Story Reviews » Paul's Thursday Reviews CCCLXXXV · 10:23pm May 15th
Hello again, FIMFiction! I've got two topics for today, and one of them might make things spicy.
First: the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that I'm skipping a number for this one. The last blog was #383, and this one is #385. You might be wondering what gives. Well...
Over the past couple of weeks I've been going back to re-read some of my older blogs. Originally this started as me looking for something specific to refresh my memory, but then it became me going through the blogs one-by-one for nostalgia's sake. Not a lot, mind, maybe a blog or two a day. Then I stumbled upon something unexpected: a mistake. It turns out that when I published my very first Author's Spotlight blog (the Estee one way back in August 2023) I accidentally repeated a number. I never caught this, and so every number afterwards has been off by 1. I have no intention of fixing the original error and those that came after – I like retaining mistakes to remind me to be more vigilant – but I figured I should go ahead and use the correct number from here on. Hence, today is actually blog #385. The more you know!
This means #400 won't be on Christmas Day as I originally believed. Oh well, maybe now I can do Christmas-specific stuff that week.
On to subject two! So over the weekend I found myself caught in a debate about FIMFiction canon. Frequent commenter and writer Admiral Q Ponyform brought up in the comments section of Bulletproof Heart: In Whitetail Pass that they felt the story broke canon by stating Luna was weaker than Celestia. I asked them to defend the claim, which led to a string of back-and-forth over A) whether Nightmare Moon and Luna are the same pony or two individual personalities, B) whether Nightmare Moon is more powerful than Luna, and C) their relative strength compared to Celestia. The Admiral's claim was that it is show-canon that Luna and Nightmare Moon are the same pony with the same power level of comparable strength to Celestia. My claim was that there's no concrete evidence in the show to prove anything regarding these topics and so his claim is only headcanon.
By the end of it neither of us budged, and I called the debate off once the points grew circular in nature. However, this got me to wondering: what does the fandom in general think as a majority? I'm sure this topic has been done half-to-death in forums and chatrooms for more than a decade, which makes me wonder if any consensus has been reached. Thus do I pose the question to you, dear readers:
- Are Luna and Nightmare Moon the same pony or two different personalities?
- Regardless of whether they are the same or different mentally, is Nightmare Moon stronger than Luna?
- What is Luna's power level in comparison to Celestia? If Nightmare Moon's power level is different from Luna's, how does her power level compare to Celestia?
For those of you seeking context or just want to see the points Admiral Q Ponyform and myself already made, you can find the start of our debate here. Generally speaking, we agreed to stick to the show for evidence (so no comics or other external references), although I did reference ideas from the comics as having implications on the show's topics.
Okay! Now that that bonfire has been ignited, let's see if anybody bothers to read today's reviews!
Stories for This Week:
Trixie Will Not Be Ignored by Lighttone GryphonStar
Want her need her by mokaevans
Proof Of Concept by Estee
The Worst of Mentions by BlazzingInferno
Another monday by Momoi Taro
Bloody Bones by Arkensaw Pinkerton
The Concubine, or How Luna Got Her Groove Back by Ivory Piano
Double Solitary by Casketbase77
Moonstone by Loyal
Snip by Snip by ThunderChaserCreate
Total Word Count: 201,401
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 0
Pretty Good: 4
Worth It: 4
Needs Work: 2
None: 0
Trixie Will Not Be Ignored
4,109 Words
By Lighttone GryphonStar
Every… day? Trixie wakes up and explores the world, trying to gain attention. Nothing works, despite her best efforts. They all ignore Trixie, and why? She has no idea, but she doesn’t appreciate it.
This is a story about denial. Trixie, overconfident in her abilities, attempted to cast one of Star Swirl’s time spells. The result is that the entire world has been frozen in time… except Trixie. Actually, also Trixie in a sense; she feels no hunger or thirst and never ages, yet can move around as she pleases. This has been the state of things for so long that Trixie has blocked out the truth and thus wakes up every not-morning with no clue of why things are the way they are… at least until she gets to the Castle of Friendship and it all comes flying back.
This one is a mixed bag. Lighttone GryphonStar (yeeeeah, I’m gonna stick with “Light” from now on), is attempting to flex their descriptive prowess here, and in some ways that works wonders. Yet in other ways it feels… Telly? Sort of. Clearly, the author is trying to mix the two, but I’m not quite sure they got it right. As in, sometimes it feels like there’s too much being described, making the story linger on too long, and at other times it seems that Light tells us something that we didn’t need to be told. I admire the attempt, but the balance isn’t quite there.
Worse is the bad English. There are homophones, there are not-quite homophones (“boutique” instead of “bouquet”, for example), missing words, incomplete clauses, turns of phrase used in ways that make no sense (assuming they were stated correctly in the first place), mid-sentence verb tense shifts, it goes on and on. This strikes me as the work of someone who never got taught proper grammar but instead learned everything they know from reading stories. I’ve seen this kind of thing before (very recently, in fact), and the kinds of errors here are almost identical. Light needs to either take some grammar courses, study up on the subject, or get a very patient and thorough proofer.
That being said, the story itself is strong. Trixie’s denial is on full display, and when the truth finally becomes clear to her the reaction is intense. It’s clear that Light knew exactly what they wanted to do and had a solid plan plot-wise for how to do it.It’s one of those stories that is effective despite the many flaws in its presentation. Which begs the question: how good would it have been had the presentation also been spot-on?
I’m putting this on the middle ground. With all these issues I’d normally put a story of this sort in the Needs Work category, but I think the overarching plot is good enough to let it scrape past that barrier. Barely.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Want her need her
5,037 Words
By mokaevans
All Starlight wanted was to craft a counter for the Want It, Need It spell. Then she accidentally hits Applejack with said spell.
Oh, come now; as if Applejack needs a spell to get every pony in Ponyville chasing her tail.
In terms of content, this is exactly what you’re expecting. In terms of writing quality, it’s all-around bad. mokaevans has no concept of pacing, atmosphere, or grammar. I’m not sure they have any idea what commas are intended for (indeed, for a few paragraphs I questioned if they knew that commas exist). They also blatantly get the functionality of the Want It, Need It spell wrong by giving it some sort of area-of-effect element instead of requiring direct visual contact.
Plot logic is questionable at best. For example, at one point Rainbow Dash is flying after Applejack and AJ eludes her by… uh… going into a house? And Rainbow was so focused on “the race” that she didn’t notice? Except that Rainbow was specifically chasing Applejack. That’s not a race, that’s a pursuit. Why would Rainbow Dash lose track of Applejack just because she went into a house?
As fun as the idea of AJ being literally irresistible is, the writing kills this one from the start. This author needs to unlearn everything they think they know about the English language and take some grammar lessons before they make further attempts.
Bookshelf: Needs Work
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Proof Of Concept
9,498 Words
Estee failed to provide cover art.
Part of The Triptych Continuum
The newest principal of Princess Celestia’s School of Gifted Unicorns has a brilliantly terrible idea: a project fair for first-year students! This despite the fact that first-year project fairs were banned eighty years ago, that there is copious amounts of documentation as to why, and the floor she has to walk over to get to her office is literally a massive bronze plaque that states in triple-underlining “You Shall Not Host A Project Fair For First-Year Students”. After all, that was the old education system. Her’s is better, and thus better prepared. Celestia, to her quiet horror, knows that the best chance anypony in Canterlot has of coming out of today alive is to be there personally to run damage control.
