Thus Endth The Lesson
"No, I think you've taught me everything I need to know."
-Buffy Summers, Lies My Parents Told Me
"How did it go so wrong?"
Twilight was surprised by the words. Not because of who spoke them; after all, her mentor had clearly come to visit her and try and mend the massive gap that now existed in their relationship. It wasn't what she said either; Twilight had been thinking the same thing for a while now.
No, what truly surprised her was that Celestia had spoken. The solar princess had arrived 4 hours ago in the middle of an afternoon thunderstorm. The rain had dripped down her white coat and had her mane not been enchanted the lavender alicorn knew that her former teacher's bangs would have been hanging in her eyes. Celestia had asked softly if she could come in, trying her hardest to look regal and failing. Twilight hadn't even considered saying no, though that was more because she knew Faith would break out the ropes and bind her to the chair again than about her desire to talk to the princess.
The princess hadn't spoken since.
Twilight hadn't attempted to make her former mentor talk. Instead she had prepared tea, left a cup out for Celestia to serve herself, and settled herself onto her favorite chair and continued reading the guide of black magic Luna had left her. Spike had joined them and, after a few pleasantries that the princess hadn't responded to, he'd moved to the couch, curling up with a ruby to suck on.
Celestia had just stood there, drinking her tea and refusing to glance at Twilight. In the past the librarian would have been scuttling about in an attempt to make her teacher comfy. Now, Twilight treated her no differently than she would have treated Carrot Top or Bon Bon: casual, friendly, with only the bare minimum of effort. Just enough to be respectful.
Many would have been surprised by how kindly she treated Celestia. The princess’ actions the night of the rehearsal had been the worst of them all. Other than Shining she had known Twilight the most and her rejection had hurt the greatest. More to the point, of all the ponies involved in the wedding Celestia should have seen that her niece was not acting like herself. Celestia was Cadence's aunt... if they were such close family then why hadn't the white alicorn realized the younger princess was behaving strangely?
The answer to that question was one Twilight feared to answer.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, marking her place before shutting the book.
"How did we end up at this place... where you could not trust me and I could not trust you?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "We ended up here because at the wedding rehearsal-"
"No... no," Celestia said softly. "We ended up here far before that." The princess lowered her head in sadness. "The rehearsal was just the breaking point that confirmed that you and I somehow ended up so far apart that there was no middle ground to see. It was the point that confirmed you had lost all faith in me."
"What are you talking about?" Twilight huffed out in annoyance. "I have always had faith in you."
"You did at one time but you lost it, Twilight. Or, should I say, you have been losing it for quite so time. It has been dripping away, like a cask with a pin pick hole. Neither of us noticed the levels dropping until it was too late."
"You... you can't be serious!" Twilight shouted. She hated that this mare still had the power to make her lose her cool. "I have always looked up to you! Admired you! Wanted to be you!" Her wings flared in frustration. "I have always acted with you in mind! Do you know how much heartache I've gone through, worrying about make you proud of me? And you dare... you dare to say that I don't have faith in you!" She grit her teeth in anger.
"Do you even hear yourself?" Celestia whispered. "Twilight... you weren't just worried about making me proud... you were afraid of me."
"Of... course I was!" the lavender alicorn exclaimed. She wondered if Celestia had gone mad and was now just speaking nonsense. "Who wouldn't be?"
"My faithful student." Celestia's mane drooped. "In the past, you would come to me about anything and everything; you’d trust me with your fears and doubts and ask for my help. How many times did we spend hours together, just talk? You never hid your thoughts from me, my faithful student.
“But then... something changed. You stopped asking me to help ease your fears and struggled to deal with them on your own... then you tried to hide them... and finally you began to fear me more than your actual fears." Celestia began to tick off the points before Twilight could argue. "When the parasprites invaded you never once sent me a letter to ask for my help... you just tried to hide it, fearing I would blame you."
"I just wanted-"
"The Want It, Need It Spell. It took Spike contacting me... instead of just telling me the truth you again hid it, fearing that I would send you back to magical kindergarten… how could you think I would take such a drastic step for so simple an action? When Fluttershy took Philamenia you told her that both of you would be thrown into a dungeon or banished... you thought I could be that cruel.
