Friendship is Magic:Equestrian Heroes
Chapter 167: The Aftermath!
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Naruto x Rarity x Twilight x Fluttershy x Applejack x Pinkie Pie x Rainbow Dash x Ditzy x Luna x ? x ?
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For Normal Speech
Inner thoughts, Text read, Italics used to represent characters speaking in different language.
Demonic rage, Demonic characters, Kurama Speak
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Story Start
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Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were in the midst of coordinating Equestria. The causalities numbered in the thousands. Many small towns had suffered a lot of damage and what followed any disaster there would be a surge of criminal activity soon.
It would be a few weeks before they could get an estimation of the property damage.
Information was trickling in from the other battle sites across Equestria. The cost of repairs would be astronomical. The bulk of villages and towns raided and destroyed were concentrated in the eastern sector.
Then there was the fact that Deemeter would also be arriving any day now so they needed to prepare for her arrival.
Internal politics would also be weighing on the princesses. The head of many prominent families and council members had been murdered during the attack. There were many already putting the blame on the princesses and questioned their ability to protect their citizens.
The Diarchs sent out summons for ranked officers who would be good for the task in mind.
With that Naruto and many other officers arrived.
"By all appearances it seems Nightmare Forces has had enough of this invasion. I want you to make sure of it. Sweep through every village and city. "Luna looked to Naruto, "Captain Naruto you have your clones and we will be exchanging messages via teleportation and dispelling. With your knowledge on the enemy we are giving you command."
The guards nodded and moved out. Not even Naruto's usual smile was there. He was beyond happy that Rarity was safe and sound, but a lot of lives had been lost. At this point something was going to have to be done to improve the economy and give Equestria a new means of increasing their income. The surplus would definitely be taking a hit from this attack.
Several days had passed since the attack. Naruto and the guards had just returned after another successful clearing of Nightmare Children.
During that time a ceremony would be held. The turnout was not as large as when the Elements were honored for their defeat of Discord or stopping Nightmare Moon, as most of the attendance was made up of the military or councils, but it was crystalvized.
One by one those who did their duty and above were being honored.
"Esteemed Members of the Equestria, as you all know so well, four days ago was a day that will forever be recorded in history books." Celestia begins in her serious tone, indicating a deliberately prepared speech. "Where our forces united and fought off the dreaded Nightmare. The enemy to peace and justice, the terrorist group known as the Nightmare Children have essentially been eradicated. The remnants that remain are currently being tracked down and brought to justice."
Now it was Luna's turn to speak. "It was not without heavy losses. Many of our esteemed members and soldiers lost their lives. Heavy damages have occurred all over the nation, but despite the tyranny of the enthusiasts Equestria remains standing. For we Equestrians are not only proud, but we are a strong force. It will take time, but we will rise again stronger than ever. So we take this time to honor those who served faithfully and who were key in stopping our enemy."
One by one promotions and special accommodations had been made. Common soldiers who went beyond the call of duty being promoted. Ranked officers receiving promotions, in some cases the most experienced of that rank promoted to cover the position of soldiers who were lost in the line of duty.
The most surprising thing to him was when he was called and awarded the position of Brigadier General.
For that to have happened either Celestia, Luna, or both had nominated him and sent it to the service secretary. Naruto made a mental note to get to know the Secretary of Defense, the service secretary, and service's chief of staff a bit better.
He watched as others he knew also received promotions like Shining's promotion to Colonel, as well as Dusk and Thunder's promotion to Captain.
With each promotion and honor there were cheers or in the case of the military salutes as each of them were honored.
Each of them would be soon presented with new uniforms, medals, and everything that followed such events.
What followed was an exhausting day of congratulations and the usual politics. That was all that was going to be happening for the day as a ceremony being held for those who were lost would be happening at the end of the week.
For the first time in a long time Naruto had felt exhausted as such an event like a surprise and sudden civil war in one's nation was not something that could be solved in a day unfortunately.
