//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Sleepover shenanigans // Story: A New Starting Point // by Lunar Flarion //------------------------------// The group of ponies laid in the large gaming room playing the group of video games that Rose had picked out. Prim, Night, Midnight, and Prickly watched Flare and Rose play Immortal Combat. Flare choose Scropan and Rose choose Tirek. The two were both focused on the game, knowing that one wrong move could turn the tide in the others favor. Scropan attacks consisted of his claws and some sort of hellfire, while Tirek’s attacks consisted of punching and shooting a beam of pure energy. Prim had been beaten by Flare when the two went up against one another, her character, Luna, didn’t stand a chance, not only from Prim's lack of skill but the lack of required reflexes to catch Flare. The idea behind this was it was a makeshift tournament for best videogamer. Midnight got close, yet Flare caught her character, Celestia, off guard easily with a barrage of hellfire to the face. Prickly’s character, Discord, stood a greater chance, yet failed when Flare used a combo of hellfire and slashing. Right now the only pony standing/ sitting in Flare’s victory was Rose, who was an expert at this game. The game was close, but Flare outlasted Rose, whose character’s fatality was him being wrapped in chains and pulled back into Tarturus. She yelled in defeat and looked at Flare, her nose scrunched up from losing her favorite game. “How?! You said you never picked up the game, and yet you beat all of us!” She stated angrily. She glared at Flare, who merely shrugged, a small grin formed on his muzzle. “I don’t know, beginners luck maybe?” Flare replied, with a simple grin now on his muzzle. Rose snorted, though, calmed down, besides it was a simple game, why get upset over it? Prim looked at Flare, a small amount of love shown in her eyes as she said,” Good job, Flare!” “As I said, I think I just got lucky.” “Yeah, I don’t believe that, if your past is true, you are faster than you think. I’m pretty sure your muscle memory is very strong with dodging,” Midnight responded to Flare’s response. Prim and Night winced, remembering Flare’s past with a homicidal filly. Prickly, rolled her eyes, she knew how her sister reacts to losing her games. “Well, how ‘bout we forget the game and move on to other activities.” The orange vampony said, defusing the soon to be argument. “Alright, alright, whats next on the agenda?” Midnight and Rose asked at the same time. “Well, its simple makeup and gossip. I don’t think Flare would like to join in on that though...” Prickly replied, glancing over at the blue stallion. “Na, you girls have fun, I’ve brought a book just in case.” “Oh, okay. Alright, girls lets head upstairs.” Rose said. The group then headed upstairs, leaving Flare alone to read his book. ~Upstairs~ Rose shut the door behind them once the group entered her room. Midnight sighed, she didn’t want to say that she wanted to do things more ‘mature’, but this was like a tradition the five females had, and she normally had fun with it, so she shut her trap. Rose walked over and grabbed a makeup kit. Her first target, Prim. “Hey Primy, come ‘ere!” Rose said, setting the kit on the ground. Prim walked over and got ready to be attacked with Rose’s makeup kit. “So, anything interesting happen at the castle?” Prickly asked, messing with Night’s unkempt mane. “Well, there is one thing that happened,” Midnight stated, looking over at Prim while wiggling her eyebrows. Prim’s cheeks turned bright red, as she tried to speak. Unfortunately, Rose spoke first,” Really now, do tell~!” “Well, it turns out Prim had a little company with her in her room.” Night said, obviously sizing it up to be more than it really was. Sadly, Rose and Prickly were fooled, they looked at Prim with wide eyes. “PRIM! What would your parents think when they hear this!?” Both Rose and Prickly exclaimed. Prim’s blush grew in size and redness. “Of course Night, make Prim seem like she did something wrong!” Midnight exclaimed, a bit angry at her sister's antics,” She didn’t do anything to ‘im the two just snuggled is all.” “Well, don’t keep us waiting! Who was it? that nice stallion from three blocks down? The lovely mare that we meet a week ago?” Rose questioned as she started to remodel Prim’s mane. Prim couldn’t have blushed any harder