//------------------------------// // Ancient Equestria // Story: The Millennium Archives // by Moonatik //------------------------------// “There’s probably a version of Equestrian history that you’re very familiar with. The most popular retelling of it comes from this old picture book, if you grew up before the Lunar Revolution you’ve probably read it yourself. But in case you’re coming at this with real baby knowledge, here.” Legend of the Two Sisters, by New Page Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger alicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since. “Now I don’t wanna say that it’s all bullshit. Buuut…” Moonatik pauses for dramatic effect, putting on an exaggerated shrug. “It’s kind of all bullshit!” “Okay, well, parts of it are true,” he admitted. “There’s probably a world out there where all of it is true, but this isn’t that world. You probably already know that the ‘elder sister’ is Celestia even though it doesn’t say that, most ponies figure that out pretty easily. But yes, Celestia’s younger sister, once named Luna but now named Nightmare Moon, revolted against her rule to bring about eternal night. What this leaves out, as well as a bunch of other things, are the reasons why she did that.” “The whole thing about ‘ponies shunned and slept through her night’ should be self evidently bullshit if you’ve ever met a thestral. They’re nocturnal, by and large. And they’re a fifth of the Equestrian pony population! Like, no, Luna had ponies who appreciated her night. That was never the problem. If you wanna know the real reasons…” He reaches into the cabinet and retrieves a thick, leather-bound book. He drops it onto the desk with a mighty thud. “Behold! The so-called ‘True History of the Foundation of Equestria’ by Jade Lustre! A favourite amongst thestrals and Lunarists everywhere! Jade Lustre was one of the commanders in the first Equestrian legions, she was there for all the big events of early Equestrian history. Everything from the onset of the Reign of Discord all the way to the defeat of the Lunar Rebellion. In her twilight years, she wrote extensively on what she remembered, both for her own benefit and to correct the record as myths and misinformation plagued public consciousness. She may have been an accomplished commander, but she wrote like an old soldier. She wrote about the great battles and quality of bread at base camp.” “It's worth mentioning that this book has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years. Historians in the Celestial era denied its contents entirely so it was rarely critically analysed. All the good faith, sincere criticism of the book has been very, very recent now that the Lunar Revolution allowed us to be more open about Ancient Equestrian history.” Moonatik opens the tome to a bookmarked page. “I’ve selected a few extracts to give you a good idea of the history angle. Should give you a perspective on all the important events, and I'll be skipping over a lot of it. Ready?” Extracts from “The True History of the Foundation of Equestria” by Jade Lustre. Before the story of Equestria can be told, it is imperative that a few words be said about what existed before Equestria. In the thousands of years before Equestria was founded, the lands that would become it were dominated by alicorns. While these powerful beings resemble ponies, they are said to be from another world. In their era, the alicorns oversaw the development of countless civilisations, positioning themselves as guides and leaders for the native creatures. Yet every time without fail, they’d watch their civilisations decay and crumble. Sometimes due to their action, sometimes due to their inaction, and sometimes due to circumstances beyond their control. Many alicorns blamed themselves or other members of their species for these catastrophes regardless of where blame really fell, due to a pervasive sense of self-important superiority in alicorn culture. This attitude was amplified as when alicorns fought, it typically resulted in massive devastation. A single brawl could ruin a society for decades to come by destroying critical infrastructure, agriculture, centres of government, and whatever else, leaving untold suffering in their wake. Eventually, an alliance of one hundred alicorns who called themselves the Centuria of the Exodus formed, united by the belief that their species was a blight on Equestria due to the millennia of destruction they had witnessed or caused. They resolved to cleanse Equestria of alicorns by banishing every alicorn in Equestria to realms unknown. Alicorns that supported the Centuria of the Exodus were known as Centurions, while those that opposed them were known as the Anti-Centurions. The Anti-Centurions formed an alliance of their own with countless different factions with varying views on what role alicorns should have in Equestria. One of these factions was a small radical group known as the Suzerains, who wished to subjugate and dominate the local population. The Suzerains proved themselves a persistent menace. What followed was the War of the Exodus, a destructive conflict that raged for over forty years between the Centurions and the Anti-Centurions. While the Anti-Centurions possessed a larger force, the centralised leadership and raw magical might of the Centurions ensured a hard-fought Centurion victory. Every alicorn that the Centurions could find was captured and banished, never to return to Equestria. Once they had caught every alicorn they could find, the last Centurions banished themselves and sealed the bridge between realms. The Centurions knew they could never catch every alicorn in