Celestia sat upon her throne and sighed despondantly. She looked downward at the place where her last nobleor prince or whoever they were. They weren't even that good. She flicked her half-lidded eyes over to the mountain of gifts she recieved from courtship. There puppies, boquets, boquets of puppies, cake, fruit baskets, wine and thousands of roses. Her sister would be different. She would take a hoof full of the stallions who courted her and all the presents as well. She knew why she kept all the presents, but as for the courtiers, well... they would join her "private cabinet." Celestia would've protested against her harems, but then again Luna was from another time.
The truth of the matter was the Celestia couldn't find her soul mate. She tried looking past their faults, and even then she didn't find any to be too interesting. There were nobles who liked to blather on and on and on. There were two kinds of nobles though, really young, or really old. The old ones were plotting to take her throne and the young ones only cared about themselves. Then there were the commoners who, bless their hearts, tried too hard. Most of the roses in the pile were from a single stallion who said that he bought out every flowershop of their roses. Celetia didn't need to be an accountant to know how much in debt he was.
Celestia looked upon the mountain of gifts and wondered how fast she could resend them all. She wasn't one to look a gift in the horses mouth, but taking the gifts while disliking every last of them felt rather dishonest. That, and she hated the taste of roses. Celestia was so thusly occupied, she didn't notice the doors to the throne room open. She didn't notice the crinkle of paperbags steadily growing closer, nor did she notice the mare walking backwards towards her.
When Celestia turned to look back where her last courtier stood to become despondent again, she instead found a mare's rump before her. This simple sight brought the princesses mind to a screeching halt. As she took in what was before her more closely, (not that way you perv) she only found herself more confused. The mare wore paper bags on every hoof and even one upon her head. Celestia's first thought after looking at all of this was, "... why didn't she go with plastic?"
Derpy was lost. She didn't mean to, but she did. Her boss would be really sore at her when she made it back to the post office... Then he'd be even more sore when he found out that she'd forgotten her mailbag too. At least she remembered her lunch this time though! The mare took careful surveillance of her surroundings. Halls upon halls upon halls, and paintings almost every two feet! You'd think that she'd run into a maid at some point dusting the paintings, but then chances were that she'd probably get directions out and either screw up or find a way out. Either way, she'd have to go back to her angry boss.
Derpy soon found a large door. She carefully opened it, and gasped in shock. There was a mare trapped under the floor! Oh, wait a minute... That was her reflection. She looked into the room, and holy wow it was big! Like, it could have an entire snow day in here! Derpy took a few steps out into the main hall and looked at all the stained glass windows... Well, she tried looking at all of them, but her other eye found the corner of the ceiling to be very interesting indeed. She then saw something behind her that made her grimace. She had scuffed up the shiny floors! Thinking quickly derpy had a surge of absolute brilliance.
She took her lunch bag off her back and lied it open in front of her. The pegasus then took the individual paper bags that had her hay sandwhich, carrots, ice water and desert muffin out and put it into the main bag. She then put the smaller bag on her feet, and, after a surge of creativity, wore the bag on her head. Just to be extra extra careful, Derpy decided to walk backwards to make sure she didn't scuff up the floor.
She didn't notice that she was headed for the doors to the throne room, nor did she notice that she pushed it open accidently. In fact, she didn't notice anything other than the she was not leaving and scuffmarks on the shiny floor.
"Ahem," Celestia cleared her throat awkwardly after noticing she had spent a good few minutes staring at this mare's flank.
Derpy looked between her legs, accidently letting the paper bag fall onto the ground open end up. "Hi!" she said before righting herself. "How are you?"
"Um..." Celestia blanched, completely caught off guard by the mare's casualness. "I'm fine..."
"That's good!" Derpy said with a smile.
"Uh... don't take this the wrong way, but..." Celestia began once more. "Why do you have paper bags on your hooves and head?"
"Oh that's okay!" Derpy waved off. "I just didn't wanna scuff all your nice floors, and um..." Derpy quickly padded her head for a moment. "I don't have a bag on my head though!"
Celestia didn't know why, but she felt herself smile. "Yes, I can see that now..."
