A/N - Mostly Celestia's reactions and that kind of thing. A little rushed, but didn't want to drag on too much, and is probably about as long as Ratburn got for his "reflecting" moments.
Twilight was having similar problems reaching out to her own mentor. Even after the quick teleport back to the castle the princess had utilized to transport all three of the young mares, including herself, and the walk through the regal, yet slightly dusty, halls within, Celestia just didn't want to budge an inch on what was bothering her. Even while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were excitedly clamoring about the way Ratburn and Celestia had torn through the last monumental cake, and the equally adrenaline-inducing riot that had broken out, the princess could only give them weary smiles and attempt to mirror their glee with two or three-word replies.
"I liked the part where those creatures in the blue uniforms took out those long, black things and beat those rowdy idiots senseless!" Dash stopped right in front of Pinkie while they cantered along the marble floors of the palace, putting up her front hooves like she was going to pretend box with the pink pony. Pinkie just laughed along with her at the mimicking, stepping around the blue mare that was still so full of energy.
"Well I really liked the part," the party girl pitched in, "where they brought in that huge cake that was made from blueberry muffin batter! Mmm mmm...I would've devoured that thing in a nanosecond! Reminds me so much of Sugarcube Corner, and all of its muffins, back home!"
Celestia turned to the trio, another half-attentive grin plastered awkwardly on her face. "That's wonderful, Pinkie Pie, I'm glad you liked it so much..."
Twilight was kind of lagging behind at the moment. She could tell just by the way Celestia walked that she was less than engaged in the effervescent ramblings of her trusted subjects. Most of the violet mare's own concentration was focused on putting the pieces of the night together like an incomplete puzzle. Her thoughts were interrupted when Rainbow Dash flew up to her, making her cringe back just a little at the abrupt movement.
"So Twilight, what part was your most favorite of the contest?"
Her wide, gleaming irises could be seen from halfway across Equestria, and Twilight was a little intimidated by them. Pinkie listened in, poking her head next to Dash's. What the heck would Twilight say? She supposed that the myriad of mythical, monstrous creatures would have been the highlight for her. There were at least two or three novels worth of notes, scribblings, and findings resting inside of her weighty saddlebags.
"I...well...my favorite part of the ICEC was..." she stopped mid-sentence. She knew that was what she wanted to tell them, but being as quick on her hooves as always spotted a grand opportunity to gauge a few reactions at the startling scene that not only hushed, but thoroughly grossed out the crowd of fans, including all of them. Even more convenient, Princess Celestia must have been wondering why no answers had been produced to the question yet, and she looked back at her star student with a curious gaze.
"...where..." she spit the statement out as fast, but naturally, as she could, "Princess Celestia and Mr. Ratburn accidentally kissed in front of everypony!"
Twilight recoiled slightly under what she could almost construe as a glare from the white alicorn. Before Celestia could hide her face, turning and proceeding through the hallways, the unicorn noted how it turned a healthy shade of pink. Actually, it was more like red...and she was glowing like a lighted ornament for Hearth's Warming Eve. Once Twilight thawed, frozen in place from that ice cold glance she had never seen the princess give her before, it was clear to her now that whatever she was thinking about did have to do with her and that Mr. Ratburn fellow.
Luckily, for both of the magically inclined mares in the hall, Dash and Pinkie chortled the whole experience off. They may have been laughing a little more than Celestia was comfortable with, since she didn't really find it all that amusing, but it looked like the secret was safe with them, if they even cared enough to call it so.
"Yeah," Rainbow was near hiccups, "it looked like they were trying to eat each others' faces off!"
The joke set the two giggling ponies off further, the merriment increasing much to the sun goddess' embarrassment. Pinkie wiped a tear from her eye, the very thought of Ratburn and the sun goddess eating through one another was hilarious.
"Oh come on Dashie," she was able to chide between spasms, "I thought it was kind of fitting for the two. With how much they both love cake, they'd make the perfect couple!"
