Is Cadance more willing to defend her subjects personally than Sunbutt?

[ManaMinori 4,144]

We saw her fly head on at Sombra, to beat him to the Crystal Heart, and stnd with Shining Armor to synchro up a love spell to push back Queen Chrysalis. Sunbutt, on the other hoof, only took on Chrysalis when chips were down, (and lost). Every other villain- including her own sister- she just chose to throw Twilight at, for the sake of teaching lessons. Is Cadance more willing to put herself on the frontlines to defend her citizens? Does this make her a more honorable and respectable pony than Sunbutt, who puts her student and the entirety of Equestria at risk for a lesson plan?

[cmarston1 5,952]

I would argue that she is more useful than Celestia. But that's because the later has been demoted to background pony.

[SquipyCheetah 449]

I feel like Cadance is more personal than Celestia, who normally remains professional unless with Twilight.

[Luminance 2,181]

Celestia probably being older and wiser has a wider grasp of the situation and thus allowing Twilight to carry her "master plan" of sorts even when in the stakes are up. Celestia can trust Twilight and her friends to defend Equestria because the she knows that they can do it. Cadance loves her kingdom and personally would, if not protect all of Equestria too if she can develop the wisdom of Celestia. Cadence actively protects while Celestia passively protects each other.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

I would argue that she is more useful than Celestia. But that's because the later has been demoted to background pony.

what aboutbefore she was demoted? Anything?

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

Celestia is pretty old, perhaps her strongest days are behind her, and she is grooming Twilight to replace her knowing that she herself cannot protect Equestria indefinitely.  Don't forget through that Celestia (with Luna) has already defeated Discord, Tirek, Sombra, Nightmare Moon (without Luna (obviously)) and God know how many others.  Cadance's contribution to protecting her subjects pales in comparison.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Celestia is pretty old, perhaps her strongest days are behind her, and she is grooming Twilight to replace her knowing that she herself cannot protect Equestria indefinitely. Don't forget through that Celestia (with Luna) has already defeated Discord, Tirek, Sombra, Nightmare Moon (without Luna (obviously)) and God know how many others. Cadance's contribution to protecting her subjects pales in comparison.

True, but age spells- as stated by Twilight herself in "magic duel" DO exist, so if Sunbutt wanted, she could merely reverse the effects of aging, thus continuing to successfully defend the ponies she's supposed to protect

 

Or if not, then she should just transfer her power to Twi (or Luna), and slink off to a corner somewhere to die....cough....I mean, be written out, if she doesn't have the strength she used to anymore. Because as it stands, Sunbutt is pretty much a useless husk.

[Cwanky 17,468]

To be fair, logistically speaking, The Crystal Empire is much smaller than Equestria, which spans a whole continent and has much more people. Even though she, Luna and the government suck royally at it, Celestia still has to delegate a lot of her authority and duties. There's only so much she can handle all at once.

 

Having Twilight and the Mane 6 around is just as much a convenience as it is a Plan B.

[Crypty Scribbles 2,974]

Cadance is awsum! But she has much lesser amount of subjects than aunt Celestia and her husband is brave warrior and always ready to cover her back.

 

I guess that Sunbutt is intellectual kind of pony and she plays a game much bigger than most of us can understand. She's like Lord Vetinari from the DiscWorld, like Dumbledore from Harry Potter, like Nick Fury from Marvell universe.

 

[Justin_Case001 4,858]

Although I enjoy it, I feel like I can't keep trying to find FIM universe contextual reasons for Celestia's apparent incompetence/impotence.  I've seen and read some interesting headcanons, but it simply comes down the poor decision to exclude her from the show and reduce her character to basically nothing.  For me, this is probably the greatest tragedy of the show, as she would have been so interesting to really develop.  Maybe Magical Mystery Cure should have ended with Celestia telling Twilight that she's been training her as a replacement, teaching Twilight the flashy-memory-erasing spell, then Twilight flashy-thinging Celestia.

[Number62 1,247]

Honestly, attempting in-universe explanations with anything relating to Celestia is a waste of time and effort because the writers just screwed up that much. Even a monkey can do better with the character.

 

And what kind of lame reason is "too old"? Was that ever an issue at any point?

Edited September 13, 2016 by Number107

[Evelyn Light 28]

i do agree with this. Throughout the show Cadance has shown to do more for her subjects. She also has shown to do anything for anyone she holds dear. I feel if Equestria was in danger, Cadance would be making sacrifices before Celestial.

[cider float 2,536]

Well it's not like Celestia didn't try.

 

[Steve Piranha 28,901]

As little we have seen, Cadance is willing to hop into action a second notice. Celly usually leaves shit to the Mane6, but she also jumped to action a couple of times, and the Journal implies she and Luna also had their share of action, judging by the latter's acknowledgement that her sister is the better fighter

[sweetolebob18 724]

Celestia hasn't won a fight since she sent Nightmare Moon to the moon & she was getting her clock cleaned then until she used the Elements  of Harmony (Princess Twilight).  Given her track record, I'd recommend she stay the Hell AWAY from fights 

[Ganondorf8 11,121]

Cadance is willing to defend her subjects since she doesn't want to be viewed as just being a pretty princess who gets to live in a castle and be with her special someone. If push comes to shove, she will be out in the frontlines alongside her husband, Shining Armour, despite any protests he might have.

