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// Chapter 22: Götterdämmerung - Twilight of the Gods, Clash of the Celestial Sisters 
// Story: Equestria: A History Revealed 
// by Hoofry_Poneigher 
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	The Battle of Canterlot had more significance than one would think, not just in history in general and turning the tide of war into Celestia’s favor, but in affecting the west as well. Luna’s success in Canterlot was supposed to be a shining beacon of her power; she had put all of her eggs into one basket, and counted on the battle’s success to wipe out Celestia’s forces for good. But leave it to Celestia to mess up her plans, as she just shit directly into the basket.

For Luna was controlling knowledge in such a way that would even make her sister proud, if it wasn’t for the fact that, y’know, they were in the middle of fighting a civil war with each other. Luna knew of her sister’s return, and successfully was able to keep the knowledge of this a secret to most of the populace in Central and Western Equestria. As she had exerted the most control over these regions, it was not difficult to accomplish her control over communication, and the Solar Restoration remained little more than a rumor, albeit one that was strongly believed by many.

But with her defeat at the Battle of Canterlot and the return of the sun, shining from the “heart of Equestria” and spreading across the land, everypony in Equestria knew of what had just transpired. Their “true” princess had returned and was fighting to save them.[212]

Before, the majority of the pegasi military were disbanded, and were forced not to intervene by the strong Nightmare force occupations in their major cities. Thanks to their vicious reinforcements, the strict curfew set up by these dark forces, and after months of no word of Celestia’s return (during the time when she was still gallivanting in the Griffon Republic), they began to lose hope.

Of course, Luna, in all her strategic intellect, knew of this, and while the flames of hope were not completely extinguished, she knew the chances of an armed pegasi uprising was excessively low. With this in mind, at the height of the depression sweeping the pegasi cities, she was able to send most of the forces defending the west to assist in her trap to ensnare Celestia at Canterlot. It was not as though she was as foolish as to send all of her forces away to Canterlot, there was still a strong number patrolling the pegasi cities, at least far more than there were initially in the East.[213]

In retrospect, knowing the resolution of the Battle of Canterlot, weakening her occupying forces in the major Western cities was kind of foolish. But hindsight is 20/20. Luna’s reasoning was probably that if you’re gonna go all in, you gotta go all in. And she thought victory was ensured at Canterlot, and that because the pegasi had no hope, they would not raise any huge problems. She had believed that once the battle was over, and the ensured victory at Canterlot was achieved, her forces could return to occupy the major cities, and she could begin her plans for a post-Celestia Equestria.

But the opposite had happened. The battle was won, but for Celestia’s forces, and the sun began to shine once more.

This spelt trouble for her regime. The pegasi knew that Celestia had returned, and that she was surely coming, given her current location in Central Equestria. It would only be a matter of time before Celestia’s forces returned to free them as well.

With this knowledge in mind, the pegasi began to rise up in revolt, the flaming fervor of hope igniting the city in revolution. Given that most of the Nightmare forces were defeated and routed at Canterlot, the strong numbered, yet scattered remnants of the pegasi military far outnumbered the Nightmare forces remaining in the west. As such, the pegasi were able to begin their revolt with little hindrance.[214]

At this point, Classical history had said Luna, knowing the war was lost at that pivotal moment in Canterlot, began to go insane. Luna’s insanity could be seen as soon as she started speaking in even more arrogant terms, with the number of evil laughs she would perform per day increasing from estimates of 2-3 to 17-18.[215] Sources state that she began to loudly proclaim (at least more than usual) that all of the atrocities that were committed during the war were necessary for her divine right to rule, as if she was attempting to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. Lunar apologists argued that this insanity stemmed from the inner good still inside Luna beginning to appeal to her senses, creating cognitive dissonance. The fight between good and evil in her heart reignited at this moment, and her mind was paying the emotional toll.[216]

Of course, while it seemed that the war was won for Celestia, not all was entirely lost for Luna. There were still a few Nightmare divisions scattered across Equestria, and the surviving forces from the Battle of Canterlot, while routed, tired and defeated, could still fight.[217] It would be a last shot of desperation, but it was one that Luna would surely take. Knowing that Celestia would come for her in the Royal Castle, she would gather as many of the remaining Nightmare forces as she could to defend herself and vanquish Celestia’s forces once and for all, at one last battle near the fields of the Everfree forest.

