Sunny always enjoyed spending the day with her dad. When she wasn’t busy working as a smoothie delivery pony or spending time with her best friend Hitch, the new deputy of Maretime Bay, she would spend the rest of her free time in her father’s study reading up on all she could about ancient Equestria and the reign of Princess Twilight Sparkle. So many wonders that she could only imagine, like pegasus flying in the air and unicorns lifting objects with her magic. Oh, just to have a pegasus or a unicorn friend would be so much fun! Even if the rest of the town would freak out.

However, today was different. When she came back from her job, she found her dad holding a worn out book and bundling himself up with a scarf. Blinking a bit in surprise, she asked: “Where are you off to?”

Argyle looked back over at his daughter and gave her a soft smile before replying: “Do you happen to know what today is pumpkin?”

Sunny tilted her head and looked up at the ceiling of the old lighthouse. Her mind went through all of the memories of important dates that school and her dad had taught her. Nothing stood out to her so she shook her head. Argyle smiled and made his way towards the front door, passing her and opening the door before turning his head and saying: “It's VC Day, or Victory over the Changelings Day.” He paused for a moment to add: “I do believe your teachers were just finished up on the Great War in Equestria and today is to celebrate our victory in that war.” He patted the book that he was carrying as he continued: “And I wanted to visit some heroes of Equestria in celebration and to pay my respects.” He paused for a moment before adding: “Would you like to join me Sunny?”

Sunny, excited about meeting some heroes just like Twilight and her friends bounced on her hooves and replied: “Yes Yes Yes I would so love to see them!”

Smiling, Argyle pointed to a scarf that was hanging nearby and said: “Then go on and get your scarf. It is a bit of a walk outside of the town.”

Sunny, always happy to spend time with her dad, was quick to grab her scarf and wrap it around her neck. All set for the trip, the duo leave the house and make their way down the well worn path. Halfway towards the town, Argyle made a right turn and started to head towards the nearby forest with Sunny following along beside him. As the two were walking side by side, she looked up at her Dad and asked: “So what is VC day anyway?”

Argyle smiled and replied back: “It is a very important day in Ancient Equestria.”

Sunny interjected: “Important to Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

He shook his head. “The day was celebrated before Twilight rose to rule all of Equestria.”

“Wow, that must be very important if it existed before Princess Twilight Sparkle. How come I never heard of it before?”

“It is because to many ponies it brings up some bad memories.”

“Why would it bring up bad memories if it's a holiday?” Sunny asked, feeling a bit confused.
“Because,” Argyle replied as he moved a slightly larger branch off the side of the old dirt road so the two of them could easily walk along, “It was a time of great struggle and loss. A time of sacrifice and a time that Friendship and Harmony almost died. However,” he paused as the two exited the forest and Sunny let out a gasp, “it was a time of heroes.”

In front of Sunny was a large clearing that went on for several miles in all directions. A few hills dotted the clearing, breaking up the terrain a bit and providing a rolling field experience. To Sunny’s surprise the entire clearing was filled with hundreds and hundreds of stone tablets sticking in the ground. Even from a distance, she could see a number of them look broken or covered in moss.

“What is all this Dad?” Sunny asked as she moved her head slowly from left to right.

“This, my Sunny bunny,” He replied, “is a graveyard your mother and I discovered during one of our trips to study Equestria in the past.”

“Is this a graveyard for those who lost their lives in the Great War?” Sunny asked.

Argyle couldn’t help but smile as he rubbed her mane. “Starting to put the pieces together huh. You are correct. Given what old records your mother and I could find in Maretime Bay and what gravestones were still intact; we think all of these ponies served in the same company.”

“There are so many of them.”

“That they are my little one and each one of them has a story to tell,” Argyle replied as he made his way amongst the graves. Sunny was quick to follow him as she took a closer look at the gravestones. A lot of them she could see were worn out by the ravages of time and negligence as they were either half crumbled or even fully gone, leaving only a small piece of stone to mark where they had once been. The few that were still in an okay state had a shape that looked like a hoof planted on the bottom and an almost illegible wall of text above it. Probably the name of the grave and their years marking their birth and death.

Eventually Argyle stopped in front of one grave and pulled out the book he was carrying. Sunny moved next to him and saw that this grave managed to survive a bit better than the others. Reading it to herself, it said:

“Corporal Fiji Apple. 22nd Infantry Born 992 Died 1017”

“Here we go,” Argyle said “Corporal Fiji was taking part in an offensive where his squad was to attack a reinforce position on the outskirts of the city of Varkas when mustard gas was deployed. Without protection he ended up choking and dying.” Taking his eyes from the book; he looked back at the grave stone. “Not a fun way to go out there was it? You showed a lot of bravery in standing your ground under that kind of situation.”

