Trotting Towards Nightmare Night: Fiendship Is Magic # 4 (Nightmare Moon)

Hello & welcome back to Trotting Towards Nightmare Night.  And we continue our celebration of Nightmare Moon as we jump from the cartoon to the comics with Feindship Is Magic # 4.  You see earlier in the year,  IDW did a month long event where they released 5 oneshot comics focusing on the pasts of 5 MLP  villains,  being King Sombra, Tierk, The Sirens, Queen Chrysalis and who we are looking at today, Nightmare Moon.   I'm looking at this comic for two reasons, one, this is a celebration of all things, Nightmare Moon and it'll tie into the Nightmare Rarity arc, when I come to that.   With that out of the way, let's begin.

Cover

I  like the cover as it has a very regal look to it and if I remember correctly, I believe that the artist was going for the look of famous paintings.

Staff

Writer - Heather Nuhfer 

The writing for this issue is okay.  It's not bad but it could've been better than it what ultimately was.  It's not bad but with the time where the story was set, you could really feel how the writer with the time frame, in which the episode takes place.  

Artist - Tony Fleecs 

The art for this comic was alright.  It's not bad and serves the comic well but it's not the best that IDW has done with this line.  

Colorist -  Heather Breckel 

The coloring for this comic was pretty good and served the darker tone of this story rather well.

The Plot

The comic takes place shortly after Nightmare Moon is banished to the moon.  

And we are introduced to the alien race known as Nyx.

Not her but I will be looking at her during this event.   No, we are introduced to the alien race known as Nyx and we learn that they are the ones that create dreams for the ponies down in Equestira. And we are introduced to one Nyx in particular that is a bit naive, Doran.

And Nightmare Moon tries to get the head Nyx that we are introduced to, try and to teach her how to create dreams but that is not allowed.  Doran offers her services but that is not allowed.  Though, this is something that he'll come back to haunt Doran later.   Doran being the fool that she sadly is, ends up taking a liking to Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Moon uses this to her advantage to teach her how to create nightmares.  Doran apparently has a thing for hair and by making a deal to braid her tail, Nightmare Moon gets Doran to tell her the secret of entering one's dreams and how to control it.  Ah, so that's where Luna learned that skill.

We learn that at this point, only the Nyx  can enter a dream, and that is when they call the name of a particular pony.  And who else, other Celestia should Nightmare Moon want to go into the dreams of.  

But Tia is a smart princess as she used magic to protect herself as Nightmare Moon couldn't enter her mind as Celestia didn't want any dreams that night.   This doesn't deter Nightmare Moon, it only makes her more determined.  She instead enters the dreams of ever pony in Equestira and manages to ruin Celestia's image in the eyes of her subjects.  Dang, Nightmare Moon.  That's intense.

 

In this time,  Princess Celestia  using so much of her magic to protect her subjects that there isn't enough left to save her. Celestia realizes that she must face Nightmare Moon in the most dangerous realm of all.  And Doran finally realizes that Nightmare Moon had been using her.   Took ya long enough.  And then we see Nightmare Moon turn the Nyx into her Nightmare Forces, who first appeared in the Nightmare Rarity arc and were the reason that Rarity became Nightmare Rarity.

And then we get the best part of the comic as Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia finally face off against one another.  And nothing at first works on the Sun Princess, that is until Nightmare Moon is able to delve deep into Celestia's love for Luna and tries using that against her to show how Celestia couldn't even save the one that she loved the most.   But first, we get an awesome fight between Nightmare Moon and Celestia.   

This was easily, the most powerful moment in the entire comic as this is the one  thing that came closest to breaking Celestia.  But it didn't .  No, when Nightmare Moon says that Celestia wasn't able to save the one that she loves most. This sets the Princess off.  I'm just going to quote her here.

Love.  That is one thing you will never understand,  Nightmare Moon: The Power of Love.  I had forgotten too but a dear old friend was kind enough to me this very night.  Sometimes love means doing what is best and what is right. Love is about other, not ourselves. You are too selfish to set my sister free of your dark magic. You are too scared to feel empathy or sorrow for another! You are too weak to wield love's power!  But I am Not!   

