Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better, Part One.
Luna felt positively giddy while entering her bedroom. It had been a truly marvelous day, easily one of her most favorite in her significantly long life. Running court in the day had been better than she could have ever imagined. Luna now knew what kept her older sister functioning so well after all these centuries. The Princess of the Night had helped settle no less than five disputes and still had time to converse pleasantly with dozens of ponies; servants, courtiers and visitors alike. They'd all been very happy to speak with her. The warm glow of all of that attention, the need and admiration for her special set of skills hadn't yet left despite it being many hours later. It was also exhausting, though, and Luna had blown right through her usually scheduled nap.
Now came the simple reality of her break from the norm. Luna wasn't going to be overseeing her beloved night tonight. It wasn't the first time she'd been absent, not even including the thousand years of her banishment. On occasion she'd had the flu, or was away on important business without time to attend to more than the raising of her particular celestial body. Equestria could handle an evening without her watching over her subject's dreams or altering the orbit of the moon just enough to make it all the more impressive. Luna still had a great fondness for her night, but the complete newness of ruling in Celestia's place made her want to do it all over again.
Luna even had some potential plans to do just that, in fact. She wasn't the only one who had had a marvelous day, not if the utterly relaxed way her older sister had strolled into a meeting was anything to go by. The difference in how Celestia had carried herself was startling, Luna had used the term 'strolled' while thinking about it and it was a completely apt description. Her older sister always went places with a purpose, her head high up and proud in all of her regal glory. That was not the same Celestia who had admired artwork, chit-chatted with a few passing workers and then nibbled on treats in the throne room while Luna kept working.
They hadn't had a much longer talk than a few minutes before her older sister had announced she was taking a leisurely flight, and was then off. The plan to give Celestia some much needed downtime was paying off handsomely it seemed. That kind of wild success was sure to result in more afternoons like today if all went well. Luna even envisioned a sharing of the day and night on occasion. Instead of them both ruling strictly according to their particular half of the day, Luna might enjoy daytime responsibilities and all of the daytime ponies that went with it.
But all of that excitement had taken its toll on her. Luna sighed when she nuzzled into her bed, putting the covers over herself and pressing her head onto a fluffy pillow. Sleep came on her instantly, a sleep that needed no magical influence. It wasn't long before the black nothingness of unconscious was transformed into vivid colors and sounds. As a mistress of dreams Luna was always lucid inside of them. But it was a rare treat for the Princess to even have a dream without provoking one on purpose, and so she simply settled back to allow her dream state to flow without tampering with it. Soon she recognized where she was and what she was dreaming of. A distant memory; Celestia and her playing about as young fillies in a forest.
"Where are you? Sunny?" The young version of Luna, only a pegasus at this point, called aloud. She peered suspiciously through thick bushes, not liking being by herself.
There was a few stifled giggles, coming somewhere off to her right. Looking that way, the young filly took a step back at the sight of a great gray furred wolf. Its teeth were enormous, globs of drool landing on the ground as it stared at her with ravenous hunger.
Her eyes widened as tears welled up, fear going beyond any possible rational thought kept the filly completely rooted to the ground. "P...p..." Was about as far as the young Luna could manage, unable even to muster the words begging the creature not to devour her.
The enormous creature took a step forward and then its form wavered out of shape before the illusion crumbled entirely. All that was left where the wolf had been was a white coated unicorn filly with a bright pink mane, rolling on the ground laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face Lulu!"
"I...I.." Luna sniffed, her cheeks becoming wet as she gave a hiccup of a sob. "I'm telling Dad!" Immediately bolted for the opposite direction, as fast as she could.
The dream faded to the sounds of her older sister calling after her. "I didn't mean it Luna! Come back you big baby!"
Father always had said that they were the most beautiful, and wonderful, daughters that any pony could hope for. As bright as the sun and as captivating as the moon that he'd named them after. That was so long ago that the memory hardly felt like more than a fragment, her imagination filling in sections she could not recall. For instance, Luna was fairly certain that she'd exaggerated how much Celestia had scared her. It had been more like she'd jumped out of the bushes and yelled 'boo'.
