Centenaryby Glimglams No1 fanChaptersThe Princess of LoveThe Princess of FriendshipThe Princess of the MoonThe Princess of the SunThe Princess of LoveThe chirping of the birds broke me from my day dream. I shifted on my cosy plush cushion and gave my wings a stretch as I rolled the kinks out of my neck with a satisfying pop. Opening my eyes I gazed out over the royal balcony at the centre of the Crystal city looking across the breadth of the city. Despite disappearing for over a millenia, in the century I had ruled the empire had seen it rapidly catch up and become a place where friendship and love warmed the homes of all the ponies who resided here. Despite my best efforts to ignore it my eyes soon settled upon the brilliant crystalline statue set across the main boulevard that led to the palace. It was impossible not to take note of it. I had commissioned it to be something to immediately draw everyponies attention to my own detriment. The sunlight hit it just so and the crystals shone a brilliant Gold, Pearl white and Azure, The statue of the stallion was rearing up ready to strike at an unseen foe, his fur and mane forever pristine, his armour forever gleaming in statue form. Stars above a century had passed and the black hole in my heart still seared with pain. The decades might have dulled the grief but it never truly went away. It would disappear for a time, but it was always lurking waiting in the cracks of my heart to rear its ugly head and wrap itself around my heart like a great serpent. I had told myself throughout the decades that the grief would pass and I would love again, but I think I was just lying to myself at this point. Some princess of love I was. Maybe the stress of the war broke me and I just never pieced myself back together. I wouldn't have been the first pony it had happened too. So many grieving husbands and widows left behind, Children bereft of a sibling or a parent. My ears flicked upwards as I heard the gentle beating of wings above me soon followed by a clack as hooves met crystal flooring. There was silence for a while as I continued to look towards the statue of my late husband. Prince Shining armour, Saviour of Canterlot, hero of the Crystal empire. My Shiney. I felt a large downy wing wrap itself around my barrel as I sniffled the tears stinging at my eyes a little and turned my head to the left with a sad smile on my muzzle. “Sorry you need to put up with me like this honey” The Princess of hope just looked up to me and smiled patiently, Every time I looked into her crystal blue eyes I could see shiney's gazing back at me. I leaned down and we nuzzled into each other's cheeks as I put my own wing around my daughter and we shared an embrace. “Its okay mom, I know the hurt comes back sometimes” Her voice was soft, full of concern, this was the wrong way round. I was supposed to comfort her when she had her heartaches. I held onto the embrace for a few moments to compose myself. After a while I pulled back from her, the wing still held around her barrel we both shared a smile before looking back out across to the statue. She learned against my side stifling a yawn. “Why are you up so early anyway mom?” I took to playing with her mane in my magic field tidying up the rats nest it had become trying to centre my thoughts again as I sighed. “I couldn't sleep.” All I got in reply was a soft. “Hrmm” It was quiet again for a moment. All I could hear and feel was the rising of her chest as she breathed before she broke it again asking softly. “What was he like?” I felt like the question had struck me physically. Had I really been such a poor mother that I didn't even tell my daughter about what her father was like? She would have been very very young when he passed she would only remember so much. I felt a wing Squeeze me and looked down out of the corner of my eye to see my daughter snuggled into my side with a content smile plastered on her muzzle and it brought me back to when she was just an itty bitty little foal. With that the tension in my body melted and I started to giggle. “Your dad was a doofus but that was part of his charm.” I could feel her snort and start to laugh with me and soon that serpents grip on my heart was broken and we just lay there giggling like mad mares and it took us quite a while to calm down. She was looking up at me beaming a smile. “There's only two things that make you smile so much mom” She flushed a little but continued on. “Whenever you tell ponies about me, and whenever you talk about dad. It makes you smile.” I pressed my lips to the top of her head and pulled her close to me. “I am so very lucky you turned out to be as sweet and caring as he was” I could see a proper blush on her cheeks now and I couldn't help but start to giggle again. “And neither of you could accept a compliment without turning red either.” I sighed and smiled as I looked at the statue again. “I am glad you turned out so much like him. He was a good pony. And I loved him so very much. Just like I love you” Maybe I was looking at it from the wrong angle. I still loved. I loved my subjects, I loved my staff, I loved my friends and family. I loved and cherished my memories of Shining and most of all I loved my daughter. Perhaps one day I dared to hope maybe I could love another. My heart soaring I pulled my daughter tight to my side, my breast full of the warmth of love I looked down at her. “Let me tell you about when I met your dad…” The Princess of FriendshipI could feel the sun beating down on my back, the warm spring air bringing out the crowds from their homes and into the streets after a long cold winter. Especially cold in Canterlot being so high up in altitude. Perhaps I should have the Pegasi weather teams start recording temperatures across Equestria all year long, the scientific data could prove invaluable. Maybe I could have the Royal institute carry out a study on ponies' habits and health throughout different seasons of the year and see what correlations I could draw. I was pulled from my musings at a quiet shy Question, I turned my head and looked down to the small azure Unicorn with long flowing pink locks looking back up at me with her sapphire eyes, I could feel my face heat up a little as I realised I had been so lost in my musings I had completely ignored my Students question. “I’m sorry Ice Lilly, could you repeat that?” I smiled encouragingly to her as I felt the hard cobble stones we trod on under hoof giving way to golden gilded chariot, my young charge jumped up as well and soon the sound of the wind whistling past us filled my ears as the two Pegasi guards flew us to our destination. “What was it like living during the war?” Her question was one of innocent curiosity; she had no intention of causing me any distress. It did not change the fact it was a part of my long (okay short by comparison to certain other Princesses) Reign that I did not like to think about. “Well we’re about to find out aren't we?” I plastered a smile onto my face and tried to push back the memories of reading the casualty lists, of the sickening worrying pit in my stomach… Perhaps I should have sent her with a tutor today to these events. Helping to get them organised and set up had been no problem. I could separate them from educating the ponies of Equestria about their past and my own experiences during the war. But now? I was going to have to face some of my own experiences during those miserable bleak years. My ears wilted at the prospect. I did not want our chariot ride to become one of stifling silence but my thoughts were increasingly trapped in the past and I could feel the crushing silence stretch on and on. The quiet was eventually broken by her excited squealing. “It's the friendship castle! Look, look!” I felt the dark mood that was beginning to envelop me begin to lift at the sight of the grand palace and of the many far better memories I held within its walls I had to stifle a slight giggle. “Lilly, I have taken you to the castle before.” “Yeah but that was before you told me about the time…” She continued on telling me about one of my adventures followed by the next on and on as I gave her a slightly embarrassed smile, hearing what I thought was just the crazy wacky times with my friends told as grand stories was one of the things Celestia hadn't warned me about happening as I got older and older, I think she thought it was funny to turn the tables on me after