You some pony’s evil if they don’t see their own wrongs.

(/villain logic)

@Ardashir  
Might be a scale model. That, or Superman’s getting the Fortress of Solitude cleaned and the Batcave is no place for a miniature civilization.

@Sr Pelusa  
Indeed. Why the hay does Celestia have the Bottled City of Kandor in her library?

@Tk3997
 
Ooh. I like that ‘degradation of trust’ idea.
 
And I believe you might have something with the whole, ‘Celestia could’ve nipped this in the bud by telling Sunset WHY she felt Sunset wasn’t ready’ bit.
 
Relating to my own experiences, I’ve had to try to subtly get students to simplify their projects or ideas when I feel they aren’t ready. If that doesn’t work, I’ll bluntly tell them why I feel they weren’t ready to tackle something so ambitious. One of three things usually happens: 1) they’ll accept my advice, 2) they’ll plow ahead anyway (then fail) or 3) they’ll plow ahead and succeed, thus proving me wrong.
 
I am quite pleased when the third happens, though as you’d expect it doesn’t happen too often. I’m inclined to suspect Sunset would fall under the second category, not because of lack of talent, but because she strikes me as the sort of soul who’ll overlook something because of her pride and absolute self-confidence. You know, like Doctor Doom.

@WM-R  
I personally think this has far less to do with worry about her being ‘ready’ or able to digest this knowledge then it does a fundamental lack of trust. I personally think that by this point the relationship has already degraded to the point Celestia simply doesn’t trust Sunset anymore. This isn’t exactly unreasonable given what we’ve already seen of her behavior and I think it’s quite likely her position as a student was already hanging on by a thread. The spat over the mirror then is merely symptomatic of the increasingly dysfunctional relationship and if not that it would have been something else sooner or later.
 
Sunset see this increasing reluctance as being ‘held back’, oblivious to why the information is being denied or her increasingly precarious position, and this egotism and hubris only further feeds why Celestia feels it ought to be denied to start with. Perhaps Celestia’s only real failing here was seemingly being unwilling to really come out and deliver the harsh rebukes Sunset probably needed until it was entirely too late. I can certainly see it being within her character to keep hoping that more subtle and less aggressive guidance would bring her around, and also intensely aware of and afraid of abusing her own power and position to ‘force’ her students to do as she pleases.
 
Paradoxically it may well be that Celestia’s own restrain and fear of overdoing it hampered her ability to instill the same virtues in this student. It may well be a classic case of sparing the rod spoiling the child.

@WM-R  
With the patience and further witholding of her advancement, I guess Celestia would eventually stop her when she did not show that she truly understood and could use the elements of harmony effectively. In the end, Sunset Shimmer just wasn’t fit to rule without wanting to understand “why” rather than “when”. Sure, she could have been an active princess and very headstrong, but there’s more than just the ability to handle power. It’s the ability to control it and use it for the greater good, and be able to change tactics/actions when necessary; to adapt accordingly.

Whoa…
 
… What’s with the different colors in the tags?

LOOK! The Bottled City of Kandor!:
 

She would do great in Slytherin House.

@Background Pony  
As a teacher, I can relate to Celestia not revealing information until she feels Sunset is actually ready for it. I’ve on occasion had to instruct students to scale back their projects because I feel they haven’t sufficient experience or practice to pull them off properly.
 
So, yes, there are times when teachers would have to hold their own students back.
 
And on another note, while intelligent, hardworking and ambitious, she also lacks patience in addition to the low empathy and high narcissism. I meant, she basically announced to the world, “I want to hurry and seize power!” Personally, I would’ve done the research the way she did, but I wouldn’t have pestered Celestia repeatedly about the mirror. That way, I could simply claim curiosity.

@Background Pony
 
Yeah, we saw what happened when an alicorn princess doesn’t have the right qualities. She consorts with the literal forces of darkness to take over the country.

Sunset Shimmer is intelligent, hardworking, and ambitious. Those are damn good traits. Unfortunately, she’s low on empathy and high on narcissism.
 
But she’s right – Celestia IS holding her back, and Celestia IS concealing critical information from her. There’s a real conflict here.

Yeah, cause whining about it like that DOESN’T make you sound like a little foal wanting a cookie… /sarcasm

@PonyPon
 
@Background Pony
 
Yup, and I know some have the theory that Discord is the perversion of Star Swirled, as well.

She’ll turn Equestria into a fascist, one party state if she was a princess.

BLUH BLUH BLUH  
HUGE BITCH.

@Masem
 
My theory is that he was normal at some point, but his experiments with magic led to him being corrupted by chaos.

@Masem  
I like to think somebody tried to make the Ultimate Form of Harmony and he was the most successful result.

“’’‘Creation’’’ of Discord”???
 
That would totally fit in with the Windigo concept from HWE, that Discord was a creature created from conflict between ponies. (Yes, I know the Windigos weren’t created by that, but they were fueled by it).

@Princess♠Molestia  
“You can’t put the whole world in that bottle Princess Celestial”

Kandor is in the dark magic libary.
 
Celestia is Superman!

@Background Pony  
“Dis nigga gets it.”

Yes Sunset. We are all aware that you want to become Big Brother.