That was right, there wasn't a wolf. Neither of them had known what a wolf was back then, they had not had any reason to be afraid. Her sleep was disturbed by something on the edge of her perception, the Princess couldn't quite make it out but somehow three distinct young voices had filtered into her subconscious. There was something important about those familiar, hushed whispers, something she'd forgotten before going to sleep.
The door to her bedchambers suddenly slammed shut. Luna jolted awake and immediately sat up to look about her room for what had caused the noise. Her senses were all on high alert, but nothing seemed out of place. She was out of breath now, hooves planted on her sheets. Putting the pieces back together on what had happened, Luna realized that the Cutie Mark Crusaders must have paid a visit to her room...again. Right, Night Fright, that ridiculous game that she had blundered into playing now twice.
Well, it looked like nothing was amiss. Perhaps the three fillies had not been expecting Luna to retire to bed so soon. Yes, that was probably it. They had been surprised she was asleep and had ran out of the room out of fear of being caught. Breathing a sigh of relief she reached up with a hoof to rub at a bit of sweat that had formed along her nose.
Her hoof was wet.
Luna's brow crinkled into confusion when she felt liquid touch her nose, it was coating her hoof. Looking down at her sheets she realized that the fabric was actually completely soaked. Her horn became alight, pale blue illumination showed...red?
With mounting trepidation the Princess of the Moon slowly pulled away the covers to reveal nothing. There was nothing at all in her bed. But where had all of the red, it was most definitely not water, came from? Luna was in the earliest stages of being completely 'freaked out' and was not at all amused at whatever had just happened to her bed.
Drip
A large red droplet of something landed on her head. Then there was another. Luna looked up and met the gaze of the decapitated head of a pony staring right into her eyes.
All of the Royal Palace could hear Luna's screams after that, with various degrees of concern and surprise. The only exception were three very entertained little girls who gave each other high fives at a successful plan.
Princess Celestia couldn't help but laugh as she recalled the entertainment of last night. Her top staff and bureaucrats all turned to stare at their Princess, who had apparently decided to start have a giggle fit in the middle of a very boring budget meeting. Usually Celestia would be upset with herself for that serious breach of gravitas, it was entirely inappropriate to interrupt Prince Blueblood as he rambled on about his suggestions on changing the tax code. But it had been simply too amusing to listen to Luna tell, in near hysterics, what she'd found above her bed when she woke up.
"My apologies, I was thinking of something funny." Celestia assured her budget committee, waving them off to continue.
A surprisingly realistic prop pony head, covered in thick fake blood. In dim lighting and a groggy state it would look exactly like the real thing and had done its job admirably. Luna had slept in her bed the rest of the night. That in itself was rather adorable, Luna hadn't done that since they were exceedingly young. Even before they returned to Equestria, finding it under the domain of Discord. That was ancient history and Celestia reminded herself that she should be paying attention.
Fortunately Prince Blueblood loved to hear the sound of his own voice as he'd hardly broken stride at the minor interruption. "-Over the last four years we've seen a three percent decrease in revenues from foreign imports. I would like to submit to the committee a paired increase on tariffs from the Gryphon Kingdom and a reworking of the code of sub-section A, clause four, of the Joint-Equine Trade Development Law of..." Blueblood shuffled the papers for a moment to review the year that the law had been made.
"of 845, Equestrian Harmony," Celestia finished it for him, sighing and reaching for her cup of tea. She didn't know every single law she'd ever made. She'd signed it over twelve hundred years ago and strangely it was easy to remember. Though she couldn't recall why she remembered it, just that there was a good reason.
For a second there was a flash of worry easy to discern on the boorish unicorn's face. Interesting, he hadn't wanted her to know what he was talking about. Celestia slipped into her 'attention' mode, focusing on Blueblood more than she had been. Some ponies were as easy to read as a book, and Blueblood had more tells than a gossip.
