the edges and more and more guards were exposed to their weapons. Casualties mounted up. It was a nightmare. Then they started to lob explosives at us.”

Human Archives: Explosives in this case refers ACES (Armored Combat Exo-Skeletons) cannon equipment. There were 15 ACES on the Ghastly Gorge FOB(Forward Observation Base) at the time of The Second Battle of Ghastly Gorge. Human troops numbered in 2 400 infantry soldiers and their supply personnel.

“Now, I know people think fights between unicorns are loud and flashy. They have nothing against humans. Humans, I think half their battle style is simply cause sensory overload on the enemy. In the end, we got to the human lines. I charged against their ground side turrets and encountered my first human. I caught him with surprise... or was it her? I can't even remember anymore... I saw him trying to reach for small piece of metal. I crashed into him, before giving him strong kick to the head. I saw how his mask broke in to piece. What follow haunts me to this day.

“His face... it started to melt. You heard me. It melted. As if it was on fire, first being charred, then melting... all the while this human screamed this... unnaturally high pitched scream and tried to hold his face together... then the melting reached his chest and his suit started to get loose... then his hands fell like there was nothing holding them... HE MELTED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! It was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen. Humans die like that. Expose them to outside world and... There wasn't even a skeleton left... Just this... this... puddle of goo on the ground.

“It's no wonder why they hate us. We made their world a true death world to them.

“We managed to take the one side of the bridge. However, we could not push forward. Unicorns were tired and Princess could not alone defend us all. To add to this, humans had perfect killzone set up for us. We would either had to push through the bridge, or be sitting ducks on the air. There were also too few of us. Then humans counter-attacked. We could not hold against them, not when they had advantage on the range. We had superior numbers and faith in Princess. They had superior firepower. In the end, superior firepower won. We retreated. At least it wasn't as chaotic as the first battle “.

There were several attempts by local buffalo tribes to defeat human forces, but lacking in magic and ability to fly, they were quickly defeated and subdued.

Despite the overwhelming success during the first month, human victory was not guaranteed. Humanity still had one great weakness: Their inability to exist outside their environmental suits or specially build facilities. Furthermore, their location was problematic for future expansion.

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

After The War - Grand Galloping Gala

Captain Iron Wall was nervous. It had been 8 years since The War (Yes, with capital initials. It was that big and important) and the second Grand Galloping Gala was going to be held at the rebuild Canterlot castle. Every guard was nervous, since this year there would be humans attending to the gala. Well, only the ambassador and her 2 guards but still, it was nerve wrecking for anyone with slightest knowledge of the political situation. Any false movement, one misstated word could reignite the war. Nobody, not even the humans wanted to do that. One mistake could bolster war-hawks on either side to do something rash.

Iron Wall looked as guest started to arrive. Nobles, whom he had learned to despise during the war. Bastards had demanded guards and resources for their “protection”, while being safely far behind the lines. Guards and materials that were much needed on the front lines. Well, at least some of the most troublesome had died during Battle of Canterlot. It was not a good thought to have, but still, Equestria was better without them.

Now arrived several decorated war heroes. Captain Trixie Lulamoon (HERO OF EQUESTRIA!), whose actions during Battle of Ponyville had saved several hundreds of civilians and who had enlisted after the battle. Had fought in nearly every major battle after that. Looked kinda scared despite the tales. He had been expecting someone taller with either stoic face or face that told deep darkness in her heart. Oh well. Didn't remove the fact that she had Medal Of Honor and Medal Of Valor from Equestria, with accompanied knighthood making her one of the few female knights in Equestria, as well as Golden Feather from Griffin Kingdom.

Private Gilda Fairweather. Never rose through the ranks thanks to her attitude, but nether the less, received Golden Feather thanks to her actions to protect her fellow comrades during the chaotic retreat after the Battle of Los Pegasus. Was wounded later in the war and sat out most of it. Seemed to have healed pretty well. A real pain in the ass.

Private Shell Shocked. Now, when you got 3 Purple Hearts you were given honorable discharges from the army. Somehow, this guy had gotten back TWICE, earning total number of TEN Purple Hearts. That meant getting mortally wounded ten times and still living. Even human soldiers, when they were told about this, did their weird “raising a hat”. Apparently it meant that one give his respect to other. After the tenth one they just gave up and told him to do whatever he wanted. Never accepted promotion.

General Broken Steel, the greatest military tactician in Equestria. Had it not been for his battle plans and thinking, Equestria would have fallen long time ago. He still wished that he would cover up that missing eye. It made everyone, including Princesses, uncomfortable. It was really freaky to look at yet nobody wanted to disrespected him by looking away.

Captain Xandiers, commander of Zebra Volunteer Corps. Went against his leaders orders and brought his volunteers to Equestrian side. Too back it wasn't enough to drag Zebra Union into fight. Having humans surrounded from all sides would have perhaps allowed Equestria to win the war. Received Silver Star for his efforts. Was apparently wanted for treason in Zebra Union and thus had asked for and was granted an asylum in Equestria.

Several others started to arrive, few more griffins, two more zebras and more and more ponies. Then arrived the Elements of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be still depressed, through at least she was holding her head up instead of staring floors like during the first days after Battle of Canterlot. Applejack had that nasty scar on her flank, at least it hadn't disfigured her cutie mark. Rainbow Dash kept close to Fluttershy, who was still limping with her prosthetic leg. Pinkie Pie was... well, Pinkie Pie, but seemed to be keeping eye on everyone. She was also, with assistance of that dragon Spike, helping now blind Rarity get trough. It was still a wonder how she managed to keep her fashion shop running, even with her eyes having lost their sight. Some said she used magic to see, others said she had 6th sense to determine when the dress was complete and how it looked.

And now arrived the humans. The ambassador wore special talisman that created a small anti.magic field around her. She was clad in typical black military uniform. One might have thought that humans would have expanded their color selection past gray and black after the war but nope, black was still in style. Two guards were in full uniform. At least they had left their rifles out and opted for pistols. The ambassador headed towards Princesses. Okay, keep cool, she is going to walk right past you, no need to panic, they won't start a new war...

The ambassador bowed and greeted the Princesses on behalf of The Human Refuge. Then Princesses extended their right hooves and the ambassador shaked them. Weird human customs. Guess it made more sense if you had hands instead of hooves.

Okay, good, she was leaving now. No new wars had been declared, diamond dogs weren't coming from underground, skies were still clear and... Twilight Sparkle and Captain Lulamoon seemed to be arguing? With Captain seemingly being ashamed? What was that all about?

Change of the guard. Iron Wall was finally relieved for rest of the night and look around. He didn't get far before having fright of his life(apart from being nearly blasted into pieces during Fifth Battle of Ghastly Gorge) by nearly bumping into human soldier who came around the corner.

“Running a check?” filtered and mechanical voice came from the helmet.

“Uuh... no. I was relieved from the duty for rest of the night. Enjoying the gala?” Iron Wall answered hesitantly. He really never learned how to talk to these soldiers since you could never make sure what they thought.

“Too flashy for me. Ambassador told us to leave her alone for a moment.” He then reached for something in his pocket. It was a small bottle. After he, reached for his faceplate (They were used to think them as “masks” before learning the technical term) and removed the lower part.

“Oh, you got them talismans too?”

“Yeah. Every soldier stationed outside the zone is issued one. We lost a lot of people to simple suit ruptures.” Then he took drink from his bottle. “Wanna try this? It's human booze. We call it Vudka. It's based on some pre-Cataclysm drink.”