"Hey, um..." Derpy began while looking up at the pile of stuff. "What happened here? It looks like a Hearts & Hooves Day in here."
"Oh, well..." Celestia sighed at being reminded againd of the misery she sat through. "Today was Courtship Day for me..."
"Courtship Day?!" Derpy exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! Happy Courtship Day!" Derpy smiled sincerely for a moment before confusion overtook her face. "What's Courtship Day?"
"It's a day where a lot of ponies try to win over my heart with a lot of gifts among other things..."
"Oh! Um..." Derpy fumbled around for a moment before finding her lunch bag. "Here! We can hare my lunch if you want!" Derpy dug around in the bag for a moment before she pulled out the muffin. "You can even have the entire muffin."
Celestia once more found herself lost for words. She accepted the Muffin and watched as the mare before her approached her throne.
"Could you please scoot over?" Derpy asked kindly.
"... Y-yes. Of course!" Celestia replied nervously. Wait, nervously?! Celestia contemplated her anxiety while inching her tush over to give Derpy some room. The pegasus once more dug around her lunch sack before pulling out two halves of a sandwhich.
"You can have the bigger one," she says while happily handing over a half. "Sorry, but I can't cut even." Celestia took the half into her magic, still contemplating.
"Carrots are on the bottom of the bag," Derpy said as she took a bite of the sandwhich. Meanwhile, Celestia had come to a conclusion. She was sharing her throne and a strange mare's lunch and she was nervous.
"What's your name?" Derpy asked between chews.
Celestia sat agape. Was she being serious? "It's um... Celestia..." she managed to say.
"Nice to meet you," Derpy replied cheerfully. "Mine's Derpy."
"I... uh..." Celestia stammered. "I-it's nice to meet you too." She sat there staring at the sandwhich for a moment before deciding to take a bite. Maybe she should just go with the flow. That, and the sandwhich wasn't bad.
"Hey Derpy," Celesta began after a while.
"Hmm?"
"If you were so worried about the floor," she began. "Why didn't you just fly?"
Derpy paused for a moment before giggling like a filly. "I guess I just forgot!" Once the pegsus began to giggle, Celestia found herself being infected by it. Soon, the two were laughing about such silly nonesense. Celestia couldn't recall a time when she laughed so hard.
"So.." Derpy said after she had calmed down. "What else do you do on Courtship Day?"
"Hmmm..." Celestia mused. She had never having really thought about it before. "I guess... get to know the ponies..."
"Huh," Derpy resoponded after swallowing the last bit of the sandwhich. "Well, I guess that makes sense."
"What do you mean 'guess?'" Celestia asked.
"If their gonna win your heart, they have to know you first," Derpy mused. "Otherwise, how can you be friends?"
"The day isn't about making friends, Derpy," the alicorn replied after finished her half as well. "It's about choosing who you marry..."
"Well..." Derpy scrunched up her nose in thought. "Don't you have to be friends in order to want to get married?"
Celestia paused for a moment. "I... I never really thought about it like that before..." Celestia paused for a moment longer, feeling as though storm clouds were being cleared away in her mind.
"Say, Derpy," the white alicorn began. "Would you mind spending some time with me for a little while longer?"
"Sure!" the pegasus replied again in the same cheerful manner.
Princess Celestia could not believe what happened today. Her entire day, which consisted of eating ice cream until the void was filled after the courtships, had turned into the greatest day of her life. She entered her bedroom feeling an air of absolute happiness. She knew whom she owed it to...
"Woah!" the pegasus gasped. "It's so huge!"
"Yes," Celestia giggled. "It is, isn't it?" She laid a hoof upon her oversized mattress and pressed into it gently. Then, the surface shifted a bit as Derpy leapt atop it.
"So soft too!" Derpy said excitedly. "You're so lucky Celestia!"
"Sometimes, I doubt that..." Celestia replied casually. If she were mad and crazy, then they'd better had reserved her a padded room in the Hotel De Kookoo-kuchu. She levitated her crown from her head and onto her nightstand.
Derpy, meanwhile, looked out on the balcony and saw the red brazen sky. She quickly ran over and watched the sun in the sky. Celestia smiled as she watched her companion. She walked over and stood next to her as her horn illuminated. The sun's descent was slow, and she made it that way. She really didn't want today to end...
