AND ILL DRAG HER INTO THE DARKNESS WITH ME HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!

Oh picky, picky, picky. It’s just art.  
Anyway, this looks cool. But at the same time it looks scary and sad. Poor Luna. :_(

@Background Pony #94B2  
I prefer to take Faust as canon then whatever crap is being shit out today by the current staff

then she gets to be a cute alicorn filly

Well there are the IDW Comics Nightmare Forces- some sort of Fae that surpass the Gods but can only act throught a pact if anything

@Background Pony  
Agreed. It was clearly there. I doubt Luna would have said the words she did if she was addressing Twilight herself.

@Nightweaver20xx  
The Season 4 trailer does seem to imply an outside force at work too though.

@Nightweaver20xx  
I know were you’re coming from. Luna shouldn’t be absolved of guilt, but she shouldn’t be unsympathetic either. I’m both excited for and dreading the upcoming Nightmare Moon episode because as much as I want to see that story told, I’m afraid they’ll end up taking her character too far in one direction or the other.

@Background Pony  
Was canon, at least; apparently in November, we’ll find out whether that detail is being incorporated into the show by the current staff or not.

@Background Pony  
>Still saying what Faust said is canon.

ohhh i can’t wait for the first double parter with the flashback where they kick these kinda pictures’ ass.

@Nightweaver20xx  
Lauren Faust mentioned that she also believed some external force helped with Luna’s transformation into Night Mare Moon, so while I’d say the blame is still Luna’s, I’d also say NMM wasn’t just her and her alone.
 
Still, art like this, showing Luna as scared and regretful as the transformation is starting, undercuts the story from the beginning of the pilot that says the transformation happened because of her bitterness.

@Nightweaver20xx  
I like to think of it as a “seduced by the dark side” deal.

@Nightweaver20xx
 
I take the comics and books with a grain of salt, but I like to think those Nightmare things had an “influence” on Luna. They weren’t the cause of it all, but acted like a catalyst. Princess Luna became jealous of of her sister as ponies kept sleeping through the nightly guardian’s beautiful nights. Luna could enter dreams, but ponies wrote them off since they experienced the wonders of reality vs their nighttime illusions.
 
You pick a flower in real life, you can show your friends. You have a dream and try to explain it to your friend(s), it’s a “you had to be there to experience it” type of moment for some.
 
Also, I think Luna started to grow into her role as guardian of the night and learned how to make meteor showers, align the stars, etc…, and wanted to show other ponies the beauty of it all. I imagine it to be rather sad as the mortal ponies didn’t stay awake to experience it all. As time progressed, ponies forgot about those wonders of the night which fueled Princess Luna’s jealousy, and it also caused the poor pony’s sadness to grow as she wanted to be recognized like her sister. Instead, Luna felt like she was forced into Celestia’s darkened shadow.

Art like this bothers me, because it assumes Luna was turned to NMM through some outside force, and not her own selfishness and greed. Which is the canon explanation that you get at the start of the series.

Drown in your sorrows and embrace eternal despair! Become which you have wanted! Become that which you deserve. A pony that is worshiped by the mortal fools of the land. For your enemies, become a terror that they shall fear beyond anything! Become their Nightmare Moon that shines nothing but terror into their hearts and dreams!

Too late.
 
Should have seen the therapist like she suggested.

Don’t worry sister! Celly’s comin!
 
…oh lord… OH LORD! It’s GOT ME TOO!!!
 

 
ECLIPSE ETERNAL!!!!

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