Sometimes the Sun is Cold
Princess Celestia was enjoying a warm cup of tea in the Royal Gardens. A few exotic songbirds flitted around her, and she couldn’t quite identify them. She made a mental note to ask the head gardener when next they met.
Celestia looked around furtively and sighed happily when she was certain nopony was around. She was rather deep in the private section of the garden, but it was a rare thing indeed for her to be truly alone, so it was always worth checking first. Carefully she slipped off her tiara and torc and set them carefully on a nearby pillow in the secluded patio. She stretched her legs and neck and shifted on her own lounging pillow. She flexed her wings and took a deep drink of her tea, it was almost boiling hot. She made a soft murr of contentment. The warm rays of her namesake lulled her into a deeper comfort, and she took one last very unregal gulp of her tea before stretching out on her pillow. It has been far too long since I’ve done this. She thought happily as she fell into a doze.
A hoofful of minutes passed before she heard a light hoofbeat approaching her from behind. It was clearly too light to be an adult pony. Celestia smiled to herself, only one young pony knew this was her favorite spot to be alone in the gardens. After a few moments the pony started to hesitate before stopping altogether a few hooves from her. Silence reigned for nearly a minute as Celestia struggled to hold in laughter as she imagined her pupil’s face split between the desire to wake her mentor, confusion at finding her in such a position, and fear of disturbing her rest.
Eventually, she heard the pony turn around and start to walk away, evidently trying to be quieter considering the slow, awkward steps. Celestia sprung up suddenly, and silently, and flared her wings to frame her body against the backdrop of the evening Sun, then she spoke with her regally amused voice, “Unless something has changed during my nap, it is still customary for my subjects to bow before leaving my presence, Twilight.”
Said unicorn nearly tripped over herself at Celestia’s voice and yelped as she caught herself, then, with all the grace of her fourteen years old body, or lack thereof, she made an about face, actually tripped over herself, and wound up in a pile at her mentor’s hooves. She quickly crawled into a proper bow and apologized, shaky, “I’m s-sorry Princess Celes-tia!” Her voice cracked on the last syllable and Celestia could see her face instantly transition from purple to scarlet.
Celestia immediately felt guilty, and maybe just a little bit amused, or, well, maybe a lot amused, but still mostly guilty, and brought the filly in for a hug with one of her wings. Nuzzling the petrified filly she apologized, “It’s alright Twilight, I was merely teasing you.”
After a few moments, Twilight returned the nuzzle sheepishly and looked up to Celestia before quickly averting her eyes. She took a deep breath, Cadance’s technique, Celestia noted, and spoke up with a minimally shaking voice, “O-oh, I’m sorry Princess, I just, um, I didn’t want to disturb you, but my question with the, I mean, uh, I can I-” She looked up at Celestia again and turned away just as swiftly as before, stepping away from her suddenly, “I can come back later, or another time, a later time, but maybe not later because it’s already evening, so I guess I mean earlier, but a later earlier not an earlier earlier, because I can’t time travel, uh, ugh!” Twilight stomped her hoof in frustration at her inability to speak, then quickly looked to the Princess and sheepishly smiled, before once again looking away almost immediately. “What I, I mean to say is that I can talk to you later, Princess, it was a silly question anyway, and-”
Celestia, who had been observing Twilight trip over her own tongue with growing worry, cut in, “Twilight, please take a moment to calm down. You haven’t disturbed me in the slightest; I’m always happy to spend time with you. And I’m perfectly happy to answer any question from you, my most faithful student.” Celestia smiled at her warmly.
Twilight slumped her shoulders and sighed in defeat, she made to look up at Celestia, but stopped herself just before her gaze reached the alicorn’s face, “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve forgotten my question, Princess?”
Celestia’s smiled sagged sadly, not that Twilight could see it, and she responded softly, “No, I don’t believe I would, but I won’t force you to ask it Twilight. I would, however, invite you to share a cup of tea with me.”
Twilight nodded hurriedly, she made to respond but her voice cracked and she had to clear her throat, “If you’d like me to, Princess.” And she walked over to one of the lounging pillows surrounding the low patio table that held one of Celestia’s personal tea trays. Celestia noted sadly that Twilight sat on the other side of the table, not next to her.
Celestia started heating the teakettle with her magic as she wondered what had Twilight walking on eggshells around her. I thought we were making a lot of progress. She was foregoing my title at our private dinner just two nights ago. Harmony’s sake, we had a conversation about mane styles just a week ago! And now she’s acting like one wrong move and I’ll throw her in the dungeon. Unbidden, the face of another filly entered her mind, a face she hadn’t seen in a very long time, the face of the first pony she had failed, and her thoughts fell into a very dark, and familiar place.
The whistle of the teakettle broke her dour trip down memory lane and she made an effort to smile as she poured the boiling water into two cups. As good as she was at faking her emotions, probably the best in the world, she was certain her current attempt would be hard pressed to fool a blind mare. All the better Twilight was avoiding looking at Celestia like the sight of her would strike her blind.
Celestia unceremoniously dropped a tea bag into each cup of boiling water without even checking what brew they were. She stared into the darkening liquid and became lost in what was approaching a millenium of regret.
Seconds turned into a minute. Then five. Then ten.
