Remembering the Fallenby vren55ChaptersDug UpDiggingHow She Got ThereCeremonyEpilogueThe Princess's Admission, Harmony's AnswerDug UpFields and Meadows outside Ponyville by the Everfree Forest... The wind crackled and screamed as Rainbow Dash twisted through the air like a daredevil stunt flyer, which she was. Goggled eyes narrowed in focus, her multicolour hair rippling through the air; the pegasus put herself into another high-g turn that made Neighton roll over in his grave. “Now, for the final touch, a Sonic Rainboom!” yelled Rainbow to nopony in particular as she pulled up sharply and climbed upwards. At the appropriate height, the mare levelled out and put herself into a screaming dive. Wind tore past her body, forcing her hair backwards like one of Rarity’s massive hair dryers, her fur flattened and her lips yanked back by the intense pressure of the air on her face. CRACK The sound barrier shattered and a beautiful circle of prismatic light expanded outward. Successful at her trick, Rainbow tilted her wings to level out. The ground was approaching just a little too fast for her liking. But to the pegasus’s horror, the ground came closer and closer like a forbidding Ursa Minor stomping it’s way to town. Yanking her head up for dear life, Rainbow tried to turn herself back toward the open sky, but it wasn’t working. Exhausted by her earlier stunts, the pegasus had broken the sound barrier later than expected and was now heading too fast, too close to the ground. With no other option available, Rainbow spread out her wings, wincing as several feathers were torn from her appendages and she began to decelerate, but was too late. THUD In a miraculous feat of flying, Rainbow Dash managed to angle herself so that she avoided all the boulders and rocks on the meadow and cut a ditch in the ground faster than Big Mac with a plough. What was more amazing was that she landed upright, her wings only suffering from a few lost feathers. For a while, the completely dazed pegasus just lay on the soft dirt, recovering from her crash landing. “Ouch... Well... better get back to Ponyville,” groaned Rainbow as she shifted herself, only to feel a cold tingling sensation on her chest. “What the...” the pegasus lifted herself on her sore legs and stared down at the shiny glint of a gem. It was purple as dark as Twilight’s mane, with an entrancing sparkle that had caught the pegasus’s eye. Rainbow chuckled, “Well, well, maybe I can get this to Rarity’s. She’ll know what to do with it.” Cyan hooves flying, the pegasus sent dirt flying this way and that way as she began to uncover the gem. “Wow this is a big gem. Hey what’s this... UWAAGHHH!” 30 Minutes later... Six ponies crowded around the end of Rainbow Dash’s ditch as they peered at the uncovered object with wide eyes. The pegasus had uncovered a small shining amethyst gem of remarkable quality, attached to a helmet of shining gold. What she also unearthed though was the bleached white skull of a pony. With a small ‘EEP’, Fluttershy vanished, soon followed by Rarity swooning “Looks like you weren’t pulling anypony’s leg after all Rainbow,” stammered Twilight nervously. “I told you it wasn’t a prank! Why didn’t anypony, but Pinkie believe me?” protested Rainbow. The other four mares in question glared at the pegasus, who blushed sheepishly. Taking a deep breath, Twilight focused her attention on a spell and her horn began to glow. A soft concentrated wind blew steadily into the ditch, slowly whistling away the dirt and debris and slowly, the skull and helmet came clearly into focus. As the spell continued on, dirt was continuously taken by the wind, revealing vertebrae enclosed in golden strips of armour. This was soon followed by another glimmer of gold, which heralded the sides of a burnished golden cuirass, the leather straps that once held it together rotted by age. As the spell progressed, small bones, once the structure of wings, revealed the deceased as a pegasus. Finally, flank armour and golden hoof shoes were exposed. Ending her sorcery, Twilight’s horned dimmed as she surveyed the remains. The pony was lying on its side, coated in full armour, but the unicorn couldn’t see any signs to indicate how he or she died. A part of her wanted to vomit the coffee and hay fries she had for lunch. Yet, another part of her was stirred with her usual scientific curiosity. Who was this pony? Was it a he or she? Why was the body in this location? Surprisingly enough, it was Fluttershy who broke the silence and sent a shockwave through her five friends. “It’s a mare!” gasped the pegasus, causing everypony to stare at her. Somehow undaunted by the attention, the shy pegasus rambled on. “I remember reading up on pony anatomy before getting my vet license. This pony has a smaller, more rounded head and bigger eye sockets. I think stallions tend to have longer snouts and smaller eye sockets.” Fluttershy then cringed and blinked as her eyes began to tear up. Fighting back the urge to sob, the pegasus took a deep breath and asked the question everypony had been wondering. “I mean... but how... How did she come to be in a place like this?” Twilight shook her head, a determined look on her face. “I don’t know Fluttershy, but I intend to find out. Can you help Rainbow Dash to the hospital? She may feel fine, but her wings need to be checked. Then go and fetch the police ponies. Meanwhile, I’m going to first attempt to date this pony and try to find out how long has it been lying here,” said Twilight. The two pegasi nodded and made their way slowly for Ponyville. “Twilight, I do think that this poor mare has... passed on for some time,” blurted out Rarity. The lavender unicorn blinked her eyes and regarded the fashion designer. “What makes you think that Rarity?” asked Twilight. The fashion designer took a stick with her magic and pointed to the helmet and the armour. “While I generally stick to mare’s designs, two years back there was a sudden demand for military inspired clothing. Attempting to draw inspiration, I looked back at the different uniforms and armour worn by the Royal Guard. I can tell that this style of armour is old and hasn’t been manufactured for at least twenty years. The poor dear must have died a long time ago,” explained the unicorn. “A long, long, long, long, long time ago! Look at the dirt! It’s really firm and compacted! And look at her lance!” spoke Pinkie. “Lance?” frowned Twilight as she gazed closer at the debris, only to have Pinkie Pie sandwich her head with her hooves and turn it towards the rusted and fragile remains of the weapon. The trail of shards and fungal growth indicated that part of it was still under the deceased’s right side. “Judging by the decay, the decomposition rate of wood and the oxidization rate of steel, she’s been here foooreeever! Maybe a thousand years!” exclaimed the party pony, the only pony able to understand what she said being Twilight. “Uh, sugarcube, how do ya know all of this?” asked Applejack, completely confused by the output of information. “Oh that’s easy! It comes from growing up on a rock farm! You have to know what’s a rock, and what’s not a rock!” replied Pinkie cheerfully. “Wow... Well... thanks to Pinkie and Rarity, I think I know which spell to use. Since this pony has been dead for such a long time, I’m going to use a specific type of time-dating spell. It’ll tell me how old any pony is within two thousand years,” said Twilight. With that, the unicorn lit her horn and took a small scalpel from her saddlebag. With great precision, Twilight cut a small sample of bone from the pony and cast her spell. There was a soft sizzle as the bone burnt up and disappeared to the surprise of the observing ponies. “Twilight, what didya do this time? You done and burnt up the bone!” gasped Applejack. “That’s what the spell is supposed to do Applejack. You see, everypony in Equestria possesses a certain amount and form of magic. For unicorns it is the ability to physically manifest magic, in simple terms, to be able to cast spells. For pegasi, magic enables them the power of weather manipulation. For earth ponies like you, it’s limited control over organic matter. When everypony... dies, the magic inside the remains decomposes and leaches back out into the ground, rejoining Equestria’s magic field. Given that we now know the average amount of magic per pony and per pony species has when he or she is alive, we can calculate how long a pony has died by comparing the value of magic their remains have to the average amount of magic of a live pony. What I did was convert this sample back into magic to get an average of how much magic the remains have. Now given the density of the bone and the amount of magic the bone has...” “Um, pardon me Twalight, but can ya please just tell us how old she is?” asked Applejack. Twilight paused and muttered a series of complex equations, unintelligible numbers and parameters. After a moment, Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. “According to my calculations, mind you I haven’t triple checked this yet... this pony has been dead for about a little over a thousand years.” DiggingDigging The police ponies arrived and after being notified by Twilight of the results of the dating, they cordoned off the site and began to do their own testing and investigating. Meanwhile, the six ponies had returned to their homes to get some long needed rest, their dreams filled with questions. A week later... Twilight Sparkle sat in front of Detective Keeneye’s desk. Having asked Ponyville’s resident inspector to report to her the police’s findings, the detective had happily obliged. “Well Ms. Sparkle, the police carried out their tests and they came to the exact conclusion as you and your friends came too. This pony has been dead for around a thousand years. We kept the site as it was and called for an archaeological team from Canterlot, but they’re going to take some time to arrive here, so feel free to visit the site. Given the significance of this discovery, might I ask you to take a look at how these finds are preserved and treated?” asked the inspector. “Of course! Did you find anything else about the deceased?” asked Twilight hopefully. The inspector shook his head, frowning as a stray thought crossed his mind. “I’m afraid we didn’t find anything on the deceased’s identity, but we did determine the cause of death,” said the inspector. “That’s great! What... was it?” asked Twilight, her voice eager, then trailing off as Keeneye’s face grew solemn. The police pony pulled out a series of photos from a folder. Several red arrows pointed to various bones and parts of the remains. “According to the fractured bones and the flared position of the mare’s left wing, our coroner and I came to the conclusion that this mare’s wing was crushed by a blunt object coming from behind her. This probably led to a massive amount of internal bleeding, being the primary cause of death. Various fractures that we could observe on the vertebrae and skull indicate she crashed into the ground in an uncontrolled head-first dive. The dent on her armour also supports this theory as well as the fractures on her legs. In all my years of investigation, I have never seen a pony die in this horrifying fashion.” Twilight stared at the photos as the horror of the pony’s death sank in. She had some naive hope that this pony died after an accident. Her scientific mind suggested maybe a serious incident, possibly a scuffle. Nothing had prepared her for this. She had never heard of a death so terrible in Equestria. It just didn’t happen. Only in those adventure stories she read did ponies ever die, but they were characters, this was the real thing. Without further ado, Twilight asked for permission to keep the photos and after muttering a strangled ‘thank you’ to the inspector, the unicorn trotted out of the police station. For a while, Twilight just wandered left and right, charting a rough course back to the library, dodging ponies and staggering past stalls. On she went until she was halted by a line of ponies. “Heya Twilight! What did those police ponies tell ya?” asked Applejack. Twilight looked up to see the anticipating smiles of her friends and bit her lip. She couldn’t tell them, even though the burden of what she had learned was weighing on her like an Ursa Minor. The last thing she wanted to do to her friends was to make them cry. Fluttershy would be especially devastated. All she had to do was bottle it up and carry out the rest of the research by herself. Yep. That way would be perfect. Nopony would have to know. “Nothing we didn’t know already!” Twilight smiled weakly. That caused all her friends to narrow their eyes, Pinkie and Applejack especially. “Twilight, my face is a twitchin! That means someone isn’t truly smiling!” said Pinkie with a very serious gaze. Beads of sweat ran down the unicorn’s face. Applejack trotted up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Sugarcube... ya can tell us anythang. You’ve always been there for us, let us be there for you,” insisted Applejack. The dam holding back Twilight’s confession sprang a leak and promptly broke. Rivulets of tears poured from Twilight’s eyes as she told Applejack what she had learnt from Keeneye. By the end of the somber tale, the six were silent except for Twilight’s sniffles. “You know what this calls for?” inquired Pinkie, her hair, slightly less fluffy than usual. The other five frowned and shook their heads. “GROUP HUG!” and with that, Pinkie’s legs coiled around all the bearers and squeezed them together in a hug. They stayed there for a while, comforting each other with the feeling of touch. After a moment, Twilight gently pried Pinkie’s hooves off. “Thanks girls. