mega thread Why I still hate Princess Celestia, four years later

[Anthony4Leaf 8]

Oh dear, I literally just remembered that I have an MLP Forums account and decided to log back into it almost four years later. Some of you may remember me for my "Anyone else here hate Celestia?" post, which mostly got negative responses (i.e. disagreements with my point of view, which I respect and understand) as people could not relate to my experience. You see, I always assumed Celestia hate was a common thing in this fandom, however, I was disappointed to find out that this isn't really the case anymore. I am still happy to see more people appreciating Princess Luna, though, as I believe she deserves much more love than she receives within the show, so it's nice to see her become more popular than her extremely flawed sister. Some of you may be wondering, just why am I calling Celestia an extremely flawed pony? Stick with me to find out. This post is going to be a megathread on why I hate Princess Celestia and why I think you should, too.

So, first things first, Celestia is an extremely incompetent ruler who has an unhealthy and I would even argue downright abusive relationship with her mentee/student. I know that because I spent years being attached to my extremely incompetent and abusive former mentor, who actually really reminds me of Celestia. Both Celestia and my former mentor were fully grown adults who relied on teenagers who were under their guidance for emotional support and partook in exploitation of said teenagers by dumping their private issues on them. You might just think I'm projecting my insecurities and trauma onto Celestia, or even wonder "when did that even happen?", which I understand. To answer your second question, the Reflections arc.

Starting with the Reflections arc... oh boy, the Reflections arc, huh? That comic revealed just how horribly selfish Celestia is, and just how much she cares about her "beloved" sister, Luna. Shortly after poor Luna's banishment, Celestia practically replaced her sister with an alternate version of her from another universe. Talk about sisterly love, huh? I cannot imagine replacing the loved one I willingly banished away for a thousand years with an alternate version of themselves, and still make myself out to be the victim in the end. Luna even calls her out for it in the comic. "B-but think about how hard it must've been for poor Celestia!-" No. Maybe Celestia shouldn't have banished her own sister to the Moon for snapping over something Celestia herself both actively contributed (I'll get to that later) to and could've prevented. Anyway, this is only a fraction of what Celestia had done in that story arc. She continued to go through the mirror portal behind her only friend's back, and lying to said friend about it, while knowing about the damage it would've caused to her kingdom... so to those claiming that Luna's banishment to the Moon was actually a "selfless" act of defense of her kingdom and subjects against a tyrant... Celestia didn't seem to care about them that much when she needed to go through the portal for her own personal reasons. Now, you may be thinking, "but what if she had good reasons?" Well... the only reason why Celestia continued to visit Sombra's Equestria was to meet up with Sombra himself, whom she had developed feelings for. Talk about a wise and selfless ruler! And when Star Swirl found out about what his friend had been doing behind his back (after promising him not to do it) and rightfully restricted her from ever going through the portal ever again, all she did was run away, without even confronting or apologizing to her friend. And she hasn't even learned from her mistakes, as she went through the portal again even after Luna's return to Equestria, which caused the story arc's conflict to begin with. And what did she do afterwards? Sent Twilight, her teenage mentee/student, and her friends on a deadly dangerous mission to go solve the problems she herself created out of selfishness. Typical Celestia.

Also, Celestia is seen having fun with Mirror!Luna, Mirror!Sombra and Star Swirl on this page:

This doesn't look like someone who's supposed to be mourning the loss of her sister, does it now? It looks like someone who is selfishly living the dream while her actual sister is suffering alone on the Moon thanks to Celestia herself.

Anyway, Reflections arc aside, remember how I mentioned Celestia herself being responsible for the creation of Nightmare Moon? Some of you may be wondering what I mean by this. Take a look at these comic pages, all taken from the official Legends of Magic issue #1.

Celestia partakes in downright bullying of her younger sister instead of encouraging and supporting her like a good older sister would. I know sisters bicker all the time, but bickering should never transform into bullying! It is never okay to bully and degrade your sibling, no matter how much you two bicker.

Despite this, Luna still refuses to turn against her arrogant and selfish sister, proving herself worthy of compassion and trust:

Next, Celestia removed Sunset Shimmer from the position of her pupil after introducing her to a mirror she apparently wasn't ready to handle, according to this comic:

She then refused to answer any of Sunset's questions about the mirror... I mean, seriously? Why introduce your student to a magical object that she apparently "isn't ready" to handle yet, only to dismiss every question the student develops about said object? Who does that? Abusive and incompetent rulers do, that's who.