"I gotta go home soon..." Derpy said with a little regret. "My neighbor is probably be worried where I am."
"Well," Celestia began with a smile. "You can come over tomorrow if you want."
"Really? You don't mind?"
"Not at all, Derpy," Celestia sighed as the sun disappeared over the horizon. "Not at all..."
Continue, please? Or at least a sequel?
5328470
IDK, um... If enough people want it, I mean...
I have to think about it...
Sequel please
Beautiful story. A part of me really wants a sequel, another part of me thinks its perfect as it is. A beginning.
THE GREMMAR....IT BRUNS
But on a more serious note, super cool story, just, like, come an. Get an editor. Heck, I'll even edit, if ye want. But still, cool story. You should do a sequel.
For being so short, it was pretty good. Nailed Derpy in my opinion. Hope you do a sequel BUT it is good as is.
Maybe just a short epilogue chapter or something instead.
5328635
Most fuckin' ironic comment I've ever read in my life.
Awww, it's so cute.
It was good but sadly way to short. You can continue it and make some sheningams like derpy metting that guy who bought roses when he try read some chesse poem for celestia.
there is few misspelling like celesgtia or mnovere (or something like that search for 'mno')
I hope you gonna continue it it was very positive
and damn that 'scoot over' just nearly make me burst out of laugh (and im inside class, it would be interesting explaining to my proffessor why I don't listen to him about compiling programs)
5329050
... Um... Because... She made a wrong turn at Manehatten...?
Needs work on grammar and spelling, but is good nonetheless. Have an upvote. Will favorite it when the errors are cleaned up.
5329363
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5328635
I fixed some grammar issues. I apologize, but I was so freaking tired...
That was super cute
Perhaps the sequel could be her disguising herself as a normal pony,going to Ponyville so she could live like a normal pony for a while.It must feel depressing for her to always be serious and never really have a chance to let her hair down as well as others to see her always a princess and never just her herself, Celestia.This could give her a chance to feel more like a normal pony for once.
5331195
Well... To be honest, I was writing an epilogue chapter to this fic before moving onto a possible sequel...
But maybe... Maybe...
... I got it.
Paper feels better than plastic.
(Starts a slow clap) I'm impressed. Well done.
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Thanks!
5331505 Duh, because if you put plastic bags on your head, you can suffocate!
It's all about safety!
And also plastic is made by evil Arabs who beat their wives and make global warming oil for their god who is the devil which is why he needs it hot so he can emerge and turn the whole world to hell. (See how must sense it makes?! DO YOU SEEEEEEE?!)
s2.quickmeme.com/img/aa/aa5187be1a5ed53be2f890e3a04cf1352c9369aa99d51a97388a6c18944a4aa1.jpg
5332031
... That's not a meme! That's a giraffe!
5332049 I see your giraffe and raise you a badger.
I managed to find another nice one-shot story, but sadly it is over already.
Hnnnng...adorable
My hat goes off to you. You've managed to create something extremely cute, sweet and touching out of a simple concept, and despite the lack of refinement in your style and odd portrayal of the characters.. It drew me in and left me wanting more. I don't think this much, but continue this, please! :))
I SHIP IT HARDCOREI mean...Great story, short and sweet.Thanks for this I needed just something short and humorous and this was perfect. I may as well say I'm on board the sequel train.
5332404
Congratulations. You have won an internet.
5328473
sequel! sequel! sequel! sequel! sequel!
This story earned a like and fave. Chance for a sequel?
Sequel, sequel, sequel, sequel, sequel plz?
5332031 You know what (this might be silly), have you ever watch the show and ever seen any plastic bags? It's seems like the tech level is a little all over the place compared to us. Rule of cool I guess. Not that's a bad thing. Then again, no need to over think things cause over the years different writers and what not.
I don't remember watching a lot of shows that have a mix of highish tech and highish magic. Overthinking...