"Yes, you're quite right your highness," he shuffled his papers again and gathered himself together for a moment. "As I was saying. I would recommend a striking of the section dealing with stiff tax penalties on businesses or individuals seeking direct acquisition of foreign market infrastructure."
She was almost insulted that Blueblood thought he could overwhelm her with big words, but the only way that Celestia reacted to the suggestion was to lift an eyebrow carefully. Blueblood squirmed under her watchful gaze, which she'd been doing only for the added pleasure of it. What he was up to wasn't hard to figure out now. His recommendation had sparked her memory about why the incredibly arcane and dense tax code had that particular aspect. Back then it had been to prevent predatory business ponies from dominating the vulnerable new nation of Hayti, whose economy wouldn't have been able to handle carpetbaggers buying up land and capital. In fact, some of Blueblood's ancestors had tried fundamentally the same trick as he was now.
"I'm afraid that I will have to deny both of your suggestions, Blueblood. I would also like to remind you that the spirit of harmony promotes mutual cooperation, not exploitation of our neighbors who might be in a vulnerable economic position." Celestia sipped her tea again, finishing while narrowing her eyes over her cup to complete her message.
With the jig up, Blueblood wilted and nodded unhappily. Celestia was sure she'd just saved Cadence and Shining Armor from a serious headache. The newly returned Crystal Empire was little better than a city state at this point, and it would take a great many years before it could hope to return to its former glory. They did not need the kind of help that Blueblood would have had in mind.
"Say, sonny, can you go fetch me another bag of fertilizer? My back ain't what it use to be."
"Eeyup."
Celestia looked to her right over the balcony of the marble terrace adjacent to the Royal Canterlot Gardens. Big Macintosh walked over to a pile of supplies and placed a heavy looking bag over his back. At this time of day the sun was fairly hot, both Green Hoof and Big Mac working up a visible sweat, which even she could see a good distance away, while steadily planting the first apple trees of the garden's new apple orchard.
Her focus lingered out onto the field, eyes unable to entirely stray away from the work being done in general and a certain red coated stallion in particular. Now there was a respectable pony, all of Canterlot 'high society' could learn a thing or two about how to act from his example. All she'd asked was Big Mac's opinion about apple trees and here he was the next day planting some for her without any issue. Apparently he'd went right back to Ponyville and brought them here right after they'd went for a walk in the garden. She'd need to come up with another reason to spend some time with h-
"Ahem, your highness?" A voice next to her spoke up, jerking Celestia out of her idle thoughts. She quickly looked back at the gathered assembly of her highest government officials and realized she'd been staring.
Now Blueblood, who had tried to steer the conversation away from his faux pas, was the one arching an eyebrow while looking her way. He spoke up in place of Pencil Pusher, who'd first tried to get her attention. "Perhaps we should move the meeting back into the regular room? The gardeners are a bit...loud at the moment, you'd think they didn't know an important meeting was occurring here." Blueblood rolled his eyes, demonstrating how little he thought of the two out on the field digging up holes.
Celestia had to resist giving her 'nephew' a less than pleased look, he was being unusually unbearable today. "It is quite alright. I rather like the change of atmosphere myself," she quipped, giving a flap of her wings to resettle them and appear as pleasant as possible while tilting her head. "I didn't make the day too hot, did I?"
As she expected there were a chorus of 'No your highness' after that seemingly innocent question. It was a nice little reminder about who exactly was the Princess here.
But still, she'd just been caught staring and that was more than a little embarrassing. That might have bothered Celestia more than it did just a few days ago, when maintaining a stately disposition had been essentially her entire identity. At this point Celestia was realizing just how right her sister had been with her advice. Centuries of endless work, and little in the way of personal time, had left her more than a little uptight.
"Good then," Celestia lifted up a few weighty sections of the next fiscal years budget. "Lets move onto a review of appropriations." Finding out how much she'd been missing with a bit of relaxation didn't mean work ended, though. The meeting moved on, a few sighs unavoidable at the decision to move onto perhaps the least exciting portion of their duties.
