Digging
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.”