Spotlight Review on Dreams: Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?

Do you dream of spoilers?

This episode, guys. This episode. If it is not hitting you with one thing, it hits you with another. The reason this post will be a combined Spotlight and Review is because after I talk about the episode itself, I want to talk about something that is very important personally: Dreams.

The episode opens with Luna standing in front of the thrones inside the Castle of the Two Sisters, and even before a smokey creature that Luna addresses as 'Tantabus,' does its thing we get a severe case of deja vu. The Tantabus transforms Luna into Nightmare Moon, which appears to be a painful process, but then she did say that she was 'ready,' and for the Tantabus to do its worst. But something unusual happens after the Mane6 appear, and they launch their Rainbow Power at Nightmare Moon. This something allows the Tantabus to use this opportunity to escape, and while Nightmare Moon is distracted, the Mane6 turn their initial blast from a no-sell to a success, and then they go hug Luna, who wakes up as though from a nightmare, saying that her dreams should never end happily.

This begs the question: what are her dreams normally like? Does she usually defeat the Mane6, Rainbow Power and all? Defeat Celestia and then spread night throughout Equestria? Perform the atrocities that seem to make Luna more reluctant to mix with others, and which allows her to call on the Tantabus to shape her dreams? This, unfortunately, seems likely.

After the opening we go to Carousel Boutique, where Rarity is putting on a pet grooming day for the rest of the Mane6 and their pets -- only they are so sleep-deprived that they have bags under their eyes and keep threatening to nod off -- except for Pinkie, who seems as high-energy as ever, and Spike, who slept well (it's Pinkie Pie, don't question it). There are some shenanigans brought on by some unscheduled poking, and then the mares start revealing that a blue smoke creature visited all their dreams, warping them into nightmares. I have to pause here and ask: in 'The Stare Master' didn't Fluttershy take Opal to the groomer? If so, how are they now doing the grooming themselves? I guess it is okay as long as they were not going for 'professional grade,' but instead looking for an opportunity to spend more time with each other and their pets. It is also nice to see that even being the Council of Friendship they still have time for such relaxing days.

Since this is a matter of dreams, Twilight decides to ask Spike to send a scroll to Luna (yawning, which again is cute. What is up with Twilight being adorkable while being sleep deprived? This mare could use some Rarity-style beauty rest!). I did not know he could do that, assuming Spike can only use Sending between himself and Celestia. But if he can send to Luna instead without any added effort, maybe he can Send to normal ponies too? So wherever Spike is, there's a fax. Luna arrives immediately, perhaps already having been on the prowl for the escaped Tantabus. Here she reveals that the Tantabus is a creature of her own nightmares, and that it has escaped. She then leads the Mane6 in setting Twilight's room up for a little, late sleepover. Spike says he'll stay up to guard them all, which while a sweet gesture is useless unless the Tantabus does escape into the waking world -- and then what might he be able to do?

Luna uses magic threads to connect to each of the sleeping Mane6, and proceeds to follow the Tantabus as the dream sequences seem to reveal both the Mane6's fondest wishes and their worst nightmares: Rarity (who was the one who got corrupted in the Nightmare Rarity comics) dreams of animated dresses; Fluttershy dreams of being taken care of by a giant Angel; Applejack is polishing the giant apple from 'Bats;' Dash is fighting Changelings (and Luna immediately mistakes it for the nightmare); Twilight is studying in a library; Pinkie keeps jumping from scene to scene as new thoughts occur to her, and it's interesting to note that these are all places where she has been. She jumps to Sugar Cube Corner, where there are lots of cakes, but just as she is about to eat one the Tantabus animates them and turns them into monsters. In each case, Luna has a dynamic entry and blasts whatever the Tantabus monsterizes, but then the Tantabus flees. Also in every case, the Tantabus monsterizes something each member of the Mane6 would find difficult to fight, especially Twilight with her books. Compared to Rarity, who blasts the dress monsters with her magic (and I believe this is the first time we have ever seen her attack with magic) Twilight does not put up a fight at all. It is also interesting that Luna freezes the Tantabus in crystal the same way Cadence froze the bursting water in 'Princess Spike.' Sombra would be freaking out if he knew all the princesses could do crystal magic! In the end, Luna chases the Tantabus out of Pinkie's dream, and she shifts again, inviting all of Ponyville to share some ice cream with her. This is important because Luna reveals that the Tantabus can escape into others' dreams if the original dreamer/s see them in their dreams.

With the Tantabus escaped, Luna blames herself now more than ever, especially since she could barely track it in only six dreams. She also reveals that she created the Tantabus, so if it escaped into the waking world and turned into a living nightmare, it would be all her fault. Twilight, Fluttershy, and the others convince Luna to try making a shared dream between all of Ponyville to track the Tantabus down, and to capture it by accepting help from the others. In the shared dream we see all sorts of interesting things, like Berry Punch's head floating away, Lyra and Bon Bon joined at the hip like Catdog, and the walking lamp post from 'Three's a Crowd.' There is also a giant-sized Derpy who meows, and Big Mac apparently wishes he was a Unicorn.

