Why do YOU love Twilestia so much?

This question has been posed to me several times, and I'd like to direct it at everyone in this group. I think my reasons differ from most, so I'd love to hear more thoughts on this matter.

Why I love Twilestia:
In general, I dislike shipping. I don't think it fits with the general tone of the show, particularly with how far some authors go with it, but then, I was a Ponychan reviewer and a user named Var asked me to review his new story Composure before it was released to the public. My response (though it has since 404'ed) was something along the lines of “I find this pairing incredibly creepy, but I'll give it a go.” I finished his first two chapters and immediately cried, “MOAR.”

So, Var sold me on Twilestia, but I think it's because he showed me how the ship can be handled. At its core, I think Twilestia is a pairing that can't really work. Social statuses aside, Celestia is gods-know-how-many years older than Twilight and is something of a surrogate mother to her, so there are some creepy overtones that could easily be read into the relationship.

Atop that, Celestia is more or less a divine being, or at least is a pony with many supernatural powers, far beyond what any unicorn can do. Anyone familiar with Greek mythology should know that mortal/divine romances tend to be just a little on the rocky side, particularly because I see Princess Celestia as being more in the Greek god model: a larger-than-life character who interacts with her subjects and has some flaws/quirks (her love of pranks and her general trickster characteristics, as shown by how she orchestrates Nightmare Moon's defeat without really telling Twilight what's going on). However, my knowledge of mythology is, at best, iffy, so I'm probably fouling this up.

So, in short, I like Twilestia because taken solely on the surface, the pairing shouldn't work, but it's a fantastic challenge to try to work around all the obstacles of it, as some of us have done. Also, since the two have a great rapport in the show, it's really heartwarming to see them together when they're written in-character.

So, there's my poor explanation of why I'm obsessed with this thing enough to start a group based around it and ramble on about mythology and such.

Uh.

What about the rest of you?

Mostly because it makes the most since, I mean shes kind of like her mother, they can't get much closer to a real relationship. Plus the reactions in the stories are usually priceless.

Because of the daaaw induced by the good Twilestia stories, and Twilight is more adorkable around Celestia than she is the rest of the time.

And those that get around the creepy tend to be well written.

EDIT:

Speaking of Greek myths, I wonder when somepony will write a TwiLunEstia ship that takes the stuck between two jealous goddesses route?

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That sounds like a great idea, if I actually get the time I may write something like that. It would take awhile though.

I love Twilestia because I'm a sucker for the student-teacher crush types of ships. Even though Celestia is almost mother status to twilight, I can imagine they didn't get that close xD

Why do I like Twilight/Celestia... I don't really know. Perhaps is because unlike so many of the other ships, there is already an relationship between the two, perhaps because most of the fics I've read that are shippish the ones for this paring tend to be better written? Who knows? And I for one don't see the problem with the age gap, go by that logic then there is only two know beings that come close to Celestia's age, one would be incest and the other... well he learned the hard way of not pissing her off.

I do like the fics that have the mother/daughter relationship, after all we don't know where Twilight's parents are, if they are still alive.

I like it because it works, and Her Serene Majesty needs a Special Somepony.

I like Twilestia because of the mentor/student crush aspect. It's just so cute how Twilight looks up to Celestia so much, and I enjoy all forms of presenting the pairing. Whether it's the 'unrequited love' or 'we can't be together because of X' or just the full blown 'who cares what anypony thinks, let's do this' type of romance.

I don't find it creepy in the slightest though, but I can understand why some would. Sure, Celestia is like a surrogate mother to Twilight, keyword being surrogate. It's not like she's her actual mother.

Ah, now this is a hard question to truly respond too. I, too, was converted into this romance due to Varanus "Composure". I never had anything against it before, and I do enjoy shipping stories, but I hadn't read anything that was really Good when it came to these two.

Still, what makes it so appealing? In part, it is because Twilight and Celestia are my favourite ponies on the show, so having fanfics focused on those two interacting is never wrong. But other than that?

It's the interesting chemistry between them. Twilight the adoring subject, and Celestia the God who is ordinarily so raised above the affairs of mortal ponies, that she probably have a hard time feeling true affection for them during their short time in Equestria.

This all present plenty of opportunities for tension and drama. I can only imagine that, over the centuries, countless of mortal noblestallions (and mares, possibly), have tried unsuccessfully to court Celestia. Then along comes this filly who over the years subtly win her heart without even trying.

Then there's the whole mortal vs immortal bit. Several "solutions" have already been explored in fanfics, and I really enjoy reading the various speculations. Does Twilight ascend and become immortal as well? Does their time together end with a bittersweet farewell as Celestia gives her lover a final kiss as she passes into whatever lies beyond? Perhaps Celestia even renounces her immortality, to live the life as a normal pony?

There's plenty of ways to go about it and when it's written well, it becomes a work of fiction filled with powerful emotions that at the same time explores extraordinarily interesting subjects.

Now, I can't say I love all these fics either of course, though I have a tendency to read them none the less. To me, the personality of Celestia is one big deciding factor on if I'll enjoy the fanfic or not. Some fanfics have Celestia approaching the more mortal rather than divine side, which is something I personally don't enjoy. I like reading about the jaded Celestia, the goddess who wears her age subtly, who have seen so much and who is calm even in the most stressful of situations. It makes the potential breakdown of the mask so much more powerful. Device Heretics "Eternal" really is a great example of a Celestial breakdown that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Huh, that was a fair bit of text. But talking about ponies is great fun, so I don't mind!

