The Folly of Celestia Review (SPOILERS)

Ten-Hut Bronies I’m Lunar Nexus and i’m about to seem like I’m kissing Josh’s marine butt again. I know it’s the second one I’ve done for him but guess what, this isn’t like Recasted. So shut your faces and let me review. This is, The Folly of Celestia.
READ IF YOU WANT NO SPOILERS HERE!
We open…. strangely enough, with Kingdom Hearts music. Seriously, it’s linked in the text to add to the experience. And it works honestly. Foreboding and ominous, my faaaaaavorite. So Twilight’s in a castle with a strange and malevolent mare. She seems as familiar as the castle but Twilight, still confused, can’t figure out who it is thanks to shadows and magic. I refer you to my previous extended vowel.

So this “pony of shadows” says she can offer Twilight truth and freedom with Celestia’s crown and all of Equestria. Twilight has two choices, take the crown and rule or leave and let the figure choose someone else. Now this should bring up questions for Twilight that she thankfully already has. Where is Celestia? How does this chick have her crown? If she’s offering the world to her then does that mean Celestia’s dead? So many questions that can all be asked with one word. “Why?”

And she does exactly that. The mare says that Twilight’s been lied to by a tyrant and that this is her chance to see the reality of the world and fix it. Now… having been fooled by that myself, it’s tempting to take the offer. You’ve just been told that it’s possible, POSSIBLE that everything you’ve known is a lie. That the people that have been guiding you are wrong and unjust in what they’ve had you do and you’re now being offered to see the truth. But now I have a question. How would Twilight know that this is real. This figure flickered out of existence momentarily so is this all just a dream? Is it just another test?

She say’s that Celestia’s done more than just make a few political errors and has actually caused suffering without anyone batting an eye. Now even I’m having a hard time thinking of anything but I’ll put that aside and just wonder as much as Twilight is. She agrees to be shown what Celestia has been hiding from her.

She starts with the “sending Twilight instead of an army” argument that most reviewers have already covered. And come to think of it, she’s done it more than once. That is…. kind of odd. There is a VERY strong chance Twilight could have died in all of those incidents and that’s actually her point. Celestia has repeatedly scent Twilight and her friends into what could be classified as certain doom. And… She has minor PTSD from it all? Wow…. I actually never would have gone there… having almost died a few times myself (seriously I’ve had situations that I’ve almost died.) I can see how she’d have PTSD but… I’d say it’s out of character but that’s perfectly reasonable. She’s not the perfection that a lot of people like to call her. She’s as human as us.

She starts pointing out how often Celestia hasn’t even helped Twilight in her battles and call me an NLR fanboy, but she’s right. Celestia hasn’t done much to help Twilight in any way during any of her most incredible accomplishments. Granted a few examples that were given were 100% out of Celestia’s control or Twilight didn’t inform her of but the point still stands. And like I just said, Twilight isn’t fully taken by this. Rationalizing that there’s an explanation for all of them. To her credit there aren’t a lot of things Celestia couldn’t help with at all.

Like how Nightmare Moon kicked Tia’s butt a thousand years ago. And since we can maybe assume she couldn’t use the elements anymore she had to get the new bearers to defeat her. And, I’m not going to lie, Twilight throws this chick through a loop! Using the Dragons and Griffon Kingdom as the answer as to why Tia didn’t amass a massive army to fight Nightmare Moon, and that does make sense if the idea of Griffons not liking ponies very much is to be believed.

The figure does have a counter point that it’s all a theory and there haven’t been any other examples. The argument itself was really kind of chess piece but that doesn’t sound like the criticism it is. It brings up valid points and counterpoints. Both sides pointing holes in their arguments and trying to win. I guess that’s kind of what chess is suppose to be like a very powerful chess game.

And I do mean powerful. Twilight nearly brings the place down just to prove a point and I feel she would if sufficiently threatened. But then a new point comes up. Why was the Element of Magic missing? You know me I’m the Lore Lord… I better copyright that. So anytime something from the show is explained I like to see if it’s deep and complex or simple and still smart. If it’s just dumb then it’s just dumb but this question can be answered many ways, several of which Twilight points out.

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered. “The Elements are a mystery to all of us. Maybe it’s because when she used them, she lost the friendship that had let her use them in the first place, or maybe the Elements were destroyed by being used on one of their own bearers, but theories don’t matter. What matters is that they were inert and neither she nor anyone else could use them. The only thing she could try to do was have new friendships reignite them.”

And if she knew what to look for then we’d get a check list that’d end up being wrong to start with. Because complex people can’t be summed up in check lists. And if you do it to me and get a check list then congrats, you figured out that an autistic draws from everyone to form himself. Well done.

