Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian
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Chapter 10
Dragonshy
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part 1
Celestia flapped her wings steadily as she made her way to her tower, the two pegasi guards at her sides peppered with bruises. With a flap of her wings, the princess slowed her descent and landed on her balcony before walking inside. She was mildly surprised to find her sister already awaiting her.
“Thou hast finally arrived,” Luna said as she examined the injuries sustained by the guard, a touch of righteous anger in her eyes. “We would be lying if we said we were worried about thy safety, but what took thee so long?”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Luna, I thought that your bedchamber was finally finished. As much as I enjoy your company, I end up meeting you in my room almost every day.”
Luna looked up curiously at her sister. “Thou art concerned about thy privacy?”
“More likely, I would prefer to visit you in your bedchamber for a change. I heard that you’ve overseen the remodeling yourself, sister.”
Luna snorted. “We have no time for small talk. We are here to discuss a big problem our kingdom suffers. Thy wounds are a mark of it.”
Celestia looked over her legs and wings before turning back to her sister and shrugging. “Just a few bruises.” She turned a closer eye to Luna and the wounds barely visible over the Night Princess’s dark fur. “It seems that your own encounter with the dragons hasn’t ended up any better.”
“This is what we want to talk about, dear sister. For the past few weeks, dragons have been using Equestrian territory as their playground, and any attempted negotiations with them have fallen short, typically ending in violence.”
Celestia sighed as she climbed up onto her bed, levitating several reports from the nearby table to read. Luna sat next to the bed, patiently waiting for her sister to finish.
“It is worse than I thought. Nopony lost their lives as of yet, but there are many wounded and even burned, and the cities themselves have received minor damage due to the dragons’ rampage,” Celestia said, her brow furrowing.
Luna nodded. “For the past three weeks, we have had to fly and teleport from town to town to deal with those dragons. So hast thee, thy guards, and even thy skilled and prideful Wonderbolts,” she said with a small grin. It was nice to fight alongside pegasi who knew how to dodge dragonfire, unlike those of the Royal Guard.
She had to admit that Twilight knew how to pick her friends. She made a mental note to visit the Wonderbolts for an inspection once the crisis was dealt with and continued, “How long have dragons threatened Equestria during our absence?”
“They weren’t a threat. They have been visiting Equestria more often over the past century outside of their migration route, but they’ve never caused any casualties or displayed hostilities. Convincing them to leave was—” Her eyes widened considerably as she reached the last line of the report. “It seems we have a very big problem.”
“Do tell.”
Celestia took a deep breath and levitated the reports back onto the table. “The best dragon ambassadors from my school for gifted unicorns failed in their negotiations and ended up severely wounded. It seems that the dragons have broken all agreements they’ve had with Equestria. This explains everything.”
Luna frowned. “How long has it been since thou visited the dragon lands on a diplomatic visit, sister?”
Celestia smiled awkwardly. “Around… six hundred years ago.”
“Six hundred years?” Luna shouted, taking step back, her pupils shrank as she was looking at Celestia in disbelief. “Tis a miracle they haven’t burned our kingdom to ashes by now!” She gave her sister a disappointed glare.
The sun princess left her bed and stepped out onto the balcony to take a breath of fresh air, her sister following close by. After a moment to gather her thoughts, she spoke. “I offered the dragons the opportunity to send their dignitaries to represent them during my meetings with foreign ambassadors. I held such meetings once every three months or during an emergency. I thought it would keep our races at peace.”
Luna frowned. “Foolish. Dragons can be honorable creatures with their code, but they are also proud and violent, respecting only strength. They do not listen to words, they listen to action.”
Celestia lowered her head with a sigh. “I know… I just thought that I could cha—”
A wisp of dragonfire flared up beside her, flaring up into a scroll with an obnoxiously loud ringing noise. Both alicorns flinched and pressed their hooves against their ears as even the unicorn guards at the bedchamber’s entrance barged in.
The siren stopped abruptly after a few seconds, and Luna looked at Celestia with unamusement. “We understand that thou hast enhanced Spike’s fire breath with an audible alarm to wake us up in case of emergency, but didst thou have to make it that loud?”
Celestia grumbled as she levitated the scroll open. “It was a reasonable request by Twilight at the time, in case of any dangers that befall Ponyville at night. There wasn’t a lot of room to refuse, but I’ll see into tweaking it,” she said, before reading through the letter.
