Nightmare Moon is a Badass · 1:12pm Sep 30th, 2017
So I was just watching a reaction video to the season 5 finale. (I know. But sometimes I like to look back.) And something struck me about one of the timelines.
In the Nightmare Moon future the country seems to be completely at peace (unlike the Changelings taking over or Sombra waging war, even though Twilight maintains NMM is somehow worse.) Tourists visit the castle, so the general populace doesn't live in complete fear, and at least two of the Mane 6 have willingly entered her service.
So here's the main thing: This means Nightmare Moon, in addition to banishing Celestia, was able to beat every major villain and threat to Equestria from Season 1 to 5 (Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek and Starlight Glimmer) BY HERSELF!!!
From a pure perspective of power, Nightmare Moon might be the biggest badass in all of Equestria.
No kidding... All hail the All-Mighty Night!
You seem to be forgetting a small thing, Eternal Night. The fact of the matter is that eventually everything is going to either wither away and die and her subjects will starve if they don't freeze to death first. Plus, we don't have any reason to believe that the world is at peace considering the fact that we only see a small portion of it. We also don't know for sure whether or not Rainbow Dash and Rarity willingly joined her or if they were forced into serving her. Plus there are several timelines that come in after this which Twilight visits.
Just saying, NM'S timeline may not be as peaceful as you believe...
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Well, the snippet we see would be quite some time after her return, and everything looks pretty green to me. So maybe she only switched day and night around, and everypony sleeps during the day, or her power is such that the moon is able to provide enough light and heat for the plants. Or, you know, magic. But it's pretty clear to me that the world isn't going to freeze over.
And while I can't prove it, I very much assume that Dash joined willingly. Here's my reasoning:
Of course ponies would have been initially afraid of her when she overthrew Celestia. But look at the aftermath: What ponies would have seen by then was a leader that, unlike Celestia, handled threats like Discord, Sombra and Tirek on her own, rather than standing on the sidelines. Public opinion would have almost necessarily shifted in her favor after saving the world for the third or fourth time.
Now, granted, she would have probably done those things to preserve her own throne, not out of any desire to protect her subjects or the kindness of her heart. But people would still see her as a strong and competent ruler who can protect them. That's no doubt something that would impress Dash. So it makes perfect sense to me that she'd join her guard. And I don't think NMM would have had any reason to force Rarity into her service if all she is gonna make her do is deal with the palace decor and tourists.
I'm not saying it's necessarily a nice or cheerful place. But I do think it's a place that everypony would feel and be generally safe in, with a ruler in charge that isn't necessarily beloved but certainly respected.
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Respect or fear?
Plus, there's the fact that Discord and Tirek's timelines were shown sometime after NM'S, so it's debatable whether or not she really could have beaten them as easily as everyone is implying. Especially since Discord can literally snap his fingers in make everything his plaything and Tirek was able to stay under the radar and steal more than enough magic without anyone noticing until many months later.
Not to mention that judging by the expressions on her guards faces when Twilight mentioned Celestia, I wouldn't be surprised if she browbeat anyone who so much as spoke of her in the past. I mean, RD herself looked downright terrified when Celestia's name was mentioned. And as for Rarity, at this point I think it would be a simple "work for me or perish" sort of routine, in which Rarity would work under her simply to preserve herself and ensure her family's survival.
And I think Silverquill put it best:
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Funny that you mention that video, because I was just about to link one that directly contends with the ideas presented in Silver's video, and after watching both, I'm inclined to agree with the latter.
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Well, we're talking about time travel here. So these are not sequential. Do keep that in mind. Twilight and Spike do keep returning to the same point in time without fail, only the events leading up to that point have changed.
Nightmare Moon was the first villain to be foiled in the timeline we've seen on the show. So it's a reasonable assumption to say: Every alternate future that does not involve her, is a case where she was not able to return and assume the throne in the first place. (Maybe due to a last ditch effort by Celestia or the Elements of Harmony working in a diminisehd way.) But in all these other realities Celestia was eventually beaten by one of those other villains without the help from the Mane 6. Nightmare Moon wasn't. With her initial return successful, she was able to handle everything thrown at her.
Are those mutually exclusive? But I think there is respect there after she's ruled for some time. Clearly ponies aren't lining up to try and assasinate her, otherwise why would she allow tourists in the throne room? And yes, everypony looks terrified when Celestia is mentioned, but how does Nightmare Moon respond? She laughs! Clearly she doesn't fly off the handle in a psychotic rage everytime someone mentions Celestia's name.
