Roughshod

Well hindsight is 20/20, do you have anything to back that up with? It's easy enough to claim what a character may or may not have known without any corroborating evidence. I could see how you might point to the Tree of Harmony and the fact that its symbols are identical to cutie marks of the Mane 6, but Princess Celestia herself admitted the she and Luna had been disconnected from them a very long time ago, long before Twilight's time. So I find it hard to believe that Celestia had some innate awareness that Twilight was always destined to be the Princess of Friendship simply from the remote fact that she had natural magical talent or that her cutie mark was similar to that of a relic she apparently hadn't seen in over a thousand years. 'Destiny' of some sort certainly seems to exist in the world of Equestria, but that is not an excuse for the failings of Celestia's tenure as its ruler or the inherent problems I see in its very nature. Also, by using destiny as a point of argument, aren't you essentially implying that Celestia is destined to be an incompetent ruler? Again, this is all after-the-fact self justification without any coherent line of reasoning. None of the trials and tribulations that Twilight and her friends faced directly resulted in her becoming an alicorn, It was Celestia herself who made that transformation possible as result of her choice stemming from her personal judgement and opinion. She(Celestia) could have made Twilight a princess whenever she wanted since she clearly had the power to do so(ignoring the reality that it was obviously just a ploy to sell more dolls). From this point of view it becomes clear that Celestia is either directly or indirectly responsible for nearly all the major events that have occurred in the series. i'll also state that there is no concrete proof for your claim that Celestia was involved with Twilight's assisting Luna's acclimation into the modern world. As far as we know Luna went to the Nightmare Night celebration of her own accord. After all it is dedicated to her in a way. Celestia ruled Equestria by herself for over a millennium and even in regards to the other princesses it seems pretty obvious that she has the most seniority and final word, just look at how she dissuaded Luna from joing the Mane 6 in going to the Crystal Empire. In any case Celestia is the ruler that Twilight and the others have the most interaction with and take direction from. Your argument would only further indict Luna and Cadance rather than redeem Celestia from her mistakes. No, but it does generally require them to what they're supposed to well. Granted it seems like Celestia did a fairly good job for most of her rule; it's the events that have transpired recently and her lack of ability to meet them that sparks the most criticism. By it's definition experience can only be had first-hand, and again you bring in circular reasoning to justify your point. If Twilight was ready to become what she is then when was this decided? And by whom? By Celestia of course, through her own discretion. Does this in and of itself make her less qualified as a ruler? Not necessarily but it does raise the question of why Celestia cannot fill the role of promoting the magic of friendship throughout her kingdom. Obviously this is not something she is capable of doing despite being probably the most powerful pony existing and that is inherently a shortcoming and thus a flaw. In conclusion I put forward the following charges against Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia: That she has willingly and frequently enabled the endangerment and suffering of her students and subjects. That she has done so with the sole intention of fulfilling her own aims and desires without the consultation or consensus of those involved. That the aforementioned endangering actions towards others could have reasonably and with due action been avoided if not outright prevented had she not acted on mere whim and selfish intent. That the primary reasoning for her doing so can be reckoned as the fulfilling of duty and station that she herself is incapable of doing but required the promotion of one of her students, i.e. Her Royal Highness, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. That while having the ability to do so at anytime she wished as well as evidently the only one with this capacity, she chose not to until she was personally satisfied, without full regard to her responsibilities to her nation as its primary sovereign.

I haven't bought any and I don't plan to. In my view it's all just marketed junk made by underpaid workers in factories and sweatshops overseas. Congrats to everyone for contributing a bigger percentage to Hasbro's revenue than me. Well actually I may have bought a Pinkie Pie doll for my niece for her birthday, but I'm not certain.

Or it could have resulted in the the mane six having to deal with four enemies instead of three, with Sunny D-emon and the Dazzlings possibly working together to cause even more mayhem.

That wouldn't have been possible given the development of the show but even if it had it would not have been for the best. Sunset Shimmer's demon form was defeated by the magical power of friendship and it was by that same power that she helped the mane six defeat the dazzlings. Friendship > she demon.

Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones. He seems to be the type to appreciate excellence in entertainment.

Replace? Sure you could, just bust out the old Mirror Pool. Actually I'd rather have a pony that surpassed Celestia in some way than just a replacement. If you're just going to use a fill-in then you may as well stick with the original.

Things that make life difficult as well as interesting and worthwhile to an extent. Equestrian daily life seems pretty boring in most aspects.