At least it was nice outside, not that the Canterlot Weather Team would ever let it not be nice unless it was scheduled. Celestia had moved this meeting out to the terrace for the first time in...well, none of the ponies at the table would be able to remember. Neither would their parents, in fact, and the span of time didn't even seem that enormous to her. The inspiration had arrived when Green Hoof had submitted a request to start work this morning, mentioning that Big Macintosh was going to be involved. It just seemed like a good idea to make a change on the spur of the moment, attempting to be spontaneous had been quite enjoyable so far. Celestia just couldn't resist the chance to make the move.
It was easy to think of other things while leafing through the lists of where particular bits were moving, but then her eyes caught an interesting figure. Farm subsidies were unusually low in some areas and high in others. This needed investigation. After she procured a more specific and weighty list of past budgets for review she realized what had occurred. Over the years certain farms, mostly fruit producers, had been able to return profits at such high rates that increases in their subsidies hadn't seemed necessary. Vegetables, by contrast, had not fared so well and thus got an increase to keep them running. Such was the logic of bureaucrats and now the thing subsidies were made to avoid, a race to the bottom in fruit prices, had made it very tight for certain farmers and risked them being driven out of business.
Once again Celestia drifted to look over at Big Macintosh. She could recall half a dozen reports from Twilight that alluded to the Apple family having some financial problems. Now it made sense, and Celestia realized she had a whole new reason to see Big Mac. Of course, not that she really needed a reason it was just that it would seem rude to take up such a busy ponies time. That was it, of course.
"I'll have to ask him for lunch in my office to tell him the good news." Celestia said out loud to conclude her decision.
Pencil Pusher gave her a strange look. "Excuse me Princess? Tell who the good news?"
Blinking, Celestia put a hoof to her mouth and coughed to give her a moment to think. "Ah, nothing important. But I did happen to notice that our agriculture department could use a little boost..."
It was a monumental effort to keep her office from becoming too ostentatious. Just the sheer volume of gifts and artifacts that were acquired over the years made it difficult to figure out just where to put things. Every few decades a new museum would be dedicated when the basement of the palace could no longer hold things in storage. At this particular moment Celestia had hired a more spartan decorator and so only a few curiosities were located on desks in the otherwise very large room.
It was dim, too, as the curtains were drawn, giving the room a more closed in appeal. Not that Big Macintosh appeared to notice any of it as he sat opposite of Celestia, her desk between them. Inviting him up here had been a lot easier than asking him to accompany her through the gardens yesterday. It had been a simple request, followed by a 'eeyup'.
Now they were up on the top floor of the highest spire, as close to her sun as might be found anywhere in Equestria short of flying.
"-and thus I have decided to include a sizable increase in your subsidy, I am very sorry for the previous years where the error was overlooked. If I could, I would make it retroactive to fit where the increase might have been, but considering all the farms in Equestria that would likely consume a large portion of the treasury." Celestia finished speaking, smiling the whole time. It was peaceful up here, and quiet.
Big Macintosh gave a powerful shrug, shifting the ever present bit of straw in his mouth that Celestia had started to find was entertaining to watch in between words. "Ain't a problem Princ-, er, Celestia. The Apple Family ain't in the habit of complaining 'bout things like that. Mighty grateful that you're increasing the subsidy, but ah'd never let the farm go under if'n I could help it."
That was an admirable sentiment, and one that Celestia could believe was entirely honest. "Well now you'll have some help. Without farms like yours many ponies would be stuck eating grass or very expensive food, I hardly think they'd approve very much." She chuckled at just trying to imagine it, anypony who complained about 'rewarding farmers for not producing'' would have a different opinion in a hurry after that.
Nodding, Big Mac only gave a smile at her joke. Cinnamon Swirl, her personal chef, entered in through a side door, generally facing Celestia but also taking the time to regard the other occupant. "Your highness," the light brown earth pony chef began, bowing. "What would you and the gentlecolt like for lunch?"
