***
"Celestia, did you know this mare here?" asked Twilight indicated to a name that she had seen quite a few times already.
Celestia looked to what Twilight was trying to show her.
"Hmm, oh it's her. Yes I knew her," Celestia said after a while.
Twilight's ears perked up at the prospect of finding something on the mystery mare.
"Really? She seems to have been heavily credited with medical advances and some of the older medical reforms still in place. But there's no mention of her in any books or historical accounts. The only account I found was a journal written by a Court official who accuses her of false medicines and he details some other testimonies from the Court and from the illiterate rabble as he called many of the lower class Ponies. It looks like either nopony wrote about her which is unlikely or she was erased from history…." Twilight said as she levelled a glare at Celestia.
Celestia didn't flinch but she instead sighed, "That's sort of complicated. She was a complex mare and I knew her well, we had an interesting relationship."
"There's quite an emphasis and tone on the word 'interesting', although I just find it strange that such an accredited Pony is essentially gone from history. Perhaps it was the accusations leveled against her," Twilight commented as she returned to her book.
"Ah, she became a close friend over time," Celestia said in way of an explanation.
Twilight looked back to stare at Celestia, "Right. Okay, could I get the story please?"
"She was a wonderful charmer who was more than she said she was in more ways than one," Celestia said wistfully.
"It's somewhat too early to be this cryptic Celestia," replied Twilight in a weary tone.
Celestia nodded, "Just relax and I'll tell you the whole story, although this will take a while to explain."
“As you can see Nobles of the Court this,” the mare said holding up a number of small vials, “are the very tools of my trade. The tools by which I cure what it is that you find yourself stricken with.”
Celestia smiled brightly at seeing the smooth mare present herself before the Court. She was a potential candidate for a soon to be vacant position as one of the doctors was on his way to retirement. There weren’t enough medically inclined Ponies around and more where needed now more than ever especially as some of Equestria’s neighbours were looking for the excuse to start a war. If this mare did as he promised, they could be a position for her in her Court.
“Let me guess, she did well enough that you invited him to stay," Twilight said.
Celestia shook her head, “What she did was not enough for me to grant her a position. I would have preferred to wait a few more years so she could learn more, but the war forced my hoof. It was then I learned just how far her extent of medicine went.”
“-hat of poultice, herbal medicine? Do you know that?” Celestia asked sternly as she loomed over the lounging mare.
“Nope,” she said not even heeding the tone in the Princess’ voice.
Celestia leaned in the mare before her. “What do you know mare?” Celestia said coldly.
The mare stretched out slowly before answering Celestia. “About medicine, nothing; my Mark is for alchemy not curing the ill.”
“What followed was a long and difficult questioning session between us. Eventually I imprisoned her for fraud, there wasn’t more I could do while so much of the country was occupied by the war.”
“Now I understand why the Court official called her for performing false medicine.”
She had little idea of what was going on other than she had been dragged out of her cell that morning by a pair of stony-faced Guards and brought before the Princess. Between her and the Princess was a small table with small unlabelled glass vials.
“Well I never did believe I would see your face once more my Highness, I almost thought you had forgott-“
“Quiet mare, you claim knowledge of alchemy. Now you are to prove it,” Celestia said curtly.
“What is my incentive, nothing’s for free.”
Celestia glared, “You’ll be moved to better quarters and assigned as assistant to one of the practicing doctors as well your record will be cleared.”
The mare’s face split into a wide grin as lifted up the first glass vial, “Of course my Highness.”
“That was her contribution to the war, creating potions and poultices to help the wounded,” Twilight said.
Celestia nodded, “That was the beginning of her contribution to the war effort.”
“That’s how she learned medicine and I’m guessing that she would eventually gain a position in Court for her contribution to advancing medicine,” Twilight said as she started to sort her reference materials away. “Although I’m amazed that some of her medical reforms are still in place, but that doesn’t answer the question of why there’s almost no historical accounts about her.”
“Strangely that was her last request to me. Despite how she was in life, in death she wanted Ponies to forget her. She never told me why exactly she wanted that, maybe to break connection between her old life before the war and her life after the war.
Although I still have her private journals, the other half of her last request was giving me her journals. I think she wanted me to have them as a reminder of her and in some way I think she did wanted to be remembered even if only a few ever remembered. You can read them later if you like.”