Luna still saw the war as practically lost at this point, as Celestia and her armies, now reinforced with more and more ponies with her conquering of the remaining unicorn cities, continued to streamline across Equestria towards the castle. And the pegasi forces had revolted against her, recaptured key strategic areas in the west, and had their own forces fly east to reinforce Celestia.[218] Celestia from the east, the pegasi from the west; Luna knew that any further attempts at continuing on the war would only fulfill the age long premonition of her Unicornian predecessors. A war fought on two fronts, one that she could not hope to win.

So instead of fighting a lost cause and continuing to spread her forces in cities she knew she could not hold for much longer, she summoned all her forces at the castle, the one last heavily fortified position in which she held. Truly she held a shrewd, strategic mind, and was the most intelligent, and might I add, greatest, of all the alicorns.

But the gathering of all of her remaining forces for one last fight was not one to turn the tides of battle, but of one last hurrah. She knew that while the pegasi forces were coming, it would still be a while before the strong, yet surely exhausted pegasi forces were able to reach Celestia in time, which may have played a role in her decision not to flee west, but to stay in the castle, according to traditionalist scholars.[219] She instead focused all her efforts on the incoming eastern forces; her goal, to defeat as many of Celestia’s and the pegasi militaries’ forces as possible in the fields, and to claim the life of her sister in the process.

Most popular historians claim this as an act of anger and desperation, to take down as many ponies with her in her spiralling defeat as she could, instead of knowing when she had lost and surrendering gracefully. But I see it as Luna staying brave and strong-willed (unlike a few other alicorns I know), continuing to fight in her last stand; to take down the evils of Celestia down with her in one final confrontation. For she knew that even if she was defeated, if Celestia was killed as well, no pony alive (at least, for all the higher levelled unicorns did not yet know how to rise celestial objects, despite having the potential to do so) would be able to raise the sun again, causing her moon to remain in the sky for millennia to come. And she surely counted on the fact that with Celestia’s fall, a better ruler (better in this case, is an auxiliary adjective. Literally anypony could be a better ruler than Celestia) would rise to rule instead.

It’s at this point when some of you may be asking why I choose to continue to support Luna after what she did to Equestria, and why I continue to scorn Celestia. After all, while Luna had only a handful of anarchist earth pony supporters, Celestia “supposedly” had all of the rest of the remaining earth ponies fighting for her, in numbers that far exceeded Luna’s earth pony supporter numbers, at least in accordance to the words of primary sources.[220] “If so many earth ponies were willing to support Celestia, wouldn’t you turn to Celestia’s side too?”

Well, first of all, never speak to me in that demeaning tone of voice again. This is my time to talk. IT’S LOOSE CHANGE O’CLOCK. And to answer your idiot question, that’s because I’d rather shove forks into my eyes before I speak a word of praise or support for Celestia. After what she did to me. After what she did to my dreams. I’m gonna need another drink to wash away the sad.

I probably sound like a broken record by now, but every word from those sources are lies and fabrications. Despite obvious and popular consensus. Celestia is EVILLLLLL I tell you! You just gotta believe me on this one.

And besides, so what if she does (assuming if those sources are telling the truth) have a few earth ponies fighting for her (again, something I heavily doubt, for as I said, us earth ponies’re too smart to fall for her tricks). Have you heard of the “One True Scotspony” way of thinking? I strongly prescribe it. Ask your doctor if it’s right for you today. And if he says that’s just a popular fallacy, pop him in the nose and loudly yell he’s a lying quack. And just keep yelling, despite any attempts from the staff to calm you down. Brandish his scapula and hastily yell the alphabet backwards if you must. That’s what I did and I turned out fine. Once treated for the multiple bruises I sustained when hospital security tackled me down. Police brutality at its finest, a courtesy that I can obviously thank Celestia for. And I think with that little anecdote (among many others) you can see why I clearly can’t support Celestia. And also why I don’t go to hospital therapy anymore.

So in conclusion, I’ll continue to support Luna’s stint as Nightmare Moon to my dying day, no matter what “facts” and “sources” are thrown at me. It’s all I’ve got.