Not wanting to insult the human, Iron Wall agreed. “Sure, I can try” He wrapped the bottle in his magic and took a swing. Tasted bitter. “Bleh, if you don't mind me saying so I prefer Apple Cider.”

“Suit yourself. By the way, I saw this one fell from one them captains, I think? Blue fur and light blue mane? You know her?” Human had retrieved a small blue diamond from his pocket, one normally used to hold up capes.

“I think you are referring to Captain Lulamoon. I can take it to her, if you wish.”

“That would be greatly appreciated, I can't leave for a long time. I have my duties to take care of.” Human left, while leaving the gem to Iron Wall. Iron Wall set off to find Captain Lulamoon.

Rest of the ball went nice and quiet. He saw Princess Luna and ambassador talk about diamond dogs, with ambassador insisting that if Equestria wanted to relocate dogs from their homes, they should be aware of Diamond Treaty that was still enforced by both sides. However, she was willing to relay ponies wishes to Diamond Dog Protectorate and possibly set up negotiations to clear up any grievances either side had.

In the garden, however, he found something interesting. Captain Lulamoon was being cornered by Elements of Harmony.

“Captain Trixie Lulamoon, Hero of Equestria? What. The. Fudge.” Applejack said.

“Look, there is perfectly good reason for all this, you see...”

“Oh, I want to hear this. How in the million years did you went from a liar and a coward to someone who takes on entire human battalions alone?” Rainbow Dash was asking rather pointedly.

“Look, I didn't ask to be called that!”

“Really?” Rarity was asking.

“YES! LET ME EXPLAIN!” Trixie exploded at this point. Elements fell silent. “It started after Battle of Ponyville. I was passing through the area. I saw this group of human vessels approaching an area where I knew evacuates were. So I ran to them, to warn them.”

“Oh really, you really went into dangerous zone on your own.” Rainbow Dash sounded somewhat skeptical.

“What else was I supposed to do!? You can think what you want but there were innocent fillies there! I SAW THEM RAZE FILLYDELPHIA! CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE!?” Trixie was shouting at this point. “After... after you ruined my show I barely had any work anymore. Then Fillydelphia happened. I ran from there. I got to Ponyville just in time for humans to attack there. I couldn't just let it all happen again. I ran to evacuates. Told them to run. Then humans landed. Didn't think anymore. All I could think was all those innocent fillies and colts lost at Fillydelphia... unable to do anything... I just attacked them. Slowed them down. Threw rocks and sticks and whatever I could lift with my magic. Just to buy few more seconds...” Trixie fell silent.

“After a while... Guards arrived. They beat them back and brought me to a field hospital. Some fillies came later to see me. Thanked me... Me, can you imagine it? It felt... good... So I joined. From there, it was one nightmare after another. Fourth Battle of Ghastly Gorge. Los Pegasus. Operation Freedom. Canterlot. Fifth Battle of Ghastly Gorge. I almost died there. Hundreds of unknown and unnamed battles. Each and everyone, they took me there. I don't know if they hated me or thought I was some sort of 'hero'.

Never did I even try to be a hero. Just wanted to survive. I was a coward... yet... somehow... somehow I ended up doing something 'heroic'. Tried to run away, encountered human group planning to surround us. Tried to hide, accidentally found snipers nest. List goes on and on. They promoted me. What I could tell to Guards under my command? Sorry, your commander is a coward and all those good things so far were flukes? They trusted me! I couldn't break their trust...

So I kept the appearance. Great and powerful Trixie. Soon they added 'Hero of Equestria' to the list. I hate it. I am not a hero. Just a mare who has bad luck...”

Everyone was silent. Until Twilight touched Trixie on the shoulder.

“I'm sorry we doubted you. You are actually very brave.” She said.

“No I'm...”

“Yes you are. You stuck with your men to the end. You are still in Royal Guard, training and organizing new recruits. You oversee repairs. You are afraid of the dangers that your new position places you in, yet... you haven't given up.” Rarity said.

“I remember when Ursa Minor attacked Ponyville. You ran back then. This time... you have stayed, despite being afraid. That's courage.” Rainbow Dash concluded. Trixie was looking like she could cry at the any moment.

“Thanks guys... that means a lot to me...”

Iron Wall thought for a moment. On the other hand, whole image of Captain Lulamoon (HERO OF EQUESTERIA) had been ruined in that discussion. But, like Elements had said, she had still stuck with her men even if she was terrified to no end. Besides, he had to bring her her gem back. He made slightly more noise than necessary before arriving at the scene.

“Oh, greetings. Didn't know there was someone here. Enjoying the gala?”

“Oh, yes it is very lovely.” Rarity answered rather quickly.

“Captain, I was looking for you. You apparently dropped this.”

“Oh, thank you. I didn't even notice it was missing... It a memento from time before everything went to hell...”

“No need to thank me Captain. Just doing my duty.”

“Yes, yes, duty, yes... Anyway, shall we return to the main event? Dancing is supposed to start soon. I think I just grab this nice captain here and let you find you own.” Captain Lulamoon said and moved to Iron Wall.

“Hey wai-” Iron Walls protest were quickly silenced when Captain grabbed him and dragged him back to ball room. Oh well, he could worse ways to spend the night than being dance partner to a decorated war hero. His brother was going to be so jealous.

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

Chapter 2

Human March To The Sea

Unable to push forward, Canterlot opted to dig in and try to contain the enemy force. Luckily for Equestria, human choice of location was good for a defensive war, but bad for offensive. Ghastly Gorge created natural obstacle to limit human advance. San Palomino Desert to the west created an another obstacle, preventing humans from simply marching to Los Pegasus. Humans attempted to push through Everfree forest, however, the fate of this unit is unknown as it disappeared soon after entering the forest.

Human Archives: 35th Expedition Force attempted to bypass pony defenses by taking route through Everfree Forest. Last communication from the unit was the following message:

“Oh my God here they come again! This is Commander Langey to Ground Base Echo! We need help! Trees are fucking attackin... REICH UND GOTT WHAT IS THAT!? SHOOT IT! FUCKING KILL-” *Static*

After losing the entire Expedition Force to Everfree Forest, humans were left with only two directions to move: Through the pony defense line on the other side of the Ghastly Gorge or attempt to push east towards Baltimare. Human forces started to move on the 3rd month of the war, after being reinforced by the second wave of troops.

Human March To The Sea, as the Baltimare Campaign would later be called, set the countryside in fire like never seen before. Humanity, unwilling to lose it's troops to different types of monsters that lived in the forest areas, destroyed everything that they considered “a vital enemy asset” or “a dangerous natural occurrence”. This, however, gave Royal Guard much needed time to evacuate Baltimare and set up the defense position around it. Both Princesses, as well as the Elements of Harmony, were at the site when human forces finally arrived. Human soldier describes the arrival in his journal:

“I can see the city from here. Those creatures are setting up defense lines. Whole place has been made hard as fuck to reach. They got this weird pink/purple barrier around themselves and the city. The command is adamant that we breach them here. Mike saw one them weird thingies, the winged unicorns. Said it was the same one that lead the assault on the Forward Base 3.

“ Dunno about that. I got my orders. Me and rest of the ACES pilots are going to be on the front of the assault. May God watch us all and may He grant mercy to our enemies. We can spare none.”

