History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsOfHarmony

* HighFantasy: Only this first story out of the whole series and the first episode still consisted largely of a kind of social comedy. Not counting that part, the story is like freaking ''TheLordOfTheRings'' in half an hour. With ponies.

->'''Twilight:''' Look; I appreciate the offer but I'd really rather do this on my own.\\

* ShoutOut: The Mayor sending her guards to attack Nightmare Moon, only for her to erupt and frighten them are reminiscent of [[Disney/SleepingBeauty]]. Even the dialogue is almost word-for-word.

->'''Twilight:''' Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own.\\

Picking up from the last episode, Nightmare Moon departs as dramatically and suddenly as she arrived, leaving the citizens of Ponyville wondering what to do. Twilight Sparkle returns to her house to do some research, putting the baby Spike to bed beforehand. As she searches frantically for information, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash show up at her library in the hopes of getting some answers. She informs them of her studies on Nightmare Moon, and the only thing that can possibly stop her: the Elements of Harmony. With the help of Pinkie Pie, Twilight manages to find a book on the Elements of Harmony, which names the five known ones (Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty), and pinpoints their last known location... in an abandoned castle in [[TheLostWoods the Everfree Forest]].

Twilight sets out for the ruins, with great reluctance allowing her new acquaintances to accompany her. This proves fortunate, as Nightmare Moon is following them, and her attempts to thwart their quest give Twilight's companions a chance to show her their strength of character:
* When a collapsing cliffside leaves Twilight in a LiteralCliffhanger situation, Applejack uses her honesty to reassure Twilight and convince her to let go... dropping her into the waiting hooves of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
* When a rampaging manticore attacks the group, the kind-hearted Fluttershy breaks up the ensuing fight, and pacifies the manticore by removing a thorn stuck in its paw.

* When the path over a river is blocked by a foppish sea serpent lamenting half of his mustache getting cut off, Rarity sympathizes with his ruined look, and cheers him up by generously offering a sizable chunk of her tail as a replacement.
* When a broken rope bridge over a deep gorge bars the path, Rainbow Dash is tasked with flying to the other side and fixing the bridge. Nightmare Moon takes on the form of a trio of performing pegasi, and offers Dash fame and fortune on the condition that she leave her friends behind. Rainbow Dash is tempted... but chooses to remain loyal to her friends.

On finally reaching the keep, Twilight investigates the Elements of Harmony, and tries to trigger the "spark" that is said to make the sixth Element appear. Just then, Nightmare Moon appears and steals away with Twilight and the Elements in an effort to keep them from being activated. Much to her surprise, Twilight refuses to be cowed:

A brief struggle ensues as Twilight tries to recover the elements, but eventually Nightmare Moon [[NoNonsenseNemesis simply smashes them to bits]]. All hope seems lost...

...But as Twilight hears her friends coming to her rescue, she has an epiphany, and the seemingly-destroyed elements activate. As Twilight explains to a baffled Nightmare Moon, [[ItWasWithYouAllAlong the real power of the elements was within her five friends]], and her realizing just how much they meant to her was the "spark" needed to awaken the Sixth Element, Magic. With the combined powers of the Elements of Harmony, they make swift work of Nightmare Moon.

As the sun finally rises, Princess Celestia reappears to congratulate Twilight and her friends. She was aware of the prophecy and knew Twilight had the power to save the world, but only told her to make friends, hoping that her student would learn the power of friendship and allow its power to spark the Elements. She proceeds to reconcile with Nightmare Moon, who has returned to her original form of [[spoiler:Princess Luna, Celestia's long-lost sister.]] Turns out [[spoiler:the two sisters in the original legend of Nightmare Moon were Luna and Celestia.]] Go figure!

Celebrations are in order, [[spoiler:Luna]] is ready to resume her duties of raising the moon at night, and Twilight Sparkle is ready to return to Canterlot... or not, as the once-antisocial unicorn is reluctant to leave her new friends so suddenly. With Celestia's blessing, Twilight decides to remain in Ponyville and continue her studies on the magic of friendship.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: There seems to be a hint of this, with Twilight Sparkle at first not wanting to make new friends, only to find out later that "just when I learn how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them." That is a milder case, though, as it turns out Celestia lets Twilight stay in Ponyville with her new friends anyway.

* CareBearStare: Basically how Nightmare Moon is defeated, and probably one of the coolest goddamn things you'll ever see.

* EasilyForgiven: After ''one thousand years'', a bit of magic and one "I'm sorry" are enough to [[spoiler:reconcile Princess Luna.]] Not too surprising, considering ''she'' was the one who spent that time imprisoned, which Celestia can't have wanted but was forced to do; WordOfGod states something was [[spoiler:corrupting Luna,]] and the corruption seems to be finally driven out when (as mentioned in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfharmonyPart1 another episode]]) the heroines activate the full potential of the Elements.
* EigenPlot: Seen during the adventure through the Everfree Forest, with each of Twilight's new self-proclaimed friends demonstrating an important virtue of theirs. You'd almost think Nightmare Moon was doing it deliberately.

