The Unpredictable
Chapter 5: The Unpredictable
The crow of a rooster filled Celestia’s ears. He eyes opened as fast as she shot out of bed, landing on the floor with a loud thunk. She sat back up and rubbed her head, glaring out the window at the rooster waving at her.
“Thank you, Alfred. As usual, you caws are blaring and could awaken a bear from hibernation.”
Alfred gave a bow.
“I know I asked you to help me wake up early in the morning, but do you think you could tone down how loud you are? If it wouldn’t be too much trouble?”
A series a chuckle-like clucks escaped from Alfred as he fluttered off of the roof.
Celestia stood up and twisted her neck, trying to get the kinks out. “Day four; let’s see how terrible you can mess things up this time.” She dragged herself out of her room and walked down the stairs.
“Mornin’, Celestia!” Applebloom said, bouncing down the stairs while at her side. “How’re ya doin’ today?”
“Tired as usual,” Celestia said with a weary smile. “Alfred does his job well. I just wish he would be a bit gentler.”
“Nah, Alfred’s the loudest rooster we got, an he’s proud of that fact.” Applebloom sat at the table. “Good mornin’, everypony.”
“Mornin’,” Big Macintosh said, bring a steaming pot over.
“Mornin’, Applebloom. Mornin’, Princess.”
“Good morning, Applejack, everypony. Oh, I smell cinnamon in that oatmeal. Please, extra helpings if it’s alright.”
“Sure ya can.” Granny Smith poured a bowl piled rather high, the contents threatening the fall out he it was pushed over to Celestia. “You really are jus’ like little Applejack. Where the hay do you put it all, anyway?”
Celestia waved a hoof. “Oh, you know, a farmer needs the extra strength. Especially since lunch is not an option anymore.”
Applejack’s eyes widened, and Granny Smith’s jaw set in a scowl.
“Now who told ya a silly thing like that? Lunch is waitin’ here fer ya ev’ry day. Ah’ve been wonderin’ why ya ain’t comin’.”
Celestia turned to Applejack. “But... you told me that farm ponies don’t have time for lunch... and Applebloom wasn’t getting food, either.”
“I’m sorry,” Applebloom looked down at her bowl. “Applejack made me promise not ta tell ya. I thought I’d skip ta make ya feel better.”
“So that’s why my hard work has been gettin’ cold on me!” Granny Smith whacked the back of Applejack’s head. “Ya got some ‘splainin’ ta do, little missy.”
Applejack’s lips scrunched as her eyes darted around.
“Applejack...”
“Alright, alright, fine, ya got me. Yeah, I tricked her into not eatin’ at lunchtime. I wanted ta see how she’d handle it.”
Celestia’s ears drooped.
“Dangnabbit, ya know a pony’s gotta eat with all the hard work we’re doin’ around here. Jus’ fer this, you ain’t gettin’ lunch fer a week.”
“What!? It’s only been four days!”
“I should make it at least two, since Applebloom was nice ‘nuff ta not eat with her. Now quit yer belly achin’ and eat yer oatmeal. Yer gonna need it.” Granny turned back to Celestia. “Tia, ya can go ahead an’ go back to sleep. Yer probably tired as ya can be.”
Celestia sighed. She then furrowed her brow and looked up. “No, thank you. I was told to repair the fence today, so repair the fence I will.”
Applejack blinked.
“Are ya sure?” Granny said, rubbing her chin.
“If I can come back for something to eat, I’ll be just fine. In fact, I’ll go around the whole of the acres and fix everything up.”
“That’s a pretty big task, dear. Even with magic, that’s gonna take a while.”
“No problem,” Celestia said, smiling in Applejack’s direction. “Nothing is too much for the farm.”
Applejack gave a frown, though not an angry one like Celestia had expected. “Good luck with that...” Applejack got up and pushed her bowl away. “Ah’m not hungry anymore.” She walked off, heading outside.
“She still doesn’t like me,” Celestia said, sighing and magically stirring her breakfast with a spoon.
“She’ll warm up to ya,” Applebloom said, leaning over to nuzzle Celestia’s side.
Celestia smiled and pulled Applebloom into a hug. “That was incredibly kind of you to skip lunch with me, little one. You didn’t have to.”
“Well, ya know... Applejack wasn’t bein’ very nice.”
“Come on now,” Granny Smith said, smiling softly. “Applebloom’s gotta git to school, and Ah need ta show ya where the supplies are.”
“Do you like school, Applebloom?” Celestia asked.
“Sure do! Cheerilee is teachin’ us about the creatures in the Everfree forest today.”
“Ah yes, the Everfree.” Celestia took a bit of her oatmeal and swallowed. “I remember when Luna and I still lived there. Back then, the forest was more like a woods. And the creatures there were a lot more friendly.”
“Oh, wow!” Applebloom exclaimed. “Ya saw what the forest was like ‘fore it was a forest! Ya should come ta class and talk about it fer everypony.”
“Not today, Applebloom. I made a commitment, and I need to stick to it. But I’ll tell you all about it later, alright?”
“Okay,” Applebloom said in a sigh. “But Ah’m gonna go crusading today.”
“Then I’ll make it a bedtime story,” Celestia said. Her spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl. “Oh my.” Her face turned red.
“Great light in the sky, ya really can eat.” Granny chuckled. “Seconds?”
“If you please.”
“Gah!” Celestia screamed, dropping the hammer to the ground. She stuck her hoof in her mouth and sucked at the latest batch of swelling. “My aching hoof. How do Earth ponies do this?” She once again brought a nail up to a wooden post and pressed as hard as her teeth would allow. Hoof next to the nail to keep it steady, she raised the hammer up and brought it down.
“Ahh!” she yelled out. “Darn it, every time!” She brought hoof close to her chest and sighed. “Well, I’m doing okay. How much have I done, anyway?” She looked back at the fence she had hammered and nailed, and smiled. The house was far, far away from where she stood. “Excellent. All I need now is a doctor to mend my breaking hoof and I might be done by next century.” Celestia fell onto her back, looking up at the sky. “Oooh, my aching body...”
She looked up at the sky, looking up at the sun. “Hmm... that used to be mine, wasn’t it? The things we do for those we love.”
“Oh, howdy Celestia...” Applebloom said as she slowly walked by. “How’s the fence comin’?”
Celestia jerked her head up. “Applebloom? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
The filly turned her head to Celestia. “School’s been out fer an hour, ya know.”
Celestia looked back up at the sun, realizing she had mistaken the sun’s position in the sky. Her head fell back and she groaned.
“Hey, ya finished what ya were supposed ta do today. That’s pretty good fer bein’ on yer own, right?”
Celestia rolled over, looking back at the fence. “I... I did, didn’t I?” she stood up and grinned. “What do you know, I did something!”
“Great...” Applebloom said, going back to walking.
“Applebloom, are you okay?” Celestia began walking alongside her, lowering her head to meet Applebloom.
“No. We’re having a fight an’ Ah don’t wanna hear it anymore.”
“We? We who?”
“Me, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Pipsqueak. It ain’t important.”
Celestia put a hoof in front of Applebloom, stopping her from moving forward. “If it’s friends, it’s always important. Tell me about your problem and maybe I can help.”
“Well...” Applebloom shuffled her hooves. “See, everypony wants to do something different. Scoots wants to try and get our cutie marks, Sweetie Belle wants to have a tea party, and Pipsqueak wants to have an adventure.”
“And you, Applebloom? What do you want?”
“Ah jus’ want everypony ta get along an stop fightin’ so we can have fun!” Applebloom frowned and looked at the ground. “Ah jus don’t know what to do.”
