Celestia, Luna, And an Entire Blog Without Jokes · 3:04pm Jun 3rd, 2014
With my final exams hanging above me like Damocles’ Sword and my free time consumed by both playing a batman videogame and studying like if there was no tomorrow, I find myself unable to write for the moment. Which is kind of a bummer, because my favorite hobby is to puke out words like a machine gun pukes out bullets, except that mine are slightly less mortal and probably a little more annoying, because I never shut up. That means that lately I find myself thinking about stories and the technical and theoretical part of them a lot, because if I can’t write then at least I can think about writing.
Of course, I also plan stories; I have a heist fic in the works (or at least I used to have one, before the finals – right now the poor story is in that marvelous limbo that I like to call “THE I’LL FINISH IT LATER” void; the caps are essential), but thinking why I write stories is more or less the engine of my train of thoughts, if you catch my drift.
The answer to that question ("why do I write what I write?") is exactly as simple as it looks like: I write about the show because I like the show. Duh.
But even with that, there are parts of the show that everybody seems to enjoy more, taking “enjoy” here as a synonym for “feel the urge to write about”. And that’s what takes me to the thing that’s been on my mind all day: there’s a thing that everybody seems to love about MLP:FiM, and yet for some reason very few people grasp completely.
I’m talking, of course, about the relationship between Luna and Celestia and what happened between them a thousand years ago.
I'm just gonna leave this here because I like this song
Now, before I start rambling about this: I’m not saying anything about headcanons, especially of the shipping variety. If you feel like those two are in love, hey, more power to you. I have my own headcanons about the two Royal Sisters, but I’m not going to talk about them, or at least I’ll try not to do so. Instead, I would like to talk about why such a thing is so popular.
I mean, it’s not the main plot of the show, that’s for sure. The first two episodes, which introduced almost everybody to FiM, however, talk about Luna’s betrayal – in fact, that is the very first thing we actually see. And then the show moves on: Nightmare Moon is defeated, Twilight becomes the center of the story and her search for friendship and a better understanding of that bond is what pushes the series on. And that’s good. I don’t think I’m exactly saying anything new with this, seeing how this entire website is a friggin fan site for the show, but MLP FiM is a good show, with a good premise and a very good execution.
Yeah, I blew your minds there.
But the thing is: if the show is about friendship, why is shipping so popular? Why are the Princesses so interesting? At the moment there aren’t that many “this is what happened 1000 years ago” fics as they were when the show started, but that’s mainly because the show actually showed us part of it – but more on that later. What I want to say here is that a surprisingly high number of fanwriters’ first story is, or used to be, about Luna and Celestia. Alternatively, their first story is shipping, or a standard adventure. I myself I’m guilty of that, and it’s not a bad thing in the slightness. It’s just a trend I noticed long ago. And, you know, I wonder why.
In my opinion, the thing here is that… well, that Luna and Celestia are pretty cool, and that shippers are a thing. Again: totally blew your minds there. But apart from that, the show is about relationships. I’m not talking about romantic ones, of course. The show centers about friendship, about the bond between families, about what to do in certain situations, about how to respect others, about how to be kind, loyal, generous, honest, and how to create smiles all around, about how to shoot rainbows out of your jewelry – it’s about the bonds that humans (ponies) create. Seeing that, it seems only natural to write about the kind of relationship that the show doesn’t cover: romantic ones.
And, of course, the one between Luna and Celestia.
And this one too, although I talk about
Technically talking, their relationship can’t be summed up as simply being siblings. There has to be more. Here is where I try not to talk about headcanons, so stop me if I suddenly blurt out how LUNA IS TOTALLY MADE OF WOOD, GUYS, AND I HAVE PROOF or something.
Now, why do I think they aren’t just “siblings”? Well, to be honest, I mostly base my suspicion on what the show said – Luna betrayed Celestia and Equestria a thousand years ago, then she was imprisoned, and then she got out. I’m pretty sure that makes sisterly talks a little awkward now and then.