That is such a great speech right there and show that in even a moment of desperation, Celestia is able to pull through and be the leader that Equestira needs.   And it ends with Tia blasting Nightmare Moon fully charged up and angry.

This leaves Nightmare Moon angry and wants the Nyx ,  Nightmare Forces to get her back into Celestia's head but they cannot.   But she still has the power to create nightmares for other ponies in Equestira and with that Nightmare Moon proclaims that her sentence on this rock has become more interesting. 

All in all, this isn't a bad comic. Not my favorite from the Fiendship line.  And I do feel that this was a harder villain to write for.  But the  writer did an admirable job within the window of time that this particular story takes place.

Characters

Main Character

This comic did a good job of delving into the past of Nightmare Moon and showing what she was like and how ruthless, she could be.  You truly feared for the Nyx as she used Doran.  She was willing to stop at nothing to get what she wanted.  

Supporting Characters

Doran

Ugh, there is being naive and then there's being dumb.  And sadly, Doran was the latter.  She let Nightmare Moon use her and she goes along with what Nightmare Moon says so easily. That it's embarrassing.  It isn't until the third act of the comic that she finally realizes what Nightmare Moon is doing and how she's being used as a pawn.  And other than that, her only other character trait is wanting to be a hairdresser. Seriously, every other sentence out of her mouth is about hair or hair products.  I didn't mention this much in the plot because it had nothing to do with the plot overall.  

Princess Celestia 

This was a tour de force for Celestia.  This may have been Nightmare Moon's comic but Celestia was the standout in this comic.  You truly felt for her during her confrontation with Nightmare Moon. She was fighting within herself. She had to remind herself that even though, she didn't want to hurt Luna. But she had to do what was right for her subjects.  And remind herself that she was facing Nightmare Moon, not Luna.

My Final Thoughts

This comic is better than I remember it being.  As I said, it's not my favorite of the Fiendship comics but for a story about Nightmare Moon, it does a good job of delving into who she was and allows the readers to better understand what she was like.  And the best part is easily how the comic depicts how much Nightmare Moon hurt Celestia.  This is something that has only been hinted at but we truly see it here and I have no doubt that was the hardest thing that Tia ever had to do.  And I agree with what was said recently in an EQD Editorial about Celestia.

 Celestia had to live for a thousand years without her best friend, and was given a reminder of both her pain and her choice every night. 

That couldn't have been easy for her and this comic really taps into that.   If you want to see more about Nightmare Moon,  I suggest this comic. And then for a lighter read, check out the Luna Mirco comic to help bring you down as you'll need something to balance out the emotional weight of this story.  Join me next time as we look at the second pony to become a Nightmare Moon as we look at what happens in a special Villains Profile as one of my favorite ponies is pulled into the dark side as we look at Nightmare Rarity.

Trotting Towards Nightmare Night: Villains Profile: Nightmare Moon

 

 

 

Hello & welcome back to another year of Trotting Towards Nightmare Night.  Ah, but what is Nightmare Night.

 

 

 

"Every year, we put on a disguise to save ourselves from her searching eyes. [...] But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing! [...] Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year! [...] Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!"  - Zecora

Yes, it's a celebration of Nightmare Moon and that is what this year on Trotting Towards Nightmare Night will be about. We will take a look at the original Nightmare Moon, her time on the moon, and what happens when one of the Mane Six becomes Nightmare Moon.  As we take a journey into the IDW Comics to take a look at the Nightmare Rarity arc.

But before, we can look at Nightmare Rarity, we must go back first and look at the original Nightmare Moon. As always, this'll include Voice Actress, Entrance,  Personality, Most Evil Deed, Demise, Is Nightmare Moon A Good Villain. But before we get to that, we must look at one unique segment to Trotting's Villains Profile, Current State because as we've seen with villains from Equestira before, they can be redeemed but in the case of Nightmare Moon, they don't always forget and let the memory weigh heavily on them. With that out of the way, let's begin.