Celestia turned first to Macintosh, beckoning him to order first. There was a moments pause, Big Mac giving a rub of his chin. "Ah suppose I wouldn't mind a lettuce and tomato sandwich. Oh, and some coffee if'n ya had some." Cinnamon nodded to confirm it wasn't a problem.
It was easier for Celestia to think of what she wanted, it was hard not to acquire certain favorites over a long history of requesting lunches. "I wouldn't mind a bit of chocolate cake and, " Well, perhaps something new would actually be better "....I would like some coffee as well." Now Cinnamon Swirl was giving her an odd look. Celestia couldn't blame Cinnamon either, the love affair between her and tea was almost legendary by now. But again, spontaneous. Also coffee had become very popular in her land lately, surely there was something to it.
"Very well your highness. I'll be back with your meals shortly." Cinnamon bowed again, turned and left for the kitchen set not far from the office. Now both Celestia and Big Mac were alone, back to quiet intimacy.
For a change, Big Macintosh was the one who spoke up only a few short moments after the door had closed. "Heard Applebloom and her friends gave Princess Luna quite a scare last night."
Small talk, wonderful. Celestia beamed at the easy topic that he'd just offered. And here she'd idly worried things might become awkward. "Yes, though Luna only insists she was 'startled'. It seems their little game is still on. My little sister is not a fan of losing."
Macintosh was grinning quite a bit, nodding. "Applejack's the same way. Every time her and Miss Rainbow Dash butt heads you'd think they'd sooner die than let the other win. Good thing they're friends or else it'd probably end in a hoof fight."
Now there was another thing they had in common, being older siblings. "I'm sure that Luna doesn't mind your sister or her friends. She could probably do without being scared half to death though." Celestia tapped a hoof on her desk, thinking about it. "It can certainly be a challenge with younger siblings don't you think?"
"Sure can, wouldn't trade what I got with 'Bloom or Applejack for the world but its nice to know they got other ponies to be friends with. Siblings ain't always able to be friends quite like other strangers can, if'n that makes sense. Specially if you're really all they got." Macintosh had been rubbing his mane for a moment. His last few words had grown a bit more solemn, a distance that she could see in his eyes.
Celestia couldn't help but recall the reality that the Sweet Apple Acres clan was missing two very important figures. Even if his words had been an opening for it, she dared not ask. That was more nosy than she really felt comfortable with. After all, she'd only really gotten to know Big Macintosh for...well, since yesterday. Could they even be considered really friends?
"It does make sense, you're very right Big Mac." Celestia added after a short pause, just in time for their food to be wheeled out. Cinnamon Swirl hadn't taken much time at all, though neither of their requests had been very complicated.
"For the gentlecolt...and for your highness." Now her cake and steaming cup of coffee were in front of her. Cinnamon had laid out a cup in between them filled with milk and another with sugar.
Big Macintosh ignored both and reached for his cup, sipping at the very black liquid and making a satisfied sound. "That's mighty fine," he commented, taking another small mouthful.
Celestia peered at her own cup of coffee with a bit of trepidation. She'd never had the stuff before and could only distantly recall what others had done when drinking it near her. Something about adding cream and sugar, which were right here, but not in what amounts. Macintosh was looking at her while holding the cup up to his mouth, an expectant look.
Taking up the black unaltered coffee in her magical aura, Celestia perched it to her lips and took an experimental sip.
"Blagh!" She didn't manage to spit it out, having at least that much self control, but her reaction bordering on a near gag and expression told the story well enough. It tasted absolutely awful! How could ponies be so insane as to enjoy drinking coffee? It was like watery mud, only even more bitter and unpleasant.
Big Macintosh had started to laugh, really the first time Celestia had ever heard him do so. It was enough to distract her from her increasingly critical first impression of coffee.
"You ain't never had coffee before, have ya?" Macintosh asked her, still chuckling and setting his cup down.
