Sleeping with the enemy
In Canterlot Palace, a mare with cream colored fur, blue mane and maid's clothing was rushing to bring the last tray of cakes for princesses’ breakfast. Breakfast time was always the busiest for butlers, maid and cooks of the castle, especially because it was one of the few occasions when both princesses shared the table, due to their different schedules.
The table was overflowing with trays of food, with many delicious alternatives for the princesses to have a varied and assorted menu to choose from. Although the truth was that most of that food ended up being eaten by the castle staff, since the princesses almost always ate the same thing. For that reason, the blue-maned mare hurried to drop the last tray just in front of the seat where Princess Celestia sat. And knowing from experience that it was the tastes of her beloved princess, the maid mare left the tray with cakes right there.
Just then, as if it had been all I timed perfectly, Princess Celestia entered the room while the blue-maned mare and her sister, a mare with same colored fur, red mane and the same maid dress, stood close to their majesty's chair, far enough away to give the princesses privacy, but close enough to be attentive to any request or gesture the princesses might make to request something. Of all the maids and butlers, they both were the closest to the princesses, the sisters Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel. A tradition that had begun many generations ago with their great-great-grandparents, and that now they proudly continued to maintain, always faithful to their princess.
Princess Celestia sat down as always, elegantly in her chair, and began to drink her tea like every morning. However, years of experience in the service of the princess gave Sweet Creme the knowledge to realize that something strange was happening… The princess was not eating her cakes! And those were her favorites!
Hastily the maid approached the princess's chair and asked sheepishly.
"Is something wrong, Princess?" The mare asked.
"Nothing is wrong, Sweet Creme. Everything is delicious." The Sun Princess replied with a sweet smile.
Any other pony would have been satisfied to see the princess's sincere smile, but although the princess was the best in the kingdom to hide her true emotions, the experience of years of her family that ran through her veins told the royal maid that something it wasn't right.
"Excuse me, but… you seem much less cheerful than normal." Sweet Creme said, following her intuition.
The princess squinted at the maid, a little amazed that she always knew her true state of mind. So the princess, taking advantage of the fact that no one was closer and that the maid already knew the truth, left her facade and sighed wistfully.
"It's an honor to serve the princesses, but even more honorable is to serve someone as humble as Princess Celestia." Sweet Creme thought, loving that despite all her power, Princess Celestia had the same sentimental problems as any other common pony.
"I'm a little worried..." Celestia replied, childishly dropping her head to the table and putting on a pouty face. "Dusk still hasn't answered the last letter I sent him... And he always responds immediately."
"The last letter?" Sweet Creme said remembering that although she didn't read the princess's private correspondence with her student Dusk Shine, she did notice that the princess had put on a worried face when sending her last letter. "Was there something in the letter that young Master Dusk could be concerned about?" The maid asked, treating Dusk's name with respect even though they were almost the same age.
Celestia squinted at the worried maid and then just sighed, not answering. She recalled that she hadn't been very sure about sending her last letter, because this was much more personal, where she asked Dusk not to risk his life doing crazy things and also told him that he was like a son to her. She knew that it wasn't correct to hint at her feelings as she was the ruler and protector of an entire nation. However, she couldn't help it, she felt that Dusk needed to know how important he was to her so that he wouldn't risk his life again as he had when he fell and nearly died in the Cloudsdale competition.
"Was it wrong to send that letter? Maybe… I made Dusk feel uncomfortable, after all I… I'm not his real mother. Oh, whatever would Twilight Velvet think of me?" Celestia thought with a sad look.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll reply soon. He must have been very busy, that's all." The maid said with a smile, trying to reassure the princess, but deep down furious that Dusk had made her beloved princess sad.
"Yes, I hope so..." Celestia said with a pouty face, with a melancholy look and thinking that she wouldn't be calm until receiving an answer to her letter. "It looks like this will be a lousy morning."
"What a wonderful morning!" Princess Luna suddenly screamed, slamming the door open and entering the room with a huge, bright smile, something very rare for her.
Sweet Creme's sister, the red-maned mare named Sweet Caramel, immediately ran to attend to Princess Luna, knowing that the princess of the night liked a very hot coffee to bear being awake in the morning. So, the patient maid waited until Princess Luna sat down to serve her coffee, along with a croissant and some fruit, which was already served in front of her seat.