Celestia then finds Sunset researching the mirror in the library, (which I can't blame Sunset for) and what does she do? She removes Sunset from the position of her pupil and banishes her from the castle altogether, which reeks of tyranny.

And that's just the comic Celestia. The one in the show is even worse.

Celestia practically dismisses Twilight's very valid concerns in the first episode, telling her to stop dabbling in old ponies' tales... and then claims she could actually sense Nightmare Moon's return and even knew about it the whole time by the end of the episode. She then proceeds to gaslight Twilight:

Twilight Sparkle: But... you told me it was just an old pony's tale.
Princess Celestia: I told that you needed to make some friends, nothing more.

Way to go, our favorite gaslighting and gatekeeping girlboss!

She does it again the season 2 finale, "A Canterlot Wedding", where she tells Twilight that she "has a lot to think about" after the latter rightfully accuses "Cadence" of inappropriate behavior. And she doesn't even apologize for it.

She later makes Twilight a princess without her consent, introducing her to a whole lot of sudden responsibilities that poor Twilight was not even prepared for ("Magical Mystery Cure").

Celestia also invites Discord to the Grand Galloping Gala despite knowing that he was going to cause trouble for the guests (her subjects that she supposedly really cares about), all because she was bored ("Make New Friends but Keep Discord").

And speaking of Discord, she forces Twilight and her friends to redeem Discord, a dangerous villain, all by themselves, just because she's too lazy to do it herself ("Keep Calm and Flutter On").

She dismisses her sister's feelings again in "A Royal Problem" and "Between Dark and Dawn", and to an extent in "Sparkle's Seven", when she does not take Luna's suggestions for improving the castle's security into account. She accuses Luna of "never being happy" and then makes herself out to be a victim when Luna brings up her banishment. She does not acknowledge the fact that she wouldn't want Luna to never come back because she missed her, but only because she doesn't like having so much pressure put on her.

By the end of the series, Celestia decides to dump every single one of her responsibilities onto Twilight without any explanation in the middle of the day by making her the ruler of Equestria without her consent. That is abuse and exploitation, much like what my mentor did to me when I was younger, and then told me to never tell anyone what she's been telling me or else she'll accuse of me of being crazy and making things up.

And just when you think she couldn't get any worse, she turns a literal child into a statue shortly after banishing her to the Tartarus, which is Friendship is Magic's equivalent of literal Hell.

Oh, and don't forget the time she basically made Twilight a teen mom by dumping Spike onto her, again, without Twilight's consent.

To summarize this, here is a funny and truthful image I found on Derpibooru:

[Flew Away 932]

I am deeply shocked, to say the least!

My self-image has been distorted, but I know who I am!

To bring this up is high treason, guards, GUARDS!

[DebonedAngel 189]

So, you bring up a lot of good points, and trust me, I am no defender of Celestia, I don't hate her, but I do think she's a very poor leader overall...

That said, I would like to point out that while she is seemingly immortal and very powerful, she's still just a normal pony inside, with a normal pony brain. She's not all knowing or all powerful, she's no more special than Twilight. Twilight has a TON of issues that would make her a bad ruler, her pettiness, her manias, her obsessions, and people love Twilight, even through the Spike abuse and her own miss-treatment of her childhood companions (moondancer), and more crummy behavior through the series. I think the reason why it's more egregious with Celestia is that we have this false idea of her, an image shown to us through Twilight's eyes of this god-like being, instead of just... A pony that happens to be long lived and stronger than most, which is what she is. 

I don't really like the idea of anyone having power over a country for that long, and absolutely not almost complete power like she had (no gods, no masters), but I would argue that anyone would make mistakes if given that much power for that long, unless they actually had godlike foresight or awareness, which... She does not.

[MidnightFire1222 2,136]

Celestia isn't my favorite princess, but I don't outright hate her either. She's flawed, and been alive for too long. She's not the best ruler, but she's a heck of a lot better than a lot of gods/immortal beings that are portrayed in their myths. Just look at the Greek, Roman, or Norse gods. They have far more nasties in them.

