Ceres was silent for a long time, deep in contemplation. Luna sat next to Celestia, who was hiding herself from view weeping at the shame of her past. Luna grimaced with guilt for being the one to speak what Celestia fear to tell. She consoled as best she could but for all her kind words and gestures, Celestia was deaf to all of it.
"You make it sound like this conflict was thrust upon you both." Ceres raised his head and began. Luna met Ceres's doubtful stare with her sincerity. She was telling the truth, there was no way Ceres could intimidate her away from that fact.
"If your account is true, the machinations of this princess Platinum is implying it was all her fault." Celestia hid behind her wings, knowing the fact of the matter. When all is said and done, it was Celestia's ambition that started it all. Every pony present knew this.
"But it wasn't, was it. You both had the power to stop this conflict at it's initial stage, but instead you opt to use your people for your own agenda!" Luna's resolute stare faltered into a downcast. Now she too felt shame at the truth. He was right. Princess Plantinum may have had power over the people, but Celestia had power over her. There was no denying that Celestia could sense the drive of this tyrannical unicorn. The evil in her heart and the corruption of her people. With but a few words and assertion of her power, Celestia could have stopped it. They both could have. Celestia too blind by the shine of her glorious achievements to see the dark shadow it cast on her people. Luna too lost in her own shadow to speak out the will of the people that looked to her for help. She could have protested against Celestia, negotiated with her, dealt with this juvenile jealousy her elder sister has held. Instead they let mere mortal ponies conspire to have them fight each other.
"Neither of us wanted something as extreme as civil war." Luna looked to Celestia for agreement and she found it.
"But it was the only way I could see to stop the conflict." Celestia finished her sister's statement.
"Fight to stop the fighting. The eternal conundrum." Ceres smiled at those words. As a soldier he'd often thought about this. About how utopia of peace and harmony could be achieved so easily with power. Power was something that ponies look to. They cultivate, collaborate and intimidate with the use of their power. Pegusii intimidated earth ponies to work the land and the fear of the magic of the unicorns had both other races serve the supposed higher class. And then the alicorns came to rule them all with their power. Fighting was the result of two opposing powers conflicting until the strong is left.
Perhaps true and pure utopia is impossible. Ceres thought bitterly.
"I want to hear the rest of it. Before I make my final decision, I want to know that I had acted while fully informed."
Luna looking to Celestia was replied with a step back from the elder sister. Luna step forward.
The nation was divided in two by the banners of the Solar empire and the Lunar republic. Each year ponies died in their millions by the sheer brutality of the conflict. Many years had past and with my role in the conflict as a general that lead my ponies from the front, my mastery of magic was refined to a keen point. I had founded a new form of magic that transformed me, saturating my body with pure power. Eventually becoming the war goddess Nightmare moon. However such strength had come with a price, channeling my desire for victory and death and hatred of the sun. My mind had warped to wish for the goal of eternal night. It was obsession gnawing at me to madness as I cut a swathe across the land with my ponies charging at my command. Those closest to me exposed themselves to the influences of my dark power, mutating them into creatures of the night.
However despite all my gains, I in one fatal battle in Canterlot, with the whole of Equestria in its knees. The Lunar republic lost the war when Celestia founded the elements of harmony with the remaining clergy of Priesthood of harmony. And with their power. I alone was defeated and banished to the moon, soon after my forces quickly folded.
Stewing away a thousand years on the moon. I could only think of one thing. My goal for eternal night, in my twisted mind I had even deluded myself in thinking no pony wanted my night. As with each passing year no pony, came to help my escape so that I may once again use my power on Equestria. Upon my return and.the purification of my body to my original form. Most of my memories had been all but hidden away, deep in the recesses of my mind because of this obsession.
"Now Celestia. what became of Equestria after the war." Ceres grimaced as Celestia struggled to control the bout of shame that was once again beginning to rise with each glimpse of Ceres before her.
"Celestia!" A loud slap echoed through the air as Luna smacked a hoof across Celestia's face. Instance a red bruise marred her features, but any hesitation she had had vanished to make way for anger. Realisiung the direction she was going, she resigned to retaliate and found herself with much needed clarity of though.
"When you're ready." Ceres spoke simply, hoping that that action would distract from Luna's good intentioned antagonising.
Celestia made a point to look at both ponies. They intended nothing, as they looked attentively at her. Taking in a deep breathe she began to recount her greatest sin.
The kingdom had suffered major losses from the war. The population has gone down to one tenth of it's original size and with it the borders of Equestria had halved in size. Much of the land had become infertile from the tainting of so much pony blood on the earth. And so the kingdom suffered the long predicted famine and depression. However with great minds like Clover the clever, Smart cookie and the mad genius of Puddinghead the mad Equestria had recovered well enough within a decade.
However not everypony of the republic and the now disbanded empire could be reformed into peacetime as the once gentle Pansy, was imprisoned for his endless list of war crimes and eventually executed for his continued murderous behaviour. Several thousand had to die for the very same reasons, lost to the madness of war.
Taking blame for the death of princess Platinum, I took it upon myself to adopt the war orphaned Silver blood. I intended to teach this heir of the unicorn ponies and by extension the rest of ponykind to the ideals of peace and the horrors of war. Somewhere along the way, it seems that I had ended up with prince Blue blood...
However, my wishes were being undermined. Two hundred years after the banishment of Nightmare moon. Ponies taught their children of my tyrranical rule and the past conquests of Equestria. New generations were being taught that I was a horrible ruler who with the power of fear and might, would make every pony suffer the horrors of war, so that my glory could be known throughout the world. How I plotted to bring about another age of conquest and make the people suffer once more with war and famine. That I was merely biding my time, gathering the strength of my kingdom until it was ready for war once more.
And so, I founded the educational system. teaching ponies of the histories of Equestria and of art, literature and fancy mathematics. Slowly I would reform, the facts, reshape history, turning facts in myths, legends into facts and lies into the undeniable truth. A whispering effect had took hold the land, as story were told and retold and reformed and reimagined. Until one day, the tyrannical queen was called Nightmare moon who I banished to the moon. The windigoes of the first alicorn united the three tribes and that I was born from princess platinum and commander hurricane.
Lies upon lies upon lies upon lies.
Before I knew it, my sister was a monster and the ponies loved me as their goddess. I had achieved this utopia and had given the elements of harmony the purpose of defending this peace loving land from evil.
"You know... before I came to Canterlot I had wondered all over Equestria. Every pony I saw had smiles on their faces. People were nice to each other and ponies felt safe to laugh. Law is enforced fairly and barely any pony at all found the need to resort to do bad things. At best I found petty things here and there. Pranks and jokes and jabs." Ceres looked to Luna and she understood completely.
"The ponies of the past refused to give you a second chance and so you had to resort to... unconventional methods. As I see it, a prospering kingdom like this is a testament to the merit of it's ruler. I stand by my decision to elect you the ruler and Queen of Equestria."
Luna stood besides him and they held hoofs. "And I see that your sister Luna agrees with such a decision."
However, should the power go to your head as it has in the past. We will be ready to stop you.