“The thing you should never do is give up,” Celestia said, kneeling down. “What do you say I try and talk to your friends and see if I can make peace with you all?”
Applebloom grinned. “Really? You’d do that?”
“Friends are important. And right now I see a friend that is in need of another friend. Climb on my back and I’ll fly us there.”
Applebloom danced around a bit before jumping onto Celestia’s back, wrapping her forehooves around Celestia’s neck.
“Hold on tight,” Celestia said as she started flapping her wings. She raised herself into the air, ascending until she reached just a little ways over the treetops. “Which way?”
Applebloom point out into the orchard. “Out there, in the clubhouse. Jus’ a little ways. Wow... is this what pegasuses always see?”
“It is,” Celestia replied. “It is interesting to see things with a new view, isn’t it? I bet you’ve never seen Sweet Apple Acres from up here.”
“No way! Ah wish Ah could fly like this.”
“Hmm, but don’t think being an Earth Pony is any less special. You get to see things a Pegasus never will.”
“What do you mean? They get ta fly an’ walk around, an’ all I can do is walk. What makes me so special?”
“It’s a little hard to explain. Think of it like this; Pegasus ponies have the option to fly, so they do. You have to walk. You have to do things differently than they do. You see the world in a different way the Pegasi do, even though they can walk just fine. Sometimes what you have limits you just as much as want you don’t.” Celestia came to a landing outside a small wooden building.
“Wait, having wings let’s ‘em see less? How’s that work?”
“I know it doesn’t make much sense.” Celestia held up her reddened hoof. “But you never see a unicorn hammering with their hooves, do you? At least, not completely. They don’t know how. You, however, do.”
The filly tilted her head. “Ah guess so... huh. Never thought about it that way before. How’s yer hoof, anyway?”
“It hurts to walk.” Celestia smiled and lowered herself to let Applebloom get down. “Now, let’s see what I can do to help.”
Applebloom walked up the steps and sighed. “Alright, here we go.” She pushed the door open.
“I want to go on an archeology adventure!”
“I thought it was a pirate adventure.”
“That was before, now I want to find a hidden city!”
“But that’s not going to get us out cutie marks!”
“We’re always trying to get our cutie marks, Scootaloo. When can we do something I wanna do?”
“Tea parties are stupid. They’re girly and lame.”
“How would you know? We’ve never even had one before.”
“Cause Rainbow Dash says so!”
“You’ve never heard her say that!”
“I don’t need to. I know how Rainbow Dash is, and she know teas parties are stupid.”
“But she wouldn’t think an adventure is lame, would she?”
“No, but we need to get our cutie marks!”
Applebloom turned to Celestia. “See what I mean?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
The children looked over at Celestia each of their eyes widening.
“C-celestia?”
“Indeed, that is my name,” Celestia said with a smile.
“Oh wow!” The colt in the room said. “You’re Princess Luna’s sister!”
Celestia tilted her head to the side. “Luna’s sister?”
Sweetie Belle’s mouth was agape for a while before she spoke. “Your mane is so... different.”
“I think you mean normal, Sweetie.”
Scootaloo looked dubious. “Hold on. Applebloom said Celestia was here, but how do we know you really are her? You got a horn and wings, but you don’t look like the Celestia I saw once. Where’s your rainbow mane and tail? And why aren’t you as tall as her?”
Celestia involuntarily took a step back, unable to speak for a moment from the surprising hostility from such a little pony.
Applebloom stepped forward. “Look, Scootaloo, ya remember when Luna first came back from the moon, don’tcha? She doesn’t look like what she looks like now. This is jus’ Celestia when she ain’t got all her powers.”
Scootaloo turned back to Celestia and sighed. “Sorry, Princess. I’m just mad is all.”
“You’re mad? We’re all mad here!”
“Please, call me Celestia. Now what seems to be the problem here.” She raised a hoof. “And if you please, no fighting.”
Sweetie Belle stepped forward as Scootaloo opened her mouth. “We’re always doing things to try and get our cutie marks, but I wanna do something different for once. We never do what I wanna do.”
“I want to go on an adventure!” said Pipsqueak as he jumped up and down. “Raging seas! Treasure to find! Lands to discover! But nopony here feels like having fun.” He furrowed his brow towards Scootaloo.
“I want to get our cutie marks,” Scootaloo said. “That’s the reason we formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the first place. To, you know, crusade for our cutie marks! Oh, and Applebloom brought Pipsqueak for some reason.”
“Hey, he’s a nice pony!”
“But he’s not a Cutie Mark Crusader.”
“Can’t we do something besides look for our cutie marks? I wanna have a tea party!”
“Tea party’s are stupid, and so are the ponies that go to them.”
“Wh-wha?”
Celestia looked back and forth between the fighting fillies. “Little ponies, please calm yourselves for a moment.”
“What did you just say to me?”
“You heard what I said. Ponies who go to tea parties are stupid.”
Pipsqueak stood in front of Scootaloo and pushed his nose against hers. “Hey, don’t be mean to Sweetie like that! She just wants to have fun.”
“You’re not even welcome here, you don’t get a vote.”
“I’m trying to find my cutie mark too, you know.”
“No, you want to go play pretend when we could be looking for our special talent.”
“Little ponies,” Celestia said, feeling rather powerless. She wanted to end this fighting, but didn’t want to resort to force. “Let’s talk about-”
“You wouldn’t know your special talent if it came and hit ya right in the flank!”
“Hey, Scoots isn’t that dumb.”
“What do you mean that dumb? I’m not as dumb as you!”
“Please, let’s just-”
“At least I’m not a chicken like you.”
“I’m not a chicken! Rainbow Dash doesn’t do tea parties and she would go looking for her special talent if she needed to.”
Celestia brought a hoof to her chin. “Hold on a moment...”
“Tea parties aren’t stupid, they can be fun! I just want to take a break from crusading, but you don’t care because you’re dumb.”
“No, you’re dumb!”
“You’re dumb!”
“You’re dumb”
“Shutit!” Applebloom suddenly blurted out. Everypony stopped and turned to her. “We’re supposed ta be friends, here. Why the hay are we fightin’?”
Scootaloo let out a ‘hmph’ before making her way towards the door. “Whatever. You guys have your fun without me. I’m going to try to do something useful.”
Celestia put a hoof in front of Scootaloo. “Now wait just a moment. That’s not how friendship works.”
Scootaloo furrowed her brow but didn’t say anything. Celestia assumed that she didn’t want to argue with Equestria’s ruler, and furrowed her own brow.
“Your friends want to do different things, and you all,” Celestia looked at Pipsqueak and Sweetie Belle, “need to make compromises.”
“But Scootaloo never wants to do anything else.”
“And Pipsqueak wants to only play pretend.”
“And Sweetie Belle wants to do boring stuff.”
“An Ah jus’ wanna have fun...”
“Everypony, take a deep breath with me.” Celestia inhaled deeply and motioned for the others to do the same.
Applebloom blinked twice with a blank face, “Seriously?” she asked Celestia as she furrowed her own eyebrows and raised a forehoof in the air.
Pipsqueak coughed slightly, “I say we take a vote: Whoever wants a pretend tea-party, raise your hoof.” he said as he raised his, followed by Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. “Who doesn’t?” he asked and saw Scootaloo raised hers proudly. “The tea party it is then. Now then, we-”
“That vote doesn’t count!” Scootaloo interrupted, stepping forward and standing before Pipsqueak. “First of all, tea parties are lame. Second of all,” she said as she prodded him with her hoof against his chest, “you’re not even a member.”
“He’s gonna be one soon, so Ah say that vote does count!”
