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Valkyrie-Girl β Forgiven
Published: 2012-12-20 04:28:25 +0000 UTC; Views: 25510; Favourites: 1079; Downloads: 521
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So I was recently asked which princess is my favorite. I've observed that most people's answer is Luna and I can completely understand. She's a great character. She's fun, memorable, adorable.. She's gone from being a villain to an amusingly socially awkward princess to the guardian of ponies dreams. She's grown so much as a character over the course of the series so it's only natural that she would get attention. But she's not my favorite.Celestia has been the ruler of Equestria for more than a thousand years. She is wise, kind and beautiful. She knows when to be a princess and when it's ok to laugh. She's helped Twilight grow from a bookish recluse into a wonderful friend to many ponies. She is all this and more. But that is not why I love her. I love her because she forgave a traitor. She forgave the unforgivable. She loved the unlovable. Luna was supposed to rule by her side, to abide by the Elements and keep the peace throughout Equestria. But more importantly they were supposed to love each other, to be each others friend through the long years of their reign. But Luna allowed jealousy to blind her to love. She chose bitterness and anger over love and she betrayed her sister. I know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone close to you. It's like a knife in the back, slowly twisted until your heart breaks from the pain. It is the hardest thing in the world to look that person in the eye and tell them that you still love them and that you forgive them.
Celestia did just that. Luna did nothing to deserve her sister's forgiveness. She did nothing but cause Celestia grief and pain and loneliness. Celestia would have had every right to punish Luna, to strip her of her royal title and banish her from Equestria. But she didn't do that. She welcomed her home with tears of joy as though she did nothing wrong. It is this beautiful act of love that makes me adore Celestia.
The quote is a slightly adjusted version of some of the lyrics from the song Forgiven by Skillet. [link]
In case anyone is interested, this one was drawn and inked traditionally then scanned and colored digitally.
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Comments: 207
Welcome.
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They are both great characters. As is this drawing
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Luna is my favorite princess also, but I love Celestia as well, for pretty much the same reasons you gave here. Excellent work!
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Thank you. Seriously, all the grief Celestia gets from "fans" gets on my nerves. It's not like she *wanted* to entrap Luna (who was corrupted as Nightmare Moon by the way!) in the moon for a thousand years.
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You are quite welcome and thank you! We Celestia fans gotta stick together don't we?
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Someone has to stand up for her, yes.
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I think you've put into words far better than I ever have about the wonderful thing Celestia did in the act of forgiving Luna immediately after the Nightmare Moon crisis.
I've spent nearly the entire length of time that I've been a fan of MLP:FiM sticking up for who Celestia is as a character and that she is in no way a "troll", "dictator" or a "tyrant". One of my most valid points was that Celestia proved herself a loving ruler and sister by forgiving her own kin for nearly destroying their country.
I like far more how you put it. 
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I'm glad my musings have been of service to you.
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Well said. Good picture too!
It's funny, but I think even Luna has had more screen time than Celestia. Having said that, and as much as I'd like to see the origin story or similar, leaving it a mystery makes them a very attractive pair for fanfic. Hell, it's why I started writing mine!
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C.S. Lewis said that a thing can't be forgiven if it can be excused. You can only forgive the inexcusable. Which is why forgiveness is so powerful, and so important.
I love this. I love it a lot.
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You brought up C. S. Lewis. You are the most awesome. And that quote is so perfect. Thank you very much!
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Thank you! You're the one who did a painting that matched it.
Have you read Lewis' essay "On Forgiveness"? It blew my mind. In a good way.
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No I have not. Is it part of a collection? And if s which one cause I would very much like to hunt that down.
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Yes, the collection is called "The Weight of Glory." Enjoy!
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Thank you very much!
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Well, you know what they say: βTo err is human; to forgive, divine.β Or, in this case: βTo err is pony; to forgive, alicorn.β
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Hm, so it wasn't so much what she did in the show as it was what she did before the show even started. Sure, there's the short little scene at the end of the S1 opening, just after NMM is defeated, but that's just the very tail end of the story. By that point, Celestia had obviously decided to forgive Luna already. What happened between the two of them is a surprisingly deep background for a little kids' show, really, even if most of the details are implied. The question then becomes this: is it harder to forgive the betrayal of others or to forgive yourself for being the betrayer?