Luna looked closely at Celestia’s countenance, noting the furrowing of her sister’s brow as she read on. “Is something wrong? Is Ponyville in danger?”
Celestia looked back at Luna, rolling up the scroll in the process. “It seems that another dragon is causing trouble in Equestria. This one’s decided to take a nap on a mountain next to Ponyville.” She heaved an exhausted sigh and levitated the scroll into the chest where she stored all of her student’s letters as well as any other personal items of great importance to her. “The smoke from a dragon’s snoring covering up the sun above Ponyville is just part of the problem, however. It won’t take long before he wakes up and raids Ponyville in search of gems and treasures.”
“Then we shall deal with the problem immediately, right?”
Celestia looked deep in thought for a moment before she broke out in a blush and buried her face in her hooves.
Luna raised an eyebrow and said, “Let us guess, thou wishest to send thy student to deal with the dragon, something we could deal with easily in an hour or less? Her friends will no doubt assist, putting themselves in great danger.”
Celestia let out a groan, pressing herself deeper into her forelegs.
Luna’s frown deepened, and she said, “Thou wishest to manipulate thy student. Hast thou no concern about her and her friends’ safety?”
Celestia took a deep breath and looked into Luna’s eyes, straightening her posture. “I do not want to do this. I do not want my student to risk her life. However, according to our experience with the Elements, they are only as strong as the bond between their bearers.”
“So thou wishest to send thy student and her friends on a trial? Is it worth the risk?”
Celestia gave her sister a pained smile. “If there can be any hope that Twilight can become an alicorn like you and me, she must face these kinds of trials. Not trials of self-improvement like she imposes on herself every day, but trials that will make her bond with her friends stronger.”
The smaller alicorn looked at Celestia sternly, but finally let out a resigned breath. “As much as it pains us to say it, thou art correct. In order for thy student and her friends to reach greatness, they have to struggle for it.” She grimaced. “Not that we agree with thee about setting trials and withholding information from the Element Bearers. Why play games and gamble with their lives? Why not tell the truth and give them a choice?”
“I fear that if I told them the truth, it would affect the outcome,” Celestia said, gazing out over her balcony towards Ponyville. “Their friendship must be honest and their decisions made to help their own. Dangling an extrinsic reward for something that should be taken for intrinsic reasons would only weaken the basis of their relationship.”
“Thou cannot be certain of that.”
“Perhaps not, but if hiding the truth will ensure that their friendships and decisions are honest? I can’t tell them and jeopardize that chance,” Celestia said, before smirking at her sister. “Well, if you were looking for reasons to punish me, you have them right here.”
Luna frowned. “I certainly shall, sister!” she spat out venomously. “By putting them through such a trial, thou art taking the gamble that the Element Bearers will survive an encounter with a grown dragon and successfully convince it to leave. Unlike us, they have never faced a dragon before.” She closed her eyes and placed a hoof on her own chest. “Hast thou even thought about safety measures? Backup plans? We will not allow this gamble to stand itself upon two flimsy horseshoes! We shall accompany thy student and ensure her safety.”
“Luna, I expect your presence would be much better suited for a diplomatic mission to the dragon lands with me. If we can convince the Dragon Lord to respect Equestria, all agreements between our two races can be restored. While we deal with this one dragon near Ponyville, another three may come to our kingdom and cause havoc.”
“Surely thou canst do it on thy own while we assist in Ponyville, unless thou art so cowardly that we need to hold thy hoof during the negotiations. Thou art strong enough to defend thyself against dragons, should they attack.” Luna said.
Celestia thought for moment. “And if solving this issue will require both of us? A failure in negotiations could cause a war. If anything, they might construe your absence as one of cowardice.” Suddenly, her eyes widened in realization. “How about Cadence? She won’t let anything bad happen to my dear student and her friends.”
Luna hummed in thought. “That is an alternative we can accept. We shall inform our niece immediately.” She trotted towards the exit of the bedchamber, but just as she placed a hoof across the surface of the door, she spun around, glaring sharply at the white alicorn. “Thou almost tricked us, sister!”
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Didst thou forget that dragons used to raid the Crystal Empire? Cadence has been terrified of dragons before she even became an alicorn and empress, and now, thou wishest to send her to protect thy student from a dragon when she herself is afraid to face them?”
Celestia winced. “Luna, it is a great opportunity for Cadence to finally face and defeat her biggest fears. I know that she cares a great deal about my student. She will defeat any fears she has in order to protect Twilight and her friends.”
