//------------------------------//
// A Stroll through the Gardens. 
// Story: My Little Space Empire: Mechs are Magic 
// by Wheezyandbreezy 
//------------------------------//

Sir Twilight Sparkle and Sir Pinkie Pie, a title which still made the pink pilot giggle, walked slowly side by side through one of the many luscious gardens of the Viceroy Celestia's palace on Terra. The sun shone a hazy gold onto the many flowering bushes and trees. Light sprinkled through the shady bows and caused all manner of fantastic effects on the various statues and sculptures scattered throughout the grounds. Twilight, as always, wore her military uniform. Her officer's greatcoat, epaulettes, and high boots clashed comically with Pinkie Pie's simple civilian dress, hardly more than a slip.

Twilight for the first time in her life had someone she could talk to without knowing their entire history before even laying eyes on them. She never knew until now how nice it was to get to know someone. Unfortunately that meant she had to learn how to socialize from scratch. Luckily for her, Pinkie Pie was absolutely the most sociable person in the galaxy so she was in good hands. 

Pinkie handed Twilight an apple, and she unthinkingly munched it as the pink haired pilot prattled on about this and that. After a long winded explanation about proper dessert decorations, Pinkie looked sheepishly at Twilight and said. "Ya know. . ." Pinkie looked away slightly embarrassed. "You're the very first person who doesn't get bothered by me talking so much. Normally by now anyone else would've either had something else to do or tried to kill me." Pinkie giggled until she snorted.

Twilight couldn't keep a grin off her face. She finished her bite of apple and responded. "Well Pinkie, you're the first person I've ever met who I couldn't read. Normally I know everything about someone the second I see them, but with you I don't even know you're there until you announce yourself."

Pinkie leaned in slightly too close for comfort, as was her way, and asked in a teasing tone. "Is that why I spookered you when we first met?"

Twilight reddened slightly recalling the scene. "That among other reasons," she said, pushing her out of her personal space. 

Pinkie giggled mischievously. "And is that the reason I'm the only one who can beat you in the sparring ring." She winked an eye and stuck her tongue out.

Twilight glared. "Yes! That and you Cheat! I mean WHO THROWS A PIE DURING COMBAT?!!!" Twilight's face reddened slightly.

Pinkie Pie laughed until she had to lie down on the path. "Y- you -you- You should've seen your face!"

Twilight couldn't ward off the infectious giggles and soon had to slip gently down onto a bench and join her friend in laughing until she cried. She inhaled deeply and wiped a tear from her eye. "Yes well, I'll give you that one." She stood up and paced in thought. "It does baffle me though." She reached down with her non apple holding hand and helped a still snickering Pinkie Pie onto her feet. "I mean I just get no reading from you whatsoever. Every psychic that tries to read you has to be hospitalized with a migraine." Twilight grew mildly irritated. "You seem to know things are going to happen before they happen. Not even the Viceroys or I can do that!"

Pinkie Pie's face started to sag in concern. She knew where this train of thought was leading and she didn't like it. She never enjoyed this conversation. Twilight was now pacing about gesticulating wildly with her free hand and speaking loudly. "And the most advanced computer systems in the empire can't predict your movements so we can't even build you proper training scenarios! We literally just grabbed one of everything for your mech suit to try and cover our bases tactically." She rounded on her friend, not noticing her change in mood. "Literally who else would ever use a FLAMETHROWER in a SPACE BATTLE, but YOU DID IT! How?! How do you make reality make less sense around you? How do you function?" 

Pinkie Pie's mood had entirely darkened. Only now did Twilight Sparkle realize that her friend was almost on the verge of tears. A heavy silence hung between them. Pinkie Pie's big blue eyes eventually settled on the unfinished apple that was starting to brown in Twilight's hand. "Twilight?" She flicked her eyes towards the fruit. "Where'd you get that apple." 

Twilight raised an eyebrow high on her head and glanced at the apple. The question seemed ridiculous even for Pinkie Pie. She inhaled to answer but another moment of silence passed between them. It occurred to Twilight that she actually hadn't thought about where it had come from. Finally after an overlong moment she recalled, "Oh! Uhh you gave it to me!"

Pinkie stared chin lowered, eyebrows raised condescendingly. "And where did I get it?" Her face hardened in annoyance. "Did I bring it with me? Have I been holding an apple all day?"

Twilight looked at the ground and rubbed the back of her head in deep contemplation. "Well. . . I guess I thought you picked it from one of the trees."

Pinkie Pie unexpectedly, as was her custom, got face to face with Twilight and screamed. "Are there ANY APPLE trees in this garden TWILIGHT?! A tear leaked from her eye and streamed slowly down her cheek.

Twilight's face went blank. She stared at the apple in her hand as if it had just turned into a fiery serpent. "But. . . There must. . . ? Twilight suddenly leapt up high into the air and supported herself telekinetically as she scrutinized every step they had taken through the garden that afternoon. There wasn't an apple tree to be found. She saw one of the gardeners on the opposite side of the garden from when they'd come in, and psychically interrogated him about the contents of the garden. There weren't any fruit bearing trees in any of Celestia's gardens, the uneaten fruit was a nuisance. 

