Princess Celestia or Princess Injustia

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are the two main rulers in My Little Pony. Celestia holds a multitude of abilities, which, I dare say, ascend way farther than those of Twilight. For example, one of her most famous abilities is the Solar Light Energy Beam, which creates a massive amount of energy to any given direction that grows in power as it travels further.

Celestia is also able to control the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon. So how come she never makes an appearance in ANY conflict that the mane 6 faces?

Celestia is basically a literal god, especially compared to the normal ponies of Equestria. She can destroy anything she touches, but whenever a somewhat powerful villain comes near her, she’s suddenly rendered weak. But what if Celestia never held back on the plot? Would the mane 6 even be a thing?

In the beginning, My Little Pony clearly tries to achieve the "utopian monarchy" vibe common in most children's media, especially those directed towards girls. Everything and everyone is basically under the rule of a singular, all-loving, and peaceful monarch who gives her subjects love, freedom, and safety. It’s definitely not realistic, but it’s an appropriate image suited for a fantasy show about friendship and magic and ponies.

However, possibly due to the growing fan base, in the later seasons, the show decided to take a turn towards more fight scenes and had the mane 6 face larger problems such as possible world destruction from powerful villains, instead of learning about friendship through Spike's occasional gem-addiction. It began to shift towards villains and systemic issues. It also wanted to constantly increase the stakes.

Obviously, the mane 6 would still have to fight the villains in order to make them relevant and actually have a show. Despite Celestia being stronger (and this strength being her responsibility), she is not the main character. As a result, many people such as I, end up wondering why Celestia doesn't fight villains who she could beat so easily compared to the mane 6. Instead of taking care of the issue or even helping out, she instead subjects 6 young ponies who have no idea what they’re doing to a world full of trauma and violence. Yikes.

On the other hand, systemic issues in general literally cannot fundamentally work in a show like My Little Pony. If it were to be attempted, doing so would require Celestia to either be useless or evil. Given the amount of power she is given in the show, the latter seems like the better option, given that you would basically have 6 normal teenagers against Marvel’s Scarlet Witch.

The portrayal of Celestia’s character also brings other effects. In the My Little Pony Comics, there is one story in particular that exemplifies my point. In this storyline, the Everfree Forest (the Amazon Rainforest of Equestria) is being destroyed by a company for its resources, while the mane 6 are unable to stop them as technically what they are doing is legal. Not gonna lie, this is scary similar to how our real world works today, who could have guessed?! Eventually, of course, the conflict is resolved, but oh look what we have here, who shows up? Celestia. Princess Celestia then begins to basically say, “sry guys, I was afk I had no idea what was happening.” To put it simply, Celestia takes on the appearance of being a “bad ruler", as a consequence of the narrative, since they constantly try to up the stakes while also putting characters like Twilight or Starlight at the center of the big events, with little to no inclusion of the princess.

To clarify, I do not dislike Celestia, rather the writers’ usage of her in the story. Her character design is absolutely gorgeous with an animated, flowing pastel mane of pinks and blues, a white body and gold accessories. She could have contributed to so much more in the show and it’s a tragedy that they missed that chance.

In the end, everyone should enjoy the show as it is intended and not think too much about it as at the end of the day, it is a children cartoon pony show. Although, it does serve as an excellent discussion point and an exploration into the starting domino of what possibilities lie in a reality where Celestia is actually present in her own kingdom.