So this goes on, describing all the things Celestia could have done but couldn’t have at the same time until we reach what I personally think the peak of this crichendo of a battle was, Celestia in the Royal Wedding. Oh where do I start? I would but that’s for another time. What’s for now is that the figure again has a point, Celestia didn’t believe her most faithful student and, may I add, the girl that is practically her daughter!

I do like that counter to Twilight’s argument. If Celestia did hold Twilight in such high regarding her judgement, why did she just side with Cadence? Twilight, like me, thinks that it could all be chalked up to stress over the wedding. At to be fair it’s a good explanation and I think his reason number six why Chrysalis is a tactical mastermind.

But again, when you think she’s beaten, she comes back angrier than ever! Well, angry in the sense that she’s having her words twisted by this lady. More power to ya honey! But seriously, Celestia was focuessed mainly on protecting Canterlot, and Twilight’s shouting about an evil bride didn’t have anything to do with it. And… that is a valid point…. I know I’ve said it a lot but that’s kind of what it’s about here.

After the argument of Tyrek, the point is brought up that Twilight’s decisions have always been made by the Princess and this is where it does kind of lose me a bit. Yes Celestia has guided her to many of her choices but isn’t that what a mother or mentor is suppose to do? Show you the paths then hope you make the right choice? And Twilight has made her own decisions without Celestia’s consent. Not fully overseeing Discord’s reformation, the handling of Sunset Shimmer’s and my favorite, dealing with Philomina. Oh the joy of seeing her go nuts! AND LESSON ZERO! OH That’s still my favorite Twilight moment. *sees Twilight fighting Tyrek.* Okay second favorite.

But anyways. She does something else without Celestia’s say so and blows the crown to pieces and recounts what she’s had to learn a thousand times about her friends always being there for her. And speaking of smaller Sun Butt and Bigger Sun Butt, they arrive with Luna to save her. Though like it always goes she doesn’t really need it anymore.

We then find that the figure that’s been after Twilight this whole time was…. TWILIGH- wait what? She’s described as looking kind of like her but using doppelganger to a better, more evil term.

“She looks like you, thinks she is you… and yet is not like you. This… false Twilight is full of a terrifying resentment…”

It is Twilight but isn’t… I’m thinking of a jungian here. If you don’t know, it’s the darkness in everyone. Have you ever gone down a road in a city full of people and thought, “I could easily just turn to the right a little and kill them. It’d be so easy.” Well, that’s your jungian shadow. It’s the darker temptation inside you that is always fighting to get out and turn you into what it wants.

And that’s what this seems to be, only a bit simpler. It’s more Twilight’s inner resentment towards the changes that were brought upon her without her permission. And unlike something very pretentious (given the dude we’re dealing with it already kind of is.) it’d just let us think about it but bring up other options thinking it’s being deep. While here, it just comes out and says it, but not so blatantly. We still don’t know if this IS a part of Twilight or just something else that’s trying to do Celestia in.

But Twilight doesn’t admit it, even though the thought has more than likely crossed her mind, and the faker starts shouting like a mad mare. Then Luna Lokie’s her. No seriously, she lifted her up and slammed her on the ground several times. I should feel bad that I giggled but I’m just glad she shut her mouth.

Also, Momjesty is now what my youngest daughter calls Luna. It just seems like it’d be cute to hear coming out of a little filly. Anyways, Celestia says that she loves her no matter what, like a mother should, and the faker still spits in her face, Sunset is less than pleased. Luna does shut her up before she can say something she’ll regret, Celestia sheds some tears and they leave the fake Twilight to stew in her own paranoia. Twilight does hope that it can see the light but we won’t know that.

So that was The Folly of Celestia, and it’s good. While not amazing in my eyes it does raise some very good questions and does its best to answer them. Thought it’s all head cannon, all of it can be put into reason. And coming from a former New Lunar Republic Colonel (i’m not kidding I was.) I love Celestia and I can see where most of these points come from. Thought Luna is my favorite, this is one of my favorite fics about Celestia, surpassing the ones I’ve read for Luna.

On top of it all, the Characters are well written, the music he links through fits the tone well, might just be because I love Kingdom Hearts as much as him but whatever, and doing what it can to actually point out what Celestia’s shortcomings and and faults are without painting her as a terrible person is refreshing to see. Overall, it’s worth a recommendation.

Story: B
Flow: B-
Characters: A
World: A-
Bonus (music): B+

Overall: A-

I’m Lunar Nexus, As you were and what to do next… Wait…. Two reviews, two part episodes, MARCH OF THE DOUBLE FEATURES!