Twilight landed and once again stared at the apple in her hand. "Pinkie. . . Where the fuck did you get this apple?!"

"THAT TWILIGHT! THAT RIGHT THERE!" Pinkie screamed, tears flowing freely now. Twilight flinched back slightly at the emotion. "My whole life stuff has just happened. I don't even bother asking questions anymore because there's never a good answer! I just stumble through life and do my best to keep a smile." She broke down onto a bench and sobbed openly. Twilight had limited experience comforting crying women, but her instinct was just about correct. She sat down beside her crying friend and cautiously put a hand to her shoulder.  "Do you know why I joined the Navy Twilight?" She fished a small billfold out of one of the small pockets in her dress. A pocket too small to hold the apple she'd been eating, Twilight noticed, to her annoyance. She pulled an old physical photograph of her and her family, a rarity in those days. Pinkie stuck out like a sore thumb with her big goofy smile juxtaposed with her family's traditional mineral world dignity. Pinkie flipped the picture over and on the back was a small sticker with a battleship loosing a full broadside. "I only signed up because the recruiter had stickers.

Twilight's body went rigid, her long dark purple hair hung over her face. Pinkie Pie continued."That's why I like being around you." She put her head on Twilight's shoulder. "You seem to know everything, and just what we should do. Things make sense around you." Pinkie Pie stopped when she saw a single tear hit the picture. She realized that Twilight was gently shaking under her cheek. Pinkie raised her head to look at Twilight's face. She brushed back her long hair to get a better look and saw that her friend's face was beet red and tears were streaming down her face.

She'd been stifling her laughter. She tried not to look but finally Twilight made eye contact with Pinkie and the dam broke. She burst out laughing and Pinkie was honestly taken aback for a moment. "I'M SORRY!. . . I'M SORRY!" Twilight wheezed between laughs. "I know that this is horrible but THAT!" She howled with laughter again. "That is the most RIDICULOUS thing I've ever heard." She leaned forward and laughed until it hurt.

Pinkie Pie's surprise faded into disbelief, then annoyance, then acceptance. "Okay I'll. . . I'll give you that one," she said. Now it was her turn to be unable to resist the infectious giggles and soon the two were laughing raucously. Twilight laughed so hard that she slipped backward off of the bench and accidently pulled Pinkie Pie down with her still laughing. 

Finally Twilight's laughter petered out into broken sniggles. She unthinkingly pulled Pinkie into a hug and wheezed. "You signed up for life and death struggles. . . " She snickered hard. "Because they had stickers." She wheezed out a choking laugh.

Pinkie Pie snorted at the silliness of the statement. "Well duh?" She snatched the picture off of the bench with her toes. "Do you see this sticker? It's embossed and everything!"

After another bout of chuckling Twilight finally calmed down enough to say, "I love you Pinkie." Unthinkingly. In the way that one offhandedly tells a friend they love them.

Pinkie Pie's face went blank, and she shifted back far enough to see Twilight's face. She stared hard into her commander's violet eyes. Twilight, as happened often with the pink haired pilot, grew mildly uncomfortable and began to ask what was the matter. She was cut off by Pinkie Pie darting her face forward and planting a deep kiss onto her lips.

Twilight's eyes shot open at the unexpected contact. A thousand thoughts shot through her mind simultaneously, but none could gain any purchase in her delirious state. After several seconds Pinkie pulled away, and much to Twilight's surprise, she felt herself reconnect the kiss. Twilight's mind, for the first time in her life, shut down. All that existed in the universe right then, all that mattered, was the woman in her arms, and on her lips.
Twilight pulled Pinkie in tighter and kissed her deeper. Pinkie, seeing that her advances were well received, rolled on top of Twilight and hid both of their faces under her long pink curls. 

A long time later S.P.I.K.E. chimed in to remind Twilight that it was time for her scheduled dinner with her parents. Twilight scrambled awkwardly off of Pinkie Pie to put S.P.I.K.E. back into sleep mode, forgetting momentarily that her A.I. was controlled completely with her mind.

Before S.P.I.K.E. could mention her uniform being out of regulation Twilight finally gave the mental command to make the intrusive little hologram go away. She breathed heavily trying to calm herself down. "Damnit all! I completely lost track of time!" She said as she reached for her uniform shirt. "We're going to be late for dinner! Where the HELL are my Fucking Panties!" Twilight shouted.

Pinkie Pie cleared her throat. Twilight saw that Pinkie was holding them in her teeth mischievously, and her mind went blank. "I don't think your parents will mind if you're just a widdle iddle teensy weensy bit late," she said through clenched teeth, pressing her breasts together in the ancient female technique for getting your way.

Twilight, as was the only possible outcome under such skillful manipulation, stared for a moment before sheepishly slipping back down beside her. "Well I suppose we're already late. A little later can't hurt."