//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19: The Coming Storm – The New Lunar Order 
// Story: Equestria: A History Revealed 
// by Hoofry_Poneigher 
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	Luna’s brief stint as ruler of Equestria was one that would have catastrophic results. Not because she was a terrible ruler (well, like her sister, she was, but that’s neither here nor there), but rather, her agenda of leadership had drastically shifted from one of love and tolerance into one where she sought after revenge against her sister against all else, as well as one where she would claim all of Equestria as her own. As such, one can obviously see that Equestria under Luna at this time would be fraught with darkness. The brief period in which Luna had ruled was truly a tumultuous time, and with Luna’s actions as the reigning monarch, ensured that another war would encompass Equestria once more.

While you might think that I prefer Luna because of the lack of blind Luna bashing throughout my essay (in comparison to Celestia) and the fact I seemed somewhat sympathetic to her plight in the previous chapters, I’d like to eliminate that very idea from your head right now. I didn’t hate on her because I liked her more; I didn’t hate on her because I forgot about her. In truth, both of the alicorns are pretty awful. Look at them with their wings, their elongated horns, and their four legs. Where’s the earth pony part of them, huh? Are you telling me that they have a slightly smaller brain too?[134] Because otherwise I call discrimination here.

Luna obviously knew that eventually Celestia would learn of what she had done, and return to Equestria to retake the throne, and as such, Luna had to make many preparations. While she indeed had methods to keep the lie with her sister going (as shall be addressed in this chapter), she knew such efforts would only have temporary results, and as such, she would have to work quickly to prepare for a war that she knew was coming. Clearly, Luna had a lot ahead of her. The entire country was pro-Celestia at the time, while her own popularity was at an all-time low. If Luna wished to rule Equestria for all of eternity like she intended to and prepare Equestria for a war with its own loving princess, she would need to recreate some of the basic tenants of Equestria from the ground-up. Known in history as the “New Lunar Order”, with its success, it would change the former Celestial system into one of her own liking.

But don’t think I’m taking any sides in this war. I really couldn’t care less for the bickering of two overgrown unicorn sisters, even if this bickering would ignite Equestria into the worst war it had ever seen. Instead of rooting for any of the sisters, I shall choose to take the high ground. Not by taking an objective stance like a noble pony would do, but by dissing both of them whenever I have the chance.

There were many things Luna needed to accomplish to ensure her eternal rule, and the success of this “New Lunar Order”. Simplified into a few words, the main goals she possessed were to; hold complete and utter military control over the nation, shatter all semblances of hope, completely destroy the basis of the Celestial system, and, just as a personal and spiteful goal, maintain an eternal night, probably as a symbolic middle finger[135] to Celestia.

Luna wasted no time in fulfilling this, as she knew that every lost minute of time could be used against her once Celestia made her return. Unlike with Equestria’s previous ruler, Discord, and his rise to power, she acted quickly, without subtlety or restraint. After all, she was already hated by a majority of the population, and she saw no point in attempting to win back their respect.

While Luna made no public announcements of her intentions (yet), her aggressive political actions already caused many to pause and take note. Her alteration of her royal title from “Crown Princess Regent Luna” to “True Princess of the Night, Terror of the Sun, Nightmare Moon”,[136] certainly raised a few eyebrows, but most attributed this to a goth phase she was going through.[137] As Equestria’s temporary (although soon to be permanent, at least in her eyes) ruler, she demanded that the Equestrian military serve “her and only her,” so long as she was the dominant princess of the nation.[138] Most of course took her words with cautious disbelief, but with her forceful addendum to military law,[139] the majority had no choice.

Of course, she knew that she had in no way ensured their loyalty. In fact, as soon as Celestia returned, there was no chance that the Equestrian military would stand against her, law or not. This was more of a formality than anything. Luna obviously had to take much more drastic actions to consolidate her strength.

It is here where the Nightmare forces come into play. An ancient, twisted group whose presence that may have even predated pony existence, the Nightmare forces were only a subset of a far deeper evil that lurked in the pre-history of Equestria. But no matter what, they couldn’t be more evil then Celestia, who had the gall to lie to a few historians. Truly she is the absolute epitome of evil.