This was a lot of fun. Starting off with a theme of how bad ideas are far more likely to gain traction than good ones, it follows Celestia as she first tries to explain to her woefully self-superior new principal that this is a Bad Idea™ before realizing that she can’t stop what has already been put in motion. She then devotes all her time and efforts to ensuring no bright-eyed young students turn the school into a crater because they thought, say, turning a frog into an orange would be funny. Laced within this is some lore-building about how Magic works for the three races, with particular attention to why young unicorns who have yet to develop common sense are far more dangerous than pegasus or earth pony foals with the same issue.
And then we get the cherry on top that is the conclusion, where Celestia meets a particular student who refused to attend the project fair because she was convinced it was as stupid and boring as the school’s classes are. It was quite the new take on a traditional concept.
Knowing the Triptych universe is not a prerequisite for reading this one, so jump on in if you feel like enjoying a few thousand words at Celestia’s expense. Just remember that bad ideas often arrive and start doing damage before most people even realize they exist.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Five Hundred Little Murders — WHYRTY?
Triptych — WHYRTY?
Donuts Not Of This World — WHYRTY?
Post Negative Comments Only — WHYRTY?
Bitter/Sweet — Pretty Good
The Worst of Mentions
5,565 Words
By BlazzingInferno
Sequel to The Best of Tensions
All Rarity wanted was to go on a nice picnic with Spike and maybe, finally get him to ask her out on a proper date. Just when it seems like that is going to happen however, they discover that the entire town has a series of rumors going on revolving around the two of them – mostly her. All thoughts of romance cast aside, Rarity is determined to do something about it.
Set the day after The Best of Tensions, this story opens with Rarity and Spike actively spending time together and Rarity happily working Spike up towards asking her out. This is interrupted when they overhear several hurtful rumors about her and Spike. The thing that really gets her tail tied in a knot is when she discovers that the entire town (and a few ponies not in town) have placed bets on exactly when the two of them would make their relationship official. Driven to fury, Rarity puts her own fancy, perfectly fashionable hat in the ring with an anonymous bet that she and Spike will go public at the carnival tomorrow.
Needless to say, Spike is thrown entirely off guard by this. Not that he’s complaining, mind.
This was a silly Sparity tale. Much of it involves Rarity trying to get to the central stage of the carnival with Spike at noon so that they can declare their relationship official and win the bet. There are close calls aplenty, ranging from mud to dirt to ketchup to pigs to vomit, all accompanied by an appropriate dose of marshmelodrama (the only inappropriate amount, of course, being none at all). Spike is her gallant knight trying to prevent every potential mishap with limited success. It all culminates in Rarity coming to learn that she shouldn’t let the petty nature of some ponies turn her petty in turn.
This was a bit meandering, with numerous unnecessary tangents intended strictly for humor’s sake. Still, it was a lot of fun, helped not least by Rarity’s tendency for exaggerated reactions to otherwise mundane events. I think the primary barrier from entry for any potential readers is its Sparity nature, which for some people is an immediate no-go. There’s also the fact that the story just assumes that Sparity is a thing, making no real effort to justify the relationship. I can see that bothering some people.
But if you can look past those problems, you may get something out of this.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
The Secrets We Keep — WHYRTY?
Forever Twilight — WHYRTY?
A Dragon's Age — Pretty Good
Water Pony — Pretty Good
Friendship 101 — Pretty Good
Another monday
2,254 Words
By Momoi Taro
Requested by Momoi Taro
Andy is a profoundly dull individual, so much so that when he wakes up to discover himself in a new body and world he can’t conjure up the basic intellectual curiosity or psychological maturity to care and goes straight to work like normal.
Or at least, that’s how I saw it at the start. I still think Andy – apparently now named Early Eye for whatever unknown reason – is a particularly dim-witted individual, yet the story seems to be implying that the culture of his original home (England, I think?) made him that way. He has this depressing air about him that suggests that everything in life is and always will be shit so it doesn’t serve him any purpose to actually care about anything enough to give it more than a passing thought. So when he wakes up one morning with hooves and a quadrupedal gait living in a roomy log cabin he can’t be arsed to question why.
This isn’t a horror story, but I find that terrifyingly bleak. It seems like nihilism at its furthest, most depressing extreme. Yet somehow Momoi Taro wants us to take this as a comedy.
Comedy or not, it is at least interesting from a psychological perspective. When I first started reading this I believed the MC was mentally deficient in profound ways, but as the story went on I realized the story seems to more reflect how life can beat you down to the point that you reach Early Eye’s level of “I don’t give a fuck”. The fact that Momoi Taro claims it was written as a vent piece is very concerning.
As fascinating as all this is, the story does have its issues, mostly in the form of grammar. This could really use a proof run, because most of the errors felt like typos or the kind of thing you do when you stop writing mid-sentence for a second or two. It also has that (admittedly subjective) pet peeve of mine: the idea that Manehattan and Ponyville are so close together that ponies can have a daily commute between the two, as if Equestria were the size of Rhode Island.
Still, this is a most unusual take on the whole HiE subgenre. There are no adventures, no grand reveals. It’s just a human-turned pony going about his regular day and finding that he rather likes his new normal. If that sounds like something you’d like to try, by all means jump right in.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Bloody Bones
2,331 Words
By Arkensaw Pinkerton
In a most unusual situation, Rarity has received a letter from Fluttershy asking for her to come visit tomorrow. Confused, Rarity does as asked. Fluttershy, acting so very strange, informs her that she has a new and very unpleasant pet.
This is a very brief and predictable horror. In it, Fluttershy explains to Rarity that there are multiple types of changelings. Perhaps the creepiest is the bloody bones, a changeling that consumes its prey and then wears its skin. She just so happened to find one.
Yeah. You already know where this is going. If you don’t, you’re clearly new to the horror game.
As so often happens, I have mixed feelings. I hate how the author started in the present and then, without any reason, shifted backwards in time when the story had barely started in order to lay out the scenario from Rarity’s perspective. It was an entirely unnecessary flashback and, worse, interrupted the actual start of the story.
There’s also the predictable nature of the events, which are indeed terrible. Although Arkensaw chose the route of least consequence for the ending, it was still only one of very few possible ways this could go.
At the same time, I love the idea behind the bloody bones and how it is presented here. Ignore the fact that the creature is terrible, what it is going through is also surprisingly terrible. There’s no good outcome here, and the interesting thing is that the changeling clearly knows it. Which makes the final moment all the more horrifying. Arkansas almost managed to get me to feel sorry for the thing, and I wouldn’t be the least surprised if that is the reaction given by some readers.
So the opening is meh at best and the story is woeful in its predictability, but the emotional conflict of the changeling in the latter half of the story (to say nothing of what Rarity’s going through) is excellently handled. This story is capital-D Dark, and I feel like it may warrant an M-rating as a result (which is why I’m not linking to the story for this blog).
I’ll be putting this one on the middle ground due to some of its issues, but if you’re into horror then you’ll probably get a lot out of this. Assuming, of course, you’re okay with knowing within seconds where the story is going.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Fixing Up Miss Smartypants — WHYRTY?
Three Magics — Pretty Good
The Concubine, or How Luna Got Her Groove Back
5,979 Words
Ivory Piano failed to provide cover art.
