The War of the Sun and Moon
by CyborgSamurai
It is a commonly held belief throughout the world that Equestria is governed by gods.
Verily, even the majority of the country’s citizens think this is the case. I myself was no different until I joined the Equestrian Military, but to be fair, neither of the Princesses have ever said anything to dissuade this widespread belief, and while it may be a lie by omission, it is a lie nonetheless.
During my service I have had the rare opportunity to become acquainted with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It is safe to say that I now prefer the company of one over the other, but I can tell you that they both experience the same emotions as we mortals. They even fall prey to the same vices. ‘Tis true that our monarchs are ageless, undying, and hold such power that the very heavens bow to their will, but to say much more than that is to set the bait of hubris.
Nay, I can assure you that our Princesses are not gods.
For you see, gods don’t drag their vassals into the very bowels of Hell.
I won’t deny that I have always dreamed of becoming a hero. Indeed, the days of my youth were oft’ filled with coltish fancies of adventuring to far off lands, playing with my best friend Scorpio as we pretended to be valiant knights who sought honor and glory in battle. Even now, when my actions have damned me to exile and I ready myself to wander alone through the wilderness, I still dream of doing something truly great, though my definition of ‘great’ is decidedly different than it once was.
Despite my aspirations to greatness, I never once envisioned myself as a leader. My colthood dreams had me embarking on exploits of a solo, or dual nature at most, and not at any time before the war did I desire to tell anypony what to do. The old saying is that the best leaders are those who don’t think they’re good enough to do it, and while that is true enough, no amount of humility is going to snap you out of the paralyzing fear of death, or summon forth the courage to choose between the lesser of two evils. The true character of a pony is revealed in times of great duress, and as I have discovered about myself, where others would stand by and do nothing, I will always act.
I will not claim to have done a great job in leading the Order of the Zodiac. Rather, I will let the results speak for themselves. At the start of the war we had twelve members, and after two long years of death, blood, pain, sorrow, sweat and terror, we still had the same twelve Celestia-damned members we started with.
That is good enough for me.
I am well aware that there are more out there who praise my deeds than condemn them. As Princess Celestia has aptly said, justice is as blind as I. I have no regrets in using the Lifeforce spell, and I would gladly do it again if I were placed in the same situation. It’s true that I have suffered greatly, and will continue to suffer for quite some time, but the knowledge that I’ve saved so many from death’s cruel bite warms my heart enough to keep the cold at bay. The damnation of one soul is a smaller price to pay than the death of thousands, and only the most selfish and asinine of fools would argue against that.
I do not believe in destiny, but if I did, I would say I was given this forbidden magic for this exact purpose, and had I not used it as I did, I would have gone to the afterlife with a greater burden on my shoulders than I carry now.
Princess Celestia has given me one last command before my departure. She wishes for me and the other members of the Order to each give a recounting of one part of the war, which I’ve heard is now being called ‘The War of the Sun and Moon.’ What she intends to do with such a piecemeal gathering of memoirs is something for which I neither know, nor care. If I were to have my way, we’d put this entire mess behind us, reduce what’s left of Canterlot to dust, rebuild it somewhere else, and use Damnatio Memoriae on everypony involved so that nopony even knows Princess Luna or the Astral Guard existed in the first place.
Alas, I can’t have my way. I suppose then I will just continue to shiver and write clumsily by mouth instead of by horn. I am grateful her Majesty enchanted this quill so that it continues to write straightly and neatly, otherwise my account would be a hopeless mess. I suppose I could have written it out using blood, as I can still ‘see’ that, but I don’t think the historians would have appreciated it.
I have been given the honor of providing the first account since I must be on my way. It seems only fitting that I start with the first battle, as it was the one where the most occurred. I remember it clearly, as it also happened to be my birthday. I was looking forward to a day of song, dance, and celebration with my friends and family.
Alas, it was not to be, for that night, the world as we all knew it came to an end.
