Twilight Sparkle wants to reestablish her old rapport with Princess Celestia - the close relationship they had when Twilight was the Princess’s personal student. But life moves ever onward and the connections they had in the past will not be enough for the alicorns to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. To make it through their shared trials and revelations, Twilight and Celestia will need to grow beyond their existing bonds and become much more than faithful student and immortal mentor.
Chapters (35)
Twilight's dismay at what they've lost, her trepidation flying to Canterlot, the whole thing really hit me where it hurts. I'm excited to see where this goes.
This was really sweet! I like reading about Celestia's tea making, and Twilight's self doubts rang very true. Eager to see where you go with this. :)
Careful, Twilight; those nuzzles can be addictive!
So calm, so quaint, so fulfilling. I'm excited to see where it goes next.
Those are really nice pegasus/alicorn parting words.
That was adorable. I loved it.
god damit so much efort for a cup of tea and here i thought sticking the bag in the cup and dipping was hard freaking work
8088183 When you have all the time in the world, you figure out how to make tea right.
Thank you to everyone for the kind words. Chapter 3 should be up tomorrow.
god dam it the dawwws you earned this like
wonder if the sun is going to snitch on twilight to celestia about having as crush on her.
So it's like a modern version of Eternal?
Distaff Pope provided a lot of great feedback on Chapter 3, so I made some revisions and posted an edited version. With the launch of season 7, I also wanted to note that the story is set between Season 6 and Season 7 of the show.
I like Meticulous Hammer. It would make sense that he's so smart and skilled for ponies a farrier is just as important to their health as a doctor or a dentist. Actually it would be very odd if Ponyville doesn't have a professional farrier of its own since the job is so important to any settlement. Of course having Meticulous be her farrier gives Twilight another excuse to drop in on Canterlot. But she might want to talk to the Ponyville farrier and make sure s/he understands s/he isn't being slighted.
Ohh this is very enjoyable. Just the perfect story to relax to before slipping off to Luna's realm.
8102421 I assume in Ponyville, the hoof trimming portion of the farrier’s tasks are handled by Lotus Blossom and Aloe, at the Ponyville Day Spa. The spa ponies likely help keep the hooves of lots of working ponies healthy as well as providing hooficures to beautify. I’ll bet somepony at the spa also does preening (Do you think it might be Bulk?)
Meticulous Hammer does hoof care as well as making and maintaining the princess’s hoof boots. He is a full service farrier. It was fun writing Miti as a Sherlock Holmes like savant, telling Twilight details about about her life, just by looking at her hooves (and likely the rest of her legs and body as well).
Ohh... this entire chapter was a tease
here's waiting for them to talk.
This is so cute!
Twilight has got to learn that dragon-mail spell.
Also, this has been a fantastic story. I ship these two, to be certain, but even as friendshipping this is lovely.
Thank you to everyone for the kind words and suggestions.
8089945 Title dropping Eternal brought back wonderful memories. While this story is very different from Eternal, I consider that story a true pony fanfic classic and am honored to be mentioned in the same comment.
8117680 I wonder if dragon-mail messages can only go to and from a dragon, or if they can go between any two ponies who know the magical technique? If you have to have a dragon in the loop, would it be considered rude for one princess to send a message to Spike via dragon-mail, with the express intent of him sending it on to the other princess without reading it? Or would that be just an extension of how Spike handles dragon-mail messages now?
this had better not be one of those stories that should have a sad tag but dont!!!
Very well written story.
A nice touch on the history is written by the victor part as well.
(at 3:05)
8127160 The journey is about Twilight and Celestia forging a new relationship; becoming more than faithful student and immortal mentor. Along the way, they both face challenges, shared trials, and revelations.
And nuzzles. they both seem to like the nuzzles.
8127381 It was a hoot working the dialog from the show into the story. I love the scenes in the clips you posted, and had fun expanding on them.
Awww, Twiley!
Good job, Princess Booky.
clap clap clap well done twily you are really stepping into your role now
A lot of authors like to make Luna's fall even darker and expand it to a full fledged civil war. But it raises a question that very few of them answer satisfactorily. Why are the Mane 6 still Alive?