I probably did the same thing with her stories and adventures. The chariot landed with a slight thud and squeal as the wheels connected with the ground and the guard ponies brought it to a halt. I beamed a smile at them as we alighted the chariot. “Thank you Storm chaser, Whirlwind. Enjoy the rest of the day off. I hope to see you at the festivities!” I smiled at them as they nodded to me and flew off with the chariot towards the castle of friendship presumably to store the chariot and unarmoured themselves in the barracks. I don't imagine running around in heavy ceremonial armour all day would be all that fun. I smiled as I felt the impacted soil under hoof, the smell of fresh produce and baked goods wafted into my nose, I loved every opportunity to come back to Ponyville in 100 years it felt the town had hardly changed at all ponies were still friendly and welcoming it maintained its rustic appeal and most appreciated by me ponies never scraped and bowed for me here, while I had gotten used to it didn't mean I had to like it. My beaming smile never left my muzzle as I took in the sight at the town square, I had worked closely with the EEA, Royal guard, royal archives, Royal broadcasting service and countless other organisation to set up events just like this one all across Equestria to let ponies both young and old learn about such an important part of our history even if it wasn't one I liked to remember personally. Watching other ponies take joy in learning about the past though did make my jaw start to hurt from smiling as Lilly galloped off ahead of me to the first stall that took her interest. With my long strides it didn't take much to keep up with her and I chuckled. “Don't run off Lilly we’re here to learn together” I placed a wing on her back briefly and pulled us to walk side by side before retracting it and following her gaze to the first activity that had taken her notice as she beamed at me. “Let's go to the cinema first! I want to see what it really looked like!” I let her lead me into the Ponyville Cinema, when I had the archivist staff pulling what footage we had of the great war somepony had the great idea to not only colorise the footage to the best of modern technologies ability but a director known as Plot device had heard about it and requested to be involved and work with the governments broadcasting service to create a film. I was worried he would attempt to make some sort of spectacle of the whole thing however the early cut version I had been privy to my fears had been assuaged, they had done a great job bringing the creatures to life on the screen, modern technology had done a wonder of bringing colour to the footage, and the addition of voice overed interviews of creatures who were there was a nice touch I hadn't thought of myself it really was a marvel of documentary filmmaking. Which made it all the more strange. I tried to do anything but watch it. I could have claimed it was because I had already seen it before but it would be a lie. No, I just didn't want to look at the ponies running across open fields where I knew they would meet their demise. Or ponies living and smiling singing a song as they sheltered in a trench. I found myself trying to do anything but think about the fact that the pony on the screen probably perished in a very unpleasant way not too long after. I found myself thinking back, sitting every morning reading the casualty reports. The worst part was I was looking for several names in particular, the rest of them becoming mere statistics until a Dragons claw shook me from my stupor… “Princess? Hello? Princess the movie finished” I gave myself a shake. No it wasn't Spike it was Lilly. It was just a bad memory. Spike was in the dragon lands and I was in Ponyville. Right. I gave myself a shake trying to regain my faculties before looking down and smiling trying to reassure her. “Sorry Lilly, I was lost in thought. Did you enjoy the documentary?” As I looked down at her she looked a little pensive in thought as she digested it. None of the movie was inappropriate for a filly her age I was sure of it but perhaps it was maybe a slightly heavy subject for a young teenager. As I was about to ask her again she spoke up her voice a little more subdued than her normal self. “I enjoyed it, yeah… Just. I dunno. I think I'm just struggling to get my head around it. It's so big you know.” I suppose when it was portrayed on such grand scales it might be hard to make hoof or tail of. However one of the many other activities was a way to look up the archives of your own relatives! I smiled at her. “Well let's bring it down to the pony level then. Come on, I know what we should do next.” We trotted out of the theatre and it took my eyes a moment to adjust from the darkness to the bright spring day. The weather team had done a great job for the fair. We trotted the impacted dirt road, I could tell my shoes were getting dusty and I’d need to add cleaning and polishing them to my to do list. We soon arrived at the archive displays, several other fillies and colts were already looking up their great grandparents or great great grandparents to see what they did. The wonders of modern magic truly were something else, we could write in a name and through some complex webbing of several spells together we could display on the parchment the full records of the name of the pony we searched up. It really was a marvel. I nodded and smiled trying to encourage her, using my big wings to push her towards the scrolls. “Go on, put in the name of a relative, let's see what it says.” She wrote in the name of a relative, I think on her father's side and after a moment a copy of their records appeared in front of us. The details of Emerald Gloom's time serving in the Royal Navy appeared before us. Decorated for bravery twice for her actions in the Luna bay aboard HMS Sisterhood before eventually being discharged following a crippling injury. The enthusiasm to learn that I so loved from Lilly returned and we spent the next 30 minutes looking up both sides of her family tree, some of my own joy returning. I loved to learn and I loved to see other ponies love. Once we had exhausted all her options she asked me the dreaded question. “What happens if we put your name in Princess?” I honestly didn't know. What would it say? “Lets try it” I took the enchanted quill from her and put my own name and… Nothing. It just flashed before blanking itself out again. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or not before I heard her whining. “Aww that's no fun.” Chuckling I moved her along to the next activity to give another filly and colt the chance to research their own family. Much of the rest of the day passed in a blur as I tried to keep up with her boundless energy to learn her enthusiasm brightened my mood considerably. As we were trotting our way to the friendship castle enjoying some rocky road she pipped back up. “Princess, I do still have one question about the war?” I nodded my ascent as I continued to enjoy the sweet tasting treat as she continued on, she sounded almost cautious to ask the question although when it left her lips I understood why. “You were there during the war right? What was it really like?” Ah I should have known an inquisitive pony like her would not be satisfied with my attempts to dodge the question. I sighed and my ears drooped slightly. “The war was an awful time for me Lilly, so many ponies were hurt or worse killed. I struggled to face it. I spent a lot of my time helping with the research teams and burying myself in work, when needed I would visit ponies in hospitals or a safe distance away from the front lines.” I swallowed and tried to block out the memory of the smells of the field hospital in my memory. “It was the worst ponies and Changelings could do to each other. Many of my friends came home badly hurt. Or my BBBFF didn't ever come home.” When I thought tears should be flowing however a happier memory did float to my mind and I perked up a little. “It was also the best of ponies. It was the greatest test of the magic of friendship in the end and it won. Ponies would save those they had never even met before just because they shared the trench with them” Some of the stories Pinkie pie, AppleJack and Rainbow dash had shared with me started to come to mind. “Let me tell you some of the nicer stories at least about what it was really like when ponies stepped