"When your future self appeared to you, instead of contacting me you took it upon yourself to try and save all of Equestria. I could have told you that such a spell is paradox proof and helped you deal with the trauma that week brought. But again... you didn't turn to me.
"And then... there was the wedding. You found something out and instead of coming to me... you went rushing in." Celestia lowered her head, locking eyes with the younger alicorn. "Why, my faithful student? Why didn't you just come to me?"
"Because you wouldn't have done anything," Twilight said simply. Her words held a finality to it that made Celestia take a step back.
"How can you say that? When have I not listened to you? When have I not listened to your words and considered all that you have to say?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Do you even hear yourself?" she parroted. "You did it at the rehearsal! I told you about Cadence and you blew me off! You thought I was so stupid that I could tell a mind control spell from a headache spell?"
"You were acting like a foal! How was I supposed to react?"
Twilight turned around in disgust. "Nevermind.”
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Celestia boomed, using the full force of the Royal Canterlot Voice. The solar alicorn seemed to grow larger and all the light in the room was sucked into her, making her a beacon in the darkness. Spike trembled and dashed behind the lavender alicorn, whimpering in fright. "DO NOT TAKE ME FOR SOME SIMPLE MARE! I AM NOT TRYING TO HURT YOU!" The power left Celestia in an instant. "I am trying to help."
"Help?" Twilight said, doing her best to hide her sudden fear. "You don't care. You wouldn't have listened to me if I had told you about Cadence."
"How can you possibly know that?"
"My faithful student Twilight Sparkle... you must simply stop reading those musty old books." Twilight recited the words with a clear, cold voice and Celestia felt as if she had been stabbed. "Nightmare Moon. I warned you... and you mocked me."
"Twilight... no, that isn't-"
"It doesn't matter what you were attempting... what matters is how I felt. If I tell a joke and it hurts somepony’s feelings then I was wrong, not them. If you were trying to be playful you failed." Twilight closed her eyes and tears began to fall. "I... I found out the truth and you belittled me... you sent me off on a foalish errand."
"Only because-"
"IT DOESN'T MATTER YOUR REASON!" Twilight bellowed, causing Celestia to take a step back in shock. "Tartarus is filled with ponies that 'meant to do the right thing'. You didn't listen to me... worse, you lied to me. You know about Nightmare Moon and the Elements and you didn't tell me a thing!"
"Because you had to learn on your own... if I had told you it could have jeopardized everything."
Twilight glared at her former mentor through red-rimmed eyes. "Yes... the most important thing... the thing you cared about so greatly as to send your 'faithful student' into danger and death against a force that rivaled you in power. A force that could have easily killed me and my friends if we hadn’t gotten lucky. A force we knew nothing about because you refused to provide even a scrap of information... your sister." Twilight shook her head, hiccupping. "She... she tried to kill you. She hated you and cursed your name. I loved you... I only wanted to be next to you... and you chose her over me?"
"Twilight... Twilight please," Celestia begged. "She was my sister-"
"You were my mother!" Twilight shouted, her voice growing hoarse. "For so many years you were my mother and my friend and my sister... you were my everything! I loved you and thought of you as a member of my family... but I was wrong, wasn't I?" Twilight turned, using her magic to gather up a shivering Spike. "You never saw me as nothing more than a means to an end. 'The Stars will aid in her escape'." Twilight sniffed and flicked her wing against her cutie mark. "You knew... you knew I would be the one to save Princess Luna and you never told me. Is that why you treated me the way you did, because you needed me? You just used me, dishing out just enough of the truth to keep me going." The lavender alicorn trembled, barely able to keep herself standing as she sobbed. "I... I loved you... and you passed me over. You chose your sister, who hated you and tried to kill us all... but I forgave you. I thought that you had merely decided to lie to me and treat me as you did because you had hope for Luna.
"Then... Cadence. The fake one but you didn't know that. You... you had to see she was different. You had too! But you were blind yet again because she was family! And when it came to choosing... you chose her over me." Twilight tried to chuckle but failed. "Maybe you are my family... Shining chose Cadence too. I’m always last…"
She paused when she felt a small clawed hand press against her check. Spike looked up at her from the aura of magic that held him and gave her a hug. She wasn’t always last… at least not for one dragon.