Luna stomp rang out through the bedchamber. “You seem very inclined to your own suffering if you wish to ask me so directly for it,” she said darkly, before she shuddered, her wings ruffling up as if a chill had passed through her. “Forgive us, but we need some time to ourselves. We… have something to contemplate.”
With a flap of her wings, the night princess took to the air, leaving her sister to stare after her in shock.
After a short flight over the city during which she ignored the curious glances of more than a few passing pegasi and Royal Guards, Luna grabbed a cloud and flew upward, making sure that no pegasus would bother her. The air became colder as she rose until the tips of her feathers began to acquire a sheen of frost. While the cold temperature would have quickly turned the white cloud in Luna’s hooves into pure ice, the princess’s pegasus magic kept it warm enough to fluff.
It was still nowhere near as cold as she remembered the moon to be, but it was enough for the cold conversation she was about to make, similar to the thousands of similar talks she had when they were sealed on the moon.
With the cloud in position, Luna planted her left forehoof on the fluffy surface and shifted her weight slowly on top of it. Now standing on a single hoof, she closed her eyes and withdrew into herself.
”Nightmare, we have to talk.”
Luna stood on a floating stone, surrounded by darkness and an endless sea of stars. The ethereal plane was the hallway into ponies’ dreams, a place of mystery flush with powerful magic, where one’s mind could manifest in a physical form.
After several seconds of silence, a voice answered from behind her. “You called?”
Luna turned around to face her darker counterpart, who looked much like she had in Equestria, easily dwarfing the Night Princess.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and on an unheard signal, both alicorns took a seat. Luna opened her mouth first. “Thou art crossing the line. We have been tolerating thine input in our relationship with our sister, but our patience is wearing thin.”
Nightmare Moon blinked in confusion and brought a foreleg to her chest. “Excuse me?”
“Do not play innocent with us, Nightmare!” Luna shouted as she pointed at her accusingly. “Ever since we agreed to help our sister change from her manipulative ways, thou hast been more than eager to point out even the smallest reason to punish her!” She let out an annoyed huff as she lowered her hoof. “We tolerated it at first, knowing that our sister hath deceived us and her student on a few occasions, but thine accusations have became more and more farfetched as time passes.”
The latter alicorn stomped against the stone. “I disagree. That wretch of a sister deserves a hammer of justice to—”
“A hammer of justice, or a blade of vengeance? Thou hast demanded that after we beat up the dragons to gain their respect, we offer our sister to them as a sacrifice. Inside a giant gem-filled cake.”
Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. “She is an alicorn. She could survive for a very long time inside a dragon’s belly. You just need to ask her to wait an hour or so before teleporting outside and she should be no worse for wear.”
Luna groaned, bringing a hoof to her face. “Thou art missing the point. Our sister is agreeing with our demands and going out of her way to earn our forgiveness. We should at least restrain our method of vengeance.”
“Why should we? Did you forget our time in that cold, lonely prison? Century after century, with nary a pony to talk to, no distractions, nothing but cold and emptiness,” Nightmare hissed.
“We did not forget about those events, but their influence has been greatly dulled thanks to the Elements of Harmony. Do not act as if they have not.”
The dark alicorn nodded. “Indeed, they have. They brought peace to our mind, but even you have to admit that somewhere in our subconsciousness, we still remember it. Our body shivers in the cold where once it didn’t. The mind may forget, but the body remembers, and this is a dagger that is not so easily removed.”
“Even so, ‘tis not reason for petty revenge, and some of our own faults helped lead us to our imprisonment,” Luna said, looking down at her hooves. “We have the blood of many on our hooves. We are not innocent in all of this.”
Nightmare snorted and looked to the side, her ears pressed backwards. “She still deserves to be punished. Celestia said that she will put Twilight and her friends through these absurd trials, while withholding the truth from them. Who is she to dictate the destiny of others?”
Luna nodded. “She did, but while we disagree with her, we won’t deny that her fears are valid. Our punishments were meant to heal her from her deceptive habits and help her open up to honesty. If she made up her mind to hide the truth from the Element Bearers for their own good, our punishment will accomplish nothing.”
She smiled slightly, much to Nightmare’s confusion. “Besides. Surely thou also wishest for our little savior to spread her wings and take a position among us for centuries to come?”