While Rainbow Dash took the declaration less than seriously, guffawing at the incredible notion, Celestia and Twilight, though mostly Celestia, recoiled with inaudible "urk" sounds that left them both a little disheveled. For Twilight, it just fit way too perfectly in the little logic problem she was deducing. The white mare kept on trucking toward her room, almost tempted to pick up into a dead sprint but walked along inconspicuously as if the two fillies weren't even in the halls with her.
"Whatever Pinkie," Dash chimed back in humored, "it was so gross! It probably wouldn't work out, you know, since the princess is a pony and that Ratburn guy was...well...a rat for crying out loud. Nope, couldn't work."
Of all the trips down these hallways Twilight had ever taken, this one had to be the longest, most awkward trek of her life. She knew the princess pretty well, almost like the bottom of her hoof, and she could tell that the hairs of Celestia's coat were starting to bristle a tiny bit in unspoken annoyance at the turn the joke had made.
"Come on, girls," Twilight tried to calm her friends, but became rather tense herself at what Celestia might do if they didn't be quiet, "how about we talk about something else for a while, okay?"
The pegasus and earth pony made a face between calling Twilight a party pooper and confused concern.
"Geez Twilight, we were just having a little fun, what did we say?" Dash was befuddled by Twilight's look of apprehension.
The unicorn took the two ponies aside, making sure they were hopefully out of earshot from Celestia, if that was even possible. She turned one last time toward the sun mare as she kept the pace to her quarters, then turned back to the rowdy bunch, whispering through her teeth.
"I think something really happened between that Mr. Ratburn and the princess."
"What are you saying Twilight?" Dash interjected, whispering after Twilight shushed her, "Are you trying to tell us that...the princess liked that freaky kiss?"
Twilight shrugged at the question. She really didn't know, but that was the vibe she had been getting from Celestia since a little while ago.
"I'm not sure, maybe. All I know is that she kept on looking back at him, or where he was before, after he left, and wouldn't look me in the eye when I asked her about him."
"You see Dash?" Pinkie Pie cut in abruptly, eliciting another harsh "shhhhh" from both ponies, "I told you it was cute! With how long they've been competing in that tournament, they were practically made for each other!"
"Pinkie, didn't you hear me before," Dash let out an exasperated sigh, a little louder than the previous whispering, "she's a pony, he's a rat...that walks on two legs...it just doesn't seem like the ideal coupling, if you catch my drift."
"Girls, GIRLS, keep it down..." Twilight pointed toward Celestia's direction, reminding them of the trouble they'd be in if she heard them.
"Well it doesn't," Dash whispered somewhat apologetically. Pinkie just stood by patiently, waiting for Twilight since she was about to say something to them.
"Listen," the violet pony muttered even with the fair distance between them and the princess now, "why don't you guys go back to the room and I'll try to talk with Princess Celestia about this?"
Rainbow Dash blew some stray hairs out of her face, "Okay Twilight, but I'm telling you, I don't think it's an issue. I'm getting kind of tired from all of the action today anyway."
Dash made a huge yawn as she spoke, ready for some much needed "R and R". Following the blue pegasus, Pinkie made a sizable indication of her need for sleep as well.
"Yeah, this was a really fun fun fun day! We'll see you when you get back if we aren't asleep, Twilight."
The studious unicorn gave her two companions a grateful nod and grinned subtly, giving the two a goodnight hug in appreciation. She had to stifle her own yawn to focus on staying awake for the inevitably hard talk with the princess.
"Thanks you guys, goodnight!"
"Yeah, later," Rainbow Dash casually scampered off to the luxurious guest suite the princess had allowed them to stay in for a few days. Pinkie Pie hopped tiredly alongside her, anticipating a restful night's sleep on the soft, cloud-like bedding their room contained, three individual beds for each of them, lined up in a perfect little row.
