Annie Oates stood at the front of the crowd. There was a quiet hush in the air, a silent etiquette that nopony speak. Dark clouds hung in the air, the ground still wet from the rain the night before. The air smelled fresh, clean and crisp. Renewed. Sun shone behind the dark clouds, an ominous orange shadow cast, somehow making the sky seem darker.
Annie Oates looked up at her mother who stared straight ahead. Annie followed her gaze.
Six stone statues stood tall and proud in the middle of the shrine. Wreaths of bright red poppies lay in front of each statue, a podium in front of them. Horseshoe gravestones spread out behind the statues as far as Annie Oates could see. Wild poppies grew between them and swayed in the cold breeze. Annie looked down at her jacket. She straightened the felt poppy her mother had pinned there. The symbol to remember.
Drums began to play. The crowd parted as a small procession began to make its way up to the front. Bagpipes soon accompanied the drums. The small marching band came up first. They stood to one side of the podium, as old veteran ponies made their way to the front. Their uniforms were crisp and clean, their badges shining brightly.
Annie Oates watched them shyly. They fought bravely in the war, her mother had told her, when Equestria's freedom was in jeopardy.
As they passed, Annie couldn't help but stare at their scars. A white unicorn with a pink and purple mane walked with a cane. She had a beautiful face, but her eyes were filled with sadness. Behind her, an orange pegasus pushed a yellow Earth pony in a wheelchair. The pegasus's purple mane fell in her eyes. She only had one wing and a long gash where the other had been. The Earth pony had her red mane pulled back in a long ponytail. She had no front legs. Annie Oates looked away. She buried her face into her mother's shoulder. She couldn't watch them walk by any more.
Finally, the music faded and all sound seemed to stop. Annie Oates pulled away from her mother's shoulder and looked up at the podium. And there she was.
Annie Oates had never seen the Princess before. She rarely left the castle these days. Her colorful mane rustled in the breeze. Her white coat seemed to shimmer, and for a moment, the sun shone on her cutie mark--the mark of the sun. She opened and closed her mouth several times. She closed her eye and took a deep breath. An eye-patch covered where the other eye had been.
"Today we remember," she said slowly. "We remember those we have lost. Those who fought for our country, for our freedom. To keep our culture, our rights, our way of living; to keep us alive. Without the sacrifices they made, none of us would be where we are today.
"We remember to ensure that those sacrifices weren't in vain. That the families who lost loved ones, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, know that we honor them.
"We remember so that we do not forget. That we hope for a better future. We remember so that those who are too young to remember, can prevent the same mistakes that we made. Learn from them. Strive for peace.
"We remember to thank those who fought for our peace. And we work to keep that peace, to ensure that the peace we have is not taken for granted."
Annie Oates looked from the Princess to the statues behind her. The six who had wielded the Elements of Harmony.
"Though they perished at the last moment, they won the war," the Princess was saying as she gestured to the statues behind her. "And although we lost hundreds of others at their side, without their bravery thousands more would have died. "
The unicorn with the cane cried quietly. The pegasus patted her on the shoulder. The mare in the wheelchair kept her eyes on one of the earth pony statues. Annie Oates thought there was something similar about their hair styles.
Annie Oates was born long after the war. Her grandmother and grandfather had served, and her mother and father had stayed in shelters as children. Sometimes her older brother talked about joining the army. It was always a heated debate in the house that ended with her mother crying and brother slamming his door.
She couldn't quite understand some of the things that the Princess was talking about. The feeling of loss and sadness. In her short years, she had only known peace and happiness. She didn't understand what it was like to fight for something important, to lose someone she loved. To have her foalhood taken away from her due to a war.
Annie Oates missed the ending of the Princess's speech. Princess Celestia stepped aside. Two young coltscouts came forward. One began to play a trumpet while the other raised the Equestrian flag.
Everypony stood in silence. Many closed their eyes and looked at the ground. Annie Oates stared at the flag as it blew in the wind. A tear ran down the Princess's cheek from her good eye. The unicorn continued to sob quietly. What sounded like a dragon roared somewhere far off in the distance.
The moment of silence passed. The drums started up again followed by the bagpipes. The band began to move back up through the aisle, followed by the veterans, and then lastly the Princess.
Annie Oates and her mother waited until the procession was gone before they began to make their way back home. The crowd began to disperse into different directions. Some families moved between the gravestones, stopping at certain ones and dropping flowers. A filly began to pick the wild poppies. Annie Oates wanted to join her, but her mother began to pull her in the opposite direction.
Annie Oates took one last look at the statues. At the row upon row of graves behind them. As the poppies swayed, she looked back up at the waving flag one last time. She didn't quite understand what everything had meant. But she would try to remember. Lest she forget.