“We do,” Nightmare Moon answered reluctantly. “But what of Cadence? With her fear of dragons, she is incapable of protecting the Element Bearers. Instead of talking, we should—”
“We should accompany our sister to the dragon lands and assist her during the negotiations. Once preparations for travel are done, we shall depart. From what our niece has told us, she hath been taking care of Twilight as a foalsitter for many years, and she faced many trials and adventures while living under the disguise of a common pony. She may seem weak and fragile, but there is a brave warrior underneath her defenseless demeanor.”
Nightmare Moon crossed her forelegs and growled, and Luna approached her with a knowing smile. “What are we seeking to accomplish here? To reconnect with our sister and help her understand us better? Or are we using this so called 'rehabilitation' as an excuse to see her suffer?” She placed a forehoof on the larger alicorn’s shoulder. “What would Twilight say if she found out that we were torturing our sister for our own pleasure?”
Nightmare Moon snorted, and Luna added, “She trusts that we will not hurt her mentor out of spite. Dost thou enjoy watching our sister’s pain so much that thou wouldst betray this trust?”
The dark alicorn glared at her in silence. The time seemed to drag on as both alicorns kept staring at each other. Finally, Nightmare Moon lowered her head and sighed in defeat. “Alright. I will give her—how would our subjects call it—some slack.”
“Dost thou swear?”
Nightmare Moon pressed a forehoof against her chest. “On our life and our moon, I swear.”
Luna slowly opened her eyes, feeling a burning in her foreleg and cold in her bones. With a flap of her wings, she shook off the frost and dove towards Equestria, the cloud she had been standing on wisping off like powder. Without Nightmare Moon intruding on her thoughts, the night princess could finally focus on rebuilding her relationship with her sister, and what better way than to kick some dragonscale.
A smile slowly grew across her face.
“Calm down, Twilight, why are you so riled up?” Spike raised an eyebrow from his sitting spot on the first step of the stairs, his head resting on his hands from boredom.
“Why am I so riled up?” Twilight asked in disbelief, stopping her restless pacing on the library table. She jumped at him, latching onto his muzzle and knocking him over with force of the impact. “Why am I so riled up? Ponyville is in danger because of a dragon and it has been fifteen minutes since I sent a letter to the princess and she still hasn’t replied.”
Twilight took a deep breath before jumping down and pacing in circles around Spike. “What if something happened? What if the princesses have been attacked by the dragons, or if they are on some important diplomatic visit and cannot respond to my messages? What are we going to do?”
“There’s always the option to just beat it up. Worked on the Ursa Minor,” Steel Blade said, his eyes following the tiny mare as he leaned over the second floor banister.
Twilight looked up at her guard’s face. “And then go all the way back to Canterlot just to be shrunk again? Get half of the Canterlot nobility panicking again? I would prefer not to unless we have no other choice."
“Well, maybe Princess Celestia is on her way to deal the dragon as we speak,” Overwatch added, lounging in a chair. “We might not even have to do anything—”
Spike burped, and a scroll materialized in midair.
Twilight immediately caught it with a levitation spell. It opened with a sharp crack of paper, and she began reading it aloud.
"My Dearest Little Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.
Allow me to send my deepest condolences for the danger that Ponyville has ended up in, especially after the Ursa Minor attack a month and a half ago.
Unfortunately, my sister and I will not be available to deal with the dragon problem in Ponyville. Dragons have been appearing all over Equestria and the peace between our two races has been broken. In order to avoid all-out war, my sister and I are going to the dragon lands to negotiate a peaceful resolution. Your brother, Shining Armor, and his guards are also scattered defending Equestria’s borders from encroaching dragons.
Your former foalsitter Cadence, however, has agreed to heed your call for help and will await your arrival under the mountain.
As much as I do not want to send you into danger, I must ask you and any capable volunteers you can find to please assist Cadence in undertaking this mission.
Your Forever Grateful Mentor, Princess Celestia."
Twilight read the scroll three times over before she levitated it to the table and looked at Overwatch. “We need to gather everypony at Town Hall. To Mayor Mare!”
The guard mare let out a laugh as she extricated herself from her seat. “Oh goodie, looks like I’m being volunteered again!”
Yay update
And I'm bored so
First
Celestia's right in not telling Twilight. Psychological-wise, telling someone that there is an eternal reward after facing some number of trials would make them focus more on the reward and not on the journey nor the requirements of succeeding these trials (I.E Twilight might focus more on becoming an alicorn more than being a friend and understanding friendship, much like how Sunset Shimmer had aspirations and demands of becoming an alicorn.) It's the wrong type of motivation and it'll likely make the person undergoing the trials fail spectacularly much like how Sunset failed.