Scootaloo’s mouth hung open as her eyes dilated, “W-what?! He can’t be a member! He-”
“Doesn’t have his cutie mark yet and he has been cool to us lately, so Ah I thought he could join our club.”
“I think that’s a good idea too!” Sweetie Belle added.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes as she sighed, “Why do I even bother?”
Celestia just stood in the background observing the bickering of friends. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tapped her chin. She slowly closed her eyes to concentrate, a diplomatic solution forming in her mind.
“My little ponies, I have a suggestion.”
The young ponies all turned their heads to Celestia.
“You go crusading for your marks on a regular basis, correct?”
“That means all the time, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“A bit, yes. Scootaloo, I’d like to make a deal with you. If you will postpone your crusading for the time being, I will get Rainbow Dash to come and partake in whatever you decide to do.”
Scootaloo’s eyes widened quite a bit as she looked up to Celestia. “You’ll get Rainbow Dash to come here?”
“Indeed I will. But, as I said, you need to do what your friends want to do. Deal?”
“Deal!” Scootaloo shouted, jumping into the air and buzzing her wings.
With a nod, Celestia turned to the others. “Can you all decide on something to do together?”
“Tea party!”
“Adventure!”
“Ah, please...”
“Applebloom, it looks like you’re the deciding vote. Any suggestions?”
Applebloom looked between Sweetie and Pipsqueak, both of whom looked back with expectant smiles.
“Uh... pretend adventure tea party?”
“Wha?”
“Huh?”
Celestia giggled.
“Yeah, sure! Like we’re adventurers who jus’ came back from an expedition, an’ we’re showin’ off our treasures and sharing stories.”
The other two grinned.
“Sounds like fun!” Sweetie said.
“I’ll give it a try,” Pipsqueak said.
“Then it’s decided.” Celestia leaned down next to Applebloom and winked at her. “You’re not a bad diplomat, deary. I might just make you a part of my royal council.”
“Really?” Applebloom said, her eyes sparkling a bit.
“With some practice, I think you could.” Celestia made her way to the porch of the clubhouse and spread her wings.
“Hey, wait!” Scootaloo said. “Rainbow Dash won’t come to a lame old tea party.”
Turning her head and smiling, Celestia took off into the air.
“You didn’t answer my question! Hey, come back! I hate it when grown-ups do that.”
Celestia came to a gentle touchdown on the edge of the Everfree Forest, a little cottage just a little ways away from her. She was careful not to disturb any of the little animals playing as she walked.
“Fluttershy?” Celestia called out. “Fluttershy, are you in?”
“Hi-ya!”
A loud roar sounded from behind the cottage. Without a thought, Celestia charged to the source of the noise, expecting to find trouble.
She did. Sort of.
“Yah!” Fluttershy shouted as she grabbed a flailing lion’s neck and twisting into onto its side with a heavy thump. The beast roared and struggled to get up, but the little pony flew up into the air and came crashing down, a sickening crack filling the air.
Celestia watched, mouth agape and stock still, not able to fully comprehend what she was seeing. Was this Fluttershy? The shy little pony Celestia had seen struggle to hide herself from crowds of ponies? The one who loved and cared for animals and couldn’t hurt them anymore than she could move a mountain? And here the pony was, taking down a lion as though it were a kitten under her powerful hoof.
The lion roared and tried once more to get up, but Fluttershy would have none of that. She shoved the lion onto its stomach and proceeded to stomp on its back, the lion very visibly crying as it squirmed and struggled.
Just as Celestia was about to save the poor creature from any further suffering, another crack sounded out and the lion seemed to melt. Fluttershy’s movements became much more gentle as she began to rub its back.
“How many times do I have to tell you all to come to me as soon as it starts up? All this tension in your shoulders is going to be absolutely dreadful if you let it sit.”
The lion’s tongue lolled out and it gave a thankful purr, breathing steadily and a picture of calm.
“F-Fluttershy?”
Said pony meeped and ducked behind the lion. She poked her head up and sighed in relief. “Oh, Celestia, you startled me.”
“I could say you did the same to me.” Celestia took a few tentative steps forward. “What exactly was that?”
Fluttershy tilted her head.
“That!” Celestia motioned her hoof to the lion. “You just wrestled a lion to the ground! My guards are trained to fight creatures like these, and that takes years of dedication.”
“Wrestling? Oh no, I think you misunderstand.” Fluttershy smiled and rubbed the lion’s back again. “Tibbiths here had some horrible knots in his back, and it took some very intense massage therapy to work out the kinks.”
The lion huffed, closing its eyes and stretching as it curled for a nap.
“You keep... lions here?”
Fluttershy walked around the lion and proceeded toward her cottage. “I don’t keep him, he comes and goes as he pleases. Just like all the other animals I take care of. Little critters like rabbits and squirrels and mice. Big critters like lions and tigers, bears.”
“Oh my... I’ve never been able to talk to such volatile creatures.” Celestia’s mind wandered to all the times she had met Fluttershy, and all the times Twilight had written about her. Not once in any of her imaginings of the shy pony did she see her befriending such wild beasts.
“Is there any way I can help you, Celestia?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes! I actually came because I need your help. Well, more specifically there are some little fillies that need your help.”
“Oh dear, nothing is wrong, is it?”
Celestia followed Fluttershy to a little table and say down. “Nothing terrible. It’s just that Applebloom and her friends are having a little bit of a fight and I think you and Rainbow are just the ponies for the job.”
“Me?” Fluttershy turned her head and tried to hide her eyes under her mane. “I don’t really know if I can help. I’ve never been good with dealing with ponies.”
“Maybe not. But I bet you are good with dealing with Rainbow Dash.”
Fluttershy brushed her mane aside. “Rainbow?”
“The biggest problem the crusaders face right now is Scootaloo. She refuses to do anything her friends wish to do because she feels Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do it.”
“But why do you need me?”
“I fear that Scootaloo is right. Dash would never do something like attend a tea party. I was hoping you could convince Dash to attend and show Scootaloo that sometimes, you need to make compromises with your friends.”
With a smile, Fluttershy stood and nodded. “Oh, now I see. In that case, I’ll head over to the clubhouse and wait for you there. I’m sure Dash will feels lots better having a friend there with her.”
“That’s not quite what I meant, though that is appreciated. I mean I need you to tell her to come with you, or else I feel she will make herself look ‘lame’, as Scootaloo put it.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Celestia, I’m sorry if I sound a little mad, but are you trying to use me to manipulate Dash?”
“I... manipulate? No, I just...”
“Just what?”
Celestia was once more gripped by shock as she looked at Fluttershy. Disappointment and judgement the likes of which Celestia had never felt before poured from Fluttershy’s eyes and made her feel like she had done every wrong imaginable in the span on a few seconds.
“I-I’m sorry, I just w-wanted to get Scootaloo to see th-that sometimes...”
Fluttershy blinked and quickly turned away. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to use my stare on you.”
As the gaze was broken, Celestia’s breath returned to her and warmth filled her again. Her thoughts raced. “Goodness, that was an experience.”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen, it just kind of happens when I... get sort of mad.”
Taking a few calming breaths, Celestia gave her plan a second look. When she really thought about it, what had she planned on doing? She wanted to get Dash to come, and she planned on having Fluttershy to do it for her without really saying why. Celestia was going to have Dash come for Fluttershy, not Scootaloo.
Why did that seem like a good idea?
“What exactly was that, Fluttershy?”
“It’s just something I do when I get kinda mad. I didn’t mean to look at you that way.”
“Mad, hmm? And I think I see why.”
“No, no, you didn’t really--”
“I did.” Celestia stood up. “Please, do you know where Rainbow Dash is? I think I need to go and talk to her myself.”
