I always saw Nightmare Moon as some sort of collective of negative emotion that had been building up for a long time, and the jealousy angle just so happened to tip it over. All ponies have the potential for this to happen to them, like some sort of sugar coated version of Dexter. Fortunately, ponies are pretty naturally good natured, which is why Equestria isn't overrun by hordes of ravenous sociopaths.

Haven't we had the Luna/Nightmare Moon discussion enough times already?

WE NEED SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT IN BETWEEN SEASONS!

Nope

I've seen a lot of fics that make the argument her turning into NMM was the result of Discord messing with her head just before they defeated him, it just took awhile for it to have an effect.

i'm not so into that one.

Maybe Nightmare Moon is something like Enerjak in the Sonic comics, a dark possessive entity that can inhabit anyone, but only if they have the willingness to absorb it. It would interesting to see if any other pony can become Nightmare Moon.

I still don't really see how she was a complete monster though. All we've seen her do is try and take away the ponies joy for the day by making it eternal night. She's like Darth Vader, with hatred blinding her and changing her internally, and when the hatred went away she was back to her normal self, though she still had the guilt to live with. I just don't see why people insist on trivializing her redemption by blaming something else for what she did.

If we're talking about the entity that Nightmare Moon physically was, I'd assume it was the personification of her hatred in order to shield herself, the same way people put on a persona in public different to what they really are.

edited 27th May '12 8:20:27 AM by absolclaw

@absol: you do realize that the sun was essential for their crops?

For me it's classic example of Dark Side (well in demigod form).

I don't think Nightmare Moon would have taken sadistic glee in watching everyone die of starvation.

The moon is also responsible for the tides. She wasn't really in it for the consequences of what life would be like without the sun, but rather just determined to have the people live under the light of the night which she perceived them of being ignorant of, or in short it was more of a symbolic villainy thing. She just wanted to be loved, and that ended up being what saved her anyway.

edited 27th May '12 8:31:02 AM by absolclaw

Hi guys!

About Luna/NMM, I go for Luna was corrupted by a thing, but thing only worked because Luna let it due to irrationality about feeling like the less important sister.

NMM and Luna are too different for it to be the exact same person, but Luna was definitely stated to be bitter about people not enjoying her night.

I'm thinking more actual insanity on account of using some forbidden power, with enough regret under the black for her to be redeemed.

Cutie Mark Failure can get spectacular when it's a high-leveled Alicorn Princess going nuts from it.

It's not just that, Luna seems almost a completely different character from Nightmare Moon, in both the end of the pilot and her developed persona Luna Eclipsed onwards. If Nightmare Moon was basically an evil Luna it may have made sense but it's almost like another being had taken over her personality.

As said Luna has a bitter side as shown in Luna Eclipsed, and even seems fit to punish people she feels crossed her, but it likely only triggered her path into Nightmare Moon.

edited 27th May '12 8:34:45 AM by Psi001

You can say this about most of Jedi turned Dark Side.

How about pony boxign again then?

That's what I mean by NMM being a personification of a public persona. She was so consumed by hate that it completely changes someone. Hating someone, especially being envious of someone like Luna tends to make people act very different to how they usually would. It's one of the reasons Green-Eyed Monster can work as both an obvious and surprise villain motivation, and why coveting other's things is serious enough to be mentioned several times in the biblical ten commandments.

edited 27th May '12 8:37:46 AM by absolclaw

You'd think that ponies couldn't grow food without the sun but on the other hand. Magic.

Pony boxing?....well it's a new one I'll give you that.

edited 27th May '12 8:40:00 AM by Psi001

Lets talk about what TF 2 class fit to other ponies.

You forget that magic takes energy, and it could easily be the case that it takes more energy to make food that way than the food would actually provide when eaten, which would make the process highly inefficient.

Two words: Pinkie Pyro

edited 27th May '12 8:42:13 AM by KylerThatch

Word Of God says not even EP magic can overcome the lack of sun.

PONIES DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!!!

Magic sneers on the conservation of energy.

Other ponies, not those most popular.

edited 27th May '12 8:43:54 AM by DeathCloud