Forgiven

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.