Luna has scoured every inch of the palace, and yet for some reason she can find no trace of the Royal Harem. When she confronts her sister about this, it is only to discover that Celestia disbanded the harem centuries ago. Obviously, this must not stand! After only the most appropriate negotiations are conducted (read: blackmail), Luna gains permission to start a new Royal Harem. And it just so happens that there's a perfectly suitable stallion to serve as the head concubine.
This one was a delightful combination of silly and not. Luna's teasing of Celestia is appropriately humorous, as are her efforts to convince Big Mac to become her concubine. But Big McIntosh is shockingly opposed to the idea, and Luna finds herself joining the Apples for dinner as she works to turn him on to the idea (pun intended). Yet Big Mac is a wise stallion, and he quickly manages to diffuse the situation through a combination of teasing, questions, and direct demonstrations of why he'd rather just stay at the farm, thank you very much. He manages to get to the bottom of the underlying situation with impressive finesse.
In short: this was an excellent friendshipping fic. Luna is endearingly confused, Big Mac is a great guy, and the two work well together even when they're not necessarily trying to do so in the same ways. The joking sex-themed humor ties it all together, especially in the beginning and end with poor, eternally-suffering Celestia just trying to, ahem, "relieve her stress" without her intrusive sister's scheming. I had fun. What more could I ask for?
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Keeping It Simple — WHYRTY?
Double Solitary
9,044 Words
By Casketbase77
Ten years ago, a horrible sickness spread across Equestria, causing horrible psychological effects on magic users. Luster Dawn came up with a solution using the Unity Stones to block all magic, thereby stopping the sickness in its tracks. But now, for reasons nopony understands, the sickness has returned. Luster Dawn and Princess Twilight Sparkle are at the limits of their knowledge. They need to consult an expert in magic suppression. Unfortunately for them, Equestria’s foremost researcher into that field of study is not likely to help.
This story follows Luster Dawn as she goes undercover to share a cell with the one and only Cozy Glow. Her goal: uncover the ultimate secret of global magic suppression, which only Cozy Glow knows. Now, you might be wondering: why is Cozy Glow in a prison cell instead of serving as a statue in the Canterlot Gardens? The answer is that when all magic got suppressed ten years ago, that included the magic keeping her, Tirek and Chrysalis petrified, so Twilight had to put her in a more traditional form of prison. Where Tirek and Chrysalis are hanging out these days is never brought up.
This was a curious one. A good chunk of the first half is devoted to setting the scene. A little too much, one might argue. The important part of this story is the relationship between Cozy Glow and Luster Dawn, which is supposed to be building up into a proper friendship despite Cozy’s past and utter lack of guilt or Luster’s imminent betrayal and overwhelming sense of guilt. Unfortunately, I think so much time was spent on setting the scene that there wasn’t enough room left in the wordcount (undoubtedly limited by the contest this was made for) to properly build up that relationship. There are no great relationship-building moments, no opportunities for them to get to know one another, no acts of endearment on either side. We’re told that a week has passed, and I’ll grant that’s plenty of time to do what needed to be done, but since we don’t see any of it the end relationship we’re supposed to be getting out of this just isn’t there.
Don’t get me wrong, overall this is a pretty solid story. I love the idea, I love the bits of lorebuilding it offers us, and I especially appreciated the conclusion. I just can’t help but feel that the intended relationship we’re supposed to get out of this is unearned in the long run.
Still, if you’d like to see Cozy Glow legitimately make a friend (earned or not), or would like to see Luster Dawn actually be used in a story at all (I think this is the first I’ve read starring her), this isn’t a bad place to look. I can see why it won the contest it was written for.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Idol — Pretty Good
Moonstone
155,968 Words
By Loyal
With assistance from Grand Moff Pony
Had Fleur de Lis realized what a disgrace Fancy Pants was, she likely never would have dated him, much less married him. Now said marriage is officially over as Fancy leaves her for some museum curator and Fleur is at last free to be more than some pretty housewife. But the social scene can be cruel, and the unpleasant attention she’s receiving from Canterlot’s stallions is driving her to frustration. Then a certain Princess of the Night takes notice…
Wow, it’s been a while since I last read a story by the late, highly respected author Loyal. I felt like I was long overdue for a look, so here we are. Why this story? Simply put, I wanted to see how an author as supposedly capable as Loyal would handle a story with such a heavy element of sex involved.
This story follows Fleur de Lis and Luna as they engage in a saucy romance with a heavy dose of BDSM. Luna is already a pro on the BDSM scene, regularly attending conventions in disguise and having garnered a significant following as a dom. Fleur de Lis, on the other hoof, has exactly zero experience with even the concept, her idea of sexuality being entirely vanilla in nature. Thus does the first half of the story involve Fleur exploring the concepts of BDSM with Luna as her dom. As you may have guessed by the fact I’m not linking to the story, Loyal gets vividly graphic about it.
My first concern as the story went on was that there may not be a conflict to speak of. Aside from Fleur’s initial frustration with the local Canterlot Boy’s Club, the story really seems to be about Fleur’s exploration into BDSM and nothing more. This made the story feel like it was more about the sex than Fleur’s character growth or her relationship with Luna. True, her relationship with Luna and the exploration can be interesting in and of themselves, but the heavy focus on the sex in these parts made me question Loyal’s priorities.
Then we finally get to the convention about halfway through, and at last, a true conflict arises in the form of a BDSM competition and the return of Fancy Pants. This was a true conflict, one that tested both our leading mares’ relationship and their *cough* talents and demonstrated what an ass Fancy is at the same time.
Then the convention ends and the real conflict hits in the form of Celestia. She is not an opponent who can be beaten by her own idiocy and a demonstration of sexual skill, and suddenly the sex has taken a back seat while the story explores exactly how strong Luna’s and Fleur’s relationship is outside of the bedroom. It was a much-welcome change in direction and a suitable climax for the story as a whole, even if it hinges on the age-old “immortality sucks” theme.
I came away from this one with approval, but in a limited way. The first half of the story is its weaker part, being limited almost entirely to Fleur exploring more about BDSM and her role as Luna’s sub. For the right audience this may prove a fascinating topic, and to Loyal’s credit they do an exemplary job of demonstrating the methodology, the tools, and the risks involved. I especially like how the author avoided the whole “anything goes” direction of pervy fanfiction and took the more realistic route of “there are limits, this can be dangerous, only do it with ponies you trust”. Better yet, they later show a perfect example of why BDSM has to be done carefully and treats the event with all the seriousness it warrants. So while I must admit that the first half did little for me (I find BDSM the opposite of a turn-on), Loyal did as well with the material as one could reasonably ask for and I’m confident a certain subset of the audience will love it.
But for my enjoyment, the second half is where the story shines. This is the point in the story where Luna and Fleur finally start to face genuine obstacles of a variety of natures. It leads to a lot of strained emotions and challenges to the ongoing relationship, and as a result makes the final chapters feel well-earned.
Ultimately, I have to rate this highly; even if it wasn’t entirely my cup of tea (at least at the start), there can be no denying how well Loyal (and GMP) handled this on a technical level. Whenever I think of highly sexual stories that aren’t strictly about the sex, this is the kind of thing I’m looking for. Here’s hoping it isn’t another few years before the next time I read a Loyal story.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Calling Rarity — Pretty Good
Archmage — Worth It
Snip by Snip
1,616 Words
By ThunderChaserCreate
Spike is dead. For Rarity, this will not do.
