For Bravery and Valour
Chapter 1:Index
"Although a soldier by profession, I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I have never advocated it, except as a means of peace."
-Ulysses S. Grant, United States General and 18th President of the United States
"Spike, has the mail arrived yet?" Twilight asked.
"For the fifteenth time no, if it had I would have told you already."
"I'm sorry Spike, I'm just really anxious to take a look at this new book, there's a specific time in it I need to read about."
"Can't you just read it in one of the other of the hundreds of history books you have lying around? I don't think the past changes very often."
The purple mare looked at the stacks of history books around her, "That's just the thing, in every single book I have on Equestrian History, there's a period of time missing, nearly two hundred years ago for about a five years' time. There's no explanation, no reasoning, just a big gap. I was hoping that this most recently published book would hold the answer."
Suddenly, there was a knock, er, thud at the door. Opening it up, Spike was handed a package by the Mail Mare, Ditzy Doo. She smiled before flying off saying "Have a nice muffin!"
Twilight quickly lifted the package out of Spike's hands with her magic, ripping the brown paper covering with vigor. She looked at the book for a moment, appreciating the new-book-smell and crackle of the new leather binding, before quickly browsing to the section she wanted. She stared at the page with deep intent, but, to no avail. This book was just a blank spot as well.
"Ugh!" Twilight angrily shouted, falling backwards. "Did those five years just not even exist? Did the time stream for some reason dry up? WHY IS THERE NOTHING THERE FOR CELESTIA'S SA-." She stopped, thinking. "Spike, take a letter." She stated.
Spike picked up the quill and parchment from the table in the center of the room. "Ready when you are."
Twilight nodded, "Dear Princess Celestia," She began, "There's been something I really need to ask you, it has nothing to do with magic or friendship, but with history. In every single history book I have, there's a period of about 5 years about two hundred years ago where there's just no information, and I was wondering if you could clear this up for me. Did nothing happen during this time? Was there a fire in the Hall of Records that destroyed this information? Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
Spike rolled up the letter, tying it with a ribbon, before sending it to the castle via his fire breath.
"Hopefully you won't have to buy any more history books after this." Spike teased.
The Next Day…
Twilight was sitting in front of a window in her room, reading about the Great Apple Famine when something outside her window caught her eye. It was the Pegasus Guards, coming down to Ponyville pulling an empty chariot behind them. She just knew it had something to do with her letter. She rushed downstairs, walking outside with Spike in tow. As the Guards came to a halt in front of the library, they announced, "Princess Celestia requests your presence at Canterlot Castle Ms. Sparkle."
Twilight nodded, anxiously getting into the chariot. When Spike got in behind her, the Guards glared at him, "And only Ms. Sparkle." Spike complied, getting out. "Sorry Spike," Twilight apologized, keeping a sheepish smile, "This must be important." Spike nodded as the pegasai began to flap their wings, pulling the chariot behind them. 'Whatever it is,' Twilight thought to herself, 'I just hope I'm not in any trouble.'
When Twilight arrived at the castle, she proceeded to the throne room, where Princesses Celestia was sitting, with a stoic look on her face. Without a word, Celestia motioned to the guards, having them all leave the room. Once they were alone, Celestia spoke up.
"I can tell what you're thinking. Yes, this is about your letter." She sighed, continuing. "I could not answer you in a letter due to the gravity of the situation. You, Twilight Sparkle, are now part of a small group of ponies who have requested why there is no information on the time period you queried. I cannot lie when I say that I purposely had that information eliminated from all books and media, even going as far to have the minds erased of ponies that had knowledge of the event magically."
"But, why Princess?" Twilight asked.
"Because," Celestia continued, "I never want it to happen again."
Twilight had a confused look on her face, trying to think of what could have possibly caused Princess Celestia to do all of this. Celestia noticed this, and motioned for Twilight to follow her.
"Come," she said, "I cannot simply tell you. I must show you."