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” said the unicorn. Rarity combed her slightly ruffled mane. “Think nothing of it dear! Now are we or not going to find out who this pegasus was?” asked Rarity. Twilight’s Library... The six piled into the library. Spike was informed of the situation and was quickly given a long, long, long, long list of books and manuscripts to fetch. As the dragon rapidly sped across the library at speeds that would have impressed Rainbow Dash, Twilight and the others made themselves comfortable for the long gruelling task that was research. Well... long and gruelling for anypony but Twilight Sparkle. “Okay. Pinkie Pie, you have an... uncanny ability to find the right books. Help Spike look for anything on Nightmare Moon or on historical events one thousand years ago and pass them to us. Rarity, use your keen eyes and go through the books for key words and either discard or keep them. Applejack will read them more thoroughly for information and then pass them on to me. I will look at them and relay the useful information to Fluttershy who will take it down. Normally I would ask Spike to help me, but since he is the only one other than me who understands the Dewey Decimal...” “Um... Twilight? What about me?” asked Rainbow. Twilight blinked. She had completely forgotten about Rainbow and to be honest, she had no idea how her friend could help, given her avoidance of all things ‘eggheaded’. The rainbow pegasus’s normal reading material was nothing compared to actual historical periodicals and primary sources. “Um... you can... look through the shelves and look for interesting pictures!” said Twilight. Rainbow frowned, feeling as if she had been slighted, but gave a salute and flew off to a top shelf. The rest of the ponies settled down into their roles as they poured through the books. A few hours later... Pinkie and Spike had been shuttling book after book to the waiting Rarity who had been deeming their usefulness with her fancy reading glasses. Applejack then looked them over again and sent them off to Twilight and Fluttershy. The two had compiled a long list of notes. It seemed as if the assembly line of selection and research had been working, but it hadn’t. Twilight had read many interesting facts about life one thousand years ago, but nothing mentioned death. She had read much about the Night and Day courts of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, where Celestia and Luna had presided, but nothing on dead ponies in a field. The research was taking a toll on all of them. Rarity’s eyes were red, to her frustration and horror. Pinkie Pie was actually walking. Spike seemed to be a little more sleepy than usual. Applejack’s Stetson was slipping over her head as she was nodding off. Fluttershy’s hoof was getting sore. Wait... where was Rainbow? Twilight looked around and couldn’t see a feather of the pegasus. “Hey Spike! Have you seen Dash anywhere?” asked Twilight, her voice hoarse from dictating notes. The dragon looked thoughtful. “She came to me with a reference number and I directed her to the archival collection,” replied the dragon. That got an eyebrow from Twilight. “The archival collection? You mean all those old books in the attic that were taken off the shelves because they were written ages ago?” clarified the unicorn. The dragon nodded. Confused, Twilight gestured to the girls and the cavalcade made its way upstairs. From the roof of Twilight’s room, a ladder had been swung down, evidence that Rainbow had made her way inside. Made of now aged teak wood, the stairs creaked as the ponies ascended. A long, but cramped, room with stacks upon stacks of books greeted them. The air was musty and filled with so much dust that even Applejack borrowed Rarity’s hoofkerchief to sneeze. There was light towards the end of the room, but the tall stacks of books seemed to block it out, only a sprinkling of the sun penetrating into the darkness. “I didn’t know the library had an attic or an archival collection,” said Rarity as she politely coughed. “I found it recently while looking for some late-night reading. The last librarian put all the outdated textbooks and non-fiction up here. Most of the stuff here is pretty useless. Anyhow, Rainbow! Where are you?” called Twilight. “Over here,” croaked a voice. “Where?” asked Applejack. “Behind the books, by the window,” said Rainbow, her voice sounding strangely subdued. The ponies carefully trotted past the stacks and found the blue pegasus. She was lying on the floor of the attic, the afternoon light from the murky, rounded window illuminating the large tome that was spread in front of her. Beside her, there were more volumes, showing maps, texts and somehow familiar images. It was as if Rainbow had turned into a historian in the time she had been in the attic. But what caught everypony and dragon’s attention, were the tears in her eyes. “It’s just the dust,” sniffed Rainbow with her usual winning smile, but it was brittle and cold, not warm and crisp like the sky she flew in. Slowly trotting forward, Twilight looked at a thin volume opened at a very familiar illustration. It was a detailed, inked out drawing of a mare wearing the exact same armour the unknown pegasi had worn. It matched from the heavy gold-washed cuirass composed of linked strips of metal, to the open-faced war helm with cheek protectors. Below the image was a caption Above is the armour of a Royal Day Guard Pony of the Classical Era. A statement of Princess Celestia’s authority, the armour gave high protection from penetrative weapons and arrows. Its greatest detriment was that it was designed for unicorns and not pegasi and it showed when the Day Guard confronted the Night Guard at The Last Battle. (For more information on The Last Battle, I recommend: Perspectives on the War of the Sun and Moon by Lady White Tower 25th Reprinted Edition...) “I found a drawing and followed the reference number to here, where I found this book,” said Rainbow. She closed the tome she had been reading. It was a dusty, leather-bound volume with a horn, armored wing and armored hoof joined at the middle. “I didn’t believe it at first, but I had to know and looked through more of the books,” said the pegasus, as she pointed to the maps with a hoof. Twilight and the others soon realized they were battle and campaign maps. They detailed the assaults that had taken place and the dates of battles that had happened. Tables on other opened pages showed lists and figures of casualties by battle, by disease and those who had simply gone missing. “Tell me Twilight, did you remember ever reading about this?” asked Rainbow, her voice cracking. The unicorn shook her head, unable to believe the evidence strewn about her. “No... I wouldn’t want to remember it if I did.” Author's Note Like my story please, only if you actually liked it obviously. How She Got ThereHow She Got There Author’s warning: I wrote this chapter with the goal of enlightening what happened to the pegasus, but it turned out MUCH darker than what I anticipated to. I warn you, there is no explicit gore, but it’s harsh about war’s realities... Well I can’t say that since I’ve never been in a war, but I tried to replicate it as much as possible so if by chance any veteran is reading this, please forgive my audacity and feel free to dislike. Expect to feel rather dreary and sober at the end of it because I am not going easy on what she could have felt. I am not putting out a lighter version... so prepare to feel a bit miserable at the end of this. Ponyville... It was late evening when a group of six mares and a dragon sat around a table. Her magic sparkling weakly, Twilight lifted a stack of papers that had been gathered in the centre and straightened it. Her tired eyes roved over the pages as she took in the information they had gathered and the sprawling lines of Fluttershy’s hoofwriting. “I think we have a pretty good idea what happened to that poor mare on the field,” said Rarity. “Just in case, I’ll read aloud the report so that you can correct me. Eh Hem. We know that the War of the Sun and Moon started some time after the disappearance of the Crystal Empire. The accounts disagree why the war started, but they do note that the first engagement took place in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, also known as the Castle Everfree and that it was between the Day and Lunar Guardsponies. Judging by her armour, our pegasus was in the Day Guard and was possibly at this engagement...” More than a thousand years ago, The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters... Nightmare Moon rose, her cackling laughter resounding through the royal castle; Celestia only able stare in shock and horror as tears streamed down her face. “Luna STOP! Please!” begged Celestia. “We are Luna no longer Princess Celestia! We are NIGHTMARE MOON and from now on, Equestria will be graced with ETERNAL NIGHT!” Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, pronouncing this statement. A female pegasus allowed the slightest hint of fear to flit across her face before she turned to the indomitable form of Guard Captain Burnished Shield. “Protect the princess!” ordered the unicorn. With a surge, unicorns and pegasi formed a golden wall in front of their princess. This defiant move only caused the fallen alicorn to sneer. “Lunar Guard attack!” roared Nightmare Moon. Lunar Guards, in their night-purple armour stormed forward in a snarl, fangs and webbed dragon wings extended. The female pegasus felt her spirit surge as she extended her own wings and lunged forward with her comrades, lance levelled at the ponies, whom only days ago, had dined with her in the same mess hall. Present... “The engagement was inconclusive. Although Nightmare Moon retreated from the castle, most of her forces remained intact. With her supporters, constellation creatures and manticores, she secured most of then southern Equestria, now Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus. After that, there was a lull period. The Day Guard were kept in reserve until the Siege of Stalliongrad, where Celestia led her Guard to attack the weakened Nightmare Moon.” Outside Stalliongrad... Hailstorm, for that was her name, watched in wonder as the garrison of Stalliongrad burst out from the city’s keep and sallied forth, straight into the besieging forces of Nightmare Moon. Their surprise attack tore a gaping hole in the enemy line. Quickly flapping her wings, Hailstorm raced back to the woods outside the burning city. Princess Celestia stood resplendent with the rest of her Day Guard. Her greatsword Solar Flare was strapped to her flank. The entire regiment of Day Guardsponies backed her, shining in their golden armour. Kneeling at the princess’s feet, Hailstorm lowered her icy-blue eyes. "Your Highness, the Stalliongrad ponies are sallying forth in a last ditch assault. They will not last long,” reported Hailstorm. Celestia blinked her eyes in surprise and then nodded. “Thank you Lieutenant Hailstorm, join your company. Guardsponies! Attack!” roared Celestia. Already straining at the bit, the Day Guard galloped and flew as fast as they could, their princess at the head. They charged through the smoking barricades lining the streets, tore past the remains of houses, stepped over the remnants of pony corpses and trampled the dead carcasses of Nightmare Moon’s creatures. Falling from the twilight sky and galloping over the blood soaked ground, they slammed into the rearmost ranks of Nightmare Moon’s forces. Present... “The battle ended in victory for the Day Guard and the remainder of the Stalliongrad ponies. After that, the Day Guard were kept in reserve as Princess Celestia’s elite force. They fought at: Trottingham... Hailstorm dodged a storm of arrows, huddled behind a wall and took a moment to catch a few breaths. “Need a hoof?” chuckled a voice. The pegasus jumped and levelled her lance warily. The Princess had attempted to raise the sun, but moon was still up and the only light now available was a ghostly purple twilight. Though difficult to see through, Hailstorm made out earth ponies crouching beside her. The dark blue surcoats they were wearing were unfamiliar, but the summer sun emblazoned on them supposedly marked them as friendlies. Hailstorm wasn’t taking any chances though. The leader of the group, a sky blue mare wearing a mail shirt and lobster tail helmet, extended her hoof and gave Hailstorm a kind smile. “Sorry we surprised you. I’m White Tower, Colonel of the Stalliongrad Ponies. We’re here to pay back a debt.” Hailstorm smiled back and shook the hoof. “Hailstom, Lieutenant of the 1st Maniple, 1st Cohort of the Day Guard. You’ve come just at the right time!” chuckled the pegasus. Cloudsdale... Hailstorm had weathered seeing her comrades drop beside her like the summer rain; she had faced Nightmare Moon’s creatures and still she had endured. Yet, she wept as Cloudsdale, the city of pegasi and her home, was lit by the flames of Nightmare Moon’s newest creation, Cloud Fire. The vicious white flames leapt from cloud structure to cloud structure, consuming all. Even after the battle, the flames still crackled. Cloudsdale was in ruins. Between that and the shrieks of trapped and dying pegasi, the normally stoic mare’s mask cracked. “And I thought I would have gotten used to this by now,” snorted the pegasus. “Because you’re a pony and not a monster,” said Lord Barbican, commander of the 1st Equestrian Lancers, an illustrious pegasi cavalry wing used to shock tactics. The two officers had been eating their rationed mess meal together. “So many dead... on my hooves Barbican... I keep thinking if I could have saved them... How did you deal with it? The deaths of your comrades?” asked Hailstorm. The pegasus winced, his mistake still a delicate subject to him. “I didn’t deal with it. I was... a shadow of myself for weeks. Until I remembered what I was originally fighting for,” said Barbican with a determined smile. “What are we fighting for? The Princess?” “Indirectly... It may sound naive, but we fight for Equestria, for all living things and for Harmony.” Present... “Our pony could have been involved in any of the battles, but which one specifically, we cannot be certain. What we do know is that she was at the final decisive engagement of the War of the Sun and Moon. That battle actually took place very close to where Ponyville is today and was known as:” The Last Battle... Captain Hailstorm of the Day Guard led her fellow pegasi over the sky, filled with the sound of clashing weapons, horn blasts, battle cries, roars and screams. The ground was littered with lines of disciplined ponies facing the beastly hordes of Nightmare Moon’s creatures. Constellation wolves, manticores, timber wolves, hydras and ursas tore at the unicorn and earth ponies below. The sky was just as chaotic. Gryphons and manticores were locked in the deadly dance of aerial combat against the pegasi defenders. Glancing around to take in the situation, Hailstorm saw that the unicorns and earth ponies were holding out in their defences along the river. The once clear water was now stained with the red blood of manticore and the wooden chips of timberwolves. But in the violet sky, pegasi were falling and bloody pony feathers filled the air. Squadrons of bat winged ponies were speeding through the sky, routing pegasi and slaying any who didn’t follow. The Lunar Guard had been unleashed. Swallowing, Hailstorm turned to the pegasi under her command. Some of them were itching for the fight. Others were shaking in their armour. Hailstorm was just tired and knew she had to say something, but she had never been good at these speeches. Captain Burnished Shield: now that was an inspiring pony. He had fallen at Trottingham, along with so many others on so many other battlefields. Still, Hailstorm had to say something, so she did. “Pegasi of the Day Guard! We cannot let them through! The princess is depending on us to keep them away from the castle! She cannot beat the Nightmare if those ponies get there! I know you are tired, hurt and sick of this bloody cursed war. But please! I beg of you, pegasi of Equestria! One last time, for this last battle, fight! Equestria and Harmony depends on us today and as ponies of the Day Guard, we must lay down our lives for them! For Equestria!” screamed Hailstorm. “For Equestria!” returned the pegasi with