Battle of Baltimare was bloody to both sides. Ponies, unable to counter human firepower, were forced to attempt to cross no-pony's land to get into hoof-to-hand combat. Humans, on the other hand, had hard time trying to push through magical barriers set by Princesses as well as Elements of Harmony. To this day, there is no consensus on the casualties of the battle, with pony casualties ranging from 6 000 to 15 000 and human casualties ranging between 1 500 to 2 500.

However, despite holding the line initially, ponies were eventually forced retreat as a lucky human shot hit Princess Luna. Although non-fatal, shock of pain caused Princess Luna to lose her concentration. Princess Celestia, alarmed of what had happened, lost her concentration as well. Humans, seeing a path ahead of them, concentrated their attack on the now weakened point of the defenses, eventually overwhelming the defenders and breaking through. As human forces pushed closer to the city, General Broken Steel gave order to retreat. He explains his decisions as follows:

“We had lost, no doubt about it. Some say we should have just created an another barrier, but how? Princess Luna was hurt. Princess Celestia was in a distress. Elements of the Harmony were tired. Unicorns couldn't create large or strong enough barrier to protect us. Humans were advancing on all fronts.

“It was better to retreat and fight another day than die for a lost cause. I am not proud about the fall of Baltimare, but it was a necessary sacrifice. What if we had stayed there? What if we had allowed humans to reach Princesses? Or Elements of the Harmony? No. I do not even want to think about it. I was better to lose Baltimare, than lose everything”.

The battle was still, despite ending in human victory, the first time ponies were able to mount significant fight against the human forces. This would slow human advance just enough for Rainbow Dash, the Bearer of Element of Loyalty, to come up with the plans for “Operation Weather Storm”.

Operation Weather Storm

Operation Weather Storm was the first major pony offensive of the war. It involved nearly all the pegasis of the Equestria in an attempt to stop human advance. Plan involved closing the skies in a thick cloud curtain and sending every single storm, hurricane and whatever pegasis could find against human forces. It also allowed the first human captives to be caught.

3 weeks after Battle of Baltimare southern parts of the Equestria, minus Los Pegasus, were covered in impenetrable cloud curtain. Human forces in Baltimare found out that area was suddenly prime target of hurricanes, cyclones and thunderstorms. To make matters worse for them, Ponies had adopted “hit-and-run” tactics, striking human supply centers.

This success did not come without a price, however, as the weather of the Equesteria was deeply disturbed. Even after the war, pegasis are having hard time bringing the weather back under the control. This can be especially be seen in Yanhoover and Tall Tale that are near inhabitable due to constantly alternating flooding and drought.

However, the greatest success of the Operation Weather Storm was the capture of human transport. One transport attempted to breach the cloud curtain, instead of taking the long and dangerous route of going around the curtain and flying under it. The transport was stuck in the curtain and quickly swarmed by Royal Guard. 20 humans were taken as prisoners as well as the transport. They were quickly taken to Canterlot for interrogation. I managed to gain access to “Interrogation #3” transcript.

*Transcript: Interrogation #3, unknown species, subject P3*

Interrogator #1: Right, let's hope you are more willing to speak to us. Let us start. What are you?

Prisoner: *remains silent*

Interrogator #2: Look, I know you don't like us and I sure as Luna don't like you. However, sooner you speak to us sooner we can get over this. Maybe we can make it worthwhile for you?

Prisoner: *remains silent and attempts to break his chains*

Interrogator #1: Looks like another failure...Two earlier weren't any more talkative.

Interrogator #2: Maybe it's those masks?

Interrogator #1: Hmmm... Okay, hey, assistant, could you try to remove that mask?

*Assistant uses his magic to remove prisoners mask*

Prisoner: *Screams incoherently*

Interrogator #2: BY THE CELESTIA!

Interrogator #1: What is happening! Put it back! Put it back!

*Prisoner keeps screaming. Assistant attempts to replace the mask, but unable due to erratic movement of the prisoner*

*Prisoner dies*

Interrogator #1: Goddesses...

Interrogator #2: Assistant. Make note. Under any circumstances do not remove prisoners masks. Better yet, do not attempt to remove their suits. At all. Send it to everyone.

Interrogator #1: And... and get someone to...clean this... get some to take care of... just... I need to take a break. When I return... please make sure that the... remains... are not here.

*Transcript ends*

Furthermore, I was able to convince Twilight Sparkle to speak about the first time she saw a human prisoner.

“It was... kinda weird. Here it was, the threat we all fought against, chained to a wall from it's limbs and what did it do? Just sit there. Sit and watch us. It was first time I really could look at them, well, their suits to be more specific. They really liked black. Black helmet that had that weird T-shaped red visor on it.

“Two breathing tubes from either side moving to backsides, that had this small backpack that was apparently an air purifier. Five fingers. Black suit worn under the armor. Shoulder pads, as well as pads on the knees and elbows. They had this interesting red rim on them.

“On the right shoulder, they had this symbol. I thought it was their cutie mark back then. A planet, with a shield behind it and a sword in front of it. Since they all shared the same mark, I had this idea that they might be clones or something. Of course, looking back now, that was a quite silly idea.

“On it's chest it, back then they were ‘it’, it had an another symbol, an arrow pointing up. This one was white with blue rim. Underneath it was some text I couldn't read. Can't even remember what it said. Of course now I know that the arrow was his rank insignia and text beneath was his name.”

Loss of transport ship and constant storms made humans to launch, even in their history, an unprecedented plan: to launch ground offensive on Fillydelphia and make a planetfall on Ponyville, hoping to tie up main Royal Guard army in Fillydelphia while rest of the Equestria would be cut off from Canterlot.

Miracle of Ponyville

At this point ponies had figured out where the humans came from. By following transports and their paths ponies were able to determine that only place that the human vessels could reach was the moon. Thus extensive network of observatories were setup to detect any possible approach by the humans. When transports were detected heading towards Ponyville and reports came in about human advance towards Fillydelphia, Princesses made hard choice: to abandon Fillydelphia and surrender it to humans, while concentrating all their forces on Ponyville to repel the assault.

Human Achieves: Attack on Ponyville and Fillydephia was called “Operation Thunderstruck”. It was hoped that while the main pony force would tied up defending City 5 (Designated name of Fillydelphia), City 2 (Ponyville) would be largely undefended. This way, the pony army would be surrounded and their capital would be cut off from the rest of the nation.

The plan to defend Ponyville was ambitious: to allow humans to land just before closing the skies, denying humans their air superiority and way to retreat. Royal Guard would surround the enemy and unicorns would engage the enemy from distance. Once a large enough gap would be created, Royal Guard would swarm in and engage in close range combat.

The plan worked nearly perfectly. Although casualties were, once again, lopsided against ponies, the human assault was repelled. However, human transports were armed too, thus instead of been taken out of the fight as planned, they entered battle as a sort of floating combat stations. In the end, however, pegasis were able to breach these vehicles and take them out, often at cost of their own lives. Several transports were able to escape by flying low and then speeding above the clouds when the curtain ended. It is also the first battle in which Captain Trixie Lulamoon participated, although she had not enlisted yet.

Humans fought to near total destruction, surrendering only after they ran out of ammunition to fight with. Still, humans destroyed much of their equipment to prevent it from falling into ponies hand. Out of total 20 000 human soldier who landed, only 231 surrendered. From those 231, only 122 would live to see end of the war. I attempted to interview them, but unfortunately they are very reluctant to share their experiences.