Celestia felt alone. Helpless against this cancerous silence that was surely going to take another student from her. Another friend. Another sister.
A tear fell into her tea.
“I lied earlier, Princess.” Twilight spoke up softly as the tea waves from Celestia’s tear hit the edges of her cup. Celestia looked up, afraid, and hopeful, that Twilight had seen her cry, but she was staring at her own tea. “I didn’t forget my question. It’s hard for me to ask it, but I’m not entirely sure why, and that scares me even more. I might be afraid I’ll sound silly, or I might be scared of your answer.”
Celestia waited for Twilight to continue. When she did not, Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep, but silent breath, I can do this. Focus on the now, focus on Twilight. She spoke in her regal and matronly voice, it was so opposed to how she was feeling it made her sick, “I promise you, Twilight, whatever it is you have to ask I will not be upset and I will not think you’re silly.”
Twilight made to look at Celestia’s face, stopped, took a deep breath, and finally brought her head up to look Celestia in the eyes, “Are you a god?” Her face was mixed between fear, confusion, and awe.
Celestia took a sip of her tea as she pondered how to respond. It certainly wasn’t the worst question Twilight could have asked, but neither was it an easy one. Thousands of memories related to that word, that g-word, flashed through her mind. Some of them happy, most of them not. The tea was a little salty and far too cold. “I’m not upset at all Twilight, it’s a perfectly understandable question, but might I first ask what brought it about?”
Twilight nodded absently and took a sip of her own tea, wincing from the heat when it hit her lips. She quickly applied a simple cooling spell and took another sip, “I was studying ancient pegasus mythology this morning when I happened upon a description of a ‘white goddess with hooves like mountains, a horn like the Sun, and wings like all the winds of the world’ and a depiction of a white alicorn. Then, I realized that book was actually one of my checkouts from the restricted section of the Royal Archives and not Dew Feather’s compendium of pre-Equestrian pegasus mythology. It was only seven hundred years old. It was a prayer book with a collection of hymns. Hymns about you. P-prayers to you.” Twilight snapped out of her recollection and remembered she was looking into the face of a maybe god and winced like the whole kettle of boiling water had been dumped on her, she looked away. “A-and t-then I realized we don’t have any gods. M-modern ponies, I mean. It’s so obvious, but I’ve never realized it, none of my history books ever even hinted at it. The gryphons have gods they worship, so do the diamond dogs, the zebras and buffalo are shamanistic, and the list goes on. I-I checked every book on theology and mythology I could get my hooves on, and every other species has gods or spirits, or, or, or something! But we don’t. And I realized, i-it’s because we h-have You.” Twilight looked up to her with fear, and reverence.
Celestia took another sip of her tea, still cold she noted as she reapplied a heating spell, and nodded. Granting ponies full access to checkout whatever books they wanted from the restricted section of the archives was not something she did frivolously, but not out of fear of dark magic run amok or truly horrible knowledge come to light. The truly dangerous stuff was kept in the forbidden section, and the truly dangerous stuff was stored in the ancient library of her own mind. The restricted section of the Royal Archives was where she put information that led to annoying questions, annoying questions with potentially dangerous answers.
But to truly learn you have to ask annoying questions, and sometimes you have to get dangerous answers.
Celestia was certain Twilight had already convinced herself Celestia was a god. Twilight had always hero worshiped her, Celestia knew. Things like that were sometimes unavoidable. But with the way Twilight was looking at her now? Celestia was afraid she was going to be asked to bless the tea.
Which made it all the worse that she wasn’t even sure of the answer herself. After a long moment Celestia spoke carefully, “It depends on what you mean by g-, well, by that word. I didn’t create the world from my tears. The Sun didn’t sprout from my horn. And I certainly didn’t birth sixty of each sex of each tribe to start ponykind. All things ascribed to me at one point or another.” Celestia tried to smirk with amusement, but the memories kept the corners of her mouth down. Twilight looked at her incredulously, but rapt. “I’m not perfect. I’m not omnipotent. I’m not omniscient.” If only I were...
Celestia finished her cup and immediately poured herself another. “But I am old. Immortal. Sitting on a golden throne in a city in the sky. Unchanging, unending. With the magic of all the tribes, and then some. And, you may not know, just about every culture had their own Sun god or spirit, until I came along. Nowadays, the movements of the heavens are more political than religious.”
Celestia glanced over to her Sun, now nearing the western horizon. Yet another thing that set her apart from her ponies, she could stare at her Sun with her naked eyes without pain or damage. She remembered the first time she raised the Sun, she had certainly felt like a god then. I was certainly as arrogant as one. Sometimes she still felt like a god when she touched the Sun with her mind and her magic, but that always evaporated when she had to move on to the Moon. “There are entire volumes of books written about why I am or am not a deity. Ponies used to fight over that question, sometimes violently. Thousands of ponies have dedicated their entire lives to understanding me and my supposed divinity. I think there used to be a temple to me right where we’re sitting, or maybe it was in the north wing of the gardens.”
Twilight looked around slowly, eyes wide with wonder, imagining, no doubt, just what a temple to the living Goddess of the Sun would look like. If she’s envisioning a garish amount of gold and tacky marble statues then she’s right.