This is cute, but I have two issues. First, Celestia isn't really in character. I just can't picture her saying or doing any of this. You did, however, nail Derpy, perfectly. You really got the characterization of Derpy down. Second, your spelling is, especially in the beginning, horrid. There were so many errors that I couldn't get into the story, right away, and I found myself just searching, and easily spotting, all the silly mistakes. You really need an editor. But, you did say that you wrote this, quickly, so I'll just hope that you didn't spell-check or even proofread your story.
TL;DR: Celestia's characterization needs some work and this story needs some serious editing, on the grounds that you have, practically, a spelling error in every sentence from that first paragraph.
P.S. I'd love to help edit, if ever you choose to make this grammar nazi happy.
Yes Derpy is so awesome she wins everything without even knowing
two more shots please
5334905
If you're willing to send me a message of the edited bits, I'll be sure to make the changes.
Also, I don't really know why people say she's out of character. I mean, if 1000 years go by and I haven't found the spark in someone, including those who drop themselves at my feet, I'd be pretty freaking out of it.
5328473 im pretty sure people want it
Aww. (Dang it, now I'm feeling things again...)
But seriously, good story!
5335059 As for Celestia's characterization:
She's normally mature, and sweet. I feel like, even in this scenario, she would remain elegant and wouldn't succumb to sulking about how much she hates everypony. Also, she seems far too young, in this, like she doesn't have the wisdom that normally accompanies her every move. And, she's actually a little bit rude, seeing as how she dismissed all of them without a thought, commented on Derpy's odd behavior even though in all her years she's seen far worse, and seemed taken aback when Derpy didn't know her name, which to me seemed kind of egotistical.
She has also spread harmony and friendship for many years, and I highly doubt that it never occurred to her to become friends with her suitors. I have no doubt that she would handle it all, beautifully, and would be delicate enough not to let anypony down or outwardly show her dislike in something or someone.
Everything she says comes out like some fascinated child, or a child that doesn't want to do something. Either way, she is pictured as being somepony that doesn't handle stress well, when I know that she can and stands proud in the face of adversity. She is calm, and would never get nervous, in front of another, especially one that she likes or may have feelings for.
Basically, Celestia isn't handling anything the way she normally would. And, she may get lonely, but it doesn't even seem like she wants somepony. She is just sick of their attention and would prefer if they left and they never got a chance, at all. Also, she seems strong on her own and I doubt that she's freaking out about needing somepony, because she is a special type of pony, with wisdom beyond humans, so comparing her thought process to your own would just be viewing something through your young eyes and not hers.
One main thing I'm having an issue with, is that I don't sense the sweetness in her actions, or the playfulness, or the need to make other ponies happy, since I know that in this story she is thinking more about herself than the ones who love her. Sure, she wants to spare their feelings by not holding the day, at all, but not giving them the chance is even worse. She would put their needs before her own, and would spend all of her time and power trying to make them feel special. Also, I don't think that she would want presents. I can completely picture her asking the ponies of the kingdom not to bring her anything, but that they sit and chat with her, instead. I mean, she did waste hours of time at the gala, simply greeting ponies because she wanted them to be happy, and that's actually kind of similar. She was happy then, even though she could admit that the whole event was boring.
I really admire Celestia, but in this story she isn't portrayed as the strong-willed, ever hospitable Celestia that I know and love. An odd day would not be enough to completely change her outlook on life.
As for the editing:
I will do that within the next day. I can send that to you via PM and just mark my changes in red.
You managed to create a mirror image of derpys personality
I'm impressed
5335059
I agree with you here, Celestia has shown a range of moods and behaviors that would match in this scenario.
While not necessarily a nit pic, if her Courtship day happen to coincide with hearts and hooves day it would help make a bit more sense. Since she is single I would believe that to foster hope that anyone could find love she refused to turn anypony away, despite her distaste for the holiday. Other than that I felt Celestia and Derpy's characterization was spot on!
I feel like this would have been better if it were friendshipping.
Hm...yes. I liked this story; mostly due to the fact that it had Derpy but also because it's trying really hard to be sweet and it accomplishes that. Also, the interactions between Celestia and Derpy were pretty darn hilarious and sweet which makes it hard not to like.
Derpy, you sly pony you...
I have a new OTP...
This was really nice I am now frantically searching for more on this pairing.