then she was right now. The only time it came close was when she cuddled up to Flare. Midnight scoffed,” First off, you know Prim’s not into mares. Second, it wasn’t the stallion you know down the block, though, it was a certain stallion, in fact, you two just meet him!” Prim’s, Rose’s, and Prickly’s eyes grew wide at Midnight’s words. Prickly’s mouth hung open, her hooves stopping whatever she was doing with Night’s mane. Rose couldn’t have looked more shocked, in fact, it was rare for her to be shocked. Night started to giggle as Prim covered her eyes with her hooves out of utter embarrassment. “She- she shared her b-bed with FLARE!? Prim is this true!?” Rose replied, almost shouting it. She knew Prim didn’t flirt, and even when she did, she sucked at it. ‘How did Prim, of all ponies get a stallion like Flare to share a bed.’ Rose wondered. Prim started to recover from her embarrassment, her cheeks still bright red. “It’s not like that! I just asked him to read a story and then I wanted to cuddle him! I was in heat, what did you expect me to do to my best friend?!” Prim shouted out of embarrassment. Realizing what she did, she quickly covered her mouth with her hooves and looked around. “Wow, we aren’t tryin’ to be mean, but Prim, how?” Rose said, her gaze softening on the younger mare that had her back pressed against her belly. “I-I don’t know, but he was kind enough to do it and he didn’t seem bothered by it...” Prim said in self-defense. Rose and Prickly were still in shock but slowly started to recover and make sense of the situation. “So... did you like it?” Prickly asked as she put Night’s mane in a bun,” The cuddling I mean...” “Umm, y-yes it did feel nice. He is rather soft,” Prim replied, squeaking softly when Rose wrapped her forelegs around Prim and rested her head on her shoulder. She chuckled softly as she imagined the scene. “Well, do you like him?” the white vampony asked, her tone was delicate, like asking the question might break the young sister. Prim glanced back to the mare who had finished putting her mane in a ponytail, using a red band to keep it up that way. She pondered whether she should say the truth or lie. If she lied, which she wasn’t good at, she’d get caught by Midnight. The truth looked to be a better option. Though she wasn’t sure how many more questions the group might have. She let loose a heavy sigh and finally spoke the truth,” Yes, I do love him. He’s been so kind to us, even after what he had been through. I want to tell him, but I’m scared I might mess up our friendship...” The rest looked at her, Rose lifted her head. She decided right then and there that they would try to see if Flare shared her feelings. Rose, however, had one question to ask. She picked up a heart-shaped brush and started grooming Prim. “Do you think he loves you?” Rose asked calmly, her eyes never leaving Prim’s. Prim sighed once more, her mind had contemplated the idea, of them being a couple. She didn’t see how it would be accomplished though. In her heart, the answer was yes, her brain even thought so as well, with the evidence presented. She nodded silently, receiving a warm smile from all the mares in the room. Truth be told, she never liked heavy amounts of attention, but, but this was welcomed. “Primy dear, I think we can help you find out Flare’s true feelings about you,” Prickly said, her gaze full of determination. “Sure! I and Midnight can help as well!” Night replied, her eyes burning with passion about the task. Midnight nodded, everypony in that room was on board to help her find if Flare truly loved her the same she did him. The rest of their time they spent together was them making a plan to get Flare to open up. -20 minutes later- Flare heard the door to the second floor open and close shortly after. Stopping and putting a bookmark where he was, he closed the book. When the group entered the room, Flare saw that when Rose meant ‘makeover’ she wasn’t lying. The group of mares had different mane styles and makeup on. Flare was taken aback when he saw Prim, her mane in a ponytail with little makeup on her. Even without the makeup, she looked stunning. Prim saw Flare looking at her and she smiled. “Hey Flare, how do I look?” Prim asked softly, a small smile on her lips. “You look stunning if that's what you mean,” Flare replied. Prim squeaked at Flare’s compliment, blushing softly as she nodded