Fluttershy gave a little whine and nodded towards the direction of Applejack’s farm. “She’s, um, kind of busy right now, actually. Maybe I should go and talk to her.”
“Fluttershy, please. You’re right, I was going to manipulate her using you.” I wonder just how many times I’ve done that. “If she’s going to come, it should be her decision.”
The other pony bit her lip and remained silent for a moment, looking down at her hooves. “Alright. I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s somewhere between here and Whitetail Woods. She always spends Wednesdays out there. I’ll see you at the tea party.” With a giggle, she flew off towards the woods of the farm.
Celestia took off as well, leaving Fluttershy to herself. She kept her sight on the woods below searching for the telltale colors of Rainbow’s mane. She found the colors, alright, but they weren’t of a pony’s mane.
Celestia came to a gentle touchdown by a large bed of flowers that must have spanned about fifteen feet or so. every color of a rainbow was present, arranged exactly like one, in a bend. The sweet smells of nectar and honey filled that air, Celestia finding a wonderful sense of peace that the royal gardens brought to her as she breathed in deep through her nose.
A slight rustling caused Celestia to break out of her trance. Turning her head she saw Rainbow Dash walking into the little grove, a watering can held in her mouth as she hummed a tune. She completely froze mid step when she saw Celestia, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks and her mane and tail standing on end.
Celestia blinked once, then twice before finally working up the words to speak. “Rainbow Dash. This is your garden.”
Dash shrunk a bit at the claim and set the can down, sighing. “Great, I thought I kept this place a secret.”
“Not as well as you could have.” Celestia took a few steps closer to the flowers and bent her head down to get better acquainted with their smells. “Fluttershy sees you come into the woods every Wednesday, apparently, and sees you leave.”
“Horsefeathers,” Dash said, kicking at the ground. “I thought I was being sneaky.”
“Rainbow, I don’t understand why you are frustrated, these are beautiful.” Celestial stood back up. “I would never have believed you to be such an avid gardener.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Rainbow said, picking the can up with her hoof and sprinkling the flowers as she hovered over them. “Go ahead, your royalness, laugh it up. You didn’t expect super fast and awesome Dash to do something as girly as grow flowers, right?”
“Well... no, I can’t say I would. But I’m not going to laugh at you because you have a hobby.”
Dash came to the other side of her rainbow of flowers and turned to sprinkle them again. “It’s not a hobby. It’s... it’s something my mom liked to do. Look, can you just leave?”
“Please don’t be cross with me, I just wanted your help with something.” Her eyes wandered across the flowers. “But you know, this is lovely. I never would have guessed...” Guessed you could create something so beautiful? Guessed you had such an eye for detail? Guessed you would have the amount of patience it takes to grow a garden? But why wouldn’t I have guessed. I thought I knew who you were.
“Please stop talking about the flowers.” An intense blush formed on Dash’s cheeks. “What do you need, anyway? It better be important.”
“Well, it might be. You see, the Cutie Mark Crusaders needs some assistance.”
Dash groaned and set the watering can down and she landed. “Seriously? Look, no disrespect, but the last time I helped those guys I wound up covered in chicken feather and stuck in a mountain.”
“...”
“Don’t ask.”
“Yes, well. Nothing like that should happen. You’ve been invited to a tea party.”
“Seriously?” Dash shook her head. “That’s what you want?”
“Now, Rainbow, I know that’s not exactly your cup of tea, as it were. But please understand that they could really use a role model.”
“Wouldn’t Rarity be better for the fru-fru kind of thing? I ain’t exactly what you would call fancy.”
“It’s not that. Scootaloo refuses to do anything with her friends that doesn’t involve looking for their cutie marks. Her friends want to do something different, but Scootaloo won’t because she thinks it would disappoint you. I implore you to--”
“Stop right there.” Dash leapt into the air.
“Rainbow, wait, they really need somepony to teach them the value of loyalty!”
“Yeah, and?”
Celestia sighed and turned away. “Very well. I suppose I’ll let you be on your way, then.”
“Cool. You go and get some cake or something from Pinkie Pie, I gotta make a quick stop by Rarity’s place. See ya at the clubhouse!” She flew up into the sky, leaving Celestia to wonder what the heck had just happened.
Celestia balanced the cake box carefully on her back as she walked her way closer to the clubhouse, a somber look upon her.
How did I not notice how much the Cakes panicked when I was nearby? Was I really that blind? Pinkie Pie was the only one who didn’t look like she was about to have a heart attack while I was there. Maybe I should have planned out my stroll through Ponyville a bit better.
As she walked up the steps and made her way to the clubhouse, she heard sounds of furniture being arranged and plates clattering together. She stepped into a rather surreal image.
Fluttershy was helping a few of the younger ponies set up the single room to look slightly more posh, with some crude paper decorations to look like things one would find in the Canterlot halls. Pipsqueak was wearing a little brown dress coat and a green top hat with a card on it showing ‘10/6’, Applebloom was wearing a surprising elaborate red dress that looked as if styled from times long past, and Sweetie wore a bits and pieces of winter garb, of all things. Fluttershy was the only one without a costume, but clearly was enjoying herself as she sang a wordless tune while the four of them set the picnic blanket clothed table in the center of the room.
Scootaloo, though, was sitting on a bean bag chair in the corner, looking at her friends with a fair bit of contempt. That look intensified the slightest bit when she saw Celestia.
“‘Ello, Ma’am!” Pipsqueak said. “A thousand salutations to ya, an’ welcome to the first royal gathering of the Royal CMC Royal tea party!”
“It’s royal!” Sweetie squeaked as she bounced about.
“Glad I didn’t miss the party,” Celestia said, magically pulling a simple strawberry cake from the box and setting it on the table. “I brought us a treat to help set the mood.”
“Very good, Miss Tia,” Applebloom said is a clearly fake posh accent. “The royal society of the CMC thank you for your contribution.”
“Oh, you are very welcome, Lady Bloom,” Celestia said with a bow and a giggle.
Sweetie Belle took Celestia by the hoof and led her to a chair. “Come and sit with us please, there is always room at the table for Royal guests.”
“How very kind, but please,” she pulled her hoof away and made her way towards Scootaloo, “I think somepony needs another invitation.”
Scootaloo huffed and looked away as Celestia came closer. “Well, Rainbow Dash wasn’t with you when she walked in. She thought it would be too lame, just like I knew she would.”
“Scootaloo, even if Rainbow doesn’t come, are you really going to spend all your time in this little corner? I don’t think anypony likes being left out while their friends are having fun.”
Scootaloo kept her ground and didn’t budge from her spot. “That wasn’t the deal, though! You were going to get Dash and then we’d have this dumb party, but Fluttershy came and they started doing it without me.”
“And that’s another thing you need to learn. It’s not alway what everypony wants to do. It’s what your friends want to do. You must either let them be or join in the fun. It’s not as simply as voting or time. Things change, feelings most of all.”
Scootaloo looked over at her friends sitting around the table, talking about silly adventures that they had made up. With a soft from, Scootaloo looked up at Celestia. “They started doing it without me. I didn’t even get to help with the decorations.”
“Didn’t get to or refused to?” Celestia countered with a raised brow.
Scootaloo said nothing for a few moments, and just as she was about to say something there came a knock at the door.
“Excuse me? Is this were the get together is happening? I seem to have misplaced my directions to the party.”
All present stared at the door, questioning looks about them.
“Um, hello?” Fluttershy asked.
“Ah, Lady Fluttershy! So I have found the correct residence! Would somepony please open the door, as it’s rude to barge in unladylike.”
They all looked at each other before Fluttershy walked to the door. “I’m so sorry, ma’am, but you might have the wrong- oh my.”