And like DebonedAngel said, Twilight has plenty of flaws too. Even Luna and Cadence likely have their own flaws, though we don't get to see them as much.

In the end though, we're all entitled to our own opinions. I'll respect yours if you respect mine, even if we don't see eye to eye.

Edited October 2 by MidnightFire1222

[Metemponychosis 1,260]

I've been having this conversation since season 2.

It has been my biggest frustration with the cartoon since then. 

"Normal pony", "Goddess" "Ruler" "Tyrant" "Incompetent" "Chessmaster" "Flawed" "Relatable" "Immortal" "Mortal"

The problem with Celestia is that the people writing the cartoon (and especially the comics, which is the reason I disliked them) never knew what they wanted to do with her. Not only her past is a messy patchwork of plot-serving lore, but also her powers, her skills. Everything about her is more scenery than character. I hold to my opinion that Celestia was a character that didn't fit the cartoon. She needed a higher age rating so she could do something. Decide. Make her weight felt in a story about ruling the mess of a nation that Equestria. To this day I'm not entirely sure what is it she or the others actually do.

[Flew Away 932]

So jumping on a royal princess like this? Although I have now returned to the sun. I hardly thought that was possible in a fandom that is all about friendship! Have the lessons been so grossly misinterpreted by you on earth?

I now announce that Dandelion Ass is being relieved of its duty to bring harmony and friendship to earth, effective immediately!

 

[North Star 5,238]

I tend to rationalise stuff like this by saying "she's testing ponies" or some such. That's why she dismisses Twi in ep 1, while in S2 she just didn't know. In some of the IDW stuff and later seasons she's being a brat, though, sure. Thanks for sharing the comics btw <3 them. And for the well thought out post  

[Iforgotmybrain 5,537]

I haven't read the comics so I can't comment directly on them. I do think Celestia is a flawed character. Part of that is I just don't think the writers were sure what to do with her. Which leads to her coming off as lazy or undeserving of her position as ruler of Equestria like in the examples. The writers knew they couldn't have Celestia solving every problem or there'd be nothing for Twilight and the other Mane 6 to do, and they are the main focus of the show. It makes it feel like she has a lot of wasted potential.

Another part of it is her genuine and intentional character flaws. Pride and ego. Her dismissal or ignorance of others feelings. They're the flaws that caused Luna to slowly resent her and turn into Nightmare Moon, that are present in those comic panels you showed. They're flaws that are kind of to be expected for a creature who's been alive and ruled over others for centuries upon centuries. And I do think they help to make her more interesting. It's just not enough to fully elevate her above the writing issues I mentioned in the first paragraph.

I think the show could've benefited from having more Luna and Celestia focused episodes like A Royal Problem, it would've helped both Luna and Celestia's characters. Show their reconciliation after Luna returns. Show just Luna and Celestia dealing with some sort of threat to Equestria, without the Mane 6 or Discord being present. Give us an episode of them practicing magic, or just learning or adventuring, kind of like Twilight, Cadance, and Discord in Three's a Crowd. I think having even just 1 or 2 episodes like that would've gone a long way towards making Celestia a better character and made her a lot more likable.

[MidnightFire1222 2,136]

1 hour ago, Iforgotmybrain said:

I haven't read the comics so I can't comment directly on them. I do think Celestia is a flawed character. Part of that is I just don't think the writers were sure what to do with her. Which leads to her coming off as lazy or undeserving of her position as ruler of Equestria like in the examples. The writers knew they couldn't have Celestia solving every problem or there'd be nothing for Twilight and the other Mane 6 to do, and they are the main focus of the show. It makes it feel like she has a lot of wasted potential.

Another part of it is her genuine and intentional character flaws. Pride and ego. Her dismissal or ignorance of others feelings. They're the flaws that caused Luna to slowly resent her and turn into Nightmare Moon, that are present in those comic panels you showed. They're flaws that are kind of to be expected for a creature who's been alive and ruled over others for centuries upon centuries. And I do think they help to make her more interesting. It's just not enough to fully elevate her above the writing issues I mentioned in the first paragraph.

I think the show could've benefited from having more Luna and Celestia focused episodes like A Royal Problem, it would've helped both Luna and Celestia's characters. Show their reconciliation after Luna returns. Show just Luna and Celestia dealing with some sort of threat to Equestria, without the Mane 6 or Discord being present. Give us an episode of them practicing magic, or just learning or adventuring, kind of like Twilight, Cadance, and Discord in Three's a Crowd. I think having even just 1 or 2 episodes like that would've gone a long way towards making Celestia a better character and made her a lot more likable.