Ever since Princess Luna had returned from her exile, it had been chaotic for the castle staff to endure the night princess's bad morning mood, given that being awake at that hour was annoying after staying up late. If the coffee they served her was slightly colder than she was used to, she used to scream furiously. It had taken a couple of days for the royal maid sisters to discover that Luna's screams of fury were not such, but that she had been used to speaking like that in ancient times, a traditional royal Canterlot voice, a tongue that Princess Celestia no longer spoke in.
Getting used to Princess Luna’s rhythm was difficult, and even more to gain her trust, because Luna was much quieter and more reserved than her older sister. However, Sweet Caramel had made it, and now she was the one Princess Luna trusted the most, which made her very proud as a royal maid.
After the coffee was served, Sweet Caramel stood by the chair while Luna drank her coffee. Normally she would have returned to her place, but seeing her beloved princess smile as she did, was a sign that something good had happened, and experience told her that this meant that her princess wanted to gossip with someone.
"My sister seems to be in a bad mood." Luna said looking sideways at the other end of the table.
"It seems." The red-maned maid replied, looking at Princess Celestia with her head on the table, and then looking at Princess Luna, who was elegantly drinking her coffee.
"It's an honor to serve princesses, but even more honorable is to serve someone as refined as Princess Luna." Sweet Caramel thought, who adored the elegance that inspired the princess of the night. An opinion that had recently caused the two maid sisters to argue over who their favorite princess was.
"It's preposterous that my sister is in a bad mood today. This is a wonderful morning!" Luna said, carefully cutting a piece of croissant and eating it gently as she smiled, glancing at the maid, as if expecting something from her.
"I don't want to be a busybody, but how was your night?" Sweet Caramel asked, glancing at her princess, knowing that she was waiting for that question.
"Extravagate! If you insist so much, I guess I'll have to tell you." Luna replied quickly, putting on a big smile.
The night before, Luna traveled the world of Equestria's dreams, traveling in her true form, one of the privileges of being in her astral form. This was her job, a job that she had done for hundreds of years and that she had abandoned for the last thousand years, that of caring for and safeguarding the dreams of her subjects.
Since she had returned from her exile and 'Nightmare Moon' was finally banished, Luna had struggled with herself to try to regain her own power soon and thus regain her true form. It had taken months for her to project herself into her astral form and enter the world of dreams. And although she had now succeeded, she still couldn't fully enter dreams. The only thing her power currently allowed her was to be able to see the dreams of the ponies and whisper to them and thus slightly influence the nightmares of her subjects. She still didn't have enough power to fully project herself into a dream and end stronger nightmares, such as those caused by guilt or trauma.
That night, Princess Luna was watching the sleep of one particular colt, one she had been constantly watching. A colt she couldn't get out of her head.
"And here we go... let's hope Dusk Shine has a peaceful sleep tonight." Luna said to herself, as her astral form moved between the dreams and approached to see Dusk’s dream.
Luna knew it was wrong to constantly watch a single pony, but she had told herself that she was doing it for Dusk's sake. After all, he had had a few nightmares in which her influence had helped calm him down. Luna also told herself that she constantly needed to practice to enter a pony's dreams in order to see that her power was recovering, and what better option for a pony than to choose Dusk Shine?
That night Dusk didn't seem to be dreaming anything particularly dangerous, she just saw him in a big library, wearing a big cape, while books flew around him like birds.
The dream wasn’t dangerous to supervise, nor particularly interesting to observe, however Luna couldn't stop smiling and continue to see the handsome lavender colt who had saved her from the darkness. And so, a long time passed until Dusk in his dream finished reading a book and prepared to go elsewhere. But then the shelves and books around Dusk disappeared, leaving him scared in the dark, which immediately caught the attention of Luna watching above. Then the silhouettes of two ponies in the shadows appeared near Dusk and he began to argue with them.
"Cease your fear! Those shadows are not real!" Luna screamed, doing what she could do within reach, so that subconsciously her words reached Dusk's mind and his nightmare ended.
"Who said that?" Dusk suddenly said, looking everywhere and then looking up, where he narrowed his eyes at a spot of light in the dark.