Luna starts assembling Ponyville, but her warning that something is coming seems too vague and on the foreboding side. I guess she is more used to scaring than rallying others' support, which seems strange considering how she handled the Crusaders' nightmares. Perhaps it is her overriding, still-building guilt that makes her speak as she does, and so before she can instruct the other ponies, the Tantabus appears and starts to monsterize houses, which keeps the Mane6 busy trying to save the other citizens.

Things start to change after Fluttershy changes into Flutterbat to bite a monster house's foot. The others also begin to realize that since this is a dream, they can do the things that they normally do in a dream, so while Luna is busy keeping the shared dream together, they begin to transform or change: Spike into his knight form from 'A Dog and Pony Show,' so he can ride on Derpy's back like a knight; Filthy Rich flies around on a cloud of bits, blasting the Tantabus with more bits; Mac goes full Alicorn in a transformation sequence straight out of Sailor Moon, and starts flying around blasting things; Scootaloo makes her wings massive and blows the Tantabus out of a rift it has made; Dash becomes Zapp, and Applejack becomes Mistress Marevelous. But even this rallied force is a no-sell, sort of like the Mane6's Rainbow Power in the cold open.

Luna mourns that because of her and her created Tantabus, Equestria will become a living nightmare, and just as things seem to be going well, the Tantabus grows and becomes vaguely Unicorn-shaped. Spike and the others take notice, and Twilight tells Luna that the Tantabus is probably feeding off of her guilt. Luna realizes that this is probably how it became powerful enough to escape her dreams in the first place, which only makes the Tantabus stronger again. Luna is convinced she has not changed since becoming Nightmare Moon, but Twilight tells her she is: instead of trying to spread eternal night, Luna is trying to stop the Tantabus with everything she has -- and if Luna cannot trust herself and know that that is her intention, can she at least trust her friends that they are right about her?

This is the breaking point, where Luna accepts that she has changed from her friends' point of view, and that because she has changed she can stop punishing herself. Her mindset shifted, she accepts the shrunken Tantabus back into herself with thanks, tears, and a smile. The shared dream dissolves, and we soon find that Luna is sleeping peacefully in Twilight's room, dreaming of finally getting some rest. So how long has she been punishing herself? As Nightmare Moon every time she sleeps on the moon? Ever since her return and purification by the Mane6? Both are a long time in which to punish oneself, especially on top of the initial punishment of 1,000 years banishment to the moon. When is it 'enough,' then? We are often our greatest critics and worst enemies because we are far too close to our own actions. We can get trapped in our own heads with our thoughts, ruminating over something over and over again until we have drowned ourselves in a storm of our own remorse. This feels like exactly what Luna has done, and she needs her friends to pull her out of that mindset. Fortunately she does, and she is finally able to get her well-deserved rest, and dream happily.

This episode, I feel, was a long time in coming. The comics addressed Luna's guilt way back in the Nightmare Rarity arc, and made it responsible for her going from season 1 light, short hair to season 2, dark ethereal hair, and her body growing back to what the season 4 premiere reveals is her normal self. As long as we had to wait for another Luna episode (it has been since 'Luna Eclipsed' in season 2)' this was well-executed and well-deserved, better in many ways than the comic, although Luna also fighting Nightmare Rarity's forces was also pretty epic.

The episode also raises another question: was Luna merely possessed in being Nightmare Moon, or was she her, acting willingly to try to spread night? According to the comics it was a possession by the Nightmare Forces. This episode has Luna create a nightmare creature, the Tantabus, to torture her in her dreams. That Tantabus was not responsible for Luna's original transformation to Nightmare Moon, it just did it in her dreams. Judging by the sequence in the season 4 premiere, the transformation was shocking to Luna, so she had not expected it -- but does this necessarily mean that she did not have any will or responsibility as Nightmare Moon? In this episode Luna feels guilty as though the actions of Nightmare Moon were completely her own, so maybe it was not a possession, in which case the question remains: what transformed her?

I believe there is little with which to find fault with this episode. It was as fun as it was meaningful. Sketchy (the) Changeling does call attention to Luna's revelations regarding the Tantabus's origin as being repetitive. I think it is not because Luna reveals new information or talks to new ponies each time to bring them into the loop. It may be repetitive to us because we have heard it all before, or concluded it for ourselves, but to write in character for the ponies of Ponyville they had to be informed as well, at least in my opinion.

I give this episode an 8.5 out of 10, or an A.

Now, for the personal bit about dreams. When I was 12 I made the decision to give myself powers in my dreams. One power per dream would contribute to the mission I was trying to accomplish, although I never knew what the mission was at first. The power or equipment I got was my only clue: I could have a fire sword and have to fight an enchantress, or I could have keen insight and have to investigate a haunting. Whenever I entered my dreamscapes I always had power, so I never had a real nightmare again. These days I often do not remember my dreams when I wake up, but I have written the stranger ones down, since they could become interesting stories.

As it connects to The Gear Series, perhaps you have noticed that Luna has been teaching Gearhead, and a little bit to Snowbelle, some telepathy. Perhaps in the future Gearhead will be able to help Luna with her Dreamwalking?