Well said! And I do like Celestia, I do; she's just not my favorite. I do wish she could've had more character growth, especially since there were 9 seasons to the show, but the writers just never gave her much of the time of day (excuse the pun). Sadly it's a show targeted at a younger demographic, and not a higher age group where they likely would have taken the time to address her flaws and give her a character arc she deserves.

Luckily fanfictions and AUs can exist where we can do that for ourselves.

[Anthony4Leaf 8]

8 hours ago, DebonedAngel said:

So, you bring up a lot of good points, and trust me, I am no defender of Celestia, I don't hate her, but I do think she's a very poor leader overall...

That said, I would like to point out that while she is seemingly immortal and very powerful, she's still just a normal pony inside, with a normal pony brain. She's not all knowing or all powerful, she's no more special than Twilight. Twilight has a TON of issues that would make her a bad ruler, her pettiness, her manias, her obsessions, and people love Twilight, even through the Spike abuse and her own miss-treatment of her childhood companions (moondancer), and more crummy behavior through the series. I think the reason why it's more egregious with Celestia is that we have this false idea of her, an image shown to us through Twilight's eyes of this god-like being, instead of just... A pony that happens to be long lived and stronger than most, which is what she is. 

I don't really like the idea of anyone having power over a country for that long, and absolutely not almost complete power like she had (no gods, no masters), but I would argue that anyone would make mistakes if given that much power for that long, unless they actually had godlike foresight or awareness, which... She does not.

Glad you thought the points I brought up were good, so thank you for that. I completely agree that Celestia is a very poor leader and an even worse mentor/teacher, as in my eyes the respective relationships that she had with both Twilight and Sunset were downright abusive and exploitative. And I actually agree with you about Twilight, despite the fact that she is my favorite pony. Unicorn Twilight especially had a lot of traits that would make her a terrible ruler, and her mistreatment of both Spike and her childhood companions such as Moondancer are inexcusable. And Twilight's unhealthy admiration of Celestia is extremely similar to my admiration of my former mentor, whom I believed to be extraordinarily wise and perfect, despite knowing she was wrong about many things. Starlight even calls Twilight out for it in "A Royal Problem", where she tells Twilight that she might be biased against Luna because Celestia is her mentor. I agree entirely that Celestia is not a god, and honestly believe this fandom should stop treating her as such.

5 hours ago, North Star said:

I tend to rationalise stuff like this by saying "she's testing ponies" or some such. That's why she dismisses Twi in ep 1, while in S2 she just didn't know. In some of the IDW stuff and later seasons she's being a brat, though, sure. Thanks for sharing the comics btw <3 them. And for the well thought out post  

Glad you enjoyed the comics I shared and my post! Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it.

[Anthony4Leaf 8]

9 hours ago, MidnightFire1222 said:

Celestia isn't my favorite princess, but I don't outright hate her either. She's flawed, and been alive for too long. She's not the best ruler, but she's a heck of a lot better than a lot of gods/immortal beings that are portrayed in their myths. Just look at the Greek, Roman, or Norse gods. They have far more nasties in them.

And like DebonedAngel said, Twilight has plenty of flaws too. Even Luna and Cadence likely have their own flaws, though we don't get to see them as much.

In the end though, we're all entitled to our own opinions. I'll respect yours if you respect mine, even if we don't see eye to eye.

I would actually argue that Celestia is just as bad (if not worse) than some historical pagan deities. Not to fuel the Tyrantlestia meme, but she honestly does feel like a tyrant from time to time, like when she banished Sunset from the castle altogether.

I definitely agree that all princesses are flawed in Friendship is Magic, but the other three princesses at least do something, when all Celestia seems to do is sit on her throne all day while sending her teenage student to solve her oftentimes deadly problems for her. I completely forgot to mention the time she sent Twilight to find the missing students for her out of fear that Equestria will be at war ("School Daze"), without doing anything to contribute to the search.

 

8 hours ago, Metemponychosis said:

I've been having this conversation since season 2.

It has been my biggest frustration with the cartoon since then. 