Hearing Dusk, Luna was shocked. She hadn't expected Dusk to answer her. Normally her voice only came as a whisper that the ponies couldn't quite remember the next day, but with Dusk's response, it seemed that he had heard clearly and strongly what she had said.
"Could it be that..." Luna whispered, bringing in a hoof into Dusk's dream and noting that it was now permeable.
Then she bent down and immersed herself in Dusk's dream, managing to physically appear in her astral form in Dusk's dream.
"SUCCESS!! I finally made it!" Luna screamed with joy, all while Dusk watched in disbelief as an alicorn had magically appeared before him.
"W-Who are you?" Dusk asked confused, and still scared after arguing with the two shadows next to him, who had remained motionless after Luna's entrance.
"Uh? Y-You don't recognize me?" Luna said with a bit of pity in her voice.
"Hmm, I think I would remember if I had seen you... I only know three alicorns." Dusk replied confused. "Although... you look very familiar... As if I had seen you in a dream..."
Luna was surprised at Dusk's words, then she raised her hoof to see herself and understood.
"This is my true form… He hasn't seen me in this form!" Luna thought, realizing what was happening.
"I... I am..." Luna said uncertainly, thinking that perhaps she could take advantage of the fact that Dusk had not recognized her, and thus find out what he really thought of her. "My name is 'Lady Night', Guardian of Dreams." Luna finally said, using her royal Canterlot voice, the one that seemed almost like a scream.
"Guardian of Dreams?" Dusk asked confused. It was only then that he looked around and realized the truth. "This is a dream!?"
"So is it." Luna said solemnly. "You seem to be having a nightmare."
Dusk looked confused at the alicorn, and only then she remembered what was happening. Then Dusk turned and saw the two shadows he had been arguing with again, two shadows that were looking directly at him.
"I... saw those shadows and... started arguing with them." Dusk said fearfully, looking towards the two shadows.
"Everything in dreams has a meaning." Luna said coming closer to stand next to Dusk. "Those shadows seem to be..."
"They’re representations of my decisions that I am afraid to make... That’s what I was discussing with them." Dusk said seriously, anticipating what Luna would say and then pointing them down. "One of those shadows tells me to keep everything as it is and only focus on friendship... The other shadow tells me that it is time for a change, to forget friendship, and focus on love."
Luna was surprised at what Dusk was saying. It seemed that he was clear what his problem was, but he still had nightmares about it. These shadows represented his doubts, and they were making it difficult for hi to make a final decision, nor let him properly rest.
"I discovered something recently… I know I'll no longer be able to look at my friends the same way. But I'm afraid that when I decide something, everything will change for the worse." Dusk said fearfully, holding his head confused.
"I think you should get close to those shadows and see what they are." Luna said, looking affectionately at Dusk.
Dusk looked incredulously at the astral alicorn, however, there was something in her smile that calmed him. So, after briefly hesitating, he decided to listen to her and walk towards where the two shadows saw him. As he approached, Dusk looked carefully into the shadows, thinking that since he now knew that this was all a dream, those shadows that represented his wishes could take whatever form they wanted, even some terrifying one. However, as he got closer, Dusk's eyes widened in surprise when he saw that the image was closing and that it seemed that these shadows were also walking towards where he was, until finally Dusk could see who, or rather, what were those shadows.
"It's me..." Dusk whispered in surprise after finally arriving in front of what he had thought were shadows, seeing that they were actually two mirrors, both simply returning his own reflection.
"It doesn't matter what decision you make. You'll always be you. You'll always be Dusk Shine. A feeling will not change who you are." Luna said with a note of pride after seeing that Dusk finally discovered what tormented him.
"They’re both... part of me..." Dusk whispered as a small smile of relief appeared on his lips.
Suddenly everything began to slowly clear up as everything around it began to flutter strongly and fade away.
"What's going on!?" Dusk asked confused.
"You're waking up." Luna said with some regret. "I have to go."
"Wait!" Dusk shouted just as Luna began to rise into the sky and everything became very bright. "Will I see you again?"
Hearing that, Luna couldn't help but blush and smile warmly.
"Yes, we will definitely see each other again, dear Dusk." Luna said just before the dream faded.
