War… war never changes. The unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi struggled against each other before the founding of Equestria. The Princesses Celestia and Luna waged war against Discord to free the nation he had turned upside down. The two rulers later fought each other when the younger sister allowed herself to become Nightmare Moon. More than one hundred fifty years ago, Equestria waged war against the zebras with a ferocity no pony had ever seen. The hubris and arrogance that drove this war resulted in a climax of bloodshed and the destruction of both opponents. It was this cataclysm that became the prelude to the next bloody chapter of recorded history. Ponykind may have succeeded in destroying the world, but war? War never changes.

In the finale of the Great War, when balefire spells rained down on the land, civilians and soldiers alike took refuge in underground shelters called Stables. These hardened bunkers protected the remnants of tattered civilization from the hellstorm that consumed nearly everything they had known. Remnants of that civilization survived in scattered pockets around Equestria, and when they emerged, a harsh, unforgiving world welcomed them. A struggle for survival began, with concepts like friendship and kindness being swept aside in favor of hunger, greed, and simple brutality.

Ponies everywhere struggled in this new climate, but certain military groups emerged almost unscathed by the destruction and the balefire. They surveyed the landscape and squared their shoulders for the task ahead. Correctly judging that the salvage and repair of surviving technology held the key to rebuilding civilization, they applied themselves to their task, studying, replicating, and protecting all that they found. In time, they formed the Steel Rangers. Declaring themselves the technological saviors of Equestria, the Steel Rangers were a bright spot of hope in the midst of desolation, bringing order and stability where before was anarchy and atrocity. As they made their mark, their audit on technology was unabated, and they swept aside all adversity, for better or worse.

***

ROBRONCO INDUSTRIES UNIFIED OPERATING SYSTEM
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>Welcome, user. Please enter a command._
>
>Access datafile 07923788904a/MOONCREST
>
>
>
>Datafile 07923788904a/MOONCREST confirmed.
>Enter Password?
>REQUIEM_
>Password Accepted.
>
>Metadata decrypted.
>Begin .net 2248 01101001 01101110 THE N01000001 01001101 01000101 01001111 01000110 CELESTIA IN THE HIGHEST
> start_.a
>Binary Overflow Binary Overflow Binary Overflow
>Binary Overflow Binary Overflow Binary Overflow
>Binary Overflow Binary Overflow Binary Overflow / / / / / / / / / /

METADATA PARSING IN EFFECT.
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My name is Ray Furrow. I was named for the day of my birth: my mother was a unicorn, and that night she had seen the newly risen moon, a wispy stretch of icy clouds turning the moonlight into shimmering rays. It was an element of beauty during an otherwise ugly, cold winter day. My father was an crystal pony, and his family was known for their farming expertise in the Crystal Empire. Unlike most other ponies, I only learned of my name much, much later. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been known as Mooncrest. There’s a reason for that, and it has much to do with why I am the way I am.

My nature is intertwined with the history of the Equestrian Wasteland. I remember nothing of what happened before, except through what was revealed to me. I’ve never been able to bring myself to be reconciled with these memories that were supposedly mine to begin with, but they are the source of my misery. Before then, my life was comfortable. Although some parts of it were troubling, I was just beginning to adjust to my place here among the Steel Rangers, before those memory orbs changed everything.

I suppose I could just ramble on about this and that, but I should probably get on with what this journal was meant to do: to account for my actions by allowing you, whoever should find this, to judge my deeds by this record and not by rumor and myth.

Unfortunately, my tale begins in the middle, and I’ve only found out about the beginning as it leads toward the end. I’ll forgive you your confusion, but imagine how I feel about it?