Recommendations · 10:57pm Jun 30th, 2014
Can anybody out there direct me to a romance story featuring Princess Celestia where she isn't paired off with Twilight, her sister, Discord, or Anonomyous? Preferably something long running. I want something more substantial than the usual "he's nice to me and treats me like another pony instead of a princess" crap too. She is the fucking princess of Equestria! I want something that acknowledges that fact! Celestia getting a love interest would be a huge deal; Power differentials! Intrigue! Spies! Threats of war! Political upheval! Succession crisis! Conflicts of interest! Nightmare-in-law! Horrified conservatives! How has nobody written this story yet!?
There are exactly two rules for a good romance story. Rule number 1: They need a compelling reason not to be together; Celestia has dozens built into her character. Rule number 2: They need to want to be together badly enough to overcome (not ignore!) those reasons.
Rule number two is admittedly harder to pull off because Celestia seems so above it all, but it can still be overcome by applying the most important rule in fiction, bar none: Push your characters outside of their comfort zone.
But don't make Celestia into an incompetent buffoon either. She is the fucking princess of Equestria! She didn't get where she is by collapsing into panic and indecision when she doesn't know what to do.
Oh, and nothing that's doomed from the get-go, like reminiscences of her long-dead husband. Double points if it's got the adventure tag as well.
So yeah... I'm starting to think I'm not going to be able to find a story like that. Anybody want to write one for me?
In return, have some recommendations from me.
Through the Eyes of Another Pony
See? She looks good in a wedding dress.
Celestia is obviously bestia, but you're right, shipping her with someone who isn't human, Twilight, or Discord is quite rare. How about a Starswirl ship set in the past?
2246871 Hell, I'd even go for human, so long as it's not friggen Anonymous.
2246925 Have you Checked out BronyWriter's TD series, starting with him punching celestia in the face? I think they eventually end up in a relationship.
All those pitfalls you mentioned are reasons why I categorically avoid any romance involving Celestia or Luna. I don't think there's a lot of overlap between writers who are able to avoid those pitfalls, and writers who would be interested in writing Celestia-shipping in the first place.
Of course, you've got the creative gears in my head churning, looking for ways a story like that could work. In my mind at least, all signs point to a much, much younger Celestia, with the story taking place centuries or even millennia before the events of the show. I don't think present-day Celestia lends herself to romance writing – but perhaps that's exactly what you're trying to find. Anyway, good luck on your quest.
(For what it's worth, I've mentioned a couple of times that I'm planning a AU history epic, featuring the Fausticorn and young Celestia, Luna and Sombra. I could work a love interest for Celestia into that.)
As for your recommendations:
Sharing the Night is Twiluna... sorry, gonna stick to my "no Princess shipping" guns here.
Sugarfree is a story I've heard a lot of good things about. I tried it once but had to give up after a chapter or three; it didn't do a lot for me.
Through the Eyes of Another Pony is HiE of the worst sort, from the looks of it. I can only hope it's parody.
March to the Scaffold actually looks pretty interesting; that one's going on my Read Later list.
Flight of the Alicorn is so long that I'm a bit reluctant to try it. I've read some of Ponydora's shorter works, and while those were pretty good, I'm not sure he's an awesome enough writer to keep me hooked for 200k+ words.
A Delicate Balance is a story I already follow and edit, of course.
Misunderstandings is more HiE.
2246932 No. Exception as noted above, I don't really like HiE fics where the human knows about the show.
2246941 Guess I'll just have to write a Celestia x OC story then
Uh, there's a PinkieLestia story IIRC. I've heard it was good but never read it.
Bad Horse has written an unpublished Celerity story.
I'm sure there are others.
Cloudy Skies' Twice as Bright.
It's very well-written, fun and sweet, and covers most of your requirements (though not so much on the 'threats of war' scene). It is not written as a crack ship.
2246940
The Stranger and her Friend isn't a romance, but it's got some definite vibes in that direction, and indeed stars a much younger Celestia.
As to recommendations? Sorry, I don't really read much in the way of romance, and I've never run across a good Celestia romance in any of the other fics I've read.
I'd suggest going into the 'Celestia is the Best Pony' group and digging through the top rated stories in the romance section.