What I find really interesting and insanely well done in the show is the ambiguity. You don’t see Celestia and Luna being awkward around each other. You don’t see them being different than any other couple of immortal sisters that rule the world. We are told that Celestia and Luna were cool with each other, and then Luna got jealous and broke havoc. And then we’re actually show, in the start of season four, the fight between them and Celestia’s reaction (she cries, so we get that she loves her sister).
Yet… that’s it. Sure, we see the fight, but we don’t see why they’re fighting. “Jealously”, cool. That… That really explains nothing. The show hints at things, and shows part of the picture, but the entire thing? It’s still a mystery.
Is… Is that good writing or bad writing? I like to think it’s good. After all, the Princesses don’t have enough screentime together to determinate what kind of relationship they have, and even if they did, any kind of confrontation between them, or any kind of… proof that their relationship is complicated would make things worse.
Why? Because FiM works on subtlety. The reason is, partially, because this is still a kids show, so they’re not going to scream “BAM! WORLDBUILDING!” at hour faces and then give us seven hours of explanations on the world. They only expand Equestria’s horizons (geographically and historically talking) whenever the plot asks them to do so. They need another kingdom, so they show us the Crystal Empire. They need a story from the past, so they show us how Equestria was created.
From a purely practical point of view, that gives us the feeling that Equestria is a huge world, but we aren’t show everything, which expands the mystery. We want to know more, and as they don’t show it, we get crazy about it. In my opinion, that’s the best way to introduce worldbuilding: the viewer’s imagination fills the voids, and as a result, Equestria ends up being bigger and better.
So yes, we’re not shown Celestia and Luna’s relationship. And that makes it so much better.
Because the story behind what happened, and the consequences of what Luna did, are so incredibly huge that we can’t even start to grasp what went on there. It’s a very powerful story, and it’s that powerful because it’s simple: two people (ponies) that loved each other, but one betrayed the other. It’s an old story – as far as mythos go, that’s one of the most basic ones – but the reason why it’s such a common plot in mythology is because it works. Love and betrayal are powerful things. And after all is said and done, we’re shown the bad guy’s point of view… Mostly, she saying she’s sorry.
Again: that’s it. That’s all we have to work with. And I love the show so much for that.
Now, what does that “sorry” mean? Well, we can guess it means Luna is actually sorry for what she did. Kind of a no-brainer. Then she cries.
I’m afraid of being headcanon-ish here, that’s why I’m trying not to take any risks, but I can’t be the only one who thinks it’s almost canon to say that Luna feels really guilty about that. The comics (soft canon) tell me I’m right, and the million angsty Luna fanfics tell me that a lot of fans think the same too. Plus, guys, Luna is one of the good guys now. She helps foals in their dreams, she tries to fight against the monsters, she rules the land. She’s a responsible ruler, so the fact that she tried to kill everypony a thousand years ago might be a little bit of a weight in her conscience, right?
So yes, Luna feels guilty. I like to think she feels really, really guilty about the thing, but that’s a headcanon, and I’m not talking headcanons, so scrap it. It seems obvious, though, so I don’t know. Everypony is scared sh*tless of her in Nightmare Night, and she seems to be upset about it, right?
And what is Celestia’s reaction? The actual show portrays her relieved when Luna is back, and then she forgives her. And that’s it.
Again: best decision they could make.
What can you really say about that kind of thing? Celestia and Luna are immortal, and have been there forever. They are alone. Yes, they can bond with other ponies – Twilight and Celestia have this motherly/teacherly thing going on, after all – but the ponies are going to die, and Luna and Celestia are going to remain. And then Luna betrays Celestia, tries to kill her and overcome her rule and then is banished for a thousand years.
As I said, it’s a powerful story, and it’s very hard to actually explain it with mere words. The two songs I posted before seem to do the concept some justice, but that’s because of the feeling that music can evocate. You try and write a 10k angsty fic about the two sister’s feelings after the betrayal and let’s see if it’s as powerful. It can be, of course, but you need a LOT of talent to do that.
(And let’s be honest: those two songs work so well because Ponyphonic has INSANE musical talent).