Voice Actress

Tabitha St. Germain

Wow, has this become the year of Tabitha St. Germain on Trotting? An entire Rarity Retrospective and now an article on another of her characters.  As Nightmare Moon,  she does a great job of giving you the Royal Canterlot voice while finding a way to instill fear into the audience.   It's loud, deep and booming.

Entrance

Now technically,  the first time that we see Nightmare Moon is in the intro of the pilot episode as we see that great artwork from the book that Twilight is reading that shows how Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and that Celestia had to fight her off.

Now, it wouldn't be until season 4 in the premiere episode that the show would show us how Luna was transformed into Nightmare Moon.

As we see Twilight Sparkle drink a potion that shows her a flashback of this very moment. Now, this one moment is something that up until that point, many fans had speculated on how it happened and to see the show address it was rather shocking. Which I think as we go along, that moment will help us to understand why Nightmare Moon is the most tragic villain on the show and in turn, Princess Luna is the most tragic character.

Personality

Like all of Nightmare Moon, her personality stems from the jealously and resentment that Luna felt in the shadow of her older sister as her subjects adored the day but would always sleep through her beautiful night. These years of anger, jealously and resentment are what caused Luna to turn into Nightmare Moon as she let her bitterness eat away at her. And this is seen as she in her return, 1,000 years later to Equestira as you can still the sense the anger in her and that she has not forgotten, how it felt all those years ago. Though as you’ll see with the Nightmare Rarity arc, this is one area where the comics differ on the Nightmare Moon lore as they show it more as a sentient being that can influence anyone to become this villain whereas in show, it’s presented as the anger and jealously culminating into creating Nightmare Moon.

Most Evil Deed

This is truly tough because we do not know much about Luna’s time as Nightmare Moon. We are only given brief glimpses into what she did as Nightmare Moon such as you saw in that clip there raising the moon to try and cause Equestira to go into eternal night. And then there is the Fiendship Is Magic comic that I’ll be reviewing as a part of this event. That gives us a glimpse into Nightmare Moon’s time on the moon, where she tricks one of the Nyx…

(Not her, although she is another one that becomes Nightmare Moon in the fan fic, Past Sins). Into getting this one to show her how to invade dreams and tries to invade the dreams of Celestia but is unsuccessful. And Nightmare Moon then extends her influence upon the Nyx and turns them into her Nightmare Forces. Though, it gets a bit confusing as the Nightmare Rarity arc says that they turned Luna into Nightmare Moon. But wether or not, the comics are canon is up for debate.

We’ll get into that more, when I look at the Nightmare Moon comic.

Demise

Once again, I think we need to look at Nightmare Moon’s first fight with Celestia and then when the Mane Six defeated her.






Yeah, that fight is pretty awesome and also rather tragic on the side of Celestia as you see her forced into a position that she wishes that she wasn’t in as she forced to fight her sister and make the right call of a ruler by banishing her to the moon. Which it has been depicted as her being banished on the moon, even though the show shows it as her being banished in the moon. Which in hindsight is a bit weird. Now in the final part of the pilot episode, the Mane Six using the Elements of Harmony defeat Nightmare Moon and free Luna from the clutches of Nightmare Moon.

Now, it’s a nice moment and all but the big takeaway here is Luna and her guilt over what she had done. Something that still eats at her and she as we will see has a hard time forgiving herself.

I’m so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!

The way that this line is delivered, you hear the hurt and remorse in Luna for what she had done. Which as we will explore, this is something that she still struggles with.

Current State

We’ve seen briefly, how Luna still struggles with what she did as Nightmare Moon. Which goes into how she isn’t able to forgive herself. Luna Eclipsed touched on this briefly and this is a big part of the Nightmare Rarity arc but nowhere, is this better exemplified than in the season 5 episode, Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep.

We’ve seen briefly, how Luna still struggles with what she did as Nightmare Moon. Which goes into how she isn’t able to forgive herself. Luna Eclipsed touched on this briefly and this is a big part of the Nightmare Rarity arc but nowhere, is this better exemplified than in the season 5 episode, Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep.