"Twilight... please," Celestia begged, trying to get the younger alicorn to calm down. "You are twisting my words and my actions... I do care about you..."
"Just not as much as I care for you." Twilight said softly. "Please... just go."
"Twilight... Twilight you are wrong. I care about you that much...”
Twilight shook her head, her voice hollow. "Please... please leave me alone."
Celestia lowered her head and slowly made her way out of the library. The rains had not let up and the storm beat down upon her. Her mind was a whirl of moments and she shut her eyes as her tears mingled with the rain drops.
"She will always love you," Faith's voice whispered in her ear. "There is always hope."
Celestia felt her breath coming out in rapid puffs and her heart thudding in her chest. She gasped and turned around, banging on the door only to find it locked. "Twilight! Twilight!? Twilight I love you too! Twilight... Twilight I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!" the Ruler of Equestria broke down into sobs, leaning against the door as the rain mixed with her tears and the skies continued to darken until Luna finally found her and took her away.
The door never opened.
~MC~MC~MC~
Spike slowly woke up, blinking his eyes. He didn't know when he had fallen asleep and the dark skies did little to tell him how much time had passed. He slowly raised himself and looked about the room, startled to find books and clothing and odds and ends scattered all around. Miss Smartypants was tucked into a saddle bag and there were several suitcases filled with books and scrolls and other little items.
"Twilight?" Spike murmured, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?"
Twilight sniffed; she hadn't stopped crying since Celestia had left. "I can't stay here, Spike... everything is so raw and painful and I just keep... I am afraid. I'm afraid of what I will do to somepony if I stay. I'm not in control anymore and I need to be in control."
"What are you saying?" Spike asked.
"I need a holiday... a long one... and I want you to come with me."
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Nonononononononononono!
Don't do it twilight!
What are you doing to my feels...
*le me while they are in eachother's faces arguing: "T-t-t, touch boobs."
1532961
What boobs?
Some hurts can not be repaired by words or deeds... some just need time.
There are some that are going to say I was too harsh with Celestia. But my feeling has always been that of all the ponies, Celestia betrayed Twilight the worst by walking away. Celestia is her teacher... more than that Celestia is a second mother. I understand she was disappointed but one does not walk away from one they care about in such a harsh, cold manner, and expect to be welcomed back with open arms.
There will be some that say, "But that is only that episode and they were writing her bad..." but that argument doesn't work. Canon made that event happen and you can't hand wave it away. It happened and it is forever part of Celestia's character.
And it is something that is established. When it comes to family Celestia has a blind spot, a weak spot. Luna and 'Cadence' were able to do so much because of the fact that Celestia let them have a very long leash and failed to see the warning signs before it was too late.
Now then, we move on to the final chapter, 'Goodnight and Goodbye', which will be half 'Faith and Doubt' and half of Volume 2 of the Abstract Saga, 'The Abundance'.
oooh, ouch! didn't see this one coming.
Jeez, all of my manly tears
1532963 Equine anatomy 101: Horses (and by extension, ponies) are mammals. Mammals need to feed their live young; Hence, boobs.
I really hate Celestia in all of these fictions. She seems to care about one person more than the country she is ruling. She could not just tell Twilight that she was doing everything based on the good of everyone? That a true ruler represents the entire population? Why do you think royalty use "We"? And Twilight is shallow if she does not see it. She is being selfish and making everyone else suffer because of it. I say Celestia should forget about her and go back to running the country. Who cares how close they were ten years ago. She has been alive for thousands.
I love the way you picked all the weird bits and pieces from the show and put them into this story, it all seems so cannon that it's downright frightening.
Excellent job.
"Is that way you treated me the way you did,"
Is that why you treated me the way you did.
"You know about Nightmare Moon and the Elements and you didn't tell me a thing!"
You knew about Nightmare Moon and the Elements and you didn't tell me a thing!
1533005
Horses have teats
Ok I was sympathetic to Twilight at first but now I think she's startting to become very self centred I think she's had her time but now she just needs to grow and get over herself.
1533014
Easier said than done... 3 days after your heart is crushed is not enough for the wounds to heal.
