Author's note: Arsenio is a Greek name, it means 'masculine'.
Calanthia is a Greek name, it means 'beautiful flower'.
Danica is a Slavic name which means 'morning star'.
Leon is a Greek name which means 'brave as a lion'.
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"Wow Derpy, you're certainly here early!" Twilight said happily, not seeming at all deterred by the fact that she had just been woken up at 5am in the morning.

"I'm pretty surprised too," Derpy replied "but I have a whole ton of research to do!"

"On what?"

"Well Ponyville Elementary's having it's annual history day, and Mayor Mare asked me if I could give a presentation on my great-grandfather who was a soldier who saved Ponyville during Great War Of Equestria. I barely know anything about him apart from that, so I have a ton of work to do."

Twilight's eyes lit up with excitement "Wait a minute... you're related to Arsenio Hooves?"

"Yep!"

"THE Arsenio Hooves?"

"Well I was last time I checked."

"This is amazing!" Twilight squealed. She grabbed Derpy firmly by the hoof and dragged her into the library "I can't believe that I have Arsenio Hooves' great-grandaughter right here in my library! The moment I settled into life here I started researching everything about Ponyville, and Arsenio sounded fascinating! I'm definitely coming to that history day. I do already know everything there is to know about that brave soldier, but I'm looking forward to how you're presenting your information! Help yourself to as many books as you like and if you want anything to eat or drink just ask Spike, you need plenty of energy for this all this research!"

Twilight said all of this very fast and Derpy's brain was practically spinning by the time the hyped up librarian had shoved her down into a seat at a quiet desk hidden away at the back of the library and showered her with every single book on Ponyville history in the entire library. She sat for a while, letting her brain recover from the rabid nerd attack that she had just received, then opened one of the many books that had been lain out in front of her and began to read.

Of all the wars that have raged across our fair land, the Great War was probably one of the worst. It left thousands of soldiers dead and hundreds of others injured. It took many decades for the Equestrian citizens to truly recover, and even now, haunting reminders of the many terrible battles still remain.

Before the Great War, Equestria had been in a state of peace and harmony for many, many years; but hidden beneath the Utopian atmosphere, tensions were rising. The creatures of the Everfree forest were becoming restless and angry. They believed that the ponies and other Equestrian citizens were becoming far too powerful and superior. The forest-dwellers had to fight to stay alive and hunt if they wanted to eat, but the ponyfolk had the advantage of modern inventions like shops, real houses and endless supplies of food. Eventually, then tension reached a breaking point and a group of violent forest spirits attacked and destroyed a defenceless village that was situated next to the Everfree.

Princess Celestia, who was at the time still recovering from having to banish her sister to the moon, reacted to the attack immediately. Not wishing to start a war, she sent two ambassadors into the Everfree to try and convince the monsters and spirits to make peace with Equestria. They were both killed on the spot. Reluctantly, Celestia retaliated by sending her army into the forest where they destroyed the evil spirits, but all this succeeded in doing was angering the Everfree creatures even further.

And so the Great War of Equestria began. There were thousands of losses on both sides, many Equestrian cities an towns were ravaged by the fierce battles that were fought, and at the same time, much of the Everfree had been burnt down. For a long period of time there seemed to be no clear winner and many feared that the war would last for much longer and eventually ruin the entire country. But everything changed when one brave warrior arose during the most violent battle in Equestrian history.

The battle for Ponville was by far the worst battle ever recorded in Equestrian history. Thousands were killed on both sides and hundreds of others were gravely wounded. Despite the fact that Ponyville has never been considered as important as other Equestrian towns and cities, the result of the fight would still greatly effect the outcome of the war. During the battle, it seemed as if the forest-dwellers would be victorious and many Equestrians lost hope, but then a new soldier who had remained unnoticed throughout the entire fight stepped in. His name was Arsenio Hooves. He exhibited skills and extreme bravery that had never been seen before. The forest spirits didn't know what had hit them. Arsenio fought bravely and his success gave his fellow soldiers the courage to fight once again. Eventually, the spirits were defeated and the Equestrians were victorious.

One month later, the forest-dwellers surrendered and peace was once again restored to our fair land. Arsenio was celebrated as the stallion who ended the war and became a national hero. He married the beautiful Pegasus Calanthia and she gave birth to two healthy foals, Leon and Danica. There is a war memorial that bears his name in Ponyville that has been there for over 70 years.

Derpy turned the page to find a detailed family tree of the Hooves family. Arsenio and Calanthia were in the middle and she could see her name at the bottom. But what really caught her attention was the picture of Danica, her grandmother. She looked very normal aside from the fact that her eyes were facing off in different directions.

She grinned "So that's where I got my disability from!" she exclaimed. Derpy lifted herself from the desk and ran up to Twilight who was sorting through her collection of encyclopedias.

"Hey Twilight, do you have anything about Danica Hooves?"

"You mean Arsenio's daughter?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Well I found this in the attic when I first arrived here from Canterlot, but I've never read it. Maybe you'll find it of interest." she handed Derpy a faded old notebook that was obviously over twenty years old and covered in scratches and stains.

"Thanks Twilight!" she trotted back over to her desk, set the notebook down and read the title.

Danica's diary
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(Sorry if my version of Equestrian history ruined your headcanon.)

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