It was so Luna finally woke up from her trance in the real world, just when her sister raised the Sun. And thus Luna had gone to have breakfast with the biggest smile she had had for hundreds of years, with her heart jumping with joy, and looking forward to the next night to see her beloved Dusk again.
"This day is horrible!" Rarity said annoyed while working in the park.
The white unicorn was in a bad mood after the weather team forgot to schedule a drizzle the week before. So to make up for it, they had scheduled a big storm for that day, ruining what might have been a beautiful sunny day. And that was not the worst, since due to the lack of personnel, the mayor of Ponyville had raffled off some earth ponies and unicorns to help cut the branches of some trees so that they weren't a danger to nearby houses during the storm. And to her bad luck, she was chosen in the draw! So now she had to be doing yard work in the park. And that was not the worst of the worst! As a pruning partner, she was stuck with a certain stubborn country mare.
While Rarity delicately cut a few branches from a tree, leaving some she believed to be unnecessary cuts, she took advantage of arranging them and making some cute shapes by shaping the leaves. After all, if she was going to do that job, why not take the opportunity to embellish the park a little? But her work was ultimately in vain since after finishing fixing that branch, making a figure with leaves of a pegasus, Applejack came and abruptly threw her lasso to remove the branch that had cost Rarity so much effort to fix.
"Why did you do that!?" Rarity said indignantly, looking angry at her friend.
"The Mayor said to cut off all the loose branches from the trees, not to decorate them!" Applejack shouted annoyingly. The country mare was frustrated at how they were taking longer than necessary in pruning the branches, a task that she would have ended quickly with any other pony of the town. But to her bad luck, she had to work with the least practical unicorn of the world.
"It's not necessary to cut every branch, only the ones that are most fragile. Some of these branches are sturdy enough and we can take advantage of arranging them and doing a better job than what we were asked to do." Rarity said indignantly, then looking down at the ground and seeing all the branches that Applejack had carelessly left scattered throughout the park. "If you just go around breaking everything, the park will look horrible after the rain."
"It doesn't matter what the park looks like! Now there’s no time!" Applejack said angrily, turning around to stop wasting time talking to someone so impractical that only noticed minor details.
As Applejack turned around, Rarity looked at her friend in disgust, but then she was surprised to see something that triggered her fashionista sense.
"Wait a minute!" Rarity said approaching Applejack and stretching a hoof towards her friend's head. "I think your hat has loose threads that-"
"Don't touch my hat!" Applejack yelled with a mixture of horror and anger, immediately holding her hat with her hoof so Rarity wouldn't take it off her head.
"Calm down... I'm just saying that hat is very worn out." Rarity said, feeling was a little offended by Applejack’s attitude. "If you could pass it to me, I could fix it, and even put some pretty decorations on it! So that it looks more feminine and highlights your face more." Rarity added with a thoughtful look as she imagined her friend with her hat trimmed and a cute flower-shaped embroidery on it.
"Don't-even-think-about-it." Applejack said slowly, glaring at Rarity. "It's a hat. It useful to cover my head from the sun. That's all I need. I don't need you to put your silly decorations on it.”
"Silly decorations!? I just wanted to do something nice for you!" Rarity yelled angrily.
Then both mares looked angrily at each other, then looked away. The two ponies were quite different: one liked the life of the big cities, the other the rustic and simple country life. One was elegant and liked to dress well, the other was simple and liked hard work. One was always attentive to details, the other was practical and functional...
"I don't know how we’re friends..." The two mares thought at the same time, being one of the few times that both ponies came to think the same way.
While the two mares looked at each other with hatred, two other mares flew in the sky, accommodating the last clouds before the storm.
"And... that's it!" Sprinkle Medley said, one of the weather team pegasi, placing a dark cloud in the clear sky last space remaining, ending of clouding the sky.
"That was the last one. We should start with the storm now." Cloud Kicker said, another of the weather pegasi, who had to supervise that everything was ready.
"Hey, isn’t that Applejack and Rarity down there?" Sprinkle Medley asked, looking down at where the orange mare and white unicorn seemed to be talking to each other.
"Yeah, we should probably tell them to go home to start the rain." Cloud Kicker replied scratching her head.