But leaving all of the “mystery” thing aside, I can’t help but wonder why Luna got so jealous. After all, what little we’ve seen of her in the show hints a very kind mare, with a soft spot for children (I can’t be the only one who sees that – she helps Scootaloo with her fears, Sweetie Belle with her sisterly issues, she gets her confidence back when Pipsqueak tells her she’s his favorite princess –and Nightmare Night is mostly a festivity for the children – etc.) But still, she got jealous and tried to kill everypony. Why?
Again: I’m going to try to use as little headcanon as possible here, but I don’t really believe that Luna got jealous just because nopony gave a flying feather about her night. That doesn’t sound all that logical, even though as a mythological device it works. I believe, however, that Luna didn’t feel as loved as her sister. Was Celestia responsible for this? Seeing how Luna went completely crazy, I think it’s safe to assume that Celestia either didn’t pay enough attention to her sister… Or at least, that what she did wasn’t enough.
But why did nopony care about Luna? And more important: is her situation different now? Is everypony safe from Luna? That’s one of the things I like in the show: leaving the comics aside (again, it’s soft canon), it doesn’t try to excuse Luna’s actions via plot devices (like saying that she was “possessed by black magic” or something like that). It was Luna’s fault, and only hers. She wasn’t loved, she got jealous, and she tried to kill everypony. Talk about anger issues.
(Expanding the comic thing: the second arc shows something called “the nightmare”, if I remember correctly, which was the cause of Luna’s betrayal. However, I don’t think it said that Luna was completely free of responsibility because of that black magic; that was just a conduct for her nasty feelings to appear. So I guess my point is still there, but it’s just a little weaker).
And to be honest, she isn’t that loved now either. Think about how the show itself treats her: except in those rare occasions in which we get a “Luna episode” (that deals with children, which adds a nice undertone to Luna’s character), the show doesn’t really care about her. Celestia is the Princess: if somepony needs just one member of royalty, chances are they’re going to ask for Celestia. If there’s a problem, Celestia has the solution. When Twilight sends a letter, she writes to Celestia.
Sometimes, however, we get “the princesses” as a plot device or as a wise figure. But note how in those cases we’re talking in plural: it’s either Celestia or both of them, but never just Luna.
And now is where I like to see what the comics say about Luna’s role in Equestria: from the show we get that she protects her subjects’ dreams (foals’ dreams, apparently, but that’s just because those two episodes happened to be about the CMC, and as I said, I’m not talking headcanons), so the comics take that one step further and say that Luna protects Equestria in a more physical sense. As in, she fights monsters.
Literally. The Luna comic, a fan favorite (for a reason!), is about Luna taking Celestia’s place for a day, dealing with her responsibilities. Then it’s revealed that Celestia takes care of the more business-like part of being a ruler – mainly, organizing events, talking with people, making sure everything works perfectly, taxes… And Luna goes to the Everfree and other dangerous places in the night and kicks monster ass for hours.
It makes so much sense to me that I just dedicated more than two thousand words to talk about the whole issue. Celestia is the public face of royalty: when a pony thinks about “a princess”, it thinks about Celestia. And what else could that random pony do? Luna sleeps during the day (I admit this is a little bit headcanon-ish, but the show has very strong hints of this and the comic confirmed it, but that still doesn’t make it official-official) so it’s not like they are going to see her a lot, and she goes away from Canterlot to do so (again: I’m talking about the comic here, and the ending of the Royal Wedding and how Luna was apparently away or asleep all the time).
And that means absolutely no recognition for your job, yes. But I think it’s more than just that. I like the idea of Luna feeling like nopony considers her as an individual, just an extra that her sister has now and then. She’s the younger sister, she’s not as strong (after all, she’s defeated and banished to the moon), she works in the shadows, she is physically smaller and her coat doesn’t stand out as much…
So yeah, see what I meant? We’re not shown why she got jealous, but there are hints here and there that seem to show the answer if you use your imagination. Now, are those hints there on purpose? Or it’s just a coincidence?
Who cares? Thinking about this stuff is fun. That’s mostly my answer.