"Normal pony", "Goddess" "Ruler" "Tyrant" "Incompetent" "Chessmaster" "Flawed" "Relatable" "Immortal" "Mortal"

The problem with Celestia is that the people writing the cartoon (and especially the comics, which is the reason I disliked them) never knew what they wanted to do with her. Not only her past is a messy patchwork of plot-serving lore, but also her powers, her skills. Everything about her is more scenery than character. I hold to my opinion that Celestia was a character that didn't fit the cartoon. She needed a higher age rating so she could do something. Decide. Make her weight felt in a story about ruling the mess of a nation that Equestria. To this day I'm not entirely sure what is it she or the others actually do.

Well said! While we do get a glimpse of Celestia's past in The Journal of the Two Sisters, the season 6 premiere almost entirely disregards the lore mentioned in that book, which is just... great, I guess. But I agree that none of us can be really sure what the princesses actually do, or are supposed to do.

 

2 hours ago, Iforgotmybrain said:

I haven't read the comics so I can't comment directly on them. I do think Celestia is a flawed character. Part of that is I just don't think the writers were sure what to do with her. Which leads to her coming off as lazy or undeserving of her position as ruler of Equestria like in the examples. The writers knew they couldn't have Celestia solving every problem or there'd be nothing for Twilight and the other Mane 6 to do, and they are the main focus of the show. It makes it feel like she has a lot of wasted potential.

Another part of it is her genuine and intentional character flaws. Pride and ego. Her dismissal or ignorance of others feelings. They're the flaws that caused Luna to slowly resent her and turn into Nightmare Moon, that are present in those comic panels you showed. They're flaws that are kind of to be expected for a creature who's been alive and ruled over others for centuries upon centuries. And I do think they help to make her more interesting. It's just not enough to fully elevate her above the writing issues I mentioned in the first paragraph.

I think the show could've benefited from having more Luna and Celestia focused episodes like A Royal Problem, it would've helped both Luna and Celestia's characters. Show their reconciliation after Luna returns. Show just Luna and Celestia dealing with some sort of threat to Equestria, without the Mane 6 or Discord being present. Give us an episode of them practicing magic, or just learning or adventuring, kind of like Twilight, Cadance, and Discord in Three's a Crowd. I think having even just 1 or 2 episodes like that would've gone a long way towards making Celestia a better character and made her a lot more likable.

I really do agree that we should've gotten more Celestia-centric episodes like "A Royal Problem" and/or "Between Dark and Dawn". We've only ever gotten two Celestia-centered episodes throughout the whole show, which is a shame.

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,028]

Royalty can have its flaws.  The daytime princess with lots of powers and no means to use them  

[Lnx1ynight16 494]

I don't mind Princess Celestia, but I do prefer Princess Luna.

[sweetiepop 16]

i'm sorry that in some bits of the comic is tiny so  i could't read it can i screanshot it so i can read it 

[Florana 142]

17 hours ago, Lnx1ynight16 said:

I don't mind Princess Celestia, but I do prefer Princess Luna.

[Lnx1ynight16 494]

30 minutes ago, Florana said:

<3333

[Arrlong28 780]

On 2024-10-02 at 4:10 PM, Anthony4Leaf said:

Oh dear, I literally just remembered that I have an MLP Forums account and decided to log back into it almost four years later. Some of you may remember me for my "Anyone else here hate Celestia?" post, which mostly got negative responses (i.e. disagreements with my point of view, which I respect and understand) as people could not relate to my experience. You see, I always assumed Celestia hate was a common thing in this fandom, however, I was disappointed to find out that this isn't really the case anymore. I am still happy to see more people appreciating Princess Luna, though, as I believe she deserves much more love than she receives within the show, so it's nice to see her become more popular than her extremely flawed sister. Some of you may be wondering, just why am I calling Celestia an extremely flawed pony? Stick with me to find out. This post is going to be a megathread on why I hate Princess Celestia and why I think you should, too.

So, first things first, Celestia is an extremely incompetent ruler who has an unhealthy and I would even argue downright abusive relationship with her mentee/student. I know that because I spent years being attached to my extremely incompetent and abusive former mentor, who actually really reminds me of Celestia. Both Celestia and my former mentor were fully grown adults who relied on teenagers who were under their guidance for emotional support and partook in exploitation of said teenagers by dumping their private issues on them. You might just think I'm projecting my insecurities and trauma onto Celestia, or even wonder "when did that even happen?", which I understand. To answer your second question, the Reflections arc.

