{{Infobox television episode | series = [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]] | image = Princess_Luna_bright_and_glorious_feast!_S02E04.png | image_size = 280 | image_alt = | caption = [[Princess Luna]] makes a dramatic entrance. | season = 2 | episode = 4 | writer = [[M.A. Larson]] | director = *[[Jayson Thiessen]] * [[James Wootton (animator)|James Wootton]] | music = | editor = | airdate = {{Start date|2011|10|22}} | length = 22 minutes | prev = [[Lesson Zero]] | next = [[Sisterhooves Social]] | season_article = My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 2 | episode_list = List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes }} "'''Luna Eclipsed'''" is the fourth episode of the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 2|second season]] of the [[Animated series|animated television series]] ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''. The episode was written by [[M.A. Larson]]. It originally aired on [[Discovery_Family#As_Hub_Network_(2010–2014)|The Hub]] on October 22, 2011. In this episode, [[Princess Luna]] visits [[Equestria#Ponyville|Ponyville]] during the festival of Nightmare Night, but her outdated mannerisms and the ponies' fear cause problems.
== Plot == {{External media |headerimage=[[File:YouTube 2024.svg|alt=YouTube logo|x20px|center]] |video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgf4IXU6CcQ Luna Eclipsed (full episode)] — Official upload of the episode onto [[YouTube]] | float= left| }} {{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic sidebar}} [[Twilight Sparkle]], dressed up as the legendary magician [[List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic characters#Pillars of Old Equestria|Star Swirl the Bearded]], and [[Spike (My Little Pony)|Spike]] join Ponyville's Nightmare Night festival and encounter [[trick-or-treat]]ers. When they arrive at the festival, [[Pinkie Pie]] appears in a chicken costume and leads a group of young ponies, including Pipsqueak, a young colt who recently moved to Ponyville from Trottingham, to various activities throughout the town. Mayor Mare announces the commencement of the festival and invites the foals to follow her and [[Zecora]] to a statue of [[Princess Luna|Nightmare Moon]] for a storytelling session, where Zecora explains the tradition of wearing disguises and offering candy to prevent Nightmare Moon from finding and eating the ponies. A flying chariot carrying a hooded figure appears dramatically in the sky with gathering clouds and wind, scaring away everyone except Twilight.
The chariot reveals [[Princess Luna]], who announces her desire to transform the "dreadful" Nightmare Night into a celebration of admiration for her, but Pinkie misinterprets this as a threat to feast on everyone and flees with the foals. Recognizing that Luna is having difficulty adjusting after her thousand-year exile, Twilight approaches Luna and suggests that her loud royal voice (the "Royal Canterlot Voice") may be causing miscommunication with the frightened ponies. Twilight brings Luna to [[Fluttershy]]'s cottage to learn softer speech patterns, but when Pinkie and the foals witness this encounter, they assume Luna is about to eat Fluttershy and run away in terror.
Following [[Applejack (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)|Applejack]]'s advice about playing games and having fun, Luna participates in carnival activities and begins to enjoy herself while asking ponies to call her "Luna" instead of "Princess Luna". She helps Pipsqueak at the [[bobbing for apples|apple-bobbing]] station, but Pinkie again spreads rumors that she is eating him. The frightened reactions of the townspeople cause Luna to lose her temper and loudly decree that Nightmare Night is canceled forever.
Twilight discovers that Pinkie actually enjoys being scared because it is fun, so she devises a plan where Luna disguises herself as Nightmare Moon to frighten the children. Luna succeeds in this, and as she begins to doubt the validity of Twilight's plan, Pipsqueak asks her if she can return next year to scare them again; the foals actually enjoy the frightening aspect of the celebration. Delighted, Luna reinstates Nightmare Night and joins the townspeople in various games and practical jokes throughout the rest of the evening.