So wouldn't an equally valid interpretation of everypony's reaction to Spike's words be: How could anyone even suggest that anypony else should rule other than the one who has saved us from destruction time and time again? Plus, we've seen Twilight and other ponies freak out when they think Celestia has a reason to be mad at them. And Celestia isn't a despot.
So yes, I'm sure ponies are afraid of her, because she's powerful, more powerful than Celestia and all the villains. But all the implications lead me to believe that most of her subjects respect, and some even admire her, for those very qualities.
Again, why would it be important to Nightmare Moon who hangs the drapes and handles tourists? I'd be surprised if she even knew Rarity's name. If Rarity were to simply run off, she likely wouldn't even notice beyond the fact of being told that the castle staff is hiring a new designer.
Now let me say it again, I don't think that's a nice and fluffy version of Equestria. But it sure beats a grueling war or being enslaved by Changelings, doesn't it? So if I have to put my finger on the one alternate Equestria that stands above the rest of them, this would be it.
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Sorry, but I'm not comfortable with the implication that it would be better to worship the evil Tyrant who got banished for trying to usurp/kill her sister out of jealousy. Celestia ain't perfect, but there's a reason Equestria is still around even after a thousand years.
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That's not what we're saying at all. The idea presented that Nightmare Moon's rule was a peaceful one. Whether or not it's right to "worship" (they aren't worshiping her, but I digress) an "evil Tryant" and whether or not one is comfortable with the notion is irrelevant.
I'm sure there is a reason, but considering how many times Celestia gets her ass kicked, I'm inclined to believe that either she isn't the sole reason for her nation's survival, or she got incredibly lucky.
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Okay, let me say it again just to be really clear: OF COURSE I'd rather live in a harmonious Equestria ruled by Celestia, Celestia & Luna together or even Princess Cadence for that matter.
But if that wasn't an option, I'll take Nightmare Moon over Discord, Tirek and Chrysalis. That's what I'm saying. And that's probably how the general population would feel as well under her reign. It's not perfect, but it could be a hell of a lot worse.
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To be fair, I can only count a few points in the show where she's actually been fully defeated. Chrysalis was lucky because she had soaked up not just love from Shining Armor, but pretty much everyone who was fawning over her at the time. Discord warps reality with the snap of a finger, so it makes sense that he would have an incapacitated her off-screen or something. I can only assume Nightmare managed to beat her because she held back against her sister, the same way she did a thousand years ago. Tirek was only able to send them to tartarus so easily because because because they didn't have any magic. Chrysalis had the common forrsight to attack at night when she was asleep, and considering she has that magic draining stone I can only assume she took a chunk of it and gave it to her soldiers to keep nearby just in case she did wake up and use magic.
So while she has gotten beaten it was only on the certain circumstances where she was taken by surprise or couldn't truly fight back.
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To be fair, while Sombra's timeline is a war-torn one, Celestia is still in power, implying that she managed to face off against various other threats before he came back, so there's still hope for Equestria's survival as it's clearly stated that Sombra has only dominated the North and has yet to take any major points in the rest of Equestria. So it's clear that Celestia is actually doing a good job at driving him back, even see her leading the charge on the battlefield so it's clear that she's getting stuff done.
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Hell, I would even go so far as to say that Nightmare Moon's Equestria is arguably safer than Celestia's
Think about it: Twilight was visiting alternate versions of the present, meaning that in the Nightmare Moon timeline, she had been comfortably in power since her return, given how she describes her rule. That would mean that all the crises that came to Celestia's Equestria were swiftly dealt with in Nightmare Moon's and from the way she so swiftly handles the Timberwolves, Moon clearly isn't one to avoid dealing with threats directly and swiftly.
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You're missing the point regarding Celestia's defeats. Regardless of how she was defeated or incapacitated, the fact remains that she was defeated.
As for your points on her conflict with Sombra: first off, we don't know if Celestia is "doing a good job" because we have no information regarding how fast Sombra's territory grows. We don't know how many battles he's won vs. how many battles he's lost. The only information we do have is that he is met with opposition by Celestia whenever he makes a move, which is the bare minimum expected of a ruler whose territory is being encroached upon.
Also, if Celestia was "doing a good job" at driving Sombra back, then she wouldn't be struggling against him. If she were "doing a good job," Sombra would be on his way to being defeated. If she was "doing a good job," Equestria wouldn't be in its war-torn situation to begin with.
