I am not all that familiar with the use of the Royal Voice in the cartoon (haven't seen past S2Ep2) and for the sake of making it easy to read - (as well as the fact NMM doesn't use the royal voice in S1Ep1) I just kept with normal English)
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I feel bad for NMM both in the show and in this comic. She did bring it upon herself with trying to bring eternal night, but in the end she was still Celestia's sister and was forced to the torment of 1000 years alone. I do not blame her for wanting revenge upon her return - she may have surrendered her fight for darkening Equestria forever after initially being defeated, but 1000 years is a long, cruel amount of time and vengeance is probably all she could think about.
Isn't it incredibly weird how - despite NMM's return destined to be at its 1000th year anniversary / Summer Sun Celebration - that she returns JUST as Twilight starts reading about her?
Anyway, if you don't recognize the reference in the comic, I'll explain it below.
If you wish not to see spoilers of the movie 'Rise of the Guardians' skip to the stuff under the ------
A guardian gets their power from those who believe in them. If a Guardian isn't believed in (or feared in Pitch's case) then they lose their power and become invisible to everyone but other Guardians. For an example of power loss, the Easter Bunny is an anthro-bunny in his normal state but when he is not believed in, he literally shrinks and turns into just another regular rabbit (that can talk).
Basically, I got the idea from the movie and merged it with MLP and Nightmare Moon's banishment. However instead of being banished to the moon, Celestia cast a spell on all the folk in Equestria to no longer fear nor believe in NMM (supported by the way no one but Twilight knows about her in S1Ep1). Because she is no longer feared nor believed in, she becomes invisible - and any living thing can simply pass right through her - but she also can't wreak havoc or alter the moon/sun because her powers have faded.
During the movie, if a Guardian isn't believed in and a real person runs through them (because they can't see them) it's a real shock for that Guardian. This is reflected in NMM's expression in the 2nd last panel.
As a result, NMM actually imprisons herself on the moon until the spell wears off and she senses the presence of one who believes.
It was proven in the movie it literally only takes 1 to believe for majority of their power to come back/remain. Unfortunately that 1 was Twilight...
/cue Episode 1.
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I figured the Temple where the elements were stored would not have been damaged and such 1000 years prior to the mane 6 discovering it so there is no damage or cobwebs or anything.
There are only a few non-canon things I support when it comes to MLP. One of them I don't agree with, is that whatever happened when Celestia banished NMM, she was not being this... 'Trollestia'.
Granted I still find some of the Trollestia stuff a little funny, when it comes to banishing NMM it's really not funny anymore. You can't joke about banishing your sister to the moon for 1000 years.
Fun Facts about the Comic: -The whole thing began with this:
-The original file size of the comic was 3929 x 25182 px
-I had to save the characters, background and speech bubbles/border/etc. as 3 seperate files and merge them - or my computer would have crashed. (Note to self, work smaller next time...)
-All backgrounds and characters are drawn by me from several references found on google and dA. References were used for the two Royal Guards, the temple, the 'Mare in the Moon' Moon and the outside night panel backgrounds. However everything was drawn by hand, nothing was traced. No references were used for Celestia or NMM other than for colour reference.
-It took half a week to make this (majority hours of the day) not including the original 'Last Chance' image.
My parents and pretty much everyone in real life (off-internet) aside from a select few don't support my liking of MLP: FiM and it was awkward drawing it in our open computer room but nevertheless I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed making this so I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did drawing it
1000 years later
MAHAHAHAHA! I have returned - Equestria has seen it's last light of day! Now, the night will last forever! MAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!
heh. i totally got that reference. well done. oh and Twi, you may wanna rethink next time you are investigating a ancient myth. you might end up summoning something stronger than Nightmare Moon.
yeah, what is up with that number? 1000 years ago NMM was banished to the moon, 1000 years ago the crystal empire dissapeared and all the other things that happened 1000 years ago.
yeah actually it's funny because the crystal empire returned after 1000 years.... but it returend after NMM returned meaning it disappeared after NMM was banished, which is impossible because Luna was there to help seal Sombra away.
same with Discord (i think, i can't remember how long he was in stone for).
either that or "1000" years means anywhere between 900 and 1100 years XD
I just ROTG this week too.. and I got the reference. XD..
and the icons below made me LOL. soo.. much .. XD
are they ever going to explain how Luna became the queen of Nightmares?!.. aside from her jealousy consuming her,,
do you think it's possiblle that Twilight or Trixie might become like nightmare moon ,hmmm... we need a new villian anyway.. with Discord and luna reformed (or so we think ) and the others dead or disappered.. hmmm
i want to see an episode where twilight goes dark from power... i mean, now that she's an alicorn and she already knows dark magic. it would be like king sombra's attack, part 2 XD but it wont happen. i can't wait to see who S4 villain is though
same with Discord (i think, i can't remember how long he was in stone for).
either that or "1000" years means anywhere between 900 and 1100 years XD
greatestyearever.
and the icons below made me LOL. soo.. much .. XD
are they ever going to explain how Luna became the queen of Nightmares?!.. aside from her jealousy consuming her,,
do you think it's possiblle that Twilight or Trixie might become like nightmare moon ,hmmm... we need a new villian anyway.. with Discord and luna reformed (or so we think ) and the others dead or disappered.. hmmm
but it wont happen. i can't wait to see who S4 villain is though