== Reception == Sherilyn Connelly, the author of ''Ponyville Confidential'', gave the episode a "B" rating.<ref>{{harvp|Connelly|2017|p=78}}</ref> In her review of the episode in ''[[SF Weekly]]'', Connelly wrote that the episode's lesson was "similar to the one from [[Zecora]]'s first episode ["[[Bridle Gossip]]"]—don't judge a book by its cover, if somepony seems scary, be friendly to them anyway, and you might be surprised." She noted that while Zecora proved to be not scary at all, "the key to Luna becoming accepted was for her to own her scariness," calling it "a darned fine message."<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602180025/http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/05/my_little_pony_recap_season_2_episodes_03_04.php|url=http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/05/my_little_pony_recap_season_2_episodes_03_04.php|first=Sherilyn|last=Connelly|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-06-02|date=2012-05-23|title=My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 2, Episodes 3 & 4|website=[[SF Weekly]]}}</ref>
In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue praised director [[Jayson Thiessen]]'s animation techniques, particularly his skill with crowd scenes that create "the impression of a bustling, lively evening" through strategic use of multiple planes of motion and active background characters. Blue analyzed Luna's character as representing "every kid who's ever started a new school" and "every newly minted fan who's ever been derisively called a 'newbie,'" and argued that her struggles stem from being "lost in time" after missing a thousand years of social evolution during her exile. She interpreted the episode's approach to [[conflict resolution]] as particularly effective, writing that unlike many fish-out-of-water comedies, it "doesn't put all the burden of change on one side" and instead acknowledges that "most conflict between people requires some change on both sides." Blue also examined Twilight's role as having evolved from newcomer to "forum diplomat," suggesting the episode demonstrates how "true transformation" is "a process, bit by bit, tiny incremental changes" rather than an instantaneous cure-all.<ref name="Blue-S2">{{cite book |last=Blue |first=Jen A. |title=My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season Two|pages=40–45|date=2014-10-25 |chapter=Hello everypony! Did I miss anything? (Luna Eclipsed)}}</ref>
Brendan Kachel of ''flayrah'' wrote that the episode was one of his favorites, as well as a favorite of the [[brony fandom]]. He praised Luna's character development from "evil [[supervillain]] in the [[Friendship Is Magic (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)|series opener]] to extroverted but socially awkward [[geek]]" and noted that her transformation into Nightmare Moon made sense because "she was always a socially awkward geek who just wanted to make friends, but took a bad turn when she wasn't able to."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flayrah.com/5167/review-my-little-pony-friendship-magic-adventures-crystal-empire-dvd-bonus-season-1-dvd-review|title=Review: 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Adventures in the Crystal Empire' DVD (with bonus Season 1 DVD review)|date=2013-07-20|access-date=2025-06-19|website=flayrah|first=Brendan|last=Kachel}}</ref>
''Anime Superhero News'' called "Luna Eclipsed" "the best episode of season two yet," praising its character depth, "genuine emotion, high attention to both the big picture as well as the little details, and a great sense of humor including well done running gags." Despite noting a personal disinterest in holiday-themed episodes, the reviewer wrote that the episode was "amazing" and recommended it to anyone with interest in the series.<ref>{{cite web|author=SammyT|title=My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – "Luna Eclipsed" Recap|website=Anime Superhero News|date=2011-10-23|access-date=2025-06-12|url=https://animesuperhero.com/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-luna-eclipsed-recap/}}</ref>
A rerview from ''Republibot'' described the episode's plot as "a bit of a mess," suggesting the writers "started with 'sometimes it's fun to be scared,' and then tried to craft a friendship lesson around that." However, the reviewer noted that since "MLP isn't a plot-driven show," the episode was still enjoyable, particularly praising Luna's return with her "ethereal hair" and "voice immodulation" as well as the impressive amount of artwork and animation work required for the Halloween-themed setting.<ref>{{cite web|author=Church|title=EPISODE REVIEW: Friendship is Magic: Luna Eclipsed|website=Republibot|date=2011-10-23|access-date=2025-06-12|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030045054/http://www.republibot.com/content/episode-review-friendship-magic-luna-eclipsed|archive-date=2011-10-30|url=http://www.republibot.com/content/episode-review-friendship-magic-luna-eclipsed}}</ref>
Raymond Gallant of ''Freakin' Awesome Network'' gave the episode a rating of 6.5 out of 10 and called it "a major mixed bag," praising Luna's characterization as "adorable" and [[Tabitha St. Germain]]'s voice work while criticizing the absence of [[Rarity (My Little Pony)|Rarity]], the pacing, and the new character Pipsqueak. Despite this, Gallant wrote that it was "a solid episode overall" that successfully established Luna's character.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freakinawesomenetwork.net/2011/10/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-2-episode-4-review/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309102244/http://www.freakinawesomenetwork.net/2011/10/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-2-episode-4-review/|first=Raymond|last=Gallant|title=My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 2, Episode 4 Review|website=Freakin Awesome Network|date=2011-10-25|access-date=2025-06-12|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-03-09}}</ref>
== Home media release == The episode was part of the Season 2 [[DVD]] set, released by [[Shout! Factory|Shout Factory]] on May 14, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Magic/dp/B00C0YUY4Q/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top|title=My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season 2|website=Amazon |date=February 27, 2013|access-date=March 25, 2013|archive-date=April 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404071625/https://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Magic/dp/B00C0YUY4Q/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top|url-status=live}}</ref>
== See also == * [[List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes|List of ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' episodes]]
== References == {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== * {{Cite book |last=Connelly |first=Sherilyn |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ponyville_Confidential/E3VPDgAAQBAJ |title=Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981-2016 |date=2017-04-01 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-6209-1 |language=en}}
== External links == * {{IMDb episode|2071864}}
{{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes|2|state=expanded}}
[[Category:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes]] [[Category:2011 American television episodes]] [[Category:2011 Canadian television episodes]]