Just because Celestia is still in power doesn't mean that her nation is healthy or thriving. The fact that she is still in power in that timeline doesn't make said timeline any better, because who is in power isn't relevant. The state of the nation is.
Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon's Equestria has little to no conflict. All the potential threats have been dealt with, so if I had to choose, I'd pick Nightmare Moon's in a heartbeat.
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Ah, yes. Let me think a moment on who had the brilliant idea of getting rid of her magic. Oh, right! It was Celestia herself who came up with the idea that backfired just five minutes after when Tirek figured out who Twilight was.
And yet Nightmare Moon wasn't taken by surprise by those villains, probably because she's more prepared and on guard than Celestia is.
And yet the implication again is that Nightmare Moon was able to defeat Sombra without things getting that far.
Make note, I'm not passing judgement on who is the better ruler here. But it's clear that Celestia and Nightmare Moon would be very different rulers. And that's mostly down to the fact that Nightmare Moon would be the more proactive one, dealing with threats much more swiftly and decisively. Celestia gets taken by surprise because she allows herself to get taken by surprise.
And I think that's part of what is so appealing about the Nigthmare Moon version of Equestria to many. Celestia is a purely reactive ruler, who relies on having those she fostered at her disposal to be the heroes. Nightmare Moon is a proactive ruler who would BE the superhero, even if it's for selfish reasons.
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As far as you know. Again, we've only seen a small portion of her timeline in that doesn't really say much. In fact, what you just said about Sombra's timeline can easily be attributed to Nightmare's as well:
Just because there seems to be little to no conflict in her timeline doesn't mean that her nation is completly healthy or thriving. The fact that she is completely unchallenged in that timeline doesn't make said timeline any better.
I can easily compare Nightmare's timeline to that of one scene in the episode of Voltron; the main characters come across a rift that sends them into an alternate Dimension where Allura wasn't put to sleep and instead defeated Zarkon before the Galra Empire could form.
Everything seems perfect, no Wars, no conflict, no evil empire.... and the alternate Alteans are eliminating evil and promoting peace throughout the multiverse... through literally removing the free will of entire races that they deem evil and taking control with an iron fist.
But don't worry, the alternate Alteans most definitely do not have slaves, they have Noncogs. Slaves still have the free will to resist. Noncogs have implants to make sure they don't. And they are also most definitely spreading peace and stability, not 'conquering the universe'...
Now take all that into account, and remember that Nightmare Moon has the ability to enter your dreams... in a world that is subjected to Eternal Night...
Think about that.
I'm basically in agreement with this, although we can quibble about how peaceful things are far outside the royal palace. It's certainly true that Nightmare Moon, seemingly alone of all the major villains, wants to rule the world rather than destroy it. And it's true that in the Nightmare Moon timeline she would have to have defeated all the other major villains that came after her, (which is all of them, since she came first).
The fact that the capital of her kingdom is prosperous doesn't necessarily mean that the whole kingdom is peaceful though. She is surrounded by a royal bodyguard who are ready to swarm those tourists at a moment's notice, after all, and the Everfree Forest is as wild as ever, even though it's right on her doorstep. And of course we don't see anything that gives any hint of the state of the world further out.
It's also true that once Nightmare Moon had defeated Celestia she might well have given Equestria a simple choice: swear fealty to her (and hey, she is a member of the same royal family that had been ruling them since time out of memory, so... that's technically legitimate?), or die a gruesome death. And then many ponies, including Rarity and Rainbow Dash, agreed to go along.
I think Nightmare Moon's world is in many ways more insidious, and hence more frightening, than the others
she is the only one who has shown that she has lasting power, and won't simply burn out in the end. She is Celestia's sister, after all.
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I seriously doubt that they'd see her as a hero she technically usurped their benevolent ruler and forcibly subjected them to a lifestyle none of them asked for. If anything they could see her as more of a necessary evil for them to survive considering they literally have no choice on who rules them at this point.
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Exactly, as far as I know, which means that I'm making my conclusions based on the knowledge I have and not based on conjecture or speculation. If the show gives us further insight that contradicts my conclusions, then I would retract them as there is now solid proof that it's not the case.
But that hasn't happened.
Except it does because we are discussing which nation is more peaceful, and if Nightmare is completely unchallenged in her rule, then that means there is no conflict, which means that her rule is a peaceful one, and within the context of this discussion, where we are discussing the relative peace of these alternate versions of one nation, Nightmare Moon's is one of, if not THE most peaceful.
