This is a review for one song, two covers, of The Moon Rises.

Back on February 25, 2012, PonyPhonic splashed in his debut single, The Moon Rises, a slow opera-esque musical. With Celestia revered during the day, Luna yearns for the attention, devotion, and love for her moon, something the citizens of Equestria rarely, if not ever, admire. Her naivety and jealousy solidified a conflicted, wounded heart to be the corrupted and feared Nightmare Moon.

A little more than eight months later, well-known brony actress EileMonty uploaded her own cover. The message is the same, but the delivery is different. Instead of a quiet, reserved jealousy, EileMonty's delivery is wishful, but soon turns corrupted and evil beyond compare. Instead of being the singer, EileMonty in The Moon Rises sings in character of Luna and Nightmare Moon.

Both songs work extremely well, and one of the key reasons is the dark music. The piano chimes in lowly, creating that feeling of darkness and loneliness. Drums beat, and the bell tolls, urgently marching for control of Equestria. Beginning softly, it transitions with a soft touch of the xylophone, memorizing it resonates and quickens, with finally silence. The perfectly executed organization of the musical score laments to the audience.

But there is one clever insertion: the background Latin and vocalization during the chorus. It transitions the song from one moment to another and makes Luna's sense of pain and spirituality very believable. Without it, the background score's dark mood becomes less impactful.

Both versions convey Luna's transition and jealousy in two radical, brilliant ways. PonyPhonic's low, male male voice is wishful and reflective. It's as if Luna looks down at the citizens of Equestia, and very slowly gets jealous. But the hidden layer of evil is blanketed with an eerie calm, like a religious prayer. PonyPhonic's continuously calm voice captivates the audience and helps the viewer concentrate on Luna's pent-up envy.

By contrast, EileMonty is Luna, and more overt emotion is expressed throughout. As PonyPhonic's score rings, Luna reflects in sadness and jealousy. But as the music picks up, Luna becomes angry, corrupted, and extremely evil. EileMonty explained that singing it identically to PonyPhonic wouldn't make her impression of the characters as convincing, and this song shows this. In her voice, singing in a quiet, reflective jealousy contrasts too much with Luna's voice and Nightmare Moon's evil. Her transition from calm to really dramatic in her evil is extremely in character and makes the song so chilling. You can feel the evil oozing in her voice in her cover, all the way through the very end. It sounds evil. It feels evil. It IS evil! With the background music, Latin, and song's overall tension, this in-character rendition convincingly belongs in the canon.

PonyPhonic made his spectacular debut with the glorious The Moon Rises, a dramatic opera-like musical song. The blend of the instruments and the Latin gives it an ancient, religious perspective, with PonyPhonic's soft voice reflective, envious, and subtly jealous. EileMonty's cover improvises the method the song is sung, yet retains the respect the original song has. Her excellent impersonation of Luna consequently makes the song belong in the canon. While I prefer EileMonty's cover because of the added depth in Luna's jealous evil and successful impersonation, both versions are equally amazing for different, yet all the right reasons.