Anyways, a mistake many amateur historians who discuss the fall of Princess Luna often make is in assuming the Nightmare forces were the ones behind Luna’s turn to evil. Of course, this is simply not true. In another rare moment in history, it seems that I agree with the words of traditionalist history, for it is common consensus that Luna fell solely due to the darkness in her own heart. Of course, this is not to say that the Nightmare forces had no impact on the event; obviously their very presence wasn’t going to do Luna any favors on the whole “return to goodness” part. In fact, it is with unnerving certainty that I can say that they definitely quickened the whole “turning evil” process and made it more difficult for her to be redeemed. But it important to note that it is well documented in history that Luna sought after the Nightmare forces first. I find it absolutely fascinating that such things such as sources and historical facts can be true sometimes, given that they match my opinion. But I suppose even a stopped clock can be right twice a day.

Luna needed their power and support to strengthen her claim to the dark throne of Equestria. The Nightmare forces certainly could offer this in spades, with numbers that could give even the oversized Equestrian military a run for their money.[140] The Nightmare forces would not bow to anypony who would just waltz into their lair of course, but they must have noticed the darkness in Luna’s heart. As a potential source of dark energy they could feed off of while simultaneously strengthening Luna’s dark magical ability, they certainly saw a symbiotic relationship. And Luna’s promises of restoring the ancient forces into a dominant position in Equestria under her leadership was surely just the icing on the cake.[141]

Now armed with a dark and sinister power far greater than one that Celestia could fathom (ignoring the Elements of course, their evil power would forever be unmatched), Luna finally had the brunt force required to take what she wanted. But the continued disloyalty of the Equestrian military and general populace could prove to be a threat to her success in the upcoming war, especially as they were still powerful in their own right and unlikely to be swayed by fear. Luna would have to severely weaken them, and crush their resolve to eliminate them as a variable.

Her need for support from the inside was met by an excessively small minority. While I previously said that Celestia’s propaganda was at a high point during this era and she had subjugated many ponies into her twisted line of thought, there were some ponies who were able to resist. While the majority of the ponies celebrated their seeming victory in the Crystal War, there were a few whispers in the dark regarding the cost of victory. With rumors and truths starting to make their way to the ears of a cautious few, groups of ponies secretly doubting Celestia began to form. It was an eventuality of all authoritarian reigns, despite Celestia’s best efforts to control thought and knowledge, it was here where certain ponies began to place doubts in their minds. New ideas began sprouting up in secret, mostly among the pegasi and earth pony populations (as the unicorns still stood in the upper social tier and would therefore have little interest in rebellion). As I covered before, racial issues would continue to spell trouble for Celestia, a fact she seemed to overlook when purposely creating such a system. And with earth ponies historically continuing to get the small side of the stick, and pegasi not forgetting the sacrifices made in the Crystal War, it would be clear that with its conclusion, the seeds of suspicion would begin the sprout among ponies smart enough to see past her lies. If anything, it was impressive Celestia was able to delay such thought for as long as she did, but I suppose one could just attribute that to the strengths of her propaganda machine.

New, revolutionary ideas began to silently grow into the minds of a few, and eventually, groups began to form. Of course, despite this seeming surge of revolution, it really couldn’t be called a surge at all. They were really most likely a select few intellectuals (as most others were blinded by lies), whose members could not have been more than ten.[142] I suppose you have to start from somewhere.

But these groups did not always share the same agenda. Some clung on to the idea of republicanism, some to a military dominated dictatorship, and some even to the idea of no government at all. So obviously it would be difficult for them to see eye to eye. But they shared one common trait; they were created through a shared desire to watch the old system burn.

The point I was trying to make with this was that Luna saw this as the method to turn Equestrian citizens against each other. For she had spies of her own as well. Probably not as well hidden as she had hoped, as they mainly consisted of the few bat-ponies who were loyal to her alone, and due to their rarity, were pretty easy to spot. But nonetheless, she knew of the small and divided resistance, and saw them as the best method to rack up more support. While the Nightmare forces were already more than enough to sustain the Civil War she desired, her desire for the support of the resistance groups was more to weaken Celestia’s cause. For she knew that many of them had valid points against Celestia, and, if given the right push, could possibly recruit many more to her side.

