Day 18: The Frontier Days [ Wild West ]

Fine wine. Fine music. Fine people in fine clothes.
Everything about this party was everything the young American Colonies was not about. Her mother had insisted she attended though, and one does not simply say no to the British Empire.
The American Colonies had hoped to enter the party unnoticed, and remain unnoticed for the duration of the party, so she almost snuck into the entrance and hoped that her desire to not stand out would meld her to the wall.

"Ah, why if it isn't my daughter. Do try to be on time" Britain said, gesturing to the two impossibly classy iberian women that up until then the British Empire was chatting up, "You simply must meet my good acquaintances, the Spanish Empire, and the Portuguese Empire!"
"Hmph... so the riff raff is allowed to our venues here?" The Spanish Empire flipped her nose away from the Colonies.
"This is what you get, I suppose, for bringing out my most precious dress for an occasion such as this. Why, had I known we were meeting the swines," the Portuguese Empire sniffed indignantly, "I would not have bothered to bring my pearls."
The Empires laughed their ojou-sama laugh, making the Colonies wince and hide behind her mother, who of course pulled her back in full view.
"Now, no one wants to bring the likes of her to a formal event like this one, but if she never learns to act culturally she is bound to embarrass me even further. Honestly, I do not know why she can not act more like her sister Quebec."
"Mu'um!" The Colonies whined, turning red from embarrassment, "I'm not like Quebec!" The Colonies pouted angrily.
The Iberian Empires stared at her in shocked indignation at the outburst of the young woman, clearing their throats.
"Now, Colonies," The British Empire said firmly, "you will clear your act up this instance, or there will be no supper before bed time."
"Stop treating me like a kid, mum! I'm doing as good as I can, but you're never happy with me!" The Colonies stomped on the ground angrily, not keen on taking a single drop of this absuse anymore.
"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much," The Spanish Empire said, inciting another ojou-sama laughter in herself and the Portuguese Empire.
"Now listen here, young lady..." The British Empire said in her strictest, most maternal tone.
"No! You listen, mum! I'm tired of you not letting me do anything fun! I'm tired of never being good enough for you! I am good enough! I'm gonna be the greatest country on Earth!"
The ojou-sama laughter of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires escalated so much that they had to bend over, "Oh, goodness gracious! I can not breathe!" The Spanish Empire said.
"Ah, at this rate I really am going to faint ." The Portuguese Empire said.

The Colonies were furious. She went straight up to the table where tea and biscuit was served, grabbed the expensive china teapot, and smashed it to the floor.
"That's it! I'll... I'll run away from home... you won't see me again! Not until I've become the greatest country on Earth! It'll happen! You'll see!" The Colonies stormed out furiously completely apoplectic, her skin drained of all colour.
The British Empire ran after her "Colonies! You get back here this instance, or..."
The Spanish Empire grabbed her shoulder, stopping Britain in her tracks, "Let her be, dear. This might just be the learning experience she needs."
"I... " Britain sighed as she watched the Colonies run off into the sunset, "... I do hope you are right."

70 years later...

Still young, still hopeful, still burning with passion and dreams... the sky's the limit, and only one goal is good enough.
The woman who ran away, now known as the United States, laying in wait behind the rock in the prairies, wearing a salmon-coloured cowgirl dress with wide-brimmed white stetson hat and a neat-patterned handkerchief pulled over her face as a mask.

He was going to come.
He always comes this way.
Sioux was indeed walking his trusted buffalo over the plain, petting him and nuzzling his face against him.
Just on time, as he always does.
US jumped out from behind the rock and pointed her gun right between his eyes, "Hands up! This is a robbery!"
Sioux held his hands up immediately, frightened at the brigand who jumped before him, "Please! I'll do anything! Just leave me in peace!"
"That's a nice necklace you got there~" US waved her gun, "Why don't you let me have a look at it?"
"But... but... this is my great-grandpa's..." Sioux was immediately slapped hard by the butt of US's gun.
"Damnit! I'm trying to Manifest my Destiny over here! How am I ever gonna become the greatest country on Earth if you won't do as I say when I say it?" She kept pistol whipping Sioux over and over and over
"Ow! OW! Stop it! No more!" Sioux fell to the ground while shielding his head, and in that position US was able to knick the necklace off of him while he was protecting himself, "Ehehehehe! Good! That wasn't so hard, was it?"

The buffalo poked the young woman in the butt with its horn.
“OWW!” The US rubbed her butt, staring daggers at the buffalo who was done with her pertinence and ready to fend off his friend, “You stupid beast”
She picked up the buffalo over her head, tossing it way, way far away, over the horizon.
“MM-MMOOOOOOooooooooo………….”
"Lucky!! NO! Why!?"
"That’s what you get for interfering with my business. Besides, now you can never use that thing in order to become greater than me. Not that you're a >real< country anyhow, so technically there's nothing wrong with what I did." US said and sashayed away, whirling the necklace around her finger, leaving Sioux in the dirt feeling confused and angry.

The next day Sioux sat on a stone thinking about what happened yesterday; and thinking about the future.
"H-hey..." A familiar voice said, the voice which can only belong to one woman… “mind if I have a seat?”
As he looked in the direction of the voice, he found a woman who was strikingly beautiful.
"What do you want? I don't have anything else..." Sioux said.
"No! No, it's not that! I... wanted to apologize.” She sat down next to him on the rock, “What I did to you... it wasn't right. I no longer want to be the greatest country on Earth... not if it means treating people like dirt. From now on, I'm gonna try to be the greatest country on Earth by being the country everyone can rely on."
"Oh... oh, well... that's... that's pretty good of you. I suppose you're growing up, huh?"
"Yeah... I couldn't sleep last night," The US said, "I just came to realize... I was becoming just like my mother... and I didn't want that to happen!"
"It's fine..." Sioux smiled, "Does that mean I get back what you took from me?"
"Of course!" US handed Sioux a piece of paper, which Sioux read.
It said; Reservation to Wild West Restaurant.
"Uh, this... this was not..." Sioux was interrupted as US wrapped her arm around him into a hug.
"You know, I think you're gonna be just all right!"

And having learned from her mistakes, the United States never did anything like that ever again.

...right?