History Analysis / PonyPOVSeries

Applejack meanwhile had to face the AwfulTruth about Life. Those other ponies? They had UNIQUE problems. People will die. That family and friends are fleeting in this world, and that [[AllTheMyriadWays even in places you told yourself you'd be miserable, there can be joy]]. By facing this reality, [[HeroicBSOD Applejack is devastated at first]], but afterward, she uses every fiber of her being to make certain that people's REAL problems are at least addressed. It also gives her a unique look into the reality of their world, and become a sort of secret keeper for Luna and Celestia as a LivingLieDetector given unique knowledge about how their world is changing.

** However, non-Alicorns can become Nightmares as well. The exact requirements for Nightmarification aren't spelled out, but it seems that Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and potential Bearers can become Nightmares. For example, Fluttershy's despair at the seemingly inherent cruelty in nature led her to focus on the idea of making nature kind, thus sparking her Nightmarification (in a manner that draws heavily from the process of becoming a Witch in PuellaMagiMadokaMagica).

Fauna Luster is described as being "Life itself". Being Empathy incarnate, apparently her lifeforce is laced in the elements of harmony, and her very presence ends the oblivion that was the Windigos. Considering the wording when the fires of friendship (which is fueled by the atomic weight of a proton of her power), it's described "One flicker of light from three little ponies filled the entire darkness." Though not overt, this could be alluding to the famous passage on how "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

The Father Of All Alicorns on the other hand, is, for lack of a better term, a "modern" view on what being in the presence of God is like. The father has [[{{Understatement}} many names]] due to his original name being unpronouncable to mortals. [[IHaveManyNames He Who Is All And All Is Him', 'The Universe', 'Father Of All Alicorns', 'The Fifth Concept,' 'The Hierophant', 'Wisdom,' 'Sanity,' 'The Perfect Existence,' 'Reality,' 'The Spirit World."]] This could be a play on the idea that the Trinity in Christianity is ascribed many names by the devoted. (King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Name above All Names, The Lamb, etc.) Further, The Father is also described as being larger than life, but also not that big, and that being near him makes one feel more valuable than anything. In fact, he contains Pony Heaven within him. This is a lead into the idea that one can never feel truly complete until the day they fall into the arms of the Lord who loves them more than sex (in one cruder explanation). This also plays into the idea that despite how big God might be, he can still relate somehow to us.

As for how this affects the mortal characters?

** Nightmare Manacle felt that everypony should be loyal to one another. However, her method of chaining ponies together meant that they could not

The Father Of All Alicorns on the other hand, is, for lack of a better term, a "modern" view on what being in the presence of God is like. The father has [[{{Understatement}} many names]] due to his original name being unpronouncable to mortals. [[IHaveManyNames He Who Is All And All Is Him', 'The Universe', 'Father Of All Alicorns', 'The Fifth Concept,' 'The Hierophant', 'Wisdom,' 'Sanity,' 'The Perfect Existence,' 'Reality,' 'The Spirit World."]] This could be a play on the idea that the Trinity in Christianity is ascribed many names by the devoted. (King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Name above All Names, The Lamb, etc.) Further, The Father is also described as being larger than life, but also not that big, and that being near him makes one feel more valuable than anything. In fact, he contains Pony Heaven within him. This is a lead into the idea that one can never feel truly complete until the day they fall into the arms of the Lord who loves them more than sex (in one cruder explanation). This also plays into the idea that despite how big God might be, he's still relatable somehow to us.

This can be extended far beyond the dark world too, as many, many ponies have to deal with this problem. The first one probably being Rainbow Dash and coming to terms with her betrayal of the elements. Or Pinkie Pie needing to come to terms with who she was and how it affects who she is now. Or much darker, Diamond Tiara wanting her mother back, when the way she'd get her back is repulsive and awful. Interestingly enough, this idea while still wholly embraced, is dealt with in a balanced way, as celestia in talking to Rainbow Dash about her confessing to Cloudsdale that pretending that something bad never happened can be as bad as tourturing yourself, as it is one way you can separate your heart from others, but that it is still something an individual must make on their own.