up to help their friends. Well let's start with…” The Princess of the MoonThe sound of my shoes clacking along the marbled floor bounced around the room, I looked along the walls and of the Stained glass windows depicting the greatest heroes of our history. Of course I naturally enjoyed the peace and quiet of the night over my sister's bright and busy days. The tranquillity of the dark and cool air soothed me and hopefully my subjects who also spent their time enjoying the hours of dark. As I made my way down the hall of heroes I came upon what was now the centrepiece of the hall surrounded by enchanted flowers so that they would not grow old organised into a beautiful arrangement by the most talented of florists. They surrounded what would seem a rather plain and simple if somewhat large stone. Different from the rest of the castle both in colour and materials. I looked down upon the black marbled stone set into the floors of Canterlot Castle reading over the worlds engraved with the brass of munitions fired in anger from the Great War, not that there was anything particularly great about it I mused to myself. “Beneath this stone rests the body Of a lost friend Unknown by name or rank Brought home from the battlefield to lie among The most illustrious of Equestria And buried here on Armistice Day 8th April: 1016, in the presence of Her royal highnesses: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight, Princess Flurry Heart The elements of harmony Her Ministers of State The Chiefs of her forces And a vast concourse of the nation Thus are commemorated the many Multitudes who during the Great War of 1011 – 1016 gave the most that Ponies can give life itself For Friendship and Harmony For Princess and Equestria For loved ones home and abroad For the sacred cause of Friendship” I gave my head a slight shake. Despite the great effort we had gone to, Selecting multiple major battlefields, exhuming multiple unidentified ponies, selecting one at random and the full state funeral held for this unknown hero I still felt it was a pittance for what the fallen deserved. One grave for all of the land to mourn and remember her by. My reputation for being the coldest of the Princesses was perhaps earned for I did not wail nor nash my teeth for the dead nor was I a despondent teary eyed mare. I had asked them to do what needed to be done and for some they were forced to make the ultimate sacrifice for their friends. The nature of modern war had changed much in my exile to the moon, gone were the days where Martial skill and Elan alone could carry the day. One century ago a mass charge of ponies into the jaws of a machine gun resulted in nothing more than dozens of letters to bereaved families. War had escalated onto an industrial scale and Equestria as a whole, not just myself was not aware nor ready for that. Not yet. We triumphed in the end but not without great cost. The last official tally put 1.6 Million dead and another 4.8 million had ended up wounded. Poor Twilight I thought to myself. There was a few years after the war the junior princess went to great lengths to fund many papers and expeditions to calculate the exact numbers she insisted she had to know. I suspect she blamed herself for not doing more and was putting the numbers at her own hooves. Celestia too wanted to know the exact extent of the devastation upon her little ponies. Cadence was too wrapped up in her grief with one particular casualty. Whereas myself? I of course knew the burden of many of those ponies suffering was a direct consequence of my own actions and lack of knowledge. And even more were a result of my orders and plans. I only asked the ponies under my care and command to do their duty, it was just a shame that sometimes that duty resulted in their untimely demise. Something that was lost upon Twilight and even my sister for many years was the ponies may have went off to war earning the Princesses bit and fighting for Equestria and the princesses and while I made every effort I could to visit the frontlines to do my own part as they liked to say back then “The warrior princess” neither me nor my sister could be in all places at once. When the chips were truly down they fought not for me, not for my sister, not even Harmony herself but instead for their friends besides them. The mare in the trench at their side, who they slept, ate, fought, bled and died alongside. The magic of friendship may be better suited to avoiding conflicts in the first place but I think the Princess of friendship may have missed another powerful side of the magic of friendship for those who fought and bled together had an iron bond, the magic of friendship not bullet nor bomb nor shell nor princess brought us victory in the end. It was the common pony and their implacable friendship to the mare next to her. I took one last look at the tomb before continuing the trot to my first meeting of the evening, the click clacking continuing to bounce off the walls and ceilings. Before long I made my way into my study, my aide, a competent if somewhat anxious Thestral mare Gloomy Night bowed to me as I entered, I nodded in acknowledgement before sitting my haunches upon a large plush cushion behind my great timber desk. She was about to begin with my agenda as she opened her muzzle to speak. I brusquely interjected. “I wish to dispense with the Agenda for the moment Gloomy, something has come to my mind I would discuss with my personal secretary.” She spluttered and her wings bent out of shape in either direction awkwardly, presumably taken aback but the shift from what was planned. I did rather hope she would become accustomed to my rather mercurial nature. I did like her, she was excellent with paperwork and schedules whereas I detested the mere thought of it. She finally righted herself mentally and offered her best Polite smile in return slightly strained at the edges of having to deal with the sudden shift from her plan. “Of course your majesty, what is on your mind?” “The centenary of the great war is upon us. What memorial works or services are planned?” Her face took on a look of surprise and I watched as her muzzle twitched as I presume she thought about all the events I would be scheduled to take part in. As she opened her muzzle I interrupted her again. “I would like you to clear some time in my schedule. I would like to commission a memorial piece and an event to accompany it for the occasion. I have been ruminating on the many ponies who were not fortunate to come home in the end.” Her eyes bulged and she spluttered, forgetting her decorum for a moment. “But But your majesty, it is only a few months away! Fitting a whole other event? What even is this memorial!” Our agenda was forgotten and I smiled to myself as she continued on her rant and as my plan formulated in my head. Many weeks of rescheduled appointments, a few personal favours here and there, a great deal of hoof crafting and one Charity auction of my own personal paintings later to fund the whole affair we had arrived on the day in question. For the next 8 nights before the armistice day itself hoof crafted and immaculately painted by foals across the land lanterns each to represent one pony who never came home were to sail down the Canterlot moat before they would symbolically pass over the falls and land far off. I smiled to myself and Gloom smiled at my side, the frantic weeks of work had been worth the effort, while it may still not be enough for what they truly deserved perhaps it was a start in the right direction. The Princess of the SunI stared at the pristine white marble blocks perfectly sculpted, crafted with the utmost care as and constructed with delicate almost reverence so many years ago until they formed the obelisk in front of me, when we had this structure commissioned to be built we did not want it to become gaudy or to attempt to romanticise such a miserable time for Equestria and so the memorial to the great war was a rather plain looking structure sat centre of harmony plaza on the path to Canterlot castle in hopes that it might provoke ponies to remember what was undoubtedly the darkest days of Equestria and that the great conflagration had consumed all in Equestria. Would those that gave their all for Equestria truly be happy with what Equestria had become? To know that the foe who had slaughtered their friends and kin butchered so many and took their lives would be forgiven