This story is a sequel to Opening Twilight's Heart
Princess Celestia has never been fond of decorum. The pedestal she is placed upon always seemed more prison than palace to her. But it was safe. It helped her subjects. It was her place in that one beautiful constant, Equestria. And so the matter was decided. But when Twilight convinces her that the kingdom's defense requires her to leave her dusty old throne and make friends, Celestia must try to balance her duties
There's one problem, though: Any bonds Celestia makes will have to last an eternity. An eternity the friends she makes them with will not have.
Can Twilight bridge the gap between the old mare's heart and the world outside her palace?
Chapters (13)
Never enough Twilestia in this world <3
The first story was amazing!
Hey! You're still here. Glad to finally see the sequel
Man, I thought you were gone for good. Good to see you're still kicking.
Good work! But let me make up for the lack of snark in the story, if I may.
I, for one, welcome our new pop star overlords.
Subtle dig there.
"What could go wrong?" The headlines read the day before everything goes wrong.
Snark over, I look forward to next chapter!
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Still alive!
8654864
I was hoping someone would notice
Producers.
Potentially.
As ever.
I need to learn to write snappy, back-and-forth dialogue the way that you do. It just gives so much zest and energy to even mundane stuff like making soup.
Lovely story; romantic, with just a hint of the sort of stuff that real-world lovers would have to deal with. Looking forward to the future.
8654947
Thanks for the help and the kind words! Would you believe this chapter went through four different iterations, one with Rainbow Dash? It takes a lot of tries and polish for me to get the dialogue down to where I think the two are believably developed and in-character.
Still dont understand why Celestia dont want talk with Luna about Twi.
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MagnaLuna
8654966
It will become clearer later. Let's just say this iteration of Luna is not the Twilestia shipper that Luna is in most stories in this genre.
To be honest I didn't love the first story much, you tried to emphasize Twilight's love being unique and different but never actually showed it much cause Twilight was too focused on the problem of getting a date and then on the possibility of being with Celestia. In the end it felt more awkward like two friends agreeing to go out even though neither wanted to, yet still claiming they absolutely adored one another. It didn't feel very romantic.
In this one though, Twilight knowing Celestia's worrying tells were both very Twilight and very romantic. The gentle back and forth about spending time together was also very nice. With the potential drama ahead with their relationship coming out I think I'm going to like this one a lot more personally.
Gonna leave this link here because I saw a picture post of it and it's very wholesome and relevant.
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I actually rewrote a couple times to make sure I captured what a couple on the second or third date that was interested in extending the relationship felt like. The first draft I wrote them too comfortable and casual, and you could barely tell they'd just started dating. It's been a difficult balance to strike. I'm glad you've been appreciating the work involved
Goodness, been three years since I've seen the original. I'll need to go re-read that one and then come back here!
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You're quite welcome! And no, actually, I wouldn't have believed that; I suppose that's the thing about writing, though: no matter how often the author may have chopped and changed it, if it's good, then it'll always feel fresh. (At least to the reader, anyway.)
I just re-read it, and very much enjoyed it. Here's to another good Twilestia story!
*Alondro enters after a day of taking mice apart and reads the title* Oh boy! *reads* Awww, this isn't about open-heart surgery on ponies at all.
The pacing in your story is perfect. I love it. It’s not to slow to were I find myself skimming paragraphs and not to fast to where it loses depth. Their conversations are so nice to read. Keep up the good job!!!
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Thanks one and all!
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Here's hoping you enjoy it as much the second time around!
8660030
I did! And I'm loving where this is going. Thanks for continuing this storyline!
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For sure!
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That's what I was just about to ask. I just finished re-reading the first story and I want to start on this sequel, but I don't know which chapter to start with.
Ah. There we go. Was a bit confused in how this chapter somehow appeared before the first.
Anyhow. A lovely chapter.
And my... Things are getting Interesting here.
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No, the chapter order thing was not intentional. I just thought the chapters would arrange themselves according to the order that you published them in like a sane system of publication would.
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Yes indeed, Twilight did mean things rather literally, being a rather literal mare. As for what happened to Cadance within the context of this story's continuity, since it probably won't come up again in-story, the magical force of her ascension killed her parents when they tried to help her, hence why she was adopted and her royal status was hushed by Canterlot Palace. This might raise a few questions given Twilight's own apotheosis, but the difference can be explained in that Twilight's was managed by Celestia while Cadance's occurred when she accidentally stumbled upon the site of the Crystal Empire as a filly on a ski vacation. I leave the spoiler there in case you or others would rather imagine how it happened yourselves, since I'm happy to leave blanks for others to fill in.
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Interesting version of events for Cadance, compared to her normal origins at least. Is there a reason you went so dark with it?
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Two reasons, one much more important to the story than the other.
The first reason is logistics. It seems logical to me given Cadance's status as Celestia's adoptive niece that her childhood was not likely to have been a happy one, and her fixation on Twilight specifically to the point of seeing her as a little sister seems odd to me without the context of something for them to have bonded strongly over. Panic attacks seem obvious since Cadance was the one who taught Twilight how to deal with her panic attacks to begin with. So I combined the two ideas: Cadance bonds so closely with Twilight and knows how to handle her panic attacks so well because she has panic attacks of her own relating to a traumatic childhood that required Celestia to adopt her.
The second reason is much more shallow: I find Cadance really boring and misery makes characters more interesting to me.
That put a smile on my face.
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That's brilliant. I also believe Cadence was traumatized as a filly, witnessing the slaughter of her family at Sombra's hoof.
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Isn't her cannon background defeating some evil love stealing witch that killed her parents or something?
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Yeah something like that. I did base my background for her very loosely on the one you mentioned from Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell.
8667989
Also could work in this story's context. Like I said, pick your own traumatic backstory and run with it! I left it vague on purpose!
Didn't this used to have more chapters?
8670002
Nope. You might be thinking of another story. Perhaps the original fic, Opening Twilight's Heart?
I wonder what grievance occurred between between Missie and Celestia years ago? Guess I'll have to wait and see.
AJ is basically one of the best friends someone can ever have. :|
8670743
AJ's always been Twi's number two. It felt right to have her have realistic concerns about the relationship.
8670111
It's already been hinted at, and has a lot to do with Celestia's personality.
An Apple marryin' some hooligan what spends all his time climbin' around the Everfree forest?
I love this story, but I'd like to read that story.
"Well, mostly to do with Discord..."
Did you mean Chrysalis? The rest of Twilight's sentence sounds like a reference to the wedding.
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No, that is a reference to Discord. The rest is indeed a reference to the wedding, but most of the times Twilight has seemed genuinely hurt by Celestia's actions have to do with her trusting Discord while ignoring Twilight's own feelings. Cited examples: Keep Calm and Flutter On, Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1 and Make Friends But Keep Discord
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Ah, that makes sense.
I enjoyed this chapter very much. Can't wait to read more.
Granny Smith- excuse me, Missie - is a lot more canny than those snooty nobles realize. To the best of my knowledge both of her ideas are sound and could be quite profitable. Very nice mix of character interaction and worldbuilding, especially the parts about Missie's early adulthood settling what became Sweet Apple Acres and Philomena's hatching. It also drove home how hard Celestia's recovery was after her battle with Nightmare Moon.
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Thanks! I worked pretty hard on researching how truffles and silkworms are farmed and Whitetail Woods seems like it could house both. I also love dealing with NMM's fallout from Celestia's perspective. It can't have been easy...
But I didn't want to tear up tonight.
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You act as if you had a choice.
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...
-squints-
Vale Decem.
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Damn you.
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All's fair in Feelstown.
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Beautiful chapter!
Wonderful chapter.