* FauxSymbolism: After unleashing the power of the Elements on Nightmare Moon, you can clearly see Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack all posing in a CrucifiedHeroShot, while Rarity and Fluttershy look as though they are praying.

* FriendOrIdolDecision[=/=]LeaveYourQuestTest: Nightmare Moon forces this on Rainbow Dash -- unsuccessfully, because Rainbow Dash isn't a ''[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold complete]]'' {{Jerkass}}.

* HighFantasy: Only this first story out of the whole series, and the first episode still consisted largely of a kind of social comedy. Not counting that part, the story is like freaking ''TheLordOfTheRings'' in half an hour. With ponies.

* LastSecondChance: Princess Celestia to Nightmare Moon/[[spoiler:Luna]] after she has been defeated. For once, she [[HeelFaceTurn accepts]]. Ironically, Celestia's offer is phrased much like the trope name for the [[WeCanRuleTogether villain-to-hero counterpart]] of the trope.

* MythologyGag: The rainbow-colored beam produced by the Elements of Harmony seems to be a nod to the Rainbow of Light, from the G1 special "Rescue from Castle Midnight".
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Nightmare Moon unwittingly puts all six of the mane cast in situations which test and ultimately prove their worthiness as bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

* PalsWithJesus: Upon encountering [[PhysicalGod Princess Celestia]], the ponies instantly kneel in silent reverence, even [[GenkiGirl Pinkie Pie]] and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Rainbow Dash]]... but not [[GrumpyBear Twilight Sparkle]], who goes for a ''hug'' (or at least the pony equivalent), being a long-time student of Celestia, who is particularly affectionate towards her.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Both figuratively and ''literally''. The title of the show is not lying, friendship is ''literally'' magic with enough power to defeat a ''PhysicalGod''.

* SpaceWhaleAesop: Dear Twilight Sparkle, no matter how strong and smart you may be, there are some things you just can't do alone. Friends have a special bond that has more meaning than you can find in any book. So cherish your friends, nurture your relationships with them, and always hold them near and dear to your heart, because together you can [[spoiler:smite evil with a badass goddamn rainbow WaveMotionGun. Because [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin friendship... is magic.]]]]

* StabTheSalad: Rarity yanks a scale from the sea-serpent's neck with her teeth, and -- cuts her own tail off with it.

* [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself This Is Something I've Got To Do Myself]]: Twilight doesn't want her self-proclaimed new friends tagging along on her hunt for the Elements of Harmony, but they insist on coming along. Good thing they did, too.
* TwinkleSmile: Pinkie Pie during her song, although the twin sparkle is in her eyes, not teeth.
* UnmovingPlaid: The end of Rainbow Dash's tail gets ruffled from Applejack pulling it, but the stripes of colour on it don't.
* VillainousBreakdown: Nightmare Moon's SmugSnake personality goes away ''really'' fast once the Elements of Harmony are activated -- unsurprising considering that, since the last time it was used on her, she spent 1000 years imprisoned in the moon.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Rainbow Dash is tempted by Nightmare Moon to leave the quest and abandon her friends to get hers life dream. She's alone, no pony can see what she's doing. And she still chooses her friends over her dream. She's loyalty for a reason.
* XanatosRoulette: Princess Celestia knew what was going to happen with Nightmare Moon returning, but the only action she took was to send Twilight Sparkle to get out more, because she knew she would [[spoiler: find a group of friends matching the Elements of Harmony and make it through Everfree Forest with them, and then figure out how to work the Elements. And, as mentioned above, the bad guy randomly does a wonderful job contributing to this outcome, too.]]
** Given that [[spoiler: Twilight and her friends already shared a magical connection long before they met]], and that WordofGod says she was [[http://www.ponibooru.org/post/view/101497 grooming Twilight specifically for the role]], it's possible Celestia had reason to be more confident of this plan than "roulette" would imply.
* YouAreNotAlone: Twilight is facing Nightmare Moon, ''alone'', [[spoiler:and the only thing that's capable of stopping Nightmare Moon was just shattered to bits right in front of her]]...then her friends come to her rescue...

* UnmovingPlaid: The end Rainbow Dash's tail gets ruffled from Applejack pulling it, but the stripes of colour on it don't.

* UnmovingPlaid: The end Rainbow Dash's tail gets wrinkled from Applejack pulling it, but the stripes of colour on it don't.

