Living in Shadow: The Princess of the Sun as she Appears to the Moon

Celestia is the mother to Equestria, which makes how terrible she is at it incredibly ironic.

She cares for everypony, on a surprisingly personal level. But, there's still this... disconnect. She cares for ponies, but she can't readily relate to them or understand them. In the past, many simple attributed this to her role as Princess, declaring her to be above the common pony. In truth, she has always been like this.

Even when we were younger, my sister was the center of attention. It wasn't that she demanded it- on most days, at least. But she had this... force about her. She was just so... big. I would use the word imposing, but it feels harsh. She was charming, and kind, and lovely in every sense of the words. She never insisted that ponies do as she said, but that was because she never needed to. Everypony, myself included, listened to her. We hung on her every word. As she grew older, she manipulated whole crowds through nothing other than a well placed smile and body language. She was impossible to hate without feeling guilty, which honestly could make living with her worse.

She doesn't lack sympathy, but... she isn't very good at it. She will do anything asked of her, and assumes that everypony else is on the same page she is. She asks quite a bit from her ponies, and nopony would ever refuse her, and there are several would rather collapse from hysteria than risk disappointing her. I suppose you could describe her as 'politely looming.' You want to hear everything she has to say, for as long as she speaks, and if she asks something of you, you will do it. She doesn't try to be the center of attention, she never has. She simply is, and any other notion is simply regarded as odd. As such, she tends to miss things in other ponies. Oh, she can carry casual conversation easily, and for less personal matters her mind is a steel trap. But for those closest to her, her attention only goes so deep. She loves us, but she also has trouble knowing us. My fall into darkness is one such example, and Twilight has numerous, only slightly smaller documented cases that also support this.

There are many who would argue that this makes her a terrible ruler, that the way she takes those around her for granted is a grave offense. These ponies are imbeciles. These flaws do not make my sister a bad pony; merely a pony, and while that may be difficult to comprehend, it is the truth. She may not be the best at loving somepony, but she does love you. Unqualifiedly. And there is very little you can do to change that