Fourth My Little Pony incarnation (2010–2021) My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic A thousand years ago, Princess Celestia once ruled alongside her younger sister
Princess Luna, who controlled the night and moon. However, Luna's jealousy and transformation into Nightmare Moon forced Celestia to banish her to the
moon using the
Elements of Harmony, leaving Celestia to manage both day and night alone. Celestia first appears in the series premiere when she assigns Twilight and her assistant and little brother
Spike to travel from Canterlot to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration in
Ponyville. When Nightmare Moon does return and plunges Equestria into eternal night, Celestia mysteriously disappears, having been captured by her corrupted sister. After Twilight and her friends defeat Nightmare Moon and restore Luna, Celestia returns and joyfully reunites with her sister and allows Twilight and Spike to remain in Ponyville with the new friends they have made in Ponyville to learn about friendship and to write letters about what she has learned. In the episode "
Lesson Zero", Celestia tasks Twilight's friends to begin writing friendship letters to her as well. The series portrays Celestia as a figure of reverence bordering on deity-like worship among Equestrian ponies. Ponies frequently use her name as an
interjection and a
euphemism (e.g. "Oh my Celestia!" and "Praise Celestia!" or "In the name of Celestia"). Ponies often bow in her presence, and she is treated with extraordinary deference and awe. Despite this, she is portrayed as having a sense of humor. Throughout the series, Celestia serves as Twilight's mentor and teacher, sending her friendship assignments through magical letters and providing guidance when needed. She personally chose Twilight as her protégé after witnessing Twilight's magical potential as a filly. She presides over major events such as the Grand Galloping Gala and the Equestria Games, and occasionally visits Ponyville to check on Twilight's progress. During many two-part season premieres and finales, she tasks Twilight and her friends with various missions. In later seasons, Celestia gradually prepares Twilight to eventually succeed her as ruler of Equestria, culminating in Twilight's coronation. In the series finale, Celestia retires alongside Luna.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls In the
Equestria Girls spin-off, Princess Celestia is shown to be the former mentor of
Sunset Shimmer, her previous student before Twilight, who later turned cruel and dishonest and abandoned her studies before disappearing into the human world. In the first
Equestria Girls film, she tasks Twilight with traveling to the human world to recover her crown containing the
Element of Magic after it is stolen by Sunset. In the special
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Forgotten Friendship, she reconciles with Sunset when she returns to Equestria to seek her guidance and apologizes to her.
My Little Pony: The Movie Princess Celestia appears at the beginning of the film alongside Luna and
Cadance, preparing for the Friendship Festival in Canterlot. When the Storm King's forces, led by
Tempest Shadow, attack Canterlot, Celestia attempts to defend the city but is turned to stone by Tempest's obsidian orbs. She remains petrified for most of the film until the Storm King's defeat releases all the captured magic, restoring her and the other princesses to normal.
My Little Pony: Pony Life Princess Celestia appears in the spin-off reboot series
My Little Pony: Pony Life with a different personality, being portrayed as more light-hearted compared to her wise and composed characterization in
Friendship Is Magic. She notably appears as a recurring character in the first six episodes of the first season as the judge of the Royal Jelly Juggernaut reality television series. ==Equestria Girls alternate version==