//------------------------------// // A Little Rain // Story: Thirty Minute Ponies // by QuirkyQuills //------------------------------// The Prompt: Rain, rain, go away Twilight Sparkle held her head high as she walked through the castle gardens, doing her best to imitate the stately gait of her teacher. In the week since Princess Celestia had taken her on, the unicorn had observed the alicorn even more closely than she had while studying for magic school - striving to learn the ruler’s habits, her likes and dislikes, what would please her and what would earn a raised brow in an otherwise carefully neutral face. And how Twilight could be just like her. She glanced over at Celestia to see how well her walk was holding up against the Princess’, and was rewarded by the sight of her teacher looking down at her with a warm, indulgent smile. Sisterly, even motherly, like the sun itself. "So… um… what are we going to learn today, Princess? I mean… um… what are you going to teach me? Because, of course, you already learned everything, and… um…." She trailed off, uncertain. Celestia laughed softly. "Not everything, Twilight Sparkle. There are things even I haven’t learned yet." "Oh." Twlight tried to think of something the Princess might not know. Obviously anything she knew would be something the Princess already did and therefore not something to bother her with - she never wanted to waste her teacher’s time! - but knowing something Celestia didn’t might impress her as well. But what? "Um… did you learn how the new Magicians Of Montrotal ended yet?" Twilight scolded herself as soon as the words were out. The Princess didn’t care about her storybooks! Celestia smiled, though, head tilting. "Why, no - I don’t think I know much about that at all." She tilted her head, moving to face Twilight squarely. "Tell me?" "Well… um… you see…." Twilight took a deep breath, putting on her best ‘report’ voice. "Magicians of Montrotal is about… um… Magicians. In Montrotal." She winced at that, looking up at Celestia’s indulgent smile, and cleared her throat. "Um… but the magicians aren’t nice. They use their magic against Pegasi and Earth Ponies and even Unicorns, because they’re powerful! Magic can do bad things sometimes, did you know?" "Yes," Celestia said after a moment, very softly. "I know. But there are brave ponies to stop them?" "Uh huh! Two Unicorns, two Pegasus…uses, and two Earth Ponies! And even a dragon, a phoenix, a griffin, and once there was a bison! But they weren’t always together, they met like this…." As Twilight got deeper into her tale, she started acting it out - bounding in circles, rearing on her hind legs to speak as the dragon, once even managing a brief levitation for a pegasus. Celestia lay on the grass just off the garden path, watching her with a smile and giving the occasional well-placed chuckle or gasp. "And then the dragon said—eep!" Twilight scuttled back as an unexpected raindrop landed on her snout. "Eep?" Celestia echoed, a hint of laughter in her voice. Twilight shook her head, nose wrinkling a bit. "No. She said—hey!" The filly danced about briefly as more drops spattered onto her dusky purple hide, casting an accusing glance upward. "It’s raining!" "So it is," Celestia said, with more than a hint of laughter. "The morning report didn’t say anything about this!" Twilight dashed back toward the princess, bouncing around her in agitation. "The pegasus ponies are supposed to let us know! Let’s go inside and then talk to them!" "Don’t worry so much." Celestia smiled, extending one wing and nodding toward it; Twilight ducked under the feathery umbrella with a huff. "And I never ask for the weather schedule if I’m not holding a public event. A little rain won’t ruin an afternoon with a friend." "Never? But… but then the rain can catch you out like this, and…." "A little rain can’t extinguish the sun. Or melt even the sweetest of foals." Celestia shrugged a bit. "Twilight Sparkle, did you know there are areas even in Equestria where nopony controls the weather at all? It simply does as it pleases." "Yeah, but this isn’t one of them." "No," Celestia admitted. "Even so. Don’t you think it’s a little fun to have a surprise?" "I like schedules." "I know," the Princess said warmly. "Schedules and lists and charts and graphs. My superbly organized little Twilight Sparkle. But in my case, nearly every aspect of my life is scheduled, outside of our time together." "Sounds good!" "Sometimes. And sometimes it’s fun to get caught in a little shower." Celestia smiled, tilting her head at Twilight. "When you’re as old as I am, Twilight Sparkle, you’ll find surprises few and far between, and relish the ones you get." "I’m never gonna be as old as you!" Twilight protested. "You’re the oldest pony ever, nopony’s even close to that old!" She clapped her hooves over her mouth as she spoke, eyes wide. Grown mares were so sensitive about age! urely now she’d called her own doom down! Celestia only laughed, a surprised and merry sound, before she leaned down to nuzzle her student, still chuckling. "I suppose so. But here - I’ll show you something." The alicorn’s horn lit as she stood, and in a moment she’d called a bubble over them to shield them from the rain. Twilight prodded it with a hoof, eyes wide. "Now you try." It took a few false starts, but soon Twilight had called the shield up too, and she bounced around Celestia as the alicorn dispelled her own bubble. "I did it, I did it! And look, mine’s all pinky-purple, and…." The top bowed inward, collecting water. Then it burst, dumping it over princess and foal. Celestia and Twilight stared at each other a long moment before the filly spoke up in a tiny voice. "Um… was that… a surprise?" Celestia stared at her a moment more, mane plastered to elegant face. Then she started laughing again. "It certainly was, Twilight Sparkle! Is… this?" She reared, bringing her hooves down in a puddle to splash her student. Twilight shrieked and laughed and tried to do the same, and the two cantered back to the castle in a disordered, puddle-splashing race.