As the sun finally rises, Princess Celestia reappears to congratulate Twilight and her friends. She was aware of the prophecy and knew Twilight had the power to save the world, but only told her to make friends, hoping that her student would learn the power of friendship and allow its power to spark the Elements. She proceeds to reconcile with Nightmare Moon, who has returned to her original form of Princess Luna, Celestia's long-lost sister. Turns out the two sisters in the original legend of Nightmare Moon were Luna and Celestia. Go figure!

Celebrations are in order, Luna is ready to resume her duties of raising the moon at night, and Twilight Sparkle is ready to return to Canterlot... or not, as the once-antisocial unicorn is reluctant to leave her new friends so suddenly. With Celestia's blessing, Twilight decides to remain in Ponyville and continue her studies on the magic of friendship.

* EasilyForgiven: After ''one thousand years'', a bit of magic and one "I'm sorry" are enough to reconcile Princess Luna. Not too surprising, considering ''she'' was the one who spent that time imprisoned, which Celestia can't have wanted but was forced to do; WordOfGod states something was corrupting Luna, and the corruption seems to be finally driven out when (as mentioned in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfharmonyPart1 another episode]]) the heroines activate the full potential of the Elements.

* LastSecondChance: Princess Celestia to Nightmare Moon/Luna after she has been defeated. For once, she [[HeelFaceTurn accepts]]. Ironically, Celestia's offer is phrased much like the trope name for the [[WeCanRuleTogether villain-to-hero counterpart]] of the trope.

* OcularGushers: Pinkie Pie is so touched by the reunion of Celestia and Luna, she [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny briefly]] does this.

* SpaceWhaleAesop: Dear Twilight Sparkle, no matter how strong and smart you may be, there are some things you just can't do alone. Friends have a special bond that has more meaning than you can find in any book. So cherish your friends, nurture your relationships with them, and always hold them near and dear to your heart, because together you can [[spoiler:smite evil with a badass goddamn rainbow WaveMotionGun. Because [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin friendship... is magic.]]]]

* YouFool: "''Stand BACK, [[IncrediblyLamePunyou FOALS]]!''"

* YouFool: "''Stand BACK, you FOALS!''"

[[caption-width-right:300:You haven't seen the last of Nightmare Moon! [[spoiler: [[AndZoidberg And Princess Luna.]]]]]]

''(Pause. Twilight Sparkle glares at Pinkie Pie.)''\\

* SpaceWhaleAesop: Dear Princess Celestia, no matter how strong and smart you may be, there are some things you just can't do alone. Friends have a special bond that has more meaning than you can find in any book. So cherish your friends, nurture your relationships with them, and always hold them near and dear to your heart, because together you can [[spoiler:smite evil with a badass goddamn rainbow WaveMotionGun. Because [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin friendship... is magic.]]]]

* BeneathTheMask: Turns out that the evil Nightmare Moon was just actually a pony that felt lonely and missed her sister.
* BigNo: Nightmare Moon let's one out before getting blasted with the Elements Of Harmony.

* EasilyForgiven: After ''one thousand years'', a bit of magic and one "I'm sorry" are enough to reconcile Princess Luna. It's not really surprising considering ''she'' was the one who spent that time imprisoned, which Celestia can't have wanted but was forced to do; WordOfGod states something was corrupting Luna, and the corruption seems to be finally driven out when (as mentioned in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfharmonyPart1 another episode]]) the heroines activate the full potential of the Elements.

* A rampaging manticore attacks the group, but the kind-hearted Fluttershy breaks up the ensuing fight, and pacifies the manticore by removing a thorn stuck in its paw.

* Rainbow Dash is tasked with flying to the other side of a rope bridge and fixing it, but Nightmare Moon takes on the form of a trio of performing pegasi and offers Dash promises of fame and fortune, on the condition that she leave her friends behind. Rainbow Dash is tempted... but chooses to remain loyal to her friends.

As the sun finally rises, Princess Celestia reappears to congratulate Twilight and her friends. She was aware of the prophecy and knew Twilight had the power to save the world, but only told her to make friends, hoping that her student would learn the power of friendship, thus allowing its power to spark the Elements. She proceeds to reconcile with Nightmare Moon, who has returned to her original form of Princess Luna, Celestia's long-lost sister. Turns out the two sisters in the original legend of Nightmare Moon were Luna and Celestia. Go figure!

[[caption-width-right:300:You haven't seen the last of Nightmare Moon! [[spoiler: And Princess Luna.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:You haven't seen the last of Nightmare Moon!]]

!!Continued from [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon Mare in the Moon]].

'''Also known as "Friendship Is Magic, Part 2."'''

* StaringDownCthulhu: In a sense subverted; Twilight is actually pretty afraid and not willing to just charge Nightmare Moon, and only starts to do so in order to draw her away from the Elements.

* AChatWithSatan: Nightmare Moon does this to Rainbow Dash when she's off alone, attempting to tempt her into forsaking her friends for the chance to live her dream. Rainbow Dash is quick to refuse and help her friends.