When the girls oppose her and seek the Elements of Harmony Nightmare Moon does not simply obliterate them on the spot with the same stone shattering blasts she used against her sister. The first hazard where she collapses the cliff was dangerous and potentially deadly sure. But she chose a spot with a slide that gave them several moments to react and save themselves. Surely there were more perilous spots on the trail where at least one death would have been a near certainty. When she agitates and places the Manticore is their path its not in a place of ambush but a spot where they can see him at a good distance and have the opportunity to retreat if they wish. The illusionary trees were no actual threat at all. The rapids again were a clearly visible obvious threat from which the girls could have easily retreated. When Rainbow Dash rejects the Shadowbolt gambit Nightmare Moon just leaves in a huff even though Rainbow is alone and vulnerable.
The only thing that makes sense is that Nightmare Moon wasn't willing to outright kill the ponies who opposed her. Even the Royal Guard who straight up attacked her were just incapacitated. The idea I've heard most often is "dead ponies can't appreciate Eternal Night." That Luna was under the delusion that her Night and her Rule would genuinely be the best thing for her little ponies and that once they had time to properly experience them they'd come to her side. So she spared the Mane 6 so that eventually they would realize she was right and serve her. This also explains why Celestia was seemingly so reckless in sending Twilight and her friends against such a powerful foe without backup. She knew Luna wouldn't kill them.
But if she was always ruthless enough to kill some of the ponies that opposed her all of that goes out the window. She already caused the death of thousands of her little ponies. What is 6 more?
8131804 Thank you for the interesting comment. Twilight and Luna hashing over Nightmare Moon’s choices could be a dramatic interchange with interesting opportunities for angst and growth by both characters. As this story focuses on the relationship between Twilight and Celestia, I’m not sure it will come up here. But if it does, I will keep your critique in mind.
It'll be interesting to see Twilight handle Celestia's regular duties. This wasn't something I expected when I started reading, but it's certainly not unwelcome.
Darn it Twilight you missed a chance to exile Blueblood for at least the day. Lets hope Blueblood tells the council what Twilight told him and not some made up story
Hello. I'm enjoying your story, thank you for writing it.
I have a minor edit suggestion, if you're interested in receiving them:
On the other hand, though the briefing had been extensive it had been reassuring.
On the other hoof, though the briefing had been extensive it had been reassuring.
I'm not sure if you're using this kind of ponyism or not...
8136094 Thank you for the catch. It has been corrected. I try to get my ponyisms correct, but they sometimes slip through.
I appreciate any and all help and suggestions.
8136242
You're welcome.
Get 'em Twiley.
8138412 Agreed.
8131804 I think Luna's will was subtly asserting itself, tempering the Nightmare's plans enough to avoid any deaths, while also allowing opportunities for Twilight and company to bond more closely as friends before their showdown at the castle.
So does this mean that Twilight might eventually become friends with the moon, too? I hope so!
this is beautifully written.
Dawwww
Very touching chapter at least everypony was reasonable about it
So I take it that this story will be a long one?
8142928 My draft is about 35 chapters / 100K words.
(And why aren't there any Luna Emogies!)
8142754 Thank you for the kind words.
8142528 So many great ideas for interactions with Luna!
8142948
35 chapters / 100k words?
Yay, i enjoy the longer stories!
I love it - but these chaste kisses are killing me
I've read the tags over and over again, convinced that only the sudden onset of a vision problem can reasonably explain the lack of Romance tag. Out of respect for your artistic integrity and in acknowledgement of my shipping goggles, I've been withholding this plea, but my restraint has run dry - please, please, please, please ship it 
8143481 as much as I enjoy my Twilight Celestia ships I'm loving even more the bonds of sisterhood that are forming in this story.
It's nice to see Twilight step of of Celestia's shadow to stand besides her.
8143729 Thank you.
8143481 There's friend shipping and then there's romantic shipping. This story is barely 1/3 over. We'll have to see which direction the shipping goes.
8144001
Oh Bear, you big tease
Twilight Steps Up.
This may be the means to spread Harmony to the furthest corners of Equestria...
Very nicely done chapter
Are you saving Twilight befriending the Moon for a sequel with Luna?
Good going with the fic. I like it!
Bit of an error here, though. Meticulous Hammer is at first abbreviated to Meti, but then for most of the chapter, it's Miti instead.
8136094
8150242
Thank you both for the editing suggestions for chapters 4 and 13. I have implemented them. As the changes were small, I did not mark the chapters as (edited), like I did when I made larger revisions to chapter 3.
I'm actually thinking of taking the (edited) off of chapter 3, as anyone who is discovering the story now will not have seen the first version. Is there an established etiquette for how to handle chapters that get a revision after being posted?