Celestia’s forces marched to confront Luna at the castle, and were met with the remnants of the Nightmare armies on the fields near Everfree. Unicorn academia already named the battle before it even begun (typical, arrogant unicorn scum, impatient to bask in Celestia’s glory); the Battle of the Everfree fields. As seen by this, while the unicorn academia were pretty obnoxious, they were certainly not creative.

The Nightmare, though weakened, were still strong in number. Their forces, at least numerically, were still extremely large compared to most other strong armies (see: the Equinus forces), with perhaps Celestia having a few hundred more soldiers. Of course, one must consider that the Nightmare forces were now in the disadvantageous position. Most of their forces were weakened by their defeat in the Battle of Canterlot that had occurred only a few days prior. Many were tired and had just arrived from the west as reinforcements, and most of all, nearly all of the Nightmare forces knew that this battle was little more than a formality of revenge; they had already lost, which was probably killer for their morale.[221] Celestia on the other hand, had the clear advantage in front of her. Her armies were pumped for the final battle, knowing that the Nightmare army in front of them were all that stood between eternal darkness, and victory and peace. So obviously, though some were still tired from such a demanding march from Canterlot to the Royal Castle, their morale could not have been higher, and they were prepared to triumph.[222]

But Luna had a few last tricks up her sleeve. Taking example from the glorious Discord, she made hasty negotiations with a few of the monster forces, who had good reason to despise Celestia, as she unfairly ended their fun of raiding pony towns. How did Celestia do it again? Monster STI’s or something? Whatever. With their agreement of supporting Luna in this final battle, many monsters were prepared to ambush the forces in the Everfree forest surrounding the field, to provide that extra push needed to defeat as many of the Solar forces as possible. Another demonstration of Luna’s keen, strategic mind; using her surroundings to her advantage.

So the so-titled, Battle of the Everfree Fields began. I’ll spare you the boredom of having to read more pages of a long-ass source. It’s hard work copying properly paraphrasing their words you know, and I don’t think it would accomplish much to hear the ramblings of a pony long dead, give or take a thousand years, and his experiences of battle.

The Nightmare forces fought valiantly (bless their hearts. Or bless something; they didn’t have hearts after all. But it’s the thought that counts really), but were indeed suffering from the aforementioned disadvantages they faced. Even as Celestia led her stupid hax clone troops into battle, curiously, Luna was nowhere to be seen.[223] Perhaps she didn’t want to risk early defeat, after all, if she appeared on the battlefield, she would be an open target for their entirety of the Celestial forces, and more importantly, she would have to confront her sister. So Luna once again stayed hidden in the shadows. Whether this was a smart move on her part is something historians still argue to this day, as while it was a good move to avoid battle, on the other hand, her presence there, like in the Battle of Canterlot, could have turned the tide of battle around.

But it was most definitely smart. Because Luna, by default, is always smarter than Celestia.

The battle continued on those wide fields, and each side threw all they had at each other. Dark and brightly colored bolts of magic streaked across the battlefield, as if an eternal rally, not ceasing for a moment.[224] It of course may seem strange now, but once the Everfree was not as large as it was today. There were multitudes of trees, sure, giving many a place for a monster to lurk, but this field in particular was much like a wide forest clearing, a perfect place for a final confrontation. A big open field, with more than enough space for two such mighty armies to clash, but with heavy forestry lining its perimeter.[225] Of course, if you were to try to find the monumental spot where this battle was fought, you probably wouldn’t be able to. The Everfree forest, with its dark magic, had continuously expanded for the last hundreds of years, and as such, no such clearing exists. Only more and more trees and magical plant life had taken its place.[226]

I bring this up now in order to return to Luna’s last monster ploy. Celestia’s army was slowly but surely turning the tides of battle, and it would only be a matter of time before they completely overwhelmed the Nightmare for good. The monsters lurking in the forest perimeter, were not large in number, but rather in size. Forces made up of creatures such as manticores, giant cockatrices, and non-sassy sea serpents, who apparently could travel on land; their sheer mass alone could prove to be the trump that the Nightmare forces needed.[227] One might even wonder how they were able to hide themselves in the forest so well with regards to their size, but imma just gonna chalk that up to Luna’s magickz.

