Why was every pony terrified of Luna in 'Luna Eclipsed'?

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I honestly don't understand why everypony was so afraid of Luna in "Luna Eclipsed". I mean we all saw in the first episode Pinkie threw a huge party all for the return of the princess. This proves they knew that she was back. They knew she wasn't dangerous anymore. So why is everypony so afraid of Luna in "LE" even Pinkie, the one who threw the huge party, was terrified. You could argue it was her new look, but I don't know. I just don't understand.

[AegisReflector 886]

Well, between the end of "Friendship is Magic" and "Luna Eclipsed", scary stories were still probably being spread around Ponyville, as per the distrust some ponies still had for the Dark Princess. Once rumors spread like wildfire, it's widely believed by many suckers (like Pinkie Pie) and therefore ponies all of a sudden get scared all over again.

 

Not to mention that Luna doesn't show her face at all in Ponyville, so her intimidating stature just turns off some ponies and makes them feel a great case of discomfort.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

That was the result of Pinkie Pie's attempts to convince the fillies/colts that Luna was some sort of monster that wanted to gobble them up and take away their souls. What Luna and Twilight both failed to realize, however, was that Pinkie Pie's intent was to properly enjoy Nightmare Night by making up a crazy story which, in the end, worked pretty well.

 

Seriously, everypony cheered when Luna came back from her banishment after accepting Celestia's hoof in friendship and rule. It would be asinine to think that Luna was still crazed, in all honesty.

[Jadefire 2,796]

Luna had been the source for horror stories and legends for one thousand years. That kind of folklore doesn't just disappear in one day. Not to mention that it didn't help her case that she arrived after being in seclusion in her castle in a carriage shaped like a hearse, and started yelling at everypony with bats and spikes and lightning.

[Castoro Chiaro 181]

Yeah, this kind of confused me too given that I'm pretty sure Luna's "welcome back" celebration was held in Ponyville?? I dunno. Some of the explanations here make sense, though.

[Nohbdy 4,108]

That was the result of Pinkie Pie's attempts to convince the fillies/colts that Luna was some sort of monster that wanted to gobble them up and take away their souls. What Luna and Twilight both failed to realize, however, was that Pinkie Pie's intent was to properly enjoy Nightmare Night by making up a crazy story which, in the end, worked pretty well.

 

Seriously, everypony cheered when Luna came back from her banishment after accepting Celestia's hoof in friendship and rule. It would be asinine to think that Luna was still crazed, in all honesty.

 

Still, doing that without Luna's permission is quite the dick move. Not to mention that Luna is royalty. Lucky for Pinkie Pie, Luna isn't the type to banish ponies to the moon.

[Arcanel 3,041]

Well...in my opinion, there's a couple of things. Most of what everyone said already seems to fit in. The folklore around Luna/Nightmare Moon, her already imposing figure, her entrance, and Pinkie's doing. Think of it this way. Even though they did a celebration for Luna before, we really don't know how much time passed in between, and she probably never showed her face in Ponyville after that. So, combine all that with the fact Luna didn't exactly made herself less imposing, more like totally opposite, yeah, any citizen from any city would have probably reacted in a similar way. Of course, had Pinkie known what damage she could have created, she would have probably NOT said anything so as not to hurt Luna's feelings. Luckily, everything ended up well.

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

Maybe they were always terrified of her, but put on a show in the first episode because they didn't want to upset Celestia? I don't know, it does seem like a plot hole. To be fair, Luna was being fairly intimidating, and most of the fear that we see towards Luna is after she makes her epic freaky entrance, after she does the royal canterlot voice on them, and after she has her spaz attack and attacked them with demonic spiders, not entirely unjustified. The other people afraid of her were Pinkie(who wasn't really afraid), the kids (they're kids), and Fluttershy ( no explanation needed). So yeah, that was my best attempt at defending the episode, but it does seem like there are some inconsistencies.

[Black Star 62]

Well Pinkie was playing/messing with the fillies and colts. She wasn't actually scared she was also one of the ponies spreading scarry stories which made the other ponies scared.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Black Star

[Fox 5,330]

Everyone's wrong! /)_-

 

The real reason was to feel scared on Nightmare Night! - Even stated by Pinkie Pie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HraedSnGubU&t=17m36s

Later Pip says something about coming next year and making Luna scare them again.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Fox

[Twiliscael 3,960]

That was the result of Pinkie Pie's attempts to convince the fillies/colts that Luna was some sort of monster that wanted to gobble them up and take away their souls. What Luna and Twilight both failed to realize, however, was that Pinkie Pie's intent was to properly enjoy Nightmare Night by making up a crazy story which, in the end, worked pretty well.

 

Seriously, everypony cheered when Luna came back from her banishment after accepting Celestia's hoof in friendship and rule. It would be asinine to think that Luna was still crazed, in all honesty.

 

This, this, and more this. Pinkie convinced everybody that Luna was evil and going to gobble them up so that everyone could enjoy Nightmare Night as it should be enjoyed: in fear.

[himanuts 165]

In "Luna Eclipsed" she came of as imposing and with an appearance closer to Nightmare Moon's. Unlike her first appearance, where she had just beed defeated, de-powered and Celestia and the Elements of Harmony where present.

[Chespin 180]

I think Princess Trollesia told all the citizens of Ponyville to be scared of Luna and since Trollestia's the ruler of Equestria, they did so.

[Yellow Diamond 7,564]

Nightmare Night was already dedicated to the legend of Night Mare Moon; thus frightening the ponies was made easier as a byproduct of their existing apprehension. That the very embodiment of the terror (i.e., Princess Luna) dramatically arrived without forewarning only stoked those fears, misguided as they were. Pinkie Pie also played a large part in exacerbating those said fears.

 

It is definitely inconsistent with the treatment Luna received at the end of the pilot episodes, but "Luna Eclipsed" was something of a character reboot for Luna. It may explain why the ponies so readily forgot (or behaved as if) she was no longer evil.

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

Because she had pretty much been the pony equivalent to a demon/satan(as in she was a fallen angel/goddess) for 1,000 years at this point. She was pretty much the pony Boogyman.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

It is definitely inconsistent with the treatment Luna received at the end of the pilot episodes, but "Luna Eclipsed" was something of a character reboot for Luna. It may explain why the ponies so readily forgot (or behaved as if) she was no longer evil.

 

Or no one ever sees Luna enough to make a fair judgement of her. Who else would be up after sunset? They wouldn't hear much about Luna albeit until, say, midnight - save for ponies who have late work shifts or something or the sort, but their numbers would be considerably low. Sadly, that's the same reason why Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon in the first place, as ironic as it sounds. Heck, I can make an argument on how Luna's jealousy would start to arise yet again if Twilight never confronted Pinkie Pie for her antics during that night, if that makes sense.

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

I think the correct question to ask is "Why weren't they very scared of her during the celebration in the pilot?"

They are justified in being afraid of her. They are intimidated by CELESTIA for crying out loud and that's when she's being very calm and kind to them. It has been established that they are scared silly of royalty