Sunny wasn’t so sure about that. To her it didn’t sound like the heroic tales that her mother and father would tell her as a kid. To her it sounded like he didn’t do all that much of anything at all. Still she kept that comment to herself as the pair moved on to another grave stone. This one was in a similar state of disrepair as the first though the words and numbers were too faded out that she could read it.

“Medic Clean Wounds Born 991 Died 1016”

“Ah, this pony was very brave,” Argyle said after he finished looking up that information in that small book. “According to the records that I was able to get; they were one of the medics that took part in the Spring Offensive of 1016 that pushed the changelings out of Equestria. She died when an artillery shell landed in the medical center that she was working in.”

Sunny looked at the grave stone and her face was a mix of confusion before she asked: “Hey Dad. I know you said that she was a hero like the last stallion but they don’t sound all that heroic to me.”

Argyle looked at his daughter with a bit of confusion also on his face as he asked: “What makes you say that?”

“Well…” She paused as she looked at all of the broken gravestones. “So far these sound like ponies who were called to fight in a war and then just didn’t do anything that was heroic. It doesn’t sound like the history we were taught where General Applejack held the line against a Changeling counter attack or how General Pinkie Pie led a massive artillery and air strike to take out Vesalipolis’ defenses which paved the way for her capturing the capital. Those sound like heroes to me.”

Argyle nodded his head. “I can see your point, but let me ask you something Sunny.. If the Changelings were to attack again do you think you would take up arms and fight them?”

Sunny looked down at the ground and pondered the question. The Great War was such a well talked about topic at school these days and all of her classmates were talking about how they would be the ones who would totally storm Vesalipolis and take out the evil queen and be a great hero just like the famous Generals Applejack and Pinkie Pie. However, she didn’t feel all that confident within herself. She couldn’t imagine having to hold up a rifle and take the life of another, especially a changeling. Their textbooks always talked about how evil they were. How they were just power hungry monsters that were jealous of Equestria and wanted it all for themselves.Yet Sunny remembered her parents telling her that history is complicated and you find that oftentimes it is written by the winners of a war. Considering the great divide Equestria was experiencing with Pegasus and Unicorns no longer around and hated on for having magic while the Earth ponies suffered with no magic beyond the tech they were able to build.

She looked back up at her dad and said, “I don’t know,” with as much honesty in her voice as she could muster.

Argyle nodded his head and his gaze swept around all of the grave stones as he said: “You know if I was to ask that same question to all of those buried here, I think I would get a similar answer.” He turned back to face his daughter. “We don’t know what we would do when faced with a threat as terrible as war. Yet these ponies did and they did so willingly because they believed in something greater than themselves. History always teaches about the famous generals and statesponies who rose up to make the tough decisions but we also must not forget the ponies who risked their lives every day to fight for Equestria and Harmony.” He turned to look back at the grave of Clear Wounds. “I’m sure she was working as hard as she could to save as many lives as she could and no doubt she did just that. Still, we don’t know what her life was like before the war. After all she wasn’t a celebrity, but I imagine for her community and any family she left behind she was considered a hero.”

Sunny took a look around the various gravestones and she started to really see how many ponies gave their lives in the Great War. Her teacher always told her about the hundred of thousands of lives that were lost during the conflict but the number was so large that she couldn’t wrap her head around it. Standing here now though, she started to realize that all of these thousands were each a pony maybe like her and her dad. Just simple ponies who ended up in a conflict that they were scared of but still did their duty. Without realizing it, a small tear started to form on her cheek when fell onto the ground. Letting out a sniff, she said: “I think it just hit me how many lives were truly lost.”

“Yes,” Argyle replied as he wrapped his legs around her and pulled her into a gentle hug. “Many lives were lost on both sides of the war. Such is the nature of conflict. Yet without heroes like those resting here; we wouldn’t be standing here right now to honor and remember them by.” He pulled back to look at her face. “It is why I come out here on VC Day to honor the ones I can find records of and pay respects to all those who I can’t.”

Sunny smiled and nodded her head as she rested herself against her father’s chest and looked out at the many graves that dotted the hillside. Looking up at her father, she asked: “Can you tell me about any more heroes?”

Argyle chuckled and started to recount what ponies he was able to find as he pointed to the grave they were buried at. The cool autumn breeze flowed in the air as father and daughter spent quality time among heroes of the old Equestria.

Author's Note

Wish me luck in the contest.