“But very few of them ever asked what I thought about myself. They were far too busy ‘interpreting’ me, arguing about me, asking me for blessings, blaming me for earthquakes and blights, and building shrines and temples to me. Never asked me for my input on those, either. But I was young, a newly minted monarch, full of pride and enjoying my upgrade in status from homeless, wandering adventurer to royalty, so I let my subjects think what they wanted. As monarch I got blamed for plenty already, what was a little more? And if they wanted to lavish me with more praise and gifts on top of what I already got from my political position, well I wasn’t jumping to my hooves to tell them no.” Celestia tried again to smile, she got a little closer now that Twilight looked a little less reverent and a little more scholastically fascinated, but she didn’t quite get there.
“W-what happened then? I mean, why don’t ponies worship you now?” Twilight spoke up for the first time in quite a while.
Celestia did manage a smile this time, Sometimes I think they still do, Twilight. You all just call me Princess instead of calling me divine. “After about four hundred years I was sick of it, so I outlawed it.” She took another sip of tea, it was actually boiling from the heating spell she’d been applying, but it was still too cold. It’s amazing how you can wrap up so much history, so much fighting, so many memories in one sentence.
Twilight looked even more dumbfounded and amazed, “W-wow. None of my history books ever mentioned that, but, uh, I guess they wouldn’t if you, well…” Celestia knew Twilight didn’t approve of the way she repressed some knowledge, Twilight was a classic scholar in that way, and it was one of the young unicorn’s very rare critiques of her mentor, not that she’d ever voice it out loud of course. If you knew of even half of what I’ve destroyed…
“Indeed. There are several histories of the period buried deep in the restricted section somewhere, you’re free to read them of course. One of them is even written by me, under a pen name. I’d be very interested to see if you can figure out which one it is.” She winked at Twilight, who looked positively giddy at the prospect. Celestia smiled widely.
“I’ll do my best, Princess!” Twilight accepted the challenge eagerly, but then she looked away again, pensive. “But, you never did answer my original question.” Realizing how blunt of an accusation that was Twilight scrambled, “I don’t mean that you didn’t answer it! Just that, you, uh, I couldn’t quite unders-”
“I evaded the question you mean?” Celestia chuckled when Twilight blushed and sheepishly nodded, “I did, didn’t I? I guess sometimes I act my age and ramble on like an old mare. You asked a simple question and I started giving you a history lesson.” Celestia took another sip of tea. She hummed happily as its warmth hit her.
After several long seconds it became clear Celestia wasn’t going to continue and Twilight started to fidget, “Uh, s-so, what’s the answer?”
Celestia snapped out of her tea appreciation, “Hmm? Oh, I don’t know.”
Twilight stared at her, mouth agape, and Celestia couldn’t help but laugh, Twilight was unfazed by it, or rather, she was already as fazed as she could get so it didn’t faze her any more. “You don’t know!?” Twilight yelled, incredulous. Then, she clamped her hooves over her mouth and looked terrified.
Celestia laughed again and swallowed the rest of her tea in one swig, the gratifying warmth made her ruffle her wings happily, “Nope. I saw logic on both sides of the argument. I never really felt like I measured up to godhood myself, but that didn’t stop ponies from worshiping me. Eventually, I realized the whole thing was a meaningless debate. I am what I am and I am who I am. Maybe some ponies look at me and see a deity, maybe some of them just see me, maybe there’s no difference.” Celestia winked conspiratorially. “Plus, I’ve never seen another a god and I’ve certainly never been invited to any deities only events, maybe it’s because I’m not a god. Maybe it’s because there are no gods. Eventually, I came to believe the latter, and that was basically the last straw. After that I decided to outlaw worshiping me. Having ponies worship an atheist was just a little too ironic for my tastes!” Celestia laughed deeply, half at the absurdity and half in pain.
Twilight couldn’t see the latter and found herself laughing at the former. After several seconds of uncontrollable laughing Twilight managed to get herself under control, “S-so, hahaha, I guess, I guess, ahem, you’re…”
Twilight interrupted herself to finish her tea and Celestia finished her thought for her, “I’m Princess Celestia.”
Twilight finished her tea and smiled at the warmth, “Well, I was going to say you’re what ponies need you to be.”
Celestia smiled indulgently at the compliment and hid the pain from the millions of memories that disagreed, “I try to be.”
Then she reached out to the Moon to bring it up for the night. I try to be.
When she was done she found Twilight was looking at her with awe, and reverence, but with warmth too.
Celestia smiled at that.
She brought her teacup to her mouth but found that it was empty. It was probably cold anyway.
She put her regalia back on and got up to leave the garden. Twilight sidled up next to her. Princess Celestia held Twilight with a wing and the filly nuzzled into her, she felt cold.
That was the problem with the Sun, everything else felt cold to it.
Sometimes Princess Celestia hated the Sun.
“And I’m sure I’ll find your book by the weekend, Princess Celestia. I think I know what to look for.” Princess Celestia looked down at the smiling teenage filly poking her head out from under a giant white wing.
“And what are you going to look for, my little pony?” Celestia smiled warmly at her student.
“Warmth.” And Twilight ducked her head back inside her mentor’s wing and nuzzled into her side, she felt warm this time.
That was the greatness of the Sun, everything it loved it gave warmth.
Sometimes Princess Celestia loved the Sun.
Howdy everpony! 