Pro tip: Just because you take someones train of thought and substitute their argument with your own, doesn't mean that train is gonna lead to the right destination.
Now, to address your comparison to Voltron, that doesn't work because the viewers are shown proof that the Alteans are oppressing the rest of their universe, whereas Nightmare Moon only rules Equestria based on what we are given. There is literally no proof or even a hint that she is attempting to, or even desires to rule other nations.
so what? Just because Nightmare Moon has the power to do something doesn't mean that she will do it.
Luna has that very same ability to enter ponies' dreams, and could very well torture them in their sleep if she wanted to, but that doesn't mean she will.
Celestia could bring the sun crashing into the planet with no problem, but that doesn't mean she'll do it.
It is suggested that Cadance can make two ponies that are arguing suddenly fall in love with each other, but that doesn't mean she'll use it on her Crystal Ponies.
Twilight has a plethora of spells at her disposal, including ones that can literally change people's behavior, but that doesn't mean she'll use it on whoever she wants.
The Equestria we know has SEVERAL beings ruling it that ALL have powers that can easily be abused, so if we were to go by your logic, the ponies in the Equestria we know have a lot more to be scared of than the ponies in Nightmare Moon's Equestria,
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Did anypony have choice about who rules them when Celestia was in charge?
I don't think so. And once ponies realized that she might not be doing a better job, but also not a worse job, than her sister, I think most would have arranged themselves with the change in government rather quickly.
Here's the thing. I don't really see much indication that the daily life of the average pony has changed all that much. Nightmare Moon doesn't strike me as the type to micro-manage unless she's directly threatened. I feel (and yes, that's my subjective opinion) that ponies that are not living in her immediate vicinity live the same way they lived under Celestia's rule.
Oh, sure. Some might be annoyed that they stub their toes more often now. But that's just it. Apart from a change in scenery due to the night and having to say 'Praise the Moon' instead of 'Praise the Sun,' I don't see the daily lives of the general populace being different. Because Nightmare Moon doesn't have a reason to do things differently than Celestia in that regard. She wants Equestria to be the same place it was under her sister's rule. Only she wants the credit for it.
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That's part of the reason why I think her reign wouldn't actually be oppressive. In a way, Nightmare Moon means freedom. As long as you don't oppose her, she'll let you live your life the way you see fit. And she'll also step in to protect that from outside threats.
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I do like that video you shared, I think Silver still has some valid points, but it's a very good refutement of his theory. (And I especially agree with the point that Silver sometimes takes his archetype analogies too far, fixating on what the archetype demands rather than what the story presents.)
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Aside from the fact that she's subjected the entire world into Eternal Night, not just Equestria. So it makes sense that other nations in the world would take issue with this.
You said it yourself, she had been comfortably in power since her return. And it's doubtful that other nations will be comfortable with being forced into an eternal night. So naturally, she'd have to go to war... repeatedly, you know, because the world is a big place?
It kind of does considering that this is the villain were talking about. Remember? The one who had no qualms with nearly getting our six heroes tossed off a cliff and/or crushed in a rockslide? The same one who had a Manticore attempt to rip them to shreds?
The bigger question is: why wouldn't she utilize such power to see inside her subjects heads just to snuff out any potential rebellions?
Because they are benevolent and have morality, as well as the proper mindset to not abuse such powers, Nightmare Moon on the other hand is still a tyrant. And if we take that her actions in the first episode in the account she's more than likely use any underhanded method to ensure the she's the only ruler that Equestria has.
And while we were shown proof that the Alteans we are pressing others in their timeline, we were never shown any proof that absolutely everyone was happy under Nightmare's rule, despite how things look, especially since we're only shown two separate locations. For all we know outside of Ponyvillie the world could be a police state. There could be the same kind of enslavement areas that Sombra had in his timeline, just more out of sight from the public.
We may never know, but we shouldn't be saying that Nightmare is a saint compared to everyone else.... and considering that she doesn't like anything for anyone rivaling in her in a position of power and snuff it out immediately, I'd hate to think of what she did to Cadence... or God forbid her daughter.
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But she is doing things differently via Eternal Night, again forcing everyone into a lifestyle that they never wanted. And this is Nightmare Moon we're talking about, not Luna.
And here's a question: if everything was perfectly well under her rule then why did she want Twilight's time travel spell? She never stated that she was going to destroy it, only that she was going to go back in time and make sure the elements are never found.