And so it happened. At the closest moment for Celestia, almost clutching victory in her hooves, the monsters appeared as if from nowhere and enclosed the solar forces, taking them by surprise.[228] Including the remnants of the Nightmare forces, it seemed as though Celestia’s army was fully encircled, surrounding by all sides. Celestia probably could have done something to defend them, at least that’s what traditionalist historians say,[229] but it would have been excessively taxing on the princess, who, while leading her army into battle, needed to keep the conversation of her power in mind, for her eventual final confrontation with Luna.

Being slowly and slowly driven into the center of the field by Luna’s forces, it seemed as though while the battle was obviously not yet lost, Luna had dealt a massive blow in strategy to Celestia.

Or at least it would have. Or it at least it SHOULD HAVE. Goddddd…DAMNIT CELESTIA! You had to have been cheating again, I just know it!

For at that pivotal moment, in what historians cite as the “Miracle in the Everfree”,[230] the pegasi forces of the west arrived to reinforce them. Luna had predicted (correctly, as I should add) that it would at least be a couple more days before the pegasi forces could arrive. But SOMEHOWWW they arrived not only on time, but with perfect timing. Wouldn’t it have been nice if they arrived once Celestia’s forces already lied beaten on the ground? That’d make for an interesting factoid in history. Or at least it’d make for one heckova of plot twist in this story we call Equestrian history.

But no. History attributes their arrival as their strong will and desire to help out their princess in her time of need, as if to apologize for their own failures and inaction in the west.[231] After all, pegasi were known for their speed, and it did make sense that they would have the drive to rush to reinforce Celestia as fast as they could. But I still call bullshit. It’s too convenient. And if there’s one thing I hate (among many other things), it’s convenience. It just stinks of conspiracy. Which is why I’ve been eying that new 7-Eleven that opened up in Canterlot. What foul secrets do you hide, with your polished white floors and dispenser of ice and colored syrup?

 So the pegasi, arriving in heavy numbers, representing the remnants of Celestia’s once proud military, struck like a cannon, clearing a large path between the monsters and Celestia’s forces, with their advantages in the air. While Nightmare forces did utilize a few aerial tactics during the Battle of Everfree Fields, most had remembered their utter defeat by the unicorn/earth pony archers anti-air forces, and remained relatively close to the ground.[232] So it was now the Equestrian forces turn to take the Nightmare by surprise, especially the monsters, who were ill-equipped at attacking foes in the air, especially those with such speed. It was probably as difficult as swatting a fly. A fly armed to the teeth with crossbows and spears of their own.

Breaking free of the surrounded perimeter of monsters attempting to enclose them, the Celestial forces united with the newly arrived pegasi, increasing their forces at least by 45%.[233] The pegasi forces were of course, tired from their long flight over, but on the other hand, so were the Nightmare forces. All Celestia needed now were strong numbers, united in will and spirit to defeat the remnants of Luna’s armies, and now she had that. So earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi were all united as one fighting force, attacking the Nightmare and monster armies in one final clash. Some of the Nightmare forces, in desperation, possessed the body of a few of the more intimidating monsters (yeah, apparently they can do that now, who knew?), doubling their strength and rage, giving them a more devastating body to take control of. But against such heavy numbers and (supposed) unity of the races (something, I again, heavily question, but I’ll just roll with it for now) they provided to be little more than a short-lived obstacle.

After a few hours more, the remaining monsters routed back into the forests, bruised and beaten, and the surviving Nightmare forces turned to follow. The battle had been won.[234]

Celestia rose the sun once more upon the battle’s conclusion as a sign of their victory. But there was still one more thing that needed to be done. Celestia knew it to be true. And she insisted, in accordance with her promise, that she would face Luna alone. While most of the generals saw this to be a bad idea, they knew they could not change Celestia’s mind. And after all, if Celestia did intend to turn Luna back onto the side of good (something that one would obviously doubt, but sisterly love blah blah blah whatever), marching into the castle with the entirety of her army would not be taken as an act of good will. This was something she insisted, and intended, to do by herself.[235]

So Celestia went alone. She told her army to rest in the forest, and no matter what, not to follow. She told her generals not to fear if the sun would be blotted out by the moon again while she was gone, as she predicted Luna would do something like that during their confrontation. But if the sun did not rise once more within an hour’s time, they would then know that she had failed.[236]