a roar and the clattering of shields and arms. “CHARGE!” ordered Hailstorm. The pegasi leapt off their clouds, and with lances levelled, weapons held high, sped toward the Lunar Guardsponies. Hailstorm was at the point of the wedge, heart pounding in her chest as her command closed in upon the enemy. The charge hit home. Armour shattered, breached by lances. Ponies and bat ponies were cut down from the sky. Hailstorm rammed her lance into a sneering bat pony’s face and with a skillful twist of her wings, extracted her weapon and looked for another target. Banking, she ducked a bat pony’s axe swing and barrel-rolled to drop behind him. She just managed to see the fear in his eyes before her lance was buried into his hindquarters, causing him to scream in pain and drop out of the sky. She repeated this pattern for several other opponents, some falling extraordinarily quickly. For others, she had to hover and feint before she was able to bloody her weapon once more. The end came suddenly for Hailstorm. She was seeking another target when out of the corner of her eye she saw something descending behind her. A warning was yelled, she couldn’t really hear it, but she did feel her left wing being shattered by a brutal, spiked mace. Nothing could describe the agony she felt. She couldn’t breathe. Her senses were overtaken by an overwhelming, sharp, paralysing pain that reverberated throughout her body. The pain! It was thrumming, like a piano chord struck by a hammer. She was falling, spinning. She couldn’t control herself. Wind was whistling past her fur, ruffling her mane, dark yellow like a lion’s. Her eyes felt wet. Tears? Were they shut or open? A screeching, rage-filled wail of despair filled the air, overcoming the noise of the wind around her. It was her own voice, but she was too overtaken by the pain to realize it. The scream stopped as the mare dived into the ground with a horrible, nauseating crunch. The pain was still there. All over her body now. A massive ache in her chest and right side; her head felt sore. Her left wing was still on fire and now her right wing hurt as well. Something wet trickled down her left side and her mane felt weird, cold, soaked by something. A sniffle, followed by a sob, turned into a cry as the pegasus burst into tears, from pain and from pure despair. She was going to die. No amount of unicorn magic would save her. Besides, she seemed alone, somehow on the edge of the battlefield, nowhere near any medical staff. The good thing was that she wouldn’t get finished off by some manticore or torn apart by wolves. Hailstorm blinked. The pain was going away. Slowly, but surely, it was replaced by a sort of numbness. Comforting, compared to the blazing hurt that had afflicted her. She looked at the battlefield with wet bleary eyes and just laughed. She didn’t know where they came from, but a horde of buffalo, earth ponies, donkeys, mules, zebra and unicorns had galloped over the ridge to the left of Nightmare Moon’s armies and had crashed down upon them. The monsters were in retreat, frightened by the sudden appearance of reinforcements. The pegasus thought she saw a familiar blue furred, silver maned pony in the distance, leading them forward through her steadily blurring vision. As the battlefield faded away, Hailstorm she saw her mother, father, brothers and sisters. Cloudsdale before the cloud fire had blazed through it. She chuckled as she saw her school days and her days soaring through the sky. Life was good. The pegasus then blinked as she saw her old captain Burnished Shield walking toward her. “Hailstorm it’s good to see you!” Hailstorm was incredulous. Her eyes and ears must have really failed her now or was it the pain? “Hey captain... what are you doing here?” asked the pegasus. “I’m taking you over the hills and over the main! Where there are dark forests, sunny meadows and rolling plains. Get up already!” snorted the unicorn. He wore his usual gruff smile and his armour shone like... the dawning sun. That was something she hadn’t seen in a long time. Hailstorm only looked down at her mangled body, wincing at the sight. “I can’t Cap. I’m down... dying... can’t even move a single bloody feather. I must be the ugliest mare around and the sorriest sight on this bloody field. Damn, I’m so STUPID! After all those battles, I forgot to watch my back and look what happened to me.” “Don’t ever call yourself stupid or ugly Captain Hailstorm. You did your duty to the very end. I’m proud of you lass. Now get up.” Hailstorm snorted, but she tried anyway and to her surprise, she stood on all four hooves, her wings feeling better than ever. She flapped them a few times and they didn't hurt. “Now follow me. The gang’s all waiting for you!” chuckled Burnished Shield. Hailstorm smiled, left her body on the field and followed her captain over the hills and into the dawning sun. Present... The battle ended... in victory. Nightmare’s forces were defeated at the same time as Celestia sealed Nightmare Moon. Our pony seems to have died at the edge of the battlefield, and was never buried like the rest, leaving her body to the elements, which covered her up.” Twilight lowered the report, the six ponies and the dragon had not objected one single time. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, completely unlike her normal self and Twilight nodded in assent. “Well... what do we do now Twilight?” she asked. The unicorn took a deep breath. A long time ago, she would have contemplated twice before doing what she would do now. However, that was a long time ago and before so many new revelations had been unfolded. “Spike, take a note please.” Author's Note Author's note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter... If you are interested to what happened after the War of the Sun and Moon I give an interpretation to it in my main fanfic Canterlot: Her Creation and Her Architects. CeremonyCeremony One month later… Twilight couldn’t stop trembling. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had announced the creation of a Memorial ceremony for the War of the Sun and Moon. Thousands of old textbooks and writings had been taken out. Old monuments depicting the war had been ordered to be restored. It was at the largest of these old monuments, just outside of Canterlot, where everypony had gathered for a Ceremony of Remembrance. One of the many ceremonies that were being held around Equestria. Twilight looked up into a sea of black and red. Everypony was were solemnly silent, waiting for the ceremony to begin, wearing a symbol of Rarity’s design. It consisted of a black sash around their necks, with a red poppy pinned to them. The black symbolized mourning, while the poppy, the blood spilt. Turning to look behind, Twilight gazed at the monument. It was composed of an upraised square platform with a three faced obelisk. One face was adorned by two featureless unicorns, a male battle-mage rearing high and dressed in resplendent magic robes and a female healer, in a uniform that was the predecessor of the nurse’s uniform. The other face was adorned by two pegasi. A male lancer armed to the teeth and a female cuirassier, sabre in hoof. The final face was held by two heavily armed earth ponies with slightly different armour. The male wore the mail armour of an Equite and wielded a greatsword, the female wore the segmented plate of the Stalliongrad ponies and had two hoof swords. The four corners of the upraised platform were adorned with a buffalo, a mule, a zebra and a donkey. Now, a crowd of ponies stood gathered around the monument, and the podium, that Applejack had erected, in front of it. Twilight gulped as the ceremony began. She and Shining Armour as well as the other bearers had spent a lot of time and effort planning the parade, the memorial and everything else along with it. It had to go just right! The parade started off the ceremony. First in the order of precedence were the Royal Guard. Pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies marched around the restored memorial in disciplined line formation, their armour polished and glowed. Next were the Lunar Guard in their menacing armour. There had been some debate as whether to allow this regiment to attend the ceremonies, but Fluttershy had ended it saying that: “They were ponies too.” They were soon followed by other elite regiments that had survived the passing of time. The Bridleburg Lancers, The Stalliongrad Ponies, the Equestrian Lancers, all of them gathered together to celebrate their famous history and to remember their forbearers. The parade ended with a final drum roll and salute by the trumpets and then Twilight took the podium. Hooves shaking, she introduced herself and without further ado, began to read the speech she had prepared, her voice quavering tremulously, but growing in strength. “What is the importance of Remembrance one may ask. When something has happened so long ago, something so painful, something so shocking to memory and your sensibilities, why should one bother remembering it? Then let me ask another question. Are we living sentient beings? Obviously. Then the answer should be just as obvious. For these ponies and their allies, gave their short lives to protect all that we have here today. For their sacrifice, we remember what they have done.” An overwhelming applause engulfed Twilight’s ears as she stepped back down. Her speech was followed by some others. Luna and Celestia even made one, but Twilight had heard them so many times (she had been the one editing them after all) that she tuned them out and sat in silent respect of the ponies who had given their lives for Equestria. With the speeches done, Pinkie Pie jumped up to commence the singing portion of the ceremony. She was joined by Fluttershy directed the chorus of birds alongside the ponies of the Canterlot Orchestra and Choir, led by Octavia. Here's forty gold bits on the drum For those who'll volunteer to come To 'list and fight the foe today. Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills and far away. When duty calls me I must go To stand and face another foe. But part of me will always stray Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills and far away. If I should fall to rise no more, As many comrades did before, Then ask the fifes and drums to play. Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills... and far away Twilight’s eyes shot up to search for Rainbow Dash, who came right on time. With the Wonderbolts beside her, Dash soared through the air. Crackling through the air, the pegasus set off a Sonic Rainboom. For some reason, while the colours were brilliant as ever, the boom, had a very solemn tone. As the echoes of the boom faded, a minute of silence commenced. Some ponies turned their heads down, others closed their eyes. Twilight let her eyes close and thanked the unknown pony for giving her a new perspective on her life and the importance of peace. It was a lesson, the young unicorn, later alicorn princess, would keep all her life, through all her trials and tribulations The minute of silence abruptly ended as Pinkie Pie stood. Twilight’s eyes widened as she watched her unpredictable friend open her mouth and swing into song. Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, And Smile, Smile, Smile While you’ve got Tartarus to warm your tail, Smile ponies, that’s the style! What’s the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile, so! Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, And smile, smile, smile! The old barrack room ditty caused the soldiers to laugh fondly as well as everypony else. It broke the solemn pall cast by the silence, even eliciting a chuckle from the princesses. Twilight rolled her eyes at her friend’s antics. Why couldn’t Pinkie just remain silent! This was a solemn occasion! But as the unicorn glanced at the monument one last time, she frowned. The statues, suddenly didn’t seem so solemn, and were they smiling? The unicorn shook her head and looked back out to the congregation. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad that Pinkie Pie had sung that song. After all, she didn’t think that the soldiers would want them to mope all the times. It was important to remember, but it was just as vital to not forget to live. Author's Note The two songs are ponified versions of the songs: Over the Hills and Far Away Pack up all your troubles in your old kit bag EpilogueEpilogue Rainbow Dash neatly put her dress away in her wardrobe and then proceeded to collapse upon her fluffy cloud bed. The pegasus was exhausted from the ceremonies and having to do the sonic rainboom so many times. Although, it gave her a bit of a warm feeling in her chest to do such a thing for the soldiers. Yet, as Rainbow drew the covers over herself, she felt a little unsatisfied about the outcome of the events. Sure, they had interred the unknown mare in a separate ceremony from the main memorial ceremony and now all of Equestria knew of the sacrifices that had been made. But in the end, they never found out the name of the mare. “After all we’ve done for each other, it would be cool if I knew your name,” mumbled Rainbow. It was then that a voice, faded like washed fabric, but still strong in conviction wafted into Rainbow’s ear. “Hailstorm...” Rainbow bolted up against the head of her bed, senses alert and eyes peeled for danger, but as soon as she saw where the voice was coming from, her jaw fell. Across from her was a mare, ghostly in figure, but her colours somehow sharp. She wore golden armour, with the shining amethyst set into the helmet. Her mane was dark yellow like a lion’s mane and her fur was a pale green the shade of honeydew. Soft, ice-blue eyes regarded Rainbow Dash and a warm smile graced her face. “My name is Hailstorm of Cloudsdale, Captain of the 1st Cohort of the Royal Day Guardsponies. Thank you Rainbow Dash. We all thank you.” And behind Hailstorm appeared scores of ponies, proudly bearing armour of all kinds. Pegasi, unicorn and earth pony, mare and stallion, young and old, all of them gazing at Rainbow Dash with proud looks and wide smiles. Some of them were cheering loudly and others had the barest trace of a smile on their lips. As they faded away, Rainbow Dash felt the corner of her eyes turn wet and she quickly wiped them away. “Don't worry, I’d never leave anypony hanging.” Author's Note I am deeply sorry for not being able to update the story for so long. The epilogue was written, but I wanted to squeeze in a chapter about the ceremony led by Twilight. I finally managed to conjure the concentration to do so. Thank you for following this story. Have a great well... exam and winter holidays. The Princess's Admission, Harmony's AnswerPrincess Admission, Harmony’s Answer Canterlot... Princess Celestia of Equestria was enjoying a quiet night, over a game of chess, with her sister Luna. “Unicorn mage to A6, we declare,” said Luna, moving her obsidian piece with a hoof. “Rook to A1,” replied Celestia, shifting her marble castle to counter. It was then a scroll materialized