1533005
Celestia and Twilight shared a teacher-student bond for more than a decade that evolved into a surrogate mother-daughter relationship... Celestia unfortunately handled situations in ways that she thought was appropriate but on second glance, I think she wished she would have rather handled it properly... Twilight has always admired Celestia as an epitome of perfection, hence why she has always done everything to perfection (thus becoming a victim of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, something that before the rehearsal was affecting her and her thoughts, thus reacting in ways that are beyond rational)
Celestia should have seen the signs, but she is blind to family and Twilight became her family indirectly, and her neglect has lead to Twilight becoming something else entirely... not to say Twilight is correct, but Celestia must understand that she has hurt her student (her surrogate daughter) and time is needed to have any chance of healing... but let us hope that there will be a chance of redemption in the next fic
I see what you did there...
And WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ALL MY FEELS?! THEY HAVE BEEN POUNDED INTO DUSTTTTT
1533005 Because Celestia wasn't acting for the good of her nation. She was acting for the good of Luna when she sent Twilight to Ponyville.
Twilight isn't acting any more selfish than her mentor is portrayed in canon.
1533005
So... for the good of her country... she hid information about a great threat? How is not say, "Yeah, Nightmare Moon IS coming, you might want to prepare... we'll grab her as soon as she appears and stop her from plunging us into darkness" helping Equestria, exactly?
POR QUE??????
I dont like these arguments about twi being selfish or shallow
she is still recovering from something traumatic
you think its possible to get over them in just a few days
1533014
I agree with this statement.
While this is an interesting and good story, I have been reading it from the beginning, I have always felt like Twilight was being a complete and utter idiot since around the middle of the story.
Yep. I said it, it has been nagging me ever since the last few chapters.
Sure, no one believed her. Why? She went about it the completely wrong way. She went in yelling and screaming that Cadence was a monster. Celestia in this chapter is in the right to me, Twilight should have went to her with her thoughts. What did she do instead? She freaked out and caused everyone to not listen. It's her own damn fault. Celestia shouldn't have to apologize for anything.
Sorry, but Twilight has become nothing more than a self centered idiot who thinks everyone should have to apologize for small little things that friends should forgive friends for. So what if they didn't listen? They are friends, friends are supposed to get under your skin and irritate you. It's what they do.
I'm finding it harder and harder to sympathize with Twilight on this.
The Gandolf reference seems a bit forced in there ...
1533014
The wounds of betrayal can take years to heal. I know this from experience.
When a friend who means a lot to you, turns his back on you in favour of personal gain. It hurts... A lot.
You can't expect Twilight to just forgive Celestia, after 3 days.
Both characters have points. Twilight still is having trouble looking past hurt in order to understand what Tia did. Tia does have a blind spot to her family. There isn't a easy thing here for either pony to deal with. Truth be told a vacation is what both of them need.
1533005
I see your point but here is the thing. Twi is Tia's best student ever. She is one of the bearers of the Elements as well as being the most gifted unicorn so far in history. Only Starswirl come close and he is long gone.
1533045
Don't you see? Don't you remember how hard it was for Luna to get rid of her name as Nightmare Moon in "Luna Eclipsed"? Ponies feared her, even though they had always thought she was just a myth. Can you not see how much greater this fear would have been if ponies had always known that Nightmare Moon, the evil being who tried to kill everything, was real? Ponies would never have accepted Luna back, and certainly not on the throne. They would always see her as Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Moon only, always see her only as the mare who comitted atrocities in the past. Because they would know them. They'd learn about it in school, in history classes, about every single evil NMM had done. At least, that would have happened, if NMM hadn't become a myth. By becoming a myth, Luna had a chance at redemption again, because nopony (aside from a few learned ones, I'd say) knew who she was. She could start over fresh, without the burden of her evil past. If anything, Luna vanishing from history was a blessing, not a curse or something bad. I daresay it was an act of love of Celestia for her sister. For the good of her country? Doubtful. For the love of her sister? Most definately. And that's proof that Celestia, in the end, isn't a ruthless ruler, but simply a long-living mare of flesh and blood, who cares for her sister, her family. (Kinda like what Twilight blamed SA of not doing, ha.)