Numbers may seem high, but it should be contrasted with pony casualties: total of 40 350 ponies dead, 4 200 wounded and thousands more displaced due to destruction from the battle. To this day, Ponyville still bears the scars from the battle.

This victory came also with the price of Fillydelphia. Royal Guard, having pulled out, left the city and surrounding countryside to the mercy of the humans. Humans, still using same approach as during their March To The Sea, burned the most of Fillydelphia down in. Many have cried the Burning of Fillydelphia and ensuing massacre as a war crime, yet, Human Refuge to comment on matter and Equestria has not yet pushed the matter.

At this point, humanity started to have a problem with the amount of prisoners they had. Reluctant to employ any sort of "final solution" without definite proof that it would be beneficial to humanity as a species, humans simply herded survivors in to large camps where they were guarded. Still, conditions on these camps were usually extreme, with humans having little to no knowledge on pony physiology. It is estimated 500 000 to 1 000 000 ponies died on the camps.

Fall of Los Pegasus

With the defeat at the Ponyville, humans were pushed back for a short time. Royal Guard once again attempted to break human lines, only to be once again beaten back. Humans, on the other hand, opted to wait little longer before gaining reinforcements. Operation Lowlands started with humans seemingly falling back, with massive amounts of equipment loaded on to their surviving transports. After this, they started to take the standard route out of the Cloud Curtain and the planet.

Instead of heading to upper atmosphere, transports took a different turn: straight over San Palomino Desert towards Los Pegasus. Royal Guard Sentries tried to reach Canterlot to warn the Princesses of this new surprising assault. Unfortunately, humans transports attacked them. Only one pegasus survived and was only able to reach Canterlot a four days later. By that time, it was too late.

Humans landed on Los Pegasus and proceeded to occupy the town. Local militia attempted to put up a fight, but was soon overrun by humans. Humans, being used to fighting much more trained and experienced Royal Guard, simply used their superior firepower to defeat local defenders. One survivor describes the events:

“We had been trained in case of this. Monsters were coming. We could see the black shapes of their vessels on the distance, approaching us. Several pegasis tried to engage them on the air, only to be gunned down. When they landed, they spared no-one. I survived because I was a coward. I hid myself from them. Only later they found me, but at that point they had already won.”

Fall of Los Pegasus was bitter defeat for Princesses and Royal Guard. Humans had in effect occupied entire southern Equestria, with Royal Guard or Royal Princesses having little to nothing to fight with. It seemed as humans would simply steamroll over Equestria.

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

After The War - Funeral

Canterlot Cemetery
Five years after The Human War

“Today, we lay down heroes to the rest, who gave their live protecting their loved ones and in defense of our great nation. They died for our Princesses, for their families, for their friends and their comrades, for all ponykind. Let us never forget their bravery...” The priest kept going on and on. Funerals like these were rare now days, with most of the fallen having already returned. However, a human team had found an unmarked mass grave near Ghastly Gorge DMZ, apparently made for casualties of First Battle of Ghastly Gorge. 600 ponies corpses had been dug up, identified and send to Canterlot for burial.

White coffins were closed, for what was left of the dead was not a pretty sight. Over the coffins were flag of Equestria. Eventually, it was time lay soldiers to rest. Unicorns, four for each coffin, raised the coffins and carried them, holding them over the empty graves.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Rest in peace, dear friend.” Coffin was laid to grave. One of the unicorns lifted the flag and folded while the priest threw some dirt over the coffin. Same action was repeated for each grave. There would later be another group of caretakers who would fill the graves.

Twilight looked over to Applejack. Braeburn had joined up with the guards heading to “take control of the monster situation”, but had went MIA during the battle. Now he had been recognized as one from the mass grave. Rest of the Apple family was there too. Applejack was clearly trying to hold back. She had accepted long time ago that Braeburn was dead, especially after the peace treaty had allowed ponies to contact their relatives in Appleloose, or New Hope City as humans called it.

Twilight could see several other familiar faces in the crowd. Cakes were there to lay down Mrs. Cakes uncle. Vinyl Scratch was also there, with Octavia supporting her. She didn’t know who she had lost. Several others, but also a lot of unknown faces. They all wore the same mask. Sadness.

Eventually, all the coffins were laid down. Twilight stood up to walk to one grave aside from the funeral. Applejack joined her.

“Does it get easier?” She asked quietly. Apple family had lost a lot of people to the war and with Big Mcintosh still in hospital, laying in coma, they were having hard time to just to harvest all the apples, not to mention survive financially.

“...No, but you learn to live with it. You learn, or you lose yourself.” Applejack just nodded. She had been there for Twilight when Shining Armor died. Twilight had nearly went mad from the grief, especially with her parent having died when Manehattan was destroyed.

“How's Spike?”

“He is okay. Kinda pissed off that most of the gems are now used to trade with humans, but otherwise OK. I'm still surprised that he finally worked enough courage to ask Rarity for a date.”

“Well, I guess he realized that life is too short to wait. I'm more surprised that Rarity accepted. I mean, she is kinda picky when it comes to dates. Then again, having her eyes blinded can do that to one too.”

“Guess she too realized that life is too short. Seeing how many died during the war and how little it took to for them to die...” Twilight fell silent. Her parents had been on a tourist trip to Manehattan when it was wiped out. Their remains had never been found, like with so many others. There had been very little to be found from Manehattan. Shining Armor had been able to keep her going, alongside with her friends. It had been a shock to her. One day, she had parents. Next day... she didn't. She hadn't even known they were dead until she had gotten that sickly clinical “We are sorry, your relative is dead” letter...

“I'm going to visit Zecora's grave too. You're coming too?” Twilight asked Applejack.

“Sorry. The farm isn't the same without Big Mac and we need everypony just to get by the harvest.” Applejack said, shaking her head. Then she raised her head and looked at distance.

“Looks like you are not the only one here to remember the fallen” Applejack said. Sitting in front of the grave was a pink alicorn, laying down some flowers on it.

“Princess Cadance. Didn't know you were here too. Do you wish us to leave you for your peace?” Twilight said in surprise.

“Huh? Oh, Twilight, no need. He was your brother too, wasn't he? You have every right to come to see him too...” They sat in silence for few minutes. Eventually, Applejack broke the silence.

“I need to go. Sorry to leave ya like this. With my brother in hospital, the harvest is going slowly.”

“It's okay. I return to Ponyville little bit later. I promised to Lyra that I help her in some research. Apparently she is writing some book.”

“Okay, see you later then.” Applejack said and left, but not without stopping by the soldiers graves one more, before walking out of the cemetery.

“You miss him greatly, don't you?” Twilight asked Cadance.

“...Yes. We were so happy together, Like nothing could ruin it. Then the war came... and ruined everything...” she started to sob “I have barely anything left of him. They destroyed Canterlot and most the memorabilia we had collected. We kept most in Canterlot, since he served there. I don't even have any pictures! Just... some letters he wrote... Wrote what we would do after the war was over...” Twilight gave Cadance a hug. It might not have been exactly correct by etiquette, but at this point neither really cared.

“I have photos left of your wedding. I can give them to you. You need them more than I do.” Twilight said softly before taking one more look at the grave.

Here lies
Shining Armor
General of Equestrian Royal Guard.
A loving husband, son and brother.
“There is nothing that love can't defeat”

“You were wrong brother...”, Twilight thought, “because you aren't here.”