Since canon-wise, Twilight becomes the Princess of Friendship, this means she has to understand that kind of friendship without any hope for reward or ascendancy to alicorn status.
And given Twilight's size preference and how being normal sized makes her feel that life isn't fun anymore, telling her that she is going to become an alicorn is going to have severely adverse effects to the outcome, more than likely she'll fight it and never accept it.
And we can easily guess how all four alicorns would react to that.
In fact, had she been told about Nightmare's blessing and all that entails before she had it, she'd likely fight that and not accept it so willingly, too.
Take that, Luna/Nightmare Moon!
Nightmare Moon speaking for Luna count in this chapter: 1
When does the fetish stuff happen?
It's gonna happen right?
I love it!
I just looked at the next few episodes of the first season, and the possibilities with Twiny in those situations could lead to some very exciting stories! I can't wait to see how you handle the Pegasus storm (ep 8), Applejack (ep 9), and Overwatch's target practice (ep 10). XD
It's always good to see more Twiny, even if it's only for a snippet of a chapter, just like it's always a pleasure to see my personal favorite Alicorn Princess getting some more screentime. Praise the Moon!
8552526
That's a strong possibility.
8558974
Personally, I don't think Twiny would be against turning into an alicorn, if presented with such a possibility. After all, being tiny still provies her with solid challenge, and with magic of an alicorn, she would be able to become even smaller (she may be able to reduce her size at will, something she can't do right now without help of any other alicorns). Not to mention all the research she could do.
If anything, it would be like an evolution that would expand her limits.
Regardless, I suppouse in this case, Celestia have a point for being secretive, not trying to influence the outcome.
8559078
Actually, if you pay a closer attention to their discussion, Nightmare Moon speak to Celestia more than once. She resurface whenever very agreesive while not speaking old Equestiran.
8559157
What do you mean by that? The only fetish that takes place in this chapter is Nightmare Moon desire to cook Celestia in a cake and give dragons as sacrefice, and Luna is complitly against it. So yeah, not sure what you're talking about.
8559224
Thanks.
8559320
Well... I can promisse that at least one of these three episodes will become a big focus. But I won't tell which one.
8559345
Are you refering to Luna, Nightmare Moon or both?
8559353
I am now picturing Matryoshka Ponies. Or a Twiny riding on the head of a Luna, riding on the head of a Celestia riding on the head of a Spike riding on the back of, oh, let's say Shining Armor or one of Twiny's Guardsponies.
8559520
she would also be able to come up all kinds of new challenges for herself too!
Is this Luna's meditation stance? Really comparable to Zecora's.
8560432
Correct, with the diference being that she's balancing on a cloud several kilometers above the ground with extremely cold temperature keeping her copany. So yeah, it beats standing on a stick in terms of dificulty.
Interesting choice sending Cadence along. While I look forward to seeing her accomplish things, I hope you won't forget Fluttershy, because this is a big episode for her. I know from the Trials of Blood and Kindness set that you are a Fluttershy fan, and also that you are focusing on different ponies in this fic, just don't forget about the rest of the Mane six. Overall liking it a lot. Keep up the good work!
8560768
Don't worry, I won't forget about Fluttershy, though her role in this chapter will be altered quite a bit. Also, you can expect changes in the cast of volountiers who'll participate in this mission.
8560928
Great to know, and excited to see who you pick. Keep up the good work!
Considering Twilight's overreaction to being tested, if she gets even a hint that Celestia is testing her she'll freak and fail. I approve of hiding the tests, but maybe Celestia should declare Twilight her official problem solver or something so she has a good excuse to send Twilight into strange situations.
8564173
Don't you think that having the biggest and most powerful alicorn in Equestira declare her tiniest subject an official problem solver is a bit awkward? It's as if a big lion send a tiny mouse to hunt for him.
8566810
Will fix, thanks.
8566823
It's a matter of perspective.
8566841
And my full hatred of Alicorn Twilight.
8566978
I take it you really liked Nightmare Moon if you're so happy for her return?
8566989
Oh come on man, there was waaay to much drama over Twilight becoming an alicorn years ago, I don't even want to remember of those stupid weeks. Personally, I never had anything against Twilight becoming an alicorn. If anything, what annoys me the most is that they rarely use Twilight's change for something. As alicorn she should have way more raw power, potential and access to earth pony and pegasus magic, and not only they rarely adress it, but Twilight as alicorn is waaaay too weak.