“Thank you so much, Lady Fluttershy.” Rainbow stepped inside, her fine blue dress bobbin a bit.
“R-Rainbow Dash!?” Scootaloo shouted.
Running a hoof through her well combed mane, Dash gave a little curtsy. “Lady Rainbow presiding and at your service.”
Applebloom fell back in her chair, laughing loudly as she tried to right herself. “Ya sound jus’ like one’a them ponies at a them Canterlot theatres!” she said, dropping her own fake accent while failing to remain composed.
Rainbow snorted as well, making her way to the table and sitting down. “Come, come, is that any way for a proper lady to act? One must stick up their nose so it’s hard to see where they are aiming their hoof.” Her nose held high in demonstration, she Rainbow tried and failed to grab her teacup as her hoof flailed about in an attempt to find it.
Sweetie and Pipsqueak broke into giggling fits, and Celestia couldn’t resist laughing at Rainbow’s accurate representation of a noble pony.
Pipsqueak was the first to stop laughing and speak. “Lady Dash, your dress is looking particularly fancy today. Might I offer you some tea?”
“Oh yes please, darling, with two lumps if you don’t mind, and anything at the table that tastes absolutely terrible.”
Celestia snorted some more before setting herself at the table, levitating a top hat and a monocle over and putting them on. “Yes, yes, right, right, cheerio! Though I hope you don’t mind, but I’m afraid all we have available is tasty cakes from the Kingdom of Sugarcube.”
“Oh, darn, and here I was looking forward to some roasted kelp with a side of roasted wood.” Once again, almost all ponies present laughed.
Fluttershy sat back down and the table as well, failing to stifle her giggles. “We are so pleased you could join us, Lady Dash. I hope the strole wasn’t too much for you.”
“Pish posh! A good time with friends is always worth a short flight.”
“How goes the days in the Mad Kingdom, Sir Squeaks?” Sweetie asked.
“Oh, it’s an absolutely wonderful time! Somepony stole all of the horseshoes and I can’t seem to remember where I put my stopwatch!”
“I thought you said you were havin’ a wonderful time,” Applebloom said.
“I know! Isn’t it grand? Say, would you like to hear a riddle?”
“Certainly,” Dash said, sipping at her tea cup. “Compliments to the chef, I must say.”
“I didn’t pour your tea yet!” Sweetie said, to which Dash turned her cup upside down.
“I could have sworn there was something in there.”
“How is a raven like a writing desk?” Pipsqueak asked.
“Don’t tell me, I’ve heard this one,” Celestia said as she brought a hoof to her chin in thought.
Scootaloo watched the scene unfold for a little while before she slowly trotted up to the table staring intently at Rainbow Dash. “What the heck are you doing?”
Dash took a bite of cake and dabbed a napkin at her lips. She then turned to Scootaloo and smiled wide. “Madam Scoots, won’t you please join us? There is always a seat at the table for a good friend.”
“Come on, what’s the joke?” Scootaloo pointed a hoof at Celestia. “Did she make you do this?”
Celestia turned her head away and frowned, looking partly at Fluttershy.
“Why would such a thought cross your mind, dearest Scoots? Can’t a mare just enjoy some tea and cakes once in awhile?”
“But that’s... I thought...”
Rainbow placed a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder. She spoke again, but her fake posh accent fell away and her familiar voice sounded. “Hey, pipsqueak.”
“Yes?” Pipsqueak asked.
“Uh... sorry, my pipsqueak. Kid, take a look at me. What am I doing?”
“You’re at a tea party! A sissy, stupid tea party!”
“Scoots, all I’m doing is wearing a dress, sipping tea, and talking with a goofy accent.” Dash picked Scootaloo up and sat her between herself and Fluttershy. “But you know what else I’m doing? I’m hanging out with friends.”
“But this isn’t cool. This is lame.”
“More tea, if you wouldn’t mind,” Dash said in her fake accent before slipping back to her real voice again. “Take a look at me and Fluttershy for a moment, kid. We’re super different. I’m fast, I’m awesome, and kinda loud, and Fluttershy in a quiet wimp. No offence, Fluttershy.”
“None taken... I think.”
“But we’re friends cause we like each other a lot. There are some things we do like, but a lot we don’t. And I really hate a lot of the things Rarity likes. But you know what? Sometimes when you’re friends, you gotta do lame stuff with them because that’s what friends do.”
“Not exactly how I would put it,” Celestia said with a snicker. “But close enough.”
“Like that time you had me help you set up that obstacle course and I got caught in that cloud trap?” Fluttershy asked.
“Right, or the time we went on that Butterfly Migration trip thing and I had to stand perfectly still for five hours?”
“And there was that time we went on a racetrack and I almost got hit because you were going so fast.”
“Or the time we went on a trip to help some bears and I got covered in honey and was licked clean.”
“Come on, Dash, you know the cubs loved you.”
“Yeah, I guess they were kind of cute.”
Celestia smiled as she took note of Scootaloo’s curious expression as she absorbed the small stories. And she found that, oddly, she had a greater sense of satisfaction than the many other times she had taught this lesson. And she knew exactly why. Warping a quill and scroll in front of her, she began to write.
“Or the time in Junior Flyers Camp when you had me help you pull a prank on the camp director and I became soaking wet when the rain cloud backfired?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on,” Scootaloo said. “That’s right, you knew Dash when she was a filly!”
“That’s right. We’ve been friends since we were younger than you,” Fluttershy said as she stirred her tea.
“Tut tut, Lady Scoots,” Dash said as she smoothed out the filly’s mane. “A proper mare doesn’t shout at the table.
At long last, Scootaloo broke out into a smile. With an accent every bit as fake as Rainbow’s, Scootaloo said, “Of course, Lady Rainbow, how foalish of me. Please, Lady Fluttershy, I would love to hear more of your stories.”
“Come now, don’t keep us waiting,” Applebloom said. “You simply must share with us tales from your youth.”
“Why not, Lady Fluttershy?” Rainbow said as she once more used her fake posh tone. “We were such rambunctious little fillies, weren’t we?”
“Quite, Lady Rainbow. Shall we share the tale of how we stole all of the volleyball equipment and used it to make a trampoline?”
Sweetie giggled. “How do you even do that?”
“Oh, a moment! Sir Pipsqueak, I’m afraid I’m completely stumped. How is a raven like a writing desk?”
“Oh, I haven’t the foggiest idea,” said Pipsqueak, swinging his spoon wildly.
“Ahh, now I remember this accursed puzzle,” Celestia said as her horn lit up and the scroll vanished in a poof of smoke. “The fellow who made it simply loved to stump ponies or confuse them and made that riddle just to spite those who he couldn’t confound.”
“Why you little...” Dash said, breaking character and flinging some cake at the colt. Pipsqueak got hit in the nose, but simply licked it off.
“Delicious! Thank you, Lady Rainbow.”
“I propose a toast,” Sweetie said, raising her cup.
“A toast to what?” Applebloom asked.
“Uh, I dunno. Isn’t that a thing you do at tea parties?”
“That’s usually something reserved for feasts,” Celestia said as he cup became shrouded in gold light and was levitated up. “But I believe a toast is grand idea. A toast to friends, shall we?”
“To friends!” Pipsqueak shouted.
“To friends,” Fluttershy said.
“Ta friends,” Applebloom said.
“To my dearest friends,” Rainbow said.
“Friends!” Sweetie said.
Their tea cups all clattered together, the resulting force sending tea everywhere and splashing them all. In response, they all simply laughed.
“Alright, we’re doing good so far. When a princess asks if she wants to come for a visit...?”
“I assume she wants to come for a visit, not some secret agenda.”