Twilight, you're full of shit. Pardon the frankness. We all know that if Celestia had told you everything, you wouldn't have made friends, and thus, would never have unlocked the elements. You would have *forced* yourself to make friends, see it as an assignment, and thus never have been able to forge true bonds of friendship. And thus, you would have doomed all of Equestria. Celestia did the right thing, and I hope one day you'll realise this, and then I hope you'll drag your sorry carcass over to her and throw yourself at her hooves and those of your friends begging forgiveness for all the nonsense you've spouted over the course of this story. Even though you don't really deserve it. Not yet, anyway.
Onwards to the conclusion, and the sequel!
1532965 - I personally think the argument was dead-on. From an outside standpoint, it's pretty clear that Celestia was more than willing to use Twilight and her friends to solve problems. Oft-times without warning, backup, or even knowledge of the problem.
NMM, Discord, various other events, and combined with Celestia's quirky humor, it's easy to see that it would be a problem, especially for the new Twilight who's had the wool pulled over her eyes for so long. Celestia may indeed love Twilight, but that didn't stop her from using the poor unicorn. Twilight has every right to be pissed about that, and no simple 'I'm sorry' is going to fix that.
1533045
Because not telling Twilight was the reason the plan succeeded. If she had told her, Twilight would have felt better, but the country might be sent into eternal darkness. Because she did not tell her, the plan worked and though it caused some pain to Twilight, the country is alive.
1533116
1533100
So the ends justifies the means?
I must agree with this chapter, it totaly makes sense that Twilight started to fear Celestia after she used her to free her sister on a dangerous mission, without giving her any informations, direct or even moral support, and not even assinged Guards to keep an eye on her ( she have entire army under her control and huge ammount of power, and yet she send her faithful student to deal with unfair odds ).
In episode with Discord she also send tham since they are elements bearers, BUT, the elements were stolen, so the bearers were practicaly normal ponies withut tham, no super powers, no fighting or survive skills.
Than why Celestia send tham alown, without any guards, without assisting tham again Discord, without waking up Luna to join, the clue was after all to find elements what were stolen by Discord, and if I can compare to the real world, if there are 6 scientists what only know how to operate a Nuke, and this Nuke was stolen, you send army of soldiers or elite commandos squad to get back this Nuke so that thsoe 6 scientists will be able to use it, you do not send 6 scientists to get this nuke back without any support and hope that they wont be killed by enemy soldiers.
So yea, I see not much logic in Celestia decysions, and since in canon she prove to have flaws, than I have nothink again exploring tham ( no need to make her troll or tyrant, since she have her own canon flaws you can easy explore ).
And even if MLP was ment to be kids show ( no dying in kids show ), I still find Nightmare Moon, Discord and Chrysalis rather kind villans:
Nightmare Moon was stuck for 1000 years on the moon, and when she went back, she did not raze ponyvile as act of revange, she probably had no idea that Night eternal would kill her subjects in the end, and even when she found out that Twilight and her friends want to get elements of charmony to banish her to the moon ( she spent 1000 years on the moon because Celestia used elements, this experience was burned in her memory ), the most logic and justited course of actions would be direct attack and elimination of thread ( you have any means nesesery to defend yourself, if you know someone want to kill you and you are unable to stop it with justice, kill or be killed ).
And yet Nightmare Moon just tryed to scare tham away ( she could anihilate tham with easy, her traps and trials were rather ment to make tham surrender than kill tham ), and when Twilight found elements, NIghtmare Moon just directed her attack on elements, not on Twilight, and in the end Nightmare Moon paid a big price for bying soft.
Discord bring chaos and manipulare everypony for fun, but he never kill, even those who are threat to him.
Chrysalis invaded, but it was only to save her subjects from starvation or to make live more easy for her subjects ( her backstory in the show is empty, but there are many fanfics what full this hole easy ), and yet she not killed element bearers, pfff, she even ignored tham, and none ponies were hurt in the invasion, but when Changelings were repeled ( it was not mentioned in the show ), but it is clear as water that nation what invade because of hunger, once defeated and ignored will enter stage of famine with alot of deaths.
So yea, the villans of the show are not so bad, and the ones with blood on they hooves are actualy ponies in the end.