Almost instantly recruitment campaigns were being held to increase the numbers not to mention there was adjusting to his new duties in recruits meaning he only sparingly could stop by in Ponyville for a few hours before he was right back in Canterlot. The only exception was when he spent more than a few hours were or Rainbow Dash's birthday party.
Despite it all there were still loose ends. Until the rest of the armored enthusiasts were captured and brought to justice for their crimes could things not truly be over.
As such he spent a good deal of time prying out every bit of information he could from the mind of those brought in and imprisoned.
"The price of waging war on Equestria is death."
His chakra flared and he quickly used Critias blades to cut down the hundreds of helpless prisoners. He made the deaths quick and as painless as he could but even moving at kage level speeds there were a lot of bodies to kill off. The crowd of those who were not being executed was being restrained by the members of his guard. "Now, if you thought that was horrifying that was me being merciful. Captain Dusk on the other hand." He jerked his thumb at his former Vice Captain.
Who gave a smile reflecting her fangs.
"She has the ear of the leader of the Sovereign nation of the Theastrals. And we figure, why waste the fresh meat? We can always turn you over to them." He suggested, playing on the fears and paranoia that the masses had of most Theastrals being monsters of the night that drained ponies dry.
While it was true some Theastrals drank blood, they could suffice off animal blood and some of them could survive off fruit. Nopony was sure where this deviation occurred, except some unspecified time eight centuries ago.
Suffice to say those who were the most cowardly began squealing in no time. Anything to save their lives.
After dealing with that issue Naruto and Dusk could be seen traveling down the roads. They were greeted by many of the members of Canterlot. Some of them were even able to look at Dusk and acknowledge her instead of shying away in fear.
"So Captain Dusk how does it feel?" he asked as the Theastral ran her fingers through one of her locks.
"Surprising to say the least Captain Naruto. I had no expectations to be anything but a common soldier. I am still trying to wrap my head around it." She answered earnestly.
The way Naruto's guard referred to him had not changed. Despite his promotion being captain of the guard was a separate title than the official ranks in the army.
"You've done a great service to Equestria. Reaching out to your people and even willing to accommodate the four to ease the people's tension was smart thinking on your part." Naruto remembered feeling less than merciful, nearly killing a purged Lawrence on sight when Dusk had stopped him.
Regardless of the circumstances it would take the blond time to worm up to him and the other formerly evil three generals. The fact that one of them, Lilandra, or Ballad Song as she was actually known as wanted to join his guard was still something he had to wrap his head around, but he couldn't help but fill pity for her.
A siren who lost her three daughters when attacked by pirates and gave in to Nightmare's influence out of desperate of gaining the power to reunite with them. Naruto at least understood the fear of losing one's children, but never had to go through that misery himself, which was why he was considering her request not to mention the four's knowledge on Nightmare and the perspective on the entity filled in the blanks that Luna herself did not know.
The unfortunate fact was that while he was still Shadowfright, Lawrence had placed a seed of evil with a fragment of Nightmare itself in Midnight.
The only issue was that while the seed had the memories of Nightmare Moon it was more than just Luna's super powered evil side. It was what had been left of the very first of the shadows, the original Nightmare itself on the off chance that the Equestrians had one.
On one hand the possibility of a Nightmare unlike any other being born was terrifying as it would be bound to a powerful host that would be willing to work with it, instead of it being weakened by a host that would be fighting back.
On the other hand it would be vulnerable. The seed no longer had its armor, its General of evil that acted as a shield and if they reached the seed in time they could purify and at long last destroy the Nightmare for good.
With the knowledge of the generals they were able to track down just about every Nightmare Supporter. That only left Midnight, Rockhead, Tricky, Vanity, Perfect Storm, Adrenal Rush and the elusive Cold Brew. Any other left were far too weak, poor, or low level to be a nuisance and could be handled by the common guard.
Either way there weren't many places they could hide. Sooner or later they were going to be found, but for right now focusing on stabilizing the country took priority.