On a related note, here's one other thing I still wonder about that's never been clarified: was Luna conscious the entire time she was sealed in the moon or not? You try being stuck in the same place, wide awake, looking at the same thing for 1000 years, and see if you don't go completely insane. I sure as hell would. The fact that NMM was still sane upon being released leads me to believe that she was either unconscious or dreaming in some fashion.
On an only sort-of-related note, I also don't get why you see all these fan depictions of sad Luna - not NMM, Luna - on the moon. As touching as that image is, it makes no sense at all. She was NMM when she got sent there and NMM when she came back, so why would she have randomly turned back to her normal self in between?
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When Celestia forgave Luna isn't really important to me. It's that fact that she did it that's important. As to the question "is it harder to forgive the betrayal of others or to forgive yourself for being the betrayer?", well, that is a very good question. We don't get to see that part of Luna's journey. But if her season long absence is any indicator it must have been a hard road to walk.
Well if the illustrations in the intro are any indicator, Nightmare's eyes are closed after she is sealed inside the moon. That could be symbolic of her being asleep. It makes sense to me.
And you're right, sad moon Luna makes Zero sense. For one thing, she was sealed INSIDE the moon not ON the moon. Key factor right there. The only moon Luna I accept is Woona and that doesn't even count.
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Well yeah, obviously it's the fact that she forgave Luna at all that matters. The S1 opening kinda wouldn't have exactly have ended as well if they'd just vaporized NMM or locked Luna away in a dungeon or something. >_> As for my question, the backstory between Celestia and Luna is something I really, really wish they'd animate for us, even just as a short little OVA of sorts. As nice as imagination is, I want to see it through the creator's eyes. I want them to SHOW me.
Oh yeah, forgot about that. Details, details. It's the little details that really make a quality show.
LOL Duh. You gotta love Moonstuck. 
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Well, we can hope.
And Moonstuck may be over but at least we still have Slice which is also delightful.
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I suspect they'd do a standalone movie before they tackled a backstory OVA, but I guess it's not out of the realm of possibility. If the show gets popular enough, we might see all kinds of extra good stuff.
We do indeed. That reminds me, I forgot to check this week to see if Slice updated. *runz*
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You must have read this comic: [link]
I understand what you mean. I love Luna like lot of fans, but you're right about Celestia. I'm still amazed by her beauty, her personality, her kindness and her wisdom. But we need more infos about her and I hope we'll get more. She deserve more respect. Those Trolestia and Molestia are getting on my nerves.
I love Celestia too. I just love Luna a bit more, but with the way you said it... it is getting mixed.
Beautiful work
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Yes I have read that comic but I wasn't really thinking about it at all when I was working on this. But I won't go into my opinions on it.
I do hope we get to know more about Celestia before the end of the season. I'd like to see more of both princesses. And a song. I would love for them to get a song.
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I see that I'm not the only one wishing a song from the princesses.
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This piece is so cute and lovely <3 The lyrics so fit
and hoof bump for Celestia fans
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More epic Celestia and Luna artworks for my collection. Take a favorite.
"She welcomed her home with tears of joy as though she did nothing wrong. It is this beautiful act of love that makes me adore Celestia."
Nice to know some people still remember why Celestia is a role model.
"She's gone from being a villain to an amusingly socially awkward princess to the guardian of ponies dreams. She's grown so much as a character over the course of the series so it's only natural that she would get attention. But she's not my favorite."
Hate to be a stickler, but she didn't start out as a villain, she was originally just a pretty pony princess like her sister. Also, depending on the headcanon, whether or not she's a villain shall vary, as well as depending on who you talk to, they might not consider NMM a villain at all (but those people are very special).