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

Chapter 3

Griffin Kingdoms joins the war

Griffin Kingdom had remained neutral in the conflict so far, but after the Fall of Los Pegasus, formally declared that they would join Equesteria in it's fight. Griffins brought much needed ponypower against the humans. When humans made their attempt to push through Ghastly Gorge Defense Line, it was thanks to griffins that the line held. However, griffins were inexperienced in battles against humans and made several mistakes that Royal guard has committed during the early days of the war, mainly ignoring human projectile weaponry and attempting to rush them.

These mistakes were soon corrected. Counterattack to retake lost positions was success and humans were beaten back, earning ponies much needed victory. Griffin claws were particularly effective. Ponies had to either cause massive bodily harm or aim at the weaker mask to cause the suits to rupture, whereas simple claw strike allowed griffins to tear human suits open much faster.

Bolstered by new victories and allies, Royal Guard attempted, with assistance from Elements of the Harmony, to liberate Los Pegasus. Assault was a joint Pony-Griffin assault, one of the few on history. In retrospect, had Royal Guard launched the attack earlier it might have succeeded. As it was, poor timing caused it to fail to achieve it’s objective.

Liberation force launched an attack on the Los Pegasus, hoping to dislodge human forces entrenched there. With aid of the Elements of the Harmony, joint pony-griffin force was able to push through first line of defense. For 4 days, battle raged with neither side gaining definite advantage. On the fifth day, human reinforcements arrived.

As mentioned earlier, plan failed mainly due to poor timing. Canterlot was still unaware of time it took to travel between the planet and the moon. Unfortunately for the Royal Guard, human transports had been approaching the planet when the assault was carried out. They arrived on the 5th day of the battle, dropping entire new regiment of humans to the battlefield, reinforced with a battalion of ACES. Furthermore, humans dropped numerous units behind the lines causing the army to be surrounded. One human survivor describes the event:

“It was like a gift from the heavens. These ponies, they had been pushing towards us for last 4 days and we were nearly out of ammunition. We feared we would need to get into close combat where you ponies held definite advantage. You could take cuts. We couldn't.

So you can imagine how glad we were when those ships arrived. We were saved. The cavalry had arrived to save us. Just in nick the time, like in the movies. We wouldn't die here. We would be able to see our families again. This was not the end.

We had won.”

Human dominance of Los Pegasus continued and most the army was lost. After a long and stressful process, I managed to convince Bearer of Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash, to speak about those final moments.

“So we had been pushing towards them, you see? We were sure that this time, this time we would win! And it would be awesome victory for us! But... then those ships arrived... and ruined everything! All the suddenly humans were everywhere, in front of us, behind us, around us, constantly shooting us. The army crumpled. I wanted to fight, but Applejack and Twilight Sparkle convinced me to retreat. Me and Fluttershy flew up to inform our air forces.

One of the griffins flew to us, asking for orders. She got shot, right through her head. It exploded in gore and blood... That image still appears in my nightmares... Then I saw one of them human machines trying to aim at me. Me! I heard the characteristics 'BRAKA' sound those things made. I pulled myself around and up, thinking how awesome I was for avoiding those bullets... only to forget who was behind me...

I heard a sickening crunch. Then Fluttershy screamed in pain. I saw how her left hind leg dangled on a small piece of flesh, before snapping and dropping down. I saw blood pour out. Then she started to fall. I managed to catch her and bring her back to Twilight. Thank Celestia Twilight knows so many spells. Without her... I don't want to think about it. Twilight teleported us out after that. Still.. to this day... whenever I see Fluttershy and her prosthetic leg... despite what she says... I can't but think one thing.

My fault”.

“Winter Armistice”

After pony/griffin army was defeated during Battle of Los Pegasus, a 4 month time of peace settled over Equestria. Ponies, not able to control arrival of winter due to Operation Weather Storm, were forced to dig in and wait for human action. Fortunately for ponies, humans were reluctant to take offensive actions during the winter. This lead to so called “Winter Armistice”. Humanity reinforced it's positions and brought more soldiers, as well as giving veterans some well needed vacation time.

Winter proved to be a quite different experience to humans, who had not experience one for over thousand years. One describes the experience as follows:

“I want you imagine you had never seen winter. Never seen autumn. We thought the world was dying. Trees lost their color, air became cold. It was... unnatural. How are you supposed to just sit by and watch the world die around you?

Then came the snow. By the Sun, that thing was weird. Sure, I have seen ice before. How do you think we got our water all these years? Recycling gets you only so far, there is always waste product. Stuff you can’t recycle. Anyway, I am rambling. Now, I knew what ice was. Still, ice from the sky? Not only ice, but this weird, white stuff? It was freaky. I swear, several guys totally freaked out the first day it snowed.

Good thing our machines were designed to operate in the space. If they hadn’t, I bet our entire army would have been bogged down due to stuff freezing up. I know my gun did, several times in fact.”

Human Archives: “Winter Armistice” was mainly due to uncertainty of weather. Thanks to ponies closing skies above the human controlled areas, as well as events during Battle of Ponyville, High Command was reluctant to sends troops into unknown area, even by orbital drops, only to be caught in „unexpected“ snow storm.

Near the end of the Winter Armistice, humanity made contact with a race they weren't familiar with: Diamond Dogs. Despite initial hostility, both sides quickly found somewhat unexpected cooperation: Diamond Dogs could easily dig out resources humans were in bad need, such as metals. In return, humanity was able to supply them with advanced medicine and equipment, as well as large stockpiles of captured diamonds.

With Diamond Dogs already possessing degree is resentment towards ponies, they found unexpected friend and ally in humanity. Humanity, being mostly confused how diamond dogs natural magic didn't seem harmful to them. This became most prominent when during one the trade events, when one human got into a fight with a diamond dig and ruptured his suit. Trying to clamp the suit down before suffering painful death, he was unable to do so due to the size of the rupture. However, diamond dog that he had gotten into the fight did manage to close the rupture with his hand causing the human to stop suffering from magic. This created confusion among humans, especially the human whose suit was ruptured. I wanted to interview him for this event, but unfortunately, he, like many others, died during the war. However, I managed to speak one of the diamond dogs who witnessed the event:

“It was weird. This human, Alec they called him, started an argument with Ruffer. I think it was whenever Ruffer looked like an ape or not. Anyway, Ruffer tried to punch him, he avoided it and punched back. Then Ruffer clawed him. Got him by the arm. So then this humans starts to scream and tries to clamp down on that rupture. Other humans start to panic. I realized it was the rupture that was causing it. So I ordered Ruffer to cover it. So then this human started to calm down and rest of them had this weird thing going on. They kept looking down to the human, then to the hand, then to Ruffer, back to hand, back to human... repeat few times and you get the idea.”

Spring of the second year

Humanity was starting it's offensives again, thanks to winter starting to pass. Unable to maneuver like they wanted due to still on-going Operation Weather Storm, they sought new type of approach: underground. Negotiations were started with the diamond dogs on prospect on an alliance.

Meanwhile, Royal Guard was preparing for an assault to rescue prisoners of Fillydelphia. Operation Freedom was different to previous actions in that it's goal was not capture of lost territories and it relied more on the shock and awe than defeating the enemy conventionally. At this point, new “hoofclaws” had been introduced to Royal Guards based on griffin talons.

