MLP Theory #2: Just how strong IS Princess Celestia? · 1:47pm Oct 4th, 2015
Okay, it took a while, but I came up with another theory that I want to share with all of you. If anyone reading this has any other ponderings they want to share with me so I can give my opinion of them, then please share them. I like thinking about things.
Today's theory is about Princess Celestia, who is the subject of a lot of controversy in the series, much like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, yet... for a somewhat different reason. In the case of Princess Celestia, people criticize her often for her decision to banish her younger sister to the moon, which she chose as an alternative to KILLING her, so in my mind that's a sign of mercy but OKAY.
After Twilight and her friends became the Elements of Harmony, Celestia sort of took a back seat in a lot of affairs, letting the Mane 6 handle many issues on their own. This has led to a lot of people thinking that Princess Celestia is just sitting on her ass all day giving Twilight all the work that she should be doing her own damn self. There are entire fanfictions of this very subject, where Twilight realizes "hey Sunbutt, you're a goddess, right? Why don't you get of your high horse and do something yourself?!"
But I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so I like to think that there's an actual reason why Celestia turns a lot of her problems to Twilight, and this has led me to ask a very interesting question that I wonder just how many bronies and pegasisters ever think about.
How strong is Princess Celestia?
Is she a goddess like many people say she is? Well, from my gatherings, the answer I've come to is... yes AND no. She might be a goddess in the sense of existence, but in terms of almighty power she's horribly limited.
First, let's look at goddesses in other cultures, particularly Greek mythology. There you had Gods and Goddesses of all types, who were able to do amazing feats and brought things to humanity. Zeus was the God of the sky and created thunder storms, Poseidon was the God of the ocean and could control the waves, Aphrodite was the Goddess of love and beauty (essentially Greek Cadance), so on and so forth. The people revered and worshiped these deities, but none of them were all powerful. None ruled over the other, and they could defeat one another. Take a look at the story of Demeter, who's daughter Persephone was captured by Hades, God of the underworld. Demeter was a Goddess herself, being the Goddess of the seasons, yet she couldn't do anything to protect Persephone. Zeus even stepped in, but it was too late as Persephone had eaten fruit of the underworld and couldn't leave for very long periods. So they have to abide by rules themselves.
There are also instances where mortals have defeated or outwitted the gods. Take Kratos from the God of War series. He's defeated and KILLED Gods. Yes, this is a video game, but it still goes without saying that it shows that the Greek Gods have a limit to what they can do.
Bringing this back to Friendship is Magic, it seems that Equestrian Princesses are similar. Celestia is the Princess of the Sun, Luna is the Princess of the Moon, Cadance is the Princess of Love (see? Equestrian Aphrodite) and Twilight is the newly appointed Princess of Friendship. People look at Princess Celestia and Luna as the strongest of the four as they're able to move the sun and moon, however what they tend to over look is the official material that talks about what happened before their time.
The sun and moon used to be moved by regular unicorns in the past, but this caused them to age rapidly from all the magic it took, and it took A LOT of unicorns to do this. Celestia and Luna appeared however, and were able to move the sun and moon on their own. As they were alicorns, they didn't age, so they didn't have to worry about the side effects. This tells me that not only is Equestrian Magic associated with age in a sense, but that alicorns have an unlimited pool of magic they can draw from. This makes them legally goddesses, but it doesn't make them godly, for they're not omniscient or omnipotent, meaning they're not all knowing or all powerful.
In order to seal away Discord and Sombra, Celestia and Luna used the Elements of Harmony, which they had to search for. In the flashback that showed this, we see the two princesses battle scarred, which suggests struggle. If they were all powerful, they'd be able to breeze through this no problem, but they seemed to be tired and even hurt physically. Even Celestia's best known feat, sealing Nightmare Moon away, required the Elements of Harmony to do. This means SHE CAN'T BANISH PONIES TO THE MOON ANYMORE. That's not a prison she uses whenever she's just tired of dealing with ponies. That was a last resort.