their transgressions in the end? Are they rolling in their graves in disgust at what Equestria had become once the war ended? To reach out a hoof to one who had so savagely bitten us. One of my greatest worries being such a… Long lived pony was always the concern of events of such great importance that I lived through being slowly forgotten about falling into myth and legend. Such a thing had happened with my own dearest sisters falling to madness and banishment from this plain, over time the story of Nightmare moon had become just that. A story we told to fillies and colts is a fairy-tale. It brought me great pain to be the only pony who truly remembered that I did not always rule alone and so for one thousand years I was left the only one to remember both her and her tale. Even the idea of war itself was a story to ponies. They had known a millennia of peace only contending with occasional monster attacks, even before war truly blighted our land with the winter revolution once again ponies were so sure war could not come to our land it only happened elsewhere in the world. And then the Changelings invaded the deer and still many ponies were so sure war would not come to our lands of friendship and harmony, that we would strike out a deal at the last hour with Queen Chrysalis and her hives and that all would be well again but then. My ears pressed down onto my skull as I heard a thunderous boom sound across the city, out of the corner of my eyes I saw many of the ponies lining the streets jumped slightly in fright, several foals jumping underneath their parents or guardians legs at the scary sound of an artillery gun sounding. We had been blessed that in the 100 years since the Great war no filly or colt at home had had to suffer the horrors of war and its hardships, the sound of guns was once again alien to most of my little ponies. My ears perked up again and I was drawn from my current thought as I heard the bells all across Canterlot tolling their mournful cries. I knew all across the land of Equestria and even abroad in the Crystal empire, Olenia, New Mareland and further afield yet the same thing was happening all over many places in the world and the entire country fell silent as one. As we stood the sun beaming down upon the throngs of crowds lining the streets I started to count up the 120 seconds in my mind before I started to drift thinking to all my little ponies who had given their everything for Equestria, sun and moon above twenty years ago felt only like a blink of an eye as I remembered the last time we held this ceremony with one of the ponies who was there herself, the years had not been kind to her body but I could still remember her eyes they still gleamed with that of a mare 40 years her junior and her off colour jokes would not bear repeating in good company. We had known it would be the last major anniversary that the ponies who fought would be there for but to my own dismay I did not think to try and make more of a point of that issue. Even a scant decade ago the last of the ponies who saw the war even through the eyes of being a small foal at the time too were slipping away until now only those of us blessed with such longevity can truly remember the carnage of the great war. It took all of my willpower to not jump as I heard the distant thunder of guns once again, had two minutes really passed already? So lost in reminiscence I nearly missed my cue. All was silent in the streets save for I could hear the loud echoing of several metal shoes clocking against stone in perfect unison and I finally tore my gaze from the cenotaph looking around for a moment, Luna stood beside me ever the warrior princess she had her field marshals uniform on as two fillies from her own school presented her with a wreath of poppies, at the same time two colts from my school of gifted unicorns presented me with my own wreath to lay. I felt the slightly spicy floral scent fill my nostrils I smiled down to my little ponies whispering softly to them “Thank you” as they scampered off I gave my sister a small nod and we slowly trotted to the base of memorial, Normally my regalia felt like I was wearing nothing at all but today of all days I could truly feel the weight of my golden shoes and felt every uneven inch of the cobbled stone as we approached. Together we laid the wreaths down, bowed our heads slightly before returning to our spots on the plaza grounds. Next Twilight and Queen Victa of the Changeling hives were presented their own wreath by fillies of Twilights school of friendship, one Changeling student and a Hippogriff student presented a wreath made with a vast assortment flowers from each of the students homelands adorned the wreath and they walked hoof in hoof each using their magic to hold the wreath together and place it alongside Luna and I’s. In the many many years we had held a memorial for armistice day it had always felt somewhat out of place to ask a Changeling representative to be present at such events given the nature of what we were reminiscing on. The first decade it would have been completely unthinkable as much as Equestria had reached out with a hoof of friendship following the destruction of the Great war bitterness still remained for sometime after such horrors. However slowly eventually ponies and Changelings had become friends, I had heard rumours of Changelings and ponies who had both fought at the same battles meeting one another or one rather famous case of a Changeling who had in the waning days of the war spared a bomber crew that had been torn to pieces only for them to meet again many decades later and becoming the closest of friends even passing within mere weeks of one another. However Twilight had insisted that after 100 years and the friendship that had grown between the Changelings and ponies since it was time to invite them to attend our remembrance event and take part. I had not expected the Queen herself to insist on joining in on the event. Perhaps even if it was not their proudest hour the changelings did not want to forget who they once were. After Twilight and Queen Victa came Princess Cadence approached alone, her daughter Flurry heart would be seeing the simultaneous service occurring in the heart of the Crystal empire right about now. Two foals from the crystal empire instead of a floral wreath hoofed over to her a small crystal statue of a stallion rearing up She approached with a saddened smile upon her muzzle as she placed the statue of the white coated and blue maned stallion upon the top step up bowing her head for a moment before return back to her sister in laws side supporting one another as the ceremony ticked on. After the royal families had finished our part in the ceremony my ministers of state, opposition politicians and other foreign dignitaries who had come to our aid began their turn to place memorial items or wreaths. The Solemn silence was broken as a band struck up an old favoured marching tune of the many young mares would have marched off to themselves, Taking our queue the few of us who were there and could remember clear as day the war took wing and retreated back into the palace. The feeling of the cool wind flowing along feathers did much to pull my mind back to the present and after a very brief flight I alighted upon the marbled balcony but instead of following Twilight, Cadence and Luna instead I stopped and turned around and watched from the Balcony. Throngs of creatures, Hippogriffs, Griffins, Diamond dogs, Thestrals, Crystal ponies, Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi and yes even Changelings all marching past the great stone pillar, some just dipping their heads some laying their own wreaths, young and old mare and stallion. My eyes began to tear up somewhat and the tightness in my core was released. They may not have been there themselves but my little ponies did remember and they did care about such a seminal event in our history. To see it gladdened my heart despite the horrors of the time. To forget about it would be even worse and invite such a disastrous occasion upon us again. And to those who did not make it this far, I think those who had given their all in the end would be able look to today if they were here and see an Equestria they still recognised, one that reached out with the hoof of compassion and friendship and the the fires of the magic of friendship did still burn bright after all was said and done, we had not lost ourselves in the conflagration.