Why? If she perfectly content with her position, destroying it would be a better option.
It's simple, because she's selfish.
She KNOWS that there are those that will rise up against her tyranny, hence why she wants to snuff it out. And while you could argue that she's taking precautions that any other ruler would take, you need to remember that she's talking about getting rid of one of the few things that could one shot any evil entity that came at them, that alone says a lot.
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I guess that's the main point in our difference of opinion. Stamping out rebellions is the only reason she would have to abuse her power like that.
But there is no rebellion on the horizon. The implication is that the general populace is content with the way things are. They are safe from harm and their freedom isn't impeded. If the natural world in Equestria isn't suffering from the night, there's reason to assume that the rest of the world is either. The reason other nations aren't trying to conquer Equestria is the same reason they don't have a problem with Celestia controlling the sun and the moon. And here's the proof: Equestria is not at war. Granted, as Daedalus pointed out we don't see much beyond the Everfree. But if Nightmare Moon was conducting a war against every nation on the planet, she'd be in a war council, not lounging on her throne and entertaining tourists in her seat of power.
Rebellions don't take place for trivial reasons. And if there's no rebellion looming, then Nightmare Moon has no reason to keep her subjects in a perpetual state of fear.
Why does she want the Elements of Harmony and the time travel spell? Because she's smart in addition to being powerful. She takes precautions. That is why she has defeated every other major villain in the show in her timeline. She's good at covering her bases. By your own logic, it's a terrifying prospect to think those things could fall into the wrong hands (like Discord, Chrysalis, Tirek or even just a dreanged unicorn sorcerer.)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Celestia doesn't want time travel spells widely available to the public either. That is why she keeps them way in the back of her Royal Archives that by all indications only she and her most trusted student have access to.
The average pony on the street isn't gonna take up arms just because the sky looks different, a fact that doesn't do them any harm. The reason is simple: They didn't have a say in what Celestia did with the sky either. History is full of monarchs being overthrown by other monarchs, blood-related and otherwise. And here's the kicker, people on the street don't care who rules them as long as that ruler can fulfill three basic requirements: Keep the streets safe from bandits, let me make a living without interference and don't demand so much tax money that I can't sustain myself. Number 2 and 3 were true before and Nightmare had no reson to change that. And she seems to have done an admirable job of Number 1.
All indications are that she's doing a good job of geverning. She's actually invested in the well-being of her subjects, because she's the one they should be grateful to. Her reasons are far different, and completely selfish, but she has as much interest in the happiness of her subjects as Celestia did.
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If that were the case, Nightmare would be in the same state as Celestia in Sombra's future, to a much worse degree, but she isn't.
You're forgetting that she did all those things so she could reach her end goal of becoming ruler, and that was a timeline where she faced opposition.
In the timeline where she is ruler, she didn't have opposition because the Elements of Harmony were never rediscovered by the Mane 6, so we don't know whether or not she used those same methods to become ruler, and to assume that she did is pure speculation.
I can think of two reasons. Firstly, it could be because there is no desire to, just like there is no desire to rebel against Celestia, but that's another assumption. I prefer to go for the more pragmatic reason that any kind of rebellion from normal ponies against Nightmare Moon isn't worth worrying about. If she was capable enough to handle extraordinarily powerful villains, then any rebellion from regular ponies is the last thing on her list of worries.
That. Is. All. Speculation. Your use of the phrase "for all we know" is a clear indication of this. If we are going based on what we have seen, then there is nothing to prove that the ponies are unsatisfied with Nightmare Moon's rule. Your assertion that there is some unrest in her Equestria is an assumption, nothing more.
Except for the time or Princess Luna created a being for the sole purpose of punishing herself with the knowledge that if it were to get out of her own head, it would devastate the dream world and potentially the real world, and she chose to do that instead of going to a therapist like a normal person.
Or the times that Twilight's anxiety constantly got the better of her and she used her magic on several occasions to make a situation much worse than it needed to be.
Proposing a horrific possibility of what she could do to them, assuming that Flurry would even be born in this timeline, doesn't help your argument. It just inflates the supposed terror to make it seem more credible.
Literally NO ONE is saying that, and that is the point that you seem to consistently miss throughout the course of this discussion. Both Ranko and I have repeatedly made it clear that it is not a matter of which ruler is nicer. For the umpteenth time, whether or not Nightmare Moon is a nice ruler is irrelevant to this discussion, because that is not what we are evaluating here. The point of the discussion was which alternate version of Equestria was more stable, based on the information that we are given.