"Hmm... That reminds me. Weren't those two of the Rainbow Dash friends who said that weather team were bad at our jobs?" Sprinkle Medle said, looking down in disgust.
Then Cloud Kicker remembered what her friend was referring to... In the Running of the Leaves, Rainbow Dash had told them that her friends had made fun of the weather team, and for that reason the whole team had set out to help their captain by sabotaging her friends in the race. What none of the weather pegasi knew was that this had all been just a lie from Rainbow Dash, and it was something that the clueless Rainbow Dash had forgotten to clarify.
"Yeah... It sure would be a shame if they suddenly found themselves in the middle of a rainstorm..." Cloud Kicker replied slowly, glancing at her friend and winked.
Then both pegasi smirked and hit the rain clouds hard without warning.
"Not everything is solved with bows and ribbons." Applejack said in a bad mood, glancing at Rarity after seeing that the discussion with her friend was going nowhere.
"And not everything is solved by kicking like a brute." Rarity replied also in a bad mood, looking at Applejack the same way.
Suddenly, a great clap of thunder was heard and the rain began to fall heavily on Rarity and Applejack, leaving both mares shocked.
"Why didn't they tell us they were going to start with the rain!?" Applejack yelled annoyed, looking up at the sky but not seeing any pegasi there. Then she turned her angry gaze on Rarity. "You see it? I told you we should’ve hurry up!"
"No! No! My mane!" Rarity said without listening, who was trying to cover the rain with her hoof so that her manestyle would not be ruined.
"Consarn it! It’s raining cats and dogs out here and the farm is at the other end of town!" Applejack said thinking out loud.
“The Boutique is also at the other end... But I think we should go our separate ways." Rarity said looking at Applejack, knowing that they both had to take the same route to go home, something she wanted to avoid at all costs.
"I totally agree." Applejack replied, also looking annoyed at her friend, a friend whom she didn't want to see again for the rest of the day.
A great light appeared in the sky and a strong thunder caused everything to shake around, causing both mares to jump in fear and hug each other tightly. After the scare was over, both mares saw each other and separated instantly.
"It's raining too hard..." Applejack said looking around, looking for somewhere to take shelter, until she finally remembered that there was somepony living nearby who could take them in. "Come! Follow me!"
"I'm finally done!" Dusk said, holding up a letter in his hooves. "I think this is the best answer I can send the princess." Dusk added with a satisfied smile.
A few days ago, Princess Celestia had sent a letter to Dusk, where for the first time, in writing, she revealed her maternal feelings towards Dusk. This was something that Dusk couldn't answer lightly, because not only was it was difficult for him to talk about his feelings, it was more difficult to explain them and put them in a letter. Furthermore, Dusk still felt that the princess could be in danger if the letters with her feelings were to become public. But even so, Dusk wanted to respond to her with his letter with the same affection that she had written him. The truth was that Dusk did think of the princess as a second mother to him and her words had meant a lot to him. So, the decision of what answering was somewhat more complex than it seemed. And out of all that, all the problems he and his friends had had after exposing themselves to the pollen of the 'Poison Joke' flower, had caused Dusk to postpone writing his response.
Seeing that Dusk finally finished his letter, Spike approached, looked at it with curiosity and then with confusion.
"Is that the answer you want to send the princess?" Spike asked confused, who after having seen Dusk for hours thinking about what the best answer would be, he thought that his brother would send a long speech explaining his feelings, but instead, Spike saw that Dusk had finally only written a few words. A letter much shorter than what he normally sent. "Are you sure?"
"I’m sure." Dusk replied, handing the letter to Spike, who then blew out his green fire and magically sent the letter to the princess.
After Spike sent the letter, the ears of both brothers became alert when they heard a noise outside. Then they both ran to the window and saw that the first drops of the rain announced for that day began to fall.
Both brothers watched the rain fall with big and expectant eyes, then looked at each other and smiled like little foals at a new toy.
"Our first storm in Ponyville!" Dusk shouted full of emotion.
"And a stormy night only means..." Spike said with a knowing smile, taking out a small box that he had already ready since he had found out that it would rain all night in town.
"Bro time!" Both brothers shouted excitedly, clashing their fists and hooves, ready to relive one of their favorite hobbies that they kept only for special nights like this one.