Twilight watched the duo as they playfully gave a last burst of energy racing toward the doorway. Rainbow Dash nudged Pinkie aside to gain the upper hand and glide into the room with a triumphant hoof in the air signaling her victory.
"No fair, Dash, that was cheating!" the pink mare only partially cared at the moment while she giggled at the sight of her quietly cheering friend.
"...and the winner is RAINBOW DASH!" she made some mock, hushed screams as the crowd inside her head went wild for the fastest pony in Equestria.
The violet bookpony chuckled at the display, watching until Pinkie closed the door behind her. Once the hallowed halls took to their usual silence once again, Twilight huffed a few breaths in and out, bracing her courage.
"Come on Twilight, what's the worst that could happen anyway?"
Intent on getting some much needed answers and helping Celestia if there was anything she could possibly do, Twilight started gingerly trotting through the night-shrouded palace, not wanting to disturb any sleepers. The princess' opulent chambers were not but 20 meters from her current position, so a light stroll was all it took to find herself situated in front of the massive, yet surprisingly accessible, double doors.
Taking one more moment to arrange the burning questions in her mind, she tentatively raised a hoof to the rich, solid oak, a hollow thud resonating throughout the portals. Before the sun princess could query as to who would disturb her at this hour of the night, Twilight took it upon herself to put that thought to rest.
"Princess Celestia? It's Twilight," she had to raise her voice a little, knowing the space inside was rather large, and a whisper may not have registered at all, "could I come in and talk about a few things with you?"
It seemed that a considerable amount of time had passed before Celestia gave her pupil a begrudging affirmation to enter.
"...Of course Twilight, don't be shy..."
To the unicorn, it sounded like she was thinking intensely about some matter or another, and also that she wasn't in the greatest of moods to entertain company tonight. As much as Twilight would rather let her teacher rest, relax, and enjoy the remainder of her night off, she carefully opened a giant door blocking her way, subconsciously giving the princess a few more moments of peace before entering her private sanctuary.
Setting eyes upon Celestia, Twilight noted that the princess did indeed seem ready for bed. Her royal sandals, crown, and necklace had been cast off onto her nightstand next to the great four-poster mattress, in a most haphazard fashion the young mage observed with a tiny bolt of humor. Instead of in their usual holders the gold set pieces simply lay scattered.
The white pony in question was already tucked into her sheets, her mane falling at her side, staring intently at her subject as she made her way closer to her. As the younger mare had initially feared, the look in Celestia's eyes was of the weary, scatter-brained variety that was a definite sign of heavy reflection. Twilight decided to start with something a little less direct.
"Oh boy, that was quite the inter-dimensional competition, wasn't it? How is your stomach feeling after all of those cakes, Princess?"
The regal alicorn put an unshod hoof to her muzzle, making a dainty hum of amusement at Twilight's ice-breaker.
"I don't think I'll be eating anything for days after all of that! I'm still feeling some ill side effects."
Twilight mirrored the princess with a shared, somewhat mechanical, laugh as she worked up to the point she wanted to discuss. It was difficult, knowing that she probably didn't want to talk about what had happened, but it had to be brought out. She went up to the bedside even closer to the sleepy co-ruler and forced herself to ask those questions.
"So...um..."
Great, just what she needed... She knew exactly how to word it, but the negative reaction she would probably receive made her think twice.
"Yes, my faithful student?"
A knot formed in Celestia's stomach, and not just from the tons upon tons of dessert still digesting inside of her. With the way Twilight was acting, she could deduce pretty easily what the topic was about to turn to. Something she was still trying to figure out herself. Her more cheery face fell unintentionally.
"...about that...incident that occurred between you and Mr. Ratburn..."
Here it was, the moment of truth. What would the princess have to say to this? There was no way Twilight would let her avoid it now, especially as it seemed to cause such turmoil in the typically so calm and collected mare. Even as she wondered, the princess' gaze was shifting around the room every ten seconds and she fidgeted with her hooves, rubbing them back and forth over one another.