Twilight followed Princess Celestia down a hallway that held rooms and rooms of books, with ancient tomes crumbling away on ornate, tarnished bookshelves, more than Twilight ever hoped she could read in a lifetime. As they went farther and farther down the hall, they progressed deeper into the castle, deeper than Twilight had ever been before. The halls smelled musty and unkempt, with rotting tapestries on the walls and carpets that had long since lost their color. Most of the doors even had locks on them, as if the knowledge inside was forbidden. They soon stopped at a door that looked just like every other door in the hall, save for the fact that this door had four locks on it. Celestia produced a key out of her crown and opened each creaking lock.
The door creaked open on its own, revealing a room of darkness. Twilight could smell a sharp metallic smell, old wood, rusting metal, and a scent similar to…rotten eggs? Using her magic, Celestia lit several lanterns around the room, revealing large, hulking, rusting metal beasts, bookshelves lining the walls with thousands of books, large marble tables with old yellowing maps of Equestria and beyond, and strange small pieces of equipment of all shapes and sizes, littering the floor around them.
"This," Princess Celestia said, "Is a collection of some of the remnants of the last great war."
Ch2: Answers and Questions
Ch2: Answers and Questions
"There is nothing that war has ever achieved that we could not better achieve without it."
-Havelock Ellis, British psychologist
Twilight stared in awe at the room. War. Equestria had a war. Equestria had a war. It didn’t take a genius to know that you can die in a war. That ponies have died in a war. No matter how you explained it, it still sounded unnatural. Equestria was a peaceful land, and any confrontations that were had with other lands were quickly quelled through negotiations or realizations that peace was a better option. How could Equestria get into a war with anyone?
She slowly walked forward, accidentally kicking a small machine across the room. She looked at it, seeing that it was made of wood and metal. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It looked like an odd mix between a type writer and a sewing machine. Levitating it with her magic, she brought it closer to her face to look at the barely legible writing on its rusty side:
STALLION MODEL N1B1
FILLY FIRE-ARMS
MANEHATTEN, EQUESTRIA
‘Fire-Arms?’ She thought to herself. ‘What does that possibly mean?’ She looked about the room again, filled with all its strange objects and items, ‘What does any of this mean?’
Confused, Twilight turned to Celestia, who was still in the doorway, a look of regret on her face.
“Princess, I don’t understand any of this! Not only was Equestria in a war, but it’s been kept from everypony. Why?”
Princess Celestia looked down at her hooves, her wings drooping to the ground.
“War…is an unimaginably destructive thing. After experiencing the horrors of five years of it first hoove, myself and others thought it would be a good idea to just pretend it never happened. Cowardly? Yes, most definitely. Was it important that we do so? Unquestionable.”
“But-” Twilight started, but Celestia stopped her before she could continue.
“I know you have more questions, but even though I possess magic greater than any other being that has ever walked these lands, I still have the same conscience as every other Equestrian. Because of this, I do not wish to answer those questions. Two hundred years is a long time to think about what has happened. Please, if you do have any more questions, I’m more than sure the books and artifacts in front of you are enough. Perhaps if a few ponies like you knew about this,”
She stopped, taking a breath, “We may be able to stop this from ever happening again.”
She regained her composure, and continued. “I’ve arranged for a letter to be sent to Spike that explains that you may be here for a few days, learning a few advanced magical spells from me. You may study all that is in this room for as long as you wish, and leave whenever you want. Servants will bring meals to the door three times a day, and there is a cot and other personal facilities in the corner.” She turned to leave, but stopped and turned around, leaving Twilight with one final warning. “Please, be careful. This information changes ponies. Try not to let it change you.”
As she left, Twilight stared at her surroundings, unsure where to start. Spying a table with a single book on it in the middle of the room, she walked towards it, reading the cover of the book. 'The Great War: A Written History.’
"Well, that’s a good place to start as any.”
She opened the book to the first page, reading the author’s notes:
‘It is with dearest thanks and relief that this book is finally finished. I’m glad to have had the chances to meet all of the amazing and fearless ponies that made this happen, remembering that the sacrifices made by the few, have led to the joy for the many.’
-Silver Quill, Author.
