Pony History

[Red Charge]

The Pony Crusades

"Tonight on our show we have a famous historian, Wax Seal to tell us about the Pony Crusades that took place over five hundred years ago! Welcome to our show, Wax Seal."

"Thank you Morning Star, I'm happy to be able to contribute."

"So tell us Doctor, what were the Crusades?"

"Well you see, in the time after Nightmare Moon was gone, ponies didn't exactly feel all that safe sitting around a massive undead empire. The Necropolis was always the talk of the day and many ponies flocked to the colonies just to get away from it."

"Fascinating, so what happened?"

"Well, Princess Celestia insisted that as long as the Necropolis was content not to attack us, attacking them might put Equestria at risk, especially because of their superior numbers. But not all ponies really liked that. So this one bloke, Cross Strike, a colonel broke off from the army. He made a para-military order called the Knights Horsepitallers, sworn to end the Necro Lord at any price."

"Anything more you can tell us about these Knights Horsepitallers?"

"Well, see they were special. Like the Shield Walls they had their own Cutie Mark Symbol to engulf their cutie marks as a result of their specialized training in fighting undead. They were very well regarded back in the days, the very symbols of chivalry and pony ideals."

"And what happened to them? How did they disappear?"

"Well, what happened is that they finally got enough followers to take action, Cross Strike led a lot of ponies into the Everfree Forest, only a handful survived to tell the tale. Apparently they got as far as the entrance to the Necropolis, somewhere deep underground, when they found out they were completely surrounded. Apparently the Necro Lord had outposts to warn him of advancing armies, and the forces from those outposts cut off the poor Crusaders, we can only assume they met a horrible fate."

"What about the survivors?"

"Well they never quit trying to get more followers, but by then everypony thought they were just barking mad. There were a couple more crusades, but those didn't get far and that was it, really."

"They were named Crusades after a cross?"

"Indeed, a favored Equiterian method of intimidation, they would hang the bodies of their enemies on crucifixes and place them at the gates to their cities. Needless to say the Necropolis had plenty of those scattered around, they earned the nickname, it also went along well with Cross' name."

Speaking of which, the survivors from the First Crusade came back with stories of his heroism in battle. Apparently he alone faced down an undead general called Incubus and destroyed him. Such a terrible shame, he probably only ended up replacing him."

"What techniques did they teach their knights to fight the undead?"

"Well, that's lost to the ages, the survivors never said and I reckon there's no one left who knows now. Even so, the Knights Horsepitallers were a very philantropic organisation and made many contributions to the arts and philosophy as well as helped found places such as Hoofington."

"Seems like it's a terrible loss to Equestrian Society then."

"I'm afraid so."

"Thank you for this enlightening interview Doctor, it's been a pleasure."

"Anytime Morning Star, if any pony wants to learn more, they can go to the Ancient Times Museum in Canterlot, where I lecture regularly."

"And that's all for this time Fillies and Gentlecolts and remember, the Ancient Times Museum offers a discount for the foals and the elderly!"