by the princess in a bout of green fire. “Queen takes rook at A1. A letter from Twilight Sparkle?” remarked Luna. “Yes, I wonder what she has discovered this time,” said the solar princess as she unsealed the scroll and scanned through the neat handwriting. Luna waited as her sister seemed to be absorbed by the letter’s contents. “Tia? It is your move,” said Luna. There was no response from the other alicorn. The scroll was merely held in front of her, obscuring her face. Her ethereal tricolor mane still rippling slowly. “Sister is something the matter?” asked the night princess, by now getting more worried. The solar princess snapped out of her trance and smiled sheepishly. To Luna, it was as if Celestia was squirming with apprehension, and was that shame? The night princess couldn’t quite tell. “Nothing Luna... It’s just... I have to... oh look at the time! I need to get my beauty sleep. We’ll continue the game tomorrow!” said Celestia as she deposited the letter on a convenient hook by her regalia. Dumbfounded, Luna stood up and escorted her sibling to the doorway where she hugged her older sister. “Love you Tia,” said Luna. “Love you too Lu-Lu,” said Celestia, her voice tinged by a touch of sadness. With that the solar princess left the room and teleported with a flash of light. As soon as the magic aura of her sister disappeared, Luna opened the scroll she had pick pocketed from her sister’s regalia. “Sorry Tia, but we must know what is troubling you,” said Luna as she opened the scroll. Ponyville... A few minutes after the letter had been sent, there was a flash of light and Princess Celestia herself teleported into the library. She was met with the five mares she had come to call friends and her most dear student. They were all surprised at her presence and stepped back from her majestic figure. “Princess Celestia!” said Twilight, but her normal greeting was strained without some of its usual eager anticipation. “My faithful student, I came as soon as I received your letter. I hope you won’t mind my intrusion,” replied Celestia with a smile, which soon faded as she faced the grimmer visages of the rest of Twilight’s friends. “Princess, Ah don’t mean no disrespect, but was there really a war?” demanded Applejack, a hint of desperation in her voice. For once, the orange mare did not want the truth to be told to her. “Yes, Applejack, there was a war and the mare in the field was most likely a casualty of that war,” said Celestia calmly. The ponies and the dragon stared at the princess. To find the research and the books written on the war was enough, but to have it confirmed by the princess herself? That baffled them and sent their last naive hopes flying out of their heads. “But Princess, why... how... this doesn’t make sense! Why don’t we know about this? This is such an important event... and there were so many books in that archive section... why isn’t this common knowledge?” gasped Twilight. What happened next shocked those in the room senseless. “Because I covered it up,” explained Celestia. The wide-eyes and disbelieving ears of the library’s occupants listened on as the alicorn explained. “I knew Luna would return after a thousand years and after so many long years alone and without her by my side, I was determined not to lose her again. If word were to go out that Luna not only brought forth eternal night, but fought a war against all of Equestria, she would be shunned once more. Her night would be feared and what happened so long ago would be repeated. So a hundred years ago, I began the process of lessening the influence of the War of the Sun and Moon. I rewrote the textbooks, ordered many of the volumes on the subject stored into secret archives, subtly directed pony historians to different subjects. Much of the physical evidence had disappeared and many of the monuments had fallen into ruin or the reason behind them simply forgotten. Nightmare Night, once a holiday that held great symbolic meaning was made into a fun children’s night. Thus, I wiped the War of the Sun and Moon from pony memory.” The alicorn princess stopped and faced the bearers of Harmony, as if bracing herself against a coming storm. “How could you betray your soldiers like that? They stood with you loyal to the end!” roared Rainbow Dash, completely forgetting a diarch of Equestria stood before her. When she did remember, she sank in fear, but the Princess didn’t react. Her mind was filled with the beats of the drum, the cry of the horn and thousands of ponies yelling: “For the Princess! For EQUESTRIA!” Applejack stepped forward beside Rainbow Dash, a comforting hoof on the blue mare’s shoulder. “Um... ah agree with Rainbow, Princess. Coverin up the truth is no way to protect anypony. Ya must’ve knew this would ha’ come out sooner or later,” said Applejack. Celestia sighed at those wise words, remembering a piece of advice she once heard from her faithful general, Ermane Rommel. Commander, never lie to your soldiers, or to anypony, because the consequences of a lie are worse than if you tell the truth. “You are right, Rainbow Dash and Applejack. I did betray my soldiers, and I knew that someday, some smart pony would figure it out. Still, I had hoped to delay it until ponies were more receptive to Luna’s presence.” The Princess turned to face the next of the six. “Rarity, what do you think?” The fashionista gulped, gritted her teeth and tapped her hooves nervously... and sighed. “Pardon me Princess.... I can’t believe you’d want to hide how so many ponies gave their lives for Equestria! They gave up their lives, probably walked through mud and dirt to protect Equestria! They gave you so much and the least you can do is remember them!” Celestia’s heart clenched for a moment. A field hospital, with wounded ponies sprang up in her mind. She remembered the gasp of the dying and the singular thought all the ponies held, in their eyes and in their expressions. We gave everything for you Princess. “I... Pinkie Pie?” asked Celestia, unable to face Rarity. The pink pony wasn’t hopping around, but she wasn’t frowning either. A pensive expression was on her face along with her trademark smile. “I think remembering the war would have been fun! I mean not the deaths and battles, but think about the parties and ceremonies we can have relating to the war and while some of them do have to be solemn and grave... we could have had ballads and songs. I mean, I don’t think the soldiers would want us to be moping and crying all the time!” pointed out Pinkie. The pink pony’s smile drooped for a second. “I mean, they battled to let us laugh and play safely...” “That they did,” thought Celestia, recalling the stoic grins of armored ponies so long ago, the notes of a marching song filling her mind. Turning to Fluttershy, Celestia was met with a teary-eyed pegasus. “They suffered so much! They had to fight and killeach other, charging into battle, their families and friends, their comrades suffered so much and yet everypony has forgotten them.” The mare paused, blinking back the deluge, while she raised her eyes to meet Celestia’s. “But I also understand. Fighting Princess Luna... was the hardest thing you have ever done and you would do anything to protect her. Even if you had to shoulder the guilt of having to betray your soldiers’ memory,” said Fluttershy. Something broke within the princess and all the guilt she had been carrying for all the years cracked the mask she wore. The alicorn blinked and wiped her eyes with a hoof, but not before Fluttershy saw a tear fall to the boards of the library. “Tia...” The ponies spun around to a voice fragile as stained glass. The night princess stepped out from a shadowed corner of the library. Nopony had to ask how much she had heard. The tears and the astonished expression she held answered that question. Celestia faced her sister and approached her “Luna, I...” “How dare you shoulder this burden by yourself! Why did you not tell me?” demanded Luna, trotting up to meet her sister eye to eye. Celestia sighed, she seemed to be doing a lot of it recently, “You were not to blame for my mistakes.” “For the last time, the war was not only yours to blame! I should take my responsibility for it! Did you forget I am the Princess of the Night? I could have dealt with the hate,” insisted Luna. Celestia’s eyes hardened, “Would all the Bearers have saved you if they knew of your actions in the war? Have you forgotten Nightmare Night so quickly sister?” Luna paused as she considered how close she had come to alienating Ponyville, even when the only memory of her was of a childhood boogeypony. It was true that Luna had been saddened to learn that the War of the Sun and Moon had been forgotten to time, but at the same time, she had been relieved that her greatest failure was not known to Equestria. The Princess of the night was not finished though. “Tia... how... ” Luna gulped and averted her gaze from Celestia as she mumbled something. “What Lu-lu?” asked Celestia curious at her sister’s change in demeanour. “I have walked your dreams.” Celestia’s white fur became whiter as Luna returned her gaze "Shortly after I returned, I saw you apologizing to Ermane Rommel. I did not realize he had died in The Last Battle, so I thought you were merely apologizing for his death. An old guilt you had not gotten over.” As Luna slowly stepped forward, Celestia took a trembling step back. The six other ponies and the dragon stared at the confrontation, but made no move. “But many days later, I saw you asking Lord Barbican for forgiveness. Then after Discord’s return, you apologized to your Guard Captain, Burnished Shield. That’s why I tried to bake that cake for you,” said Luna. Celestia chuckled wryly as she remembered the attempt, but then swallowed slowly as she found herself backed up against a bookshelf, her escape blocked. “But I only began to suspect something different in your apology to White Tower. No, you did not ask her to forgive you, you begged her to punish you! My research revealed later that she had survived and was one of the first ponies to begin documenting the War of the Sun and Moon.” Luna bit her lip and examined her sister, still trying to hold on to her mask. However, the tears at the edge of her magenta eyes betrayed her feelings. Luna herself was close to crying as continued, the realization she had come to causing rivulets of tears to slow down her midnight blue cheeks. “Then today, when I pick-pocketed your letter. I am not sorry that I did because now I know... You were apologizing for hiding the truth of the war. You are punishing yourself for that decision... but why?” Luna’s voice broke and the strong front she had been holding fell. Throwing her legs around her sister, Luna wailed into Celestia’s shoulder. “Why do you do this to yourself Celestia? What did I do to deserve your love?” The princess of the night was sobbing and her tears came in floods as she cried into her sister’s shoulder. All memories of Nightmare Moon were banished from the six ponies and the dragon at the sight and they began to cry too. Fluttershy the loudest and even Rainbow Dash was sniffling. Celestia was sobbing herself. Less violently than Luna, but her frame quivered at the force of her mourning. “You are my sister Luna. I would do anything for you,” said Celestia. Luna only cried louder at those words and embraced her sister tighter, an embrace that Celestia returned. The two sisters, stayed like that, for a long while. Until Celestia turned to Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student... what do you have to say?” asked Celestia softly, her voice trembling. The lavender unicorn’s mouth opened and shut, while one hoof reached up to wipe her soaked eyes. The revelations of the day had rendered the unicorn breathless, so for a moment, Twilight was paralyzed and then she spoke. “Spike, take a letter.” The dragon took a moment to comply, but was soon with paper and quill. Dear Princess Celestia, I have learnt that there was a war in Equestria. Not just any conflict. A... civil war, in which pony fought pony, tearing families apart, and ravaging all we hold dear. A civil war that by all accounts, had lasting effects for more than a hundred year. When I wrote you the letter, I was only hoping you’d answer our questions of whether there was a war in the first place and if that pony was a casualty of that war. To be honest, I was hoping you would tell me it never happened. I had hoped that this was but a fictional account, a well done hoax and that that pony died in an accident. Twilight paused and met Celestia’s eyes. The alicorn’s magenta orbs, were wet with tears, tired and exhausted and Twilight Sparkle could see one more thing, guilt, only recently assuaged. The greatest guilt she had ever seen. No wonder she kept asking for forgiveness in her dreams. For of all the ponies whom the war had affected, the one who had suffered from it the most was perhaps the only one who could not escape from its curse. That pony, was the immortal leader, who had to make the greatest sacrifices and live, knowing she would forevermore remember and regret her decisions. Of course, I was wrong, naive and thinking wishfully. War is an alien concept to us in this age of peace. In fact, conflict is rare. Holding this back was the logical choice to guarantee the successful return of your dear sister. So I don’t condemn you for your action, it was to ensure the happiness of your only sibling. But in this age of peace, I think we need to remember that this peace did not come easily to us. It was a gift, a precious gift, an invaluable gift, whose value we can only understand, by remembering, that ponies gave their lives for it. Twilight took another deep breath, remembering the fallen pony on that lonely field. Sometimes, we may wonder why we have to remember this bygone event, why we try to document this dark time in history. The dead remain dead and living should be our number one priority. Why fuss over these dusty relics? Why venerate one mare’s corpse? Why obsess on how she died? But now I know... that my life is not my own. I now realize, that our lives are never our own. They are the product of our parents, shaped by our friends and family, brought up by our mentors and role models. Now I also know, that some pony, a thousand years ago... gave her life in battle, so I may live mine in peace. It’s a paradox, but then again, the nature of sacrifice is always a paradox. Princess Celestia, I thank you the great sacrifices you have made and for this very important lesson. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle Author's Note Phew... well that justifies Celestia's decision quite well and explains much of why the hell everybody forgot. Well we've got two more chapters to go. The Remembrance Ceremony itself and the Epilogue. A thanks to Inky Jay who has faithfully proofread this chapter and Kolwynia. They're stories are awesome. CHECK THEM OUT!! And if you have already faved this story like it please! I mean... if you've faved it, you like it right?