The Princess of LoveThe chirping of the birds broke me from my day dream. I shifted on my cosy plush cushion and gave my wings a stretch as I rolled the kinks out of my neck with a satisfying pop. Opening my eyes I gazed out over the royal balcony at the centre of the Crystal city looking across the breadth of the city. Despite disappearing for over a millenia, in the century I had ruled the empire had seen it rapidly catch up and become a place where friendship and love warmed the homes of all the ponies who resided here. Despite my best efforts to ignore it my eyes soon settled upon the brilliant crystalline statue set across the main boulevard that led to the palace. It was impossible not to take note of it. I had commissioned it to be something to immediately draw everyponies attention to my own detriment. The sunlight hit it just so and the crystals shone a brilliant Gold, Pearl white and Azure, The statue of the stallion was rearing up ready to strike at an unseen foe, his fur and mane forever pristine, his armour forever gleaming in statue form. Stars above a century had passed and the black hole in my heart still seared with pain. The decades might have dulled the grief but it never truly went away. It would disappear for a time, but it was always lurking waiting in the cracks of my heart to rear its ugly head and wrap itself around my heart like a great serpent. I had told myself throughout the decades that the grief would pass and I would love again, but I think I was just lying to myself at this point. Some princess of love I was. Maybe the stress of the war broke me and I just never pieced myself back together. I wouldn't have been the first pony it had happened too. So many grieving husbands and widows left behind, Children bereft of a sibling or a parent. My ears flicked upwards as I heard the gentle beating of wings above me soon followed by a clack as hooves met crystal flooring. There was silence for a while as I continued to look towards the statue of my late husband. Prince Shining armour, Saviour of Canterlot, hero of the Crystal empire. My Shiney. I felt a large downy wing wrap itself around my barrel as I sniffled the tears stinging at my eyes a little and turned my head to the left with a sad smile on my muzzle. “Sorry you need to put up with me like this honey” The Princess of hope just looked up to me and smiled patiently, Every time I looked into her crystal blue eyes I could see shiney's gazing back at me. I leaned down and we nuzzled into each other's cheeks as I put my own wing around my daughter and we shared an embrace. “Its okay mom, I know the hurt comes back sometimes” Her voice was soft, full of concern, this was the wrong way round. I was supposed to comfort her when she had her heartaches. I held onto the embrace for a few moments to compose myself. After a while I pulled back from her, the wing still held around her barrel we both shared a smile before looking back out across to the statue. She learned against my side stifling a yawn. “Why are you up so early anyway mom?” I took to playing with her mane in my magic field tidying up the rats nest it had become trying to centre my thoughts again as I sighed. “I couldn't sleep.” All I got in reply was a soft. “Hrmm” It was quiet again for a moment. All I could hear and feel was the rising of her chest as she breathed before she broke it again asking softly. “What was he like?” I felt like the question had struck me physically. Had I really been such a poor mother that I didn't even tell my daughter about what her father was like? She would have been very very young when he passed she would only remember so much. I felt a wing Squeeze me and looked down out of the corner of my eye to see my daughter snuggled into my side with a content smile plastered on her muzzle and it brought me back to when she was just an itty bitty little foal. With that the tension in my body melted and I started to giggle. “Your dad was a doofus but that was part of his charm.” I could feel her snort and start to laugh with me and soon that serpents grip on my heart was broken and we just lay there giggling like mad mares and it took us quite a while to calm down. She was looking up at me beaming a smile. “There's only two things that make you smile so much mom” She flushed a little but continued on. “Whenever you tell ponies about me, and whenever you talk about dad. It makes you smile.” I pressed my lips to the top of her head and pulled her close to me. “I am so very lucky you turned out to be as sweet and caring as he was” I could see a proper blush on her cheeks now and I couldn't help but start to giggle again. “And neither of you could accept a compliment without turning red either.” I sighed and smiled as I looked at the statue again. “I am glad you turned out so much like him. He was a good pony. And I loved him so very much. Just like I love you” Maybe I was looking at it from the wrong angle. I still loved. I loved my subjects, I loved my staff, I loved my friends and family. I loved and cherished my memories of Shining and most of all I loved my daughter. Perhaps one day I dared to hope maybe I could love another. My heart soaring I pulled my daughter tight to my side, my breast full of the warmth of love I looked down at her. “Let me tell you about when I met your dad…”
The Princess of FriendshipI could feel the sun beating down on my back, the warm spring air bringing out the crowds from their homes and into the streets after a long cold winter. Especially cold in Canterlot being so high up in altitude. Perhaps I should have the Pegasi weather teams start recording temperatures across Equestria all year long, the scientific data could prove invaluable. Maybe I could have the Royal institute carry out a study on ponies' habits and health throughout different seasons of the year and see what correlations I could draw. I was pulled from my musings at a quiet shy Question, I turned my head and looked down to the small azure Unicorn with long flowing pink locks looking back up at me with her sapphire eyes, I could feel my face heat up a little as I realised I had been so lost in my musings I had completely ignored my Students question. “I’m sorry Ice Lilly, could you repeat that?” I smiled encouragingly to her as I felt the hard cobble stones we trod on under hoof giving way to golden gilded chariot, my young charge jumped up as well and soon the sound of the wind whistling past us filled my ears as the two Pegasi guards flew us to our destination. “What was it like living during the war?” Her question was one of innocent curiosity; she had no intention of causing me any distress. It did not change the fact it was a part of my long (okay short by comparison to certain other Princesses) Reign that I did not like to think about. “Well we’re about to find out aren't we?” I plastered a smile onto my face and tried to push back the memories of reading the casualty lists, of the sickening worrying pit in my stomach… Perhaps I should have sent her with a tutor today to these events. Helping to get them organised and set up had been no problem. I could separate them from educating the ponies of Equestria about their past and my own experiences during the war. But now? I was going to have to face some of my own experiences during those miserable bleak years. My ears wilted at the prospect. I did not want our chariot ride to become one of stifling silence but my thoughts were increasingly trapped in the past and I could feel the crushing silence stretch on and on. The quiet was eventually broken by her excited squealing. “It's the friendship castle! Look, look!” I felt the dark mood that was beginning to envelop me begin to lift at the sight of the grand palace and of the many far better memories I held within its walls I had to stifle a slight giggle. “Lilly, I have taken you to the castle before.” “Yeah but that was before you told me about the time…” She continued on telling me about one of my adventures followed by the next on and on as I gave her a slightly embarrassed smile, hearing what I thought was just the crazy wacky times with my friends told as grand stories was one of the things Celestia hadn't warned me about happening as I got older and older, I think she thought it was funny to turn the tables on me after I probably did the same thing with her stories and adventures. The