While all characters have Concept as their Light of Existence, that Light of Existence can be shared by multiple characters at the same or different time. To distinguish between different characters with the same Concept, characters are described as also possessing a Shadow of Existence. This Shadow of Existence seems to be responsible for the physical appearence and to a certain extent, personality of each character. A specific combination of Light and Shadow of Existence can be deemed, an "Ego", "Aspect", "Self", or "Persona". Much like how a single lamp can cast multiple shadows, each of them take that Concept in a different direction, corresponding to a special talent and representing an Aspect. Using this lampshade model can also describe how shadows can be transferred from light to light by means of overlap and other optical illusions.

Of course, all this would imply that Nightmarification/Alicornization is not a process of evolution, but rather a degeneration to a more base form. One that is infinite in raw power, but lacks conciousness, also known as free will, being little more than a true force of nature. Make no mistake, [[AbstractApotheosis becoming a Concept]] is the '''exact''', yes, '''exact''' definition of [[Flanderization]], and it is the diametric opposite of character development. Perhaps that is the reason for the creation of the material universe in the first place, to allow Concepts to develop a mind of their own and grow beyond what they were born as. It is something that they cannot accomplish if they rely on their Alicorn/Draconequus powers to solve their mortal/material challenges.

[[WMG: Nightmares and Alicorns]]
* If Nightmares represent a mono-directional force, then Alicorns represent a duality or spectrum.
* "An Alicorn is a part of everything." This duality is the part that exists in everything, regardless of being in the positive or negative form. For Pinkie, she can represent either the joy of laughter or the frustration of anger, which are both feelings, therefore she is likely the Alicorn of Emotion.
* Nightmares are formed from a single part of the spectrum, in theory, it can be any part, as WordOfGod mentions RD as either Nightmare Manacle or Nightmare Victory, but in practice, it will always result in the strongest part seizing full control.
* For this reason, a Nightmare is much stronger than an equivalent Alicorn, as demonstrated when Luna in AJ's Dreams believes she would have been overpowered and prevented from sending a distress signal in mere seconds by Nightmare Mirror.
* In exchange, Nightmares have much less freedom/discretion, acting more like a force of nature than a character, in addition, at least four of the Mane Six Nightmares have the MO of stripping away free will by geass.
* Nightmares are not necessarily evil or even bad. To state they are, just because of their focus, is the [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Argument_to_moderation Golden Mean Fallacy]] in action.
** On the other hand, there's no way to tell for certain if Nightmares are right in raising one virtue above all others, as such a position [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/The_Abolition_of_Man has been criticized before]].
* None of the Nightmares have interacted with each other yet, but the ones with mutually exclusive objectives would probably be hostile, eg The Kindest of Lies vs. The Cruelest of Truths.

[[WMG: Nightmares and their part in the series]]
* The suite of Nightmare forms we see really fit well with how a deranged obsessive would try to bring them about.
** Rainbow Dash's SuperpoweredEvilSide: Nightmare Manacle attempts to induce a situation that maximizes loyalty beyond all comparison. However, the nightmare actually renders it meaningless - in a hive mind, there's no such thing as loyalty because there's no such thing as the individual, and loyalty becomes self interest. Similar to how Kindness has no real meaning with no choice in the matter.
** Pinkie's nightmare, Nightmare Grandfalloon is hopefully averted by her apotheosis, but we see it nevertheless - and it again matches the pattern. The nightmare exists to create a constant state of laughter (like the joker?), but this removes the meaning of it. Laughter's joy is that it's fleeting, and laughing no matter the situation is dishonest and unnatural.
** And as for AJ's side: "Nightmare Mirror" is the most appropriate name, yes. It shows the bare truth, and nothing more. But as AJ pointed out, the cruelest of truths aren't the whole story. While truth is not something that becomes a lie on over saturation, it becomes... well, there was a Discworld story where Death pointed out how there is no such thing as an atom of mercy, a molecule of truth, a nucleon of justice. But they still exist. They're emergent properties. And laying bare every single fact about someone doesn't add up to the whole, as they're not weighted.
** Fluttershy meanwhile actually became Nightmare Whisper as a reaction to the cruelty inherent in nature. She tries to remedy this by not ''offering'' more kindness to those who need it, but instead by ''forcing'' on everything, whether they asked for it or not. In sort of a strange inversion of Nightmare Mirror, Nightmare Whisper represents a world where cruel truths are hidden behind comforting lies and illusions so that no pony will have to deal with them. On the downside, no pony would ever have need to become something greater than themselves. Fluttershy overcomes this by accepting certain truths about kindness.