This one follows Rarity who, in a state of blind desperation, decides to steal Spike’s body from his grave and literally stitch him back together Frankenstein-style. For those of you wondering, yes, it’s a Sparity.
Curiously, Spike died via a fire. You might be wondering how a dragon, who can literally swim in lava, might be killed by a fire. To the story’s credit, it points out that this is indeed absurd and might be a clue to a bigger mystery. Unfortunately, it never does anything with that mystery.
There are a lot of issues. The first thing that bothered me was ThunderChserCreate’s occasional need to use Big Words™ in their descriptions, many of which I don’t think they actually knew the meaning of. For example, early on Rarity’s actions are described as “malevolent”, despite the fact that they are clearly the exact opposite of that.
Then we get the occasional contradictions, such as when Rarity notes that she has to take care to keep Spike’s body clean during her procedure. Except she just dug him out of his grave and makes exactly zero attempt to clean the mud and grime off of him before she gets to work. Then there’s how she clearly is trying to do this in secret but, when her efforts fail at the end, instead of returning his body to its established grave she buries him anew right outside her own door.
I haven’t even started on the typos.
ThunderChaserCreate gets points for trying to go the Frankenstein route with this one, and especially for the cruel ending that is bitter candy to the sadficionados out there. The delivery, however, leaves a lot to be desired and thoroughly overwhelms the positive aspects. The good news is that this is one of the author’s earliest stories on the site, being written way back in 2013, and I know for a fact that some of their more recent works are light-years better in every way. Let this serve as a reminder that improvement comes to those who keep trying.
Bookshelf: Needs Work
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Their Hearth's Warming — WHYRTY?
Matchmaker, Matchmaker... — Pretty Good
Bonus Review: Mr. Mercedes
436 Pages
By Stephen King
Published 2014
Bill Hodges was one of the city’s best detectives, devoting forty years of his life to the force. Now he’s retired, spending his boring days cramming too much food in his stomach, watching trash television… and eyeing the .38 revolver that would fit oh-so easily in his mouth. But then something happens that Hodges never imagined: he receives a letter.
From Mr. Mercedes.
For my first Stephen King book (ever), I wanted to go with something that wasn’t mainstream. Not It, not The Shining, absolutely not The Dark Tower. In my scouring of options, I came upon Mr. Mercedes, which is apparently King’s first attempt at a “hard-boiled detective book”. That sounded like something worth taking a look at.
Mr. Mercedes was one of the few criminals who escaped Detective Hodges' grasp. He got his particular moniker for running a Mercedes Benz into a crowd at a job fair. Now Mr. Mercedes is contacting Hodges out of the blue, taunting him and tempting him to finally eat that bullet. Hodges responds in an entirely different way: he’s going to catch the bastard, retired or not.
One of the interesting decisions on King’s part is in not disguising the villain. We know within a few short chapters who Mr. Mercedes is. Indeed, seeing events from his perspective takes up a solid chunk of the book. This was a great decision, allowing us to see exactly how twisted this psychopath is. This is where most of the creep factor comes in and, as expected, King handled it wonderfully.
Aside from Hodges and Mr. Mercedes, we’ve got a few other players in the game. There’s Jerome, a local teenager who mows Hodges’ grass and does other work for him. Hodges considers him his best friend despite their huge age difference, and Jerome seems to reciprocate. Jerome also likes to switch modes to “Tyrone”, where he jokingly talks like a southern slave just to make fun of the racial dynamic (Hodges hates it when he does). Jerome was a great character all around: loyal, smart, resourceful, and always ready to help even when he knows the consequences for him could be terrible.
My favorite character, however, was Holly (and I’m clearly not alone in this regard). A middle-aged woman still living with her mother, Holly is messed up in all sorts of ways. A bundle of nerves and fears, in many ways she can seem more like a teenager. Yet, to the surprise of everyone except Jerome, Holly quickly proves to be far more capable than her jittery exterior implies, and by the end of the story she proves pivotal in saving the day. I was genuinely proud of her growth as a character throughout this book and I dearly hope she makes another appearance in the sequel.
This ultimately ends up a thriller in which Hodges, Jerome, and Holly go behind the backs of the regular police force to hunt down Mr. Mercedes before he can perform another mass murder, which he has every intention of performing. Things get very dark at times, and that’s after we consider the apparent consideration of suicide at the start of the book. King pulls no punches, which works to the book’s significant advantage, and as the climax approaches it can be hard to fathom how they could possibly stop Mr. Mercedes.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s characters – villains, heroes,and side characters – are all universally interesting, it’s appropriately thrilling, and you can never be quite sure how it’s going to end. I am greatly looking forward to the sequel, which I hope to read sometime later this year if I can find the space in my schedule for it.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Stories for Next Time:
Fluttershy is dead! by MorganaTheNotCat
Nonplatonic? by Fillyfoolish
A String Wedding by BlazzingInferno
For Goodness Sake: the Last Hearth's Warming Horror Story by Jade Ring
Ghost Lights by Winston
The Haunting at Buckwheat Manor by NorrisThePony
Forecast by Jondor
The Last Apples of Autumn by CristalGalaxy
No by Just A Random Pegasus
And Yet We Still Heal by RedHoodie21
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What I personally think:
At the core, deep down, it's still Luna, but they're two different personalities
I think Nightmare Moon is stronger than her
I think that Luna is weaker than Celestia. However, Nightmare Moon (who is stronger than Luna in my opinion) is, at the very least, equal to Celestia, but most likely superior to her in terms of strength
I remember reading Mr Mercedes when it released. I wouldn't call myself a huge Stephen King fan, but I have read a good number of his books simply because of their genre influence and a desire to be part of the proverbial conversation. These days, he's kind of in the 'I have nothing I need to prove anymore' phase, which involves him throwing random ideas at the wall to see which ones stick. I enjoy it, it's a refeshing stage of a popular author's career when they're just pursuing whatever muse seems to be the most fun to write. Mercedes was a surprisingly engaging page-turning with a great villain who was able to be woefully pathetic and creepy at the same time. Fun book.
If you remember Paint the Moon Red, I presented my view that the “Nightmare” forms of Alicorns are their true power levels. Celestia and Luna in their “Regular” forms are actually governing their power with a little thing we like to call Empathy.
So basically, if they lose their empathy, they become walking natural disasters. So Luna is, technically, less powerful than NMM, but only because she cares about other creatures.
Are Luna and Nightmare Moon one and the same? I would assert that yes, they are. There are two reasons for this, first is that I like the effect it has on Luna's characterization. It's one thing to lose control of yourself and do something wrong, but it's something else entirely to retain control of yourself and do the same thing, and not only do it, but revel in it. To take sick glee in the horrors you're causing. Then to be reminded of what you once stood for, and to be shown your mistakes, and the effect you've had, and be forgiven and accepted, but unable to forgive yourself. If Luna and Nightmare Moon were different entities, she may not have felt the need to eternally punish her with the Tantabus.
But the second reason, we've seen at least three other instances of other characters experiencing Nightmare Moon style transformations, and potentially up to five, depending on what theory you follow.