2247055 That's a good idea, thanks!
2247049 Huh, how come I've never heard of that story before? From the looks of it, it's right up my alley. If it's anywhere near as good as Celestia in Excelsis, it's going to be one hell of a ride.
Also, Composure. Despite the Twilestia romance you are steering away from, it's an extremely good read.
The only thing I can think of is Let The Silence Sing. It's not what I'd call long though, both parts are less than 30k total, but I found it to be an interesting approach to a romance story.
2247126 I really liked the first one. I thought the gimmick wore thin on the second though.
Got another chapter of Sugarfree just about done, but it's been an utter crawl due to life/work biz.
Just searched through my favorites and Read Later's and, somehow, all I could come up with was Twice as Bright. I didn't get too far into it just yet, but going by the first few chapters it seemed really cute!
Dammit. Now I'm thinking about how I'd write this story. I am NOT starting another long-runner right now.
i.imgur.com/eMkRdkG.png
Also, not to get to spoilery, But this will have what you're looking for.
Woo Celestia!
Hmm, come to think of it, out all the many, many stories I've read of her, I don't think I know of any that match what you want, besides what's already been mentioned (Twice as Bright). Most serious romances are with Twilight or Discord, and the rest are usually clopfics. If I come across anything though I'll let ya know.
I'm surprised that no one's mentioned this yet but, have you ever checked out the comics? Specifically the most recent story arc (#17 - 20). It does much of what you just asked for.
Edit: Slight correction.....again.
2246925
Hasn't been written, but once I'm done with the current part of A Watchful Eye, it's on my front burner: the adventure sequel to My Little Mashup. Was 85% likely going to have Celestia-romance, but now I'm thinking of making it a primary goal. Human, but not the 1st person narrator and definitely not Anon. Additional obstacles beyond her simply her being herself, and ample reasons for them to be overcome.
(Rot13 for the leading candidate:)
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2246940
Through the Eyes of Another Pony is "Jump the shark on a flaming motorcyle"-style. Not quite the same thing as self-parody.
I kind of want to write a Celestia romance story, now. How would you feel about a tragic romance?
2251133 2251133 While I'm open to pretty much any kind of story, tragedy has to be especially good to catch my attention. I generally don't like things that leave me feeling down. On the other hand, don't let me dissuade you from writing it. There's a sad lack of good Celestia shipping stories and I'll take whatever I can get.
Like I said, I'm pretty sure the only way to get the kind of story I want is to write it myself anyway, which I can't do right now. For some reason, though, that still hasn't stopped me from writing an outline for the first chapter.
2251303
Well, the first story idea I had when I started thinking about a Celestia ship was a tragedy. I've come up with a couple of other ideas over the last day, though. So, I may end up writing multiple ones, or the ideas may all glom together to create a sort of quirky bittersweet comedy romance thing. We'll see
Probably dead:
Nova: The Greatest Gift (Not sure if that ever would have gotten anywhere to be honest). Probably not what you want either anyway.
I found two more that are definitely dead, and probably not what you want either... One more that I don't really remember much, so that's not a good sign. I notice it also has a sex tag, though I don't recall it being that kind of fic. Probably shouldn't list it to be safe, anyway. Yeah, I can see your problem. Seems to be very little out there like what you are looking for. People have suggested Twice as Bright, did you look at that? Don't see you commenting on that suggestion. Although I admit its missing a lot of your checks as well maybe (definitely a decent story though, as far as I'm concerned).
2261934 Yeah, I'm not too keen on reading a dead romance fic, comedy maybe, but not romance. I have added Twice as Bright to my Read Later list, but haven't started it yet because it's not quite what I want.
2262053 I thought Twice as Bright wasn't what I was looking for either, as I don't care much for Pinkie and thought the pairing was just an insane idea, but I found it to be excellent. I too am looking for quality Celestia's all the time (as she's my fave) and this story has one of the best written, 'realistic' Celestia's there is. It immediately came to mind when I read your question, and while it may not check every box on your checklist, I'm sure you'll enjoy it a lot.
2337550
I'll second the recommendation for "Twice as Bright". It's a great character study of Celestia in general, and shows how she and the Mane 6 might interact as actual people.