[[WMG: Alicorns]]
Alicorns have shown up in three different ways in the series. The first is in the Loose Canon side story with Pinkie, wherein they are the "creation" aspect of the multiverse, and opposite to the Draconequui.
The second are the group of whom Celestia and Luna are a part, who appear to be based off the Tarot. Only two of them survive at the moment.
The third are the formerly mortal ponies who have undergone what could be called alicornization, whether by way of Nightmaring or some other, unspecified process. Most of the Alicorns that show up are Nightmares (counting the ones from visions and aborted timelines) and it seems as though the transformation is reversed when the nightmare state is dropped (excluding Nightmare Mirror, who wasn't on a physical plane of reality at the time anyway.) Princess Gaia's "good end" has been seen in AJ's dreams, as has Princess Bubbles - both of these appear to have become stable through some other means. This means has not yet been revealed.

[[WMG: Further Analysis of the Various Nightmares]]

NB: There is already some analysis of the Nightmares (Good stuff by the way. Very astute.), but this is what I found out. I will be adding to this as the series progresses.
* Rainbow Dash's Nightmare (aka Nightmare Manacle): Nightmare Manacle is a very fitting name for RD's Nightmare persona. Loyalty is binding, connecting forever the people they apply to. When used correctly, loyalty is like flax, strong and flexible but able to be rotted away or broken if the loyalty means hurting others. It is not blind loyalty. Nightmare Manacle's loyalty is completely and totally binding. It does not allow for expansion if you want to be loyal to another person at the same time. Loyalty strengthens the people attached to it, but Nightmare Manacle's loyalty wears away at you like a heavy iron chain. It is a burden and not a privilege. Blind loyalty is worse than conscious betrayal.
* A possible Nightmare state for Rarity might involve the concept of Generosity being taken to the extreme in this manner: Generosity involves giving to those who need it more, which means that an ideal world would be one where everyone has the exact same amount of everything. But how do you accurately apportion everything exactly equally, especially when different people attach different value to things, and value is attached to intangible things, and where do you draw the line between who gets a share and who doesn't? Do pets? Do animals that don't happen to be official pets? The Nightmare philosophy that then comes in is that the only way to ensure perfect generosity and equality is to make it so that the entire universe is an evenly distributed cloud of matter. To ease the transition, of course, all consciousnesses get a vision of perfect beauty to keep them calm i.e. Nightmare Charity - the fairest of them all.
** Rarity's trigger still hasn't been revealed, but if it involves Sweetie Belle, one could expect an appearance from The Fairest of Fates/Failures, Nightmare Karma. Specializing in generously dispensing KarmicDeath, the allure of a lethal beauty like her is irresistible to those who believe that killing folks solves problems, especially on folks who "deserve" it. No mercy, no forgiveness, and no quarter. [[spoiler: Because she can't forgive herself for applying lethal force on Sweetie Belle. In this timeline, the sharp circlet that she threw at Sweetie Belle landed a few more inches to the right... And she blames Discord entirely for it, overcompensating for her failures by transforming into Nightmare Karma.]]

* When talking to Trixie in Second Family, after the others listed off their elements as being important, Twilight mentioned "Trust". And despite how it's not an Element, it's still an important personality trait, which has a normal, reverse, overpowered and apotheosis state like the others.

Those who cling on to the past in the Pony POV Series, be it wanting to return to the past or revenge over a past grievance, ultimately end up losing sight of the future. The main characters in Dark World conclude that trying to restore the past would be an extremely selfish decision, requiring disturbing the dead and completely disregarding the desires and fate of those alive in the present; while the mysterious voice clearly has an obsession with revenge over a past grievance, to the point of being willing to [[RevengeBeforeReason self-destructively sacrifice everything]] she and others still have instead of just moving on.