chariot landed with a slight thud and squeal as the wheels connected with the ground and the guard ponies brought it to a halt. I beamed a smile at them as we alighted the chariot. “Thank you Storm chaser, Whirlwind. Enjoy the rest of the day off. I hope to see you at the festivities!” I smiled at them as they nodded to me and flew off with the chariot towards the castle of friendship presumably to store the chariot and unarmoured themselves in the barracks. I don't imagine running around in heavy ceremonial armour all day would be all that fun. I smiled as I felt the impacted soil under hoof, the smell of fresh produce and baked goods wafted into my nose, I loved every opportunity to come back to Ponyville in 100 years it felt the town had hardly changed at all ponies were still friendly and welcoming it maintained its rustic appeal and most appreciated by me ponies never scraped and bowed for me here, while I had gotten used to it didn't mean I had to like it. My beaming smile never left my muzzle as I took in the sight at the town square, I had worked closely with the EEA, Royal guard, royal archives, Royal broadcasting service and countless other organisation to set up events just like this one all across Equestria to let ponies both young and old learn about such an important part of our history even if it wasn't one I liked to remember personally. Watching other ponies take joy in learning about the past though did make my jaw start to hurt from smiling as Lilly galloped off ahead of me to the first stall that took her interest. With my long strides it didn't take much to keep up with her and I chuckled. “Don't run off Lilly we’re here to learn together” I placed a wing on her back briefly and pulled us to walk side by side before retracting it and following her gaze to the first activity that had taken her notice as she beamed at me. “Let's go to the cinema first! I want to see what it really looked like!” I let her lead me into the Ponyville Cinema, when I had the archivist staff pulling what footage we had of the great war somepony had the great idea to not only colorise the footage to the best of modern technologies ability but a director known as Plot device had heard about it and requested to be involved and work with the governments broadcasting service to create a film. I was worried he would attempt to make some sort of spectacle of the whole thing however the early cut version I had been privy to my fears had been assuaged, they had done a great job bringing the creatures to life on the screen, modern technology had done a wonder of bringing colour to the footage, and the addition of voice overed interviews of creatures who were there was a nice touch I hadn't thought of myself it really was a marvel of documentary filmmaking. Which made it all the more strange. I tried to do anything but watch it. I could have claimed it was because I had already seen it before but it would be a lie. No, I just didn't want to look at the ponies running across open fields where I knew they would meet their demise. Or ponies living and smiling singing a song as they sheltered in a trench. I found myself trying to do anything but think about the fact that the pony on the screen probably perished in a very unpleasant way not too long after. I found myself thinking back, sitting every morning reading the casualty reports. The worst part was I was looking for several names in particular, the rest of them becoming mere statistics until a Dragons claw shook me from my stupor… “Princess? Hello? Princess the movie finished” I gave myself a shake. No it wasn't Spike it was Lilly. It was just a bad memory. Spike was in the dragon lands and I was in Ponyville. Right. I gave myself a shake trying to regain my faculties before looking down and smiling trying to reassure her. “Sorry Lilly, I was lost in thought. Did you enjoy the documentary?” As I looked down at her she looked a little pensive in thought as she digested it. None of the movie was inappropriate for a filly her age I was sure of it but perhaps it was maybe a slightly heavy subject for a young teenager. As I was about to ask her again she spoke up her voice a little more subdued than her normal self. “I enjoyed it, yeah… Just. I dunno. I think I'm just struggling to get my head around it. It's so big you know.” I suppose when it was portrayed on such grand scales it might be hard to make hoof or tail of. However one of the many other activities was a way to look up the archives of your own relatives! I smiled at her. “Well let's bring it down to the pony level then. Come on, I know what we should do next.” We trotted out of the theatre and it took my eyes a moment to adjust from the darkness to the bright spring day. The weather team had done a great job for the fair. We trotted the impacted dirt road, I could tell my shoes were getting dusty and I’d need to add cleaning and polishing them to my to do list. We soon arrived at the archive displays, several other fillies and colts were already looking up their great grandparents or great great grandparents to see what they did. The wonders of modern magic truly were something else, we could write in a name and through some complex webbing of several spells together we could display on the parchment the full records of the name of the pony we searched up. It really was a marvel. I nodded and smiled trying to encourage her, using my big wings to push her towards the scrolls. “Go on, put in the name of a relative, let's see what it says.” She wrote in the name of a relative, I think on her father's side and after a moment a copy of their records appeared in front of us. The details of Emerald Gloom's time serving in the Royal Navy appeared before us. Decorated for bravery twice for her actions in the Luna bay aboard HMS Sisterhood before eventually being discharged following a crippling injury. The enthusiasm to learn that I so loved from Lilly returned and we spent the next 30 minutes looking up both sides of her family tree, some of my own joy returning. I loved to learn and I loved to see other ponies love. Once we had exhausted all her options she asked me the dreaded question. “What happens if we put your name in Princess?” I honestly didn't know. What would it say? “Lets try it” I took the enchanted quill from her and put my own name and… Nothing. It just flashed before blanking itself out again. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or not before I heard her whining. “Aww that's no fun.” Chuckling I moved her along to the next activity to give another filly and colt the chance to research their own family. Much of the rest of the day passed in a blur as I tried to keep up with her boundless energy to learn her enthusiasm brightened my mood considerably. As we were trotting our way to the friendship castle enjoying some rocky road she pipped back up. “Princess, I do still have one question about the war?” I nodded my ascent as I continued to enjoy the sweet tasting treat as she continued on, she sounded almost cautious to ask the question although when it left her lips I understood why. “You were there during the war right? What was it really like?” Ah I should have known an inquisitive pony like her would not be satisfied with my attempts to dodge the question. I sighed and my ears drooped slightly. “The war was an awful time for me Lilly, so many ponies were hurt or worse killed. I struggled to face it. I spent a lot of my time helping with the research teams and burying myself in work, when needed I would visit ponies in hospitals or a safe distance away from the front lines.” I swallowed and tried to block out the memory of the smells of the field hospital in my memory. “It was the worst ponies and Changelings could do to each other. Many of my friends came home badly hurt. Or my BBBFF didn't ever come home.” When I thought tears should be flowing however a happier memory did float to my mind and I perked up a little. “It was also the best of ponies. It was the greatest test of the magic of friendship in the end and it won. Ponies would save those they had never even met before just because they shared the trench with them” Some of the stories Pinkie pie, AppleJack and Rainbow dash had shared with me started to come to mind. “Let me tell you some of the nicer stories at least about what it was really like when ponies stepped up to help their friends. Well let's start with…”