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The same speculation that led to the assumption that she was a good/better ruler just because there was no (visible) conflict in her timeline. Like you said, simple speculation.
Fair enough.
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That still doesn't mean that her timeline is in any way better than Celestia's, especially since I doubt she's made peace with the Yaks, dragons, changelings, or Griffins. All of whom were made into the valuable allies to Equestria thanks to the mane six under Celestia's rule.
Otherwise it wouldn't truly have been considered a bad future Sorry, but I'll take the rule of benevolent figure over the rule of a tyrant any day, no matter how "stable" her timeline may look, there's always a catch.... and I'd rather not find out what that catch is in her timeline...
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Except that my point wasn't that Nightmare Moon was a better ruler. My point, and the point of this entire discussion being started in the first place, was that Nightmare Moon's rule was more peaceful, and that point is, once again, based on what is shown to us.
But you don't know that, do you?
And who is to say that the same cannot be accomplished in Nightmare Moon's timeline?
Benevolence doesn't mean jack when your nation is constantly under attack by random villains and barely making it out by the skin of their teeth every time.
And you're entitled to not want to take that chance, but that doesn't guarantee that this "catch" you believe to exist is as bad as you think it is, if it's bad at all.
Regardless of your fears, based on what we get in the episode, the ponies are content with Nightmare's rule, and to quote the video I linked at the very beginning of this discussion:
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Again, you're comparing Nightmare Moon's timeline to the actual timeline of the show, which is where I agree with you. I'd rather have that than any of the alternate ones.
But in comparison to the war with Sombra, that argument doesn't stick. We see Equestria stand alone, even as Celestia takes to the battlefield. There's no griffons, yaks or dragons on the battlefield to stand by their Equestrian 'allies.'
Nightmare Moon has beaten Sombra in her timeline, ALONE. Getting back to my original point, that means Nightmare Moon alone is capable of achieving what Celestia can only achieve with help from the Mane 6 in terms of power. She's not a saint. She doesn't do things the way Celestia does and she certainly doesn't do them for the same altruistic reasons. But she would be a damn EFFECTIVE ruler, and in my opinion respected by most, as well as even adored by some of her subjects. And yes, feared as well, just as ponies fear Celestia.
I think true badasses of that episode were Flim and Flam. The fact that they got their own dystopian time line means that they are on par with Discord and Nightmare moon. Plus they had a mech, if they have mechs in that future that's the one I would want to live in.
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The problem I see in your entire "Nightmare Moon is still evil" logic is given by your own statement.
Yes, she tried to kill the Mane Six. The catch? Indirectly. If she were the evil, mind controlling monster you claim, why not just kill them outright? Why not torture Twilight for the information about time travel? Or rip it from her mind? Honestly her reaction to "I'm the time traveler from a world where you don't rule because I beat you. Now I'm going to change things back!" was TAME. She could have simply gone "Neat." and splatted Twilight into a red smear. In fact if she were the monster you're claiming, she WOULD have done that.
Yes she less than subtly threatens Twilight, but that's ACCEPTABLE. If you were to tell the ruler of ANY nation that you're going to forcibly remove them from power/office to their face, you're going to have a bad time. Hell in some places that can get you killed ON THE SPOT. Yet she gives some minor threats to Twilight and Spike, then offers to allow them to simply give her want she wants. A way to prevent someone else from changing time. Which is STILL reasonable. Imagine for a moment if Chrissy or Tirek got the power to alter time? Yeah, not fun.
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It doesn't matter whether she was subtly trying to kill them or she only minorly threatened them. The problem is that she needed to threaten/try to kill them at all.
She was still a Villain that tried to usurped the throne, pretending her methods make her different doesn't change that. If that were the case then the elements wouldn't have worked on her.
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One can't usurp a throne if you already own it. She was a rightful ruler of Equestria. Legitimately she already had near absolute power. The only one that could question her authority was Celestia. However this cut both ways, Luna could also question Celestia's authority. Luna simply felt sidelined and underappreciated because her sister got all the credit. And she was CORRECT. Celestia failed to realize her sister's suffering because she was too busy lapping up the adulation of the people.