Equestria, so they settled to leave two young alicorns, sisters Celestia Stellaris and Princess Luna Stellaris, in Equestria as protectors of the local population and a vanguard against the Anti-Centurion alicorns who slipped through the cracks. Celestia and Princess Luna had been born in the Canterlot Valley and had been raised by local ponies, so it was believed that they may be free of whatever curse befell the alicorns of the realm beyond. I must now digress to admit that much of this retelling is the direct word of Princess Luna herself. While she is no doubt trustworthy, she was not witness to many of the events described. This has been a broad overview due to the lack of sources. Few other records survived the conflict and those that did were in the Alicorn language, and have yet to be sufficiently translated. ... The Princessdom of Equestria was founded 70 years before the Lunar Banishment with the signing of the Treaty of Hearth’s Warming in Canterlot Valley by representatives of the Kingdom of Magicis, the State of Pegasopolis, and the Agricolus Republic. The three most prominent signatures on the treaty are those of Chancellor Puddinghead, Princess Platinum, and Commander Hurricane, broadly known as the First Equestrian Triumvirate. Though it is often overstated how much they had to do with the actual founding. Princess Platinum's advisor, Clover the Clever, wrote of the Princess that she was more concerned with her appearance than her subjects' needs, even after the treaty she refused to see herself as an equal to ponies of other tribes. The incompetence of Chancellor Puddinghead is well documented, and it is more than fair to say he only held his position owing to rampant cronyism in the Agricolus Parliament. Having served alongside Commander Hurricane myself, I can attest to his incompetence as a commander. How he was ever entrusted to the command of anything is a mystery. The First Triumvirate governed Equestria for less than a decade, and the three leaders relied almost entirely on their close advisors for information and political input. While the advisors served their leaders loyally at first, they soon got tired of their superiors and organised for their removal. Chancellor Puddinghead’s deputy, Smart Cookie, gradually built up alliances in the Agricolus Parliament to undermine Puddinghead’s influence, ousting ‘Puddingite’ cronies and replacing them with honest statesponies. Puddinghead was formally removed from office by a vote of no confidence, with Smart Cookie taking her place. After the ousting of Puddinghead, Commander Hurricane was forced to step down by a mutiny headed by Private Pansy (later known as Praetorian Panser). Owing to Princess Platinum’s royal status, she could not be removed easily. Instead, Clover the Clever subtly and deftly manoeuvred Platinum into delegating all authority onto her subordinates. Ten years after the treaty, the members of the First Triumvirate were all out of power. Chancellor Cookie, Praetorian Panser, and Clover the Clever formed the Second Equestrian Triumvirate, who governed the state with much more competency. The Everfree Confederacy was initially not a party to the Hearth’s Warming Treaty. We thestrals were the only kind of pony capable of surviving in the Everfree forest long-term due to our nocturnal nature and heightened senses, which allowed us to avoid the dangers of the Everfree where other ponies would fall victim. The thestrals originated in the southeastern jungles, but by the time Equestria was founded, we had moved and mingled, spreading far and wide. Our nation of primarily thestrals was content to exist independently from Equestria, and we often traded the bounties of the Everfree for the riches of Canterlot Valley. ... However, this state of affairs was upended when our lands fell under the tyranny of Discord, the mischievous spirit of chaos. He ruled the lands that would become Equestria in an unending state of chaos and misery where time was dead and meaning had no meaning. It is difficult to describe the extent of disorder in this period, as the only consistent element was inconsistency. Ponies were frequently robbed of their physical or intellectual capabilities at this time, further complicating accurate record keeping. It is also difficult to understand how long this period lasted due to how Discord distorted the natural flow of time. By some accounts, no more than a month, while some experienced centuries of madness. However, it is broadly agreed that the first sightings of Discord’s chaos were forty-five years before the Lunar Rebellion and that the Reign of Discord ended thirty years before the Lunar Rebellion. ... After an unknowable amount of time, two alicorns, the sisters Celestia Stellaris and Luna Stellaris, resolved to put an end to Discord’s tyranny. The sisters came before the Everfree Council and told us that they knew of the Elements of Harmony, kept deep within the Everfree Forest at the mystical Tree of Harmony and that they sought to retrieve the Elements so they could use them to dethrone Discord once and for all. Many on the Council were sceptical of their plan and were unwilling to give up our most prized artefacts, as we found Celestia unimpressive and doubted whether she held the capability to wield the Elements effectively. However, we saw in Luna all the qualities a leader should possess: Strength, intellect, and more than anything the determination to see things through to their fullest. It was not the first time our tribe had interacted with Luna, before my time on the council she brokered peace between us and a roaming dragon colony and hired two thestrals for