In the Discorded pony series, Twilight Tragedy finds herself torn up over a certain Apple Pie and his somehow finding happiness not only despite, but through his reality. The primary reason why Tragedy finds herself unable to reconciles this apparently illogical course of action is because in her mind, tragedy will destroy everything that we might hold dear, hold sacred or hold precious. The "logical" reaction would be to rage and rant at the world, give up, or just sadly accept that there is no hope. This reaction of a joyful sorrow is an assault on Discord's rule because it is essentially the spirit of ponykind saying, "We don't have to play exactly by your game. We won't give in to despair, though we might be brought down by you. We will react naturally to tragedy through sorrow, grieving and sadness, but always underneath all this is a joy in living." This joy in living, not in spite of, but THROUGH the lemons of life is perhaps the most difficult thing for tragedy to wrestle with, and perhaps why according to some, life is not even so much a tragedy, but a dark yet light comedy. Horrible things happen to us, but it is how we react to them that shows character. Discord lives in the assumption that everyone WILL break. Yet here is a family who is broken, yet still takes life with a pinch of sugar. It is a contradiction of purpose. Discord wishes to break and end it there. Yet the spirit lifts and rebuilds and tempers in fire, and that's why Discord can never truly win so long as that persists. Tragedy feels like it is an assault, because it is an attack on how she has closed her heart to everything to protect herself."

Fluttershy, OH MAN! Fluttershy had perhaps the most dramatic re-harmonizing of all. Originally just challenged by her ShadowArchtype Fluttercruel, she sang that being into submission as a BadassPacifist, slowly teaching "Cruel" the ways of caring and kindness. Fluttershy even allowed Fluttercruel to come to the surface when more certainty and force was needed. Yet it was when Fluttercruel had her [[SplitPersonalityTakeover rebellion of mind]] that the great trouble arose. [[spoiler: Confronted by the "cruel" realities of Nature, and how ponykind might have essentially invented self-sacrifice, Fluttershy initially broke something within herself, becoming a LoadBearingHero of Epic proportions. She took all the pain, prejudice, knowledge, hate and sin of Equestria upon herself, transforming her into a RealityWarper called Nightmare Whisper, hidden under the pretenses of what appears to be a sweeter/perfect "Princess Gaia". It took every hero every ounce of philosophy and Fluttercruel's intervention to stop Fluttershy's rampage. By accepting that sometimes you need to be CruelToBeKind, Fluttershy gained a surprise following, and from it begins to feel more free for it.]]

Finally, Onyx Tiara had some things to overcome as well. Own up to your mistakes, but never lose hope in your still becoming good. Try to expect the best from others, and be prepared to make things right.

The POV series is extremely meditative on different ethical and moral principles, and touches on quite a few interesting topics.
* Free Will
** The series provides a potential defense of Free Will and Pain. In the fight against Nightmare Whisper, they tried to figure out if it was better to let one pony suffer everything so that all else would be happy. While the conflict ends with a hint of ambiguity, the game changer is that a world without suffering doesn't allow for ponies to grow into something better. Or to use an in-universe term, "Keeping butterflies as caterpillars."
** Speaking of Butterflies arc: freedom of will is a dual power - from one side it can cause us to do horrible things but from another side, it's the same thing with help of which we do great things, it let us choose how to be and how world is going to be. Poor Pinkie, it was hard for her to accept it i think, what with the world of POV becoming divergent from the heart world.
*** To put some meta-perspective in to this, Pinkie knows very well that the thoughts, words, feelings, actions, memory, personality, past, and future of everyone in the story are all written & controlled by the author. It is not a surprise that she would find the concept of free will hard to swallow. Unless it is the illusion of free will.
* Moral Ambiguity
** The idea of moral complexity is very much used, particularly when it comes to reaching the 4th state of harmony. Applejack was probably the first of the mane cast to realize that on some levels, Discord was right in his accusations, and that there are ways in which their elements can be misused. This ranges from telling a truth with no potential benefit, laughing at someone rather than with someone, how we face a SadisticChoice in every action we take, to that the magic of friendship can be lost if you don't maintain it since people do and will change. All these are acknowledged and used and even [[GodIsFlawed Celestia has admitted to making mistakes.]]
** At another point, the father of all alicorns, in his special conversation with [[spoiler: Discorded Applejack]], said that life is like a series of Rorschach tests. Good and evil shift and move about, with circumstances changing, and people shifting back and forth over and over in who is a hero and villain, right and wrong over and over again. "What You Think Is 'Black And 'White' Changes With Perspective, But The Pattern Itself Does Not Submit Itself To Your Preferences. A Sin Does Not Become A Good Deed Simply Because The Wrongdoer Has Convinced Herself Her Actions Are Virtuous. And No Choice Is Without Meaning." Life is far from simple, but never let that be mistaken for a lack of real morals in the world.
* Forgiveness
** The question of forgiveness is also constantly over the story, with the questions of fluttercruel, diamond tiara, silver spoon, and Trixie all begging the question: "Who deserves forgiveness, and how easily should they get it?"
* Finding Joy in the worst of circumstances.
** In the Discorded pony series, Twilight Tragedy finds herself torn up over a certain Apple Pie and his somehow finding happiness not only despite, but through his reality. The primary reason why Tragedy finds herself unable to reconciles this apparently illogical course of action is because in her mind, tragedy will destroy everything that we might hold dear, hold sacred or hold precious. The "logical" reaction would be to rage and rant at the world, give up, or just sadly accept that there is no hope. This reaction of a joyful sorrow is an assault on Discord's rule because it is essentially the spirit of ponykind saying, "We don't have to play exactly by your game. We won't give in to despair, though we might be brought down by you. We will react naturally to tragedy through sorrow, grieving and sadness, but always underneath all this is a joy in living." This joy in living, not in spite of, but THROUGH the lemons of life is perhaps the most difficult thing for tragedy to wrestle with, and perhaps why according to some, life is not even so much a tragedy, but a dark yet light comedy. Horrible things happen to us, but it is how we react to them that shows character. Discord lives in the assumption that everyone WILL break. Yet here is a family who is broken, yet still takes life with a pinch of sugar. It is a contradiction of purpose. Discord wishes to break and end it there. Yet the spirit lifts and rebuilds and tempers in fire, and that's why Discord can never truly win so long as that persists. Tragedy feels like it is an assault, because it is an attack on how she has closed her heart to everything to protect herself."