Starting with the Reflections arc... oh boy, the Reflections arc, huh? That comic revealed just how horribly selfish Celestia is, and just how much she cares about her "beloved" sister, Luna. Shortly after poor Luna's banishment, Celestia practically replaced her sister with an alternate version of her from another universe. Talk about sisterly love, huh? I cannot imagine replacing the loved one I willingly banished away for a thousand years with an alternate version of themselves, and still make myself out to be the victim in the end. Luna even calls her out for it in the comic. "B-but think about how hard it must've been for poor Celestia!-" No. Maybe Celestia shouldn't have banished her own sister to the Moon for snapping over something Celestia herself both actively contributed (I'll get to that later) to and could've prevented. Anyway, this is only a fraction of what Celestia had done in that story arc. She continued to go through the mirror portal behind her only friend's back, and lying to said friend about it, while knowing about the damage it would've caused to her kingdom... so to those claiming that Luna's banishment to the Moon was actually a "selfless" act of defense of her kingdom and subjects against a tyrant... Celestia didn't seem to care about them that much when she needed to go through the portal for her own personal reasons. Now, you may be thinking, "but what if she had good reasons?" Well... the only reason why Celestia continued to visit Sombra's Equestria was to meet up with Sombra himself, whom she had developed feelings for. Talk about a wise and selfless ruler! And when Star Swirl found out about what his friend had been doing behind his back (after promising him not to do it) and rightfully restricted her from ever going through the portal ever again, all she did was run away, without even confronting or apologizing to her friend. And she hasn't even learned from her mistakes, as she went through the portal again even after Luna's return to Equestria, which caused the story arc's conflict to begin with. And what did she do afterwards? Sent Twilight, her teenage mentee/student, and her friends on a deadly dangerous mission to go solve the problems she herself created out of selfishness. Typical Celestia.

Also, Celestia is seen having fun with Mirror!Luna, Mirror!Sombra and Star Swirl on this page:

This doesn't look like someone who's supposed to be mourning the loss of her sister, does it now? It looks like someone who is selfishly living the dream while her actual sister is suffering alone on the Moon thanks to Celestia herself.

Anyway, Reflections arc aside, remember how I mentioned Celestia herself being responsible for the creation of Nightmare Moon? Some of you may be wondering what I mean by this. Take a look at these comic pages, all taken from the official Legends of Magic issue #1.

Celestia partakes in downright bullying of her younger sister instead of encouraging and supporting her like a good older sister would. I know sisters bicker all the time, but bickering should never transform into bullying! It is never okay to bully and degrade your sibling, no matter how much you two bicker.

Despite this, Luna still refuses to turn against her arrogant and selfish sister, proving herself worthy of compassion and trust:

Next, Celestia removed Sunset Shimmer from the position of her pupil after introducing her to a mirror she apparently wasn't ready to handle, according to this comic:

She then refused to answer any of Sunset's questions about the mirror... I mean, seriously? Why introduce your student to a magical object that she apparently "isn't ready" to handle yet, only to dismiss every question the student develops about said object? Who does that? Abusive and incompetent rulers do, that's who.

Celestia then finds Sunset researching the mirror in the library, (which I can't blame Sunset for) and what does she do? She removes Sunset from the position of her pupil and banishes her from the castle altogether, which reeks of tyranny.

And that's just the comic Celestia. The one in the show is even worse.

Celestia practically dismisses Twilight's very valid concerns in the first episode, telling her to stop dabbling in old ponies' tales... and then claims she could actually sense Nightmare Moon's return and even knew about it the whole time by the end of the episode. She then proceeds to gaslight Twilight:

Twilight Sparkle: But... you told me it was just an old pony's tale.
Princess Celestia: I told that you needed to make some friends, nothing more.

Way to go, our favorite gaslighting and gatekeeping girlboss!

She does it again the season 2 finale, "A Canterlot Wedding", where she tells Twilight that she "has a lot to think about" after the latter rightfully accuses "Cadence" of inappropriate behavior. And she doesn't even apologize for it.