Celestia went, well rested, probably taking a brief nap after the battle (as most of her forces did, the battle took half a day to complete at least). She removed her armor, her battle decorations, and flew to the palace, a spitting image of her normal appearance.[237]

On Luna’s end, at the moment before Celestia arrived to confront her sister, Luna’s emotions were waging a heavy battle inside her heart. She (apparently, according to Celestia’s “history”) had desperately wanted to become good again, to take back everything she had done. Inside her mind was still a “lonely and scared pony princess of the night, who just wanted to hug her sister again and have her say that everything would be alright”.[238] While Celestia had stated before that she would have “forgiven her sister immediately, and take the weight of her sins as well (as she surely would have to, for the Equestrian public would not be so forgiving for Luna’s actions), doing anything possible to help Luna return to the days of good and happiness (good and happiness of course being a stretch, this was the First Polonium Age we were talking about), Luna didn’t know this. She perhaps thought that after everything she had done, there was no way she could turn back. She would have to complete her road to destruction.

But her emotions still were raging strong. A smart part of her was surely fighting to return her to the light (tsk, evidence of Celestia’s poison. If your heart wants to stay as the good Nightmare Moon, you should listen to it. Don’t let Celestia tempt you away from your great destiny), but the other parts, made up of anger and fear urged her to give in. And this fight did not go unnoticed by the retreating Nightmare forces. Some of the ones who still held the most strength saw this to be a perfect moment to take advantage of her. They were weak, and retreating back to the darkness in which they had lurked before, but perhaps in their own anger over Luna’s failed promises, they had sought to receive a toll. Her pure alicorn power.

The Nightmare forces were smart; while they held individual selves, they could also think as one. They did not want to leave, their tails between their legs (at least if they had tails) in defeat. If they could take a small prize, in this case, Luna’s free will and power, then they could convince themselves that their tremendous sacrifices were not in vain. And with such a prize, one day, they could rise and defeat Celestia again, permanently. So in an attempt to forever vanquish the good, and to strengthen the dark in Luna’s heart, turning her over to their side as their permanent queen, they completed Luna’s union with the darkness. And it was at this moment, in which her appearance, changed drastically to become more “villain-like”, for lack of a better adjective. She had gained even more power, under the Nightmare’s possession and by embracing the darkness in her heart, and it was this appearance that her formerly self-given name, Nightmare Moon, is most recognized for. She had given herself that name much prior to this, but at this moment, she was unquestioningly, irrevocably, Nightmare Moon in all her glory.[239] And damn if it wasn’t beautiful. I wish I coulda been there. I’m pure for Larry, but I’m sure if I saw her at that moment, I’d be getting a little frisky if you know what I mean.[240]

Celestia bared witness to her sister’s final transformation. Before, knowing of the “good” still in her heart (how she felt it, iunno, the “force”?), she thought that with her arrival, she could help Luna win her inner struggle of light and darkness. But with this ultimate transformation, and the ultimate eclipse that came with it, she knew that any last hopes of redeeming her sister had vanished into the night sky. Celestia knew that no more words could be spoken to get through to her sister. Now was the time for battle.[241]

It all came down to this. The climactic clash between the two princesses. Ravaging emotions, love against hate, sister against sister. What the last couple of chapters had been hyping up, what the Civil War itself was building up towards. The final confrontation. With the eyes of Equestria, as well as the ever watchful gaze of history upon the two, and everything building up towards it, surely it must have been a battle to end all battles. But of course, reality lets us down again, ‘cuz it only lasted for three minutes.[242] Not counting the minute in which Celestia just laid on the ground defeated as Nightmare Moon laughed loudly in the night sky.

Sure their struggle caused the abject destruction of the Royal Castle. If I were an English teacher, I would overanalyze and say that its destruction symbolized the complete annihilation of the childhood bond between the two sisters; how their past love for one another was destroyed by evil and jealousy. But I would never overanalyze like that. And I never will. I don’t rely on overanalysis, I rely on pure, Brita filtered normal analysis. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Move along, move along.[243]

According to history, Celestia was holding back. For while Nightmare Moon’s love for her sister was totally gone, it did not mean Celestia’s was. And it was this continued love for her sister that caused her to stay on the defensive in an attempt not to hurt Luna, which allowed her to be beaten back by Nightmare Moon’s raw power.[244]

Yeah, sure. Whatever. And your dog ate your homework too, huh?