But still, that is a complicated relationship. And, as I said, it’s just a very small part of what Luna and Celestia have going between them. What about Celestia’s guilt? Does she feel any, or she’s completely cool with it? Maybe such a long life gave her more perspective and she’s above that kind of feelings. Maybe that’s not the case. That’s headcanon.
What about the fact that they only have each other? Again, headcanon-ish, but we have been shown that they are immortal and have always been together, so it’s not THAT headcanon-ish. Again: you have hints, but not the actual real deal.
We’re never going to get the real deal. We’re never going to get more than hints. And that’s why it works so well, and that’s also the reason why, unless you’re really good, any fic that tries to explain what happened a thousand years ago won’t probably work that well. Relationships are complicated, and hard to put in words; that’s why we feel them. You have empathy, so you can imagine how Luna and Celestia felt, and how they feel now, via imagining yourself in that situation.
But writing it down? Suddenly you’re not feeling, you’re explaining. And no matter what you do, it’s not going to be as good as what the reader imagined, even if he didn’t imagine it consciously.
A complicated relationship is better shown when it’s not really shown. Keep some things in the shadows. That will make it more real.
So… My advice here is “don’t write”, huh?
Okay, new rule: never listen to me. Ever. I’m not good at giving advice. Go write and prove me wrong. That’ll teach me!
"I don't have time to write," he said right before writing almost 3000 words of useless crap. Good one, Aragón. Good one.
2170907 I started questioning the same thing about midway down the page.
I somehow lost track of what you were actually trying to say half-way through this blog post. But I love Lullaby For A Princess.
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Well that is reassuring
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You're always welcome.
My only wish is that you explain your Celestia & Luna relationship headcanon in one of the Long Story Short stories. Because that would be awesome.
2171177 I agree with this idea, if it's even possible.
2171177
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Funnily enough, one of the first things I did while planing Long Story Short was thinking what kind of relationship would Luna and Celestia have in that kind of world... And it would be exactly the one I described here. I don't like changing characters with a canon personality
However, I also thought about what kind of reaction and/or relationship would the protagonist have with the princesses, and that's far more interesting, I think. Plus, way funnier. However, I doubt that's ever appearing in a story
until I write the grand finale at the Royal Wedding, with Lyra being a bridesmaid alongside Colgate and all that...IMHO, it's not that the show is parsimonious with showing what worldbuilding it has; instead, it's "lazy" when it comes to worldbuilding, only doing as much of it as needed to show the story.
This is not purely a negative, BTW, and specially not for what the show seems to aim for. The show focuses on the characters, and their personalities and relationships, first, with events and the world serving to highlight the characters and let them shine. It's more or less what many other works meant for children, including much of what Disney produces, do.
One dead giveaway for this is the way the show deals with time; time is used for narrative purposes, without much concern about keeping it consistent. If going from Ponyville to Canterlot needs to take less than an hour, it does; if it needs to take long enough that the trip happens overnight, it does; If an episode needs to take most of a month, it does; and so on. It's impossible to create a definitive timeline of the episodes, it being possible to shuffle them around even after the fact.
In other words, the show goes out of its way to not let such pesky things as canon get in the way of telling the stories it wants.
This works for the show writers — it's easy to avoid being backed into a corner when one can ignore much of the details of what happened earlier — but it also has the side-effect of being quite helpful for fans wanting to gaft their own creations onto the scenario. And, since the relationship between Luna and Celestia, as well as the way they interact with the government, was never more than just a background element in any episode, this means those aspects of the show were left intentionally vague and fans have nearly full freedom to interpret those characters whichever way they want.
I, personally, would prefer if the show actually did more world building, explaining things a bit better and taking more care to include the consequences of past events and to foreshadow future ones. Things like the main character suddenly having a really close big brother we never heard about in two seasons is very cringeworthy. But I had already recognized this as the most likely way the show would deal with its canon shortly after watching the premiere, and accepted it as part of the cost of enjoying the show.
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Mostly I just want to see Celestia's reaction to the Long Story Short crew's antics.