The night was dark, stormy, and cold. Thunder collided with the ground, as nature and pony-kind met, their territory holding its ground against the fierce storm. Nature never stopped, would never cease, and would continue to unleash a barrage of elements that would always block any type of advancement. But, either the ponies would endure, or succumb to the forces of the eternal world.
“The troops are ready, generals.”
The Lunar Republic had begun to rise up against the evil that ran within the Solar Empire’s roots, causing unjust within the society and disgracing the monarchy they claimed to be. Celestia, Princess of Equestria, had been in charge of the country for thousands of years, not giving power to anyone but herself. Selfishness, tyranny, and glory were all hers. She controlled the sun, harnessing all that remained under her control, awe and prospect (not sure about the use of awe and prospect here), while she sat, adorned and embellished by her own greed and overabundance of riches.
But Princess Luna, the true heir to the throne, sought to overthrow her sister’s rule, as she was Queen of the Night, Lord of Dreams, and a leader fit to rule. Her sister had taken the glory that should have been shared as equals, and yet, offered no type of reward for doing so. Years had passed; decades had mounted, until Luna had enough.
She had, unbeknownst to her sister, raised an army of followers, the Night Guards, and begun training and arming them under the night’s protective embrace. Luna was in charge of the kingdom from dusk until dawn, meaning she had the rights to govern the country as seen fit; because of this, she had been able to mount a standing army as time continued.
Yet, the time had come. Months of propaganda had been spread, convincing the world of Celestia’s tyranny, leading others to join the cause of true righteousness, and sacrificing themselves for what was right, for the free will and free land, independent from the artificial wall of illusion Celestia had created so that the populace had been content with their status.
Many had seen the ways of the Night Guards, and begun to fund the cause in several ways. Some committed what was thought of as “vandalism”, portraying the true monstrosity that Celestia was. Others had utilized what little Celestia offered for privacy, and unanimously endorsed the Night Guards with money, allowing training and weapons to be funded.
And here her armies stood, bristling in the wind, as they waited for dawn; the signal that told Luna’s army to charge.
“Generals Dusk and Light, are we ready for combat?” a young gunnery sergeant asked, obviously tense from the last battle.
“We can only hope, sergeant.” Dusk replied, scanning the ranks of the army, united by a single banner. They could do this; they could persevere and be the entrepreneurs in the lead of change and innovation, to be the models for the generations of the future and plant the seeds of aspiration within their brethren.
“Hope is a sad thing, Dusk” retorted Light, her husband. “We could very well be leading our troops into one of the worst bloodbaths in Equestrian history…”
Dusk kissed Light. “Then we will face this, together…” she whispers, confident that they would be leading their men into an already won struggle.
The trumpets and drums started their beat that signalled the cacophony of steel and magic clashing was imminent. For many, it was their first time hearing such a noise; for the veterans, it was nearly enough to trigger PTSD.
“My sister’s tyranny has lasted long enough” Luna’s booming voice shattered the lowly silence. “Her rule of death shall end tonight! Men, all I ask of you is to fight. Fight for all that’s good in this world, and the next! To fight until you breathe your last breath. To fight for your foals, for your friends, for your family and most of all for the soldiers that have fallen to the swords of Celestia’s toys!”
The soldiers cheered, waving their swords and guns in the air. “Now we prepare for battle!” Luna yelled the last of the suns light disappeared under the horizon.
The night was still and the forest silent as Luna's troops advanced. They moved quietly among the trees, the only sound the soft thud's of the hoofs on the damp ground.
Ahead of the main faction, scouts scanned for any enemy troops hiding in the giant wood.
Luna stood over Celestia’s bloody body. “You have destroyed Equestria," Luna said, her anger barely restrained. "You have destroyed yourself and everything that you cared for. You have destroyed my trust, my respect for you. My dear, dear sister, you shall pay for what you have done!” Luna lifted her sword and, without a second thought, plunged it into Celestia's heart.
A cackling laughter filled the air as Luna's sword slowly edged its way out of Celestia's chest. “You really think that you, the queen of shadows, can destroy me?" Celestia roared. "ME!? Hahahaha! My dear, dear sister, have you learnt nothing?” Celestia slowly stood, despite her bruised and broken body.
Once up, Celestia grinned, looking over her sister. “My dear little sister, how you’ve grown.” She casually walked around Luna. “Too bad…”
Without warning, Celestia shot a bolt of magic into the back of Luna's neck, directly on the exposed flesh between the armor plates. Luna cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
Luna turned her attention up to Celestia, determination on her face. "Oh, but I have learnt much, sister," Luna muttered as she levitated her sword straight up through Celestia's throat, her one weak point. Celestia's mouth opened, resulting in blood flowing outward and down to her hooves, pooling all around her.
Smiling, Celestia teleported away, most likely to her grand dwelling in Canterlot.
Luna staggers over to Moon Light, who is lying next to a limp Star Dusk. Luna kneels next to Light, “Y-you are relieved of duty, General” whispers Luna. Light holds out a small pouch “M-my daughter… Aurou-ra” he manages to say. Luna takes the pouch carefully, nodding, “she will get this”. Light smiles, before fading away to the death that was inevitable. Luna closes his eyes, before laying him to rest next to his wife. Luna teleports them all back to her small palace, where they are taken to be prepared for burial.
The soft rain and the whispering wind were the only sounds. The clouds were a dark grey, and there was no colour in anything. As the two brave pegasi were lowered into the ground, a young filly raced forward. She placed a small envelope onto the coffin, with ‘Mum and Dad’ scribbled over it. A mare stepped out from the small gathering of ponies and took the small filly away. The mare took the filly home.
“What happened to them sis?” asked the young filly.
The mare sat the filly on her lap in front of the fire-place. “As you know, Ma and Pa fought against Celestia.” The filly nodded. “Well, umm, Ma and Pa were fighting... against Celestia herself... Celestia, uhh, killed Ma with a powerful shot of magic... and Pa managed to wound Celestia.”
The small filly looked intently into the eyes of her older sister, “then what happened?” she asked.
“Well, at that moment, our Princess burst in, and in a rage, attacked Celestia. Now, Celestia is a smart mare, so she grabbed Pa, and... Uh… Slit his throat before facing Luna. Luna managed to almost kill Celestia, before she teleported away. Luna ran to Pa just before he died…. and he gave her this” she answers, holding out a golden locket, “he was going to give this to you for your birthday, when Ma and Pa returned from the war…” the mare stopped, staring at the sad filly. “Auroura...” she trailed off.
The filly was holding the shiny locket, tears rolling down her soft cheeks “I know sis…… ” she says before breaking down crying.