Days of the Past

The past few days had been quite good for Octavia, all things considered. Since the incident with the love potion, Star Swirl had found it quite difficult to meet Octavia's eyes, and so she had spent the afternoons in the Canterlot Gardens with Dust Shine. One of these days she would venture out in to the streets, but she was fine for now.

And so it was that she awoke one morning, quite contented. She yawned loudly, looked up to see her bed, and curled up to go back to sleep. It was at this point that a few questions ran through her mind, now that she was a little more awake.

Firstly, where did Octavia sleep? In her bed.

Where was Octavia's bed? On the floor.

Where was Octavia? On the ceiling.

One of these things did not make sense to Octavia, and she frowned as she wondered what it was. Oh yes, Octavia did not belong on the ceiling. She sighed loudly, and stood up to see that everything else in her room was fine, and she was the only thing that had decided to break the laws of physics. It didn't take too much brainpower to figure out who was probably responsible for it, and she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

When she could get out of her room, of course.

Luckily the ceiling wasn't too high, so it was a small jump to grab on to the top of the doorframe. Those years of playing the cello had paid off, it would seem. With no small effort, she pulled herself over the edge of the doorframe, and landed with a crash on the corridor ceiling. Octavie frowned and got to her hooves, before walking towards the Canterlot Research and Development department with a frown on her face. She perked up slightly when Dust Shine walked underneath her and waved.

"How's the weather up there?"

"Oh, it's fine. I just woke up this morning and felt that the floor wasn't worthy of my time, so I thought I'd just ignore physics. As you do," Octavia said nonchalantly, prompting a small grin from Dust.

"Heh, sorry about this. Star said he was working on some kind of fancy gravity spell, and I guess we can see where the effects went. Sometimes I wonder about him..." Dust opened the large iron doors that luckily reached all the way up ot the ceiling, allowing Octavia to easily walk in to Star Swirl's place of work.

Unfortunately, Star Swirl was stuck on the far wall.  Dust coughed, beofre giggling slightly.

"I'm starting to get the...hehe... 'gravity', of the situation," She smirked. Octavia shook her head, and walked over to talk to Star Swirl while Dust wandered over to his desk in the hopes of finding a solution.

"Good morning Octavia. The floor not good enough for you today?"

"No, apparently it's not. Someone decided that I shouldn't have a normal day, and I'm going to take a wild guess and say that it was you," Octavia muttered angrily, and Star Swirl shrugged.

"You're blaming me? This wasn't my fault,"

"Then who's was it, exactly?" Octavia got as close to Star Swirl as she could, glaring at him angrily.

Star Swirl shook his head as he paced along the wall. He was tempted to kick the window down to get out of there, but considering that he was going to be stuck in that direction of gravity, he dreaded to think how far he would go before he stopped. "I'm not sure, but it clearly couldn't have been me. I don't make mistakes,"

"You cast the spell didn't you?" Octavia asked. Star Swirl nodded, before realising his mistake. "Then it's your fault! Get over it! Everypony makes mistakes, boo freaking hoo!" She shouted. Star Swirl attemped to walk away angrily, but was stopped by the floor. He contented himself with frowning at Octavia. Sighing, Octavia walked over to Dust's general area.

"He's impossible, isn't he? Sorry about his stupid behaviour. He always had a little trouble accepting his flaws. He tends to be a little better around me, but he doesn't really know how to deal with friendship or anything like that. Married to the job, I guess. Y'know, if you two weren't always at each other's throats, you'd make such a cute couple," Dust smirked, while Octavia nearly fell off the ceiling in shock. She blushed furiously.

"Where in Equestria did THAT come from?" Octavia shouted in confusion.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not going to happen - at least not any time soon - but you two are similar in a lot of ways, apart from the obnoxiousness. Just something that popped in to my head," Dust said nonchalantly. Octavia sighed, but decided not to pursue the argument. It wasn't worth the time or effort.

"The papers aren't on that desk, you know. And even if you did find the spell, what makes you think you could cast it?" Star Swirl shouted from across the room, a bemused look on his face. "I should be able to fix it easily. Just give me a second..." His horn started to glow with a blue aura, and before Octavia could reach him to try and stop him, the room filled with a piercing white light, and Octavia found herself being flipped upside down. She crashed on to the floor, narrowly avoiding Star Swirl's desk.

She stood up, and glanced around the room to confirm that she was, in fact, on the floor again. Thankfully, it appeared that she was, and the room hadn't just flipped. Smiling, Octavia walked around, just happy to be able to feel the floor underneath her hooves. Star Swirl and Dust Shine, however, were not so happy.