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Even if Luna was a victim of circumstances (which I don't believe she is. She chose to give in to jealousy and bitterness. One who is innocent does not need to be forgiven.) Nightmare Moon is certainly not. Nightmare is most definitely a villain, through and through. Also when I say that Luna was originally a villain, I'm working mostly from Twilight's perspective. The first time she saw Luna was when she was Nightmare Moon and Nightmare is a villain. I'm not really counting the storybook intro in the first episode. That's all I meant by it.
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Nightmare Moon is clearly a villain but whether or not Luna is a villain is up for debate. She didn't necessarily give into jealousy and bitterness. This is one of those times where you have to look at the words chosen in the intro with a magnifying glass and listen to sentences over and over till you have them memorized.
It might be best to look at Nightmare Moon and Luna as distinct entities (whether or not you believe them to be the same character) and then adapt accordingly. When Twilight saw Nightmare Moon, she saw a villain. When Twilight saw Luna, she saw a princess whose appearance had been turned back more than a thousand years and personality was anything but a villain's.
As of Scootaloo's episode, I consider a Luna = NMM headcanon to be incompatible with canon (if it were to take place without breaking canon, Luna's character would be utter nonsense and unbelievable). For it to work requires a massive personality flip flop from Luna that's only being exacerbated further by that episode. I won't do a massive write up on that though, i'm getting tired of writing about it because each time I do, the headcanon is further damned in my head. As much as I used to like the idea that I could one day disprove a Luna = NMM headcanon (or at least thoroughly tilt the scales towards my headcanon), i'm now upset because I liked having multiple headcanons to look at Luna from and utilize in my own thoughts on her. If you'd like to know my thoughts on that, say and i'll do a larger write up. Otherwise I won't bore you with my wordy dribble.
Something I should've noticed when I originally posted. You said that Luna is socially awkward. That's not so much the case as she's behind by a thousand year's on how ponies interact (relatively forgivable all things considered) and she's sort of still remembered as Nightmare Moon.
Also from the sound of things in the Scootaloo episode, Luna's been looking after dreamers for a long time. I know you're working from Twilight's perspective, but be sure not to forget that Luna is basically re-acquainting herself with her old position as princess, not becoming a princess for the first time.
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I do actually consider Nightmare and Luna to be separate entities though I will always argue that Nightmare came about because of Luna's choices. Luna was not possessed by some other creature which then forced her to do evil things, it was her own bitterness and resentment against her sister that transformed her.
Also I wouldn't say that such a massive change of personality is completely outside the realm of possibilities. I've watched it happen in real life, in my own family in fact. But my favorite example is the character of Edmund from C. S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. In the beginning of the story he is a horrible, selfish person who even goes so far as to betray his brother and sisters to the White Witch in exchange for her promises of power. It is only through Aslan's sacrifice that he is saved. And after he is saved, he is changed completely. He is the total opposite of what he was before which we not only get to see in his character and behavior in Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader but also in his title as a king of Narnia; King Edmund the Just. I see a lot of parallels between Edmund and Luna.
But I will not try to sway you from your headcanon (or canons). This is just how I see things and everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and opinions.
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So a bit more of an extreme version of the standard Luna = NMM headcanon, though not quite. Interesting...
The main issues lies in this. Luna wants her night to be appreciated. She becomes angry. Anger deepens. Desires to be appreciated. Tries to get ponies to appreciate her night... she didn't exactly do that last part.
1) For this canon to hold true Luna has to be an incredibly petty pony.
2) NMM showed herself to be cognizant of the fact that nopony wants her to force nighttime eternal, yet she's doing it anyways. If what she wanted was some love, she's has one of the most silly ways of going about it that i've ever heard.
3) 'I'm angry so i'm going to lay waste to the civilization I lead' is a bit ballsy and the sort of anger that requires is bordering on the "you killed everything that I love." The sort of anger we're talking about here borders on mental instability, but that would just be ridiculous. This is about her not being appreciated, not her being persecuted and violently attacked.