Hope you enjoyed this little one shot. I wrote it in about two hours last night when the idea wouldn't get out of my head and edited it this morning, so hopefully you didn't spot too many errors!
I plan on having an update to my story, Twi-Light, out by this Saturday and hopefully more regular updates from then on out. Also, hopefully more one shots and shorter stories like this one.
Thanks for your time, dear reader! 
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Majin Syeekoh · 2k words · 186 12 · 2.5k views
- James Pwyll · 1.7k words · 722 25 · 9.7k views
- KnightMysterio · 2.2k words · 377 15 · 6.7k views
- NightmareShredder · 1.2k words · 147 2 · 4.7k views
- Teal · 4.6k words · 18 0 · 1.2k views
- Rao the Red Sun · 1.1k words · 212 6 · 3.6k views
- Hasty Revision · 3k words · 363 3 · 4.6k views
- Daemon McRae · 2.4k words · 429 10 · 6.4k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
745 users online
915,907 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I liked how this didn't just make itself an exposition on how Celestia would react to being treated as a deity, but also functions as a great little glimpse into pre-show Celestia's mind.
8968964
Hey thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed the story.
And I found that glimpse pretty interesting too, I originally hadn't planned on it, but while writing it just felt natural for her to kind of sidestep the issue while getting caught up in the relevant memories. From her point of view being treated as a god wasn't all that different from being treated as the immortal absolute ruler, and I think that makes a lot of sense. The show, especially in the early seasons, really treats her as a living god to the ponies in all but name.
896918
Thanks so much for the comment!
And I totally agree. I think a lot of people, at least where I'm from, think of god and they think of the Christian God. That is, a creator god who is all knowing and all powerful, which Celestia definitely isn't. But like you said, many other religions and mythologies don't apply that very stringent set of rules to divinity. This is why Celestia ultimately decided that she was maybe, kind of a god, but after Luna's banishment being treated that way made her feel worse and it ultimately just gave her more problems than benefits.
Plus the temples were very tacky!
Well, I wrote out a whole couple of paragraphs. Then I decided to read through the other comments people left, and it turns out everything I was going to say has already been said.
So in that case, I guess I'll just say: Good story, I quite liked it.
8969226
Aww, thanks!
But I don't mind somewhat repetitive comments, a lot of times people can say the same things in different ways which can be really interesting!
That is the most "Celestia" response I've ever heard to that question, tea sip and all. You nailed her characterization throughout, but that in particular, that's just Princess Celestia all over. Paragraphs of history and musings on the nature of ponies searching for guidance to cling to, capped off with "lol idk" because... well, she doesn't, and it's okay to not know things sometimes.
8969242
Thanks so much, that's very kind of you to say!
Celestia has always struck me as a character who is both reflective and somewhat haunted, but also driven by a deep sense of love of life and love of her duty. I think she's the most interesting character in the show by a long shot, but most all of the reasons why she's so interesting are too dark and/or nuanced to really being meaningfully explored in the show.
I really enjoyed The Silver Standard by the way! I'll have to check out some of your other stories soon!
8969242
Yeah, it makes sense really.
Everyone knows all real gods get a welcome pamphlet.
Aaaaaaand... Cue the iconic Ghostbusters scene!
Discord, then and there, decides to have rather harsh words with Celestia when he breaks free in Season 2, "I'm the closest thing to a god in this show!"
King Yemma, "Hey! You stole my line! ... Mahogany..."
I loved the ending of this story, how Twilight inadvertently reminds Celestia of why she loves the Sun.
8969415
Heh, yeah, Discord would probably have something to say something about that, but unfortunately at this time he's a little to busy having birds defecate on him to defend his claims to divinity!
8969437
Yeah, Celestia, for obvious reasons, closely identifies herself with the Sun, and sometimes she really needs to see how she helps her ponies to feel connected to them and not distant and aloof.
Thanks for the comments everypony!
Man, this story just ticks all my boxes. I absolutely adored it! And the ending, it's just all so perfect!
8969495
You're far too kind! But I'm elated I could tick your boxes with my silly story!
This story is beautiful, and I love the painting of Celestia's mental state during this conversation. It definitely felt like a response she would give.
The Question of Discord is an interesting one, as is the question of the other immortal creatures on the show, (Queen Chrysalis, the Sirens, etc). Ultimately the problem with the word "God" is its definition isn't really a thing.
Like in Greek Mythology, the Titans were more powerful then Gods, and the actual creators. And then you have demi-gods, and the like and the actual line of what is and isn't a god is kind of messy.
The best online definition I have is that a God, "a superhuman being or spirit worshipped as having power over nature or human fortunes." Its accurate and doesn't have the self recurring problems that defining a god as "A being with Divinity" has. Its not fullproof, as certain Supernatural beings that aren't considered Gods also fit this definition, and their are gods (Like Dionysus, who depending on the text is actually a demigod, but regardless is the god of partying and wine, or Baldr...god of dying to Loki I guess? Maybe God of whining to mom? Really the fact that his whole story is largely, "I had a nightmare, Mom told all of nature not to hurt me, Loki took it as a challenge" Is kinda sad.) who have little to no power over nature or human fortunes.