So she met in secret with the anarchist, republican restoration groups, fascist, and newly founded communist groups, an idea created during the Classical Era by earth pony, Kutie Marx.[143] How she thought she could meet all of their aims, I have no idea. Unless she intended to create an anarchist communist republic of dictatorships, her idea to gain more support was in reality quite stupid. But again, alicorn. It gets pretty self-explanatory at this point.

She then appealed to a select few of the military again. Knowing that certain pegasi had sympathies with the resistance groups, especially those at the forefront of some of the more devastating battles in the Arctic campaigns, and the fact that a few high ranking generals sought greater power than what Celestia provided to them, Luna attempted to win over the support of the Equestrian military. Of course, while the bulk of the forces remained loyal to Celestia, the simple act of turning some of the more corruptible ones to her side would be enough to create factions and split Celestia’s potential military might. Two pegasi generals, and four colonels[144] were swayed to the Luna’s side, the highest ranking of which was the de-facto leader of the divided corps, Commander General Thunderhide.[145]

Providing the rest of the military with a royal ultimatum in 1003, Luna decreed that, 



“ALL MEMBERS OF THE UNITED ROYAL INDOMITABLE NATIONAL EQUESTRIAN FORCES WHO REFUSE TO OBEY MY SUPREME RULE WILL BE PUNISHED UNDER SUPREME PENALTY OF LAW. FROM HENCEFORTH, THE REMAINING EQUESTRIAN MILITARY SHALL BE ASSIMILATED INTO SUBSERVIENCE AS THE ‘LUNAR FORCES OF THE ECLIPSE’. KNEEL BEFORE YOUR NEW RULER YOU WORTHLESS PEONS! [evil laugh]”[146]



It certainly was a shocking statement. Immediate fear began to set back into the minds of the ponies; Luna had truly lost her mind. Many of the remaining loyal members of the military refused to comply, and according to rumor, were dishonorably discharged (their heads from their bodies).[147] Whether or not that was actually the case was questionable, Luna was no mad dog killer, she just wanted what she felt was in her birthright. Which, of course, was built upon lies. She had simply turned into a power hungry tyrant blinded by the very lies that she had helped fabricate. So in essence, she was really just Celestia Part II. But she was different ‘cuz she was dark and edgy. And nopony understood her.



“Crawling in my skin, these wounds they will not heal.”[148]



With the bulk of the Equestrian military now forcefully dissolved, it was still clear that they could prove to be problematic later on, with rumors of a possible coup d’état (oh god, did I just use that filthy griffon tongue in my essay?). Luna would have to eliminate their resolve, which she did by starting occupations by the Nightmare forces on select strategic locations. For not only did she need to show off her military might, but she needed to set up defensive positions for Celestia’s eventual return.[149] The slightest utterance of rebellion would be quickly squashed by the now patrolling Nightmare forces, and strict curfews were established. A majority of the Celestia loyalist military leaders were thrown into prison, which weakened any semblances of resistance even further. And the Nightmare forces were fierce and rarely merciful. Equestrian society was now powerless against Luna’s anger. It was a time of fear that Equestria hadn’t felt since the Age of Discord. And it would only get worse.

Luna decided to use this time to launch her Eternal Night™, refusing to lower the moon to make way for the sun. As such, Equestria was continuously shrouded in darkness so long as she sat on the throne, affecting the very system and wellbeing of the nation. Balance was destroyed, and with ponies struggling to adapt to a seemingly everlasting darkness, disaster and panic began spreading across the continent like a mofo. While one might wonder how Celestia did not notice this eternal night over in the Griffon Republic. After all, the presence of the sun and the moon should affect the entire planet right? Well, as everypony knows, Equestrian astronomy doesn’t make much sense (to me), and therefore cannot be easily explained to the average pony without making their mind spin. It probably has to do with the fake monopoly Celestia and Luna held over the moon that caused the entire astrological system to be so screwed up as it is. But rest assured it all works out in a theoretical sense. Somehow. In summary, the point I’m trying to make here is that the sun and moon work differently for everywhere besides Equestria, which would explain why Celestia wasn’t alerted to the moon’s eternal presence and therefore Luna’s betrayal.

