*resists urge to explain why the Madoka ending was actually pretty good for those involved, especially given the overall tone of the series*

As far as the elements of harmony go, it is kind of surprising that they never appear in the series again. I understand that they aren't something that gets pulled out on a regular basis, but seriously, everyone forgets they even exist after the 2nd episode. You'd think they'd at least mention the things on occasion.

It does make some sense that they'd never use them though; Twilight's seen what happened when her magic backfires, so she might be wary about using it before the Godzilla Threshold hits. There's also the fact that all six ponies have to be present to activate the thing, which isn't the case for most events. Not to mention that there have been very few enemies powerful enough to need the things; the dragons and Ursa Minor might have counted, but it would have been overkill to use the elements in any other case.

That and we don't know their exact function, because we've only ever seen them used one time.

The moon would be a great place to send the parasprites, actually. And now I've got this image in my head of Twilight getting lazy and solving all problems by banishing someone to the moon.

edited 13th Jul '11 2:41:36 PM by Crowfall

I've been gone for a week. There are 50 new pages in this thread. Any interesting news about season 2 (or other stuff related to the show)?

The ursa minor wasn't evil, and banishing a cranky baby to the moon would be a teensy bit harsh don'cha think?

I always had the idea that when you use 5 elements the target gets sent to the moon, and when you ue all 6, it acts as an evil purifier.

edited 13th Jul '11 2:46:22 PM by gingerninja666

The elements of harmony is such a cheesy concept in the first place. It reminded me of Digimon Adventure, especially 02... So much win, that show had...

... Wait A Minute... -inglip face-THAT SHOW WAS RETARDED!*

^{actually, it wasn't, it was for kids: similar but not quite the same}

... but the art was really great...

I'd have liked a Myth Arc where the subplots set up a multi-parter Grand Finale

As for Madoka... it's an Indecisive Deconstruction. That doesn't mean the Magical Girl genre can remain unchanged. It has pointed out problems, and then addressed them. But I don't see people trusting ferret-like sources of power with the immediate trust they used to have before. ／人◕‿‿◕人＼

I also expect the motivations and character arcs of future magical girls to be explored much more in-depth. MLP has very good characterization, but the setting is just too idealistic for any problems needing superpowers to actually be credible. Even with the giant-ass dragon, we knew nothing really bad was going to happen. Same for when Rarity was kidnapped.

Now if something seriously dramatic happened, I'd be ready to take a magical girl plot seriously. Nothing on the level of Madoka Episode 4 (see what I did there?), but something on the level of Jackie Chan Adventures would be nice. *slap* "YOU MUST FIGHT MAGIC WITH MAGIC"

edited 13th Jul '11 2:57:03 PM by GoodGuyGreg

That is the weirdest and most random power discrepancy I've ever heard of. I think it was more an issue of Celestia choosing to banish her to the moon since she couldn't purify her, not that moon banishment was their set function.

Edit: On the other hand, I like the idea that not using all of the elements causes them do to weird things. Using only one element causes your target to get something stuck between their teeth that no one will tell them about. Two elements causes derp eyes.

edited 13th Jul '11 2:56:56 PM by Crowfall

If that's the case then, why couldn't she purify her? The mane cast could. instead she chose to BANISH HER TO THE MOON, then Celestia is a bitch XD

edited 13th Jul '11 3:13:13 PM by gingerninja666

I think Celestia only had 5 elements, remember the 6th APEARED seperatly.

Which element did she lack? Was she acting alone? Was Luna a part of her original coterie?

I always assumed Celestia couldn't use them all because she was acting alone, and that using all six required The Power of Friendship.

That's a very good question

edited 13th Jul '11 3:21:36 PM by FallenLegend

Remember that "Ghost" guy who went on tv and talked about how the bronies were people who quit their jobs and signed up for disability?

Turns out that he's got a rather... funny radio show.

The way i see it, she could use Loyalty, Laughter, Honesty, Kindness, and Generosity because a single person can embody all of thoe traits. The 6th element Magic is unusable because it represents the actual bond between friends. You can't be friends with yourself.