[Number62 1,247]

Celestia hasn't won a fight since she sent Nightmare Moon to the moon & she was getting her clock cleaned then until she used the Elements  of Harmony (Princess Twilight).  Given her track record, I'd recommend she stay the Hell AWAY from fights 

I don't want to agree with this, but I have to given what has happened throughout the show.

 

I must say that I feel pity for the voice actress because she went in being told that she'd voice a powerful and important character, but that character turns out to be a supreme loser. Not helping is that Celestia is getting less screen time nowadays.

[Sonic5421 423]

I don't want to agree with this, but I have to given what has happened throughout the show.

 

I must say that I feel pity for the voice actress because she went in being told that she'd voice a powerful and important character, but that character turns out to be a supreme loser. Not helping is that Celestia is getting less screen time nowadays.

 

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder if Nicole Oliver feels her role as Princess Celestia is starting to become unnecessary because of Celestia getting less and less screen time and dialogue lately, especially with the Season 6 finale with Celestia not appearing until the late half of Part 2, and her only dialogue being talking to Thorax and then suggesting the ponies and Discord all head home for some recuperation at the Sunset Festival in Starlight's old village. If Celestia, and even Cheerilee, since Nicole voices both of them, doesn't get more screen time and dialogue in Season 7, I'm sure a lot of Celestia fans are going to be upset.

[Number62 1,247]

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder if Nicole Oliver feels her role as Princess Celestia is starting to become unnecessary because of Celestia getting less and less screen time and dialogue lately, especially with the Season 6 finale with Celestia not appearing until the late half of Part 2, and her only dialogue being talking to Thorax and then suggesting the ponies and Discord all head home for some recuperation at the Sunset Festival in Starlight's old village. If Celestia, and even Cheerilee, since Nicole voices both of them, doesn't get more screen time and dialogue in Season 7, I'm sure a lot of Celestia fans are going to be upset.

Whether Celestia gets more screen time or not doesn't matter to me at this point because it's too late to fix all the mistakes that have been made with her, not to mention there's a lot the writers have to answer for. Not helping is that they've had 6 seasons to try something, and I can't think of a good in-universe or out-of-universe excuse for this. Even worse is that the season 5 finales flat-out states that only the Mane 6 as friends is more important than literally anything else for the ultimate fate of Equestria. I don't know how they can bounce back from that.

 

Even if that FF comic with Spike is taken into consideration, the blunders are too great to be fixed by one comic issue, and the comic also doesn't excuse how poorly the show has treated Princess Celestia overall.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Number62

[Sonic5421 423]

Whether Celestia gets more screen time or not doesn't matter to me at this point because it's too late to fix all the mistakes that have been made with her, not to mention there's a lot the writers have to answer for. Not helping is that they've had 6 seasons to try something, and I can't think of a good in-universe or out-of-universe excuse for this. Even worse is that the season 5 finales flat-out states that only the Mane 6 as friends is more important than literally anything else for the ultimate fate of Equestria. I don't know how they can bounce back from that.

 

Even if that FF comic with Spike is taken into consideration, the blunders are too great to be fixed by one comic issue, and the comic also doesn't excuse how poorly the show has treated Princess Celestia overall.

 

You make a good point there. Six seasons into the series, and the damage done to Celestia at this point is probably irreversible. I wonder if the Royal Family will even get some sort of redemption from the writers, aside from helping to save the Crystal Empire in the Season 6 premiere, or they will be doomed to be used only for exposition and hostages from now on in any premieres, finales, or episodes they even make a physical appearance in, dialogue or not.

[Swifty 249]

The damage done to Celestia is reversible, but they just don't want to. They pulled good things out of their asses for old characters and basically every new character (Starlight, Thorax, Gabby, etc.), but it's impossible for Celestia?

I call bullshit on that.

[Number62 1,247]

You make a good point there. Six seasons into the series, and the damage done to Celestia at this point is probably irreversible. I wonder if the Royal Family will even get some sort of redemption from the writers, aside from helping to save the Crystal Empire in the Season 6 premiere, or they will be doomed to be used only for exposition and hostages from now on in any premieres, finales, or episodes they even make a physical appearance in, dialogue or not.

I can only see the royal family being used for exposition and hostage situations because most fans, at least on this site, still love the episodes even though their uselessness has only gotten worse without any attempts to answer them, and the episodes have consequently made less sense. Then again, the little girls watching probably don't mind either since they're the target audience, and this tactic has been used for 6 seasons. No reason to stop since it's been working for them.

 

They pulled good things out of their asses for old characters and basically every new character (Starlight, Thorax, Gabby, etc.), but it's impossible for Celestia?

I call bullshit on that.

Agreed.

[Sonic5421 423]

I can only see the royal family being used for exposition and hostage situations because most fans, at least on this site, still love the episodes even though their uselessness has only gotten worse without any attempts to answer them, and the episodes have consequently made less sense. Then again, the little girls watching probably don't mind either since they're the target audience, and this tactic has been used for 6 seasons. No reason to stop since it's been working for them.

 

Yeah, since the target audience is little girls and not us Bronies specifically, not much we can do about what is happening to the Royal Family at this point in the series. One can only wonder and hope if the writers will ever even consider showing mercy to the Royal Family in the future, or leave them in their current position for the rest of the series as nothing more than exposition and hostages to do with as they please while leaving Nicole, Tabitha, Britt, and Andrew with less and less dialogue for them as time goes on.