Equestria Girls Poppy Day

Since coming to the Human world, although confused about things at first, Sunset Shimmer has learnt how to deal with them (of course at first she dealt with them in the wrong way, but still) anyway, one thing still confused her.

It happened around the same time every year, in November people would stand outside shops and students would come around the school to sell other people red paper flowers with black spots in the middle, and then a few days later on the Sunday gather in parks and just stand there in silence at 11 in the morning.

Who gets up to be somewhere at 11 am on a Sunday?
Why do they do it?
What are they doing for?

At first Sunset ignored it, not caring about some dumb Human tradition (what ever it is) but mainly she ignored it because she didn't want other people to know that she didn't know what this was about.

Well this year would be different. Because this year she had friends who would tell her what this is all about.
All she needed to do was work out the best way to-

"Omph!" She said as she bumped into someone with a tray of paper flowers.

"Watcha Sunset," Applejack said catching her friend before she fell to the ground.

Looking up the orange skin toned red and orange haired teenager saw she had bumped into Macintosh, Applejack's brother.

"Sorry Big Mac I was too busy thinking about something." She said finding her feet and nodding to Applejack to let her go.

"About Remembrance Day?" Applejack asked. "That's sweet of you."

"No, well yes, but not in the way i think you think im thinking about it," Sunset said coming over to inspect the paper flowers.

"Okay, since when have y'all been taking speaking lessons from Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash's voice said as she and Fluttershy came over, draw to their friends in the strange way they are usually able to find each other.

Rolling her eyes but smiling, meaning she agreed with the comments Fluttershy pulled out her coin purse and asked Bic Mac of one poppy.

Nodding Mac held out his hand for the coin and let Fluttershy choose the one she wanted. Once she had it she slipped it into the chest pocket of her shirt so the red petals and the black button and the green leaf were sticking out.

"What I mean is," Sunset said, hopefully calmly. "Is I was thinking of what this Day is for. Why do we have it? Why do people get up early on a Sunday morning just to be somewhere at 11 o'clock just to stand still in silence for two minutes?"

The four of them looked surprised before Big Mac asked in his deep voice.

"You don't know why we have this day, do you Sunset?"

"No." Sunset said looking down and hugging her arm to herself - something her ponyself did when she was nervous "No I don't."

Just as Applejack was about to explain a loud and extended gasp was heard and a pink something with a crown of poppies came over and started shaking Sunset about.

"How do you not know why we have Remembrance Day?" She said, saying each word with a different shake. "Do you not know about the Wars? About all those people who died? About the thousands of real life poppies popping up out of the ground over No-Mans-Land once all the fighting stopped? How do you not know?!"

"Because I'm not from her Pinkie!" Sunset said managing to get free from the pink on pink friend who seemed to be a bit more on edge than usual. "I'm from Equestria, remember? The only thing close to war we have there is a pair of friends arguing over what ice-cream flavour is the best. I mean I guess Nightmare Moon might count, but we have a different holiday for that."

"First of," Pinkie began trying to be calm "Best ice cream flavour? Strawberry and Raspberry ripple with chocolate chips. Second: You have been here for what 6 years and you never bothered to learn about any of this?!"

"It didn't seem all that..." But she cut herself off when she saw her friends shaking their head behind Pinkie and cutting their throats with their hands.
The look on Pinkie's face and the twitch in her eye stop her from finishing her sentence as well.

"Didn't seem what?" Pinkie asked strongly. "'Not that important?' It's not important all those people who lost their lives? All the families who lost family members because another family's argument couldn't stay inside their own house? Of all those little babies and grandbabies and great grandbabies who never got to meet their papa because they didn't make it back home?"

Sunset was starting in shock at Pinkie, her hair becoming slightly less pink and slightly less bouncy.

After a minute or two of silence, Fluttershy came and, gently grabbing Pinkie, lead her away.

"Um... What was that about?" Sunset said looking to Rainbow Dash and the Apple siblings.

"Pinkie's family lost a family member who's wife didn't tell him she was pregnant with his children," Applejack said in a hushed voice. "He said that she can tell him when he gets back from the war, but he didn't make it back."

"Story goes, he was a tunneler and was tasked to get into the other sides trenches to set off some explosions to try and whipe some numbers out," Big Mac said giving another student their own poppy. "But the other side were tunneling towards his sides trenches at the same time, they met in the middle, let out gunshots, and the gas let off in the dark cramped muddy tunnel along with the injuries... Well.."

"And... We're sure this isn't just something Pinkie made up to get over... that?" Sunset asked unsure about asking this.

This made the Apple siblings look up, giving the same yet slightly less ferice look on their faces she had just got from Pinkie Pie.

"Sunset. Thousands of people, from both sides, men and women, lost their lives in both World Wars." Applejack said. "Thousands of families were broken. Children left without their dad's. Some never even got to meet them before they were called away."

Here Big Mac calmly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"This is a government made tradition," he said looking to Sunset. "Its a way to honour all those who fought for their homes and country and died as a result. Even now with the wars going on in different countries and people dying there, these poppies are for them."

"But why poppies?" Sunset said once again looking at the tray of flowers. "Surely for something that... meaningful and sad you would want something that didn't look like blobs of blood. And why get up for 11 on a Sunday morning?"

"We get up then because 11 o'clock is when all the firing and shooting stopped," Rainbow Dash said showing she knows something about all of this too.

"And it's the poppies, darling," Rarity's voice said as she came over in her usual white and purple outfit with a medium sized bejewelled poppy badge on her shirt. "Because after all the horrible fighting had stopped, along with some sun and rain and time, thousands of real life poppies started to come up over the ground of No-Mans-Land, the place between where both sides were fighting."

"Wow, I didn't know this paper flower meant so much," Sunset said finally coming over and inspecting one from Big Mac's tray. "But still, why a Sunday morning?"

"Because that's the day everyone has free," Rarity said unneedingly flicking her hair. "The fighting actually stopped on the 11 of November at 11am. But most of the time people are too busy with work or school to gather in great numbers in parks or town centres on that day. So we have a standing two minute silence wherever we are on the 11th and then we have a second on on the Sunday closest to the the date."

Sunset was still looking at the paper flower, twiling it in her fingers, thinking.

"Just because you don't understand why something is done," Applejack began to say "doesn't mean it's not important or that it doesn't matter. If those people didn't fight, the world as we know it now, might be a whole lot different."

Looking up to the blonde Stetson wearing girl, Sunset nodded, paid for the poppy and continued with her way to class. This time wondering why the Apple Siblings were almost as strong on this day as Pinkie was, and how she was going to make it up to their pink friend.