The Celestia Cross

The Celestia Cross

Introduction

War.

On rare occasions it has ravaged our lands and killed our people. War is filled with death and fear but there are some who step into the fray and step out into the pages of history. These are their stories. My name is Ink Weaver and this book is about those heroes that won the Celestia Cross, The highest military honour anypony can receive. Before I go in to the stories of the ponies who won this award I should give a little bit of history into the war and the creation of the medal.

27 years ago some ponies decided that they didn't like how the country was being run. They decided to form the Equestrian Freedom Movement. They were lead by a unicorn mare named Red Velvet. She was very charismatic in her speeches but when she wasn't in the public eye she was very brutal and ruthless. She said that she wanted democracy and freedom from "our alicorn oppressors" but she had her own hidden agenda. Once they had seized control of the country she was going to make herself a dictator. So much for freedom and democracy.

Before the E.F.M. came into public eye they were a small underground organization. Red Velvet raised an army and stole a lot of military equipment to supply her army. When the E.F.M. finally announced their intentions they had thousands of troops and were well equipped.

After the E.F.M. came into light the country tore itself in half, with roughly half of the population supporting the movement and the other half opposing it. The E.F.M. made their base in Fillydelphia and made the claim that "we can take Canterlot!" At one point it seemed like the country was going to truly split itself in half when there were reports of an arguement between the two princesses. Princess Luna was sympathetic towards the causes of the E.F.M. and was willing to give up her seat on the throne. Reports say that there was a heated argument between the two princesses behind closed doors. Through a source that wishes to remain anonymous I have acquired a recording of their arguement.

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"Sister, we can end this whole conflict peacefully if we just step down." Luna pleaded.

"Are you daft? They don't want our thrones they want our heads!" Celestia snapped back.

"W-what? No they don't! They just want the freedom to chose their ruler."

"And do you think they'll get that from Red Velvet?"

"Of course! She promised that once they have control that the ponies will be allowed to vote for who runs the nation."

"Think again sister. Once they kill us and take our thrones Miss Velvet will not be giving up power over the population."

"Of course she will! She said so!"

"Are you truly that naive? She isn't going to easily hand over control of the entire population. Once she has power she isn't going to want to let go.'

"You don't know that! You always act like you know everything!" From the recording I could tell that Luna was crying now.

"Luna, listen to me! If we surrender our thrones they'll kill us and then the country will be run by a ruthless dictator!"

"No! No, if we surrender our thrones then the bloodshed will end and everypony can live their lives like they used to!"

"She will be killing ponies in the streets!"

"We already are!"

"This is war! She'll be doing it during peace time just because someone opposes her!"

"No! That's not true!" Luna is heard running out of the room. Celestia heaved a sigh.

"If only the element bearers were still around. This never would have happened." I hear the slow clacking of the hoofsteps grow louder. I then hear the pony that is recording this fumble around as they scramble to shut off the recording.

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That was the closest the nation came to being completely divided. Weeks after this argument Princess Luna came back to Princess Celestia and apologized. The Alicorn sisters stood side by side once again. E.F.M. propaganda said that Celestia threatened Luna by using a sniper pony to shoot at her but there has never been any proof to support this theory.

The war raged on for almost 2 years. Both sides took heavy losses both military and civilian. The Equestrian Armed Forces eventually surrounded Fillydelphia and were about to storm the city when Princess Luna gave an order to hold off on the assault. She wanted to try using reason one last time. Princess Luna called a press conference at the castle in Canterlot. Despite the fact that her sister was the better speaker, Luna took to the podium. She opted to have the bulletproof glass that was installed around the podium removed. When asked why she chose to remove the glass Princess Luna responded "Because how can I give kindness to my people when it's being blocked by glass?". Princess Luna's press conference was televised on every tv across Equestria and broadcast on every radio. The E.A.F. even set up loudspeakers outside of Fillydelphia so that all of the E. F. M. could hear her message. The Canterlot War Museum has loaned me a recording of Princess Luna's speech.