her personal guard. These guards, named Echo and Nocturn, had pledged utmost loyalty to Luna and vouched for her upon our meeting. She told us of their efforts to grant ponies refuge and order in this time of madness, how they had used their magic to stay the tide of chaos in parts of the land, and she convinced us. Following Luna’s testimony and the word of Echo and Nocturn, the Council unanimously agreed to allow the sisters safe passage through the Everfree, and we led them to the Elements of Harmony. To our relief and amazement, the alicorn sisters wielded the Elements with great skill. The pair marched alone to face Discord, struggling through the chaos and finding him at his throne. When face to face with Discord, the monster himself was  and turned him to stone. The unfathomable suffering that characterised his reign was over at last. Impromptu celebrations erupted across the lands once the chaos had faded. Ponies of the three tribes flocked to Celestia while the Everfree thestrals stood strong by Luna. There, on that day, the Everfree Confederacy chose to join Equestria and to accept Luna as our Princess. A ceremony for the formal accession of the Everfree Confederacy to Equestria was quickly organised. The signing ceremony took place at midnight on a day now referred to as the thirty-first of October. It began at the edge of the Everfree forest in a small, temporary settlement not far from where Discord was defeated. Princess Luna came before us, not draped in purple cloth like any other contemporary monarch, but kitted out in battle gear and armour, a sword in her belt and a helmet on her head. Her armour was no ceremonial ornament, but the sort a warrior would wear to battle, showing scratches and other scars of battle. All of us, the members of the Everfree Council, brandished our weapons and laid them on the ground before we all fell to deep, reverent bows. Once we rose, we stepped forward to put our names to the treaty. In order, the signatures were those of Azure Stardust, Midnight Bloom, me, Blackberry Star, Moonshadow Dust, Lotus Starstreak, Eclipse “Beam” Berry, Julian Phalanx, Octabian Equinox, Marching Orders, Joy Star, and finally Chieftain Nectar Nebula. Once Nebula had put his name to the paper, he proclaimed “Our nations are one!” Applause once again rang out amongst all who had assembled. Once it had subsided, Princess Luna spoke. With your act, the ponies of these lands are one step closer to being unified. Yet our work is far from finished. As we look to the world in the wake of Discord's reign, we find it to be in ruin. Tyrants, monsters and warlords have risen up, promising order in their petty domains but delivering brutality. It is clear to us now what our task is to be, to end the chaos that Discord wrought goes beyond just striking him down, but healing the scars left by his madness. My sister and I have made a pact, a pact which I ask all of you to join. We shall build an army to march out into the world, cast down the tyrants and unite all ponies on this continent in the song of harmony. In our wake, Celestia will rule the realm and teach the ponies we encounter how to live in harmony.  We do this not to be showered with glory, or to be celebrated with grandiose monuments, but because it is right! We will pave the way to build a realm of peace, not an empire of war! So, my fellow warriors, I ask you to stand with me, shoulder to shoulder, wing to wing, hearts entwined in purpose. Let us march as one, for our cause is just and our determination is boundless. Together, we shall tear down the walls of chaos and tyranny, and in their place, build a monument to harmony that will stand for eternity! A round of applause rang out for Princess Luna. There was no need for the Council to deliberate, for there was immediate and unanimous agreement. We would follow Luna to war. ... In our time of weakness, two warlords by the names Tirek and Scorpan, centaur and a gargoyle respectively, had arrived in Equestria with the express intent of stealing its magic. However, Scorpan had come to grow fond of Equestria and believed it best to return the stolen magic and abandon their conquest. Tirek refused, which prompted Scorpan to alert our Princesses to Tirek’s intentions. At the time, Tirek ruled over what was once the land of the pegasi north of Canterlot valley. Determined to reclaim his homeland, Commander Hurricane, then an old stallion, returned from retirement to help lead Equestria’s legions. This was disastrous. We had a force of five thousand soldiers to attack Tirek, primarily light pegasi infantry who were personally loyal to Commande Hurricane given his prestige. We also had some thestral infantry, artillery in the form of ballistas, and a small force of mages. Our numbers should have been more than enough to defeat him, as long as we had good leadership. Tragically, Commander Hurricane sat atop the chain of command, and his orders were to launch a mass charge at Tirek when we met him on the battlefield. When we found Tirek, he was waiting for us in an open field. Hurricane ordered the charge, and a wave of pegasi and thestrals raced across the field to strike Tirek. It failed miserably, and half our force was struck down by Tirek including Hurricane himself. Their magic was drained, resulting in Tirek growing considerably stronger. Hurricane’s actions dramatically weakened us and strengthened Tirek. I, and many other commanders, ordered the soldiers under our command to retreat. Continuing the attack at this stage would’ve been suicide. Around two thousand soldiers retreated to safety with most of our mages and artillery intact, but we knew that