[[WMG: Further Analysis of the Various Nightmares]]

NB: There is already some analysis of the Nightmares (Good stuff by the way. Very astute.), but this is what I found out. I will be adding to this as the series progresses.
* Rainbow Dash's Nightmare (aka Nightmare Manacle): Nightmare Manacle is a very fitting name for RD's Nightmare persona. Loyalty is binding, connecting forever the people they apply to. When used correctly, loyalty is like flax, strong and flexible but able to be rotted away or broken if the loyalty means hurting others. It is not blind loyalty. Nightmare Manacle's loyalty is completely and totally binding. It does not allow for expansion if you want to be loyal to another person at the same time. Loyalty strengthens the people attached to it, but Nightmare Manacle's loyalty wears away at you like a heavy iron chain. It is a burden and not a privilege. Blind loyalty is worse than conscious betrayal.
* A possible Nightmare state for Rarity might involve the concept of Generosity being taken to the extreme in this manner: Generosity involves giving to those who need it more, which means that an ideal world would be one where everyone has the exact same amount of everything. But how do you accurately apportion everything exactly equally, especially when different people attach different value to things, and value is attached to intangible things, and where do you draw the line between who gets a share and who doesn't? Do pets? Do animals that don't happen to be official pets? The Nightmare philosophy that then comes in is that the only way to ensure perfect generosity and equality is to make it so that the entire universe is an evenly distributed cloud of matter. To ease the transition, of course, all consciousnesses get a vision of perfect beauty to keep them calm i.e. Nightmare Charity - the fairest of them all.
** Rarity's trigger still hasn't been revealed, but if it involves Sweetie Belle, one could expect an appearance from The Fairest of Fates/Failures, Nightmare Karma. Specializing in generously dispensing KarmicDeath, the allure of a lethal beauty like her is irresistible to those who believe that killing folks solves problems, especially on folks who "deserve" it. No mercy, no forgiveness, and no quarter. [[spoiler: Because she can't forgive herself for applying lethal force on Sweetie Belle. In this timeline, the sharp circlet that she threw at Sweetie Belle landed a few more inches to the right... And she blames Discord entirely for it, overcompensating for her failures by transforming into Nightmare Karma.]]

