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Forums: Index > Speculation > Friendship is Magic, part 1
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The Core Myth[]

  • In the myth that opens this episode, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are said to be "regal sisters" who rule together, with Celestia governing the daytime and Luna taking charge of the night. This motif is similar to Greek mythology, in which Hemera (Day) and Nyx (Night) similarly work together to bring each day. The Greek poet Hesiod, in his Theogony (The Origin of the Gods), says, "Nyx and Hemera draw near and greet one another as they pass the great threshold of bronze: and while the one is about to go down into the house, the other comes out at the door." In the Greek myth, Nyx is the original goddess, and Hemera is her daughter, while in the Equestria myth Celestia is Luna's older sister. -Ethnosensei 13:11, June 15, 2012 (UTC)
Celestia and Luna form a Yin and Yang-like symbol S1E01

Celestia and Luna representing yin and yang (Ep. 1)

* When Celestia is said to have cooperated in maintaining the cosmos of Equestria, they appear together on the screen in the form of a taijitsu symbol, representing the principles of yin and yang. This is the symbol of the Taoist religion, widely practiced in China and Japan and an important influence on the North American New Age movement. This religion holds that forces such as day and night or light and dark are not opposities but in fact are intimately connected to each other, such that one cannot exist without the other. This implies that Celestia and Luna are not "good" and "evil" but complementary opposites that rely on each other. -Ethnosensei 13:11, June 15, 2012 (UTC)

  • Luna became resentful, the myth continues, because the ponies "relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night." As a result she refused to allow dawn to break and tried to bring about an eternal night. This motif is similar to one in a Cherokee myth titled "The Daughter of the Sun." The roles are reversed, however: in the Indian myth the Sun becomes resentful because every time humans look at her, they would squint and make an ugly face. By contrast, when they looked at the Moon at night, they smiled pleasantly because Moon's rays were milder. In the myth, the Sun tries to kill all humans by becoming hotter and hotter, and when an alliance of humans, supernatural beings, and magical animals foils her plan, she hides herself, threatening to bring about eternal night. (Source: Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Volume 19 (1900), p. 252.) -Ethnosensei 13:11, June 15, 2012 (UTC)
  • Princess Celestia is then said to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat Princess Luna/Night Mare Moon and banish her to the moon. The elements at first appear to be five jewels or stone orbs, which are energized by a mystical spark. This motif is common to many plots in Japanese anime, which often involve gathering together magical jewels or reassembling their shards to work some powerful magic. In the Dragon Ball saga, for example, those who collect the seven mystical orbs of this name can summon a dragon who will grant any wish. Similarly, in InuYasha, both the heroes and their enemies are questing to reassemble the shards of the immensely powerful Jewel of Four Souls, which will grant the owner the power to do anything he or she wishes. So it is predictable that Twilight initially assumes that the Elements are gem-like magical objects that, when used in the right way, give them great powers.--Ethnosensei 01:28, June 16, 2012 (UTC)
  • At the end of the myth, Celestia banishes Luna "permanently" to the moon and takes over her duties, controlling both day and night. This element is similar to many ancient Middle Eastern myths, in which a powerful god engages in a cosmic war with an evil goddess, usually associated with the ocean. In the end, the goddess is defeated and confined in some way, and her victor rules alone as god of creation. A full version of this myth is the Babylonian story of the downfall of Tiamat, a chaos monster in charge of the sea. The Biblical Book of Job also makes several references to an Israelite myth (which does not survive separately) in which Yahweh (originally a wind god) defeats a powerful divine enemy associated with the ocean. The victor god then binds his enemy, variously called "Rahab" or "the serpent," and becomes the sole ruler of the cosmos. (See Job 26:12-13.) --Ethnosensei 01:28, June 16, 2012 (UTC)

Regarding this aspect...

Luna became resentful, the myth continues, because the ponies "relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night." As a result she refused to allow dawn to break and tried to bring about an eternal night

Is there ever any evidence of its truth? Sure, NMM comes out promising eternal night AFTER her imprisonment, but only legend (which Celestia had centuries to shape) speaks for her carrying this attitude PRIOR to the insanity-inducing millenium of solitary confinement.

The closest I have seen to proof is the conversation in season 4 episode 2 that Twilight sees. We are led to believe that this is a legitimate glance back into the past, and what Celestia and NMM said to each other during their fight.

Does proof exist that this is actually the conversation though? How do we know Zecora's potion, rather than showing the real past, might have instead presented a twisted version of it? Twilight had multiple visions, and while one gave critical and real information (the Tree of Harmony) that doesn't mean all the information was valid.

Celestia knew of the tree, and may have told someone like Zecora about it, and Zecora and celestia could have conspired to show a vision that informed Twilight of the tree while not fully informing her of the truth of the past. talk2ty 22:38, May 21, 2014 (UTC)

Twilight's ivory tower[]

  • In Canterlot, Twilight studies in an ivory-colored tower. In modern usage, the expression "ivory tower" is used to describe "a world or atmosphere where intellectuals engage in pursuits that are disconnected from the practical concerns of everyday life." -Throwawaytv 20:05, August 29, 2011 (UTC)

Twilight[]

Twilight Sparkle's name could be a pun on the first episode, Twilight means a time in between day and night, Celestia being her mentor who raises the sun, and her sister Luna who became Nightmare moon and wanted to have eternal night. Then Sparkle could be the 'spark' for the elements of harmony. Meaning her name might be tied with the first two episodes of the series.--Mylittlewut 15:57, September 30, 2011 (UTC)

The Prophecy[]

Twilight looking for Elements entry in book S1E01

Twilight reads the prophecy (Ep. 1).