She flipped over the next few pages until she reached the first chapter:
Causes In The Unstable Pre-War Period:
…during the aforementioned year, and the years after, relations between the Griffon Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Equestria decayed rapidly. A few weeks after the summit was called, there was a brief skirmish between soldiers of both the Equestrian 159th Battalion, and the Griffon 256th Squadron, both claiming that the other group had crossed over the Star-Swirl/Lucius border. The skirmish ended with three dead on each side with another two critically wounded on the Griffon side, and three critically wounded on the Equestrian side. Both Griffon King Apollonius and Equestrian Princess Celestia quickly rushed forward to try to dispel any hint of war between the two nations, who in the decades before had strengthened economic ties, as Equestrian grain and crude Griffon oil were highly prized in each country, mandatory for survival. But soon, with similar clashes happening, some taking place up to five miles away from border, war could not be avoided. Rioting was rampant in border cities as native towns members tried to ‘cleanse’ their cities by having foreign species move or forcing them to if they didn’t when asked.
Sir Swift-Spoken, pony delegate to the Griffon Commonwealth was present at the final attempt to maintain peace between the two countries, as Celestia and Apollonius met once again in the Griffon Commonwealth capitol, Wingcrest:
Twilight paused at the page, trying to remember a spell she had learned not too long ago. While snooping through the Star-Swirl the Bearded section while looking for the time travel spell to warn her past self about not worrying, she stumbled onto a book spell. Most spells designated as 'book spells' often did simple tasks, such as dusting themselves or arranging themselves on shelves without any outside help. This spell however did something significantly different. If there were any stories in a book that were given first had by the one who experienced it, the spell caster could, in a way, go into the book, as if they were experiencing it along with the story teller.
Twilight set the book on the table and concentrated on it. As a small purple aurora formed around her horn and enveloped the book in a cloud like fashion, the words began to float off the paper and over to her horn, where they formed a black halo around her head. The letters began to twirl around her head, spinning faster and faster as her mind raced to take in the information soon, she was no longer in the damp cavernous room, but in a brightly lit wood paneled room. As the words and characters turned into people and ponies, she suddenly realized that she was thrust into the middle of a discussion between Princess Celestia and King Apollonius. She looked to her side, she was standing next to a stallion who had a word bubble for a Cutie Mark. who must be Sir Swift-Spoken. While it didn't seem like she could be seen, she waved a hoof in front of his face. No reaction. She realized, that's not because she was here, she was merely watching the events. As everything clicked into place in her mind, she turned back to the royalty in the middle of the room:
"Princess, it's nice to see you again, but I wish that for once we could meet under other circumstances."
The deep male voice she heard belonged to a tall griffon with greying feathers, with a contrasting streak on his head suggesting that they had been a dark burgundy at one point in time. He was wearing a simple suit, with a pin on the lapel of the flag of the Griffon Commonwealth on it. Beside him was another griffon, who's feathers were completely black, with a section of white feathers poking out of his officer's uniform, and a collection of medals and ribbons so big they might as well have taken up another uniform. He however did not have the calmed smile that the Apollonius had, instead a big fat scowl marking his face.
Celestia returned Apollonius' greeting, "It's nice to see you as well, and I think we can both agree that we should begin discussion on the current state of affairs as soon as possible?"
Apollonius nodded, "Agreed. Now, as of this week, there have been...seventy eight Griffon Nationals killed in Equestrian cities, and forty three Griffon Army Soldiers killed in combat on Commonwealth soil-"
"As were sixty three Equestrian Citizens in Griffon cities and fifty four Royal Equestrian Soldiers on Equestrian soil. We need to face the facts Apollonius," Princess Celestia plainly stated, "We're teetering on the brink of war, and it will only take one or two more needless deaths to plunge us over the edge. We need to find a solution to all of this madness, quickly."
Apollonius reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, reading from it, "I agree with you most definitely, and have come up with an extreme, but worthwhile solution if it means peace." He handed the paper to an aide, who silently walked over to Celestia, handing her the paper. Celestia stared at the paper for a few moments, before having her eyes go wide.
"WHAT?" Celestia yelled, provoking Twilight's memories of the Royal Canterlot Voice, "You want to impose an dual trade embargo between our nations! That's mad!"