In the Reharmonized POV Pony series, the importance of facing reality and its complexities really comes into play as a theme of the series. The author uses all the mane cast for this work, and each of them eventually have to face reality in their own way to be the better ponies.
* Rarity had to face the reality of her {{Greed}}, and gain insights about the nature of Generosity. Broken by her inner faults, she initially lashed out at any gem, angry at their natural beauty betraying the beauty of relationships. Yet she eventually began to realize that they could still be useful tools in her line of work, and that to be generous to those who deserve it least is also for those who might need it most. This was accomplished in three ways. First, Rarity reconciled with The Diamond Dogs, allowing them to have some gems as she knew they had an appreciation for beauty as well. Second, Rarity realized that giving time is being generous as well, and finally, that the most precious things we already have: Family and Friends. From that, she chose to be generous not only with old antagonists, but even with those whom others would shun away, realizing freedom in her heart.
* Applejack had to face the AwfulTruth about Life. Those other ponies? They had UNIQUE problems. People will die. That family and friends are fleeting in this world, and that even in places you told yourself you'd be miserable, there can be joy. By facing this reality, Applejack is devastated at first, but afterward, she uses every fiber of her being to make certain that people's REAL problems are at least addressed. It also gives her a unique look into the reality of their world, and become a sort of secret keeper for Luna and Celestia as a LivingLieDetector given unique knowledge about how their world is changing.
* Pinkie Pie tried to categorize herself as only happy, when she knew that there was sadness in the world as well. She fought this idea through denial for 3 weeks with no sleep, until her BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind forced her to accept that laughter can be cruel, and that unless she learns to accept all parts and emotions of life, she'd never be a true element of harmony. After accepting this reality, Pinkie Pie suddenly becomes WiseBeyondHerYears, and uses this and all her knowledge of reality (including MediumAwareness) to help others through love and joy.
* Rainbow Dash tried to run away from the reality of loyalty to one thing might mean betrayal of another. She tried to bury her guilt and think of her friends as InvincibleHero team. It almost sent her into shadows. Yet it's only when shown the impossibility of not choosing something that Rainbow was able to make peace with herself, and show that since she cares about so many things, she is indeed still an element of loyalty. With this reality, she chooses to reward her loyal fan Scootaloo by helping her with her [[ParentalAbandonment Real problems]], and becomes all the more free for it.
* Trixie tried to hide in her talents and loneliness rather than deal with the reality of her life. It took several long talks with Twilight Sparkle before she was reborn, grew into a better pony by learning all about friendship, trust and individuality within a group. And before long, she could declare [[spoiler: "I, I WANT TO BE A PART OF MY FAMILY! I want to be The One And Only Trixie whose loved for her performance! I want to be a great magician whose magic is remembered and respected after I'm gone! And … and ... I want to be loved by my FRIENDS!"]] The final acknowledgment of her new reality as something better.
* Luna was forced to be the OnlySaneMan when Discord ruined Equestria, even discording Celestia, and so was witness to all the absurdities of his reign. She even contemplated returning to be Nightmare Moon to try to stop him. Yet after seeing how Celestia treated her former conspirators with mercy, she realized that she had to take responsibility for her actions as Nightmare Moon as she was mostly responsible for them, and chose to feign madness while she found the one thing that could save the world: Twilight's friendship letters. She sent each of them and saved the world. Afterward, she sought to allow the reality of her actions be accepted and forgiven, while assisting her sister and conversing on how they wanted to change Equestria.
** Luna also wanted [[spoiler: to have the absolute approval of Pip forever, but eventually had to accept that doing so would be hurting him, and that as a Goddess, she needed to admit her limits, and allow the realities of life to run their course.]] Note: all this is technically optional canon, but still hinted at in the main stories.
* Twilight Sparkle had her DarkestHour when her friends abandoned her against Discord, and thus thought she wouldn't need to deal with her element being compromised after the fact. (Her element being the Magic of Friendship) While Lesson Zero showed that she still needed some therapy to help with her compulsion for order, her real challenge was on deciding whether other ponies could learn about friendship. But it was more than that. [[spoiler: During the crisis, she was confronted with the possibility of her friends changing from their original selves, and she tensely watched as each of her friends slowly grew to be something different from what they originally were.]] This lead up to her greatest challenges in being confronted with the problems of Trixie and Fluttershy. Somehow, simple magic couldn't overcome Trixie's problems, and Twilight felt responsible to help trixie through her problems. In her work helping Trixie's Case study, Twilight got to understand the importance of Friendship by seeing a pony like herself. It also lead to a surprise [[spoiler: because Trixie had her own unique element of magic as well]]. In taking on the role of teacher, she grows more free in beginning to grow [[spoiler: towards the role she might be destined to reach (according to Applejack's visions) as not just a student, but a teacher of magic/friendship as well. Yet perhaps her most important friendship lesson was learned in her confrontation with Fluttershy over her LoadBearingHero shadow for. It was a lesson on the nature of suffering, and how friendship is in the now, and that it can and will last as long that others try to maintain it, perhaps the essence of all her lessons put into one epiphany, and accepting this reality is what finally allowed Twilight to admit her new freedom]].