Dusk and Spike sat in the middle of the room as the baby dragon opened the mysterious box he had brought. Opening it, Dusk and Spike's eyes widened as they saw an extendable board, several spreadsheets, dice with many faces, and cards with different badly made drawings made by themselves.
"Night of Ogres and Oubliettes!" Dusk said excitedly, taking some spreadsheets.
This was a famous heroic fantasy role-playing game, or at least famous among those who loved board and role-playing games, since Ogres and Oubliettes was a game in which the imagination was widely used, and in which there were many rules and instructions. So, it wasn't a game everyone wanted to play. But for Dusk and Spike, it was the best game in the world.
"The rain always gives the best atmosphere to play." Spike said excitedly, who mainly loved being the hero in that fantasy world. "We'll be able to play all night without interruption, like we did in Canterlot!"
"Sure... all night." Dusk added smiling and rolling his eyes, knowing that his brother always said the same thing, but he always ended up falling asleep before midnight. After all he was still a baby dragon.
Spike began to search through the cards in the game, until he found the one he was looking for and put on a huge smile.
"Now I'll be 'Grabunkle', the wandering wizard!" Spike said excitedly as he showed a card that he himself had drawn years ago, in which a dragon similar to him appeared, but wearing a cloak and a large wizard hat, in addition to having a huge beard and mustache. "Garbunkle is the last disciple of Normenor, who was the most powerful wizard in Spiketopia. He has inherited his greatest spells and has set himself to be the kingdom's new supreme sorcerer." Spike added, giving background to his character, and pretending to hold a staff and cast a spell, as his character would.
"And I'll be 'Sir Ethmun Mess', the rebel paladin!" Dusk said just as excitedly as his brother while showing his character's card, which was also a foal's drawing that looked like him, but wearing golden armor and a scar on his face. "Sir Ethmun was the most loyal paladin to the ancient king, until the cruel Duke of Shinetopolis took the throne. Now he is a kingless knight seeking revenge." Dusk added, pretending to brandish a sword.
Both brothers saw themselves, imagined themselves dressing as their characters, and giggled. Both were very excited about the imaginary adventure they would have soon.
Suddenly both brothers returned to reality when they heard someone knock on the front door. Dusk and Spike went to the door and opened it, where they saw that their friends Applejack and Rarity were there, completely drenched in the rain. Dusk and Spike immediately ran to get them some towels while the mares entered Dusk's home.
"Thank you so much, dear." Rarity said smiling, thankful the towel Spike offered her, and drying her mane slowly and delicately.
"Yeah, thanks." Applejack also said, strongly shaking her body to remove the water, to the displeasure of Rarity, who ended up wet again by the water that Applejack splashed. "This is one heck of a storm. The weather team really outdid themselves this time."
"What were you doing outside in this rain?" Dusk asked confused.
"I had to cut the branches of the trees in the park with Miss Perfection." Applejack said, glancing angrily at Rarity, who returned the same angry look. "We were late, and the rain caught us."
"Can we stay here until the rain ends?" Rarity asked looking at Dusk.
"Uh... Of course you can. But this rain will last all night." Dusk said, using his magic to levitate the weekly weather chart that always came to the library.
"All night!?" Rarity and Applejack said at the same time, since they both knew that rain was scheduled, but they didn't know it would be that long.
"Oh! This is great!" Spike yelled excitedly after a great idea occurred to him. "We can have a slumber party!"
At Spike's great idea, there was only an awkward silence in the air.
"A slumber party with Applejack!?" Rarity thought frightened, looking at Applejack in disgust. "I don't know if I could bear it..."
"A slumber party with Rarity!?" Applejack thought frightened, looking at Rarity in disgust. "I don't know if I could bear it..."
"A slumber party with Applejack and Rarity!?" Dusk Shine thought nervously, seeing his friends and blushing. "I don't know if I could bear it..."
"A slumber party with Rarity... Hehehe..." Spike thought with dumb face as he imagined Rarity playing Ogres and Oubliettes with him, and pictured her own character: a sexy Level 100 thief clad in some rather scandalous armor.