1533100
I agree with what you said. Twilight is not looking at this fully and honestly... she is reacting without taking a moment to consider things. She's over corrected and become TOO emotional and she realizes that.
However, I do argue that celestia should have had more plans in place than just hoping Twilight would make friends. Maybe there are things she did that we didn't see... but that isn't canon. What is canon is that she put all her eggs in Twilight's basket (dear god is that shippy) and it could have blown up in her face (stop... making... things... sound... sexual!).
"It doesn't matter what you think!"
And then Twilight gave Celestia a Rock Bottom and a People's Elbow.
1533165
Twilight is angry at the moment and that rage has put eye-catchers on her (only see partial truths instead of the reality
what they need is time to heal and time alone...
The same can be said with Celestia too
1533014
Apart from the reasons already stated, Celestia was a little too late to show humility.
When a person already has a bad opinion of you, what you should NOT do is to act regal and like you aren't at fault. Celestia did do so, thus hurting Twilight more.
I cannot say that Twilight is selfish, nay, she is broken.
If you break a window, and a shard cuts you, cold you say the shard is evil? Since it was you who broke the window and hit the shard, the window is not at fault. Think more from Twilight's perspective.
I can't say I agree with Celestia, but I know for a fact she had a legitimate reason to not enlighten her about Luna...she just managed to explain it in the worst way possible.
1532965
You clearly know the psyche and its dangers, you would be a fine psychiatrist.
Awaiting further releases.
1533165
Well, we'll never know what if Celestia had a backup plan or not. We don't even know where she was at that time, heh. All Lauren Faust ever said on the matter was that a 1000 years ago it was not possible to cure Luna yet, but why it had to be 1000 years and why Twilight, she never got that far. She did say that Celestia picked Twilight as her student because she sensed Twilight's connection to the Element. So, well, the Elements were the only hope for curing Nightmare Moon, or even defeating her if curing wasn't possible (since Celestia needed them 1000 years ago, too). And since Celestia knew Twilight was connected to the Element, and the Elements were mandatory to defeat NMM, she didn't have much choice but to rely on Twilight, wouldn't you agree? I really doubt that all that private tutoring Celestia gave Twilight was just about ordinary magic, too. It wouldn't surprise me if Celestia subtly gave Twilight what she needed to succeed through her studies. Seems like the kind of thing Celestia would do, tbh. If she really just saw Twilight as a "means to an end", I doubt she'd be as emotionally invested in Twilight as she is, if at all.
Some solitude to settle down and think about her sins and accomplishments is probably the first smart decision Twilight made in a looong, long time.
awesome chapter!
i was hoping one of them wouldn't be forgiven so "easily", especially celestia (no was forgiven easily, but compared to the others).
*speechless*
1533004
you mean nipples. Even by the barest, most general definition possible non-human mammals only have "boobs"(though the word teat is the more general form) when they are lactating. In other words... no. they don't. Unless twilight got pregnant halfway through the story and I didn't notice... ?
1533141
yes
1533259
So to break a student's heart and then throw in an excuse after that same student saves the day is ok?
I never understood the idea that sending Twilight to Ponyville blind and ignorant to make friends was 'the only way'. Yes, if they were 'destined' to be friends in the first place AND 'destined' to win it makes some sense. But the idea that knowing they were the Elements and would face a big bad would sabotage them...
SERIOUSLY? It would have hurt them to become friends beforehand? It would have hurt them to have someone from Ponyville escort Twilight and smooth over crap like hot sauce punch? It would have hurt them to face a few nasty situations or intense training together before NMM?
If you can claim prophetic divine infallibility it's easy to say 'It worked, and it had to be that way because if anything went differently DISASTER'. But RL doesn't work that way and Celestia isn't infallible. If it was 'destined' it couldn't be derailed anyway! The most plausible reason for her not to interfere was simply the fear of a screw-up becoming HER responsibility and with her sister on the line she couldn't bear that. That's understandable, but foisting it all off on Twilight and excusing it by saying you 'had faith in her' is not going to give Twilight warm fuzzy feelings about Celestia.
So bonus points for explaining Twilight's behavior toward Celestia in canon so well. If she DID offer more support before Ponyville and then didn't...
1533264
Well her alternative was to risk eternal night.