And yes, there is a HUGE difference between "Put someone in life threatening situations/threatening to harm someone" and "Actually attacking/killing someone". ESPECIALLY when you factor the kind of power Nightmare Moon has. As perhaps the most powerful villain in the series ever shown (with a possible exception for Discord because Reality Warper) she could have killed ANYONE that isn't Celestia with barely any effort. And yet she goes out of her way to keep from harming ponies. She simply swats the royal guard aside, rather than kills them. She doesn't even fight the Mane Six directly when they don't have the Elements of WEWIN. She attempts to dissuade them from getting to the Sisters' Castle, when honestly she could have just killed one of them and they'd never have stopped her. In fact the only time we see Nightmare Moon respond with merciless, brutal levels of violence is when she's SAVING TWILIGHT'S LIFE.
Let's checklist that.
Guards trying to apprehend me? Swat them aside and keep on monologuing.
Civilians trying to thwart my plans? Put a few obstacles in their path.
Monster attacking one of My Little Ponies? KILL THAT FUCKER ON THE SPOT!
Now is that the nice, fluffy, path of harmony and friendship that Celestia follows? Absolutely not. Is it the act of a heartless monster? No. Does Nightmare Moon rule with an iron hoof while demanding "YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME!"? In all likelihood. She's the dictator as contrast to Celestia's monarch. That however doesn't preclude her from being an effective dictator. Sure she demands the worship and adulation of her citizens, but that doesn't mean she won't make sure they're being taken care of as well. She's already shown she WILL defend her ponies, and with LETHAL force at that. IMO, I'd take her over Sunbutt. Neither Chrysalis nor Tirek would have ever been issues under NM's rulership, and Chrissy wouldn't have survived long enough to make a second attempt.
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Then ruled alongside each other remember? They fought Sombra, Tirek, and Discord together, and while Celestia should have been more attentive, Nightmare is still a separate entity and took over Luna via playing to her jealousy and desire to be acknowledged as much as her sister was.
That's the same reason every other villain doesn't dry kill everyone who doesn't obey them and simply enslaves them, if they kill everyone there will be nothing left to rule over it other than an empty Empire. Nightmare doesn't want subjects, she wants slaves. Not to mention the fact that she basically grabbed the villain ball like many others since she could have easily teleported the cast away from her castle and simply smashed the elements then. The only reason she didn't kill anyone was because she didn't see them as worth killing.
And saving Twilight's life? Yeah no, she couldn't have cared less about Twilight, the only thing she cared about was the information she held. Never once did she go out of her way to protect Twilight and before you bring up that Timberwolf it was pretty clear that she was chasing It Off because it annoyed her. There was never scene before then that showcased her saving Twilight in any way shape or form.
And putting a few obstacles in one's path still doesn't change the fact that at least two of them could've killed them.
Stop trying to paint Nightmare Moon as some benevolent hero, if she was anything close to that she wouldn't have tried to kill Celestia, the elements wouldn't have been needed to stop her, her future wouldn't have been one of the many bad ones that Twilight visited, and she wouldn't have needed to be banished in the first place.
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Edited my previous post. And I've never claimed Nightmare Moon was either benevolent or a hero. Simply that she isn't an outright monster and she COULD make an effective leader. As for her killing the timberwolf because it annoyed her/she just wanted the information, possible. The evidence supports either theory. But we also don't see her directly hurting anypony save the guards, whom were simply knocked aside rather than brutally struck down. As others have pointed out, there is no evidence to support that Equestria is suffering/dying under her rule. In fact if she had simply left 'Eternal Night' without any other changes, she wouldn't have a nation to rule. Whether it was one year ago or five years, a world without any sunlight at all would be DEAD. Since Everfree is clearly alive and thriving, either Nightmare Moon found a way to prevent the world from freezing to death/plants from dying off, or she simply reversed how things are done. (awake at night/sleep during day.)
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There's also little to no evidence of her being benevolent towards her subjects or anyone being happy with her being in charge either. Rarity certainly doesn't seem very pleased with her position.
And I think we both know that nightmares both too arrogant and prideful to so much as consider letting the Sun rise.
Not to mention that even if you go by the logic that she was able to somehow use her magic to make Equestria adapt to a permanent night, Nightmare Moon has essentially doomed Equestria since raising the sun would probably kill off/weaken most of the population. Think about it, suppose Discord gets free and decides to "shed a little light" on Equestria for shits and giggles? And before you say she probably dealt with him, you need to remember that her timeline came in before Discord's, so by this logic not only is Discord still out there, but in his own time when he successfully defeated her.