The first and most obvious two are from Equestria Girls. I consider those to be canon, since the mainline show did show Starswirl banishing the sirens. But the two I'm referring to specifically are Sunset Shimmer and Midnight Sparkle. The third would be Stygian. In all three cases, as well as with Luna, we see an individual of immense potential or power who feels betrayed or abandoned by their peers, or in Midnight's case, goaded into power.
The other two I count are Sombra and Daybreaker, Sombra because his magic seems to be in a similar vein to what we see Nightmare Moon preform, and Daybreaker because, even though it was only a fear in Celestia's mind, everything I've seen points to the possibility that it could go down that route.
Now, are Luna and Nightmare Moon as powerful as each other? I say yes, but there's a heavy asterisk there. Nightmare Moon is Luna, but Nightmare Moon is a version of Luna that is much more willing to accept the collateral damage, a version of Luna that's unlikely to hold back. On top of that, I tend to imagine that, while Luna is no stranger to the dark underbelly of the world, she is much less likely to make overt moves. I've always considered her the subtler princess, but Nightmare Moon is about as subtle as a machine gun.
I also consider Celestia to be more powerful than Luna, at least from the perspective of pure magical might. It remains to be seen which one is more politically powerful. I think the reason that Luna nearly defeated Celestia was because Celestia couldn't bring herself to harm her dear sister, even when her sister is actively trying to murder her. I also follow the theory that the Elements banished Luna because they couldn't do anything else. Celestia only controlled half of the Elements, so they could not get through to Luna, and had go just kick the can down the road.
I don't know if, in the series premiere, Celestia was defeated by Luna, or just hiding from her, but if the former, Celestia let herself lose, trusting in Twilight and her friends to do what they did.
To answer your questions:
1. I've played it either way as I felt inspired to for her situation in a given story. I think both can be reconciled with canon.
2. I've also played this both ways but tend toward Luna being stronger. Nightmare Moon just got to her when she was at a low point.
3. My personal feeling is that Celestia is stronger, but not overwhelmingly so, and I wouldn't feel like a story that went the opposite way was wrong.
Note, Casketbase's story didn't win its contest. The story page says it got 2nd. Still a high finisher, though.
Another fine selection of stories this round. I loved Double Solitary; Cozy Glow and Luster Dawn make quite the excellent pairing when written well.
That aside...I still need to rewatch the entire show because I haven't done so in a long time, but my memory isn't a complete sieve so I think I can take a fair crack at your questions.
Despite the whole Nightmare Rarity arc, I've always viewed NMM and Luna as two different personalities. If Luna gets angry and hurt enough, she will regress and turn back into NMM. Anger is like a virus -- if one person gets angry and crosses the line with, say, a cashier, the cashier will then get angry and take it out on a co-worker, who may then take it out on their spouse, so on and so forth. In spite of her usual calm and fairly stoic nature, Luna has anger issues -- let them take control, and she becomes NMM.
We've seen that anger is a basis for making magic stronger (as explained by Starlight), so it's not too far-fetched to think that Luna's magic could work in the same way. Not that I'm too entrenched into the fandom to confirm, but I think a common theory among fans is that Luna's mane is non-ethereal when she first gets blasted by Twilight and co. and the Elements because she is weak in power. By "Luna Eclipsed", she regains enough power to where her mane is now ethereal and it remains that way for most of the series save moments where she is weakened by a villain (I believe it happened when Twilight took her magic so Tirek wouldn't get his hands on it, but I'd have to rewatch to be sure). Personally I choose to bank on that theory, since the comics...well, they mess around with continuity about as often as Odd Squad has done in 10 years. And in that fandom, we have all collectively agreed to not ask about any contradictions regarding that.
Kind of hard for me to answer this if I haven't seen supplementary material like the Journal of the Two Sisters book that details the sisters' exploits in learning about magic. And even then, I only have its TV Tropes entry to go on, which isn't quite the same thing. If I'm going by only the show for now, though, I'd say that Luna was initially on the same level as Celestia pre-NMM. Post-NMM, she starts out weaker, as I mentioned, but gradually regains her powers until she becomes just as capable as Celestia in using magic, to the point where they'd likely be at an impasse if they fought. If it were NMM vs. Celestia, though, I can see NMM overpowering Celestia, though as mentioned in your argument with the Admiral, Celestia leans more towards strategy and tactics, which would give her the upper hoof vs. a pony operating on anger who likely isn't thinking straight.
That's the way I see it for now. When I get around to consuming G4 and all it has to offer once more, my opinions might shift.
Alright, I'm a big fan of this topic, so here we go:
I tend to see both Nightmare Moon and even Day Breaker to be the unsuppressed, uninhibited, unhinged power-mad versions of the sisters. Not that they're different personalities, but extreme versions of themselves in which they've lost or given up on being moral.
Related to the above, NNM is just Luna with no restraints, so no, not more powerful, just willing to let loose.
As far as I can tell, I don't think there's anything in canon to suggest Luna is stronger and the opposite has a lot more to support it, especially if one digs into the comics. By and large I think the younger sister is weaker and like some others have said, only pushed Celestia into a corner in the first place because she didn't want to hurt her. The Elements were the non-violent way to pacify her sister in the moment, so that's what she did. You could even call it the hero debuff, she could beat the villain, but she has to prevent collateral damage at the same time. That said, she's clearly strong enough to do all that and retrieve the elements while being attacked, so I'd say Celestia has a fairly significant power advantage.
Hi! Fairly new to the site and just wanted to say I'm glad I came across your reviews! I wasn't expecting to find something like this when I joined FiMFiction (I haven't used a fic-posting site quite like this one before), but the two Thursday Reviews I've read so far have been really enjoyable and pointed my way to some very enjoyable fic. I'm terribly impressed by your consistency with all this. You do a great job of presenting a useful review of each story while not spoiling the act of reading them. Looking forward to what comes next! (And doubling back to read through your old posts.)
In case you see it, question: which is the higher rating, Pretty Good or Worth It?
As for your questions,
1. Not sure there's conclusive evidence either way, though it's been a while since I've watched the relevant episodes. I vaguely recall NMM not recognizing the name Luna in one of the flashbacks, but that was potion-induced and the work of Discord, so again, not conclusive. It could be that NMM is similar to the Tantabus in being a manifestation of one of Luna's negative emotions (therefore an indivisible aspect of her personality/soul/magical essence, or what have you, that becomes dominant for one reason or another). Personally I've always seen NMM and Luna as the same, but that's just headcanon.
2. NMM appears to be able to do things in the real world that Luna is only able to do in the dream world, so in that respect NMM is more powerful (if one ranks reality higher than dreams). Also extremely debatable, of course.
3. If Celestia's power level can be assigned a large real number, NMM's power level would correspondingly be assigned a large imaginary number. Luna's would therefore be complex.
As to who would win in a fight, the young, inexperienced Mane 6 defeated NMM's force multipliers (the Manticore, avalanche, Shadowbolts, Steven Magnet, Korrupted Living Forest), which is a point against her. The fact remains, however: fangs win in a battle of herbivores, all things being equal.
That’s quite the average batch of tales. I see that oddball HiE is there. I rather liked that one, as I love unconventional stuff and it’s more leaning on telling us what we love about Equestria, without so much fantasy Isakai baggage.
As for the questions:
First, they used to be one, but because the hate got so strong that Nightmare Moon manifested.
Second, they are equally powerful because they share the same body, but then you need to consider whether releasing all your energy to its limit counts as stronger or taming the energy inside you and use it for what you truly want counts as stronger. Because that is their only difference.