"Oh, that...well you see Twilight," she gulped a little, trying to find a way out of the conversation, "I thought we already discussed that at the event. It was just an accident, and Ratburn simply came up to me at the conclusion to shake my hoof and congratulate me, as I did for him."
She made a nervous half smile, insincerity dripping from her mannerisms just as the sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Good sportsponyship, yes, that's what it was!"
Twilight's eyes widened at the show her mentor was demonstrating in order to avoid the situation. She respectfully refrained from making a face-hoof gesture to her superior, although she certainly felt like doing it over and over. Instead, she opted for a more restrained approach.
"It's alright, Princess. I know it's weird to talk about this kind of thing with your student and all, but I'd like to try to help you out if I can."
Immediately, Celestia shook her head from side to side, eager to end this before it got worse.
"Oh, but Twilight, there's nothing to "help me out" with right now. It's just as I told you, nothing unusual happened tonight, and I'm just looking to get a restful night's slumber before my meeting with the vice headmaster of The Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns tomorrow."
The purple pony decided that the subtle, friendly approach wasn't quite getting through to the mare in front of her, no matter how much she seemed to be cracking. Celestia was like a sturdy wine glass. As Twilight dropped more and more weight on her, the princess' resolve was being chipped away, but not completely shattering and giving up the goods. Of course, that only left her to stepping out of her comfort zone and being more frank in an attempt to find the real answers within. The intrepid librarian went over to the royal jewelry, finding it much safer to behold than Celestia's conflicted face as she carefully nudged her with her next statement.
"Princess...I think it's perfectly within reason to be...close to somepony you've known for a long time, even if that somepony just happens to be of a different species..."
She only briefly turned back to the white alicorn in her bed, and undoubtedly regretted the motion. Celestia's stare didn't have the same sharpness as the one out in the hallway, but that almost made it worse, as a barely readable frown bore into Twilight's own purple eyes, starting to shy away under the pressure. Who knew what she'd say to her now...
"...I know where you're going with this, Twilight, and I would advise you to drop it..."
HOLY CRAP! For the first time in her life, the young unicorn had hit upon a pretty sore subject for the princess. A thinly veiled threat wasn't at all expected from Celestia, and Twilight could feel her knees shaking slightly at the coarse cast off. However, she couldn't be timid, if Celestia never let these feelings out, it wouldn't be good for her health, or worse, she could miss out on a great opportunity to cultivate a relationship past polite indifference or detached friendship.
She didn't focus too highly on what Ratburn had been doing the entire time, but when those two kissed, she could see his face was just as bewildered and excited as the princess' was. Obviously, the feelings were at least basically mutual. The princess leaned back into her comfy bed, choosing to face the opposite direction of her star student, a slight scowl still gracing her features.
"Please Princess Celestia, hear me out on this. I saw Mr. Ratburn's reaction too, and I can assure you that..."
"GOOD NIGHT, MY FAITHFUL STUDENT!"
Although she didn't yell it, the commanding declaration was less of a social impulse and more of a "Leave my chambers at once!" order. Twilight trotted slowly and shakily over to the other side of the mattress, earning a small "hmmph" and a roll over to the princess' other side.
"...that he's definitely interested! With all due respect, Princess, your own feelings on the matter are so obvious that I thought Rainbow Dash would say something about them, RAINBOW DASH! She's got to be one of the most romantically handicapped ponies I know!"
This whole one-sided conversation may have been comical if Twilight wasn't so afraid of further backlash. As she ran to the other side of the bed, Celestia would turn back over. They had continued this a few times before the princess finally gave up and sighed angrily.
"Rainbow Dash may have been more understanding of the situation by far, Twilight! We aren't even from the same dimension, let alone the same species. It probably wouldn't "work out", as she succinctly put."
Was that a hearty sigh that escaped the princess' lips, as if she were disappointed by the blue pegasus' opinion? Now we were starting to get somewhere!