Dug UpFields and Meadows outside Ponyville by the Everfree Forest... The wind crackled and screamed as Rainbow Dash twisted through the air like a daredevil stunt flyer, which she was. Goggled eyes narrowed in focus, her multicolour hair rippling through the air; the pegasus put herself into another high-g turn that made Neighton roll over in his grave. “Now, for the final touch, a Sonic Rainboom!” yelled Rainbow to nopony in particular as she pulled up sharply and climbed upwards. At the appropriate height, the mare levelled out and put herself into a screaming dive. Wind tore past her body, forcing her hair backwards like one of Rarity’s massive hair dryers, her fur flattened and her lips yanked back by the intense pressure of the air on her face. CRACK The sound barrier shattered and a beautiful circle of prismatic light expanded outward. Successful at her trick, Rainbow tilted her wings to level out. The ground was approaching just a little too fast for her liking. But to the pegasus’s horror, the ground came closer and closer like a forbidding Ursa Minor stomping it’s way to town. Yanking her head up for dear life, Rainbow tried to turn herself back toward the open sky, but it wasn’t working. Exhausted by her earlier stunts, the pegasus had broken the sound barrier later than expected and was now heading too fast, too close to the ground. With no other option available, Rainbow spread out her wings, wincing as several feathers were torn from her appendages and she began to decelerate, but was too late. THUD In a miraculous feat of flying, Rainbow Dash managed to angle herself so that she avoided all the boulders and rocks on the meadow and cut a ditch in the ground faster than Big Mac with a plough. What was more amazing was that she landed upright, her wings only suffering from a few lost feathers. For a while, the completely dazed pegasus just lay on the soft dirt, recovering from her crash landing. “Ouch... Well... better get back to Ponyville,” groaned Rainbow as she shifted herself, only to feel a cold tingling sensation on her chest. “What the...” the pegasus lifted herself on her sore legs and stared down at the shiny glint of a gem. It was purple as dark as Twilight’s mane, with an entrancing sparkle that had caught the pegasus’s eye. Rainbow chuckled, “Well, well, maybe I can get this to Rarity’s. She’ll know what to do with it.” Cyan hooves flying, the pegasus sent dirt flying this way and that way as she began to uncover the gem. “Wow this is a big gem. Hey what’s this... UWAAGHHH!” 30 Minutes later... Six ponies crowded around the end of Rainbow Dash’s ditch as they peered at the uncovered object with wide eyes. The pegasus had uncovered a small shining amethyst gem of remarkable quality, attached to a helmet of shining gold. What she also unearthed though was the bleached white skull of a pony. With a small ‘EEP’, Fluttershy vanished, soon followed by Rarity swooning “Looks like you weren’t pulling anypony’s leg after all Rainbow,” stammered Twilight nervously. “I told you it wasn’t a prank! Why didn’t anypony, but Pinkie believe me?” protested Rainbow. The other four mares in question glared at the pegasus, who blushed sheepishly. Taking a deep breath, Twilight focused her attention on a spell and her horn began to glow. A soft concentrated wind blew steadily into the ditch, slowly whistling away the dirt and debris and slowly, the skull and helmet came clearly into focus. As the spell continued on, dirt was continuously taken by the wind, revealing vertebrae enclosed in golden strips of armour. This was soon followed by another glimmer of gold, which heralded the sides of a burnished golden cuirass, the leather straps that once held it together rotted by age. As the spell progressed, small bones, once the structure of wings, revealed the deceased as a pegasus. Finally, flank armour and golden hoof shoes were exposed. Ending her sorcery, Twilight’s horned dimmed as she surveyed the remains. The pony was lying on its side, coated in full armour, but the unicorn couldn’t see any signs to indicate how he or she died. A part of her wanted to vomit the coffee and hay fries she had for lunch. Yet, another part of her was stirred with her usual scientific curiosity. Who was this pony? Was it a he or she? Why was the body in this location? Surprisingly enough, it was Fluttershy who broke the silence and sent a shockwave through her five friends. “It’s a mare!” gasped the pegasus, causing everypony to stare at her. Somehow undaunted by the attention, the shy pegasus rambled on. “I remember reading up on pony anatomy before getting my vet license. This pony has a smaller, more rounded head and bigger eye sockets. I think stallions tend to have longer snouts and smaller eye sockets.” Fluttershy then cringed and blinked as her eyes began to tear up. Fighting back the urge to sob, the pegasus took a deep breath and asked the question everypony had been wondering. “I mean... but how... How did she come to be in a place like this?” Twilight shook her head, a determined look on her face. “I don’t know Fluttershy, but I intend to find out. Can you help Rainbow Dash to the hospital? She may feel fine, but her wings need to be checked. Then go and fetch the police ponies. Meanwhile, I’m going to first attempt to date this pony and try to find out how long has it been lying here,” said Twilight. The two pegasi nodded and made their way slowly for Ponyville. “Twilight, I do think that this poor mare has... passed on for some time,” blurted out Rarity. The lavender unicorn blinked her eyes and regarded the fashion designer. “What makes you think that Rarity?” asked Twilight. The fashion designer took a stick with her magic and pointed to the helmet and the armour. “While I generally stick to mare’s designs, two years back there was a sudden demand for military inspired clothing. Attempting to draw inspiration, I looked back at the different uniforms and armour worn by the Royal Guard. I can tell that this style of armour is old and hasn’t been manufactured for at least twenty years. The poor dear must have died a long time ago,” explained the unicorn. “A long, long, long, long, long time ago! Look at the dirt! It’s really firm and compacted! And look at her lance!” spoke Pinkie. “Lance?” frowned Twilight as she gazed closer at the debris, only to have Pinkie Pie sandwich her head with her hooves and turn it towards the rusted and fragile remains of the weapon. The trail of shards and fungal growth indicated that part of it was still under the deceased’s right side. “Judging by the decay, the decomposition rate of wood and the oxidization rate of steel, she’s been here foooreeever! Maybe a thousand years!” exclaimed the party pony, the only pony able to understand what she said being Twilight. “Uh, sugarcube, how do ya know all of this?” asked Applejack, completely confused by the output of information. “Oh that’s easy! It comes from growing up on a rock farm! You have to know what’s a rock, and what’s not a rock!” replied Pinkie cheerfully. “Wow... Well... thanks to Pinkie and Rarity, I think I know which spell to use. Since this pony has been dead for such a long time, I’m going to use a specific type of time-dating spell. It’ll tell me how old any pony is within two thousand years,” said Twilight. With that, the unicorn lit her horn and took a small scalpel from her saddlebag. With great precision, Twilight cut a small sample of bone from the pony and cast her spell. There was a soft sizzle as the bone burnt up and disappeared to the surprise of the observing ponies. “Twilight, what didya do this time? You done and burnt up the bone!” gasped Applejack. “That’s what the spell is supposed to do Applejack. You see, everypony in Equestria possesses a certain amount and form of magic. For unicorns it is the ability to physically manifest magic, in simple terms, to be able to cast spells. For pegasi, magic enables them the power of weather manipulation. For earth ponies like you, it’s limited control over organic matter. When everypony... dies, the magic inside the remains decomposes and leaches back out into the ground, rejoining Equestria’s magic field. Given that we now know the average amount of magic per pony and per pony species has when he or she is alive, we can calculate how long a pony has died by comparing the value of magic their remains have to the average amount of magic of a live pony. What I did was convert this sample back into magic to get an average of how much magic the remains have. Now given the density of the bone and the amount of magic the bone has...” “Um, pardon me Twalight, but can ya please just tell us how old she is?” asked Applejack. Twilight paused and muttered a series of complex equations, unintelligible numbers and parameters. After a moment, Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. “According to my calculations, mind you I haven’t triple checked this yet... this pony has been dead for about a little over a thousand years.”
DiggingDigging The police ponies arrived and after being notified by Twilight of the results of the dating, they cordoned off the site and began to do their own testing and investigating. Meanwhile, the six ponies had returned to their homes to get some long needed rest, their dreams filled with questions. A week later... Twilight Sparkle sat in front of Detective Keeneye’s desk. Having asked Ponyville’s resident inspector to report to her the police’s findings, the detective had happily obliged. “Well Ms. Sparkle, the police carried out their tests and they came to the exact conclusion as you and your friends came too. This pony has been dead for around a thousand years. We kept the site as it was and called for an archaeological team from Canterlot, but they’re going to take some time to arrive here, so feel free to visit the site. Given the significance of this discovery, might I ask you to take a look at how these finds are preserved and treated?” asked the inspector. “Of course! Did you find anything else about the deceased?” asked Twilight hopefully. The inspector shook his head, frowning as a stray thought crossed his mind. “I’m afraid we didn’t find anything on the deceased’s identity, but we did determine the cause of death,” said the inspector. “That’s great! What... was it?” asked Twilight, her voice eager, then trailing off as Keeneye’s face grew solemn. The police pony pulled out a series of photos from a folder. Several red arrows pointed to various bones and parts of the remains. “According to the fractured bones and the flared position of the mare’s left wing, our coroner and I came to the conclusion that this mare’s wing was crushed by a blunt object coming from behind her. This probably led to a massive amount of internal bleeding, being the primary cause of death. Various fractures that we could observe on the vertebrae and skull indicate she crashed into the ground in an uncontrolled head-first dive. The dent on her armour also supports this theory as well as the fractures on her legs. In all my years of investigation, I have never seen a pony die in this horrifying fashion.” Twilight stared at the photos as the horror of the pony’s death sank in. She had some naive hope that this pony died after an accident. Her scientific mind suggested maybe a serious incident, possibly a scuffle. Nothing had prepared her for this. She had never heard of a death so terrible in Equestria. It just didn’t happen. Only in those adventure stories she read did ponies ever die, but they were characters, this was the real thing. Without further ado, Twilight asked for permission to keep the photos and after muttering a strangled ‘thank you’ to the inspector, the unicorn trotted out of the police station. For a while, Twilight just wandered left and right, charting a rough course back to the library, dodging ponies and staggering past stalls. On she went until she was halted by a line of ponies. “Heya Twilight! What did those police ponies tell ya?” asked Applejack. Twilight looked up to see the anticipating smiles of her friends and bit her lip. She couldn’t tell them, even though the burden of what she had learned was weighing on her like an Ursa Minor. The last thing she wanted to do to her friends was to make them cry. Fluttershy would be especially devastated. All she had to do was bottle it up and carry out the rest of the research by herself. Yep. That way would be perfect. Nopony would have to know. “Nothing we didn’t know already!” Twilight smiled weakly. That caused all her friends to narrow their eyes, Pinkie and Applejack especially. “Twilight, my face is a twitchin! That means someone isn’t truly smiling!” said Pinkie with a very serious gaze. Beads of sweat ran down the unicorn’s face. Applejack trotted up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Sugarcube... ya can tell us anythang. You’ve always been there for us, let us be there for you,” insisted Applejack. The dam holding back Twilight’s confession sprang a leak and promptly broke. Rivulets of tears poured from Twilight’s eyes as she told Applejack what she had learnt from Keeneye. By the end of the somber tale, the six were silent except for Twilight’s sniffles. “You know what this calls for?” inquired Pinkie, her hair, slightly less fluffy than usual. The other five frowned and shook their heads. “GROUP HUG!” and with that, Pinkie’s legs coiled around all the bearers and squeezed them together in a hug. They stayed there for a while, comforting each other with the feeling of touch. After a moment, Twilight gently pried Pinkie’s hooves off. “Thanks girls. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” said the unicorn. Rarity combed her slightly ruffled mane. “Think nothing of it dear! Now are we or not going to find out who this pegasus was?” asked Rarity. Twilight’s Library... The six piled into the library. Spike was informed of the situation and was quickly given a long, long, long, long list of books and manuscripts to fetch. As the dragon rapidly sped across the library at speeds that would have impressed Rainbow Dash, Twilight and the others made themselves comfortable for the long gruelling task that was research. Well... long and gruelling for anypony but Twilight Sparkle. “Okay. Pinkie Pie, you have an... uncanny ability to find the right books. Help Spike look for anything on Nightmare Moon or on historical events one thousand years ago and pass them to us. Rarity, use your keen eyes and go through the books for key words and either discard or keep them. Applejack will read them more thoroughly for information and then pass them on to me. I will look at them and relay the useful information to Fluttershy who will take it down. Normally I would ask Spike to help me, but since he is the only one other than me who understands the Dewey Decimal...” “Um... Twilight? What about me?” asked Rainbow. Twilight blinked. She had completely forgotten about Rainbow and to be honest, she had no idea how her friend could help, given her avoidance of all things ‘eggheaded’. The rainbow pegasus’s normal reading material was nothing compared to actual historical periodicals and primary sources. “Um... you can... look through the shelves and look for interesting pictures!” said Twilight. Rainbow frowned, feeling as if she had been slighted, but gave a salute and flew off to a top shelf. The rest of the ponies settled down into their roles as they poured through the books. A few hours later... Pinkie and Spike had been shuttling book after book to the waiting Rarity who had been deeming their usefulness with her fancy reading glasses. Applejack then looked them over again and sent them off to Twilight and Fluttershy. The two had compiled a long list of notes. It seemed as if the assembly line of selection and research had been working, but it hadn’t. Twilight had read many interesting facts about life one thousand years ago, but nothing mentioned death. She had read much about the Night and Day courts of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, where Celestia and Luna had presided, but nothing on dead ponies in a field. The research was taking a toll on all of them. Rarity’s eyes were red, to her frustration and horror. Pinkie Pie was actually walking. Spike seemed to be a little more sleepy than usual. Applejack’s Stetson was slipping over her head as she was nodding off. Fluttershy’s hoof was getting sore. Wait... where was Rainbow? Twilight looked around and couldn’t see a feather of the pegasus. “Hey Spike! Have you seen Dash anywhere?” asked Twilight, her voice hoarse from dictating notes. The dragon looked thoughtful. “She came to me with a reference number and I directed her to the archival collection,” replied the dragon. That got an eyebrow from Twilight. “The archival collection? You mean all those old books in the attic that were taken off the shelves because they were written ages ago?” clarified the unicorn. The dragon nodded. Confused, Twilight gestured to the girls and the cavalcade made its way upstairs. From the roof of Twilight’s room, a ladder had been swung down, evidence that Rainbow had made her way inside. Made of now aged teak wood, the stairs creaked as the ponies ascended. A long, but cramped, room with stacks upon stacks of books greeted them. The air was musty and filled with so much dust that even Applejack borrowed Rarity’s hoofkerchief to sneeze. There was light towards the end of the room, but the tall stacks of books seemed to block it out, only a sprinkling of the sun penetrating into the darkness. “I didn’t know the library had an attic or an archival collection,” said Rarity as she politely coughed. “I found it recently while looking for some late-night reading. The last librarian put all the outdated textbooks and non-fiction up here. Most of the stuff here is pretty useless. Anyhow, Rainbow! Where are you?” called Twilight. “Over here,” croaked a voice. “Where?” asked Applejack. “Behind the books, by the window,” said Rainbow, her voice sounding strangely subdued. The ponies carefully trotted past the stacks and found the blue pegasus. She was lying on the floor of the attic, the afternoon light from the murky, rounded window illuminating the large tome that was spread in front of her. Beside her, there were more volumes, showing maps, texts and somehow familiar images. It was as if Rainbow had turned into a historian in the time she had been in the attic. But what caught everypony and dragon’s attention, were the tears in her eyes. “It’s just the dust,” sniffed Rainbow with her usual winning smile, but it was brittle and cold, not warm and crisp like the sky she flew in. Slowly trotting forward, Twilight looked at a thin volume opened at a very familiar illustration. It was a detailed, inked out drawing of a mare wearing the exact same armour the unknown pegasi had worn. It matched from the heavy gold-washed cuirass composed of linked strips of metal, to the open-faced war helm with cheek protectors. Below the image was a caption Above is the armour of a Royal Day Guard Pony of the Classical Era. A statement of Princess Celestia’s authority, the armour gave high protection from penetrative weapons and arrows. Its greatest detriment was that it was designed for unicorns and not pegasi and it showed when the Day Guard confronted the Night Guard at The Last Battle. (For more information on The Last Battle, I recommend: Perspectives on the War of the Sun and Moon by Lady White Tower 25th Reprinted Edition...) “I found a drawing and followed the reference number to here, where I found this book,” said Rainbow. She closed the tome she had been reading. It was a dusty, leather-bound volume with a horn, armored wing and armored hoof joined at the middle. “I didn’t believe it at first, but I had to know and looked through more of the books,” said the pegasus, as she pointed to the maps with a hoof. Twilight and the others soon realized they were battle and campaign maps. They detailed the assaults that had taken place and the dates of battles that had happened. Tables on other opened pages showed lists and figures of casualties by battle, by disease and those who had simply gone missing. “Tell me Twilight, did you remember ever reading about this?” asked Rainbow, her voice cracking. The unicorn shook her head, unable to believe the evidence strewn about her. “No... I wouldn’t want to remember it if I did.” Author's Note Like my story please, only if you actually liked it obviously.
How She Got ThereHow She Got There Author’s warning: I wrote this chapter with the goal of enlightening what happened to the pegasus, but it turned out MUCH darker than what I anticipated to. I warn you, there is no explicit gore, but it’s harsh about war’s realities... Well I can’t say that since I’ve never been in a war, but I tried to replicate it as much as possible so if by chance any veteran is reading this, please forgive my audacity and feel free to dislike. Expect to feel rather dreary and sober at the end of it because I am not going easy on what she could have felt. I am not putting out a lighter version... so prepare to feel a bit miserable at the end of this. Ponyville... It was late evening when a group of six mares and a dragon sat around a table. Her magic sparkling weakly, Twilight lifted a stack of papers that had been gathered in the centre and straightened it. Her tired eyes roved over the pages as she took in the information they had gathered and the sprawling lines of Fluttershy’s hoofwriting. “I think we have a pretty good idea what happened to that poor mare on the field,” said Rarity. “Just in case, I’ll read aloud the report so that you can correct me. Eh Hem. We know that the War of the Sun and Moon started some time after the disappearance of the Crystal Empire. The accounts disagree why the war started, but they do note that the first engagement took place in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, also known as the Castle Everfree and that it was between the Day and Lunar Guardsponies. Judging by her armour, our pegasus was in the Day Guard and was possibly at this engagement...” More than a thousand years ago, The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters... Nightmare Moon rose, her cackling laughter resounding through the royal castle; Celestia only able stare in shock and horror as tears streamed down her face. “Luna STOP! Please!” begged Celestia. “We are Luna no longer Princess Celestia! We are NIGHTMARE MOON and from now on, Equestria will be graced with ETERNAL NIGHT!” Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, pronouncing this statement. A female pegasus allowed the slightest hint of fear to flit across her face before she turned to the indomitable form of Guard Captain Burnished Shield. “Protect the princess!” ordered the unicorn. With a surge, unicorns and pegasi formed a golden wall in front of their princess. This defiant move only caused the fallen alicorn to sneer. “Lunar Guard attack!” roared Nightmare Moon. Lunar Guards, in their night-purple armour stormed forward in a snarl, fangs and webbed dragon wings extended. The female pegasus felt her spirit surge as she extended her own wings and lunged forward with her comrades, lance levelled at the ponies, whom only days ago, had dined with her in the same mess hall. Present... “The engagement was inconclusive. Although Nightmare Moon retreated from the castle, most of her forces remained intact. With her supporters, constellation creatures and manticores, she secured most of then southern Equestria, now Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus. After that, there was a lull period. The Day Guard were kept in reserve until the Siege of Stalliongrad, where Celestia led her Guard to attack the weakened Nightmare Moon.” Outside Stalliongrad... Hailstorm, for that was her name, watched in wonder as the garrison of Stalliongrad burst out from the city’s keep and sallied forth, straight into the besieging forces of Nightmare Moon. Their surprise attack tore a gaping hole in the enemy line. Quickly flapping her wings, Hailstorm raced back to the woods outside the burning city. Princess Celestia stood resplendent with the rest of her Day Guard. Her greatsword Solar Flare was strapped to her flank. The entire regiment of Day Guardsponies backed her, shining in their golden armour. Kneeling at the princess’s feet, Hailstorm lowered her icy-blue eyes. "Your Highness, the Stalliongrad ponies are sallying forth in a last ditch assault. They will not last long,” reported Hailstorm. Celestia blinked her eyes in surprise and then nodded. “Thank you Lieutenant Hailstorm, join your company. Guardsponies! Attack!” roared Celestia. Already straining at the bit, the Day Guard galloped and flew as fast as they could, their princess at the head. They charged through the smoking barricades lining the streets, tore past the remains of houses, stepped over the remnants of pony corpses and trampled the dead carcasses of Nightmare Moon’s creatures. Falling from the twilight sky and galloping over the blood soaked ground, they slammed into the rearmost ranks of Nightmare Moon’s forces. Present... “The battle ended in victory for the Day Guard and the remainder of the Stalliongrad ponies. After that, the Day Guard were kept in reserve as Princess Celestia’s elite force. They fought at: Trottingham... Hailstorm dodged a storm of arrows, huddled behind a wall and took a moment to catch a few breaths. “Need a hoof?” chuckled a voice. The pegasus jumped and levelled her lance warily. The Princess had attempted to raise the sun, but moon was still up and the only light now available was a ghostly purple twilight. Though difficult to see through, Hailstorm made out earth ponies crouching beside her. The dark blue surcoats they were wearing were unfamiliar, but the summer sun emblazoned on them supposedly marked them as friendlies. Hailstorm wasn’t taking any chances though. The leader of the group, a sky blue mare wearing a mail shirt and lobster tail helmet, extended her hoof and gave Hailstorm a kind smile. “Sorry we surprised you. I’m White Tower, Colonel of the Stalliongrad Ponies. We’re here to pay back a debt.” Hailstorm smiled back and shook the hoof. “Hailstom, Lieutenant of the 1st Maniple, 1st Cohort of the Day Guard. You’ve come just at the right time!” chuckled the pegasus. Cloudsdale... Hailstorm had weathered seeing her comrades drop beside her like the summer rain; she had faced Nightmare Moon’s creatures and still she had endured. Yet, she wept as Cloudsdale, the city of pegasi and her home, was lit by the flames of Nightmare Moon’s newest creation, Cloud Fire. The vicious white flames leapt from cloud structure to cloud structure, consuming all. Even after the battle, the flames still crackled. Cloudsdale was in ruins. Between that and the shrieks of trapped and dying pegasi, the normally stoic mare’s mask cracked. “And I thought I would have gotten used to this by now,” snorted the pegasus. “Because you’re a pony and not a monster,” said Lord Barbican, commander of the 1st Equestrian Lancers, an illustrious pegasi cavalry wing used to shock tactics. The two officers had been eating their rationed mess meal together. “So many dead... on my hooves Barbican... I keep thinking if I could have saved them... How did you deal with it? The deaths of your comrades?” asked Hailstorm. The pegasus winced, his mistake still a delicate subject to him. “I didn’t deal with it. I was... a shadow of myself for weeks. Until I remembered what I was originally fighting for,” said Barbican with a determined smile. “What are we fighting for? The Princess?” “Indirectly... It may sound naive, but we fight for Equestria, for all living things and for Harmony.” Present... “Our pony could have been involved in any of the battles, but which one specifically, we cannot be certain. What we do know is that she was at the final decisive engagement of the War of the Sun and Moon. That battle actually took place very close to where Ponyville is today and was known as:” The Last Battle... Captain Hailstorm of the Day Guard led her fellow pegasi over the sky, filled with the sound of clashing weapons, horn blasts, battle cries, roars and screams. The ground was littered with lines of disciplined ponies facing the beastly hordes of Nightmare Moon’s creatures. Constellation wolves, manticores, timber wolves, hydras and ursas tore at the unicorn and earth ponies below. The sky was just as chaotic. Gryphons and manticores were locked in the deadly dance of aerial combat against the pegasi defenders. Glancing around to take in the situation, Hailstorm saw that the unicorns and earth ponies were holding out in their defences along the river. The once clear water was now stained with the red blood of manticore and the wooden chips of timberwolves. But in the violet sky, pegasi were falling and bloody pony feathers filled the air. Squadrons of bat winged ponies were speeding through the sky, routing pegasi and slaying any who didn’t follow. The Lunar Guard had been unleashed. Swallowing, Hailstorm turned to the pegasi under her command. Some of them were itching for the fight. Others were shaking in their armour. Hailstorm was just tired and knew she had to say something, but she had never been good at these speeches. Captain Burnished Shield: now that was an inspiring pony. He had fallen at Trottingham, along with so many others on so many other battlefields. Still, Hailstorm had to say something, so she did. “Pegasi of the Day Guard! We cannot let them through! The princess is depending on us to keep them away from the castle! She cannot beat the Nightmare if those ponies get there! I know you are tired, hurt and sick of this bloody cursed war. But please! I beg of you, pegasi of Equestria! One last time, for this last battle, fight! Equestria and Harmony depends on us today and as ponies of the Day Guard, we must lay down our lives for them! For Equestria!” screamed Hailstorm. “For Equestria!” returned the pegasi with a roar and the clattering of shields and arms. “CHARGE!” ordered Hailstorm. The pegasi leapt off their clouds, and with lances