Something New

Chapter 3

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Celestia could only watch as the mare before her released her sorrows borne of the loss of a friend and the loneliness that accompanied it. The princess moved next to Ditzy and put her wing over her to comfort her.

“Ditzy, I think you should stay here for a bit,” started Celestia, “I can arrange for you to have your own cham—“

“Celestia, I’d rather stay here, with you. I don’t want to be alone right now.”

Celestia, a bit shocked that she was just interrupted, complied with, “Of course, Ditzy, I won’t leave you.”

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Complying to Ditzy’s wishes, Celestia allowed her to stay in her private chambers. This gave the pegasus time to think about her situation. Well, I can’t follow him, not even Celestia knows where he’s gone. The alicorn assured the mare time and time again that the Doctor would be fine, though the former assistant thought quite the opposite.

“But how do you know he’s OK?” argued Ditzy.

“Because the Doctor always turns out OK in the end,” Celestia calmly stated, “we have to trust him.”

“I do trust him, I’m worried for him.” Though the pegasus wouldn’t admit it, she was not only worried for the Doctor. She was also worried of what would become of her. “Celestia, what do I do?” Asking this question not only in regards to the Doctor, but her own future as well.

“We must wait,” concluded the alicorn, “We must wait, and live our lives. Eventually, he comes, even if it takes him awhile.”

“He never could get the timing right, could he?” Ditzy chuckled darkly at her joke. Celestia joined her in a light chortle of her own, and soon it grew into a rancorous laughter.

Somehow, they both ended their moment of happiness on their back. When they finally concluded their giggles, both mares rolled to face each other. The pegasus and the alicorn stared into the other’s eyes, if only for a brief moment. Celestia cleared her throat and rolled back onto her haunches, Ditzy, following not long after, couldn’t shake the feeling that she saw the Princess of the Sun blush.

“That was quite exciting,” Celestia said, breaking the silence. Ditzy smiled and nodded in agreement; following this was another short silence. However, this one was broken by a chorus of grumbling.

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Celestia blushed as her stomach growls filled the room. “Oh my, it seems that it’s time for dinner,” she began, “Would you care to join me, Ditzy?”

“I will not join you at dinner, Celestia,” the wall-eyed mare stated matter-of-factly.

The princess lowered her head in defeat and whispered, “If you insist…”

“However, I would love to join you in a midnight snack,” she grinned, pointing at the timepiece adorning Celestia’s chamber wall. The alicorn immediately perked up as she realized the pegasus was playing a simple joke.

“Hmm,” pondered the princess, “at this hour, the kitchens would be closed. Are you up for a stealth mission to the cupboards?”

Ditzy Doo tapped her muzzle with her hoof as if in deep thought. “Can we make a side-objective of the royal bakery?” she said, hoping to snag some muffins.

“Why not make it a primary one?” Celestia queried, making Ditzy grin.

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Dizty followed the now playful alicorn down the long hallways, as she did not know the layout of the castle. Ditzy found the lack of guards strange considering she was chased down by one until she broke into the room of the very mare she cantered next to now.

“Hurry, Ditzy,” urged Celestia, “The guards are changing shifts right now.”

“I suppose that would explain why nopony is around, huh?” Just as they rounded the corner, Ditzy heard hoofsteps and the sentry who they belonged to. “Celestia!” she alarmed, “we have contact.” Suddenly, the pegasus felt herself become lighter. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling to one who was accustomed to flying, but she found this odd because her wings were still neatly folded at her side.

Realizing that she was floating on some other whim than her own, she flailed and extended her wings in an attempt to regain control of her ascent. She looked back at the princess to see that her horn was glowing and she herself was floating upwards and rotating.

“It’s a gravitational reversal spell,” whispered the demi-goddess with a smile. “You’ll have to relax and just stand like you normally would.”

Retracting her wings, and ceasing her flails, the disgruntled mare rotated and rose a bit faster. Celestia touched down on the ceiling of the corridor a bit before Ditzy, and did so with grace and ease. “Have you done this before, Celestia?”

“It gets quite boring sometimes being the one who is waited on hoof and fetlock,” explained the princess, “So, sometimes I make a bit of fun for myself. I infiltrate my own castle almost weekly.”

Ditzy, still a bit baffled at the ease that the princess executed this defiance of gravity, followed the princess shakily across the arched ceiling. When they reached a spot where the guard would have surely bumped into them had they still been on the ground. The grey mare tensed up and attempted to tread more lightly as the nightpony passed below her before looking forward to see the regal form hadn’t been phased at all by this. She must be a professional at this, Ditzy thought.

Following Celestia on the ceiling of the long corridors, the pegasus could not see much other than the bobbing rump of the princess before her. When Ditzy realised what she was doing, she blushed and tripped over her hooves. Raising her head after recovering from her fall, she locked eyes with Celestia who had a worried look in hers.

“Are you OK,” asked the princess who, as Ditzy just realised, was inches away from her own muzzle.

“Y-yes, of course,” the pegasus blushed as she scrambled to get stability on all fours. Please, please, don’t let her have seen my face… Showing no evidence of this, Celestia simply turned and waited for Ditzy to be by her side before continuing the trek.

Not before rounding a few more corners and descending quite a few slopes, where stairs had lead downward, did the duo end up at the doors of the royal kitchens.

“Well, here we are,” declared the expert, making a sharp turn to the right, directly into the wall. Ditzy witnessed as she saw Celestia press her hooves to the wall and walk forward as if she were climbing stairs. Startled by this new proposition, the wall-eyed mare struggled to keep up with the princess as they walked down it to make themselves upright and properly associated with gravity once more.

"A much cleaner transition, don't you think?" smirked Celestia.

(o)o(o)o(o)

The shadow watched the pair on their journey throughout the castle to the kitchen. “What have we here? A midnight escapade to the foodstuffs? This shall produce multiple levels of fun,” the dark form chuckled.

Ooo, a mystery being who plans on interfering for fun? I wonder who it might be...