Discord had one last trick up his sleeve to play before being locked up again: he's turned Equestria's timeless protector into its most dangerous threat. The kindhearted princess that ponies loved and adored is gone, replaced by an alicorn of iron and blood that forged Equestria out of the fires of pre-history.

Can Twilight Sparkle survive being the student of a pony who never had need of the magic of friendship or will she be forced to sit on the sidelines as Equestria irrevocably changes around her?

Princess Celestia is a living legend, but much of her life is shrouded in mystery. Records have long since been lost to the decay of time, and the tale of her triumph over Discord has become a fable. The Princess's memory of the event has long since faded... or has it?

Her faithful student lending an eager ear, Celestia recounts the true story of a war-torn Equestria, the struggle against Discord, and the early years of her own life.

Before she was the Princess of the Sun, she was merely a stranger.

(Featured on Equestria Daily!)

Now has a sequel! Celestia Does Stuff in Ponyville While Other Things Happen Elsewhere

"Your Majesty!" "Your highness!" "My princess!" "My Sweet Goddess!"

These are all titles that Celestia has heard her little ponies call her. They hold her in the highest esteem, praising her for every little complement she gives them, and they look for her approval above all else.
Even her student Twilight treats her very highly, although that could be chalked up to a mother/daughter relationship. In fact, the only ones that don't treat her as a high and mighty, so-far-above-from-the-world-you-would-not-understand ruler were those not under her, and her sister.

Yes, everypony worships the very ground she treads upon.
And she is sick and tired of it.

With the help of her dear sister, Twilight and her friends, our beloved princess will seek out a way to put an end to the high level of praise that she has, Luna is jealous of, and Twilight is worried about receiving because of her status-- no matter how humble her subjects are to her.

The picture here seemed to get the premise of the story right. yes, sue me, I picked a picture to fit with the story, not a story for the picture. Please give the artist your full appreciation!

If you want to read the old and rejected chapters, consult this link [Clickey!]

A snapshot of the millennial lives of a young Celestia and Luna, as they prepare to do battle with Discord and fight to keep the Harmony they have only so recently mastered, and learn lessons they will struggle with all their days. In a journey that has no end, what matters most is who walks beside you.

‘Have you ever,’ she started, ‘broken a promise you made?’

Celestia and Luna live a carefree childhood at Canterlot Castle, but its end approaches far too quickly — no matter how much they struggle, they find themselves drifting apart. And without their noticing, a new evil rises that could drive a wedge between them for good...

For almost a thousand years, the immortal Nightmare Moon has reigned over Equestria as Empress. To the average pony, Nightmare Moon is an overarching enigma whose rule is absolute and whose wrath is terrible. But to Twilight Sparkle, who as an orphan has never known her parents, the Empress is something else entirely. When the young unicorn is brought under the royal wing as an apprentice, she learns a great deal more about the supposed tyrant than she ever knew. But as Twilight is introduced to life with her new mentor, she is thrust into a world of political intrigue, conspiracies and secrets. Secrets that were never meant to be revealed. As allies and enemies plot against the very peace of the nation, will Twilight fall prey to the perils of her new position? Or will she prosper and find in Nightmare Moon the mother she never had?

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My eternal gratitude to my editor, LordOfTheWrongs, without whom Night's Favoured Child would not be the story it is today.

Now with added TVtropes!