The mortal-immortal issue I have to admit is one of those things that makes writing, or for that matter reading, fic for the ship interesting. Because it should be addressed. Even my own take on Celestia, who was born mortal and considers herself to be mortal, knows that her life span is an issue.

There is one line in the fic "Letters Letters Letters" by EsperDarek that resolves this dilemma in the most poetic way:

“That the blessing is that you get to keep the memories of them, forever. That you never forget them, even after a thousand years. That the act of knowing and remembering is worth the pain of loss.” Twilight shook her head softly, and got onto the lounge with Celestia. The Princess could feel her smaller body trembling, the warmth pressing against her. “I-I know I'll pass on someday...but if I can give you good memories... If I can live forever in your heart, and keep it warm, then, I'd be happy.”

There's just sometrhing...adorable about the All Powerful Celestia finding her true love with someone as young, comparatively frail, and undeniably mortal as Twilight.

To me there seems to be a meeting of the minds, there. Celestia seems to have similar interests as Twilight, but is different enough in personality to not be irritating.

But in the show you have many examples of Twilight's utter devotion to Celestia. In my mind, I can see Celestia as having fallen in love through her life. There's some bittersweet in this idea, because the relationship came to an end, when their time on Equestria came to an end, leaving Celestia behind to morn. But with the sad, there were happy moments, which is why she would allow it to happen again, despite self-made promises not to.

As my character, Sour Grapes, would say: Life is strange, love is even stranger.

But then, when it's well written, a Mayfly-December romance can be absolutely grand.

I've always loved Princess Celestia. The fact that she has such authority but doesn't use it to hold herself above her subjects is very admirable. Most think it's sort of a taboo for teachers to date their students, so I guess since Twilight is her most faithful student, that's what makes things more exciting. It's kind of fun thinking about how Twilight's striving to make her teacher proud of her, and Princess Celestia playing with her young student.

I think that creepy edge is one of the best things about the pairing. I like angst in my stories.

Also, Twilestia has the most canon supporting it. While their relationship can be interpreted as mother/daughter or mentor/student, there are some fairly clear implications that Twilight, at least, has stronger feelings. She freaks out over the thought of disappointing the Princess, she sends her frequent letters when she's never shown doing the same for her parents, etc.

Probably the strongest support for Twilestia is back in season one. Twilight's idea of the best night ever? Spending it alone with the Princess. Even taking that as a completely chaste night—which I think is reasonable, seeing how repressed Twilight can be—that's still a pretty powerful moment. She doesn't go see her family, she doesn't want to be with her friends, she just wants to spend the whole night talking to Celestia. I love my parents, but that's not my idea of a great night. I have a deep respect for my teachers, but I don't see them out of class. That moment is a pretty good indicator of the depth of Twilight's feelings.

I'm a big fan of Twilestia, though it was Twiluna that hooked me on fanfic and spurred me into writing.

It's a great ship to explore because it comes with so much built-in complexity. There's almost no need to create drama around these two - they are drama just by being who they are. You get the student-teacher tension, a whif of incest and the heartbreak of pairing a mortal with an immortal, just to start with! It all seems so plausible when you watch the show - Twilight is special to Celestia in a way that no other pony is, and we all know how Twilight craves her mentor's attention.

Also, there have been some damn good stories revolving around this ship lately

I blame Varanus' Composure for everything. And then I blame device heretic for seriously getting into some nitty gritty psychological stuff; there are powerful emotional subjects in his story Eternal that really fleshed out a general sense of the relationship(s) Celestia and Twilight Sparkle can have if MLP:FiM universe is extended from it's usual childish shenanigans.
Celestia's mask of perfection, that really hit home for me. Ouch.

I actually disliked Twilestia for a long time. I mean a 1000+ year old goddess of the sun with some teen-young adult? Just didn't feel right. Glad I got to liking it though, the relationship dynamic is very interesting, and Twilight is adorkable.

The motherly connection with Celestia is stronger than anything I have ever seen, anywhere. It only seems natural.

It's simple:

It's all Varanus fault.

Device Heretic didn't help either.

I love Twiliestia because it's the only stories with Celestia in a major role, and I LOVE Celestia as a character.

It does help that their interactions are incredibly cute, and more often than not absolutely hilarious.

I don't give a buck about shipping, at all, and I'm perfectly ok with stories which go for motherly love (A Candle to the Sun ), simple friendship (because that's already an incredible improvement for both - Twilight stop being terrified by her and Celestia get a true confident, besides her sister), or full-on dirty love (Four of Two managed to make me read 90 000 words in less than five hours - pauses included)

Really, for me, it's simply having cute stories, implying my favorite character from the show (Celly ), and -usually- light-hearted to counterbalance my chronic depressive tendencies.

Did I mention how adorable they are together ? Can I mention it again ? Because BY ME ARE THEY ADOR(k)ABLE !.

Oh, and before I forget, there's also the fact that poor Celestia is one of the characters the most abused by the fandom along with Scootaloo. She deserves oh so more love, and I'm totally content with giving her some :D

its like this perfect medium in between romantic relationship and motherdaughter, which i think creates a very pleasing dynamic.
and you know, lotsa dawww and all that.
and i recently read where the mind roams, which has celestia grooming twilight, which is the most adorable thing ever to exist. more fics need to have grooming in them, but celestias and twilights relatinship make the setting to make the grooming so much lovelier.