STILL under that definition, Celestia, Luna and Discord are Gods. The Sirens, Candance, Queen Chrysalis and Princess Twilight Sparkle are likely demi gods, as they have the power to influence people and events beyond that of a normal person in this world, but not on a global scale.
But here is where things get messy again. Starlight Glimmer is a wizard that verges on Demigod levels of power. Maybe twilight hasn't grown fully into her Alicornhood yet, but when you have a world where so many people have magic, the lines between mortals and at least lesser demigods get blurry.
I don't blame Celestia for outlawing it. Waste of time trying to define divinity.
This was a very sweet and thoughtful story, the end where Twilight just wanted warmth was so cute
8969461 Kind of telling that the only things that can defeat Discord are Deus Ex Machinas and a God-Moding Tirek.
8969611
Thank you for the comment and I'm so glad you enjoyed the story!
Yeah, divinity is certainly a tricky concept to define, and in Celestia's case it didn't really offer anything she didn't already have. But it did take her 400 years. Maybe the feast days were really fun?
8969630
Thanks for the kind words!
And the dynamic of Celestia and Twilight was important to me as a contrast and comparison to worship. Celestia is a pony too, and one thing she wants desperately is ponies she can trust and love.
I like this story. It's a heartwarming piece about the Divinity of Celestia. You don't get to see that everyday. The interactions between Twily and Celestia are just so... adorably-fluffy-cute but mature-profound-meaningful at the same time. How you wrote it is beautiful, I say.
Though my comments are usually at least a bit longer, I can't think of anything else that can describe this story. It's that deep.
Anyway, I wish you good luck, and my best wishes.
P.S. I've never referred to Twilight as Twily in a comment before, the reason being that I feel it to be... somewhat forward/overfamiliar when I haven't met Twilight personally, much less interacted with her. (I know, it's impossible, but one can dream, right?) It's a silly feeling, but I stand by it nonetheless. But this story's Twilight forced my hand, she was too charming and endearing and [insert other synonyms here] to resist. Well played, The Magic Hobo, well played.
8969917
Wow, that's really very kind of you to say!
The dynamic between Celestia and Twilight (or Twily
) was really key to me when writing this story. It's the really critical comparison and contrast point. And really the story is about Celestia and Twilight more than it is just about Celestia and some nebulous concept of divinity.
And it's always a plus to be able to write cute horses!
8969971
Thanks for the reply and the compliment!
While I have to admit that the talk about Divinity might have overshadowed the interactions a tiny bit in some parts for me, it's nothing to worry about. I think my discourse on the two's relationship is proof enough of that. I think you did really well on the interactions; the part where Twilight enters the scene and the ensuing hijinks is one of the highlights for me, left quite an impression on me. Apologetic Hero-Worshipping Cute Horse is Best Horse.
There's also the ending scene, which was more on the heartwarming side of the emotional spectrum than the aforementioned scene, which itself was like a fluffy comedy with tints of emotion. It's the other highlight for me – the lines with Celestia's thoughts served to make it the best it could be.
All I can do now is repeat what I said earlier – this is a great one-shot. I'll leave it at that.
Anyway, look at what you made do, I went and made the long comment which I mentioned. I'm prone to winding comments like these (though this is still on the medium-ish side), and you provided me with the subject matter!
That being said, I have made sure to follow you. Can't wait to see what else you've written, and what else you'll write. Until next time then, my best wishes to you.
P.S. If I may ask, who's your favorite pony? Mine are Twilight and Fluttershy, can't make myself decide on just one.
P.S.S. Emojis are so useful for adding (emotional) tones to the written word. Helps prevent misunderstandings as a bonus.
I liked this. Celestia doesn't really have anything to compare herself to... how would a god know they were a god without some sort of society of deities inducting them upon their ascension/apotheosis/realization?
She could destroy the world if she felt like it - just get a bit lazy with the sun for a couple days - but spends each day ensuring it continues, nurturing possibly millions or more people - giving them a nation where they can worry about living their lives rather than fearing for their lives.
I like the concept that, given a setting lacking some sort of 'divine spark' soul concept, worship makes a god. You're a god because people believe you've earned their devotion, and the chief place in their hearts. It's less "I am the great and terrible god-king." and more... recognition, and a special kind of love reserved just for you, because of how positively you've affected them and how much they recognize what you've done for them and adore you for it. A permanence of affection, not a title given to whoever's more popular or shines brightest from moment to moment, but a lasting dedication through the ages.
Whether she has a godly soul or not, by that definition, Celestia is definitely a god.
8969830
The sacred celebrations of the Winter Solstice, with sacrifices of cake, pudding and gingerbread, as well as generous libations of eggnog and tea, were rolled into the Hearth's Warming, which was moved from its original occasion in the late spring to fill the gap in the Equestrian holidays.
8969830
You're welcome.
8970108
Thanks for the engagement and I hope you like my other stories. A couple of them are quite old and I'm a little embarrassed of them, but I don't feel like taking them down is the right thing to do, but hopefully you like the main story I'm working on now Twi-Light.
As far as favorite ponies go, it's really hard. I love all the Mane 6, I love the Princesses, I love Starlight Glimmer, the CMC, even Spike! But if I was absolutely forced I guess I'd have to go with Pinkie Pie, but really I'd like to say the Mane 6 as a collective! And emojis are definitely useful!