"Aha, so you DO agree that there was something there between you two!"
Flustered by her own apparent slip-up, Celestia fumbled for a coherent response.
"Wait, no, that's not what I meant, Twilight! We are rivals at worst and friends at best, and I use the term "friend" quite loosely. We only see each other a few times a year for different cake-related events and the ICEC. How could we possibly know each other well enough to think about a romantic relationship?"
Twilight was happy that her mentor was starting to open up about the topic a little inadvertently. She tried to think of a concrete example of something to refute that argument. She did the best she could with some past experiences, even if they weren't her own.
"I've seen Rarity go out with stallions for far worse reasons than that, Princess! Remember how she tried to woo Prince Blueblood, only because of his looks and station in life, and it got thrown back in her face? Knowing somepony, even just as well as you know Mr. Ratburn, is already a much more sufficient rationale to me. What's more, you both love cake, that's something in common!"
Well, it was true. They both REALLY did like cake, obsessed with it, was more accurate. The princess still wasn't extremely comfortable talking about this, but the things Twilight was telling her were definitely not ridiculous by any stretch of the imagination. Then again, they were things she had already passively considered in her own thoughts, and that didn't make the misgivings go away.
"You know how busy I am, Twilight, as I'm also aware of Ratburn's own busy schedule, what with being a school teacher, a tutor, and having all of those community gatherings. Ratburn wouldn't even be able to visit me here, as he cannot use magic to teleport. Supposing I could teleport to Elwood City, I'm still far too loaded down with running this country. Logic and logistics are highly against Ratburn and I having any sort of personal dealings of that magnitude."
The unicorn felt bad for her mentor. She tries so hard to mask her pain and desires by putting everypony else first, not wanting to take a chance for fear of everything falling apart in her absence. She really needed to quit worrying about what everyone else would think, and just give herself this one thing that may not come again for a very long time. After clearing her throat, she became even more direct in her line of questioning.
"...Princess...do you...like Mr. Ratburn?..."
Sometimes, the most obvious answers are born from complete silence, which was enshrouding the bedroom as Celestia made no efforts to reply to her student's inquiry. Ironically, this was really all that Twilight had needed to hear tonight, just something that showed some honesty in how the princess actually felt. Good thing too, because this seemed to be the point where the sun mare refused to give up any more information, a drained, hardened flat-line replacing her mouth and eyes that would tolerate no further prodding.
"Well...," the violet pony turned around slowly to make sure Celestia was truly done, "I guess I'll just leave it at this then, Princess Celestia. Thank you for talking with me, good night."
As she carefully exited the room, the princess muttered a similarly quiet "good night, Twilight" as well.
Alone in her chambers now, the princess' breathing steadied and she felt more comfortable now that her interrogator had left. She knew Twilight was just concerned for her well-being, but she could be a wee bit nosy when she wanted. The entire day had been incredibly taxing on her, and if she had more energy she might ponder on Twilight's thoughts, as well as her own, but the only thing she could concentrate on was getting to sleep. Her heavy eyelids closed themselves as she drifted off into a dream-filled reverie.
The next morning, Celestia had awoken to raise the sun into the sky and start to get ready for the meeting with her vice headmaster, herself as the headmistress, of course. There were multiple things to discuss today, none of which Celestia could rightly keep her focus on. The talk the night before, piling on the kiss that would no doubt be plastered all over the news in a few days, just wouldn't quit repeating themselves.
Celestia was, like any other ruler, full of grace, proud of her ponies, and most of all, in control, always in control. The entire country depended on her unshakable resolve in diplomatic missions and expected her to always be available with the best answers, being one of the pillars that held the temple in its place, along with her younger sister, Princess Luna. As the elder of the two, she was held even more responsible and accountable for the welfare of her subjects, a daunting task that she had taken to naturally, but not without struggle, nor without blood and tears.