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The podium stood isolated on the stage. It seemed normal to me because of the missing glass but to the ponies in the room at that time it must have seemed very bare. The other ponies chatted amongst themselves while waiting for the princess of the night to give her address. The room fell to silence as the buglers announced the princess' arrival. The princess strode out onto the stage but she didn't seem herself. Whenever I saw her address the public she always had an air of confidence but on this occasion she seemed shaken. Her head wasn't held high. It drooped slightly. Something was troubling her deeply. She stepped up to the podium and looked across the crowd with her sad eyes and began her speech.

"This is a plea to the members of the Equestrian Freedom Movement." It sounded like she was holding back tears. "You are surrounded by the entire might of the Equestrian Armed Forces." The tears were threatening to break through. "We are asking you to lay down your weapons and surrender." She couldn't hold them anymore. Princess Luna started to cry. She picked up her script and tore it apart with her magic. "This doesn't have to go on anymore. We don't have to keep killing each other. Look around and ask yourself. Is this what you wanted? Did you want to see your country in flames? Did you want to see it turned against itself? Look at your leader? Do you think she wants true freedom? Do you think she will step down when you win and give you a democracy? She's going to be a cruel and unjust leader! This conflict is pointless. The only thing we are accomplishing is the destruction of our country! Think of the families that are missing ponies because of you. Think of the empty places at the dinner table and ask yourself: 'Am I doing the right thing?' Please. I beg of you just please put your guns down and surrender. I promise you that nopony will be harmed. We don't need any more bloody battles." And with that the princess was finished her speech. She turned and walked off stage with her head hung in sorrow, tears still dripping from her face.

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Witnesses say that there was an assassin in the audience during that speech. The pony was drawing their gun when Princess Luna broke down crying. They stopped and listened to what she said then dropped their gun and fled. The reactions in Fillydelphia were mixed. The E.A.F. stood on the edge of the city and waited for their orders to retake the city. As soon as Princess Luna's speech was finished ponies started to emerge from the city unarmed. Some of them had a hoof raised while others waved scraps of white cloth. The orders were then finally given. Secure any non-hostile ponies without harm and neutralize any that are still hostile. There was one final order given. Find Red Velvet and take her into custody dead or alive. The E.A.F. charged into the city and began to take it back. Most of the ponies had surrendered but there was still the odd holdout. There was still significantly less bloodshed than if Princess Luna had not given a speech.

A sniper on overwatch spotted Red Velvet trying to sneak out of the city and called for someone to go pick her up. A squad from the Princess' Own Rifles surrounded Velvet and requested for her to come quietly and that Princess Luna's promise extended to her as well. I was able to locate one of the members of that squad and I was able to ask her a few questions about the final encounter of the war.

"Raindrop, what was it like to face the pony that brought the entire nation to the brink of destruction?"

"The self control of the squad was amazing. We all wanted to see this mare dead and we all had the chance to be the one to do it right there. All of us had our rifles pointing at her and any one of us could have pulled the trigger but we had our orders and we knew that if we brought Red Velvet in she would get what she deserved."

"So what happened exactly? I mean, I have read the reports but I want to know what exactly happened straight from the source."