Celestia couldn't help blushing a little at being caught, helplessly nodding a bit while still holding her drink up. "I was curious after you ordered it."
Big Mac got up out of his seat, leaning up and over her desk to grab the floating cup out of the air. For a brief moment Celestia's magical aura had wreathed itself around his hoof, which gave her a whole new reason to redden. The curious quality of that particular bit of unicorn magic was that it allowed the user to get a general 'feel' for whatever they were touching. While indirect, Big Mac had basically done the same as touching her own hoof, while at the same time she'd gotten an interesting impression.
Strength, not that she needed to know that anymore than she already did. But the few seconds of magic had really driven home that important aspect of his character. Physical as well as emotional strength, she'd felt a deep inner calmness in a way that could really only be explained as 'magic'. Not that Macintosh was privy to any of that, he had probably only felt a slight tingle and then moved the captured coffee over to his side of the desk.
"Takes awhile to get use to coffee, specially if ya try to go and drink it black. Ah ain't always in the most reasonable state in the morning before work so I just drink it like that. Then I'm good and awake. Now ah just like it that way, but you'd be better off with a bit of cream at least." Big Macintosh explained while ladling in few spoonfuls of sugar and then pouring in milk so that the black liquid was diluted into a more brownish color. "There ya go, try it now," satisfied, he moved it back for her consideration.
With a bit of hesitation Celestia lifted it once more and tried it again. Better, far far better. That bitter taste was still there, but manageable and more like flavoring than the overpowering assault it had been before. "Ah, that is much better," she added after swallowing and then tried a bit more.
Macintosh nodded, still chuckling. "Ain't got to try and impress me none, Applejack can't stand the stuff. Usually she wakes up a hour or two after me so she ain't quite so ornery when getting to work. "
Conversation was halted for awhile while they had their lunch, but it was still that same comfortable silence that Celestia had grown fond of whenever she was around Big Mac. It was one of the biggest reasons she liked him so much; she never had to feel like she needed to fill space with chatter just to keep him entertained. Hopefully that would never change, Big Macintosh staying respectful and polite, but not deferential and overawed by her position.
"How has the planting been going? I saw you were doing quite well earlier." Celestia decided it'd be best to start the conversation again, finishing her last portion of her cake.
Macintosh put the remnants of his sandwich down and considered for a moment. "Got a bit to go, but we're making good time. Green Hoof said he's got to keep up on the other parts of the garden so I'll be out there on my own."
Hm. "Oh, well that is very admirable Big Macintosh but you hardy need to do it all on your own." Celestia wasn't sure if it was possible to dissuade him though, especially if he had set his mind on it. "I'm sure I could find you some help."
Shrugging, Big Mac shifted the bit of straw to the right now. "Its a job, ain't mind it none at all. Wouldn't feel right to ask a pony whose doin' something else to dig holes and plant new trees."
'Yes but then what would I have to look at?' Where had that thought come from? No, Celestia reminded herself not to get distracted by idle thoughts. Still, she didn't want Big Mac out there working all by himself. Suddenly she had inspiration. "Perhaps I could be of assistance to you, Macintosh. Personally, that is." That certainly seemed to surprise him, though there was a bit of disbelief in his eyes at the very idea, "If I were to have some free time, a little gardening might be fun."
"Reckon you'd probably be able to dig up the whole garden in a few seconds if'n ya really wanted to," Macintosh spoke slowly, sounding careful in his words. "No offense Princess but fancy unicorn magic ain't always healthy for the trees, especially when they're just growing. Earth Pony magic gets down in the roots, takes awhile but that's how it works when you're out there with a shovel and some water."
Now that almost sounded like a challenge. "Big Macintosh, I am familiar with earth pony magic. Along with my horn and wings I also happen to embody that aspect as well. I am more than capable of planting a garden."
For once Big Mac actually seemed alarmed. He vigorously shook his head. "Ah' didn't mean it that way Princess. I'm sure ya could do the work."