So then why in the name of Equestria did she feel so out of control when it came to something as silly as the possibility that...she had some sort of...feelings for Nigel Ratburn?
As she readied the gold jewelry, crown, and slippers, using her magic to drape and attach them to her body, that question haunted her mercilessly. In her long life, she had been in the presence of some of the most gorgeous, chivalrous, and kind stallions in all the land. Being a princess and...well let's not mince words here, a ponified standard of beauty for mares throughout Equestria, many of said stallions sought her affection. Taking similar interest with them, Celestia would go through many courting rituals, some more successful than others. In short, it wasn't like she hadn't already known how to tell a male how she felt, or when she knew that she really liked one or not. Sure, it had been a long time, but she was by no means a green-horn.
The typically green clad teacher was, however, quite unique from most she had ever had some sort of closer relationship with. In the beginning, his first year at the ICEC, he was the biggest stick-in-the-mud she had ever met. He was just getting ready to graduate from the "college" he had attended in a few years, and he was no less of a cake fanatic than he is today. Just by the way he always tried to cleverly insult the people he thought were of lower intelligence, or sneer at the other competitors who wanted to show good sportsmanship to him, she knew that they wouldn't get along.
She tried to though, oh heavens how she tried, everything from good-will gestures to outright praise of his remarkable cake-eating talents. Nothing really seemed to work, as her efforts only seemed to incense the rat further, making him more irate. Eventually, after two or three years of this, she just gave up on him ever changing, and ended up joining him in the quarrels and banter that would make the crowd go wild with spirit.
Maybe it was leaving that college of his. Maybe it was the fact that he became responsible for molding the young minds in his care when he secured his position as a teacher at Lakewood Elementary. Maybe it was simply the humbling reality of life experience. Somehow, the snooty, juvenile Nigel had transformed into the slightly repressed, but substantially more respectful Mr. Nigel Ratburn. Granted, his view of her hadn't changed much, as he still fought with every fiber of his being to thoroughly humiliate her by securing the Grand Championship for himself, but the rat she had known in his first few years at the contest had grown up, a lot.
She couldn't really attest to any sort of physical attractiveness, another oddity that set him apart from the herd, as they were of different species and worlds after all. Though, sometimes looks could be overridden by other factors. In his case, those factors were his devotion to his passions, whether cake or teaching, and his iron determination in the face of adversity, as with the ICEC. She also found it kind of...charming that he was pointedly shy around other women, and almost more charming that he WASN'T shy around her. There were many things that Celestia liked about him that made the rat who he is today, and in some miniscule ways they all counted for something.
A knock at the door tore her out of her day dreams.
"Princess Celestia, it is time for your appointment with the vice headmaster."
It must've been a guard pony, the gruff voice and hard knock a good indication.
"Oh yes, I will be out in one moment, dear sir," she chimed, hoping the guard could hear her well enough through the solid door.
With only another minute or so to spare, Celestia quickly put a brush through her mane, making sure that no stray hairs were floating somewhere they shouldn't have been.
The more she thought about Ratburn, the more she came to terms with the fact that there may indeed be something to this that she didn't realize before. It was still a little bit odd, but being open about it to herself, and not trying to justify every conceivable reason not to consider it was helping her see everything in a whole new light. Maybe she really did have some sort of...fondness for the intense competitor...
She inched open the door to her chambers, allowing the guard to slide out of the way if he needed.
"Terribly sorry for the wait! Let us be off to the meeting room."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
She closed the door quietly and followed her escort into the hallway. It was time for yet another meeting that would, no doubt, bore her senseless, but these things had to be done. Meanwhile, she wondered what Ratburn might be doing right at the exact same moment, probably getting ready for the class he would be teaching today. She shook the thought from her mind as she noticed that the guard was quite a few yards in front of her and she wasn't moving. She regained her focus and trailed after the guard pony, just a bit more ready for the long day ahead of her now that she had sorted out some of the issues from her previous night.