Assault on Prisoner Camp of Fillydelphia, or Camp August as humans called, was carried on 5th month of the second year. By the standards of the war, it was a great success. Human company stationed at the Camp August was caught by surprise and overrun before they could call of reinforcements. By the time humans learned about the attack, prisoners had been evacuated and camp was found empty.

Success of the operation was a good morale booster to Equestria and with several smaller raids, convinced many that Equestria had not been beaten yet

Diamond dogs join the war

Negations eventually reached their conclusion with the diamond dogs and a military alliance was signed between humanity and diamond dogs, referred officially as “Diamond Dog Protectorate”, a newly formed state. With the “Diamond Treaty”, humanity gained access to numerous mineral deposits under Equestria, as well as unparalleled underground network that allowed humans to reach any part of Equestria without having to push through pony defense lines. Interestingly enough, this opportunity was never fully realized, most likely due to inexperience of diamond dogs in war and human focus on air superiority.

Ponies learned of this alliance the hard way. “Operation Snakes Head”, as it was unflatteringly called, was first Human-Dog offensive. It involved diamond dogs tunneling beneath the Castle Canterlot and then breaching the ground, allowing humans and dogs, now armed with human weapons and armors, attack the seat of Equestrian government. Attack was devastating to Equestria. Main reason why it failed in it's main goal, to kill Princesses, was that they were not at Canterlot during the assault. Princess Luna was at the time at Ponyville, helping locals to wrap up the winter. Meanwhile, Princess Celestia had taken route trough Griffin Kingdoms down to south to Zebra Union. Humanity however, was unaware of this and thought that both Princesses would be at Canterlot.

Castle Canterlot was destroyed as the result of the assault, with deaths of General Shining Armor and Wonderbolt members Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Open Skies, Cloud Buster and Thundercloud. Death of General Shining Armor stuck Twilight Sparkle especially hard, causing her to fall into depression. Attack also saw several human prisoners escaping. Only one of diamond dogs who participated on the assault has lived to this, other having either died during the assault or during the war. It took quite amount of convincing to have human ambassador to even reveal his name and then even more convincing to meet him and then even more convincing to have him talk about the assault. He wished to remain anonymous, but here is what he told me:

“So... Battle of Canterlot, huh? Our first foray into the war. I remember it. That modified human weapon in my hand. Armor made from decommissioned ACES suits. I felt I could take on Ursa Major and win! I felt invincible! The power rush was awesome. Anyway, the assault. We had dug our way under Canterlot, humans were with us. I was in team Gamma, that was 5 dogs, 5 humans and one of them ACES suits. I always wanted one of them, but their interior was not designed for dogs.

We broke through the ground. Caught everyone unprepared. I remember our job was to kill the command staff, generals and captains. We and teams Omega and Epsilon. The first pony I killed, it was a gray pegasus guard. He tried to attack me, I managed to raise my gun, aim at him and pull the trigger. Now, weapons humans gave us were much more bigger than they used, they called us 'living heavy weapons platforms' for our strength. Sure, weapons were more crude than what they had, they had to work as clubs in close range. Didn't matter to us. Humans treated us with respect. They knew we weren't on the same level as them, but still, they also saw how much we could help each others. Pegasus just exploded in shower of gore and blood.

Back to the matter at hand... so... we fought our way through the castle. We eventually reached the command post, there were these four generals. Guards tried to stop us while the generals ran. Well, except the one. Shining Armor stayed behind to coordinate the defense. Didn't help him much, Ruffles got him. That ACES suit guy from Epsilon team finished the job with grenade. Rest of the command staff escaped. We tried to give pursuit, but they collapsed the way in front of us. So we moved to second objective: planting bombs. We put our bombs in their position and started raising hell.

Worked pretty well, after all. We got message over the radio to activate the bombs and pull back. That's what we did. A guy from Alpha team saw the explosions and said it was pretty cool looking. Have to take his word for it.

Hehe... why are you looking so shocked, little pony? The casual way I talk? I see you weren't in the front lines. It gets easier more you do it. Or, better to say, it gets either easier or you go mad from the guilt. Few dogs and humans did. Went mad from all the killing they had to do. Committed suicides. Poor bastards”.

Destruction of the Canterlot Castle forced Royal Princesses to move the seat of government. First location was Ponyville, where Princess Luna was when news of the attack arrived.

News of diamond dogs alliance with humans greatly disturbed ponykind, especially after “official” declaration of war was brought by one of the diamond dogs. Sudden appearance of Diamond Dog Protectorate and human assault of Canterlot also lead to failure to negotiate alliance with Zebra Union. Zebra Union didn't believe it could fight against threat such as humanity and diamond dogs represented and feared of similar attacks. Furthermore, unable to employ cloud curtains and lack of magical abilities of unicorns and pegasis further made Zebra Union reluctant to enter war that waged north of them.

Human Archives: Humanity originally had plans to expand into Zebra Union territory. However, when it was realized that two states were separate, it was hoped that sufficient first victories would be enough to deter the other from joining the war. During the war, there were power blocks that demanded assaults against zebras. However, military command was reluctant to fight two-front war and believed the zebra nation to be non-hostile, at least for the current time.

As it turned out, this assumption was true and continued human victories during the first year, with lack of assaults against zebras, lead Zebra Union to stay out of the war. Underground support and volunteer troops however, continued throughout the war.

Fifth Battle of Ghastly Gorge

Ghastly Gorge has become a symbol of constant struggle between ponies and humans during the war. It became de facto border, with neither side unable to push through. However, Fifth Battle of Ghastly Gorge finally broke the stalemate that had began since the war. Humans, with assistance of diamond dogs, used underground paths to surround the pony defenders. With diamond dog troops attacking from the rear and humans assaulting from the front, pony defenses of Ghastly Gorge fell.

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

Chapter 4

Dragon Age and the end of the war

Dragons, normally solitary creatures, moved in force to assault southern human areas. Dragons didn't number in thousands like other sides did, however even a single dragon was enough to destroy a human division. This tied up human forces to south and stopped human advance towards Ponyville, relocated Equestrian seat of power. Interestingly enough, dragons never formed a governing body during the war and each one fought as an individual. Thus there was never official alliance between dragon packs that fought humans for Equestria.

This era, dubbed Dragon Age by later historians, saw human attacks on Equestria to cease for 4 months, with winter arriving near the end causing humans to put halt to their attacks for another 3 months. This time was much needed breather for Equestria, as Royal Guard was badly depleted and allowed griffin reinforcements to arrive. It also allowed Royal Guard to do much needed training for new soldiers. Even after the end of Dragon Age numerous dragons supported Equestria, even fighting alongside Royal Guard.

However, the most important discovery of this much needed peace was connection between human reaction to magic and their location on the moon: beneficial effects of the Princess Luna's magic. It is still unclear why humanity reacts positively towards Princess Luna's magic, but suffer painful “collapse of HBCF” (Human Body Containment Field, as it is called by human scientist) when placed in any other magical field, even from the background magical radiation.

This discovery came when Princess Luna saw diamond dog prisoner assist human prisoner, who had suffered fracture in his suit, by closing the fracture with her hand. Files pertaining of whole study are national secret, closed for 500 years, but at the end of these tests Princess Luna was able to create an unique anti-magic field, where human could survive without his suit yet would not harm naturally magical creatures.

It is still unclear why the same field, when created by Princess Celestia or unicorns, serves opposite effect, causing human to grow weaker, although not outright killing them. Perhaps humanity’s 1500 years of exile in the moon, with Nightmare Moon being trapped there for 1000 year, has caused human bodies to become more accepting towards Princess Luna's magic. Of course, without further studies, there is no proof of this.