She later makes Twilight a princess without her consent, introducing her to a whole lot of sudden responsibilities that poor Twilight was not even prepared for ("Magical Mystery Cure").

Celestia also invites Discord to the Grand Galloping Gala despite knowing that he was going to cause trouble for the guests (her subjects that she supposedly really cares about), all because she was bored ("Make New Friends but Keep Discord").

And speaking of Discord, she forces Twilight and her friends to redeem Discord, a dangerous villain, all by themselves, just because she's too lazy to do it herself ("Keep Calm and Flutter On").

She dismisses her sister's feelings again in "A Royal Problem" and "Between Dark and Dawn", and to an extent in "Sparkle's Seven", when she does not take Luna's suggestions for improving the castle's security into account. She accuses Luna of "never being happy" and then makes herself out to be a victim when Luna brings up her banishment. She does not acknowledge the fact that she wouldn't want Luna to never come back because she missed her, but only because she doesn't like having so much pressure put on her.

By the end of the series, Celestia decides to dump every single one of her responsibilities onto Twilight without any explanation in the middle of the day by making her the ruler of Equestria without her consent. That is abuse and exploitation, much like what my mentor did to me when I was younger, and then told me to never tell anyone what she's been telling me or else she'll accuse of me of being crazy and making things up.

And just when you think she couldn't get any worse, she turns a literal child into a statue shortly after banishing her to the Tartarus, which is Friendship is Magic's equivalent of literal Hell.

Oh, and don't forget the time she basically made Twilight a teen mom by dumping Spike onto her, again, without Twilight's consent.

To summarize this, here is a funny and truthful image I found on Derpibooru:

Do you know that this explanation tells us more about you than about Celestia, right?

It's a character written by different authors and if Celestia was a good ruler there will be no problems in Her kingdom. That's what story's are about, solving problems.

Why she has to mourn his sister? 

In my country this is an acusation that the lawyers of "some wrongdoers" that did something really bad to girls (not getting 18+ here) did all the time when a girl was seen happy after "really bad events" 'cause she is not mourning, crying or not scared to go outside her home.

And I'm not talking about a religious dictatorship, just 5 years ago that was a common acusation.

Everybody has the right to be happy, dance or fall in love after a great loss or a bad thing happened to them. 

Where not in the medieval period, when a woman has to mourn all his life his dead husband, praying everyday, dressed in black and never get allowed to go outside her home.

 I wish you well.

[Arrlong28 780]

By the way, telling other people why they "Should" hate other people, or a fiction character tells too much about you. And I think you didn't understood what is the Magic of Friendship. I wish someday you can understand what it is.

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,028]

On 2024-10-02 at 1:37 PM, Flew Away said:

I am deeply shocked, to say the least!

My self-image has been distorted, but I know who I am!

To bring this up is high treason, guards, GUARDS!

In a pitch-black room, no guards in sight  

[Ice Princess Silky <3 13,590]

This is all very disheartening to see if you think of her as this flawless, Godlike being.
 

If you see her the way a religious person would see “God” and be disappointed to witness the human traits of jealousy, mockery or even cocky traits many people loved Rainbow Dash for…

But what I see is just a flawed character going through character development and sibling rivalry. 

On one hoof, I don’t believe in holding people’s pasts against them when they have proven to have grown past it, apologized for it or compensated in some way for it via true remorse.. 

on the other, I commend you for not allowing traumas and pains of others (even as mere concepts or characters) to go swept under the rug or dismissed as “it’s just the past, get over it.” 
 

So I am neutral about the verdict on this.
 

It is not something that she is glorified for today.
 

She is praised for how she guided and lead the story we all had unravel before us… but to know her on a deeper level is not something that will unveil 100% pretty things unless she’s a one dimensional character with no depths or trials of her own to learn.
 

Still doesn’t justify what she’s done but at the same time it’s not something I will hate her for… especially when you have follow-up content like this which seems to reflect how she felt canonically in the show.

The last one posted here, “against the sisters” show conflict, character and storyline which will not always be pristine. It is fan made but essentially shows that everything has a dark side when faced with challenges.

I suppose my take on this is that, I do not hate or dislike her. Nor do I approve what she may have done during those weird phases.

I approve of people who condemned her poor actions but I also approve of those who praise her for the good she has done and what she was later more known for in terms of impacting the lives of others while healing her little sister and making amends for it.