Hey, if you have a better explanation for this inconsistency, then I’m all for it. Anything? No? That’s what I thought. I mean, I totally had an explanation for this that blew the rest of the supposed “scientific facts” and “reasoning” from academic sources out of the water, but I thought of it right before I took one of those smiley face pills, and we all know the aftereffects of those, don’t we? And unfortunately, I forgot to write my brilliant theory down. So once again, another piece of history is lost in the sands of time. Somehow this is Celestia’s fault. It always is.

Luna’s attempts at securing the anti-Celestia resistance forces also would bear fruit. For while she did not get the widespread support she was hoping for, she had planted the seeds of thought into the minds of other ponies. Slowly but surely, she did gain the support of some ponies who finally saw the flaws of the Celestial system, and how they could do so much better under Luna’s reign, even if achievement of their goals would be through force. Of course, it’s not like this was a majority of the population or something, she got little more than twenty or thirty ponies to actually support her,[150] most likely due to her continued unpopularity, even more so after attempting such a dishonorable coup. But what was important here and what Luna was counting on was that even if she was defeated, now that more and more ponies saw the cracks of Celestia’s reign, the strength of Celestia’s cult of personality was now shattered, a preliminary step for a potential overthrow of the Celestial system. Celestia could never claim the same strength and power over ponies she had in the Classical era, and that would be a lasting effect that would remain throughout history.

It was really the support of the pegasi war hero, Thunderhide, famed for slaying a thousand hoard of crystal beasts without losing a single pony in his squadron,[151] saving a cartload of orphaned baby ponies trapped inside a well that was on fire singlehoofed, and his reported face that “could launch a thousand [crack]ships”,[152] that more and more ponies began to warm up to Luna even more. Tsch, typical idiots. As soon as they start to think, “Oh, if so-and-so is on her side, maybe she’s not too bad after all”, they fall into Luna’s evil ploy. For as they (and the rest of Equestria even to this day) have yet to realize, is that while Luna seemed radically different, the two alicorn sisters were really just two faces of the same shitty coin.

As the anti-Celestia resistance groups had initiated, more ponies, specifically the pegasi and earth ponies, began thinking more and more about their independence. And while they still despised Luna, they did indeed slowly look up to her as one of the only possible ways to gain the recognition they finally realized they deserved. Sheesh, those goddamn pegasi really were a bunch of complainers. “Waah, three of my children died in the war, waah, the fourth one came back with all his limbs missing.” Would you like a little cheese with that whine? Maybe a nice gorgonzola.

Wait a second. Hold the phone. I feel like I need to apologize for that extremely distasteful oversight I just made. It was extremely rude and foolish of me, and I swear on the life of that unicorn over there that I shall never be so negligent with my knowledge again.

I am of course referring to my blatant ignoring of the troubles of the earth ponies! Damn, how could I forget about them? I mean, the earth ponies had enough troubles to worry about. As a result of their curious omission from the Crystal war effort, they had to deal with most of the other insufferable unicorns who also didn’t go. And as an Earth pony living in Canterlot, I know of their plight, and I salute those brave Earth ponies for having to spend day by day not wringing each of their pretentious little necks when they talk about croquet, monocles, and croquet shaped monocles.

Wait a second. Hold the phone.[153] There were earth ponies supporting Luna too? Well, if the earth ponies supported her maybe she wasn’t so stupidly evil after all. After all, the few revolutionary earth ponies who supported Luna[154] were obviously more significant than the majority of the Equestrian population who supported Celestia at this time.[155] Yeah, maybe I’ve been looking at this the wrong way. Let’s re-examine this shall we?

The eternal night which lasted for five years forced ponies to grow other forms of sustenance, like potatoes and carrots,[156] which are much healthier alternatives to apples. After all, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? But if you keep doctors away from you when you’re sick, you’ll die! (A fact conveniently left out from the apple corporation markets of Equestria.) And the lack of sun for ten years meant a dramatic decrease in sunburns, which was good for the health and wellbeing of everypony. Of course, this was balanced out by a rise in Osteomalacia,[157] the deficiency of Vitamin D, but that word is too hard to spell, ergo, nobody really cared.

In fact, if you were to think about this through enlightened eyes, Luna did a lot of good for Equestria. By living in eternal darkness for a decade, the ponies’ eyes were forced to adapt, and therefore, they gained cool night vision. Also their pupils must have dilated in the dark, which would make everypony’s eyes even bigger than they already were, increasing our cuteness factor exponentially (or it would have, if any pony could see).