Prisoner Gambit

This lead to what became to be called by humans as Prisoner Gambit. Princess Luna, casting a Human Preservation Field, as it's name became to know and then placing humans inside it and removing their mask. Humans, at first panicking for fear of dying, quickly found out that they were able to continue living inside the field. This field was even stronger during the night, as it was found.

Second part of the gambit, was to earn the trust of humans and learn the reason why humanity had attacked. After 2 weeks, human prisoners consulted among themselves, eventually deciding to speak with their captors. What ponies learned shocked them greatly.

1700 years ago, humanity was dominant species of the planet, which they called Earth. Earth did not have natural magic, thus life on Earth did not develop resistance towards magic. When humanity discovered magic, it was, at first, though be to be solution for a crisis that was threatening the planet. Although fusion power provided clean power, it was not enough to fuel human goal to reach other stars in one human lifetime.

Thus the first magic generator was set up on Earth, to test viability of using magic to fuel human ambitions. The test ended in a disaster. Due to unknown reasons, generator exploded and caused ever increasing amount of magical energy occurring on Earth. Human scientist found other events to start happening, such as disappearing planets and stars. Once the entire planet was covered in this magical field, Earth started to shift trough dimensions towards Equestria before finally merging with it. Humanity, at first attempting peaceful co-existence, soon found itself losing numbers to natural hazards as well as increasing attacks from numerous magical creatures, including three pony tribes. This event is known to humans as The Great Cataclysm. Human numbers fell from 10 billion to 2 billion during the shift and even more during the following years.

For 200 years, humanity tried to hold it's ground before being forced to take extreme measures: an exile on the moon. Humanity had set up initial self-sufficient bases to the moon earlier, but now they would become their permanent home. Humanity left what had once been Earth. I was told that in their home system, there had been another planet that could have supported human life, but was missing in our own star system.

Humanity's life on the moon was not easy. Human numbers fell from 1 billion humans surviving humans to mere 5 million humans. Numerous diseases ravaged human populace, most infamous being “Second Black Plague”, and humanity was forced to abandon ethical research conducts, to just to maintain their physical health. One of the most important goals, which thankfully was reached in 50 years, was artificial gravity that allowed humans to maintain their physical strength without artificial boosters.

One might think humanity would have built a massive fleet of ships, but as it was pointed to me too, they didn't have resources. Moon isn't exactly what one one would call “resource rich”. Most of the minerals and metals humanity gained were taken from off-flying asteroids or through long and dangerous mining trips to other planets in the system. Had humanity have access to all the resource of Earth, they would have easily created unstoppable military force. However, as it was, 95% of all resource they had went just to survive one more year.

The reason for human invasion was tied to the Second Cataclysm. An asteroid hit the surface of the moon. To be more specific, it hit one of the humanity's farm complexes. This lead to a critical drop in food supplies, as humanity could not easily replace its losses. It is estimated humanity had food for 15 years of rationing before they would run out of food. This lead to humans enact their desperate plan to “retake” Earth, or more specially, demagic Earth, allowing human live to survive on it. A journal from early days of The Exile describes the event as follows:

“Small, confined rooms. People living, not in permanent structures, but in converter cargo ships. We, who once ruled the entire solar system, have been forced to live on these slums. Moon base was not designed for this many people. The leaders are barely maintaining control. Last week, I heard that Icarus had an uprising. It was put down violently. Another 50 000 dead. We can’t afford this rate of death.

“~~Damn these creatures. We should kill them all. Kill them all and send off sleper ships to~~ No... It’s not their fault... Our own hubris caused this. The surface is too lethal to live any more, we can’t even step outside the protective bunkers. The suits allowed limited movement outside, but there was always the danger. Danger of minor slip up.

“Jones says that the moon will offer us better chance. That this... ‘magical radiation’ is much weaker here, enough to allow us to live. Still makes me feel weak and sick, but it’s better than melting. They are dismantling Odussey and Prometheus. They plan to use them to expand the current base. They hope that they can turn Moonbase Alpha into a proper colony.

“I think it’s foolish. There aren’t enough resource. Even now, Nero is traveling to closest neighboring planet and it’s moon, to survey and mine them. This new solar system... it seems to hate us. There isn’t a place where we could settle down. At least the moon is still full of hydrogen. It will allows us to maintain fusion reactors.

“Time to go. My shift will start now. May Lord watch over us all.”

With the truth behind the war revealed, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna moved quickly to create a plan for peace. Prisoners were released, with information that Equestria would provide safe places for the human settlement, citing the fields the prisoners had been as a proof. In exchange, humanity would end the war.

One Year Armistice

For 2 months, there seemed to be no change in human actions, until message was received trough released pony prisoner: humanity was ready to negotiate in exchange of imminent farming area. Desperate to end the war, Princesses agreed. A field was created on human side of Ghastly Gorge and One Year Armistice was signed.

With an year passing with neither side moving to attack, humanity was able to confirm the truth about the offer. Human leaders were unsure what to do and this referendum was held: continue the war or accept the peace offer? Referendum ended in favor of peace, with population rather accepting sure way of surviving over guessing whenever or not destruction of two most powerful creatures of the world would help.

Thus second armistice was signed and peace negotiations were started. On the summer of 4th year of the war, New Zebas Peace Treaty was signed. Appleloose, Dodge City and Baltimare were seceded to humanity. Humanity, in return, agreed to pay reparations for destruction of Manehattan and leave Los Pegasus and Fillydelphia. Humanity agreed to release all it's prisoners and allow ponies to return they their old homes. In return, Equestria promised to create more zones to allow humanity to settle on the planet. Equestria also promised not to attempt capture and trial any suspected human war criminals.

Reception to the peace differed. Among humans, peace was welcomed. Among ponies, peace made them realize that the first time in thousands of years, Equestria had failed to defeat its enemy. Saul Rakata describes the arrival of the news as follows:

“We were anxious. Something big was about to be announced. Fuck, even ponies were listening. They had brought this big announcement radio up. Everyone could hear it. Ponies had climbed up from their trenches and we had abandoned our positions. Everyone gathered up.

“Then it came. The official order to stand down.

“There was peace.

“No war.

“Peace.

“We cried the tears of joy. We laughed. We embraced each others. Some of the ponies seemed relieved. Others, they looked like they had been slapped in the face. We, on the other hand, we were just glad. No more fighting. No more fear that someone is going to rip your suit open. We could go home. We could go back to our families. Leave the place to someone else.

“We didn't celebrate victory because we could stay.

“We celebrated because we could return home.”

The War saw death of over 1 200 000 ponies, 45 000 griffins, 125 000 humans, 15 000 zebra volunteers and 20 000 diamond dogs.

Present day

To this day, more than 7 million humans live on planetside, with majority still living on the moon. The Human Refuge and Diamond Dog Protectorate have maintained their alliance, now in form of a defense treaty. As for relationships between The Human Refuge and Equestria Kingdom, they are in what some ponies call “forced state of we are all friends”. Ambassador Fahrenheit said that humanity calls such situation “A Cold War”, although I do not get the meaning of the word. She said that such situations are known to human, although last such Cold War was 2000 years ago. Humanity has strained relations with Griffin Kingdom, but otherwise have little contact.

