@MidS
 
@MrXemnas1992
 
I don’t think that Luna’s inner guilt over the actions of Nightmare Moon, and her remorse over how it affected everyone else, are ideas that should be lumped together. The first derives itself from the latter on a general, conceptual level, yes, but it’s still a distinct entity that exists regardless of the specifics of the former - it’s why we feel bad about mistakes, even when there’s “no harm done” so to speak.
 
It’s one thing to be forgiven by others, but it’s another to forgive yourself. Yes, Twilight and the others helped her to see that she had changed, but this was ultimately a bridge she had to cross on her own - and to that end, there’s not much that Celestia could have told Luna that Twilight and the others didn’t.
 
That’s not at all to say that I don’t want a royal sisters episode. This one just focused on the internal conflict; for that, Celestia wasn’t essential. A different episode can (and I think should) focus on how it affected them both, interpersonally. This was a big event that affected Equestria on many different levels, after all, and it deserves to have each of those levels individually explored.

Literal horse armour.

I do wonder just what the hell Celestia thinks about her sister literally torturing herself for since her return, and how deep her self-hatred truly ran.

I guess Celestia could have been useful in the shared dream, but not otherwise.

@MrXemnas1992  
Pretty close to what I had in mind. Thanks for that.  
The only difference I really thought of was her just looking at it almost as if she were unsure of how to feel, not crying, not frowning, just…  
I don’t know what word to even use. What kind of expression could one make when they don’t know exactly how to feel about someone else’s guilt over something you caused? Doing nothing was the cause before. Doing nothing could be bad again. But what could you do, what could you say?

@That One Guy  
 
You’re welcome.

@MidS  
I probably would’ve been satisfied if it just showed a scene of Celestia looking solemnly at unaware Luna, or off the balcony at the moon. Silent. Kinda leave it to interpretation.

@Blissey1
 
About that…

@MidS  
Considering what happened the last time Luna turned into NMM, intentionally leaving Celestia out of the loop fits in perfectly with the pattern of believably irrational behavior she displayed in this episode.

Dawwww

@MidS  

 
^YES!!! THANK YOU! Glad to see someone else feel this way. Having Celestia absent ruined the episode.

Honestly, Celestia should have been in this episode. There were several times where Luna lamented about how her turning into Nightmare Moon hurt Twilight and her friends, but it never really rang true to me.
 
Celestia had to watch the pony closest to her turn into something evil, banish her to the moon, and spend the nest thousand years living with the guilt and loneliness from that decision. An episode involving Luna dealing with the guilt of her actions needed to involve her sister as well. It began with the two of them, it should have ended the same way.

I’d like to believe that, Celly, I really would.

…Tia, this isn’t a good idea. Ask Applejack, she’ll tell you all about it!

i’m digging the sudden spree of luna art.

daw