Anno Equestria: A Brief History of the Pony Nation

by Insert Pen Name

The Nightmare Moon Crisis

Anno Equestria
A Brief History of the Pony Nation
A FiM fic by (Insert Pen Name)

The Nightmare Moon Crisis
AE1010

In AE1000, Equestria celebrated the dawn of the new millenium with unparalleled optimism. Though the Princesses were away on campaign during the celebrations, their names were the toast of every raised glass throughout Equestria. For over three centuries, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had led the pony nation towards peace and prosperity, and many ponies were certain that the next millenium would be no different.

Unfortunately, as the average reader is no doubt well aware, such optimism was ill-placed.

No other event in history has had such impact, or inspired such controversy, as the Nightmare Moon Crisis of AE1010, once widely dismissed as little more than an old mare's tale. Though recent events have since vindicated the legend, many ponies remain oblivious to the true details of this tragic turning point in pony history.

The classic account of the Nightmare Moon Crisis relates that Luna’s transformation into Nightmare Moon was driven by a long-standing jealousy and resentment over the fact that ponies frolicked in her sister’s day, but feared and slept through her own night. Obviously, this representation is both inaccurate and grossly over-simplified. Though ponies are indeed diurnal by nature, Luna’s nights were by no means unappreciated. Astronomy was a popular pursuit among ponies of all sorts, and the nightlife of a thousand years ago was hardly any less active than it is today. In Canterlot, for example, where it was considered fashionable for a business to display a picture of one of the Princesses, the image of Luna was the preferred decor for such nocturnal locales as taverns, theatres, dance halls, and even brothels.*

However, the Princess of the Night did not lack for troubles. Despite her incredible age, Luna was still on the relative cusp of maturity, barely an adult, and there were increasingly frequent whispers amongst both Parliament and the royal court concerning whether or not Princess Luna was truly mature enough to handle the responsibilities of her throne (three centuries of experience notwithstanding, it would seem). Some even questioned if Luna was even an active leader at all, and if Celestia was not in fact the de facto monarch of Equestria. Indeed, the latter years of Luna’s co-reign were marked with increasing insolence from various nobles and politicians. Though little actually came of this dissent, the open favouritism towards her older sister was painfully apparent to the young Princess.

Princess Luna's personal issues only made matters worse. From the very start of her reign, servants and statesponies alike had consistently noted the younger Princess to be awkward, introverted, and prone to minor bouts of hostility or melancholy. While these quirks were largely concealed from the general public, it was clear that Luna was not a pony of social grace. Of course, given the state of Luna’s adolescent years, this is hardly surprising; growing up in exile during the Lost Years would have been a traumatic experience indeed.

Given these political and personal difficulties, it is not difficult to imagine how Princess Luna could have fallen as she did. The final straw came on the eve of the summer solstice, AE1010, the shortest night of the year. How Luna was transformed into Nightmare Moon is unclear**, but in her new and terrible form, she raised the Moon to bring about a total eclipse of the Sun, and declared that her night would last forever. Princess Celestia immediately confronted Nightmare, but the former Princess refused to parlay with her, and soon the two alicorns were locked in a spectacular and destructive duel atop the palace. Eyewitness accounts vary wildly from this point, but Celestia eventually relented and summoned forth the Elements of Harmony. In an instant, Nightmare Moon was ripped from the world. Her corrupted soul was imprisoned within the moon, which bore her image on its surface from that moment onward. Popular legend holds that Celestia broke down and wept for a full day’s time upon seeing the Mare in the Moon and realising what had happened. In any event, with Nightmare Moon defeated, Princess Celestia was finally able to return the Moon to its rightful place, and restore the day. The Nightmare Moon Crisis was over.

Unfortunately, there was little celebration. Nightmare's eclipse and the sight of the alicorns' battle had whipped the city's residents into a panic. By the time Celestia had resorted to the Elements, ponies were abandoning the city in droves. Despite the Princesses’ energetic vision, Canterlot had grown grim and destitute under the shadow of the surrounding Everfree, and its ponies had finally had enough. Alone now in her ruined castle, Celestia sadly concluded that Canterlot’s end had come. In the days following Nightmare’s defeat, the Princess rallied those who still remained, and led them to the base of the Canterhorn. There, Princess Celestia declared that they would construct a new capital, a new Canterlot, a city “that shall serve once more as the shining jewel of our fair nation”.

The construction of New Canterlot will be explored later. In the meantime, the political aftermath of the Nightmare Moon Crisis continued for several decades at least. While the common pony was generally content to continue on and forget the crisis ever happened, the upper classes became a hotbed of anti-Luna sentiment. In AE1023, Parliament struck Luna’s name and title from the Equestrian Constitution, leaving Princess Celestia as the sole ruler of the pony nation. The nobility also did their part, using their influence to silently discourage any and all public discourse on the fallen Princess. Eventually, both Luna and Nightmare Moon passed into the realm of legend, and the younger Princess was all but forgotten.

However, Luna’s mark on history did not fade entirely. Many artists continued to use her image in minor ways, and the memory of the Nightmare Moon Crisis lives on in the autumn festival of Nightmare Night (albeit in a much more family-friendly manner). Most intriguing of all is the esoteric prediction known as the “Nightmare Prophecy”, which foretold the return of Nightmare Moon after a thousand years of her imprisonment. The origins of the prophecy are unknown, and for the longest time, many historians (myself included) believed it to be little more than a hoax. As everypony is aware, however, such was not the case, and a time would indeed come when the lost Princess would return...

* This is not to imply that Princess Luna in any way endorsed prostitution. Modern myths of the Princess’ sexual deviancy are completely unfounded.

** The various theories concerning Nightmare Moon will be touched upon later in the chapter dealing with Luna’s return.

Comments

[djthomp]

Seems reasonable. Luna did display some pretty impressive social awkwardness in Luna Eclipsed after all, so it makes sense that could have been part of the lead up to NMM.

[BenRG]

The common fanon view of Luna is of an intelligent mare (maybe smarter in book terms than her sister) but with a near-autistic lack of ability to interact socially. As the Historian points out, going through adolescence whilst fighting a war against a mad god in a world where the laws of nature had been completely overthrown could not have led to an entirely stable psyche.

I've long suspected that the abandonment of Old Canterlot might have been the result of the use by either Celestia or, more likely, Nightmare Moon of a doomsday-level megaspell and that the Everfree Forest is a magical fallout zone. However, the preview of episodes 4x01 and 4x02 seem to lean more towards this story's suggestion that the Everfree is an artefact of pre-pony magic and may even be sapient on some level. That said, the association between Nightmare Moon and the Everfree also seems likely to be confirmed.