Tirek was on our trail and had to act fast. After putting enough distance between us and Tirek, we stopped to take stock of what we had. Our force was primarily light pegasi infantry. We could not rely on magical weaponry, as there was a great risk that Tirek would turn the magic against us. Praetorian Pansy proposed that we take high ground in a nearby forest, lead Tirek into the forest, and ambush him. Nopony else proposed a better plan, so hers was chosen. When he caught up to us and was led into our trap, we assaulted him with incendiary ballistas. This sufficiently softened Tirek up for closer attacks. Whilst in close quarters we remained as mobile as possible to ensure he could not focus an attack on anypony in particular. By the time he’d register a blow and prepare to strike back, another blow from another soldier would strike. This was not conducted without error, and several good ponies were lost. After a tiring struggle, Tirek had been worn down enough that magic could be used against him without a risk of him stealing it. Mages were brought into close proximity to Tirek and they launched a barrage of mental assaults on him. He was powerless to fight back, and the stolen magic was torn out of him. Those he had stolen magic from soon returned to their full arcane capacities, and Tirek himself was rendered impotent. ... During the Reign of Discord, several alicorns who escaped Centurion capture rallied behind a surviving Suzerain named Opaline Arcana. Crowning herself Suzerain Supreme, Opaline had established an oppressive autocracy just east of Equestria where ponies and other local creatures lived only to serve their alicorn masters. Her regime was known simply as the Alicorn Supremacy. There was never going to be peace between Equestria and the Alicorn Supremacy, their very existence was incompatible with the society we aimed to construct. Even before the war properly began, Equestrian territory was frequently raided by the forces of the Supremacy. In these raids, Equestrian defences were swiftly overwhelmed by formations of alicorns allowing the attackers to loot our lands of their treasure, their food, and their ponies. It was reported that many ponies took their own lives. Attacking Equestria in such a limited manner would prove to be a mistake on behalf of the Supremacy, as it gave our troops vital experience in fighting an alicorn foe. We were given ample opportunity to learn their patterns, probe their weaknesses, and even win a few battles. By the time the Supremacy realised we had the experience to outmatch them, we’d gone on the offensive. With the Equestrian legions rallied, trained, and equipped, we marched on to face the Alicorn Supremacy. The Supremacists assumed Princess Luna was inferior to them owing to her birth in this realm, but she proved herself in battle time and time again, winning countless hard-fought victories as our soldiers were greeted as liberators. Initial assaults were bloody, but successful. When we entered the lands of the Supremacy, we were shocked at what we saw. Landscapes were dominated by tall, pompous castles painted with garish colours that clashed horribly against the surrounding natural beauty. As if the earth itself had been stabbed with a colossal knife stained with gangrenous flesh. Once we drove the alicorns out and entered the castles, the sights were no less repulsive. They had been filled with an overwhelming collection of extravagant furniture, intricate tapestries, and ostentatious “art” pieces, their purpose to project an arrogant attitude of high standing with no care given to subtlety or aesthetic harmony. We found more bedrooms than there were alicorns in the area. From their broad balconies, we were given views of amber fields of wheat that stretched for miles. An impressive sight, until one went down to meet the ponies who worked them. On the ground, the common ponies were so malnourished you could see their rib cages pressing against their skin. They were only allotted enough food to maintain their survival, with the lion's share of the food going to feed the elite. Fly-ridden corpses hung from poles where one may have put a scarecrow, placed to terrorise the peasants into submission by reminding them of the fate that befell dissenters. At first we were perplexed at the overrepresentation of earth ponies as that was most of what we found, but we were mistaken. For the unicorns and winged ponies respectively, their horns and wings had been torn off. We frequently heard stories of alicorns showing up to villages and extorting them for whatever valuables they may have possessed, and torturing them if no valuables were given up. In many cases, these ponies had nothing to give up. For a peasant, or even a group of peasants, drained of their magic trying to stand up to an alicorn with their boundless strength, the situation was hopeless. They might as well have been fighting Discord. The peasants hailed us as liberators and allowed us to live off of their land. While this may have considerably shortened our supply lines, we decided it best to allow the peasants to feed themselves first and foremost. We even diverted some of our own food to the starving peasants, they certainly needed it more than we did. This presented a greater issue we faced over the course of the campaign, a large number of able-bodied ponies had to be diverted from the frontline ... As our campaign progressed, the Suzerains continued to shock us with their villainy. In place of the abundant wheatfields, a grisly sight of devastation and desolation greeted us, for our enemies, driven by a malevolence unmatched, had resolved to leave