However in the show we know that friendship is magic and love is also magic, and if Starlight’s bottled anger is any indication, anger is magic, too.
So does that make Nightmare Moon stronger? I don’t really believe it because of energy conservation. I for one believe that these emotions are simply a kind of state of their inner magic (or if you want to be more technical, inner mana), that tells you how is this energy most likely to be released. I mean Starlight became really worn out after bottling the emotions, so it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that to-be-released mana is directly bonded with a pony’s emotions.
So, it’s hard to say. But eventually all emotions have their uses. Maybe love and friendship allows the magic to be utilized in a more orderly and efficient way but also rather monotone. While things like anger and hate are more chaotic and consuming, but also allows for a bigger variety of hard-hitting spells.
Third, I’d say that Celestia is stronger, but she’s just much better at restraining herself over the course of 1000 years of planning and playing leader. You know, as the power scalers say, “She’s got tons of prep time!” Then again, those two sisters rule over different territories so you can’t actually define what contributes more to their power levels. Still, I am sure Celestia would win in a fight if push comes to shove.
1) Are Luna and Nightmare Moon the same pony or two different personalities?
Same pony. Making NMM some sort of parasite is the weakest dramatic choice to make, and takes away the need for a redemption. Canon evidence: Luna "...became the wicked mare of darkness..."
2) Regardless of whether they are the same or different mentally, is Nightmare Moon stronger than Luna?
Same pony, same strength. NMM may seem more powerful, but that's the "lunatic strength" thing. Sane people hold back.
3) What is Luna's power level in comparison to Celestia? If Nightmare Moon's power level is different from Luna's, how does her power level compare to Celestia?
Before the banishment? Same. Back then, they were in balance and harmony as semi-divine aspects of nature. In the opening they were shown to be of the same size, which is, again, canon evidence, or at least a solid clue, since Lauren was using pseudo medieval imagery for the art style. After Luna got hammered by Harmony, she was very weak, again using size and the paleness of her hue as clues. Later as she became bigger and darker, an indication that she was recovering her original strength. But, as of the end of G4, she hadn't grown to equal Celestia in stature, so... Weaker. As a huge Luna fan, it hurts me to admit this, and I think it would have been incredibly cool to have the sisters be equals again before they retired, but the latter seasons made all sorts of choices I disliked, so... Sucks to be me, I guess.
I think that going by strictly canon evidence, they would be different, because of the comics, which aren't canon, but at least are considered 'soft canon' until contradiction and I don't think anything in the show directly contradicts this.
However, internally in the show the 'external parasite' idea makes no sense with what we are told in the first episodes and how Luna and everyone else thinks and talks about it. As 5845475 iisaw already said, 'external parasite' is super weak from a storytelling perspective and I hate it too.
My personally preferred interpretation is that Luna and NMM were the same pony back in the old days, but due to a large amount of emotional stress and the inability to deal with it, a 'soft split' between the 'victim Luna' and 'NMM' emerged at some point, where Luna would channel all her hate, jealousy, etc. into that other persona because she just couldn't deal with it any other way. Similar to a form of split personality disorder. What the Elements essentially did was 'burning away' the NMM persona and leaving us with the rest (that take is a bit dark, I suppose). Otherwise I find it hard to believe that the EoH were just able to 'reform' Luna.
Assumptions:
- Luna/NMM are physiologically the same
- Strong emotion can amplify magic
Love is stronger than hate, but hate is still strong. NMM would represent a lot of Luna's negative emotions and hate, so she'd be effectively stronger. Also she might have less restraint in the usage of her power. Think about it like humans can 'unlock' a lot of strength they weren't aware of in extreme situations, similar principle may be at work here.
I have 0 evidence for this (I think canonically the most reasonable guess is equal strength), but I much prefer the view that Celestia has more 'raw power' than Luna. Thematically Luna would have abilities like dream walking or changing her appearance, essentially magic that is a bit more 'tricky', than Celestia. While Celestia, representing the sun, would have magic that is much more direct, in your face, more raw juice.
In video game terms, Celestia might have more 'spell power', but Luna has a more 'diffuse' sort of power. I think there is a hint of this in canon by the fact that Luna can dream walk and Celestia can't. They are equals on a cosmic level, but they are very much not the same. They have different strengths.
Combining this with what I said above, Celestia would have more capacity for power, but likely NMM would be able to bring more of it to bear in their fight, because she's 'fuelled by hatred' and Celestia doesn't actually want to hurt her, so Celestia's power would be very restrained.
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Thanks for all the input, folks! I'm glad I asked these questions, the potential responses are far more varied/nuanced than I anticipated. I can't tell if there's any consensus going on with the first and third questions, but the second one (Is NMM > Luna) seems to have a conceptual consensus (i.e. multiple different answers that amount to the same thing in the end), which is interesting in its own right. If anything, I feel like all these different responses/possibilities really emphasizes Luna's potential as a character and the many directions a fanfic author could take her.
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Welcome to the show! Always glad to see new faces here on FIMFiction. And thank you, I do try.
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It was certainly an interesting read; I've got the sequel Finders Keepers on my to-do list for later this year. But honestly, it's all just to build up to the one focused on Holly, who is delightful.
I'm with Koren in regards to the relationship between NMM and Luna, as well as Day Breaker and Celestia. As we saw in the show negative emotions left unchecked could turn into dangerous magic. See All Bottled Up for one example. What took over Luna was her unchecked negative emotions. What we saw in All Bottled Up, in my mind, is what happened to Luna albeit at a much smaller magnitude. What we see in Do Princesses Dream is, again in my mind, All Bottled Up taken to an exponentially larger degree because the magic remained internal where it could further feed on more negative emotions and grow more powerful. This can allow it to grow into a nightmare and do what we saw happen to Luna. What we saw happen in All Bottled Up with the other ponies being taken over was simply lower in magnitude.
Note that I do not think that these emotions are parasites. Rather I see them as a magic similar to the brainwashing that Starlight used in the series. When these overwhelming negative emotions escape and attempt to take over some other creature it takes the creature over in that it makes them bring out the worst of themselves in the way dictated by the negative emotions that created the magic. In All Bottled Up it was Starlight's anger to Trixie. With NMM it was Luna's fears.
I came to this conclusion based on connecting what I saw as similar things from the show and the seeming similarity that I saw with this "mental magic" that I also saw from Jedis with their hand waving mental suggestions. Weaker minded people aren't capable of resisting whereas stronger minded people are. In the case of ponies there is a distinct lack of training against mind control magic because mind control magic was outright banned thus virtually no pony has the training required to resist mind control magic of any form, or at least any more potent form. Could I be creating something that isn't there? Absolutely.
As for is Luna as powerful as Celestia or not? I don't think there is enough evidence to say either way.
Oh yeah, I still need to read In Whitetail Pass, oops.
Anyway:
The show never got very specific about the nature of the Nightmare transformation but the IDW comics introduced the idea that it's a possession of some form, that the Nightmare is a corrupting force that took control of Luna. Personally, though it has its merits, I greatly dislike this interpretation because it robs Luna of her agency, as well as Rarity when she gets involved. I'm of the opinion that this transformation is the result of darker impulses taking over, removing inhibitions, making the pony more interested in selfish desires.