* Fluttershy, OH MAN! Fluttershy had perhaps the most dramatic re-harmonizing of all. Originally just challenged by her Shadow self Fluttercruel, she sang that being into submission as a BadassPacifist, slowly teaching "Cruel" the ways of caring and kindness. Fluttershy even allowed Fluttercruel to come to the surface when more certainty and force was needed. Yet it was when Fluttercruel had her rebellion of mind that the great trouble arose. [[spoiler: Confronted by the "cruel" realities of Nature, and how ponykind might have essentially invented self-sacrifice, Fluttershy initially broke something within herself, becoming a LoadBearingHero of Epic proportions. She took all the pain, prejudice, knowledge, hate and sin of Equestria upon herself, transforming her into a RealityWarper called Nightmare Whisper, hidden under the pretenses of what appears to be a sweeter/perfect "Princess Gaia". It took every hero every ounce of philosophy and Fluttercruel's intervention to stop Fluttershy's rampage. By accepting that sometimes you need to be CruelToBeKind, Fluttershy gained a surprise following, and from it begins to feel more free for it.]]
** Fluttercruel, her shadow self skulked in darkness, seeking to get out and make Fluttershy cruel. Once it happened though, Fluttercruel was confronted by the reality that no matter what, she'd always start as Fluttershy's copy. Trying to teach fluttershy about reality almost sent "cruel" to oblivion without truly teaching Fluttershy what needed to be learned. Yet as TheDeterminator, [[spoiler: Fluttercruel freed herself from oblivion [[LikeABadassOutOfHell like a hero from darkness]]. Staring down Nightmare Whisper withe the lesson of being CruelToBeKind, "cruel" earned her cutie mark from protecting the other elements of harmony from destruction, and from this radiated the true element of Kindness: helping those who can't help themselves. From this, Fluttercruel thought she was about to be destroyed for good, but Fluttershy brought her back, saying that she was her own pony, and that though they would still share a body, Fluttercruel had earned her cutie mark, and that made her real to them. Cruel was so grateful, she resolved to help "shy" for the rest of her life, finally free from her fear and loathing, ready to help in the reality of life.]]
** [[spoiler: Both Fluttershy and Fluttercruel had to face the third personality, Flutterage, in their chapter of Butterflies. They had to determine which of them was the origin of this personality, and eventually Fluttershy had to accept that anger, as distinct from hatred, is a useful emotion and part of a complete soul. This entailed not just deciding to take her back, but understanding why, and appears to have rounded her out in a similar way to Pinkie - though, of course, the effects are not yet apparent. And Fluttershy's going to have to learn to cope with anger.]]
* Similarly, all the side characters had to confront their fears and sorrow in reality, and while some continued to grow from it, others, well, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero others still have a ways to go]].
** Spike
*** Spike needed to realize that if he really wanted to be noticed, he had to conscious in his actions with others, and be willing to be more than just a friend of a friend. From this he becomes [[SixthRanger the fourth crusader]] with the cutie mark crusaders, and a mature voice of knowledge and reason within the group.
** Silver Spoon
*** Having you opinion about world around you is really damn hard. Fighting for a right to have it is firstly is fighting with yourself and only then with those who boss you around. I think Silver Spoon went a lo-o-ong way and she will have to go even longer but i'm sure she will be able to do it on her own.
*** Also, family is super wonderful. After an important talk with the crusaders, Spoon finally realizes how important her family is to her, reconsiles with her father, and becomes a much happier and healthier filly for it.
** Celestia
*** When she was younger, she experienced mortal suffering, but thought that her new view gave her leeway to defy the pantheon and unleash the windigos into the world. Overcome with shame and guilt, she wished her own oblivion, but realizing she had wronged her family, she went back and faced judgement: Never to forget, to always carry the burden of action on her head. Further, she is always under the weight of ruling, but thanks to Entropy's mirrors, she is still able to face the truth no matter what.
** Zecora
*** Be willing to enter other's lives and accept help when it is offered. She even wrote a whole letter in rhyme to tell celestia all about it.
** Onyx Tiara
*** Own up to your mistakes, but never lose hope in your still becoming good. Try to expect the best from others, and be prepared to make things right.