"Well the sniper gave us Red Velvet's location and the direction she was moving so we set up an ambush ahead of her. It was in the courtyard of a demolished building. We hid behind the piles of rubble and in the debris and we waited until she was at the center of the courtyard. The second she hit the center the sergeant gave us the order to move. We all slipped out of our cover and pointed our weapons at her. We had a perfect circle around her. There was no way she was getting out. I was smiling from ear to ear. I knew we had her. Velvet looked around at us with fear in her eyes. She was screwed and she knew it. She thought that she could get out of it though. Dumb mare. She pulled out her pistol and put it to her head using her magic. Then she said that she would shoot if anypony came a step closer. Ciderjack was amused by that. He smiled then said 'you think any of us actually give a shit about you?'. Then he just walked up to her and bucked her in the face! her gun fell out of her magic and flew across the courtyard while Velvet just fell to the ground. I decided to move in and secure her. As I secured her horn with a magic dampening device she spat blood onto the ground. 'Puppets. All of you are just puppets to the princesses.' she said. Ciderjack wasn't getting any happier. 'And you just wanted to take their place as the puppeteer didn't you?' He replied. 'We were going to have freedom.' she said again through her bleeding mouth. 'Cut that bullshit before I buck you again square in the jaw.' I heard that the reason Ciderjack hated her so much is that the war destroyed the farm that his family ran for generations. It was a source of family pride. They produced the best apples in Equestria he said whenever we reminisced about life before the war. We picked up Red Velvet and led her back to the Command Post. As soon as the MP's saw who we had they rushed toward us in full force to make sure nopony did something stupid. The squad was just about to head back into town when we were told that we were relieved. Our part in the war was finished. I was excited that it was over and relieved that I survived it all. I knew others that weren't so lucky. I saw Ciderjack walk over to a tree and slam his hoof against it. I went over to see what was wrong. I thought that he would be happy that it was all over instead he was standing there looking angrier than I had ever seen him. I went up to him and asked him what was wrong. He turned and looked at me with eyes full of anger and said, 'I let that bitch live. I let her live after she killed ponies. After she destroyed homes and families. After she nearly destroyed our country I let her live. How can I live knowing that somewhere that mare is still breathing?' I just put my hoof on his shoulder and said 'one day at a time Cider.' We then walked over to grab a glass of his namesake. That night everypony celebrated the end of the war. We were just happy to let life go back to normal"

I finished my glass of cider and thanked her for her time. As I walked to the door I looked around at all of the photos on the walls. There were quite a few to look at but one caught my eye in particular. A mare and a stallion both dressed in formal military dress at a military wedding staring at each other in front of the altar. Raindrop showed me out the door then went to go help her husband plant a new tree in their orchard. When I reached the main road I turned around and looked at the property I had just left. Raindrop lived with her husband in a small house that looked like they built it themselves quite recently which was probably true. There was also a new barn standing nearby. There were a growing number of trees that covered a small amount of the land they owned which stretched into the hills behind their house. beside the path to their house stood a wooden sign. "Crisp Apple Acres 'One day at a time'" I smiled then continued down the road towards town.

After the war the E.A.F. stayed in some cities that were still loyal to the E.F.M. to oversee rebuilding efforts. There were a couple protest but most incidents were resolved peacefully. There was one incident in Phillydelphia that did lead to deaths when a protest turned violent. Protesters started hurling rocks at the security forces and eventually started throwing molotovs. When one of the protesters pulled out a pistol and fatally shot a soldier the E.A.F. returned fire killing five protesters and scattering the crowd. That was the only moment of gunfire and bloodshed after the war.

One year after the war, several war veterans were invited to the Grand Galloping Gala. Each one of these ponies had earned medals for their services during the war. Princess Celestia took the time to talk to each one of these veterans and hear their stories but these ponies didn't speak about themselves. They spoke about their comrades that had performed different feats of heroism and self sacrifice. After hearing about the actions of one sniper that died in the line of duty to save her assistant, Princess Celestia had to excuse herself from the room. When Princess Luna asked her what was wrong she replied with, "These ponies gave so much for their country and deserve our praise but they do not praise themselves. They praise the actions of their friends and comrades that aren't here today. Look at that stallion sitting over there. The mare he loved gave her life to save his. We have to honor these ponies in some way". The next day Princess Celestia brought forward a decree that would create a new medal, one that would be the highest honor anypony in the E.A.F. could receive, The Celestia Cross. She stated that the cross would be awarded "for valour in the face of the enemy". The princess stated that all veterans of the war could send in a nomination for the award with a story of what the pony had done to deserve such an honor. Most of the ponies that earned this award died performing the action that warranted the awarding of this medal but it is not a requirement. Princess Celestia is still awarding these medals so there is no telling how many ponies will be given this medal but so far there has been very few awarded.

I shall be trying to get as close as I can to the ponies that received these medals to learn their stories. With the ponies that made the ultimate sacrifice in the course of duty this may be difficult, but I will get their stories.