Final words

Finally, I wish to talk about the name of this war: The Human War. It is name assigned by us ponies and others who fought against humans. However... among humans the war is called “The Return War” and among diamond dogs, it’s called “The Great Uprising”.

For better relations between our species, to promote healing and reconstruction, rather than promoting bitterness and vengeance, I urge historians on all sides to seek a better name. More neutral term. Subtle words can change the world.

Why should we, through unfortunate choice of words, create more conflict? The wounds of this war run deep and will probably never fully heal. Just like a wound leaves a scar, so will this war. Yet, we should not seek to reopen a wound that has started to heal. We should seek to promote the healing process.

Author's Note

Rewrite uploaded 1.10.2013

After The War - State Visit

Canterlot
Capital of Equesteria
Planetside

Celestia was troubled. There were ponies out there, demanding that something was to be done about the humans. Get the criminals who dropped the asteroids. Make them return all the stolen gems. So much hate going around. It didn't help that the human ambassador had told her that there was unrest in Luna Aeternal, human capital. Apparently, more and more humans wanted to come to planetside. That mean increasing The Zone. However, they could not do it without losing a face to ponies. If they kept caving to human demands, it would seem as they were weak. That could lead to... a civil war. It was a tought she didn't want to think. It was enough during Nightmare Moons reign, those horrible two weeks when two sides collided, even if it was just corrupted guard versus loyal guard.

But now, there was no clear enemy. Ponies needed confidence, to see that their leaders were still strong. Yet, at the same time, she couldn't agitate humans. No, that was wrong. She had gotten much better grasp of human political system by now. It wasn't human government she needed to fear. It was few powerful political blocks. If she made something that could be understood as "a threat", those blocks would move to drum up support for a new war. It was not something she could allow to happen.

Human government was keeping the lid on the situation by carefully monitoring and controlling the media, but as the ambassador Fahrenheit had said, it was only temporal solution. Sooner or later something would slip by, or the people would start to question news blackout on the moon. They needed more permanent solution, a compromise. However, things she needed to be done to regain lost position were beyond what ambassador could give.

It left only one option. To talk to human leader, so called The First Citizen. She had already talked to ambassador about it and The First Citizen and send her an invitation for a state visit. But who could go? If she went, they would see the very symbol of the enemy, an extremely powerful magical pony. However, sending someone else would mean that they would in same position as they were with the ambassador, only in reversed roles.

That left only one option: Princess Luna. Humanity had some respect as a whole for her. It was she who had found key to end the war without further bloodshed. However, she was reluctant to let Luna to travel to middle of human territory. They would be out of contact for several days if that happened and she could not talk to her if needed. Plus, if humans really did have unrest among their population there was no way to know what would happen.

Life had become so complicated. She missed the times when the hardest decisions she had to make were related to ownership of a tree located on a border of two farms. In such a short time her life had turned into a minefield, where every step had to be carefully calculated.

"Tia? You said you wanted to talk to me." Luna walked in to throne room.

"Yes. We need to find a compromise that will satisfy the warhawks on the both sides. You know what we need and what they need..."

"And we can't just give them what they want and they can't give us what we want. So what do you propose?"

"Well, problem is that the ambassador can't promise such things and she can't remain in constant contact with The First Citizen. So we would need to speak to The First Citizen directly. However, he can't come here." Celestia said tiredly.

"That means... going to the moon."

"Yes. I have an invitation to visit their capital, Luna Aeternal. I think it's for the best if you go there. If I go it might agitate their populace and cause them to listen to those who want war..."

"Me? But, I... Yes. I will go. Who shall come with me?"

"Captain Stonewall shall come with squad of guards. Is there anyone else you might want to come with you?"

At this point Luna had to think hard. Who would want to come with her? Despite her efforts during the war, there were still poisonous voices whispering about her past as Nightmare Moon. Who would want to travel with her to the moon... Then she had an idea.

"Can I... Can I ask Twilight Sparkle to come with me?" Luna said meekly. Celestia raised an eyebrown at this.

"My faithful student? Well, if she wishes." Celestia was not exactly thrilled of idea of sending both Luna and Twilight to human capital, but if having Twilight with her helped Luna to handle the trip, she would allow it for now.

They talked for a while about how the visit to human capital would be done and when it would be done. Then there was matter of informing Twilight Sparkle.

...................................................

Ponyville was healing nicely from the war. Most of the damage had been repaired and ponies had settled in comfortable routines. Twilight was at the moment hosting two guest, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, with Rainbow Dash teasing Rarity and Spike.

"So, you two had any fun yet? Any vertical tango?"

"Dash! Such language is not suitable for proper lady!" Rarity shouted in a protest

"Besides, if we had we wouldn't tell about it to you." Came Spikes answer from the ladder where he was setting book in order.

"Spike!"

"Sorry, sorry..."

"Okay, all of you calm down. No need to tease them when you see them, Dash. Fun as it is." Twilight wasn't really the best to imprint other about teasing, considered she did all the time with Spike.

"So. How have you been? Is Scootaloo doing fine?" It had been a shock to everyone when Rainbow Dash had one day arrived with Scootaloo under her wing, with adoption papers in her mouth. Apparently Scootaloos parents had not survived the war, with her dad enlisting in the Guard and mother dying during Battle of Ponyville. So when Rainbow Dash had seen her in Canterlot Orphanage, she had adopted her right away.

"She is doing fine. Her grades are actually improving. She finally passed flying test." Rainbow Dash said with a small smile. She had calmed down considerably after adopting Scootaloo. Guess the sudden transformation from "cool big sis" to "parent" caused her to rethink her actions. "I just wish I could help her with the nightmares."

"Poor little one." Rarity said, before trying to reach for a sandwich. It flew slightly pass her mouth, but she quickly corrected the mistake.

"How about you? Do you need help getting back home?"

"Oh, no need. Spike promised he would help me to get there." Rarity said with a smile, while Spike turned visibly red. "Sweetie Bell has been great help with the shop now days, sometimes I think she might get better than me!" What was left out was that Sweetie Bell had the definite advantage of seeing what she was doing. A burp from Spike (and the accompanying crash) broke their discussion.

"Spike, what happened?" Rarity asked.

"Ooh... why it's always when I am on the stairs..."

"Hey, a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight said as she picked up the letter.

"What does it say!?" Rainbow Dash asked in excitement.

"Let's see..."

My dear faithful student.

Due to political difficulties faced by us, we have decided to make a state visit to human capital, Luna Aeternal, on the dark side of the moon. We will personally remain on Canterlot, while Princess Luna conducts this visit. We wish to ask you to accompany Her during this trip, to ensure she has a friend and confidential with her.

Yours
Princess Celestia

Everyone just stared at Twilight, while Twilight read the letter several times trough. It wasn't a normal letter Celestia send her, but a formal request.

"A state visit? To human capital?"

"That's... wow..." Spike was able to say.

"But but but what I am supposed to do!?"

"Relax dear, take a deep breath. She wants you to accompany Princess Luna during her trip. She doesn't ask you to negotiate for her, does she?"

"No and you are right. I guess I need to answer this..."

"What will you answer?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, what do you think? Of course I agree. Princess Celestia asked me for this. She has been having hard time lately, this is the least I can do to help her. Spike, I need you to look after the library while I am gone. And no holding weddings while I am gone!"

"TWILIGHT!" Answered both Spike and Rarity in unison while Rainbow Dash chuckled.

(To be continued in a whole new story: "After The War - Luna Aeternal")