“And if she asks for something to eat and you don’t have it?”
“I politely tell her we don’t have it.”
“And suddenly the princess gets angry and threatens to send you away because you don’t stock her favorite type of ice cream!”
Twilight took a deep breath and released, closing her eyes in the process. “A princess wouldn’t abuse their power like that. If I didn’t have what she wanted, she wouldn’t eat it.”
Spike clapped his hands. “Alight, Twilight! I’m so proud, it only took us a week to get everything down.”
“And about five-hundred, thirty-two shocks from the buzzer.” Twilight stood up, stretching her back and arching her neck. “Can I go to bed now?”
“Hold on a moment, I think you deserve a reward for all your hard work.” Spike slid over to the kitchen and returned instantly returned with a platter which he set on the table in the center of the library. The scent of fresh baked cookies filled the air, and Twilight looked at spike with grateful eyes.
“Oh, Spike, you shouldn’t have.”
“You’re right, so be sure to think about that the next time you decide I should do some cleaning.”
Twilight giggled and happily chomped down on a sweet treat. Just as Spike was about to do the same, his eyes widened and he grabbed at his chest.
“Spike?”
“Ooohh, why can’t she use softer paper?” With a loud belch, a burst of green flame shot from his maw and reformed into a scroll that fell onto the table.
“A letter? From the princess?” Twilight began to hyperventilate.
Spike groaned. “Twilight.”
With a jittering jolt, Twilight snapped back into a much more calm state. Smiling as though she hadn’t just been suffering a panic attack, she picked up the scroll and unraveled it. “Oh, It’s from Princess Celestia! I wonder what she wants?”
“Okay, that worked a little too well...”
Twilight’s eyes ran across the parchment as she began to read.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
Today I learned a something that sounds pretty simple when you say it out loud. You don’t know a pony until you know them. I had thought I knew everything about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy that I needed to know, and could predict how they would act and respond to certain situations. As one little filly happily learned, there’s a lot more to Dash than a brash pony who merely wants to fly fast, and Fluttershy has some strength somewhere deep down in her. One must truly get to know a pony before they make assumptions. But not just that; a pony must share of themselves in order to be known. That’s something I need to do.
Your faithful mentor,
Celestia
Twilight flipped the scroll over a few times, checking the front and back for seemingly something.
“Well?” Spike asked. “What is it?”
“It’s... it’s a friendship report. I think.”
“No way, let me see.” Spike grabbed the letter from her magical grip. “Huh. What do you know, it is a friendship report. That’s kinda cool, huh?”
“Yeah... cool...”
“Twilight?” He waved a hand in front of her face as she stared at the spot where the letter had been. “Twilight?”
Her brow furrowed in thought, and a frown creased her lips.
“Twilight!”
“Huh?” She blinked a few times and shook her head. “Oh, uh, sorry. I was just thinking.”
“Well, that’s not anything new.” He rolled up the scroll and tucked it under his arm. “What should I do with this?”
“Do?”
“You know, this is where we rearrange the whole library in order to incorporate the crazy filing system you make?”
Twilight once more furrowed her brow. “Just leave it on the table. I’ll take care of it later.”
“Okay...” With a raised brow, he placed the scroll on the table, which Twilight quickly took and carried to a window, reading it over and over again. “I didn’t think a friendship report would bother you so much. Want me to leave you alone?”
“Yes please. I really do need to think.”
Spike shrugged and made his way upstairs, yawning and stretching his arms out. “Alright, try to get to bed early and don’t stay up too late. You remember the last time I woke you up after an all nighter.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Twilight said. The door to their room closed, but she didn’t seem to react to it. Her eyes followed the words again and again, and with each time she got to the end her brow creased just a little bit more.
“Princess Celestia... learned something. But I thought...” Shaking her head, Twilight rolled the scroll and looked out the window to the skies above, knowing the setting sun wasn’t her teacher’s.
“I thought you knew...”
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Woo-hoo! An update! Glad to see you've returned!
And it looks like Pavlov has struck Twilight Sparkle with a vengeance. Though she seems disturbed by the friendship report. Perhaps she thought Celestia knew everything about friendship already?
Yay! New chapter! Glad to have you back my brother!
“lions and tigers, bears” Oh my”. Cute, good story.
Good to see you back.
Also, I know the answer to the riddle!
A Raven and a Writing Desk have one thing in common.
They both have quills. After all, it's a WRITING desk.
Uh oh. Looks like Twilight just had her entire world view destroyed with a single letter. Whoopsie!
Maybe Tia should have sent it to Luna instead!
Looks like somebody is back from the dead.
2663666
O_O oh you are good!
2664135 eeyup. Took me only a few hours.
encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTJhogh_3swdkVuBYxQTtFzui8vaepySFTBraQ2bZUT9rMm_Dmmbg
Yes!
2663666
That, but there is also an answer that would only make sense on Earth as opposed to Equestria:
Edgar Allan Poe wrote on both.
Oh shit, TWilights relgion has broken
And then Fluttershy uses the stare on Celestia again. The next thing Celestia knows, she's abdicated leadership of Equestria to Fluttershy.
2664222No, he wrote the Raven, but he wrote ON a Writing Desk.
2663427
Silly Twilight. Since no two ponies are ever exactly the same, there's always something new to learn about friendship; lessons you can't learn until you make friends with each unique pony. The time you think you know it all is the time you fall behind.
2664394
I hate to be pedantic, but writing about a specific subject is also known as "writing on" that subject. Last word on it, as I don't want to clutter the comments with trivia after this point.
Well... the story is too dialogue driven in general. You need more description of the character's reactions to the dialogue in order to fine tune its pacing, its emotional punch and to generally broaden it out so that I don't get lost with who is speaking.
That being said, this story is:
[youtube=dnAYgNnA5A0]
Seriously it is. You took all what we usually see of Celestia as perfect and smashed it to the ground, forcing her to change and creating a whole slew of character development. I do prefer more AJ involvement, but damn this is still enjoyable.... not to mention the premise is brilliant, the progression of the story's is good... why the hell did this not get featured earlier??? I look forward for the next chapter.
*clap* *clap* *clap*
VERY well done. I see a few minor spelling errors (usually just a missing word or icon here or there) but nothing any extinguished and avid reader would hold against you with how few there are. Concerning the story, nicely done. I personally haven't found very many "Slice of Life" stories on fimfiction that turned out as good as yours is. Not to say they weren't interesting, but the plot yours shows is well done. Showing how separated Celestia has become from being upon her thrown this whole time, despite how much she thought otherwise? All I can say is I'm looking forward to reading more of this.
Lastly, don't worry about chapter size. If you think much about it, you end up telling the story unlike how you want to. No matter whether it's an extremely short sub-chapter or an agonizingly long one. It doesn't matter the size of each chapter so long as you get the story out as you wish. Learn from any constructive criticism offered and fine tune how much more or less detail to add. Even should you offer the readers the option of giving ideas or helping you make choices, in the end it's your story so tell it how you will. Yeah, a bit much to say over a comment on a chapter size, but take it as you need and maybe others who want to write can learn from this as well.
What's this? Our immortal goddess-ruler is getting character development??
Pure blasphemy! You will be hearing from my lawyers, an exorcist, and two very hungry badgers.
This deserves a metal! Moreeee pleeasee!!
I have a feeling that twilight is going to go through some things in the near future. ANd its going to be hell a fun to read
... You Sir... Made me laugh in the second chapter... for TWENTY minutes... for that you get a fav, a watch, and undying loyalty...
Honestly... after five chapters... all I have to say is your Celestia is entirely too passive. There's little to no way she could ever lead a country being as completely indecisive as she is. Tenacious? Sure... stubborn even, but hardly pro-active.