to him. “Hey Rose, get the bottle, I’ll get the “refreshments”,” Prickly said. Rose nodded and went into the kitchen and came back with an empty bottle of gin. She set it on the ground saying,”Alright everpony, get in a circle around the glass, we’re playing a classic game of Truth or Dare!” “I’m back~,” Prickly sang, in her hooves were two bottles of alcohol, on her back a dish with 6 shot glasses laid. “What type of Truth or Dare are we playing, cause I never played it with alcohol...” Flare questioned. Rose and Prickly just smiled at each other. “A fun version of Truth or Dare~. Which type do you want? Applejack or Daniels?” Prickly asked. Neither, I don’t drink, but thank you for the offer,” Flare’s response was weird to the mares, they thought he would accept, but they wouldn’t force Flare to drink. “Have it your way,” Rose responded, grabbing a shot glass and pouring herself a drink. The others, including Prim, much to Flare’s surprise, grabbed a glass and a drink. The two hostess wanted to go first, which lead to the two playing a weird game of rock, paper, scissors. Somehow, Rose won and spun the bottle, which landed on Midnight. “Alright Midnight, Truth or Dare?” “Truth,” Midnight replied. Rose smiled and laughed to herself, she had the perfect question,” Is it true you’re seeing someone~?” Midnight chocked a bit on her second shot, the question had caught her off guard.”Umm, ah hell, I am...” she admitted, Rose smiled to herself, pleased with the answer. Next, it was Midnights turn to spin the bottle. It landed on Flare, and he swore he saw Midnight give an evil smile and glance towards him. “Alright Flare, Truth or Dare?” “ Truth,” Flare’s question was one he didn’t expect from Midnight.”Do you love anyone in this room?” “Yes, I do,” The mare smile grew wider at the knowledge placed in her hooves. Flare sighed and then spun the bottle. This went on for several hours, and after each passing hour, the mares got even drunker than before. Flare soon learned the Prim was a lightweight, and that she was quite confident while drunk. Her sisters and friends were drunk too, all of them now choosing dare more often than truth. Strangely, whenever Flare chooses truth, it involved or was associated with Prim Bite. Speaking of which. When the bottle landed on Prim, Rose looked at her and smiled, asking ‘Truth or Dare’, and, of course, she chose dare. The dares, however, had been getting out of hoof, but this one seemed tame enough. “Pim, *hic* I dar-dare ou to*hic* chuddle with Fare for da rest of dis... DIS... gome-game.” Prim, drunkenly, looked over at Flare. With one swift movement, she walked/ stumbled her way over to him. When she reached him she almost dropped on top of him. She scooted over right next to Flare, putting a wing around him(rather sloppily) and finally put her head on his shoulder after some failed attempts. The other drunken mares ‘awwed’ at the scene. Rose collecting and trying to put her remaining awaken brain cells to work looked at Flare and Prim, her eyes remained on Prim for a few seconds. She looked back at Flare, her eyes narrowing. “Wel-hell, hain’t tha-” Her words were cut off by the sound of soft snoring. The whole group looked at Prim Bite, who had fallen asleep right next to Flare. The drunken part of the group had to take some time to process what had happened. Soon, one by one the mare's eyes started to close, they all started to pass out, and Flare had to catch the ones that fell to the floor. He sighed when all of the mares now laid in a circle all passed out from drinking too much. “Is alcohol a form of narcotics to your kind or something?” Flare asked upon noticing how quickly and silently they passed out. He didn’t get a response from the sleeping mares. Flare grabbed the blankets each one of the sisters packed and flung it over them, Prim, on the other hoof shuffled in her sleep and wouldn’t accept the blanket while she laid on Flare’s side and shoulder. He decided to move himself and Prim to the nearest wall and lay there. Once Flare moved Prim’s body over to him, he laid her next to himself and softly put the blanket over her. He soon fell asleep, with his back against the wall, and the mare he loved laying down next to him. In the morning, he hoped that the mares hangover went away quickly. He had to tell Prim soon how he really felt about her. But, that could wait until the morning.