  • In an old book in the library, Predictions and Prophecies,Twilight Sparkle finds an alternative version of the Equestrian core myth. It agrees that a powerful pony, here called "The Mare in the Moon," once tried to take over Equestria and was imprisoned in the moon. But it adds, "Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in [the Mare in the Moon's] escape and she will bring about nighttime eternal!" The core myth, by contrast, states that the rebellious Luna was imprisoned "permanently" and that Celestia then had the power to regulate both night and day. Logically, both versions can't be true, and since at the end of Episode 1 Night Mare Moon does reappear, then the prophecy seems to be true and the core myth of Equestria must be false. --Ethnosensei 02:29, June 16, 2012 (UTC)
  • The reference to "the thousandth year" seems to be a reference to the Biblical prophecy that during the Apocalypse, the Devil will be defeated by an angel and bound in a bottomless pit for a thousand years. "After this," Revelation 21:3 says, "he must be loosed for a little time." If Night Mare Moon is supposed to be a kind of Satan, opposing Celestia's godlike powers, then this seems to explain Lauren Faust's much quoted speculation that she intended not just to cause eternal night, but to "usher in an era of evil." --Ethnosensei 02:29, June 16, 2012 (UTC)
  • On the other hand, Spike dismisses the prophecy as "just an old ponies' tale" and when Twilight sends Celestia a message asking what could be done to keep it from coming true, the reply advises the young pony to "stop reading those dusty old books." Such comments suggest that this version of the story is no more than a legend. It is also odd that no one besides Twilight has ever heard of the prophecy or the existence of Night Mare Moon. When the evil pony makes her appearance at the end of the episode, everyone is baffled, and only Twilight recognizes her. Yet at the end of the next episode, when Celestia reappears, she concedes that she knew that the prophecy was in fact about to come true. It seems difficult to understand why she kept this a secret and did not use her own ability to energize the Elements of Harmony and thwart her sister's return. As Faust concedes, she did not have time to work out these unanswered questions at the time. She expects that the current production crew will fill out this part of the plot more fully in time. --Ethnosensei 02:29, June 16, 2012 (UTC)

Luna Eclipsed[]

The ponies all celebrate Nightmare Night in Luna Eclipsed, yet they don't recognize Night Mare Moon when she appears, and nothing is mentioned of the annual celebration in the episode. –Throwawaytv 13:48, October 25, 2011 (UTC)

They probably assume she's an old mares tale, and would never think of her actutally showing up. And, when she did, the celebration seemed silly compared to a real threat. -- Koi Queen

Celebration[]

Has anyone noticed that Celestia had essentially celebrated imprisoning her little sister for a thousand years? The Summer Sun Celebration which takes place during Summer Equinox began hours after Celestia imprisoned Luna. "I have been imprisoned for a thousand years".

This is true, as Princess Celestia states in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1 and Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2 but she also says that from that point onward it will now be a celebration of their reunion rather than of Luna's defeat and imprisonment. Herculine (talk) 19:11, March 22, 2016 (UTC)

What's horrifying about this is, since Luna knows the exact time, she must have been conscious and stewing about it all along (as opposed to sleeping) making her all the more insane in the process. Unless she had some other means of telling the time. +y@talk 05:43, March 12, 2012 (UTC)

There may be a simpler answer, which I'll suggest in the speculation on Ep. 2. Supposing that both the core myth and the prophecy are deliberately misleading, and that Night Mare Moon does not exist and never did exist. In other words, Celestia and Luna continued to coexist in Equestria (since their yin/yang relationship suggests each pony's existence relies on that of the other), and so Luna/Night Mare Moon never was imprisoned on the moon.

But doesn't her reappearance prove the contrary? Maybe not... --Ethnosensei02:29, June 16, 2012 (UTC)


I am pretty sure Nightmare Moon was real. The nice thing about kids shows is that you can take things at face value.

I have two explanations for this. One, The Summer Sun Celebration was already in place all those years ago, and, Nightmare Moon chose that day not to bring down the moon. Imagine the horror of the ponies when the very day they celebrate the rising of the sun, it doesn't happen. If NM wanted attention, that would be an effective way of going about it.

Two, is sort of more in line with your theory. When Nightmare Moon shown up, it must've been terrifying. There was a chance that the citizens of Equestria would never see daylight again. So when Celestia won and the sun rose, they celebrated it. It’s the natural reaction to the vanquishing of a serious threat. -- Koi Queen

The Stars[]

So upon revisiting this episode-both rewatching it and just thinking about it-I've been struck by the fact that Nightmare Moon's escape is enabled by "the stars." This leads me to wonder: what's the deal with these stars? Did Nightmare Moon manipulate them, or did they act of their own accord-if the latter, how exactly were they able to do so? It's all pretty strange and unexplained, and is probably a minor enough detail that we won't get any more information on it-but it'd be nice to know. In particular, given that a pair of shooting stars represented Applejack's parents in Apple Family Reunion, it makes you wonder if the stars that helped Nightmare Moon weren't somehow the spirits of other deceased ponies who were loyal to Luna despite her corruption. --Kilmarnock228 (talk) 08:47, August 29, 2017 (UTC)

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