Celestia vs Nightmare Moon story posted · 5:08pm Dec 8th, 2013
This one-shot was created for the group The Princesses as a contest entry. The first thing I wondered after watching the fight in the first two episodes of Season 4 was, "Why didn't Celestia just restore Luna using the Elements back then?" With this question in mind, I wrote my little one-shot interpretation. I hope you like it!
Let me take a moment here to talk about the Princesses. Celestia and Luna in particular have such an interesting dynamic between them. The show's interpretation of them is they are loving sisters who were forced by a cruel turn of fate and Luna's own jealousy to turn on one another. The reason this is interesting is it shows how godlike beings in Equestria still have flaws and weaknesses. However, since they are so powerful both physically and politically, this means their weaknesses are almost completely limited to weaknesses of character and that's the part that I really love about them. Trying to interpret the weaknesses in their character based on their actions is made interesting by the tragic circumstances they can create as beings of incredible power. Furthermore, the fact that they can't really have leeway to vent their frustrations or sadness due to their station makes their situation all the more tragic. They are restricted, almost held hostage, by the expectations and borderline worship of those they care for and they cannot deviate from it without causing harm. This creates a dichotomy between their perceived power as demigoddesses and their actual power as individuals.
If you've read anything I've written on Celestia and Luna, you can see how I love to explore this concept in my writing. I say all of this because I've kinda gone on a tilt lately with the sorrowful Celestia/Luna interaction and while I love it, I don't want to become a soul-crushing sadfic writer forever stuck in the dark bog of tragedy. I also kinda feel like trying to humanize (by this I mean 'bring down to our level,' not 'completely change the anatomy of') these two might ruffle some purists' feathers. Basically, dear reader, if you have read to the end of this blog post, I want your opinion. Is it worth it to continue exploring this sadness or does it just make you want to quit reading?