"Well, that didn't work," Star Swirl's voice echoed throughout the room. Nothing was particularly odd about the voice itself, but the location it originated from was. Star Swirl was now on the ceiling, and an angry groan from Dust Shine confirmed that she had been moved on to the far wall.

"You don't say. Octavia, just go and get Celestia so we can fix this stupid mess!" Dust shouted, casting a small glare at Star Swirl, who merely huffed indignantly and looked away. Octavia was about to turn and head to the throne room to request Princess Celestia's assistance, when she saw a white blur flying down the corridor outside the door. She barely threw herself to the floor in time to dodge the mysterious intruder, who crashed on the far wall. This pony was, as it turned out, the Princess, who got up on to four hooves and cast a glance to the other side of the wall at Dust Shine, who pointed to Star Swirl with a knowing smile.

"Star Swirl, my loyal student. Would you like to explain why as I was walking down to check on your research, my gravity was distorted, and I found myself being dragged towards this wall? It's a nice wall; no doubt about it. I'd just prefer to spend my time on the floor specifically designed for the purpose of being walked on," Princess Celestia said, causing Dust to laugh quietly.

"My apologies, Celestia. Octavia..." Everypony in the room glared at him, and he sighed quietly. "...I messed up the spell. I thought I was ready, but I suppose I wasn't," He looked at up at Octavia. "There, are you happy?"

An thick silence filled the room as Celestia and Dust looked around in confusion, wondering just what in Equestria was going on. Octavia smiled at Star, who sullenly looked down at the ceiling, before a small grin crossed his face. He much preferred this Octavia to the one that he had so far been acquainted with. It was a shame that he had to act like he wasn't a brilliant genius to get that Octavia.

"W...what just happened? Where did Star Swirl go?" Dust stammered. She searched her brain for a time that Star Swirl had admitted that something was his fault, and was completely unable to come up with one. Celestia was just as stunned. Star looked around the room in confusion, before turning to Octavia.

"Do you have any idea what they're so stunned about?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't. Perhaps it could be something to do with the fact that you just admitted a mistake of yours, something that so far hasn't happened?" Octavia suggested, looking to Dust Shine, who gave a small nod. She was still incapable of forming any coherent speech, so she settled with a small 'uh'.

Celestia, having recovered from her shock somewhat, lit up her horn and in a burst of white light all four ponies found themselves back on the floor. Star Swirl walked up to Celestia and bowed his head in respect, while Octavia walked up to Dust. Her legs were wobbling slightly, and her mouth hung wide open.

"Are you alright?" Octavia asked.

"She'll be fine, she's just a litle confused. Leave her alone for a few minutes and she should sort herself out," Celestia replied, walking alongside Star Swirl to the entrance.

"Again, I apologise for the mess, Celestia," Star Swirl muttered, walking down the corridor. Princess Celestia stopped and looked back in to the room.

"Actually, I'd make that ten to twenty minutes now. Don't let Star Swirl apologise again, or who knows how long it could last," Celestia finished, before walking after Star Swirl.

Star Swirl let out a small sigh as he looked out on the night sky form his balcony. He could see almost every star in the Canterlot skyline from here, and it was often a place he came to calm down after a day of experimenting with magic - a task that used no small amount of energy. Hoofsteps sounded beside him, and he turned to see Dust Shine smirking.

"You've been given an order from the Princess," She said, pulling out a note.

My Faithful Student,

You have been working yourself very hard as of late, and I feel that you must take a day off. Don't complain or try to work elsewhere, as I will know. I have only one stipulation for the day, and that is that you must make friends with Octavia. If you require assistance, ask Dust, as I'm sure she will be willing to help. Make sure to, above else, enjoy yourself, and come back to Canterlot Castle refreshed.

Princess Celestia

Dust Shine grinned smugly as Star Swirl's expression darkened. She laughed quietly, and then turned to walk back to her room.

"You heard the Princess, if you need anything, just ask me!" She said, stopping at the doorway.

"Hmph. I can handle this myself, thank you very much. I have invented over half of the combat spells used by the Royal Guard, I think I can handle this 'friendship'."

Dust giggled, before going through the door and closing it behind her. Star Swirl walked back in to his room, and lay down on the bed. He would need a long night's rest if he was going to complete this arduous task. Just before he fell asleep, a shout from behind the door made him jump out of the bed and crash on to the floor.

"Have fun on your date!"