Then there's the fact that the ecological system would suddenly go nuts and everything would start dying off, why? Because they haven’t adapted to the sun in years due to Nightmare forcing the world to adapt to a night only environment, an issue that they wouldn’t have to deal with if Nightmare hadn’t brought about Eternal Night and forced them to adapt to that said lifestyle.
Hell, it’s confirmed that unicorns were able to raise the sun themselves in the past before the sisters came along, who’s to say that other powerful entities such as the Storm King or Tirek (both of whom have powerful magic, or at the very least enough to rival the Royal Sisters) won’t simply raise the sun to weaken the inhabitants and then easily conquer them?
All it’ll take is someone with enough power to take control of the Sun and everyone would be at their Mercy. Nightmare may be powerful, but she's still just one Mare, and she’s pretty much placed Equestria to a more vulnerable state.
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Except Discord WAS beaten by Nightmare, or was unable to escape at all. Why? When Twilight went through time she saw alternate versions of THE PRESENT. That means AFTER Chrissy/Tirek/Discord events. Meaning those villains were NOT able to beat Nightmare Moon. And while we have seen that DISCORD, a god in all but name, could take the sun/moon from Celestia/Luna, nobody else has been shown to be able to do so. And as Nightmare is stronger than either Sister, it would be even harder to wrest control from her.
Discord's/Tirek's/Flim&Flam's timelines showing later simply means that they were the ones to come out on top in their timelines, and by Twilight's standards they were worse than Nightmare Moon. (Yes that does mean Flim & Flam are somehow worse villains than anyone, by Twilight's standards). They were each alternate versions of the present, not different points on the timeline. Proof? The very order they appeared in. Nightmare Moon was the first event in the main story, and yet doesn't show up until the THIRD timeline. After both Sombra and Chrysalis. Those events took place WELL after Nightmare Moon in canon, being Seasons 3 & 2 respectively. (Thus being out of order themselves.) Discord doesn't even show up until the FIFTH timeline, and yet was the second major villain in the show. The alternate timelines were NOT shown in any kind of chronological order, thus CAN NOT be taking place one after another.
Thus it is logical to assume Nightmare Moon not only found a way for the world to survive Eternal Night/swapped the day&night cycle, she ALSO beat EVERY SINGLE VILLAIN and/or prevented them from ever being a threat in the first place. Either her rule is so ordered that Discord NEVER got free in the first place, or she beat him without the Elements, something Celestia and Luna COMBINED couldn't manage. Given her castle is still in Everfree (and thus on top of the Tree of Harmony) she likely knows about/already dealt with the plundervines. As for the other villains, in all likelihood they're dead. Dealt with permanently by a ruthless dictator who would never allow such threats to her reign to be free in the first place.
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Have you ever stopped to consider exactly how the hell she could have beaten him? Considering the fact that shattering his statue is not an option since that would just free him again (and if it were that easy they would have done it a long time ago). She sure as hell doesn't have the elements on her side since they disconnected themselves from her and Celestia after their fight. So it's more than likely that he hasn't feed himself yet but eventually will.
Plus knowing how prideful she is she would have boasted about having dealt with threats like Sombra, Discord, or the changelings, yet the most she proclaimed is that she rules Equestria and that she can deal with Timberwolves.
Not to mention the idea that she somehow beat all of the villians is too bold a statement for her.
I doubt Cadence would have had her wedding since she'd probably be locked away or on the run due to her connection to Celestia herself, so no Chrysalis weddingbplot. And the Queen would probably be on the down low and would be perfectly fine with simply kidnapping innocent civilians for the Hive to drain since it'd be easier for them to abduct civilians in the shadows of the night, which is eternal.
Sombra would've kept his Empire safe, and it took both Celestia and Luna to deal with him, and that's not even getting into the horrible blizzard surrounding said Empire that both of them couldn't push back.
The only villian I can really see being defeated completely is Tirek, since even while laying low he might still get caught.
Nightmare is strong, but isn't that high on the power scale since the only way she was able to blindside Celestia was because she was holding back since she was fighting against her sister, this is more than likely why she was able to seal her away in her timeline. She still lost to the elements so it's too big and assumption to say that she somehow beat someone who could only be defeated by said elements.
Once again, that's just an assumption. But you can't simply say that based on what we see from your timeline she defeated everyone and everything is peaceful, especially enough without bringing up some actual logical inside on how that could have been accomplished. And considering everything I just said up above, think it's safe to say that Nightmare's rule isn't as absolute and peaceful as everyone wants to think.