Yes, AJ doesn't want to talk to her, but she's hardly making an attempt, let alone the big grand announcement was idiotic beyond all levels. I mean, we can all pretty much guess what Celestia has to tell AJ, and it really doesn't require her to actually take up any sort of 'mother' role.
I don't know.. something just rubs me the wrong way about Celestia's character development. I mean, I can understand that sort of development from somepony with a different background, possibly Luna even... but hardly Celestia. It's just so far off canon that it's hard to track properly.
It was a very good chapter.
In other news:
i.imgur.com/vUys7vh.gif
Are all the chapters going to start with "The"?
Well, well, well—if it ain't our conflicted associated? Long time no see, eh? If you've got this chapter, it's my job to point out all the flaws, tear you a new one, and then tell you how badass of a chapter it was. Shall we start?
The first line is unindented.
Eh, I'd use "could" instead of "would". Better yet—just say "he'd", which would destroy all of these problems without changing any meanings but yet also changing meanings.
Hello, tense error!
If you're going to not say the D in and, at least indicated the missing letter with an apostrophe, aight?
Either Granny Smith swapped gender and you broke a sentence, you that should be "as".
I still insist that to spell "ta" as "t' " and attach it to the verb, as in: "not t'tell ya." But whatever, this is just a taste thing, as I am a Southern gentleman.
Lucy! Why is that first apostrophe backwards? Since it's indicating an omission, it needs to be rightways.
Do me a favor: whenever you have separate paragraphs for a different pony's actions, make sure the line afterwards indicates who's speaking. I figured it out here, but it was a might bit irksome. In my case, I have the habit of not giving new paraphrases when the only action of the other pony is a single line, usually whenever the other person doesn't speak. ie, " 'Canada is, in fact, the newest state in the Union,' said X, and Y twisted her head in X's direction. 'New South Wales, however, is still full of Gypsies.' "
You mean, "t'ya", because otherwise her accent is being a bit inconsistent here, mate.
Emo git!Yeah—no. That's not slang in their accent. It's "get". Unless you suddenly wanted Granny Smith being brutal with Ebonics, of course, buuut....This line is also not indented. Strange. How many time need I need tell you to fix it manually?
Rolled over? Was she lying down in the first place?
And, so your headcanon has Pip hanging out with the CMC? Cool.
It's pegasi, thank you very much.
Don't capitalize that word, its not a name.
Double space between so and they.
Okay, now you're just F***ing with me...
Don't capitalize that T. And "Gasped" would be a better verb than "said", in my humble opinion.
To boldly split the infinitive like nopony has before! (This is not an error.)
Wrong dash. You want this kind of dash — Alt+151. Got it? Good.
Comma splice! Comma splice! You can't attribute a non-vocal action tag to the middle of dialog. Those commas around the action need to both be "—"s, got it?
Such wanton cruelty to the common comma! Put this one out of its misplaced misery!
*Hiss* Death to the first comma, Live to a comma after "your hoof". Also, because this is only one sentence long, "whoever" has no business being capitalized.
Dilating Eyes is not a way in which one can speak. No comma, thank you very much. Also, pupils dilate, not whole eyes.
Extra spaces errrr!
Not indented.
Perhaps you could use some sort of tag here? As it stands, I read it it as spelling of "hiya", a greeting, partially because it made a lot of sense of read it so.
No need to say what's wrong here.
Indent that paragraph. Do it, filly!
Surprisingly, mate.
Because of the "of all things" line at the end, each previously comma separating what everypony was wearing must be a semicolon.
Comma splice! Comma splice!
Theatre. eatre. tre. re. You're Yankee, CW. It's spelt "theater", with an -er ending. [Yes, "spelt" is the British spelling of "spelled". What of it? That's how I pronounce it.]
Dash would say "got", not "became". Fits her voice better.
These two lines here don't sync. It'd be better if the second part were a question, since it works with the first line here. See?
I read this as "Does, does" because "tut" is German for "does". However, I'm not sure what sound these words make anymore because of all my foreign language things messing with me. But... shouldn't these be "tsk tsk" or something?
Double space!
Indent and a lack thereof!
Lowercase that letter, girl! (Boy)
Eh, I'd intend this were I thou.
In my experience with pre-reader Amacita, he has no problems with these. I assume they'd only be an issue if you were to explain stuff in the A/N, whereas a good writer would explain it in the story itself.
————————
Flaws: I had to actually suspend some disbelief that nopony but the Cakes and Twilight freaked out over Celestia here. I mean, if President Obama came to my front door and asked me to attend a tea party with him and his daughters, I'd sorta be too baffled to refuse. I get how the girls are more casual with Celestia, having met her before, but she is still their solar monarch, so yeah. Not feeding a pony lunch was kind of a dick move on AJ's part, but I suppose I can tolerate it. Also, Fluttershy's stare here appears to work a bit different than it does in canon, since I was pretty sure it was purely... intentional... Sonofa—Fluttershy, you meant to do that! How manipulative!
Pros: Celestia's character development is going swimmingly. and I'm starting to like her a bit more. Hell, even Twilight's character is growing, even if off-camera. I really do think that tea party scene had a really good in-show atmosphere to it; it was cute, amusing, and thoroughly in-character. As it stands, everypony is coming of as being exceptionally well-rounded individuals. Oh, and lest I forget! You're getting better and that Southern accent... though it still needs works here and there.
Done!
————————
Post Script: I'm glad you're still alive and kicking, CW! I would have asked you about this sooner, but I know that you hate being bothered about stuff like "we haven't talked in forever; feel bad and talk to me". If you're never in the neighborhood, have the time, and it's in the afternoon (beofre 7pm EST), hit me up. I won't bug your first, you see; this is my compromise.
ALIVE!!! THE CONFLICTED WRITER IS (still) ALIVE!
THAT is a good news!
Good chapter. Your muse is sparse, but make a great work inspiring you! Maybe that's proof a good work need time…
A really good idea incorporated into a good story, that's all i need to say.
I really like reading about Celestia learning about mortal affairs all over again, the only problem are occasional typos, but i'm hardly the one to talk.
Loved this, very very cool way to go about it and its nice to see celestia learning somthing
My, it sure has been a while. I liked this chapter. The characters just seemed to be, I dunno... more like themselves I guess. You've really improved and I can definitely tell. I enjoyed the Oz and Wonderland references as it gave it a more show-like feel. Celestia felt wiser and little more like herself and didn't seem as naive as I thought her to be in previous chapters. Rainbow Dash seemed exactly how I imagine her to be when she decided to help at the slightest mention of Scootaloo. I can definitely see Rainbow Dash in that sort of big sister role. Each chapter seems to get better and better. I look forward to more.
Also, Alfred is the perfect name for a rooster.
FWIW, Twilight, I think that Celestia thought she knew that too. Maybe she did once but, somewhere along the line, she got to be so good at being the Princess, that she forgot how to be Celestia. Today was the first step for her in learning that lesson all over again.
Why doesn't Celestia grow a pair and just say what she wants to say? Seems to be artificially dragging out the situation.
And nopony in Canterlot is freaked at one the princesses being AWOL?
great to see this update, i do enjoy this story
Man, and Applejack says Celestia needs to learn some Integrity.
Wow... Kinda cuts when you realize that your idol is a lot more... mundane, fallible. Twilight realizes that her mentor doesn't know EVERYTHING about friendship. The divine are no longer as divine.
2664813 This. In pretty much every way.
Why is Celestia dragging her hooves on this? She needs to just tell AJ what could happen and then go. It's obvious AJ doesn't want her trying to replace her mother, and honestly, Celestia shouldn't be trying to worm her way into AJ's life. She gave that spot up a long time ago.