It seems rather implicit that NMM is stronger than Luna given that Celestia had to resort to using an outside force, the Elements, in order to defeat her. I suppose some might argue that the actual reason for the fight between the sisters going down the way it did is that Celestia was reluctant to fight and she had to use the Elements to reach a non-violent resolution. It's usually my belief when it comes to fantasy settings that one's hate may be powerful but the love of many will always be superior, and that neatly goes hand in hand with the ideals present in FiM.
I've always thought that Celestia was stronger than Luna. I recall that this was something you explored in No Heroes; in a straight battle of raw strength, Celestia will always come out on top over Luna. Again, though, this is not something made explicit in canon, we don't have a proper fight between Celestia and Luna to demonstrate this idea. I think this mostly comes down to the idea that Celestia is older than Luna, and I don't think even that is something that's explicitly stated in canon. Of course, in an ideal world, battles don't have to be decided purely by relative power levels. Celestia may be able to win in terms of strength but Luna can still get the better of her through the use of indirect attacks or subterfuge of some form of elemental advantage.
Stephen King's recent forays into the detective/crime thriller genre have been interesting, he's always had a good hand when it comes to suspense so that pairs well with the escalating tension of a mystery story. I remember my grandfather reading a lot of those books in particular and we'd talk about them when I visited him. It's also really a treat in a lot of them how the narrative is split between the protagonist and the antagonist, a presentation that I greatly enjoy because we get to see both of them struggling in their own way. It's delectable to watch Brady from his perspective as he goes about his plans, acting like he's the perfect mastermind, only to get undermined by his own hubris.
The rest of the Bill Hodges trilogy and its related spin-offs are quite good, though for a book in the same vein I would strongly recommend Billy Summers, a story that's not just a thriller but also deeply involved in writing as an art. Your story To My Uncle made me think about it while I was reading it. For a more typical but less talked about King book I would also suggest Four Past Midnight, a collection of four short novels that each offer a very different kind of flavor.
Yeah, understand, the pacing really tripped me up multiple times in early drafts. Heck, the first draft had summed up everything she saw in town in barely two, maybe three paragraphs. However, I felt she needed to comment on her surroundings built up on her common day things while slowly hinting at her problematic sense of time.
I speak English well, but it's far from my native tongue when writing/reading. Verb tenses and shifts, those always slip me up the most, and waiting for Grammarly and such to SUDDENLY realize there is a mistake only after the fact can get grading at times. My aim is at least to ensure I've found the right-sounding word. However, I know that's not the best logic.
Yes, that was the inspiration from day one, and that funny scene I linked in the description. I was already writing Spike's own take of being utterly abandoned, and I wondered, How would Trixie react? I couldn't use the same idea as in that story, but this one hit so hard as time stops and pseudo time looping of her mind allows us to play into the mystery of what happened before the real gut punch arrives. I'm glad you caught the angles I put forth, that at least I didn't mess up in writing that part of the plot.
Thank you for providing me with this review. I will try my best to make whatever adjustments you've brought up here. I'm not sure if I can clean up everything, but I will try my best to do better than "barely" next time.
Good guess, but the answer is Poland! Does that change anything? Besides a few references, not much. If someone wants, they can assume Andy/Early Eye is someone from their own home country.
I suppose it can be, huh? Worry not, it's nothing a hazelnut milkshake can't fix! I appreciate the concerns, that's very kind and observant of you!
I agree, it is bleak as it gets at times. I just always found the concept of a character not giving enough care about something beyond their understanding very entertaining. Though given this is my best story (I'm very greatful for that!), a good portion of people did find it funny too apparently (which I am also joyous about!).
Comments aside, I thank you for reviewing the story! Getting a lengthy review is something I was very giddy about, and seeing it can be considered worth a shot is really inspiring!
P.s. Oh yes, I forgot the mention anything about the grammar. English isn't my main language, so I'm glad people call me out when I trip over my own two feet. Thank you for pointing it out as well!
Just thought I'd toss in my two bits about the Luna vs. Nightmare Moon debate. I think that the biggest clue that The Nightmare is a separate entity is the fact that in the pilot, NMM has no trouble speaking modern ponish, while later on, Luna seems to be speaking an older dialect.
I've been a huge fan of Stephen King ever since I saw The Stand as a teenager. I can only hope that if From a Buick 8 ever gets made into a movie, they don't buck it up like CBS did to Under the Dome.
Luna is weaker than Celestia, but Celestia holds back more than Luna so they appear equal. In turn, Nightmare Moon, which is Luna dropping any pretense of civility and restraint, appears stronger than Celestia. The Nightmare Moon vs Daybreaker fight in canon showed us that Celestia is stronger than Luna. Like Nightmare Moon is with Luna, Daybreaker is what happens when Celestia stops caring and goes all out. Although she wasn't beaten immediately, Nightmare Moon never hit Daybreaker. She was always overpowered. Daybreaker only got two or three clean hits on Nightmare Moon, but after the last one she went down and didn't get back up.
There are those who argue that the Daybreaker vs Nightmare Moon fight isn't reliable since it was Starlight's dream, but there's no reason to suspect that those two dream figments don't reliably scale relative to their real world counterparts. Considering Starlight's fear that manifested those dream figments, wouldn't it make more sense if they didn't necessarily scale to the real world if they were even and just kept fighting? Maybe even with background elements of the Equestrian landscape falling apart as a consequence of their never-ending battle?
I went with Jungian approach to this, which in my reading is the only one that considers real life psychology in the matter, and thus leaves a breadth of nuance to further examine this character dynamic.
See, it's a little bit tricky to reply this straightforward. We are rather malleable, and same goes to our identities. The more correct question in my opinion would be -- are Luna and NMM different identities of the same person? And if so, how many identities Luna actually have?
I was attempting to wrap my head around all this for past year and build a compelling story out of it, and so far I think it was quite a trip. Luna can be easily interpreted as a rather tragic hero, one to rival classical Greek ones, strung along the course of her fate.
Again, there are too many ways to measure one's strength to answer this straightforward. Stronger in which regard? Like, if they battle? NMM seems to be a version/identity of Luna who draws from the darkness of her heart (this interpretation correlates with canon that acknowledges existence of dark magic that draws from negative emotions), so it's up to reader to decide what is actually stronger.
Personally I went with Celestia always trumping Luna, it seems true to canon. But Celestia would never bring herself to hurt her little sister, so if they happen to fight, Celestia will lose. This is something that Luna seem not to be grasping at least until the events of the show
I think this is an interesting question to ponder. Personally I feel the show makes next to no claim about either of these two characters powers, and even less so in relation to one and another. Indeed, it often feels like the main characters or sometimes side characters are better at fighting than they are.
My own personal head canon though, is that their power levels are comparable. Early fandom paints both up as demigods, but nothing seen in the show itself ever hints towards this being true. I think being an alicorn is instead meant to be taken somewhat literally: They have the magical powers of the three tribes combined. That'd make them on a flat level stronger than the average pony, but would also explain why outliers such as Starlight and Twilight seem to far out power them. As such I like to think of Luna and Celestia as being roughly around the same when it comes to power, but they are specialized in very different-- yet in some ways similar --things.
As for these questions, here are my thoughts, based on what I've seen in the show:
1. Luna and Nightmare Moon are two different personalities in the same body. My thoughts are that Luna suffered a psychotic break and for all practical purposes became insane. Nightmare Moon being the magical expression of that madness.