Princess Luna: I created the Tantabus to give myself the same nightmare every night… [pants] …to punish myself for the evil I caused as Nightmare Moon!
Fluttershy: But why would you do that?!
Princess Luna: To make sure I never forgave myself for how much Equestria suffered because of me! But it seems I have not learned my lesson, for now I have only made you suffer more!
Twilight Sparkle: But that means you might just be the key to stopping all this!
Rainbow Dash: Yeah! If it gets strong because you feel bad about what you did as Nightmare Moon, then you just gotta stop feeling bad for what you did!
Princess Luna: How can I forgive myself? I am no better now than I was then. My creation is about to turn the world into a living nightmare!
Twilight Sparkle: But look at what you’re doing! Nightmare Moon would’ve wanted the Tantabus to turn Equestria into a nightmare! You’re doing everything you can to stop it! Don’t you see? That proves you’re not the same pony you were then! Everypony who knows you knows that Nightmare Moon is in the past! We all trust you, Luna! Do you trust us enough to believe we’re right?
[Tantabus growling]
Princess Luna: …I do!

In this episode, we learn that Luna had created this creature known as the Tantabus to give herself nightmares as a way of punishing herself for misdeeds as Nightmare Moon but it escaped and by going into the dreams of everyone in Ponyville, she along with the Mane Six and many more fought it off. But by Luna creating this thing, we learn that while others may have been willing and ready to forgive her, Luna wasn’t able to forgive herself. Which is often the hardest thing to do. Because by our very nature, we are our own worst critics and even when people are able to forgive us, we may not always be able to look past what we did and that we may not be able to forgive ourselves.

Is Nightmare Moon A Good Villain?

Honestly, Nightmare Moon is a great villain and is easily one of the most tragic figures on the show and that in turn makes Luna, one of the most tragic characters in the entire show’s run. You truly feel bad for Luna as you see her become Nightmare Moon and want Luna to breakthrough and come back to us but we know how the struggle that she faced and that it wasn’t easy for her to break free from being Nightmare Moon. Join me next time as we explore Nightmare Moon’s time on the moon as we look at her issue of the Villains event, FIENDship Is Magic.

Rarity Retrospective Finale: A Look at Rarity's Songs

Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life and to the finale of the Rarity Retrospective.  Originally, I was going to countdown my Top 6 Rarity Moments but I thought instead that I'd end this by revisiting Miss Rarity's songs. Sure, I've looked at all of these songs before but Rarity has some of the best songs in the show and it fills fitting to end this way, instead of a Top 6.  With that out of the way, let's begin.

Art of The Dress

 

Ah, I just love this song.  It's easily one of Rarity's best songs from the entire show.  You get to hear Rarity's passion for fashion in this song quite well.  You can just tell how excited she is to make these dresses for her friends.  And then the stress that is consuming her as she gives into her friends' demands to make the dresses, the way that they want them. Even though, she knows that isn't the best decision. 

Becoming Popular

This for a while there was my favorite Rarity song.  It's like I said in my review,  it's just so fun hearing Rarity sing about getting everything that she wants.  It's a sweet and simple little song that encompasses all of Rarity's dreams up to that point.  And I think that's part of the reason that I like it so much as it's so great hearing Rarity bask in all this adoration being thrown her way.

Generosity

  

Now, this is my favorite Rarity song from my favorite Rarity episode. This would've been # 1, had I gone through with my moments list. I feel as though this song shows why Rarity deserves the element that she was bestowed.  And I just love the old timey Broadway feel of this song as that is a type of music that I love and I think it's the most fitting for Rarity.  Now, what about the reprise? It's a great realization moment for Rarity as  she wakes up to how cruelly, she treated her friends.

Life Is A Runway

Again, this song does fit Rarity and her love of fashion but out of all the Rarity songs that have been released, I feel as though this is the most hollow.  It's not bad but I don't know, it just feels empty. It's fun but there's really nothing to it other than that.  

I hope that you've enjoyed my look at Rarity and while we may be through with this Retrospective,  we aren't done with Rarity just yet. Join me for next month's Nightmare Night as we take a look at what happens, when a member of the Mane Six becomes a villain as we look at...

Nightmare Rarity