1533300
Or explain to Twilight who she really is, making her feel more secured and thus succeeding without going through an emotional roller coaster
Great Chapter, and I agree with the argument.
Basically no matter how you look at it, Celestia lied to and used Twilight in a risky mission to save her sister. Now she may have had all of the reasons in the world to do this, not just for her sister but for equestria as well, but that doesn't change the fact that the person Twilight viewed as a mother lied and used her and chose the well being of another over her. Twilight may logically understand all the reasons, but her heart is not going to forget something like that.
I think this was a pretty beautiful explanation for Twilight's behavior in the series and her manic attitude when in comes to Celestia - Nicely done.
1533100
about 'Luna Eclipsed,' i think the general populace does not know that Luna was Nightmare Moon, in fact, the only ponies who called her Nightmare Moon was Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, Pip called her Princess. the rest merely assumed Princess Luna was masquerading as 'Nightmare Moon'. Luna for her part misunderstood the nature of that holiday: 'a night ponies went about pretending to be scared and have fun' and not a commemoration of her 'Past Sins.' her appearance, entrance and speech didn't help nor did Pinkie Pie's antics...
about the Summer Sun Festival, i don't think Twilight was asking the she be told everything, only to have been taken seriously at the time rather than brushed-off. the fib Celestia gave Twilight wasn't the best. acknowledging what her student discovered, 'assuring' her she had 'plans' and then sending her off to Ponyville to handle celebration matters would have worked as well along with a 'P.S. make some friends' comment as an added clue. in the show, she went with a 'Batman Gambit'...dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png
however, subsequent events do prove Celestia has come to be dependent on Twilight: negotiating with a Dragon, facing Discord and now on Nov. 10, facing King Sombra...
1533141
maby desperate times call for desperate measures.
1532963
Yeah, I didn't get it either.
Celestia has always seemed to be a bit dismissive with her subjects, this isn't really her fault, it is the fault of her nature. As an immortal that has lived for at least 1001 years she will have a hard time relating to those how will only have a brief lifespan. Of coarse she would care more for Luna and Cadance (if she is truly immortal), these are the only beings she will have to live with for the rest of eternity (unless more things start sprouting horns and wings). Twilight will only be around for another 50-60 years, which is just a drop in the ocean to Celestia. In the long run, how Celestia treats Twilight does not matter. If she pisses Twilight off, Twilight will not be around to be a thorn in her side for very long. Where Celestia screwed the pooch is when Twilight switched from mortal to immortal and yet Celestia still treated her as a being who will die in another 60 years.
1533343
That maybe... but to not apologize for telling her a lie, just kinda ruined the future of their relationship
1533349
True.
Celestia pulled a Twilight.
Celestia was so afraid of the consequences (Twilight being pissed and not forgiving Celestia) that she kept it a secret and brought about the end she was trying to avoid. If Celestia had told Twilight the truth after the NMM incident many things might not have happened.
1533367
Exactly... in this fic that was her undoing...
1533309>>1533349 I agree with you two completely.
Regardless of her past actions, Celestia's present actions (or lack thereof, in certain instances) have only driven the gap between Twilight and herself further apart.
I think the author handled the scene remarkably well, with things said that Twilight desperately needed to say to the Solar Princess. 
Sadly, Celestia's past actions are even worse.
(For the sake of keeping this relatively short, I'll only name one. 
) I need not even mention the folly (and that's putting it pretty damn mildly) of sending six young Ponies up against a God. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Twilight_Sparkle.png A God, whom only thanks to his insane love of chaos and general anarchy, didn't just kill them on the spot whilst they were powerless and without the elements. 
1533367 So... you're saying that canon MLP:FiM needs a "Rainbooms and Royalty"-type edit? What's done is done... if the past were to be changed like that, where would it stop? As another favorite author of mine once put it, "Desecration may be survived or healed. It cannot be recanted." (i.e., no "making it didn't happen" allowed in the official version) I have a feeling if MLP's showrunners started messing around with established backstory like that, they'd lose a lot of their fanbase (periphery and target) to confusion.
(P.S. Not that I don't like Rainbooms and Royalty, mind you... one look at my Top Favorites box should prove that. Trinary's emotional scenes are just confusing sometimes. Heh.)