The writters had no problems with making Starlight OP for no reasons, but Twilight had tons of reasons to be OP and they instead nerfed her, which annoys me a bit.
8567113
I understand I just feel her as an alicorn makes her just like every other character.
Plus when you see pics of her wishing to be a unicorn again.
And yes NMM is 20% cooler then the rest (Minus Twilight)
8564222 Maybe, but it would allow Celestia to give Twiny's friends training and gear so they can keep up with her! And in a pinch, if there are no alicorns available, it will let Twiny speak with royal authority if she needs to. Twilight works best when she has a set of responsibilities and can focus on them.
8573374
I think he wasn't refering to the Element of Magic, but rather Twilight's ability to use many types of magic. (Twilight wasn't expert in friendship in S1 in the show, yet she still levitated Ursa Minor. Becoming better friend didn't exacly increase her raw power).
What he's refernig is probably Twilight's ability to learn and use big arsenal of spells while her brother is specialized mostly in defensive field.
8573407
I already replaced them all in Celestia's Tiny Student, doing so in my other stories would be a pain. In future chapters I just use
Since they improved it and made it way more visible since last update.
8573468
No he was saying that her using a greater variety of spells was why she was chosen as an Element Bearer. And while not an expert (she still isn't completely. But she's better at it) in S1. She still was able to see the special things within her fellow Bearers' that made them Element of X, as well as the special connection that was forged between them. It was that spark of friendship that awakened the Element of "Magic", not Twilight's skill / repertoire of types of magic.
And just use what? You kind of cut off at the end there.
8573714
hr - horizontal break.
Long time ago I tried it, but it was barely visible, that's why I looked for replacement. Now it looks way better, so I don't mind using it.
8573730
Yep a good replacement as any. Or Any of these replacement image hosting sites that don't screw people over like Photobucket's taken the pleasure of doing.
Ah, there we go. That argument in particular was too harsh, so it is good to see Luna pushing back.
All that said, I did like NMM's original characterization here, so hopefully she recovers from this vindictive streak now that there is no longer a reason for it.
Hmmmph. I still find Luna's attitude towards wanting to handle and deal with everything by her own efforts, including if it meant rendering Twilight and her friends use as Element Bearers almost unnecessary and practically killsteal their own accomplishments.
Kreia still says it best when it comes to helping others grow in strength, even if she herself was trying to manipulate the player character:
"If you seek to aid everyone that suffers in the galaxy, you will only weaken yourself... and weaken them. It is the internal struggles, when fought and won on their own, that yield the strongest rewards. You stole that struggle from them, cheapened it. If you care for others, then dispense with pity and sacrifice and recognize the value in letting them fight their own battles. And when they triumph, they will be even stronger for the victory."
Otherwise one might as well end up in the same situation as Superman did when he was coddling the human race so much that Lex Luthor of all people slapped him with the question: "Why don't you just put the whole world in a bottle, Superman?"
10849661
Funny you say that without considering one valid thing. Equestria is weak and pathetic because it rely on Element Bearers to do everything. Royal guards have no skill because main 6 do all the fighting, the princesses are incompetent because main 6 will fix the problem. This is the kind of trap that Equestria is falling with your way of thinking.
You say that Luna takes away main 6 struggle and their achievements, but have you considered that main 6 are taking away Equestria's ability to fend for itselves? What if Luna want the burden of keeping nation safe to be even for all its citizens, especialy herself, rather than have everyone rely on main 6 to solve the problem and become a weaker and more dependant nation as the result?
10849672
And that was accomplished by her sisters own efforts in trying to maintain Equestria, which led to the peace that it has now.
And unfortunately it is too early even for a more reasonable approach as Luna would want. As owing to the cycle "strong people make good times, good times make weak people, weak people make hard times, hard times make strong people". And as far as one could say and see with Equestria, it's still at the start of strong people being made.
It is right of way to let others grow and try to solve their problems on their own, however they cannot grow if they are not given the inspiration to do so.
But it is not wrong to have a strong being or group of beings be at the forefront, what matters is when said being or beings is aware when to start stepping back and let others take over the momentum given to them. This is essentially where the Mane Six are at and with your story, and this is what Hasbro has failed on, oxymoronically on an intentional and unintentional basis. And unfortunately for both Princesses, both their preferred methods are stagnating and works only in specific scenarios in that day and age, as the dragons show the fallacy of Celestia and the Mane Six themselves shows the fallacy of Luna.