The Gardens
Celestia huffed and breathed deeply once they reached the gardens, still trying to stifle her laughter. “I can’t believe that worked! It’s the oldest trick in the book! I should know, I wrote it!”
“There’s a reason they haven’t thrown it out yet. It still works.” Twilight stuck her tongue out playfully. She sat on a nearby marble bench to catch her breath.
Once they had ditched the guards, Celestia made it a race to the gardens. She almost won, too, but Twilight remembered a little trick from her day during the Running of the Leaves: keep pace and then finish strong. A last, mad sprint meant she skidded in the soft grass and lush flowers moments before Celestia could, and neither of them used their wings.
“I figured, since we had time to sit down and eat, the guards probably didn’t; if it was a shift in the castle, they could grab something, but since they had to act all undercover...” Twilight explained.
“Good call, Twilight. And good race, too.” Celestia patted her still-panting student on the back. “Shall we tiptoe through the tulips to cool off in this lovely night air?”
Twilight took a few more big gulps of air and nodded. She rose from the bench and smiled. “You know full well tulips are no longer in season. It’s time for the lilies and roses!”
“You got me there, but it's just an expression.” She extended her hoof. “Join me?”
Twilight immediately grabbed hold. “Of course!”
They trotted off into the dim paths ahead; the golden glow of lanterns complemented the silver moonlight pouring down. Celestia walked slowly. Her deliberately small, graceful strides matched Twilight's long steps.
Twilight twirled around to take in all the wondrous sights of the moonlit garden. Her tail and the train of her dress flung out, pulled out by centrifugal force.
Now, how would I know that? mused Celestia. She chuckled to herself. No doubt one of Twilight’s many lectures on the thing’s she’s learned.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Celestia asked.
When Twilight stopped twirling, she faced Celestia. “Yes, beautiful.”
“Have I ever mentioned how much I love the gardens here? It’s a gorgeous reminder that for all its concentration of unicorns, Canterlot and every other city in Equestria couldn’t exist without the cooperation of all ponies.” Celestia looked all around her, and stopped to smell each variety of flower that crossed her path. “I even have my own little patch of the garden, you know. I’m the only pony allowed to care for it. It’s not as...” Celestia rotated her hoof. “Majestic, shall we say? But I’m proud of it. Of me.”
“Can I see?”
Celestia nodded. “Of course.” She led the way, her slow steps outpaced Twilight’s trot, almost forcing her into a canter.
They arrived shortly at a small bed of the garden, covered in bushes and flowers, but with few blooms. A mixture of early roses, late blooming tulips, daffodils, and the occasional lily were complemented by some tall arborvitaes, a cherry tree, and a few small maple trees.
“Wow, you’ve kept this garden by yourself? For how long?”
Celestia chuckled ruefully. “Longer than you have been around, my little pony. It’s an ongoing project. I added the maple trees recently. The roses have been around for a while, almost since the beginning. I have to replace some of the flowers from time to time, so most of this garden is new growth.”
“It’s lovely,” Twilight said. She brushed up against Celestia’s side.
“Thank you, Twilight,” mumbled Celestia as a shiver ran along her side. Twilight’s coat tickled as it mingled with hers. Celestia’s face lit up. “Hey, how about we play hide and seek? No scrying magic, no wings, just you trying to find me and me trying to find you?”
“Alright,” Twilight said, skeptical. “Who goes first?”
“I’ll hide, and you have to find me. If you can’t do it in five minutes, I win, and you get to hide while I find you. If you find me before five minutes, you win. Then you hide and I get to find you.”
“And when do we declare a final winner or when do we stop?”
“Best three out of five?”
“Sounds fair. Let's go! I'll start the count at thirty,” Twilight said. She covered her eyes and started counting. “One! Two! Three!”
As Twilight continued her count to thirty, Celestia took off and galloped towards the hedge maze. However, she stopped short and doubled back, hiding her large form behind a series of large, fragrant rose bushes.
Three minutes after Celestia heard the last of the countdown, she heard the soft hooffalls of Twilight on the grass path leading to her hiding spot. She cursed silently and hoped Twilight wouldn’t see her in the small gaps of the bushes.
“Boo!” a violet face in front of her own suddenly shouted.