naught but ruin and cinders in their wake. The verdant fields and fertile plains that once bloomed with the promise of a bountiful harvest were reduced to charred wastelands, where nature itself seemed to wail in agony. ... Our five-year campaign soon reached its culmination at ‘Opalight’, a town in the shadow of Opaline’s dark castle. Our force was composed of nine thousand soldiers with ponies from all tribes represented. The alicorns numbered over a dozen, and had an army of slaves numbering a few thousand under their thrall. Our arrival at 'Opalight' prompted a local uprising from the common ponies, bolstering our ranks and further spreading the alicorns thin. We attacked at nightfall, led by Princess Luna herself and catching the alicorn force off guard. Their slaves were in camps and out of formation, and while some made attempts to charge us the majority abandoned their posts or surrendered without struggle. We quickly overran the slave camps and set our focus on the alicorn leaders. Some alicorns had assembled and fully mobilised their slave forces, which would cause considerable delay for us and allow the enemy an avenue of escape. But by flanking the slave armies we were able to strike at the alicorn leaders directly. The death of an alicorn prompted the disintegration of the slave army, with mass surrenders and panicked retreats. Before midnight, the enemy were already losing their way. Coordination and organisation almost entirely broke down. Aside from the small number of alicorns guarding Opaline, every alicorn was fighting their own battle. We isolated them and picked them off one by one by use of our enchanted weapons. The moment soon came for the final attack against Opaline, who had assembled her most loyal to defend her. Our principle tactic was to lure individual alicorns out of formation by feigning weakness and exhaustion, then overwhelming the lured alicorn. We repeated this tactic time and time again and they never learned or adapted. Soon only two remained, Opaline and her deputy Auctoritas. Opaline retreated into a nearby fort with Auctoritas covering her escape and holding us back. But, either due to her desperation, stupidity, or both, the fort which Opaline retreated to was to store barrels of gunpowder. This was made known to us as a small force of mages made their way into the fort through an unguarded entrance, and rigged the barrels to explode while providing additional enchantments. They escaped to safety, and the fort was torn apart by the explosion. Both Opaline and Auctoritas were crippled as a result. At the moment of victory with the sun creeping over the horizon, Princess Luna struck a fatal blow against Auctoritas and held Opaline at the point of her blade. She wished to execute Opaline to ensure she could never pose a threat again, but due to the intervention of Celestia, Opaline was shown mercy. Her punishment, for all the terror she wrought, was to be sealed within her castle and stripped of her magic. At the date of writing, she remains there. While Princess Luna stood by her sister’s decision and respected it, we could all tell that she privately dissented. In a conversation I had with her in the aftermath she openly lamented the fact that Opaline was allowed to live after everything she did. Word had erroneously spread amongst the common ponies that Opaline was dead. When they heard that Opaline lived, they were disappointed. In some cases, they were infuriated. On more than one occasion Royal Guards needed to prevent an enraged mob from storming Opaline’s castle, in a heart wrenching twist of circumstance. It was also brought to my attention that Princess Luna wanted to rename ‘Opalight’ after me, as I led the forces that liberated the town, but she was overridden by Celestia who chose to restore the original name of Hayfield. Flattering indeed, but I would have rejected it. It was the common soldier that formed the backbone of our victory, and it was done in the name of the local ponies’ freedom. ... The northern realm of the Crystal Empire, home of the prosperous Crystal Ponies, was initially friendly to Equestria. We were content with peaceful coexistence and mutual cooperation as the ruling Mi Amore dynasty was ostensibly committed to the values of harmony. The northern lands had always been troubled by the Umbrum beasts, but they were kept at bay by the power of the Princess of the Crystal Empire, Princess Amore, the first of the Amore dynasty combined with the power of the Crystal Heart. I do not know why they called themselves an Empire when they were ruled by a Princess. Tragically, Princess Amore was murdered by a Umbrum-infused stallion known as Sombra, who seized the throne for himself and tyrannised the Crystal Empire, enslaving its ponies and preparing to unleash the Umbrum onto the world. We had no choice but to intervene. ... What marked our march across the lands of the Crystal Empire was not the hoarded plentitude of the Supremacy, but desolation. We would come across a town or a village, but find it gutted of anything of worth. A home or a community meeting place would contain nothing but dust. Or, on particularly grisly occasions, bodies. ... We had all read about the Crystal City and seen depictions of it, painting a picture of a beautiful city of joy and magic home to millions of prosperous ponies. Equestrians who had been to the city before the war relayed much the same story. But when we finally laid eyes upon the city we found that whatever beautiful city may have existed had long been destroyed. A thick cloud of acrid smoke hung heavy in the air over the city, billowing from slave-driven factories and