Transformative Dark Magic: An In-Depth Look at What Created Nightmare Moon and the Pony of Shadows · 7:11pm Jan 14th, 2022
"The darkness welcomed me when no pony would, and I will do what I must to protect it!" ~ the Pony of Shadows, Shadow Play
A Quick Disclaimer:
I understand that the FiM comics have added all kinds of lore regarding Luna, Stygian, and their dark counterparts—some of it internally consistent, some of it not. I prefer not to include the comics' extended universe for my own reasons. This lore analysis uses only the show for evidence.
From the very start of FiM we were told that relationships, emotional connections with others, have real, tangible power.
- Because of their connection as friends, the Mane Six were able to blast away some of the biggest villains of the show.
- Other strong connections, such as love, are shown to be just as potent. Shining Armor and Cadence demonstrated this several times when first repelling Chrysalis, themselves, and then King Sombra, on a larger scale by utilizing the crystal ponies' collective love for each other and their nation.
- Cozy Glow sought to attain friendship magic's lucrative power through staging friendships.
These are not the only examples, but you get the idea.
But it's not just emotional connections. Magic is, canonically, controlled through emotions, full-stop.
'Feeling' Power: A Look at How Emotions Affect Magic
"Well, I've always found magic is tied to my emotions. Whatever I'm feeling fuels whatever I'm doing, and the stronger I'm feeling, the stronger the magic." ~ Starlight Glimmer, All Bottled Up
Through Starlight, we were shown that at least some unicorns utilize magic through their emotions. When Starlight felt anger towards Trixie, her magic became a dark red cloud. Starlight treated this cloud as something embarrassing at best, and dangerous at worst, trapping it inside a vial in order to hide it away. However, doing this took a serious strain on Starlight, physically and mentally. By the time she admitted to Trixie her frustrations, she was visibly weakened, as if the effort to contain all that negatively-charged magic was a toxin affecting her body. Only by embracing her magic again and admitting her feelings did the process reverse.
It wasn't made clear whether or not this process is a golden rule that all pony magic users must follow, but even if it isn't, it still serves the purpose of this analysis and its arguments. That's because there is canonical evidence that Princess Luna's magic is also connected to her emotional state.
In Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep, Luna created an entity called the Tantibus to 'punish' herself for the atrocities she committed as Nightmare Moon. As the plot later reveals, Luna's guilt was actually allowing the Tantibus to grow in size and power exponentially. Only when Luna forgave herself and ended her cycle of self-hate did she reattain control over the Tantibus.
The takeaway: Luna's magic is tied to her emotions, and repressed, negative feelings have directly lead to dangerous circumstances in two separate episodes addressing emotions and magic.
Nightmare Moon: Magic Corruption Through Repressed Jealousy
But as time went on, the younger sister grew resentful... ~ Friendship is Magic: Part 1
Nightmare Moon's character is built around Luna's jealousy of Celestia. But resentment and jealousy are not something born overnight. It was stated in the very first episode (see above) that this was something that happened over time. This was confirmed in several episodes (The Crystal Empire, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Twilight's Kingdom) that Celestia and Luna ruled together for some length of time before Luna's corruption into Nightmare Moon. Whether Luna's jealousy began at once or took time to start, we do know that it had some amount of time to build.
It's unlikely that Luna ever tried to bring her issues out into the light, and discuss them with Celestia (likely the only way she could have stopped these negative emotions from growing). In multiple episodes (Sparkle's 7, A Royal Problem), Celestia and Luna are shown to be very poor at communicating with each other, which leads to rifts big or small quite often. This was likely even worse in their youth when Luna originally transformed, given relative emotional immaturity compared to the timeline of the aforementioned episodes.
Ultimately, Luna was shown to have a 'breaking point' of sorts, an event best shown in Princess Twilight Sparkle's flashback. Luna verbally lashed out at Celestia and then used her magic to force an eclipse. Upon this act, Luna's resentment—which may have been festering for years—corrupted her into Nightmare Moon.