levelled, weapons held high, sped toward the Lunar Guardsponies. Hailstorm was at the point of the wedge, heart pounding in her chest as her command closed in upon the enemy. The charge hit home. Armour shattered, breached by lances. Ponies and bat ponies were cut down from the sky. Hailstorm rammed her lance into a sneering bat pony’s face and with a skillful twist of her wings, extracted her weapon and looked for another target. Banking, she ducked a bat pony’s axe swing and barrel-rolled to drop behind him. She just managed to see the fear in his eyes before her lance was buried into his hindquarters, causing him to scream in pain and drop out of the sky. She repeated this pattern for several other opponents, some falling extraordinarily quickly. For others, she had to hover and feint before she was able to bloody her weapon once more. The end came suddenly for Hailstorm. She was seeking another target when out of the corner of her eye she saw something descending behind her. A warning was yelled, she couldn’t really hear it, but she did feel her left wing being shattered by a brutal, spiked mace. Nothing could describe the agony she felt. She couldn’t breathe. Her senses were overtaken by an overwhelming, sharp, paralysing pain that reverberated throughout her body. The pain! It was thrumming, like a piano chord struck by a hammer. She was falling, spinning. She couldn’t control herself. Wind was whistling past her fur, ruffling her mane, dark yellow like a lion’s. Her eyes felt wet. Tears? Were they shut or open? A screeching, rage-filled wail of despair filled the air, overcoming the noise of the wind around her. It was her own voice, but she was too overtaken by the pain to realize it. The scream stopped as the mare dived into the ground with a horrible, nauseating crunch. The pain was still there. All over her body now. A massive ache in her chest and right side; her head felt sore. Her left wing was still on fire and now her right wing hurt as well. Something wet trickled down her left side and her mane felt weird, cold, soaked by something. A sniffle, followed by a sob, turned into a cry as the pegasus burst into tears, from pain and from pure despair. She was going to die. No amount of unicorn magic would save her. Besides, she seemed alone, somehow on the edge of the battlefield, nowhere near any medical staff. The good thing was that she wouldn’t get finished off by some manticore or torn apart by wolves. Hailstorm blinked. The pain was going away. Slowly, but surely, it was replaced by a sort of numbness. Comforting, compared to the blazing hurt that had afflicted her. She looked at the battlefield with wet bleary eyes and just laughed. She didn’t know where they came from, but a horde of buffalo, earth ponies, donkeys, mules, zebra and unicorns had galloped over the ridge to the left of Nightmare Moon’s armies and had crashed down upon them. The monsters were in retreat, frightened by the sudden appearance of reinforcements. The pegasus thought she saw a familiar blue furred, silver maned pony in the distance, leading them forward through her steadily blurring vision. As the battlefield faded away, Hailstorm she saw her mother, father, brothers and sisters. Cloudsdale before the cloud fire had blazed through it. She chuckled as she saw her school days and her days soaring through the sky. Life was good. The pegasus then blinked as she saw her old captain Burnished Shield walking toward her. “Hailstorm it’s good to see you!” Hailstorm was incredulous. Her eyes and ears must have really failed her now or was it the pain? “Hey captain... what are you doing here?” asked the pegasus. “I’m taking you over the hills and over the main! Where there are dark forests, sunny meadows and rolling plains. Get up already!” snorted the unicorn. He wore his usual gruff smile and his armour shone like... the dawning sun. That was something she hadn’t seen in a long time. Hailstorm only looked down at her mangled body, wincing at the sight. “I can’t Cap. I’m down... dying... can’t even move a single bloody feather. I must be the ugliest mare around and the sorriest sight on this bloody field. Damn, I’m so STUPID! After all those battles, I forgot to watch my back and look what happened to me.” “Don’t ever call yourself stupid or ugly Captain Hailstorm. You did your duty to the very end. I’m proud of you lass. Now get up.” Hailstorm snorted, but she tried anyway and to her surprise, she stood on all four hooves, her wings feeling better than ever. She flapped them a few times and they didn't hurt. “Now follow me. The gang’s all waiting for you!” chuckled Burnished Shield. Hailstorm smiled, left her body on the field and followed her captain over the hills and into the dawning sun. Present... The battle ended... in victory. Nightmare’s forces were defeated at the same time as Celestia sealed Nightmare Moon. Our pony seems to have died at the edge of the battlefield, and was never buried like the rest, leaving her body to the elements, which covered her up.” Twilight lowered the report, the six ponies and the dragon had not objected one single time. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, completely unlike her normal self and Twilight nodded in assent. “Well... what do we do now Twilight?” she asked. The unicorn took a deep breath. A long time ago, she would have contemplated twice before doing what she would do now. However, that was a long time ago and before so many new revelations had been unfolded. “Spike, take a note please.” Author's Note Author's note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter... If you are interested to what happened after the War of the Sun and Moon I give an interpretation to it in my main fanfic Canterlot: Her Creation and Her Architects.
CeremonyCeremony One month later… Twilight couldn’t stop trembling. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had announced the creation of a Memorial ceremony for the War of the Sun and Moon. Thousands of old textbooks and writings had been taken out. Old monuments depicting the war had been ordered to be restored. It was at the largest of these old monuments, just outside of Canterlot, where everypony had gathered for a Ceremony of Remembrance. One of the many ceremonies that were being held around Equestria. Twilight looked up into a sea of black and red. Everypony was were solemnly silent, waiting for the ceremony to begin, wearing a symbol of Rarity’s design. It consisted of a black sash around their necks, with a red poppy pinned to them. The black symbolized mourning, while the poppy, the blood spilt. Turning to look behind, Twilight gazed at the monument. It was composed of an upraised square platform with a three faced obelisk. One face was adorned by two featureless unicorns, a male battle-mage rearing high and dressed in resplendent magic robes and a female healer, in a uniform that was the predecessor of the nurse’s uniform. The other face was adorned by two pegasi. A male lancer armed to the teeth and a female cuirassier, sabre in hoof. The final face was held by two heavily armed earth ponies with slightly different armour. The male wore the mail armour of an Equite and wielded a greatsword, the female wore the segmented plate of the Stalliongrad ponies and had two hoof swords. The four corners of the upraised platform were adorned with a buffalo, a mule, a zebra and a donkey. Now, a crowd of ponies stood gathered around the monument, and the podium, that Applejack had erected, in front of it. Twilight gulped as the ceremony began. She and Shining Armour as well as the other bearers had spent a lot of time and effort planning the parade, the memorial and everything else along with it. It had to go just right! The parade started off the ceremony. First in the order of precedence were the Royal Guard. Pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies marched around the restored memorial in disciplined line formation, their armour polished and glowed. Next were the Lunar Guard in their menacing armour. There had been some debate as whether to allow this regiment to attend the ceremonies, but Fluttershy had ended it saying that: “They were ponies too.” They were soon followed by other elite regiments that had survived the passing of time. The Bridleburg Lancers, The Stalliongrad Ponies, the Equestrian Lancers, all of them gathered together to celebrate their famous history and to remember their forbearers. The parade ended with a final drum roll and salute by the trumpets and then Twilight took the podium. Hooves shaking, she introduced herself and without further ado, began to read the speech she had prepared, her voice quavering tremulously, but growing in strength. “What is the importance of Remembrance one may ask. When something has happened so long ago, something so painful, something so shocking to memory and your sensibilities, why should one bother remembering it? Then let me ask another question. Are we living sentient beings? Obviously. Then the answer should be just as obvious. For these ponies and their allies, gave their short lives to protect all that we have here today. For their sacrifice, we remember what they have done.” An overwhelming applause engulfed Twilight’s ears as she stepped back down. Her speech was followed by some others. Luna and Celestia even made one, but Twilight had heard them so many times (she had been the one editing them after all) that she tuned them out and sat in silent respect of the ponies who had given their lives for Equestria. With the speeches done, Pinkie Pie jumped up to commence the singing portion of the ceremony. She was joined by Fluttershy directed the chorus of birds alongside the ponies of the Canterlot Orchestra and Choir, led by Octavia. Here's forty gold bits on the drum For those who'll volunteer to come To 'list and fight the foe today. Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills and far away. When duty calls me I must go To stand and face another foe. But part of me will always stray Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills and far away. If I should fall to rise no more, As many comrades did before, Then ask the fifes and drums to play. Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills and far away. O'er the hills and o'er the main. Through Stalliongrad, Trottingham and Cloudsdale. The Princess commands and we obey. Over the hills... and far away Twilight’s eyes shot up to search for Rainbow Dash, who came right on time. With the Wonderbolts beside her, Dash soared through the air. Crackling through the air, the pegasus set off a Sonic Rainboom. For some reason, while the colours were brilliant as ever, the boom, had a very solemn tone. As the echoes of the boom faded, a minute of silence commenced. Some ponies turned their heads down, others closed their eyes. Twilight let her eyes close and thanked the unknown pony for giving her a new perspective on her life and the importance of peace. It was a lesson, the young unicorn, later alicorn princess, would keep all her life, through all her trials and tribulations The minute of silence abruptly ended as Pinkie Pie stood. Twilight’s eyes widened as she watched her unpredictable friend open her mouth and swing into song. Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, And Smile, Smile, Smile While you’ve got Tartarus to warm your tail, Smile ponies, that’s the style! What’s the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile, so! Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, And smile, smile, smile! The old barrack room ditty caused the soldiers to laugh fondly as well as everypony else. It broke the solemn pall cast by the silence, even eliciting a chuckle from the princesses. Twilight rolled her eyes at her friend’s antics. Why couldn’t Pinkie just remain silent! This was a solemn occasion! But as the unicorn glanced at the monument one last time, she frowned. The statues, suddenly didn’t seem so solemn, and were they smiling? The unicorn shook her head and looked back out to the congregation. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad that Pinkie Pie had sung that song. After all, she didn’t think that the soldiers would want them to mope all the times. It was important to remember, but it was just as vital to not forget to live. Author's Note The two songs are ponified versions of the songs: Over the Hills and Far Away Pack up all your troubles in your old kit bag
EpilogueEpilogue Rainbow Dash neatly put her dress away in her wardrobe and then proceeded to collapse upon her fluffy cloud bed. The pegasus was exhausted from the ceremonies and having to do the sonic rainboom so many times. Although, it gave her a bit of a warm feeling in her chest to do such a thing for the soldiers. Yet, as Rainbow drew the covers over herself, she felt a little unsatisfied about the outcome of the events. Sure, they had interred the unknown mare in a separate ceremony from the main memorial ceremony and now all of Equestria knew of the sacrifices that had been made. But in the end, they never found out the name of the mare. “After all we’ve done for each other, it would be cool if I knew your name,” mumbled Rainbow. It was then that a voice, faded like washed fabric, but still strong in conviction wafted into Rainbow’s ear. “Hailstorm...” Rainbow bolted up against the head of her bed, senses alert and eyes peeled for danger, but as soon as she saw where the voice was coming from, her jaw fell. Across from her was a mare, ghostly in figure, but her colours somehow sharp. She wore golden armour, with the shining amethyst set into the helmet. Her mane was dark yellow like a lion’s mane and her fur was a pale green the shade of honeydew. Soft, ice-blue eyes regarded Rainbow Dash and a warm smile graced her face. “My name is Hailstorm of Cloudsdale, Captain of the 1st Cohort of the Royal Day Guardsponies. Thank you Rainbow Dash. We all thank you.” And behind Hailstorm appeared scores of ponies, proudly bearing armour of all kinds. Pegasi, unicorn and earth pony, mare and stallion, young and old, all of them gazing at Rainbow Dash with proud looks and wide smiles. Some of them were cheering loudly and others had the barest trace of a smile on their lips. As they faded away, Rainbow Dash felt the corner of her eyes turn wet and she quickly wiped them away. “Don't worry, I’d never leave anypony hanging.” Author's Note I am deeply sorry for not being able to update the story for so long. The epilogue was written, but I wanted to squeeze in a chapter about the ceremony led by Twilight. I finally managed to conjure the concentration to do so. Thank you for following this story. Have a great well... exam and winter holidays.