Anyways, as Nightmare Moon celebrated her victory, by giving a minute long maniacal laugh for no pony in particular, Celestia had one last ace in the hole. The ace that would win the war. The ace that changed history before, and would do it once more. The ace…of spades. I mean the Elements.

With that, Celestia knew to use the Elements to defeat her sister; it was the only power she had left that could win against Nightmare Moon.

It was not as though Luna was too stupid to know to hide them, although, I will say in the only critique I have against her; she could’ve at least gone the extra mile to hide them in a more secretive place. But it seems as though that’s a common problem for “villains” of Equestria, if Sombra and the Crystal Heart are to be considered as well.

Buttt…it’s not as though their admittedly terrible hiding spots were completely stupid (notice I do say completely); they had good reason to believe no pony could ever get the chance to wield them. In Sombra’s case, he did not think any Crystal Pony would be free enough to reach the top of his tower, especially as this was during his hard-on for stairs, placing stories of them spiralling into the sky.[245] And for Nightmare Moon, it was just that she did not think Celestia could wield them all. After all, sealing Discord was a two-pony job. But Celestia, of course, seems to keep secrets from everypony, even her most trusted of family. For as she continued to rule over Equestria, her dark power grew stronger and stronger, until she could most definitely wield all six of the Elements on her own, secretly.

This then brings up the question, how did Celestia find them so fast? Even though they were like, barely hidden, locating them should have at least taken some time. Well, I’ll answer this real quick. Celestia, as the eternal dark mother, constantly emits dark magical energy that no pony can touch, feel, sense, or see, and as such, is completely unfalsifiable (a sign of legitimacy in my eyes), and would attract such instruments of dark power to her very twisted essence; leaving the task of finding them and releasing them to be a cinch.

I’ve already covered in Chapter 10 the reasoning behind Luna’s sealing into the moon, but let’s cover some of Celestia’s blatant lies covering this up. Supposedly, as the Elements represent “friendship” (friendship of my ass more like it), her “love” for her sister allowed her to seal Nightmare Moon peacefully into the moon, removing her as a threat to Equestria and to herself.[246]

But let’s examine this now. I’d hardly say that during such a difficult moment for Celestia (even though she’s probably soulless, I’m sure that even such a heartbreaking action would give her reason to pause) that she would be in any kind of friendshippy mood at the time. If anything, she was destroying friendship by forcefully banishing her longest friend and family member to the moon, so how in the wide, wide world of Equestria could the Elements have this power? Obviously, it couldn’t be friendship, which acts as further evidence that my dark magic Elements claim is not only legit, it’s leegit. Truly I am the smartest, sexiest, and most powerfullesst pony of all time! How could Larry not love me, amirite?

And with the end of that, Celestia raised the sun once more, signalling her victory. Her forces in the Everfree rejoiced, the free ponies across Equestria celebrated, and Celestia returned with a triumphant appearance. But inside, Celestia was sunk in defeat, and an aching pain would remain in her heart for the next thousand years. She would never cry again in front of anypony, as now was the moment of victory, but she surely cried on the inside.[247]

Supposedly, some had speculated that she wanted to make Equestria shine (and as I had recounted in Chapter 9), she wanted to make a land where she and her sister could live in peace. All of her actions, everything she did, she did it out of her love for her sister. In the last few years, she had forgotten about this, and placed other matters before her, but now, in those last moments, she only realized the truth once it was too late. And now her sister was gone, to be sealed for a thousand years in that eyesore we call a moon, and a dulling pain replaced her in her heart. A pain that would define generations, ending the Civil War era, and bring in a new age.[248]

I hope you had as much fun recounting Celestia’s greatest failure as I did. It was a rockin’ rollercoaster, with twists and turns (especially once Celestia began conveniently winning), and I threw up while on it more than once (due to my weeklong hangover after that crazy party), but let me just say, at least it ends on a happy note. At least for me.

There’s still some stuff I gotta wrap up before I can completely “close the book”, so to speak, on the Equestrian Civil War. Tie up a few more loose ends, laugh at Celestia’s failures and sorrow, you know the drill. So let’s get to it.