Takeaway: To reiterate, powerful and unchecked negative emotions breed dark magic (or at least 'toxic' magic), and the longer these emotions build, the more dangerous the magic becomes. Nightmare Moon can be seen as the 'bad ending' to Luna bottling up her jealousy towards Celestia for an extended period of time, just as fatigue and weakness were Starlight's immediate ramifications for bottling up her frustrations with Trixie over the course of one day.
The Pony of Shadows: New Anger, Old Corruption
"Welcome to the Well of Shade! When you turned your backs on me, I discovered this place. The darkness spoke to me of a power beyond any I could imagine, and I listened. The shadow and I became one." ~ the Pony of Shadows, Shadow Play
The key difference between Nightmare Moon and the Pony of Shadows is two-fold: Luna's corruption was implied to be a slow burn while Stygian's corruption was implied to be near-instantaneous. And, Luna's corruption entirely came from her own repressed emotions while Stygian's corruption had an outside catalyst—the Well of Shade.
The Well of Shade is located in the Hollow Shades, neither of which are given any real lore in FiM. In Apple Family Reunion, Apple Bloom lists the Hollow Shades as one of the many towns that Apple Family relatives are coming to visit from. This lore is repeated by Applejack in Shadow Play when she says that she believes a branch of the Apple Family lives there. However, this is immediately countered by Sunburst, who cites that the Hollow Shades was abandoned 'eons ago'. Because Sunburst's character revolves around knowledge, and the fact that the Hollow Shades appeared to be abandoned when Stygian was confronted and reformed, it is safe to assume that any connections to the apple family were entirely retconned by the show's writers. As such, the Hollow Shades' lore remains open and unexplored.
All we do know is that, for some reason, a powerful, dark force was festering in the Well of Shade, and that it called out to Stygian after his heart filled with anger towards his friends for casting him out. It embraced him, accepted him, and helped him get revenge. Because Sunburst stated that the Hollow Shades were ancient, it's fair to assume that the dark entity that ultimately turned Stygian into the Pony of Shadows is an ancient force, too.
In the end, Stygian was shown that he was interested in reconciliation. But even when he wanted to change, the shadow would not let go of him. It took all of the Pillars and the Mane Six to separate Stygian from the darkness engulfing him, and to then banish it to limbo.
Takeaway: Stygian's corruption was more akin to a symbiote from the Spiderman franchise—some unknown force that overtakes someone of susceptible heart and forms a symbiotic relationship with them. The end result was largely the same as Luna's corruption, but in Stygian's case, there was no need for years to go by before his emotions corrupted him. There was a mass of darkness already fully grown, looking for a medium to channel through.
My Headcanon Take:
The Hollow Shades, and the Dark History of Magic
In my latest work, 'Any Port in a Storm', Stygian meets Discord for the very first time, and, among other things, discusses the nature behind the Pony of Shadows. Discord, who is confirmed through several self-quotes to be extremely old (and likely the oldest character in the entire show), recalls the origin of the Hollow Shades, and how the ponies of that era coveted dark magic and attained power from it through the intentional abuse of emotions.
Like how Luna became Nightmare Moon, these ponies underwent severe emotional trauma, and over time, gained dark powers. The only difference was that these ponies did this to themselves deliberately. This embrace of dark magic is what would ultimately lead to the creation of the Pony of Shadows, which then lay dormant for millennia, waiting for the perfect moment to lull in a victim of a broken heart.
In my story, specifics of how the Pony of Shadows was created is left open to interpretation. Whether it was an active goal of the ponies of that era, or an accidental side effect of their dark coven. Given the temple artwork in the Well of Shade, though, I'm inclined to believe it wasn't unintentional.
Either way, I believe the PoS was an amalgamation of the dark magic so recklessly practiced by the Hollow Shades' inhabitants. It grew so powerful that it became sentient, and, like the Tantibus, sought to spread and infect all of Equestria.
The Hollow Shades, dark magic practices
"What of the Well of Shade?" I blurted suddenly. "How does that fit into all of this?"