The Princess of the MoonThe sound of my shoes clacking along the marbled floor bounced around the room, I looked along the walls and of the Stained glass windows depicting the greatest heroes of our history. Of course I naturally enjoyed the peace and quiet of the night over my sister's bright and busy days. The tranquillity of the dark and cool air soothed me and hopefully my subjects who also spent their time enjoying the hours of dark. As I made my way down the hall of heroes I came upon what was now the centrepiece of the hall surrounded by enchanted flowers so that they would not grow old organised into a beautiful arrangement by the most talented of florists. They surrounded what would seem a rather plain and simple if somewhat large stone. Different from the rest of the castle both in colour and materials. I looked down upon the black marbled stone set into the floors of Canterlot Castle reading over the worlds engraved with the brass of munitions fired in anger from the Great War, not that there was anything particularly great about it I mused to myself. “Beneath this stone rests the body Of a lost friend Unknown by name or rank Brought home from the battlefield to lie among The most illustrious of Equestria And buried here on Armistice Day 8th April: 1016, in the presence of Her royal highnesses: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight, Princess Flurry Heart The elements of harmony Her Ministers of State The Chiefs of her forces And a vast concourse of the nation Thus are commemorated the many Multitudes who during the Great War of 1011 – 1016 gave the most that Ponies can give life itself For Friendship and Harmony For Princess and Equestria For loved ones home and abroad For the sacred cause of Friendship” I gave my head a slight shake. Despite the great effort we had gone to, Selecting multiple major battlefields, exhuming multiple unidentified ponies, selecting one at random and the full state funeral held for this unknown hero I still felt it was a pittance for what the fallen deserved. One grave for all of the land to mourn and remember her by. My reputation for being the coldest of the Princesses was perhaps earned for I did not wail nor nash my teeth for the dead nor was I a despondent teary eyed mare. I had asked them to do what needed to be done and for some they were forced to make the ultimate sacrifice for their friends. The nature of modern war had changed much in my exile to the moon, gone were the days where Martial skill and Elan alone could carry the day. One century ago a mass charge of ponies into the jaws of a machine gun resulted in nothing more than dozens of letters to bereaved families. War had escalated onto an industrial scale and Equestria as a whole, not just myself was not aware nor ready for that. Not yet. We triumphed in the end but not without great cost. The last official tally put 1.6 Million dead and another 4.8 million had ended up wounded. Poor Twilight I thought to myself. There was a few years after the war the junior princess went to great lengths to fund many papers and expeditions to calculate the exact numbers she insisted she had to know. I suspect she blamed herself for not doing more and was putting the numbers at her own hooves. Celestia too wanted to know the exact extent of the devastation upon her little ponies. Cadence was too wrapped up in her grief with one particular casualty. Whereas myself? I of course knew the burden of many of those ponies suffering was a direct consequence of my own actions and lack of knowledge. And even more were a result of my orders and plans. I only asked the ponies under my care and command to do their duty, it was just a shame that sometimes that duty resulted in their untimely demise. Something that was lost upon Twilight and even my sister for many years was the ponies may have went off to war earning the Princesses bit and fighting for Equestria and the princesses and while I made every effort I could to visit the frontlines to do my own part as they liked to say back then “The warrior princess” neither me nor my sister could be in all places at once. When the chips were truly down they fought not for me, not for my sister, not even Harmony herself but instead for their friends besides them. The mare in the trench at their side, who they slept, ate, fought, bled and died alongside. The magic of friendship may be better suited to avoiding conflicts in the first place but I think the Princess of friendship may have missed another powerful side of the magic of friendship for those who fought and bled together had an iron bond, the magic of friendship not bullet nor bomb nor shell nor princess brought us victory in the end. It was the common pony and their implacable friendship to the mare next to her. I took one last look at the tomb before continuing the trot to my first meeting of the evening, the click clacking continuing to bounce off the walls and ceilings. Before long I made my way into my study, my aide, a competent if somewhat anxious Thestral mare Gloomy Night bowed to me as I entered, I nodded in acknowledgement before sitting my haunches upon a large plush cushion behind my great timber desk. She was about to begin with my agenda as she opened her muzzle to speak. I brusquely interjected. “I wish to dispense with the Agenda for the moment Gloomy, something has come to my mind I would discuss with my personal secretary.” She spluttered and her wings bent out of shape in either direction awkwardly, presumably taken aback but the shift from what was planned. I did rather hope she would become accustomed to my rather mercurial nature. I did like her, she was excellent with paperwork and schedules whereas I detested the mere thought of it. She finally righted herself mentally and offered her best Polite smile in return slightly strained at the edges of having to deal with the sudden shift from her plan. “Of course your majesty, what is on your mind?” “The centenary of the great war is upon us. What memorial works or services are planned?” Her face took on a look of surprise and I watched as her muzzle twitched as I presume she thought about all the events I would be scheduled to take part in. As she opened her muzzle I interrupted her again. “I would like you to clear some time in my schedule. I would like to commission a memorial piece and an event to accompany it for the occasion. I have been ruminating on the many ponies who were not fortunate to come home in the end.” Her eyes bulged and she spluttered, forgetting her decorum for a moment. “But But your majesty, it is only a few months away! Fitting a whole other event? What even is this memorial!” Our agenda was forgotten and I smiled to myself as she continued on her rant and as my plan formulated in my head. Many weeks of rescheduled appointments, a few personal favours here and there, a great deal of hoof crafting and one Charity auction of my own personal paintings later to fund the whole affair we had arrived on the day in question. For the next 8 nights before the armistice day itself hoof crafted and immaculately painted by foals across the land lanterns each to represent one pony who never came home were to sail down the Canterlot moat before they would symbolically pass over the falls and land far off. I smiled to myself and Gloom smiled at my side, the frantic weeks of work had been worth the effort, while it may still not be enough for what they truly deserved perhaps it was a start in the right direction.