2. Nightmare Moon is stronger than Luna in that Nightmare Moon is empowered by her rage and madness. Having a berserk strength that Luna cannot ordinarily match.
3. Organically, Luna and Celestia are matched in power. Mentally however, Luna holds herself back and subconsciously lessens herself, causing her to seem weaker than Celestia. In time, if Luna continues to receive positive feedback and support, she will eventually remove those self-imposed limitations fully realizing her daily potential, and possibly learning how constructively use her ultimate strength.
Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning? And also, how powerful is Nightmare Moon? And could she beat Goku?
1. Nightmare Moon and Luna are the same pony. Let's refer back to the very start of the series: Luna is jealous of Celestia because ponies prefer daytime to night, and so, the narration tells us, "the bitterness in the young one's heart transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon!" Now, you could look at the word "transformed" and argue that she turned into a different pony, although it's far too vague to draw that conclusion: after all, "transform" in this context can simply mean a change of title or name. When Twilight transformed into an alicorn, she didn't become a different pony.
More importantly, what caused the transformation? The "bitterness in [Luna's] heart." Not any sort of outside force or evil magic, but Luna's own feelings. We make choices based on our feelings every day, but that does not mean we are not in control of ourselves. So this narration, which states that nothing external influenced Luna to change, tells me that becoming Nightmare Moon was a choice she made based on how she felt.
Also, even more importantly: What's the first thing Luna does when she gets beaten by the Mane 6 in the pilot? She apologizes to Celestia. And then she spends four whole seasons punishing herself for what she did by giving herself nightmares every night. Those are not the actions of someone who was forced to become Nightmare Moon, but the actions of someone who chose to do so, and feels bad about it. Luna's actions: saying she's sorry, and then giving herself a punishment, imply that she and Nightmare Moon are one in the same. Otherwise, why apologize for someone else's actions?
Finally, let's look at the season 4 premiere, when Twilight goes back in time and sees Celestia and Luna's confrontation. Luna seems to activate the Nightmare Moon transformation herself, by calling up some dark magic and calling an eclipse. There's no indication of another personality or an evil possession: Luna chooses to do this. What's more, when Twilight sees Nightmare Moon, she calls her "Luna." Given that Twilight knows the present-day Luna and has read more than almost any other pony about Nightmare Moon, it seems unlikely that she would call her Luna unless Nightmare really was Luna.
2. It's unclear if Nightmare is stronger than Luna. She might indicate a power-up, or she might just be Luna at her normal power level (as seen from season two-onward) but with a more evil look and a different, self-chosen name. My gut tells me it's the latter, that Nightmare is more dangerous not because she's stronger, but because she's willing to cross moral lines that Luna had not been willing to cross before she became Nightmare. To my mind, there is ONE piece of canon evidence pointing in that direction, though it's vague enough I can't call it conclusive: when Celestia and Nightmare Moon fight, Celestia never seems surprised by Luna's power level. This implies that she's no stronger than before, but that's not strong enough evidence to say this for sure. The show does not give us enough information to say either way.
3. Their power levels are essentially the same. A recurring theme with the two sisters is that they are mirror images of each other, that they need one another. You can't have day without night, and vice-versa. What's more, on the rare occasions when we see Luna and Celestia fight together, there doesn't seem to be any variance in their power levels: they usually fire off horn blasts of similar size and intensity, just different colors. Celestia's job is to raise the sun, but we know she can raise the moon, too: we don't know if Luna can raise the sun, but she has exhibited a major power (dreamwalking) that Celestia lacks, so that would balance it out. Plus, if we go back to Celestia and Nightmare Moon's battle, Celestia could not beat Luna using just her own powers; she needed the Elements to stop her. Luna's horn blasts are powerful enough to knock Celestia out of the sky but not kill her; but Celestia never hits Luna with a blast of her own, so we don't know if a blast from Celestia would have had the same effect on Luna. If it had, and the two sisters were evenly matched, then that would be a good reason for Celestia to use the Elements, in order to prevent an endless stalemate.
Of course, there are other possibilities: Maybe Celestia really did think Luna was strong enough to kill her, or maybe she used the Elements to avoid having to kill Luna. But from what we've seen onscreen, the most likely scenario is that the sisters have equal (or very close) power levels.
But they could not beat Goku, because we all know how the show works: They'd lose to Goku and then Twilight would have to beat him.
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A lot of very good points, I agree with all of them, actually. If I can add some more ideas for consideration though:
You really would have to look at them being in a similar state and either sparring or fighting to get a sense of who, if any of them are stronger.
Daybreaker vs Nightmare Moon would be a great way to really get a sense for their full strengths as neither would be holding back.
It does also stand to reason that if Celestia can raise the Moon, that Luna would be capable of the reverse feat.
Optional canon (the comics) does present us with the fact that Celestia was always a faster learner with magic, so there is the idea that she was able to copy her sister's signature spell through either rapid study, or observation.
About the only thing that may cause any sort of power disparity is the age difference, which was likely minimal before Luna's banishment, but has likely widened considerably during her 1000 year absence, not just because Celestia has had more time to flex and build her magic muscle, but also due to advancements in magic that would make it easier to cast complex and powerful spells. Celestia just has more raw experience and practice as it presently stands.
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You make a really good point about the moon banishment issue. I didn't consider how much of a handicap present-day Luna would have due to being 1000 years behind her magic knowledge. And we know that she's has trouble catching up with the modern world so this could turn out to be a pretty significant disadvantage for her.
Firstly, I just wanted to say that it's nice to see you're still active on this site. It's comforting to come back after some years away to find content creators I remember still kicking about on here.
1. Are Luna and Nightmare Moon the same pony or two different personalities?
Depends, both options present ample storytelling potential. In general I do like the Jungian concept that popped up in this comment section.
2. Regardless of whether they are the same or different mentally, is Nightmare Moon stronger than Luna?
Imo, it can go either way but leaning towards Luna. I like to imagine Luna having dominion™ of the Dreaming and the collective unconscious will of every living being within her sphere of influence. Nightmare Moon would draw upon power from the darker aspects of those realms.
3. What is Luna's power level in comparison to Celestia? If Nightmare Moon's power level is different from Luna's, how does her power level compare to Celestia?
This is where my fanwank begins to be more apparent. Celestia is by far the strongest. One of the reasons being what the fellas who commented before me brought up. A thousand years is a very, very, very long time. 'Frieren - Beyond Journey's End' has a very good example of this. There's a moment early in the story when Frieren took Fern to deal with a demon that is breaking out of its seal. Fern learns that Frieren, an extremely powerful mage in her own right was unable to defeat Qual. Fern was likely anticipating a fearsome clash with the demon infamously known for its 'Killing Magic'.
Instead. What actually happened left her deeply confused.
Turns out. 80 years was all it took for the infamous 'Killing Magic' to become no more than offensive magic. Imagine what magic would have evolved into if Qual had been sealed for a thousand years. That's what happened to Luna. Now I don't know how old she is pre-banishment, I tend to place her between a few decades to centuries (No more than 300). But even that's not enough when you stack her up against Celestia. Who not only has the advantage a thousand years worth of knowledge. There is also a thousand years of just becoming stronger in various ways. It's such a big advantage that Celestia could even beat Twilight and I don't say that lightly, I fanwake Twilight a LOT.