“Good for you, Twilight. How’d you find me?” Celestia asked, first with a smile, then a slight frown.
“Oh, you know, attention to detail.” Twilight grinned. “Your tail was rustling the leaves.”
Pony feathers. “Now, it seems, it's my turn to find you!” Celestia got up, stretched her legs and spread her wings, and then smiled at her date. Friend, she mentally corrected. She placed her hooves over her eyes and began counting. “One! Two! Three!”
Twilight took off in the direction she came; Celestia quickly lost track of the lighter mare's hooffalls on the soft grass and earth that made up the gardens.
“Thirty!” she shouted at last. She looked around and saw no signs of Twilight or her hoof steps. She frowned. No sense wasting time, she thought, and set off in the direction she last heard from Twilight. She searched high and low for over four minutes, and could not for the life of her find her dear student.
Four minutes, fifty seven seconds, her internal clock told her. Buck. Two rounds in a row? How did she manage that?
“Twilight, it's been five minutes! You win again,” she called. She heard a rustling of leaves behind her and she turned around.
Twilight dropped from a large tree. Between the leaves and not thinking to look up, Celestia walked right past her mere moments ago.
“I thought we agreed not to use magic or wings,” Celestia said, keeping her voice neutral to avoid accusing Twilight of cheating.
“I didn't. I just climbed the tree the old fashioned way. I'm honestly surprised you didn't hear that struggle earlier. I almost didn't make it. I may only be a few inches taller, but it's pretty clear that I'm not used to the growth just yet.”
Celestia raised an incredulous eyebrow at Twilight. “Your dress looks pristine. I find it hard to believe you climbed without magic or wings.”
“I climbed without magic or wings, yes, but I did charm the dress to keep it clean before I came, back in Ponyville. Didn’t want anything to happen on the way.” Twilight chuckled and nuzzled Celestia's neck. “But it looks like it's my turn to find you, and I've already scored two points. So, this may well be the last round!”
“Not if I can help it.” Celestia beamed and waited for Twilight to cover her eyes and start the countdown. As soon as she heard “One!” she trotted silently away, heading for the hedge maze. If I can't hide, then I might as well make her chase me.
Celestia looked behind her and saw in the distance that Twilight still covered her eyes. She chuckled and then dove into the maze, galloping to and fro. She kept quiet until she was fairly deep in the maze, and made a deliberately loud rustle by brushing both of her wings along the hedges that towered above even her.
“Celestia! I’m coming to get you!” Twilight gloated. She made no effort to hide her search, so Celestia tucked her wings in and cantered quietly through the maze, careful to stay on the path with an exit and no dead ends. With any luck, Twilight will get stuck and I can wait out the five minutes.
Celestia heard rapid hooffalls close behind her, and she booked it. She galloped in a dead sprint toward the exit of the maze, skidding and sliding on the damp grass as she rounded corners. A loud pop and bright flash of light appeared in front her. She put all of her energy into stopping, even flaring out her wings, to avoid crashing into Twilight Sparkle, winner of the Garden Hide and Seek Championships.
“I should have just said no magic at all, shouldn’t I?” Celestia asked, disappointed but smiling.
Twilight nodded. “You should’ve kept quiet. Once I heard you run, I knew where you were headed. A quick little teleport later...” Twilight reached up and wrapped her forelegs around Celestia’s neck. “Good effort, though.”
Celestia returned the hug, nuzzling Twilight’s cheek and draping one of her forelegs over Twilight’s withers. “Since I am clearly outmatched in physical pursuits, how about we head up to the Astronomy Tower? I’m sure it’s late enough that we’ll see whatever lovely display my dear sister has in store for us tonight.”
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4859295
Celestia's appearance was actually one of the very first things I wrote for the story. Which ironically juxtaposes other parts of that scene, namely Celestia's explanation of her tea preferences and the history of The Kettle and Hearth, which were some of the latest additions.
this gets updated mere minutes after I finish the previous chapter. Sweet!
Most logical pairing I can think of"
Rarity x Luna
Applejack x Fluttershy
Pinkie Pie X Rainbow Dash
and of course Twilight x Celestia but that's a given.
4859683 The tea explanation I was also quite fond of, but yes, their appearances were a very nice touch. It's not often I see their appearances given any kind of nod to on Fimfic, since people assume we know what the heroes will look like and don't bother to mention appearance changes.