That guy? No, they're two completely different people. Ghost is Jason Deloan. The guy from that Fox station was Dave Glover.

edited 13th Jul '11 3:40:40 PM by PinkieP

The way I see it, it's a choice between forcing someone to go to their room to think about what they did, and brainwashing them. Celestia preferred the former, hoping her sister would change back in the time she was trapped up in the moon. As we all know, it didn't work out that way. Whether or not Celestia knew this, she thought it was better to take the chance.

As an aside, I have a theory that Celetia herself set the 1000 year limit, but secretly. The other ponies at the time wanted Nightmare Moon locked up forever*

^{(cue Pinkie Pie)}

, so Celestia made it appear so. But she made up a prophecy about the stars aligning and made it look like Nightmare would escape all on her own. Otherwise, the ponyfolk would be all up in arms, and it would be chaos in the streets, and all that nasty stuff.

Anyway, back to the present, Nightmare Moon was eventually freed, but still unchanged, so Celestia really had no choice but to go for the brainwashing option. And it worked, as far as we can tell. But for how long? Make someone believe something they don't really believe, and you get someone who isn't really themselves. And there is introduced the chance of that person slipping back, whether slowly or in one instantaneous moment of realization.

Celestia (via Twilight Sparkle and company) managed to remove the symptoms, but hadn't yet gotten to the heart of the problem: Luna's attitude towards her sister. And that's something that Celestia has to deal with on her own, something no amount of magic can help with. She'll have to show Luna the error of her ways, to borrow a tired old phrase. I can imagine it's something that'll take weeks, if not months, of sister-to-sister talks.

Well, that's what you get for leaving for a week. wWhat have learned today?

that makes a lot of sense and it would explain Celestia's troll behavior(laughter).

edited 13th Jul '11 3:44:19 PM by FallenLegend

...explain, please? Nevermind. I thought you were talking about my previous post.

edited 13th Jul '11 3:45:43 PM by KylerThatch

That would be a fantastic analysis, if it wasn't for the fact that something on the outside did taint her into becoming Nightmare Moon. She wasn't completely being controlled, but her negative traits were definitely being amplified.

I reckon Luna does still harbour a grudge against Celestia about the whole "night being unappreciated" issue, but at the moment she's feeling FAR too guilty about what she did as Nightmare Moon to get angry

edited 13th Jul '11 3:49:47 PM by gingerninja666

Really? Then where did the Ghost guy come from and what did he do that ticked off the bronies?

So kind of a topic that would fit this or the tumblr thread but does anybody watch the ask the pony blogs that have been popping up by the dozens (and I mean dozens) over there?

Some of them are just plain silly. They have one for Bloomberg. Apparently he's a timeless tree with a ton of psychic powers that wants to take over the world.

@gingerninja: You have a point, of course. But consider the prologue's choice of words.

External influence or no, Luna's attitude was certainly part of the cause. One could make the case that an outside factor gave Nightmare Moon her form, and using the Elements expelled that form from her, leaving Luna as simply Luna again. But that alone does nothing for the jealousy that remained in her heart, and if Luna still feels that resentment after all those years, who knows what new form of darkness might breed within? It would only be a matter of time before an alicorn, still bitter, plots against her sister once more.

Well, maybe now the Ponies can stay up at night, what with access to lights and houses.

Civilization has shifted life's rhythms.

While Dark Luna is a really interesting concept, and one I'd like to see fleshed out at a later date. It was clear that Luna missed her Sister deeply and felt really regretful for what she did. Maybe the bitternes in her heart was something she was willing to talk to Celestia about, but this outside influence pushed her past that and into deciding to become Nightmare Moon, or maybe it was a corrupting power which she willingly accepted unto herelf in a moment of bitter despair, making the line still technically true

edited 13th Jul '11 4:08:01 PM by gingerninja666

A bunch of bronies from /b/ keep calling into his radio show and trolling him. And he says all these things about us like we all have "over-feminine" voices and that we're "Woody Allen butt-loving pedophiles." And a TON of other stuff too, but I don't feel like hunting down everything he's said.

edited 13th Jul '11 4:08:44 PM by PinkieP