8970130
Thanks for the comment and the kind words!
A lack of a comparison point for Celestia was definitely a major point I thought about whilst writing this. And you put it very well, Celestia definitely has a lot of attributes we might describe as godly, but ultimately she's something unique and has her own special form of worship from her ponies.
8970201
I really like that idea! The origins and evolution of a holiday are always fascinating and it makes a lot of sense to me that Celestia would try to save her favorite parts of being worshiped. I could totally see a Celestia feast day being rolled into the Equestrian national holiday of Hearth's Warming! Something the bakers of Equestria were surely thankful for!
I can answer the question rather easy: https://doublewbrothers.deviantart.com/art/Diplomacy-543551833
annnd... https://didj.deviantart.com/art/MLP-Comic-Party-Pooped-alternate-ending-544841157
Long story short: keep your mouth shut or turn to ashes :|
8970385
Hahaha, yeah those are pretty convincing arguments. You do need a certain level of power to even be in the argument, and, despite some annoying scenes in the show I try to rationalize away, Celestia is clearly a being at least approaching godlike power!
Thanks for the comment!
8970405
If its any solace to you: THE COMICS... did tackle why Celestia didn't do jack during most of Twilight's problems (and confirmed that on the CrystalEmpire thing)...
Basically (Celestia to Spike) : if i solved her problems, how would she ever learn herself?
Yet i think i prefer the (two) Galloping Gala approaches: Celestia is a troll! (Trollestia! yay)
After a few hundred years any sane person would become crazy of pure boredom! So... why not watch 'things unfold' rather then solve them in minutes!? Role a dice and see where it lands! So watching all this insane 'horsedung' going on must been a blast the likes you only see in a Millenia. Might even the very reason to keep Twilight around (aka Wings!)
When it comes to her powers i like to think of Celestia pretty much like the god emperor (wh40k).
One of the best descriptions i read to far was :
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/160483/1/this-date-is-going-to-be-perfect/the-kind-of-date-of-which-ive-dreamed-since-i-was-small
Hits the nail so hard with its "'pfff ~ don't care, almighty!" attitude XD
While still being bad flank and outright awful ! (btw if you laugh at any of it, you are going to pony hell :p)
ps. i also think there is another approach:
She is not mighty at all. I saw an old movie in which the 'most powerful' of magicians... couldn't do actual magic. Just used smokes and mirrors to keep harm from himself while others just assumed/thought he was powerful. A bit like the howl 'Oz' story. So, as long nopony asks questions (like Twilight!) ... nopony has to ever know o_o
[take your pick]^^
One can argue definitions, but Season 1 Celestia and Luna, before the new producer replaced Faust, are very obviously a solar/lunar deity pair. There are a lot of clues. Some more obvious than others. Here are some standard wikipedia links that have nothing to do with MLP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_(goddess)
"Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon. She is often presented as the female complement of the Sun (Sol) conceived of as a god."
Luna is the name of the Roman moon goddess, who is the divine embodiment of the moon. Not exactly subtle. And her partner is "Sol" the divine embodiment of the sun. Who does that remind of us? Sol-estia, perhaps?
Speaking of Celestia, let's look up the root of her name:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/celestial
Adj.
1. Heavenly, divine, in either a religious or figurative sense.
Again, not exactly subtle. Celestia's name literally means divine/heavenly and it's a play on word of "Sol" as the roman sun god who's the counterpart of the roman moon goddess, Luna.
The names aside, there are a huge pile of clues early on the show that they're gods. Remember that Luna was the mare in the moon Why exactly was the word "in" chosen? Because like that wikipedia article up there mentioned, Luna is the "divine embodiment of the moon." She wasn't "banished" to the moon is the sense of walking around on its surface. Remember how the moon visibly adopted her appearance? She literally...is the moon. Her "banishment" was simply the process of cutting her off from manifesting a physical avatar of herself in the world.
And Celestia is shown to be a non-physical being merely using an avatar too: think of the end of the season 1 premier. After Nightmare Moon is cleansed, watch that sequence very carefully. Celestia isn't in the room. Applejack comments about the elements. Celestia agrees with her. Celestia is not in the room, but she nevertheless verbally agrees with Applejack, and then they show her rising like the sun, crossing from beyond the horizon as a sphere of light...then flying into the room, and only after she arrives does she bother to materialize a body, and everypony except Twilight bows, while an angelic choir sings in the background.
What's going on here? She is the sun, and she's shown rising like the sun. She's not merely flesh and blood mortal, and she's shown as a ball of light. The alicorn body is merely an avatar, and she's clearly watching what's going on and talking without a body being required at all.
And speaking of "watching" what's going on...what about about the times ponies give that line about "as Celestia is my witness?" That's actually a biblical reference to the quality of omniscience traditionally attributed to God. The idea is that God is omniscient and omnipresent...reasonably demonstrated by Celestia watching and interacting with ponies when she's not even using a physical body at all.
* Fluttershy: As Celestia is my witness, I'm never going to be a pushover again."
* Rarity: As Celestia is my witness, I shall never be sisterless again."
* Scarlett O'hara from Gone with the Wind: As God is my witness...I'll never go hungry again."
The idea here is that God is an omniscient observer, present in all things and watching all of creation. The lines delivered by Rarity and Fluttershy above are Gone with the Wind references, substituting the name Celestia in place of God.