So cute. I love it!
Rarity/Luna
Applejack/Rainbow (Since Twi theorized Rainbow Dash was not at SAA for the stallions)
Leaving Pinkie/Flutterhy.
Also, everyone knows that lilies are best flowers, something every author should remember.
4859764 Hm, can't edit my comment for some reason. I looked, and it was Rarity who implied Rainbow was dating only stallions connected to Sweet Apple Acres, thus implying that she might have a different reason. My guesses still stand.
My nominations for pairings:
Rainbow and AJ
Pinkie and Big Mac
Fluttershy and Rarity
Only because you said all Mane 6 are partnered. The first is the only one I think I'm confident on.
OK I try again. Rarypie, Appledash and Flutter Mc. But if you only Shipp them with each other, than I would call for a big shipp, Rarijack + Dash and a Pieshy.
Oh and please say that your at some point open for stories commissions, I really like your writing style.
4859729
Wow, bing bing bing. We have a winner. I am astonished. Come collect your prize.
4859793
I wouldn't say no to the idea of commissions. Pitch me your idea in a PM and I'll see about it.
That... that's not,,, that's not exactly how it works.
"Centrifugal force" isn't an actual force--it only appears in the perspective of the person being spun around. There's nothing pushing the spinner inwards; the object just keeps its momentum as it moves but still constantly changes acceleration (remember, acceleration is the increase of velocity, and velocity, unlike speed, includes direction). The only force on the spinning object is the pull from the center of the spin.
The dress-spinning-flinging motion was a result of centripetal force. This isn't a big deal, but if Celestia picked it up from Twilight then I doubt Twilight would be talking about centrifugal force (except to rant about its non-existence).
4860203
https://xkcd.com/123/
And to nitpick, the acceleration is constant, but the velocity is always changing. Change in acceleration is jerk. The definition of centrifugal fits, since centripetal is center-seeking, centrifugal is the opposite, it moves away from the center, which actually describes the true motion of her dress.
Adorable!
4860262
The rate of increasing/decreasing speed is the same, but acceleration in measured by the change in velocity, not the change in speed. If the velocity changes, the acceleration changes too. Since acceleration measures changes in velocity and jerk measures changes in acceleration, then yeah, the jerk's changing too.
You could say that centrifugal force is an inertial force (aka fictitious force). It doesn't come from any physical interaction between two objects, but from the change in acceleration. In that cause it could be considered a force, but it's only an apparent force, not an ordinary one.
That aside, I'll bow out of an extended argument/discussion about the existence or lack thereof of centrifugal force. I tend to take arguments too far, so I'll cut it short before I make an ass out of myself (no offense to any donkeys in the crowd).
(I also cut out the string part of my first comment. I don't know what I was thinking)
There's a lot of silliness in this story, and for the most part I haven't minded, since this is supposed to be just a silly little lighthearted story. But I can't really accept that Celestia would've been unaware of the concept of centrifugal force (whether or not it exists as a legitimate force of nature) before hearing it from Twilight. As a teacher and a founder of the most reputable unicorn school in the land, as well as a ruler who needs to be able to predict the direction her little ponies take the society she governs, it's difficult for me to swallow that she wouldn't keep up with developments in the scientific community, during which she'd find it difficult to avoid basic concepts such as this.
This is the most adorable, cutesy wubsy fic i've read so far ... It is well written, I like your style very much! ...
4860856 Actually, you would be surprised. I work in a place filled with very educated people, and yet I had to explain some basic chemistry to one of my coworkers. They did not know that using bleach and ammonia products in the same space at the same time is a very bad idea. There are people that are very knowledgeable in one field and completely ignorant in another. As an example, I could not work on a car to save my soul. I know the basics of how and why to maintain a car, but beyond that I'm toast. If Celestia was more concerned about running the country than she was about applied physics, it is not completely out of the range of possibility that she would attribute Twilight as the source of the information she had, whether it was true or not.
But you were misleading us with Big Mac!
4863403
Wait for the next story. You'll see.
Those are some good pairings. Can't wait to see them in action.
4863540
@YourLovingDiscord Oh my ducking gods! I friggen burst out laughing and it's the middle of the night man I'm lucky my family are deep sleepers. xD