"Princess, please," Apollonius held up his hands in defense, "give me a chance to explain. Yes, it's a trade embargo. Yes, we require your grain for food production, and yes, you require our oil to power you transportation and factories. I've come to the conclusion that if it's gotten to the point where our citizens and soldiers can't see the importance of the relationship between our two nations, we'll have to make them see it. It's almost as if the only griffons and ponies talking to each other any more are the ones trading stock in Manehatten and Talonia." He leaned a bit forward, almost as if he was trying to make it so only Celestia could hear him. "Besides, we both know that you have a stockpile of oil and we have a stockpile of grain. If we exhaust those stockpiles, neither of us would be in shape for a war anyway, which may be a good thing."
Celestia bit her lip. What was she to say? What was she to think? It's not like there were any other options, were there? Twilight leaned forward, eager to hear what her mentor was planning on next. She sighed, knowing that there were very few cards she could play.
"Well, while I do not particularly like this option, I do agree that there are not many options left to explore. I need some time to talk to my advisers to see what they think. Undoubtedly my Minister of Economic Affairs will give me an earful about this."
"Very well," Apollonius said, "Shall we meet here again tomorrow? I truly think it would be best if we settled this all as soon as possible."
Celestia nodded, "I agree. I will speak to my advisers tonight, and see what they think is best. We will meet back here tomorrow for final deliberations."
"Good, and one last thing Celestia," He walked out from behind his podium and walked over to where Celestia was. Her guards tensed, waiting to see what he was doing. He whispered in her ear, saying something to which she nodded, before walking back to his podium.
"I think we're done here today." Celestia said, "And if it's all the same to you, I plan on returning to Canterlot now. It's a long flight and I'll need every second to talk with my advisers."
Motioning to each other, Celestia and Apollonius walked to the center of the room, where they shook, hoof and hand. As they turned to leave, Twilight noticed that the world around her began to become hazy again. People turned back into words, and before she knew it, she was lying on the cold floor of the room.
'Room. Just a room? This couldn't just be called a 'room',' Twilight thought to herself, 'From now on, this is the War Room.'
As Twilight lay on the cot in the corner, an olive green canvas that would make Rarity feint, she examined one of the strange metallic objects. It was grey, about two, two and a half pounds and had Celestia's Cutie Mark, the Royal Sun emblazoned on what she thought was a handle. Right above that, the initials 'R.E.A.' were stamped, which she guessed stood for Royal Equestrian Army. She held it the way she thought it should be held and looked down the hole in the front. It was a long tube with swirled grooves in it. There was something like a switch right above the handle, so you could hold the device and engage the switch at the same time.
'I wonder what this thing does? She mused as she glanced over it one more time, 'Perhaps it's an old fashioned mane dryer?' She looked around and wondered why soldiers would have needed a mane dryer during a war. Especially a government issued one. 'Well, only one way to find out.' She pointed it up at the ceiling so whatever came out wouldn't hit her directly in the head, but she leaned ever so slightly over, and clicked the trigger.
She wasn't quite sure what happened after that.
There was a bright flash and a deafening boom as she felt pain surge up the length of her forehead. She rolled off of the cot, writhing in pain as dust and paint chips began to fall from the ceiling. After a few seconds, she shakily stood up and looked into her reflection on the shiny side of an old guard helmet. There was a steady, stream of blood emitting from a long vertical cut on her forehead. She looked around frantically for something to stop the bleeding, before her eyes settled on a bag with a red cross on it. Tearing into the bag, which she thought correctly was a medical bag, she found rolls and rolls of pristine clean, white rolls of gauze. Which had somehow managed to be free of dirt and dust after 200 years in an old fabric bag. As she began to dress her own wound, her eyes fell back on the device, now laying on the floor.
'What. Was. THAT.'
As she cautiously walked around the device, she looked up at the ceiling to see what had happened. There was now a hole, about a centimeter in diameter with cracks forming around it. The device fired a projectile at her. A very fast one at that.
Spent from the book spell, and from recent activities, Twilight shook to dust off of the cot to an acceptable degree, and climbed back in. Tomorrow was another day.
Looking at the device one last time before closing her eyes, Twilight gave herself a thought before dozing off:
'This is going to be much harder than I expected.'