Also, we clearly see that Princess Celestia can be defeated, as she was defeated by Chrysalis, fair and square too. Nothing weird happened, Chrysalis didn't cheat, she was just powered up by Shining Armor's love for Cadance, which is Chrysalis' own power being utilized. Celestia lost that fight, and I doubt Chrysalis is a goddess herself.
But how was Chrysalis able to overpower a Goddess capable of moving the sun, right? What about that unlimited pool of magic I mentioned earlier? Well, just because a pony has unlimited magical power, doesn't mean they can use that in a truly unlimited way. Going back to my previous theory about Cutie Marks a bit, it seems that one's Cutie Mark denotes what that pony is capable of doing at their fullest. Twilight is a master of magic in general, which is shown in her Cutie Mark. She was also able to take in the magic of THREE princesses including her own already powerful magic, and the only side effects she had were a few minor power surges.
Scary enough, Twilight is actually STRONGER than Princess Celestia. I will elaborate on that in another theory though.
But going back to Celestia, her Cutie Mark is the sun, which means that her magical power is at its strongest when applied to the sun. That's what her magic is for. She CAN use other magical powers, and she probably has a lot of knowledge when it comes to magic, but when it comes to casting those spells, she's probably strained. Shown by her Cutie Mark, she's incapable of abstract thought to a degree, which limits her magical power. This is the same for any other pony, like Rarity for example. She's able to apply her magic easily when it comes to creation and gems, but she isn't able to use the same level of magic as Twilight, who's special talent is magic in general.
This isn't to say that Celestia is weak though. Moving the sun by herself is impressive, and should definitely be respected. Celestia is a very powerful alicorn, and a great leader, however she's not perfect. She herself can make mistakes, and is prone to underestimating her opponents (Chrysalis anyone?).
Princess Celestia is a very powerful pony, one who will fight valiantly for her ponies, but that power has a limit. She IS a goddess, but as we see here, she's not godly. This bring the question though... just what is an alicorn? I'll cover that in another theory, possibly even the next one I do.
So now I want to hear from you guys. What do you think is the extent of Celestia's power? Do you agree with me that she's powerful but limited? Do you think she's literally Equestrian God? Or do you think she's actually weaker than even I illustrated? Whatever you think, comment below, as I want to know your theories.
Till next time, I'm SapphireLibra3, wishing everyone a good day.
Honestly the only reason she really lost was because she was in a room filled with other ponies that she didn't want to... you know.... FRY.
Actually, the fandom sees her as more of a demi-goddess. Fausticorn is the true goddess. Discord is god of Chaos. As for the power thing, it's like yiu said. Unlimited power doesn't mean unlimited uses. In DC, speedsters use the Speed Force, an energy so powerful it can warp and defy the very laws of physics. However, despite the use of it to travel through space and time, there are limits fo how far you can go, what you can change, etc and you can't just decide to. You need to practice. It's the same here. Just because she can move the sun doesn't mean she can take on Tirek. She is strong, no doubt, but she has her limits. As for the Chrysalis thing, I think that if Shining's love for Cadence was strong enough to blast every Changeling out of Canterlot in one go, that kind of power could quite possible take the Sunbutt.
With reference to your reference on Greek gods, Celestia is very much like Apollo: they are both fairly laid back and act in a way that makes people admire them more than they fear their power, but still manage to keep that certain air of leadership. Luna is as Artemis and even Selene: quiet and calmer and more serious than her sibling, despite being younger. Cadence and Aphrodite... I leave that up for debate.
But the one thing they all have in common is that none of them is 100% unbeatable. Apollo could quite possibly be beaten by his younger half brother Hercules (who is part human), Athena was beaten by a human in a weaving contest, and Demeter... you pretty much explained that one already.
Celestia is a demi-goddess. She's strong, but she's not indestructible.
If you have the power to move/control a star and can maybe in addition draw power from it, you are the one of the stronges things in the universe. But in the same time be the weakes pony in equestia, because using 0,0001% of your power could kill all life on the planet.
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