So, about the book "The Mare in the Moon" It says "On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape." Since we know Celestia was the one who imprisoned her in the moon, and since everyone else seems to take "The Mare in the Moon" as a fictional tale, we can assume that only Princess Celestia knew it was a true story. And that she wrote said book. Doesn't that also mean that she released Nightmare Moon herself and on purpose? Perhaps to find a way to reverse the transformation rather than locking her in the moon forever. I mean, exactly HOW can stars aid her in escaping the moon? Celestia couldn't possibly know Luna was going to escape if she even could do that on her own, and all that, exactly one thousand years later. Celestia controlled both the moon and the sun at the time. I'm sure other stars could be controlled by her too. In a nutshell: - Imprison naughty filly in the moon. - Give it at least 1000 years to find a solution. - Sees huge magic potential in Twilight Sparkle. - Takes her as a private student. - Make sure she makes friends right on time to use the Elements properly. - Release naughty filly from the moon. :Trollestia: Also: Celestia seemed to be extremely easy-going when Twilight said Nightmare Moon was about to return, but she panicked when Discord returned.
My two theories. After Celestia sent Luna to the moon, she has to have a heart. You wouldn't trap someone on the moon forever? would you. She did the only thing she could, if I recall correctly in episode 1 of season 2. Celestia states that she and Luna banished Discord to stone with the elements of Harmony. That means three for Luna and three for Celestia. In the book, it says that she used the elements of harmony to banish Luna. She possibly wouldn't have full control of the elements since she had never had the other three. She was forced to send Luna to the moon. Maybe, since Luna was on the moon for that long she was able to muster up enough magic to teleport the distance to earth. The elements of harmony could have given Celestia a boost to her magic allowing her to do it quickly.
But Celestia knew the exact day and method of Nightmare Moon's return the moment the book "Mare in the Moon" was written. And most likely it was Celestia who wrote that book since everyone else considers it a fictional story. That, combined with the fact that Celestia didn't seem to be very worried at all that Nightmare Moon was about to return tells me she knew everything, and most likely planned it all.
I'm guessing only the elements of harmony at full power could revert Nightmare. Which implies Celestia can see the future, How else would she have known anypony would have been capable of stopping her. She would have known Twilight could stop her and her friends would be the elements. Celestia made a very complex surprise party for Luna, 1000 years in the making. That's why she did it.
I read a comic somewhere about why she had to be banished, something about some sort of Miasma which took over her iirc, seemed like a pretty solid idea. You know, for her having the ability to plan when luna would get out.
Luna was corrupted, as such could be un-corrupted. Discord is the embodiment of chaos/evil/whateveryouwanthimtobe and as a result there was no way to make Discord a "good" character.
Well, I'm something of a Celestia fanboy, and I don't believe there's any such thing as Tyrantlestia, nor do I believe that her aspects as 'Trollestia' are as far-reaching as most seem to toy with. My own personal theory is that, as others have said, without Luna being with her, Celestia didn't have full power over the Elements and wasn't able to purify her. As far as planning so far ahead, the implication is that, left alone, the Elements of Harmony's banishment would have been forever. FOREVERRRRR. I honestly feel that the Stars aiding in Luna's escape was planned by Celestia, possibly even arranged by her. The Stars are LUNA'S domain, but Celestia didn't WANT to lose Luna for a thousand years in the first place, much less forever, so Celestia either entreated or manipulated (depending on whether the stars are at all sentient) the stars to work towards her baby sister's release from the moon, but only after she'd had enough time to work out a way to make sure it wasn't all for nothing. Enter Twilight Sparkle.
To be honest it just blows my mind that she goes from "E" to "M" backwards. But I suppose Friendship IS Magic.
You have to remember that although she was in the form of Nightmare Moon, that was still Celestia's sister who was sent to the moon. 1000 years is a long time, but it wasn't permanent, it was done to protect Equestria. It was clear Celestia didn't want to do it, other wise she wouldn't have tried to talk it out first. I think Celestia was hoping that the 1000 years would have had an effect on Nightmare Moon, 'learning her lesson' so to speak. The 1000 years was scheduled to end, hence the stars would aid her escape. It was planned, I believe. What I'm not sure about was whether Celestia knew she would return as Nightmare Moon. I honestly don't know. However, I do believe she played a small role in the events in episode 2, and somewhat the end of episode on (season 1). When Celestia arrives after Nightmare Moon is defeated, she appears to have been fine all along. I think she knew what would happen, but also entrusted Twilight and her friends to discover the magic of friendship and all that stuff. As for Celestia's reaction to Discord in comparison to Nightmare Moon, again, Nightmare Moon is still Celestia's sister. Discord is a genuine villain that is more than capable of wreaking havoc upon Equestria. Discord isn't willing to cooperate in anyway, unlike Nightmare Moon (Luna). His sole purpose is chaos and devastation, it's impossible to reason with him, and for that he is a genuine threat. Remember, he'd caused trouble before, so it's something Celestia knows the full devastation of, and would probably show more fear and concern over.
I do think Celestia had something to do with the "stars" aiding in Nightmare Moon's escape. Remember, this WAS still Celestia's sister we're talking about. Celestia basically decided to follow the age-old tactic of the United States-- put it off until later.
It amazes me that more people don't consider the idea that maybe Celestia had no idea what the Elements of Harmony were going to do when she used them on Nightmare Moon. As far as we know, the only time Celestia and Luna used them was when they defeated Discord. And what do they do to Discord? They turn him to stone, which is rather karmic if you think about it: as a statue, he is frozen that way for eternity (well until the mane six start dying and their bonds to the Elements fade that is) and is therefore completely still and predictable, the exact opposite of what he is when he isn't "Stoned". I imagine Celestia tried every idea she could think of to bring her sister back, but out of desperation, was forced to use the Elements before Nightmare Moon caused any irreversible damage. She might have hoped they would turn her sister good again. Unfortunately, since it was only her using them, for some reason they sent Nightmare Moon to, well, the moon. At the very least, this bought time (1000 years in fact) for Celestia to find somepony who could bond with the Elements of Harmony. This is all just speculation of course, but unless the whole thing is explained in a future episode, that's how I think it all went down.
Celestia just wanted to prank everypony. What do you think where she was during whole episode (until end of that 2 parter) :Trollestia:
So wait...she was pranking everypony...including Nightmare Moon? If that was true, she really WOULD be a Goddess-tier troll! [size=-2]LOL SEEWHATIDIDTHERE????[/size]
unitoone (from DA) had his pony, Starfighter be one of the 4 stars in his fic, "Dreams and Nightmares". Read "The Mission". http://unitoone.deviantart.com/gallery/34573975#/d3raxii
I always wondered how the whole "the stars will aid in her escape thing" I mean, how was that possible. After reading the other comments, there are so many possibilities
On a side note maybe it was mistranslated. It was 1000 years old. It might have meant "stares" Fluttershy: Nightmare moon, wake up right now!
I personally don't think Celestia could have planned 1000 years ahead while fighting her own sister. Probably in the heat of the battle she originally banished Luna forever. Later she changed the spell as much as she could without the Elements, allowing Luna to escape. But I don't really think that any of them has control over the stars. At least it's not canonical.