She's doing more harm than good like this, and AJ isn't going to just suddenly forgive her or open up to her. Hell, even after only a week, even with what Celestia has been doing, you've got AJ coming around too fast for my liking.
2667331
Give Applejack a break - she's been badly hurt by this entire situation. Acting spitefully and childishly is understandable, if not excusable. That said, she's going to be hard-pressed to earn the forgiveness of Granny, who clearly expects much better from her.
This is a good story,
please MOAR.
2670163
Straight up lying when your the element of honesty however, despite saying how much honesty matters to you?
Losing a mid-day lunch on a farm is actually quite painful! The lack of it can really hurt you over a period of time due to just how weak you'll end up being from a strenuous task if you constantly work and overtime you'll just feel like death becomes you. (Used to work on a farm, it was quite important to know these things)
My guess is she was hoping the lack of energy would kilter her to continuing on the farm, and she can get right out.
2663427
Glad you're still having fun~
And Thank will be a thing later, don't you worry.
2663537
I never really left, just have a VERY unresponsive muse. Thanks anyway~
2663655
Thank you~
2663666
Glad to still be around and kicking. And while I would accept you answer, that guy who made the riddle never bothered to make an answer, so... heh, heh.
2663667
There's goes Tia, not really thinking again.
2664090
Brains... brains...
2664210
BRAINS!
2664222
Thant answer, like Timelord's, works, but isn't one the guy who made it devised as the answer. I think you're both right.
2664236
Indeed it was.
2664311
Ho, ho, don't worry. That won't happen. Though I did make the stare something of a guilt trip. WHO knows what it might actually do?
2664394
What 2664435 said.
2664400
Ah, but Twilight thought her ancient teacher was perfect, being so old. She thought that living so long meant she knew so much and couldn't make mistakes. Now she's seeing she can.
2664540
I've always been more about dialogue than action, it's just my style. Words from characters flow better to me than what they're doing. I know it could use more, but I'm not sure how to get better at that in a character-study story.
That said, thanks! I'm just messing around and having fun. It's what I see when I look at Celestia. And while I did intend for this to be a study of Celestia, AJ will do more soon. And this is actually the third time it's been featured. ^_^
2664552
Spelling errors... the bane of my existence. >.< And thank you! I honestly was just writing this for fun... I never expected this to get so big. Thank you for all your advice and compliments, it is so very appreciated, and I wish I had more to say!
2664590
Please don't kill me and take everything I own. ;~;
2664664
Soon~
2664668
Character development is my fave thing in a story~
2664788
Woo! Soon my evil plan shall succeed and all will follow me. >:3
2664813>>2670091>>2666581
I understand what you all are saying. Why is she dragging her hooves on this matter?
In all honesty, there are two reasons. One: despite that it's obvious what the issue is to us and it seems important, to Celestia's it's not such a big deal, at least in this story. The second is that AJ being her daughter is not the point of the story. The point is that Celestia realized she doesn't know anything about her subjects, Twilight included. She wants to understand them and prove she, too, is a normal pony. What she doesn't get is that she isn't normal. That will be her greatest hurdle. And, well, she did do AJ wrong and ruined her life by association in a dumb way. She wants to make it up to her.
This is about Celestia learning, not her relationship with AJ. That's the plot, yes, but that's not the theme.
2664943
Thank you~
2664984
I have no idea what happened, but boy it made me laugh.
2665028
Yes they will, in fact.
2665289
Someday I'll get around to fixes the typos you so kindly point out. I should have brought it to you in gdocs first.
Now, in response to the cons, the whole town (and country) is freaking out, but so far I've dedicate one sentence to that. That will be handled next chapter. And I'm gonna pull out the "children's show' card for the rest of that, but we are dealing with Pinkie, Dash, and Fluttershy. In all honesty, Rarity is the only one I expect to freak out at the sight of her. Twilight, I wish, would show off that she grew up with the princess. And I see you found the loophole of Fluttershy's stare, hmm? Irony at it's finest. :P Speaking of irony, note the element of honesty telling a flat out lie. This was intentional.
Thank you for saying what you said about pros! I'm seriously just trying to write the characters as they are, and even sprinkling some of my own views in them glad it all works out to well.
And I'm glad to be doing the accent better. >_> I'd like to be accurate than a sheep follower.
And, hey, message me once in a while, I don't mind. The only reason I rarely message is because I'm a nervous wreck who can't say hello. I miss prereading you're work. Oh, and congrats again on making EQD. Maybe you can help me?
2665558
Brains!
Heh, thanks! I'm so happy you're enjoying this.
2665606
Tiposs? Wat'r yoo taaking aboot?
Seriously, thanks! I'm glad I've given the idea the justice I think it deserves.
2665621
My thoughts exactly.
2665649
Something I feel I haven't got across well in the other chapters is how she is still has wisdom and knows a lot. She's naive about some things, but not everything. And considering how one of the biggest complements I get for any story is how in character they are, saying they're more that way is a serious ego boost. 
It's been too long, huh? In any case, glad you enjoyed.
And I'm glad you liked Alfred. :3
2666092
This is something I believe about being immortal does to someone, assuming their mind is normal. A person only live about 90 years, and their memory isn't perfect. Things are forgotten, especially when they aren't reinforced. Being so high like the sun let her slip away from these things.
2666740
Woo~
2667331 2670163 2670888
You both are right. While AJ acting this way is understandable, and maybe forgivable, it's not right. She has some things she needs to learn. And you're on the mark, Wroth, AJ wants her to leave and wants to try and get a normal life again.
2670310
2671829
I understand your argument but have to disagree here. The title is 'Celestia's Daughter'. And the main lever of conflict you used is AJ being her secret offspring.
If you just wanted the theme to be Celestia learning and connecting with ponies on a normal level, there are a hundred other mechanisms to use. By using AJ, you have made their relationship central to the story regardless of your intention.
2671947 Gotta agree. Sorry Conflicted, still a great writer though!
2671829 >> its precisely because this is a character study story that you NEED more descriptors. In my own story "Princess Celestia: The Changeling Queen" I started the first chapters with a very telly style and generally focused more on dialogue. However, it severely impacted the immersion of my story. When i rewrote it (I"m in the process of doing so now) to a more showy style, I realized I was able to show more of my character's emotions, simply by adding descriptor sentences between important lines of dialogue. There doesn't have to be a descriptive sentence after every line, but it is very useful and helps a character driven story, if the reader knows how the character reacts to each line of dialogue. This not only improves pacing and such, but makes every line of dialogue important.
2673290
That I do, though I don't use it all that often
2671947>>2672183
Well ,by no means is it a small issue we're dealing with. And besides, remember that Celestia did basically ruin her. She wants to fix her own reputation to fix AJs. But your complaint is a valid one. Consider it me learning.
2672299
I'll be sure to study it~
It's just always looks superfluous to me, at least in my eyes. To me, it should only be what they are doing and, in real life, people usually stand still. Though your story sounds like fun.
2674204 Even in real life, the smallest of reactions/changes in stance or eyelids widening can mean a LOT. XD
2674294
Heh, I know. :P It just seems tedious to write them. I hate when I'm reading and it's interupted to tell me something. Granted, a chin scratch and foot tapping are things to write about, but those moments never seem to come up while I'm writing.
Ah, an update. It feels as though it has been such a long time, and what a fine update indeed.
2663666
Not a bad answer, though it might interest you to know that Lewis Carroll was bothered so often by people who were looking for an answer to the riddle, which was never supposed to have one, that he finally gave in and told them, "Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!"
Alice in Wonderland references...