I'm not a huge fan of the way this headcanon insults Luna and even a less of a fan of making her directly responsible for nearly destroying everything she holds dear. It doesn't make for a forgivable character (let alone a believable one) and even less like one who should be loved, not that that has ever stopped me.
Edmund did something horribly selfish with consequences well outside what he expected. He didn't know he was basically trying to hand his siblings to their death. However, Edmund was also a child who had finally learned his lesson. Luna is a goddess-like being of what was it, more than 150 years old at that point? She's a Princess and a role model who it's safe to say should've learned to control herself by that point.
Hehe you don't even know my personal headcanon (at least i'm pretty sure I didn't put it out there earlier, correct me if i'm wrong).
Also, like I said. The more I have to counter the headcanon, the more to pieces it becomes. Also, +1 for a Narnia reference.
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I don't feel that it's extreme nor that it's insulting. To say that it's impossible for Luna to do the things she did is to assume that you know what she was like before she became Nightmare. For all we know she could have been exceedingly petty and selfish. It could have been that it was not only that ponies didn't appreciate her night, it could have also been that they didn't like being around her. As to her being a goddess like being who might have been 150 years old or more at the time, we don't know that either. The intro never said how long Celestia and Luna had ruled before Luna changed. For all we know she could have been little more than a child at that point.
Another thing to consider is why would Celestia have to forgive Luna if Luna was not responsible for what had happened? If Luna was innocent then that would bring Celestia's character into question.
Now this is just my personal taste coming into play so take it or leave it. I personally find a story of a changed Luna, completely made new by her time as Nightmare and her subsequent redemption much more satisfying than if Luna had been good before, was corrupted by some outside force then simply returned to her former goodness. Tragic as that story is there is no character development, no growth. Luna's character becomes stagnant and far less interesting than it otherwise could be. But as I said that is my own personal taste.
And that's really what it boils down to, isn't it? Headcanons are how we process the stories set before us, how we fill in the blanks. We each prefer different things so we translate the information in different ways. So again I say, to each there own.
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Well done. Well done indeed. The fandom needs more Celestia love. She had always been my favorite too (and I'm actually a night and evening sort of guy). I'm kind of wanting her to have her own episode sometime (or at least one in which she is more actively involved in). She has been seeming a bit more serious here lately in recent seasons and I'd like to she her indulging in a bit more of her fun loving, lighthearted side in the future like in season one (it's one of my favorite of her qualities).
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We shall see what the season finale brings!
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YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!! A SKILLET BRONY!!!
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SKILLET! *brohoof*
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Skillet for the win! Honestly I never really thought of comparing that song with Luna, but it works, very well!
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Beautiful... and sweet.
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Oh...oh my... this is simply beautiful, not just the picture itself but the description as well.
I am a Celestia fan, I don't dislike Luna but Celestia I feel deserves my support more than her sister. Not because she is a better character but the whole Unholy Trinity of Memes and the NLR/SE conflict.
But... but you reasons show how shallow mine are, and how I have forgotten how kind a ruler she is. You're right, she did have every right to send Luna away after the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but she didn't. Thank you for showing me why I truly do like Celestia, and why I get so damn angry at the fics that depict her as the opposite of what she truly is: A kind and just ruler, who loves all even at great cost, and willing to lay her life on the line to defend what is her's. Selfish, perhaps but she will fight against a mad king, a chaos tyrant, a fallen princess, and a evil queen.
Thank you Val, you have outdone yourself.
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You are quite welcome. It's my pleasure to support Celestia as the wonderful character that she is in any way that I can.
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Do more please?
And honestly on behalf of Celestia fans of FiMFiction I thank you.
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But of course!
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I like both Princesses almost equally, but I'll have to say Celestia's growing on me. Remember "Lullaby for a Princess"? That helped A LOT.
This "simple" drawing helped too
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Yay, another person who likes Celestia too! I feel the same way about the princesses, I love Luna, but I like Celestia a bit more. Like you said, both are wonderful characters. Celestia doesn't deserve the hate.
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Nopony deserves the hate if you ask me.
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