Questions and Answers

To say how I was, those precious four years ago, requires first understanding my emotions leading up to the debacle of my own demise. I was sad, yes, but I was also angry. There is more to the story of how I became Nightmare Moon, and some questions about what that even means.

First, I was both angry and depressed. There is no reasonable way to separate the two for me, because anger and depression are so inextricably linked. An angry mother may stay so for a while, but do they not feel any other emotion besides anger? What if underlying that anger is a deep sadness? In my case, I was angry at the innocent ponies who slept during my night, but this in turn led to my own depression.

I wouldn’t want anypony to spend one-thousand years isolated on a moon.

Now this anger, and depression, can be justified, but only outside the realm of justification. Counterintuitive, but also necessary to understand that emotions take place outside of our own logic and sensibility, that is, a form of “common sense”. Emotions are the antithesis to logic, fear can make all reason wash away, but some emotions can be used to propel a rational cause.

If Celestia wanted to pass a bill through the nobles, she would first analyze their logic, how they think about the bill. But after this, she would analyze their emotions, how they feel about the bill, to gauge how much passion or neutrality she must use when describing it. If the nobles are already wanting to pass the bill, then no new emotion need be introduced to the situation. But this talk about using emotion borders on communication theory, and I would direct you to Twilight Sparkle for that.

So if emotion is taken outside the realm of logical justification, then there is no rational way to justify emotions. My anger and depression were irrational and destructive and nearly led to an eternal night for all of Equestria, this is not a very reasonable thing to do, at least given my morals. But having emotions is justified because, like our own existence, they merely are.

Psychology, and all the ponies that study it, has shown that a dual-process theory operates in we ponies when we process our emotions. We observe the event, which causes emotions to rise, but then we think about the event, which causes emotions to rise. Cognition and reflex meet at the intersecting point of the complicated area of emotion, and hopefully someday we ponies can fully understand the process behind emotion, but until then I have given my explanation behind Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon, that situation is an interesting transition into a brief about purpose and our own place in this universe.

When I was Luna, before Nightmare Moon, my purpose was given to my by rather arbitrary means. Certainly, anypony would love to live as a princess, but being a princess or any kind of royalty leads to some loss in your own self-determination. As royalty, you are expected to be leaders of the ponies how put their trust in you. As royalty, your purpose is given by those ponies when you serve them, but this means that you give up determining your own purpose.

A unicorn from Canterlot  can decide how they want to live their life, even if that lifestyle is impractical, it is still the choice of the unicorn. However, we ponies have an interesting condition to our definition of purpose: cutie marks. These mythical markings are to tell us what our special talent is, but do they take into account what our interests are? Normally a pony has some interest in the cutie mark given to them, but what if a pony did not? What if a pony was given a “wrong” cutie mark, or no cutie mark at all? Wouldn’t this be a harsh prison to find oneself in, not having any given purpose in life? No! It is not a prison, but rather a whole new, unique opportunity to turn your cutie mark into whatever you want.

So our purpose comes from our cutie marks, and failing that it comes from our activities, but how does a cutie mark come along? Unfortunately, I can only make observations that cutie marks come with time and patience. For example, three fillies in Ponyville are currently trying to obtain their cutie marks through trying different activities. While this may be just a way to spend time with each other, it is also a unique way to try and find their special talent. If a pony’s cutie mark comes from doing activities that interest them, and that they have a basic talent for, then trying different activities is a viable option, as opposed to just waiting for time and the universe to tell them their special talent. This would be the best example of purpose, either finding it through patience and time, or seizing life and discovering your own talent.

But what if a pony rejected their cutie mark? What if a pony decided that they would not live within the chain of a tattoo on their flank? The most obvious consequence would be social alienation, as pony society currently places much emphasis and prestige on having a cutie mark and adhering to that special talent. If a pony rejected that mark, then they would be free to live their own life, but the practical cost would be great, and the danger of not having another talent is ever lurking.

But then again, what if a pony trained themselves and found a new talent?This would not only be self-determination, but also a great show of personal strength and will. This pony would find their own purpose, in a way they would create it from the environment, and would hopefully live to that purpose. Or maybe the pony that rejected their cutie mark would live life with no purpose at all! Insated, they would derive their purpose simply from living.

To finish, I was asked if my philosophy can be traced to Descartes. In a way, all philosophy can be traced back to a point, but each philosophy is wholly a pony’s own philosophy. My personal thoughts can come from a number of places, but I do have a few ponies to whom I reach for inspiration. Descartes is not one of them, though he may have influenced the philosophers who I look up to: Russell, Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Schopenhauer.

I will not reference books directly through my writing, but I can allude to them, and if I do so I will make sure to tell what book and what author it is. No footnotes for the present time, but that could change in the future.

To summarize: Emotions are not justifiable within the confines of rational thought, but can only be found in the realm of the irrational. I was not justified in my anger and depression by reasonable means, but those emotions came to be nevertheless, and I must still deal with them. Our purpose is found either from our own actions, or from the universe giving it to us, either way our cutie marks tell us what our special talent is.

Q.E.D.

Luna barged into Celestia’s room, “‘Tia, ‘Tia, Celestia, come quick!”

“Ehrmehrmeh, what is it Lulu?”

“I’ve been asked my first questions, oh they’re really good ones too!” Luna was jumping around Celestia’s bed, gleefully laughing as her hooves shook the floor.

“Luna! Stop bouncing!”

Luna stopped, “Oh I can’t wait for the next set of questions, it will be so much fun!”

Celestia rolled onto her side, away from Luna’s beaming face, and tried to fall back asleep.