Again...this is not exactly a subtle thing that they're doing. That "God is my witness" line is straight out of the bible:
Romans 1:9
"For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;"
Phillippians 1:8
"For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus."
So we have a pair of solar/lunar ponies who are immortal embodiments of the sun and moon, one of them is named after a moon goddess and the other's name means "heavenly" and is a play on words of the name of the corresponding sun god. They're clearly not physical creatures, as evidenced by Luna and her interaction "in" the moon and Celesia's not even bothering to manifest a body when she's watching and talking to ponies. And you have characters in-universe making biblical references that substitute their name in the place of god. And this isn't even a complete list of the clues we're given.
What else could we possibly conclude from all this?
8970463
Yeah I really need tp read more of the comics, from the little I have read they certainly seem to give the Princesses a lot of growth and explanation.
8970530
Obviously the show treats as a divine figure in many ways, especially in the early seasons. Celestia isn't a creator god like the Abrahamic God, but she is a powerful being who controls a fundamental force of nature which fits many other definitions of gods.
But I think what's most interesting from inside the universe is the relationship the ponies have to Celestia and the way Celestia views herself. I didn't get into much in the story, and perhaps that's my failing, but I think what really matters from a perspective inside the universe is the comparisons between Celestia and other gods. From that perspective I decided Celestia wasn't sure if she fit the definitions most ponies had of divinity.
Ultimately, though, the point isn't a semantic one, whether Celestia fits any given definition of divinity, but a personal one, that despite her power and immortality she still has to find a way to forge meaningful relationships and come to grips with her own regrets.
Simply put, it doesn't matter to Celestia whether Celestia is a god. She'll still be who and what she is regardless of whether she fits the definition precisely.
Thanks for the comment and the input!
In my own fics I’ve mostly just had Celestia gloss over this question with a “nope, not me” when it’s brought up, and then change the subject. That said, I do think I like this approach to her a lot, it does a really good job of fleshing her out.
8970463
I like the idea of Celestia being a Superman expy in Equestria. She could solve every problem with her power, but she also risks breaking the planet in the process.
8970530
Nice catch on the talking before physically materializing bit in the pilot. I had thought she just teleported in from far away, but overlooked that she actually spoke first.
It also add a bit more context to Magical Mystery Cure, and Twilight being apparently vaporized before meeting with Celestia in some kind of astral plane. She wasn't just teleported to some pocket dimension of something, her physical body was actually destroyed (leaving that nasty scorch mark where she was standing), and a new body was created for her out of pure magic when she ascended.
Nice! I mean, this was a good take on Celestia's thoughts on the subject.
A nice reflective piece.
Though, I had a (irreverent) thought when I read this:
Why is this tagged comedy? It isn’t really funny. For that matter, it’s not sad either. If anything, it’s more of a drama.
Anyway, the story isn’t great. Or bad. It’s kind of meh. The prose isn’t very interesting—there’s a lot of repeated sentence structure, especially near the beginning. It spends the entire word count building up tension to the answer to Twilight’s question, but the tension isn’t built very well, and Princess Celestia’s question evasion feels kind of pointless. The history lesson feels like it has no punchline or reason to even be in the story, and when Celestia finally answers the question, her answer feels like it was trying to be poignant, but didn’t really succeed.
Like I said, the story isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I would hesitate to call it great or even good.
What I think is most interesting about all this is how many people badly WANT Celestia and Luna to be divine. We're using them to fill a god-shaped space in our cultural mythology, whether or not they're actually intended to fit it by the story anymore. Sun and Moon paired deities are something that we're demanding, i'ts one of the oldest ideas in our culture.
Very, very well done. I doubt the show proper will ever address this issue directly, but if it did, this is pretty much what I'd expect from it. Typical Celestia, leaving it ambiguous and teaching a lesson at the same time. Congrats on the feature!
An excellent philosophical fic.
Deus tecum.
8970926
Thank you for your comment and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
8970941
Lol! Well I can't really argue with that. I guess we're reviving the Celestial religion!
Thanks for your comment and I'm really pleased you enjoyed the story!
8970987
Well it's tagged "Comedy" and "Sad" because I thought there were moments in it that were comedic and sad, but perhaps just going with only "Slice-of-Life" would have been better. I definitely could have improved the quality of the writing in some places. As far as the tension not being built very well, I agree to an extent. It's definitely a bit of a meandering piece. I disagree on the evasion part. That she evades answering the question is meant to indicate that she has a long history with the question and never found a satisfactory way to deal with it. As far as the history lesson goes, it doesn't really have a punchline, none of the story does, and maybe that's a fatal flaw, but it's suppose to be an attempt to evade and a natural progression of a conversation. On the supposed poignancy of Celestia's ultimate answer I'm afraid I gave you totally the wrong impression and I apologize for that. Celestia's answer was supposed to be pretty much the opposite of poignant, simple and matter-of-fact.
I appreciate the criticism, especially important to keep me grounded amidst the praise of others, and I'm sorry my mediocre story failed to live up to your expectations. I hope you were able to get something entertaining out of it.