poisoning the once-pristine skies. At the centre of the city stood a jagged tower of dark crystals, defying both the laws of nature and the sensibilities of aesthetics. The sight also explained why the territory around it was so greatly depopulated and desolated, all the Empire’s resources had been centralised in the city to construct a hellish engine of murder. Our assault on the city began at dusk. Our whole force, 12,000 soldiers led by Luna and Celestia, braved through the icy wastes and miasmic smoke. A vast force of slaves stood between us and the castle, but owing to our superior mobility we were able to outflank the slaves and advance quickly. Spell jammers repressed the mind control spell that Sombra had on his slaves, keeping his force distracted and disorganised as Celestia and Luna advanced on the castle itself. Many feared that the great city had been destroyed by Sombra’s ambitions. Some held out hope that the city was not killed by Sombra, but that it was mortally wounded and could be brought back to health. But a final act of pettiness ensured the city was lost, perhaps forever. When his defeat was all but certain, he cast a curse on the city that bound its fate with him. Consequently, when Princess Luna and Celestia sealed him inside the arctic ice of the north, the city along with its inhabitants vanished with him. There was a possibility that releasing Sombra from the ice would return the city, but this was a risk no one was willing to take. Perhaps doing this is what Sombra hopes we would’ve done. With nothing but snowy wastes left in their wake, the Crystal Empire is truly gone. ... Yet as many feared and suspected, at what should’ve been a time of triumph with all the ponies of the continent unified in peace, we fell victim to betrayal from above. We should have known from the very beginning. What we were told about not doing any of it to be remembered as heroes, it was an act of deception by Celestia. She fooled Luna, and she fooled us. While Equestria celebrated the city builders, the spellmasters and the weatherweavers, there was no celebration for the warriors without which none of it would have been possible. It went beyond just that, we were forbidden from building monuments in public places, war diaries were confiscated, and history was rewritten. Our contributions were erased from public knowledge before our very eyes. With the erasure of our contributions, the erasure of our whole tribe was sure to follow. This is why I am writing this book. If I do not, firsthoof accounts of these wars may be lost forever. The heroism of our legions, the wickedness of our foes, the righteousness of our cause and the countless sacrifices made in its name, all forgotten. As long as I am alive, I refuse to let this happen. ... Even before we had word from Princess Luna, we planned for rebellion. In a joint meeting of the Equestrian War Council and the Everfree Council, we debated the question of rebellion. All members were sworn to secrecy. I led the debate in favour of rebellion, arguing that the decisive moment would come soon and that we had to take the initiative. I demonstrated to the council how Celestia was our enemy, that we had become obsolete in her eyes and that she was seeking to exterminate us first by erasing our accomplishments in the eyes of her subjects and then by stifling our participation in Equestrian society at every turn. Eventually, The vote total was seventeen in favour of rebellion and three against. The three dissenters accepted the majority decision regardless. Next we invited Princess Luna to join our plans. At first she was enthusiastic, and fully endorsed our mission. However, she later proved herself indecisive. She kept trying to stop herself and tamp down her growing anger only to return to preparing for the inevitable confrontation. Some nights she’d tell us to prepare, other nights she’d tell us to stop. While she never broke secrecy, her erratic behaviour doubtlessly alerted Celestia to what was going on. Perhaps this may have been her fatal flaw, not choosing a path early and sticking with it. ... The chosen day, the ninth of June, soon arrived. In short the plan was to seize control of the castle, incapacitate Celestia by whatever means possible, then go out to assert control over all Equestria. At a time when Celestia was eating her lunch, we acted. The first step of the plan was completed without error. Our legions descended on the castle in great numbers, at least nine hundred of us to the castle guard of only a few dozen. They surrendered without a fight in most cases, and where there was a fight the enemy was subdued and disarmed without fatality. We soon had Celestia surrounded in the throne hall, held at the tips of our spears and poleaxes. Luna stood at the thrones and made known the grievances we all held against her. I am ashamed to say that I was so wrapped up in the moment that I failed to make a record of her exact words, but the Princess made her intentions abundantly clear. With her declaration finished, she cloaked herself in the power of the Moon itself. Resultantly, she was born anew. Her physical appearance changed entirely, she was much taller, her coat was pitch-black, her eyes turned sharp and were tinged cyan, and she was clad in elegant silver armour. She was no longer Princess Luna. She declared herself Empress Nightmare Moon, and we rejoiced. In Nightmare Moon, every positive trait we saw in Luna had been amplified. Gone was the indecisiveness, as she became confident. Gone was a compromising subordinate, as she became a steadfast ruler. Gone was the deference to big sister, as she became bold