"Oh?" Celestia couldn't help but add a uplift to her tone while feeling a touch of amusement, a lesser version of what she'd felt when putting Blueblood on the spot. Too many centuries of messing with ponies made it almost something she did on default for entertainment. "Then what did you mean?"
Macintosh appeared to be struggling to come up with a reply, his words no longer quite so measured and deliberate. "Just that, well. You seem mighty busy, I just reckoned you wouldn't have the time to do simple work like that while running Equestria. I didn't mean nothing else by it, Princess."
Really., he was simply too much fun to tease. That earnestness was very cute. "Oh I'm sure you didn't mean any offense. Unfortunately you're right that I am rather busy this afternoon with a prior arrangement, so perhaps it will have to wait. But, Big Mac?"
He still looked nervous, hesitant. "Er, yes?"
"Its just Celestia, you've started calling me 'Princess' again." Celestia smiled, a mild reproof if anything but hearing her name without laurel or qualification felt too refreshing still to let things slip back to how they were, at least with Big Mac anyway.
"Right, just sort of...unusual to call ya anything else besides that." Macintosh looked considerate, much like that guarded look she'd noticed the day before.
"And why is that Big Macintosh? Aren't we friends?" Up until Celestia had been as cool as a cucumber. Teasing was an easy way to dissipate tension. But she'd went and sought an answer that had some actual risk. Did Macintosh consider them friends or was he just being polite for the sake of his Princess? Her chest was squeezing in that moment before he replied.
"I suppose we are," Big Mac said slowly, the caution again with a slight frown to add to it.
Celestia let out a breath. That wasn't as bad an answer as it might have seemed, since an insincere pony would probably have more readily agreed. She had to be realistic here, it was a lot to ask for to move from 'subject' into 'friend'. It would just take awhile for Macintosh to warm up into the mindset, it would take Celestia awhile too and she was the one who wanted to be friends.
But that little moment had come with a price, the conversation had settled into silence once again. But this time it was not a comfortable one, and difficult to break. After a few long,empty moments Big Macintosh chose that moment to stand up and turn towards the door.
There was a flash of panic, Celestia was suddenly convinced she'd badly miscalculated and ended up souring things. A little bit of teasing tended to brighten up her day, and she'd slipped into it so naturally she'd not stopped to consider the wider context of their relationship. A relationship that was, of course, just a budding friendship. But with Big Mac about to leave Celestia hardly had enough time to straighten out the nuances of what she meant.
"Er, Big Macintosh?" She called, more to stop him than anything. Surely there had to be a way to recapture the conversation. She hadn't wanted the pleasant afternoon to end, especially not on an awkward note. He did pause, she hadn't expected anything else.
Wait, there was an idea. "Are you going back to work in the gardens?" Celestia did her best to keep her voice steady, centuries of practice in schooling emotions were hard at work to overcome the knot in her stomach.
Confusion, she could read it on his face. "Well, it still needs to get done. Since Green Hoof is busy with the rest of his duties I reckoned I might as well. Not a whole lot left anyway." Macintosh explained, turning to face her.
"Ah, but here I already volunteered to help." Delicate words, she needed to be careful. Celestia was convinced she'd already bungled it, overplaying the teasing; but once committed to it there seemed to be no way to back out. "Perhaps you could come with me to the charity drive that I will be attending this afternoon?" There, a glimmer of hope.
He didn't answer immediately, but his posture shifted. Macintosh set his jaw a bit, glancing off to the side and appeared to be mulling it over. "Is it alright if I ask why ya keep inivitin me out on all these things with you?"
More panic, but showing it wasn't going to help. Not that there was anything to confess, but Celestia could see that there was a certain temptation to just tell him the truth. How to even phrase it though? 'My sister pointed out that I've been so immersed in my role as a Princess that I haven't had a real friend in centuries and that you're surprisingly enjoyable to spend time with'.