8971035
People tend to be fairly passionate about their opinions on divinity, regardless of the exact circumstances. Personally, as I hope I managed to get across in the story, I think Celestia and Luna occupy a position in Equestrian society that we have no exact parallel to, and trying to force them into any given definition is probably not a productive endeavor.
Thank you for the comment and I hope you enjoyed the story!
8971111
Yeah, it's probably not an issue they'll ever get into, for several reasons I imagine, but I think it's a really interesting question nonetheless. The nature, history, and personality of Celestia are probably some of the most interesting things in the universe of FiM in my opinion.
It has been really a heckuva lot more successful than I ever imagined, and I"m kind of embarrassed I didn't spend more time editing it consider the popularity it has achieved. Being right under the number one spot, especially considering Cold in Gardez holds it currently, is really amazing! Thank you for the comment and I'm so glad you liked the story!
8971143
That's very kind of you to say and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Deus tecum!
8970717
There are a bunch of ways to interpret that sequence...but personally I favor viewing it as a symbolic representation of a four-dimensional time/space event. Kind of like the ending sequence from 2001 or the wormhole aliens from Deep Space 9.
Notice that while Celestia is singing, they're walking past scenes showing a bunch of different times in Twilight's life. And that Celestia is singing about having watched her since the beginning. I don't think she had video cameras stashed everywhere, and those aren't TV screens they're walking past. Remember that it was Starswirl's spell she was completing, and that Starswirl was known for time magic.
They're experiencing non-linear time, able to view the entirety of a timeline all at once. That's Twilight's whole life all at once that they're looking at.
That wasn't a "turn me into an alicorn" spell. It was a spell to extend the caster into an extra spatial dimension, allowing them to perceive four dimensions of timespace rather than being limited to experiencing three dimensions of space plus observing time only linearly.
8970405
Demi God at least... Hercules ;)
Besides. The definition might falls flat because we see it from OUR perspective... Equestria is a howl other world.
Closest we got would be fiction like Superman.
Also... Just to stay grounded in reality (kinda)...
Celestia does more actual stuff then 'our god' ...
Never seen him fill out new tax systems!
8970707
I see Celestia as kind of like a parent to the whole of Equestria, and while she works to keep them safe and secure, just like a parent she won't do everything for them. Ponies must grow up, individually and as a nation, face their problems, work to solve them, and take responsibility.
Ah, but what is a god exactly?
8972698
Me in CoD: WWII.
└[⨶益⨶]┘
ECCCCXXXXXXSSDDDDEEEEEEEEEEE
8972698
How powerful she is is another matter altogether because power level is not really in a definition for divinity besides the "Gods are POWERFUL!" aspect. Which is partially true. They only need to be strong enough for others to worship them as beings far more powerful than their worshipers.
Ahh. The age old question. I love questions like this. A very tough one when many people have different definitions for divinity. When you think of it simply though the answer is this: A god is any being of sufficient power to influence the natural world that is worshiped by an organized religion. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Scandinavians, Christians, Buddhists. All have organized religions with specific rituals for worship focusing on central figures of importance that could influence the natural world. By this basic definition Celestia is a god if she has worshipers.
Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. Often used as definitions for the divine but inaccurate in describing the gods.
All powerful, all knowing, everywhere. Few even come close. These are powerful words used often to describe God in Christianity (and a few others) that are used for intimidation and to discredit all other religions. Basically "If your god isn't all three then its fake so worship God." (no offense) However anyone from a religious sect that says something from another religion is not a true god cannot be held as a viable source in an argument because then it is a religious debate that is basically a debate of faith/opinion. False gods are still gods to their believers and the Greek pantheon regularly failed to live up to the Omni-set and no one can really say they weren't gods. I also just realized I went off on a tangent and could have stopped at the first paragraph. No need to start a religious argument by accident right.
Man do i love me nice "simple" Twilight and Celestia stories.
Though Celestia seems to be more agnostic rather then an atheist.
This is adorable and yet strangely nostalgic. I remember wrestling with similarly overwhelming concepts several years ago. In the end I concluded that if there is a god, he/she either doesn't care to much about humanity or is far from perfect and perhaps used or uses us to learn more about him/her self. The world we live in reaks of pessimistic themes and dissatisfaction , much of which is at the hands of people, but oddly enough, the best hope for making it better seems to be us. When you look out at the wild, life seems to only stave off death by being particularly vicious or particularly numerous. Billions and more are killed and birthed each day in a constant struggle and few races have had much time where there was not food to be found or dangers to overcome.
And in come the humans. We domesticate, we build safe spaces, we give uses to animals and ensure their population is stable (though our culling and containment techniques leave much to be desired). We are concerned with the fate of the planet and creatures far beyond our realm of interaction, we seek out contentment and joy for ourselves instead of mere survival and reproduction. If there is a god out there, perhaps they might be peering at us curiously and learning just how crazy and varied we can be. Hell, maybe they are just sitting back and binge watching all the strange stuff we've made for entertainment.
https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/7/8/367389__queen+chrysalis_crying_magic_semi-dash-grimdark_open+mouth_eyes+closed_changeling_floppy+ears_spread+wings_unshorn+fetlocks.png
Celestia is not a god. Demi god... maybe.
Lauren on the other hoof...
Celly may not consider herself a true deity, but controlling a primal force of the cosmos like the sun as she does, she is definitely deity-like.