How "Between Dark and Dawn" Made Me Love Luna Again. · 11:04pm Jul 26th, 2019
Ever since my entry to the fandom in late 2016 or so, I've always held a certain fondness for Princess Luna. I don't know if it was the design or the archaic speech quirks or the backstory or some combination of all of it, but the Princess of the Night quickly ascended to the spot of Favorite Pony. I mean, I like Celestia too, but I seem to gravitate more towards Luna.
Then Season Nine happened. The Sisters announced their retirement.
And my little Luna-loving heart was crushed.
It's not like she died or anything, but it still feels like things won't be the same without Celestia and Luna ruling over Equestria together. It's just such a radical way to end things that I had a hard time (and still have a hard time) adjusting to it, and many others will likely share that sentiment.
I'm not gonna lie, I actually had a hard time involving myself with anything having to do with Luna after that. It just felt like an old wound whose pain would never truly go away. I know that sounds a bit dramatic and embellished–it wasn't quite that serious–but I think you get the idea.
And then they released Between Dark and Dawn, which turned out to be almost twenty minutes of what I never knew I wanted: Celestia and Luna frolicking around, having adventures and down-time, maybe getting into a little spat but then coming together again.
But more importantly, it reminded me of why I love Luna so much.
I realize now that she's a lot like me in many regards. Whereas most people like to go on wild, adventurous vacations, Luna would much rather find a quiet spot to read a book, or geek-out over something she's always wanted to see. The post office scene is one of my favorite Luna moments ever. As somebody who's nigh-obsessed with science fiction tales of genetically engineered dinosaurs, extraterrestrial conquests, and ancient, gigantic beasts of destruction, I could kind of sympathize with her being excited about something that not many others around her might share. Watching this episode, I felt a new kind of connection with the character. I feel like I can identify with her more than ever now.
I've pretty much made peace with the idea of Celestia and Luna retiring. Don't get me wrong, there's still problems with it that I hope will be addressed in the coming episodes, but I'm not as broken up over it as I was previously. Luna may be off the throne, but her character will live on.
In fact, now that I think of it, I really want to see a show where Celestia and Luna go on adventures all over Equestria, and maybe to other worlds as well. I know it will never happen, but it never hurts to dream. And something tells me she'd share that sentiment as well.
Luna is Best Pony.
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Luna is perhaps my favorite Princess, though Celestia is a close second. I love how Luna was the sometimes distant, sometimes personal warrior-protector, while Celestia was the wise mother that did everything for a reason (such as enabling others, like Twilight and her friends, to mature).
I share your discomfort with them retiring, and I seriously hope it doesn't go through (as in, they change their minds during the final episode and remain rulers of Equestria). I never saw them as retirees. Maybe some people did, but my personal take on the Royal Sister was that they would continue to rule and wisely guide Equestria.
I felt that this episode was a little silly and REALLY pushing it regarding their characters. We've kind of already had the sisters against one another in a couple of episodes (Slice of life and the one where Starlight switches their cutie marks), so I'm wondering how that happened again, if their differences had been sorted out before. However, it was nice to see, especially the parts of the vay cay before they got mad and split up.
Reading your observations, I have to agree that I'm with Luna on the vacation thing also. I REALLY don't like roller-coaster and zipline type stuff. I like to read and look at stuff (preferably trains in a model train exhibit or museum). I do question Luna geeking out about the post office (She's not one to so easily let her emotions get thee best of her, it's usually only after some major pressure has been added), as well as the 1100+ year old Celestia getting so excited (and also letting her emotions run wild a bit).
I think the reason Luna is so loved is that she did something horribly wrong, and was repentant (or tried to be, the "Do Magic Princesses dream of Counting Sheep?" episode not withstanding). She went through a terrible punishment, was the little sister in a relationship, and seemed (to many in the fandom at least) to have been misunderstood and, while not mistreated, neglected. In short, she sounds like a lot of us.
I apologize if any of this is getting on your nerves or disturbing you or anything. I guess I let my opinions of the episode get the better of me. I'm also a fan of Luna, though I try to limit my favoritism, and I like Celestia as well.
-same message from the Thread-
-sigh- I only care for Princess Luna in her Season 1 Design..... ;-;
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This isn't about designs. This is about her character. Designs are only skin-deep.
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:T