*** To put some meta-perspective in to this, Pinkie knows very well that the thoughts, words, actions, memory, personality, past, and future of everyone in the story are all written & controlled by the author. It is not a surprise that she would find the concept of free will hard to swallow. Unless it is the illusion of free will.

*** To put some meta-perspective in to this, Pinkie knows very well that the history, words, and actions of everyone in the story are all written & controlled by the author. It is not a surprise that she would find the concept of free will hard to swallow. Unless it is the illusion of free will.

** Rarity's trigger still hasn't been revealed, but if it involves Sweetie Belle, one could expect an appearance from The Fairest of Fates/Failures, Nightmare Karma. Specializing in generously dispensing KarmicDeath, while indeed being the fairest of them all. No mercy, no forgiveness, and no quarter.

* A possible Nightmare state for Rarity might involve the concept of Generosity being taken to the extreme in this manner: Generosity involves giving to those who need it more, which means that an ideal world would be one where everyone has the exact same amount of everything. But how do you accurately apportion everything exactly equally, especially when different people attach different value to things, and value is attached to intangible things, and where do you draw the line between who gets a share and who doesn't? Do pets? Do animals that don't happen to be official pets? The Nightmare philosophy that then comes in is that the only way to ensure perfect generosity and equality is to make it so that the entire universe is an evenly distributed cloud of matter. To ease the transition, of course, all consciousnesses get a vision of perfect beauty to keep them calm i.e. Nightmare Charity - the fairest of them all.

* A possible Nightmare state for Rarity might involve the concept of Generosity being taken to the extreme in this manner: Generosity involves giving to those who need it more, which means that an ideal world would be one where everyone has the exact same amount of everything. But how do you accurately apportion everything exactly equally, especially when different people attach different value to things, and value is attached to intangible things, and where do you draw the line between who gets a share and who doesn't? Do pets? Do animals that don't happen to be official pets? The Nightmare philosophy that then comes in is that the only way to ensure perfect generosity and equality is to make it so that the entire universe is an evenly distributed cloud of matter. To ease the transition, of course, all consciousnesses get a vision of perfect beauty to keep them calm i.e. Nightmare Charity - the fairest of them all.

** Diamond Tiara

* Rainbow Dash's Nightmare (aka Nightmare Manacle): Nightmare Manacle is a very fitting name for RD's Nightmare persona. Loyalty is binding, connecting forever the people they apply to. When used correctly, loyalty is like flax, strong and flexible but able to be rotted away or broken if the loyalty means hurting others. It is not blind loyalty. Nightmare Manacle's loyalty is completely and totally binding. It does not allow for expansion if you want to be loyal to another person at the same time. Loyalty strengthens the people attached to it, but Nightmare Manacle's loyalty wears away at you like a heavy iron chain. It is a burden and not a privilege. Blind loyalty is worse than conscious betrayal.

* Fluttershy, OH MAN! Fluttershy had perhaps the most dramatic re-harmonizing of all. Originally just challenged by her Shadow self Fluttercruel, she sang that being into submission as a BadassPacifist, slowly teaching "Cruel" the ways of caring and kindness. Fluttershy even allowed Fluttercruel to come to the surface when more certainty and force was needed. Yet it was when Fluttercruel had her rebellion of mind that the great trouble arose. [[spoiler: Confronted by the "cruel" realities of Nature, and how ponykind essentially invented self-sacrifice, Fluttershy initially broke something within herself, becoming a LoadBearingHero of Epic proportions. She took all the pain, prejudice, knowledge, hate and sin of Equestria upon herself, transforming her into a RealityWarper called Nightmare Whisper, hidden under the pretenses of what appears to be a sweeter/perfect "Princess Gaia". It took every hero every ounce of philosophy and Fluttercruel's intervention to stop Fluttershy's rampage. By accepting that sometimes you need to be CruelToBeKind, Fluttershy gained a surprise following, and from it begins to feel more free for it.]]

** Speaking of Butterflies arc: freedom of will is a dual power - from one side it can cause us to do horrible things but from another side, it's the same thing with help of which we do great things, it let us choose how to be and how world is going to be. Poor Pinkie, it was hard for her to accept it i think.

* Nightmares are not necessarily evil or even bad, to state they are, just because of their focus, is the [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Argument_to_moderation Golden Mean Fallacy]] in action.