and assertive. Luna was only a shell containing the Nightmare within, and with the declaration of rebellion, this shell was forever broken. A swift battle between the two alicorns ensued. Owing to Nightmare Moon’s martial supremacy, Celestia was quickly pushed onto the defensive. Great damage was done to the castle as a result of the battle, and most of our forces were occupied with evacuating the ponies to safety. The ponies of our legions who remained, however, proved invaluable to our Empress’s victory. The credit falls on the ponies of the Firstborn legion specifically. They had carefully been monitoring Celestia begged, begged for forgiveness, but Empress Nightmare Moon was having none of it. She threw down her sentence with a quick burst of magic from her horn, casting a curse of petrification on the defeated princess. As the stone crept up her body she wailed wholly insincere apologies and shed crocodile tears, soon it reached up her neck to cut her whines short, and continued from there until there was nothing left but cold stone. Victory was ours, and Equestria awaited our rule. We were not done at the castle, however. We had many of the highest Celestial officials in captivity, and . It would have been easy to be vengeful, there is no doubt about that. But even then our Empress proved herself capable of mercy where appropriate. Everyone was given a fair, speedy trial where all were treated as equals before the Empress regardless of titles or positions. Only the worst criminals and abusers were put to death, those convicted of severe crimes such as treason or murder. Those convicted of minor crimes were imprisoned at the castle, while the rest were set free without a smudge against their name. ... Unfortunately, all our efforts were made naught due to one fatal blunder. We assumed that our control of the castle was uncontested, and that we retained control of the Elements of Harmony held within. We thought wrong, and by thinking wrong we acted foolishly. Forces were moved away from the castle to assert our authority across Equestria, considerably weakening the castle garrison. I was not there to see it, but from what I have been told no more than six ponies breached the castle and released Celestia. Empress Nightmare Moon swiftly returned to the castle to contain the emergent threat, but by the time she arrived it was already too late. Celestia had gained control of the Elements of Harmony, and used them against our Empress to banish her to the moon. When the sun crept over the eastern horizon, our hearts sank like lead. “Now I've relied almost entirely on Jade Lustre here. As cool as her account was it's important to keep her biases in mind. She provides the most detailed account of all the events beforehoof, but given how much of a personal stake she had in the Lunar Rebellion her account needs to be taken with a bit of salt. So here, I'm also…” He rummages through his desk for a few moments, soon retrieving a small book. “I’m also going to give you the testimony of Pristine,” he asserts. “Who was Pristine? A nopony. A literal who. A humble unicorn maid who happened to be in the Castle of the Two Sisters when it all went down. She relayed her account of the Lunar Rebellion to the Royal Court scribe once the dust had settled. Arguably a less biased account considering she had less of a stake in it, but I’ll leave it up to you who you believe.” The testimony of Pristine. It was like any other day, until the castle was being stormed by majority-thestral legions and Celestia was being held prisoner in the throne hall. It looked like the legions were staging a takeover, but as I went to the throne hall and saw Luna addressing the legions and Celestia, it was clear that it was her who was taking over. I didn’t hear her whole speech, only the end. Luna said “There can only be one Princess in Equestria, and that Princess shall be me”. She then destroyed part of the throne balcony, part of the ceiling, rose the moon to eclipse the sun, and was enveloped in dark power that twisted her beyond recognition. Her teeth became sharp and jagged, her eyes turned dragon-like, her coat blacked out, and that laugh. Celestia, that laugh. It expressed so much sadistic malice, I didn’t know she was capable of it. I believe that in that moment, Princess Luna died. Yet Nightmare Moon was met with cheers from the legionaries, even after she started senselessly destroying parts of the castle and attacked Celestia.. I could only tell so much from where I was, but to me, it looked like Celestia wasn’t really fighting back. Her spells appeared defensive in nature, and I didn’t see her lay a strike on Nightmare Moon. While the battle was going on the legionaries either participated in the alicorn battle to defeat Celestia or they led us away from the outer walls to keep us away from Nightmare Moon’s onslaught. I was dragged, literally dragged, into a cramped pen in the castle courtyard along with several dozen other ponies while the battle was going on over our heads. Soon the sounds of battle dimmed, then went out entirely. When the sun didn’t rise, many of us feared the worst, and when Nightmare Moon came before us and announced that Celestia had been turned to stone, our fears were confirmed. She declared a new regime and demanded our subservience, and that all her enemies would face swift “justice”. All of us were cowed into silence. An hour or so later, what felt like nearly a thousand ponies had been herded into the courtyard. Statesponies, nobles, castle staff, guards, and anypony else who happened to be in the castle. They went over us one by one, assessing who would be dangerous and