The Princess's Admission, Harmony's AnswerPrincess Admission, Harmony’s Answer Canterlot... Princess Celestia of Equestria was enjoying a quiet night, over a game of chess, with her sister Luna. “Unicorn mage to A6, we declare,” said Luna, moving her obsidian piece with a hoof. “Rook to A1,” replied Celestia, shifting her marble castle to counter. It was then a scroll materialized by the princess in a bout of green fire. “Queen takes rook at A1. A letter from Twilight Sparkle?” remarked Luna. “Yes, I wonder what she has discovered this time,” said the solar princess as she unsealed the scroll and scanned through the neat handwriting. Luna waited as her sister seemed to be absorbed by the letter’s contents. “Tia? It is your move,” said Luna. There was no response from the other alicorn. The scroll was merely held in front of her, obscuring her face. Her ethereal tricolor mane still rippling slowly. “Sister is something the matter?” asked the night princess, by now getting more worried. The solar princess snapped out of her trance and smiled sheepishly. To Luna, it was as if Celestia was squirming with apprehension, and was that shame? The night princess couldn’t quite tell. “Nothing Luna... It’s just... I have to... oh look at the time! I need to get my beauty sleep. We’ll continue the game tomorrow!” said Celestia as she deposited the letter on a convenient hook by her regalia. Dumbfounded, Luna stood up and escorted her sibling to the doorway where she hugged her older sister. “Love you Tia,” said Luna. “Love you too Lu-Lu,” said Celestia, her voice tinged by a touch of sadness. With that the solar princess left the room and teleported with a flash of light. As soon as the magic aura of her sister disappeared, Luna opened the scroll she had pick pocketed from her sister’s regalia. “Sorry Tia, but we must know what is troubling you,” said Luna as she opened the scroll. Ponyville... A few minutes after the letter had been sent, there was a flash of light and Princess Celestia herself teleported into the library. She was met with the five mares she had come to call friends and her most dear student. They were all surprised at her presence and stepped back from her majestic figure. “Princess Celestia!” said Twilight, but her normal greeting was strained without some of its usual eager anticipation. “My faithful student, I came as soon as I received your letter. I hope you won’t mind my intrusion,” replied Celestia with a smile, which soon faded as she faced the grimmer visages of the rest of Twilight’s friends. “Princess, Ah don’t mean no disrespect, but was there really a war?” demanded Applejack, a hint of desperation in her voice. For once, the orange mare did not want the truth to be told to her. “Yes, Applejack, there was a war and the mare in the field was most likely a casualty of that war,” said Celestia calmly. The ponies and the dragon stared at the princess. To find the research and the books written on the war was enough, but to have it confirmed by the princess herself? That baffled them and sent their last naive hopes flying out of their heads. “But Princess, why... how... this doesn’t make sense! Why don’t we know about this? This is such an important event... and there were so many books in that archive section... why isn’t this common knowledge?” gasped Twilight. What happened next shocked those in the room senseless. “Because I covered it up,” explained Celestia. The wide-eyes and disbelieving ears of the library’s occupants listened on as the alicorn explained. “I knew Luna would return after a thousand years and after so many long years alone and without her by my side, I was determined not to lose her again. If word were to go out that Luna not only brought forth eternal night, but fought a war against all of Equestria, she would be shunned once more. Her night would be feared and what happened so long ago would be repeated. So a hundred years ago, I began the process of lessening the influence of the War of the Sun and Moon. I rewrote the textbooks, ordered many of the volumes on the subject stored into secret archives, subtly directed pony historians to different subjects. Much of the physical evidence had disappeared and many of the monuments had fallen into ruin or the reason behind them simply forgotten. Nightmare Night, once a holiday that held great symbolic meaning was made into a fun children’s night. Thus, I wiped the War of the Sun and Moon from pony memory.” The alicorn princess stopped and faced the bearers of Harmony, as if bracing herself against a coming storm. “How could you betray your soldiers like that? They stood with you loyal to the end!” roared Rainbow Dash, completely forgetting a diarch of Equestria stood before her. When she did remember, she sank in fear, but the Princess didn’t react. Her mind was filled with the beats of the drum, the cry of the horn and thousands of ponies yelling: “For the Princess! For EQUESTRIA!” Applejack stepped forward beside Rainbow Dash, a comforting hoof on the blue mare’s shoulder. “Um... ah agree with Rainbow, Princess. Coverin up the truth is no way to protect anypony. Ya must’ve knew this would ha’ come out sooner or later,” said Applejack. Celestia sighed at those wise words, remembering a piece of advice she once heard from her faithful general, Ermane Rommel. Commander, never lie to your soldiers, or to anypony, because the consequences of a lie are worse than if you tell the truth. “You are right, Rainbow Dash and Applejack. I did betray my soldiers, and I knew that someday, some smart pony would figure it out. Still, I had hoped to delay it until ponies were more receptive to Luna’s presence.” The Princess turned to face the next of the six. “Rarity, what do you think?” The fashionista gulped, gritted her teeth and tapped her hooves nervously... and sighed. “Pardon me Princess.... I can’t believe you’d want to hide how so many ponies gave their lives for Equestria! They gave up their lives, probably walked through mud and dirt to protect Equestria! They gave you so much and the least you can do is remember them!” Celestia’s heart clenched for a moment. A field hospital, with wounded ponies sprang up in her mind. She remembered the gasp of the dying and the singular thought all the ponies held, in their eyes and in their expressions. We gave everything for you Princess. “I... Pinkie Pie?” asked Celestia, unable to face Rarity. The pink pony wasn’t hopping around, but she wasn’t frowning either. A pensive expression was on her face along with her trademark smile. “I think remembering the war would have been fun! I mean not the deaths and battles, but think about the parties and ceremonies we can have relating to the war and while some of them do have to be solemn and grave... we could have had ballads and songs. I mean, I don’t think the soldiers would want us to be moping and crying all the time!” pointed out Pinkie. The pink pony’s smile drooped for a second. “I mean, they battled to let us laugh and play safely...” “That they did,” thought Celestia, recalling the stoic grins of armored ponies so long ago, the notes of a marching song filling her mind. Turning to Fluttershy, Celestia was met with a teary-eyed pegasus. “They suffered so much! They had to fight and killeach other, charging into battle, their families and friends, their comrades suffered so much and yet everypony has forgotten them.” The mare paused, blinking back the deluge, while she raised her eyes to meet Celestia’s. “But I also understand. Fighting Princess Luna... was the hardest thing you have ever done and you would do anything to protect her. Even if you had to shoulder the guilt of having to betray your soldiers’ memory,” said Fluttershy. Something broke within the princess and all the guilt she had been carrying for all the years cracked the mask she wore. The alicorn blinked and wiped her eyes with a hoof, but not before Fluttershy saw a tear fall to the boards of the library. “Tia...” The ponies spun around to a voice fragile as stained glass. The night princess stepped out from a shadowed corner of the library. Nopony had to ask how much she had heard. The tears and the astonished expression she held answered that question. Celestia faced her sister and approached her “Luna, I...” “How dare you shoulder this burden by yourself! Why did you not tell me?” demanded Luna, trotting up to meet her sister eye to eye. Celestia sighed, she seemed to be doing a lot of it recently, “You were not to blame for my mistakes.” “For the last time, the war was not only yours to blame! I should take my responsibility for it! Did you forget I am the Princess of the Night? I could have dealt with the hate,” insisted Luna. Celestia’s eyes hardened, “Would all the Bearers have saved you if they knew of your actions in the war? Have you forgotten Nightmare Night so quickly sister?” Luna paused as she considered how close she had come to alienating Ponyville, even when the only memory of her was of a childhood boogeypony. It was true that Luna had been saddened to learn that the War of the Sun and Moon had been forgotten to time, but at the same time, she had been relieved that her greatest failure was not known to Equestria. The Princess of the night was not finished though. “Tia... how... ” Luna gulped and averted her gaze from Celestia as she mumbled something. “What Lu-lu?” asked Celestia curious at her sister’s change in demeanour. “I have walked your dreams.” Celestia’s white fur became whiter as Luna returned her gaze "Shortly after I returned, I saw you apologizing to Ermane Rommel. I did not realize he had died in The Last Battle, so I thought you were merely apologizing for his death. An old guilt you had not gotten over.” As Luna slowly stepped forward, Celestia took a trembling step back. The six other ponies and the dragon stared at the confrontation, but made no move. “But many days later, I saw you asking Lord Barbican for forgiveness. Then after Discord’s return, you apologized to your Guard Captain, Burnished Shield. That’s why I tried to bake that cake for you,” said Luna. Celestia chuckled wryly as she remembered the attempt, but then swallowed slowly as she found herself backed up against a bookshelf, her escape blocked. “But I only began to suspect something different in your apology to White Tower. No, you did not ask her to forgive you, you begged her to punish you! My research revealed later that she had survived and was one of the first ponies to begin documenting the War of the Sun and Moon.” Luna bit her lip and examined her sister, still trying to hold on to her mask. However, the tears at the edge of her magenta eyes betrayed her feelings. Luna herself was close to crying as continued, the realization she had come to causing rivulets of tears to slow down her midnight blue cheeks. “Then today, when I pick-pocketed your letter. I am not sorry that I did because now I know... You were apologizing for hiding the truth of the war. You are punishing yourself for that decision... but why?” Luna’s voice broke and the strong front she had been holding fell. Throwing her legs around her sister, Luna wailed into Celestia’s shoulder. “Why do you do this to yourself Celestia? What did I do to deserve your love?” The princess of the night was sobbing and her tears came in floods as she cried into her sister’s shoulder. All memories of Nightmare Moon were banished from the six ponies and the dragon at the sight and they began to cry too. Fluttershy the loudest and even Rainbow Dash was sniffling. Celestia was sobbing herself. Less violently than Luna, but her frame quivered at the force of her mourning. “You are my sister Luna. I would do anything for you,” said Celestia. Luna only cried louder at those words and embraced her sister tighter, an embrace that Celestia returned. The two sisters, stayed like that, for a long while. Until Celestia turned to Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student... what do you have to say?” asked Celestia softly, her voice trembling. The lavender unicorn’s mouth opened and shut, while one hoof reached up to wipe her soaked eyes. The revelations of the day had rendered the unicorn breathless, so for a moment, Twilight was paralyzed and then she spoke. “Spike, take a letter.” The dragon took a moment to comply, but was soon with paper and quill. Dear Princess Celestia, I have learnt that there was a war in Equestria. Not just any conflict. A... civil war, in which pony fought pony, tearing families apart, and ravaging all we hold dear. A civil war that by all accounts, had lasting effects for more than a hundred year. When I wrote you the letter, I was only hoping you’d answer our questions of whether there was a war in the first place and if that pony was a casualty of that war. To be honest, I was hoping you would tell me it never happened. I had hoped that this was but a fictional account, a well done hoax and that that pony died in an accident. Twilight paused and met Celestia’s eyes. The alicorn’s magenta orbs, were wet with tears, tired and exhausted and Twilight Sparkle could see one more thing, guilt, only recently assuaged. The greatest guilt she had ever seen. No wonder she kept asking for forgiveness in her dreams. For of all the ponies whom the war had affected, the one who had suffered from it the most was perhaps the only one who could not escape from its curse. That pony, was the immortal leader, who had to make the greatest sacrifices and live, knowing she would forevermore remember and regret her decisions. Of course, I was wrong, naive and thinking wishfully. War is an alien concept to us in this age of peace. In fact, conflict is rare. Holding this back was the logical choice to guarantee the successful return of your dear sister. So I don’t condemn you for your action, it was to ensure the happiness of your only sibling. But in this age of peace, I think we need to remember that this peace did not come easily to us. It was a gift, a precious gift, an invaluable gift, whose value we can only understand, by remembering, that ponies gave their lives for it. Twilight took another deep breath, remembering the fallen pony on that lonely field. Sometimes, we may wonder why we have to remember this bygone event, why we try to document this dark time in history. The dead remain dead and living should be our number one priority. Why fuss over these dusty relics? Why venerate one mare’s corpse? Why obsess on how she died? But now I know... that my life is not my own. I now realize, that our lives are never our own. They are the product of our parents, shaped by our friends and family, brought up by our mentors and role models. Now I also know, that some pony, a thousand years ago... gave her life in battle, so I may live mine in peace. It’s a paradox, but then again, the nature of sacrifice is always a paradox. Princess Celestia, I thank you the great sacrifices you have made and for this very important lesson. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle Author's Note Phew... well that justifies Celestia's decision quite well and explains much of why the hell everybody forgot. Well we've got two more chapters to go. The Remembrance Ceremony itself and the Epilogue. A thanks to Inky Jay who has faithfully proofread this chapter and Kolwynia. They're stories are awesome. CHECK THEM OUT!! And if you have already faved this story like it please! I mean... if you've faved it, you like it right?