That would only confuse the issue and Celestia just couldn't bring herself to go that route. "You're more than welcome to ask...." a temporizing statement, she busied herself with tidying her plate of food for a moment while gathering her thoughts. "I suppose I simply just enjoy your company, Big Macintosh. I hope I haven't been keeping you from something more important." There, she'd even given him an out that she hoped he wouldn't use.
Fortunately for her, Big Mac shook his head. "Ain't really got anything to do, I was just curious cause I never figured I'd be the type to be entertaining royalty. I wouldn't mind going with you, whats this charity thing about?"
Happy that he'd agreed to come along, Celestia rose from behind her desk and began to head for the door, with Macintosh following. "Truthfully I haven't the slightest idea what event was planned, would you be surprised to know that I have founded over one hundred charities?"
Matching her stride, the farmer gave her a faintly impressed look. "That sounds might generous of you, I think I know about a couple of them. Applejack dragged me to the one about building homes for needy families or somethin', we put together the quickest house of the whole group."
Heading down the spiraling staircase leading out of her palace and into Canterlot, Celestia found herself easily smiling once again. Another whole afternoon with Big Mac sounded absolutely enjoyable, he'd even started to loosen up enough to speak freely about his foray into charity. That accent of his was rather charming, she noted, all while the workpony discussed the finer details of constructing homes. Mixing friendship, and regardless of what Luna said it was likely to only be friendship, with her duties as a Princess seemed as ideal a situation as could be imagined.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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This is a most pleasing chapter, it made me smile, particularly the notion of Celestia having to comission new museums for her gifts and so on.
I look forward to reading more.
This is a very natural and free-flowing chapter; it doesn't try to synthesize anything, and for that I am extremely pleased. I can only look forward towards the next chapter and all that it may bring.
What a pleasant read.
There needs to be more TiaMac out there! I think they fit better together than LunaMac. Not to say LunaMac is bad its not but really I see TiaMac being the more well real.
Hey I made a group last night for this ship! Would love if this story was in there!CeleMac
3797359
Done and done.
3797468 Sweet thanks!
3798954
Fortunately the CMC were crafty enough to get Luna to swear not to 'cheat' with her magic. But considering the future things they have in store for her she probably will start to consider it as an option.
3795290 I totally agree!
Thank god you updated I was afraid the story died
3804574
Oh no, I plan to finish this. Unfortunately a combination of real life and another story project often distracts me. If I had to put a percentage on how far into the story this is it would probably be about 55-60%.
3804682 that's good to know
I look forward to the next chapter
Lovely little story, hope to see another chapter, keep it up!
4099037
I appreciate that very much. I'm always interested to know what I did well (and what I can do to improve).
I am almost done with the next chapter, and have also started the next one. The biggest hold up is that part 2 is most likely going to end up with a part 3. 8,000 words and no end in sight. Damn Celestia and Big Mac ended up stretching a certain scene out even longer.
Bit slow But I can already see the cracks forming. Big Mac is starting to break through her 'porcelain mask' and see the pony beneath. Anyway it's an entertaining read. Keep up the good work.
Interesting...
It's like I'm reading anything else except romance.
Applejack dragged me to the one about building homes for needy families or somethin', we put together the quickest house of the whole group."
Ah, so they were building motor homes then? :D
Luna appears to be sliding into ruling duties quite naturally, going by the first part of the chapter. That just means more opportunities for her to give Celestia a day off, and if Celestia isn't taking time off, that means more time for Luna to meddle with her big sister's love life. It's a win-win situation
The CMC are in for it now
You mentioned a chapter or two about Celestia being an unreliable narrator. I can tell, given that that mare's got it hard for Big Mac and doesn't even realise it yet. And until such a time she either sends the CMC home or the Mane 6 return from the north, neither of which are likely to happen since Luna still has to exact her revenge, she's stuck with him being there!
(actually, I don't think a specific season or time of year was mentioned thus far in this story. Maybe making a line or two about mentioning it being late fall or winter would be good, since that gives Big Mac a reason to stay in Canterlot if there's no farmwork to be done, just the animals, which could be handled by somepony else)