Discord absent-mindedly paddled a paddle ball. "You know, it's the darndest thing. I seem to remember a cult of sorts that once built a village, tucked away in the woods somewhere. Mind you this was back before even Old Poneish was the hip, new thing. The cult came to understand that those who underwent severe emotional trauma in their village were, over time, granted great magical powers. Well, you can guess the sort of shenanigans that went on from there. Ritualistic dark magic became fun for the whole family, with power attainment seen as not only a status symbol but a right of passage."
I laid back in my conjured chair, the only thing I could manage. My mind had already gone elsewhere, rehearsing versions of a conversation that Starswirl and I would later be having.
Discord's paddle ball had fallen limp, dangling motionless, but still I watched it. I watched it, because I was far too scared to gaze at the face that matched his new, dark tone.
"Ponies severed their emotional ties with others—in quite unpleasant ways—to gain power quickly. Power born not from talent or practice, but the raw emotional suffering they'd placed on themselves. Suffice to say, this cult ran their village into the ground. Ponies had attained power, but lost sight of everything else in the process. They became little more than animals."
"...I unearthed something down there, didn't I," I said quietly. "Something forgotten. Something leftover from all those years ago. It called out to me, sensing how vulnerable I was, and preyed upon my anger. I...I played right into its hoof."
"We believe so, yes. You attained levels of power that go beyond some of the greatest practitioners of magic our world has ever known, Stygian, and it was done in such a short amount of time. The Well of Shade, and its history, are the only reasonable explanation we have."
Discord, Stygian, Luna ~ 'Any Port in a Storm'
On corruption,
"I believe that magic has the power to affix itself to our emotional turmoil and fester there. I believe negative feelings—those that are truly severe—may be like tar, a toxic quicksand that traps magic and twists it to match what the heart desires. I believe it is capable of even drawing in the natural magic that is all around us, in addition to our own."
I sniffed, suddenly aware of tears on my cheeks. Though my mind intently listened to every word, my heart focused elsewhere. Just to see the princess speak of such things with weight in her eyes and voice was a painful experience, and one I hoped to never see again.
"I do not believe I had any contact with or influence from the Well of Shade," she continued. "Like the founders of the Hollow Shades, my corruption was a slow, self-inflicted process. The jealousy I felt towards my sister was not a sprint, but a marathon. Entire years went by while I harbored resentment for Celestia and her sun. I grew cold and distant, never once addressing the problem upfront with her, and allowed myself to wallow in my anger. I reached a boiling point and lashed out, and when I did, so too did that amassed magic. By the time I realized the gravity of what I'd done to myself, I was lying on the floor of a forgotten castle, mercifully rescued by six good friends."
Luna ~ 'Any Port in a Storm'
I wanted to tie these characters together in a way that made magical corruption consistent, and I believe I've found it. Powerful negative emotions create dark magic when given enough time to fester, and once that kind of darkness is created, it can corrupt its host, or even separate from its original host(s) in order to spread to others. Whether or not you're a fan of my personal take on the history of the Hollow Shades, I think there's something here for everyone.
These blogs are never perfect upon initial publish, and are often written in the early morning when I should be sleeping instead, so if I've missed anything, please say so in the comments! I'm happy to edit and add points where needed.
If you haven't read 'Any Port in a Storm' yet, please check it out, too! It's one of my favorite oneshots posted on this site.
Thanks for reading, everycreature! 
This is so fascinating. Equestria is such a fun world because "The power of friendship" is so much more than a trope, it is a very real magical force in that world. Emotions as a whole have a LOT of power, and what you do with them can do quite a lot of things.
I think you did a great job explaining. Doesn't sound like sleep deprived rambling, which is great!
Also, I really enjoy this theory. It makes me wonder if there's more ponies who have also been corrupted by such negative emotions. Such as...
static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/c/cc/Quibble_Pants_points_to_final_door_S6E13.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20160731182923
This suspicious-looking pony!
I love how much thought you've put into this. The interactions between emotions and magical expression are a fascinating set of concepts that I felt weren't explored nearly enough in canon. More lore, please!
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Quibble Pants is corrupted by Dark Magic?
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Um, no, the alicorn on the wall