who would be useful to their rule. I was lucky enough to be spared by Nightmare Moon herself. “She is a good servant, let her go,” were her exact words. After I was let go and I was told to get back to my usual duties. As if none of that had just happened! But I’m glad I wasn’t around for what came next. Anypony who displayed significant loyalty to Celestia was thrown into the castle dungeons, which were soon overstuffed with so-called “traitors”. As for those who were perceived as having committed past crimes or insults against Nightmare Moon or her legions, they were killed on the spot. My “usual duties” then suddenly included clearing away the bodies. Bodies of ponies I’d known and worked around for years. Captain of Celestia’s personal guard Steel Blade. Chancellor Rose Basket. Lady Hemlock. Gold Standard. Even young Corn Flake. We had to carry them to an open pit outside the castle and unceremoniously throw them in. By the end it must have been at least seventy ponies. I distinctly remember burying Lord Silvercoat. He’d always been good to me, and everyone else in the castle. Yet he had been executed for insulting the Empress, and I had to drag his body away. I could only recognise him by his namesake, the silver colour of his coat. His face had been battered to a red mush. I nearly lashed out at the legionaries in rage, but I knew I’d share his fate if I fought back. A similar attitude of hopelessness set in amongst the other survivors. What could we do? It took us two whole days to finish cleaning up after the executions. For the next ten days the castle was eerily quiet. None of us were allowed to leave, so we were basically prisoners. There was nothing for us to do but wait for a resolution. I had duties to conduct, but my work was subpar owing to my melancholy. Some of us thought to revolt against the Nightmare’s guards and attempt to free Celestia, but these ambitious plans never gained traction. The throne room, and by extension Celestia, was the most closely guarded part of the castle. Then, on the twelfth day, a miracle occurred. Six ponies, just six, breached the castle and freed Celestia of Nightmare Moon’s curse. She used her powers to disarm the guards harmlessly and allow us to escape. Many of us went to rejoice, but she insisted we get to safety as quickly as possible. She didn’t seem to be in the mood for rejoicing herself, and we could tell she was barely holding back tears. Our elation was short lived, as mere moments after I left the castle Nightmare Moon returned. I mentally prepared myself for the possibility of Celestia being defeated again, but this did not come to pass. Celestia wielded the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon and used them to banish her to the moon, ending the nightmare for good. We celebrated. Of course we did, the sun was finally coming back up. You had legionaries making last stands, politicians trying to make a name for themselves, and rushes to aid the injured. None of us could fathom the torment Celestia herself was going through. Though at the moment, we celebrated. “Isn’t history fascinating? All these different perspectives, all these different accounts, and it’s our job to figure out who’s right! Anyway, back to Jade. That'll finish this section off.” Extracts from “The True History of the Foundation of Equestria” by Jade Lustre. I attempted to hold firm, but the forces under my command were so dramatically demoralised by Nightmare Moon’s banishment that we were bleeding ponypower to desertion and subpar performance in battle. In one battle, defending the town of Hayfield where once we freed the ponies of Opaline’s tyranny, nearly a third of the total ponies under my command were lost. After this defeat, the Celestials sent a messenger to my camp who told us they were offering the possibility for us to surrender. Their terms were that all our forces stand down and cease fighting, all soldiers under my command would be given amnesty and I alone would be punished for my act of rebellion. Many other commanders had received similar offers, and most accepted. Seeing no other way, I surrendered. Many couldn’t take the defeat. A total of six legions fled to the coasts of the southeast, gathered as many seaworthy vessels as they could, and made their way to the high seas in search of new lands to conquer. These were the Firstborn legion, the Nightmare Legion, The Ursa Legion, the Silver Moons legion, the Starborn legion, and the Children of the Moon legion. They said they hoped to found a new state, named either New Tzinacatlia or Chiropterra. I can only assume they died at sea, for there is no possible way that they made it across the ocean to whatever lands await. Perhaps this was the point, charading an expedition to lands beyond as a form of elaborate mass suicide. I was put on trial, Celestia herself the judge. As I understood it, my crime was standing up for my tribe, for upholding the truth of the Unification Wars, and rebelling against Celestia and her lies. Knowing this, I made no attempt to claim innocence or apologise. I could see the bubbling anger beneath Celestia’s calm facade as I entered my plea. To my luck, however, at the conclusion of the trial I was given a largely lenient sentence of five years imprisonment. I will spare the details regarding my imprisonment, as it was uneventful. Years have passed since my release, even more years since the events I described. I am now an old mare, and I have little choice but to live with our collective failure. Once I complete this manuscript, I will distribute it to as many sympathetic mage-scribes who are willing to preserve the knowledge within.