The Princess of the SunI stared at the pristine white marble blocks perfectly sculpted, crafted with the utmost care as and constructed with delicate almost reverence so many years ago until they formed the obelisk in front of me, when we had this structure commissioned to be built we did not want it to become gaudy or to attempt to romanticise such a miserable time for Equestria and so the memorial to the great war was a rather plain looking structure sat centre of harmony plaza on the path to Canterlot castle in hopes that it might provoke ponies to remember what was undoubtedly the darkest days of Equestria and that the great conflagration had consumed all in Equestria. Would those that gave their all for Equestria truly be happy with what Equestria had become? To know that the foe who had slaughtered their friends and kin butchered so many and took their lives would be forgiven their transgressions in the end? Are they rolling in their graves in disgust at what Equestria had become once the war ended? To reach out a hoof to one who had so savagely bitten us. One of my greatest worries being such a… Long lived pony was always the concern of events of such great importance that I lived through being slowly forgotten about falling into myth and legend. Such a thing had happened with my own dearest sisters falling to madness and banishment from this plain, over time the story of Nightmare moon had become just that. A story we told to fillies and colts is a fairy-tale. It brought me great pain to be the only pony who truly remembered that I did not always rule alone and so for one thousand years I was left the only one to remember both her and her tale. Even the idea of war itself was a story to ponies. They had known a millennia of peace only contending with occasional monster attacks, even before war truly blighted our land with the winter revolution once again ponies were so sure war could not come to our land it only happened elsewhere in the world. And then the Changelings invaded the deer and still many ponies were so sure war would not come to our lands of friendship and harmony, that we would strike out a deal at the last hour with Queen Chrysalis and her hives and that all would be well again but then. My ears pressed down onto my skull as I heard a thunderous boom sound across the city, out of the corner of my eyes I saw many of the ponies lining the streets jumped slightly in fright, several foals jumping underneath their parents or guardians legs at the scary sound of an artillery gun sounding. We had been blessed that in the 100 years since the Great war no filly or colt at home had had to suffer the horrors of war and its hardships, the sound of guns was once again alien to most of my little ponies. My ears perked up again and I was drawn from my current thought as I heard the bells all across Canterlot tolling their mournful cries. I knew all across the land of Equestria and even abroad in the Crystal empire, Olenia, New Mareland and further afield yet the same thing was happening all over many places in the world and the entire country fell silent as one. As we stood the sun beaming down upon the throngs of crowds lining the streets I started to count up the 120 seconds in my mind before I started to drift thinking to all my little ponies who had given their everything for Equestria, sun and moon above twenty years ago felt only like a blink of an eye as I remembered the last time we held this ceremony with one of the ponies who was there herself, the years had not been kind to her body but I could still remember her eyes they still gleamed with that of a mare 40 years her junior and her off colour jokes would not bear repeating in good company. We had known it would be the last major anniversary that the ponies who fought would be there for but to my own dismay I did not think to try and make more of a point of that issue. Even a scant decade ago the last of the ponies who saw the war even through the eyes of being a small foal at the time too were slipping away until now only those of us blessed with such longevity can truly remember the carnage of the great war. It took all of my willpower to not jump as I heard the distant thunder of guns once again, had two minutes really passed already? So lost in reminiscence I nearly missed my cue. All was silent in the streets save for I could hear the loud echoing of several metal shoes clocking against stone in perfect unison and I finally tore my gaze from the cenotaph looking around for a moment, Luna stood beside me ever the warrior princess she had her field marshals uniform on as two fillies from her own school presented her with a wreath of poppies, at the same time two colts from my school of gifted unicorns presented me with my own wreath to lay. I felt the slightly spicy floral scent fill my nostrils I smiled down to my little ponies whispering softly to them “Thank you” as they scampered off I gave my sister a small nod and we slowly trotted to the base of memorial, Normally my regalia felt like I was wearing nothing at all but today of all days I could truly feel the weight of my golden shoes and felt every uneven inch of the cobbled stone as we approached. Together we laid the wreaths down, bowed our heads slightly before returning to our spots on the plaza grounds. Next Twilight and Queen Victa of the Changeling hives were presented their own wreath by fillies of Twilights school of friendship, one Changeling student and a Hippogriff student presented a wreath made with a vast assortment flowers from each of the students homelands adorned the wreath and they walked hoof in hoof each using their magic to hold the wreath together and place it alongside Luna and I’s. In the many many years we had held a memorial for armistice day it had always felt somewhat out of place to ask a Changeling representative to be present at such events given the nature of what we were reminiscing on. The first decade it would have been completely unthinkable as much as Equestria had reached out with a hoof of friendship following the destruction of the Great war bitterness still remained for sometime after such horrors. However slowly eventually ponies and Changelings had become friends, I had heard rumours of Changelings and ponies who had both fought at the same battles meeting one another or one rather famous case of a Changeling who had in the waning days of the war spared a bomber crew that had been torn to pieces only for them to meet again many decades later and becoming the closest of friends even passing within mere weeks of one another. However Twilight had insisted that after 100 years and the friendship that had grown between the Changelings and ponies since it was time to invite them to attend our remembrance event and take part. I had not expected the Queen herself to insist on joining in on the event. Perhaps even if it was not their proudest hour the changelings did not want to forget who they once were. After Twilight and Queen Victa came Princess Cadence approached alone, her daughter Flurry heart would be seeing the simultaneous service occurring in the heart of the Crystal empire right about now. Two foals from the crystal empire instead of a floral wreath hoofed over to her a small crystal statue of a stallion rearing up She approached with a saddened smile upon her muzzle as she placed the statue of the white coated and blue maned stallion upon the top step up bowing her head for a moment before return back to her sister in laws side supporting one another as the ceremony ticked on. After the royal families had finished our part in the ceremony my ministers of state, opposition politicians and other foreign dignitaries who had come to our aid began their turn to place memorial items or wreaths. The Solemn silence was broken as a band struck up an old favoured marching tune of the many young mares would have marched off to themselves, Taking our queue the few of us who were there and could remember clear as day the war took wing and retreated back into the palace. The feeling of the cool wind flowing along feathers did much to pull my mind back to the present and after a very brief flight I alighted upon the marbled balcony but instead of following Twilight, Cadence and Luna instead I stopped and turned around and watched from the Balcony. Throngs of creatures, Hippogriffs, Griffins, Diamond dogs, Thestrals, Crystal ponies, Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi and yes even Changelings all marching past the great stone pillar, some just dipping their heads some laying their own wreaths, young and old mare and stallion. My eyes began to tear up somewhat and the tightness in my core was released. They may not have been there themselves but my little ponies did remember and they did care about such a seminal event in our history. To see it gladdened my heart despite the horrors of the time. To forget about it would be even worse and invite such a disastrous occasion upon us again. And to those who did not make it this far, I think those who had given their all in the end would be able look to today if they were here and see an Equestria they still recognised, one that reached out with the hoof of compassion and friendship and the the fires of the magic of friendship did still burn bright after all was said and done, we had not lost ourselves in the conflagration.