But the most significant thing she did was free Equestria from that awful Celestia. After all, if Nightmare Moon was no longer the most evil alicorn in existence, then that title goes to the remaining sister, right? Celestia could have the coin to herself, while the rest of Equestria was chillin’ with their homemare, Nightmare Moon. And I mean literally chillin’; without the sun, the temperature dropped down to frigid temperatures real soon.[158] But Nightmare Moon was just a pony keepin’ it real, she wouldn’t let things like literal verbs get her down; she was sitting on a throne made from awesomeness and guitar riffs.

Luna knew that Celestia learning of her open rebellion would almost definitely occur; her plan of concealment was not a long-term one. But she certainly was able to take steps to delay the truth for as long as she could. As soon as Celestia left in the year 1002, Luna shut down the Equestrian mail service and all forms of contact to avoid allowing Celestia’s spies the ability to contact her. She then maintained a fierce Nightmare guard (once her betrayal and seizure of power were absolutely well-known to the Equestrian public) by the seas and skies of Equestria, to avoid any ponies slipping away from her and informing the princess. And Luna learned her lessons from history; after all, if the isolationist to the extreme Crystal Empire had holes to the outside world, the vast nation-continent of Equestria would have holes too. She kept up a magical barrier as well, just in case, which would seal off any transcription spells from any Joe unicorn who had a pen and eyes that were adjusted to the dark.

Of course, Luna could not simply cut off all communication with Celestia. While she could hoofwave the shutting down of the national mail service to her sister as the effects of a general strike, she would still have to keep in touch with Celestia, for appearance’s sake. Luna unfortunately, despite of her eternal wisdom, destroyed most of her letters, while Celestia sealed her copies of the letters into a vault in which nopony could ever lay their eyes on it. Because of this, modern history does not have copies of these letters that would surely carry vast significance in understanding this era. So we’re just gonna have to rely on my historical recreations, which are 119% more accurate anyways. I can already hear the cries of adoration. Or maybe they’re just cries. Anywho, let’s get this done.

An extract of a portion of an excerpt of Celestia’s letters probably read as such,



“Dear sister, 
I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me…I was too foolish…I didn’t consider your feelings, blah blah blah, and other lovey dovey stuff.
Love,
Celestia”




While Luna’s response probably looked like this,



“I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I WANT TO SEE YOU DIE 
HATE, Love, 
NIGHTMARE MOON Luna”



Or probably something like that.

Approaching the year 1008, it seemed that Luna achieved what she set out to achieve. Now, she played the waiting game, adjusting her military forces when she saw fit, waiting for Celestia to hear of the news. But unfortunately, in one of our great princess’s greatest missteps, it seemed she had forgotten one key thing. To fully eliminate all traces of hope in Equestria. For even in the most silent of places, in the darkest (literally) of hours, there was still a belief that their true princess would return. Even despite all of Luna’s best tricks in persuading the populace to turn against their leader, her attempts at revealing Celestia’s crimes (at least the crimes she was at liberty to admit, she too was an alicorn after all), ponies everywhere still believed in their “true” leader.[159] And they were to be "rewarded" for their faith. For the official explanation for Celestia’s triumphant return was that she heard the cries of her citizens in their hearts, and as their benevolent ruler, she finally returned to stop the evil that was plaguing the nation.[160]

But I personally attribute it to the Griffon Republic’s lack of cake. There is only so long you can keep a fatty from cake, and clearly, six years was it. She just took a hiatus from her political mission in the Griffon Republic to make an impromptu visit (cake binge) to Equestria. But what a surprise she was in for.

For Celestia left ill-equipped for what she was about to face. With less than a handful of royal guards by her side[161] (I laugh at your 237 pony army comment that you made before. Who’s too small now, huh? Who’s too small now?), she now faced a challenge far greater than she ever faced before. To retake a nation, who had five years to prepare for her return, armed to the teeth with an army whose power and sheer size was incalculable, neigh, incomprehensible. And most of all, she faced the challenge of fighting her sister.

Before she even knew it, as soon as she stepped on that ship destined for Equestria, the Equestrian Civil War had begun. And ooh mama is it gonna be fun (for me at least).