Rarity and Applejack looked at each other, and aside from their discussion, they knew that they both thought the same thing: It was impossible for both of them to be in a slumber party next to each other without their other friends helping them to support each other. Then they both nodded and looked at Dusk, ready to make up an excuse to avoid Spike’s idea.
"I don't know if it's a good idea..." Dusk suddenly said with a thoughtful look as he thought that there was a powerful reason not to be hosting a slumber party for his friends.
Suddenly Dusk looked up and saw that his friends were watching him closely after anticipating what they were planning to say, and only then Dusk realized that he had said the latter out loud, which embarrassed him.
"I-I'm sorry... It's not that I don't want to have a slumber party with you. It's… It's just…" Dusk said nervously, and then lowering his head in shame. "I... I've never been to a slumber party before."
"Never? The foals and fillies in my school always had slumber parties." Rarity said curiously.
"Yeah, but... when I was at school, lots of foals and fillies had slumber parties, but... they didn't invite me, hehe." Dusk said scratching his head and putting on a sad nervous smile. "I never had large groups of friends at school... That’s why I never held one of my own, because I don't know how to hold one... And even if I held one, I don't know if it would be good." Dusk added melancholy, remembering his past and in vain trying not to get sad when remembering it.
Hearing Dusk's story, both mares looked at each other again. Their plan to invent an excuse to evade the slumber party had grinded to a halt. Now they had a new shared mission: Give Dusk Shine his first slumber party and make sure that it would be the best slumber party of all! And they would do it despite the fact that they could hardly bear each other for so long together.
"Tut tut, darling! We may not be foals anymore, but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late for you to experience the fun that a slumber party provides!" Rarity said lovingly, looking at Spike and then winking at Dusk.
"Y-Yes... a slumber party will be... fun." Applejack added with a nervous smile. “What activities do you have in mind, sugarcube?”
Dusk looked surprised at his friends, and immediately understood what they were trying to do for him, which made him smile warmly for their kind gesture.
"Well, slumber parties... slumber parties... What is done in slumber parties...?" Dusk said as he thought aloud, until his eyes widened when he discovered that he already knew the answer. "We should be playing some fun games, don't you think, Spike?" Dusk added, glancing at Spike, so that his brother understood what he meant.
Then Spike widened his eyes and ran to the main room to get the board and the box with accessories from their favorite game and thus show it to their friends.
"Hehe, that reminds me of that time when the last storm Big Mac brought us all together in the dining room because he wanted us to play a silly game called 'Ogres and Oubliettes' with him." Applejack said casually, remembering how his strong, big brother had a nerdy side hidden in him.
"Yes! I know that game. At the school, there were a couple of nerdy colts who used to play that. I know it's bad of me to say it, but those games are so silly…" Rarity added with a small giggle, remembering her clumsy companions dressed up as goblins and wizards.
Just then, Spike, who had managed to hear what the mares had said, slowly backed away with the box and the board he was holding in his claws. Dusk and Spike’s faces turned pink out of slight embarrassment and the purple colt quickly and subtly gestured his little brother to hide the game from sight. After all, there was nothing more embarrassing than their two friends finding out that they loved playing those kinds of games. On the bright side though, the pair had at least learned from Applejack passing comment that there was another potential player that could join in their bro time. Once Spike returned after hiding the box with the board game, the four went up to Dusk's room, since it was warmer thanks to the chimney that was there.
"So... what should we play?" Applejack asked confused after seeing that neither Spike nor Dusk had said anything after reaching the room.
"Yeah... uh... I... I'm not sure what to play because... Because I don't know what games are played in slumber parties!" Dusk replied nervously, since the girls had unknowingly destroyed his great idea of playing role-playing games at the slumber party.
"I have a game!" Rarity and Applejack said at the same time, who then looked at each other in disgust, remembering that they were still annoyed with each other. But they quickly put on normal faces again for the sake of Dusk's slumber party.
"Is something wrong?" Dusk asked, noting the discomfort of his friends.
"N-Nothing's wrong, darling. It's just that… you don't want to play the Applejack game." Rarity replied nervously, glancing at the orange mare. " Surely it'll just be something that will get us all dirty and potentially ruin your soft, pristine…coat…” The fashionista then let out a mock cough in an attempt to cover up her swooning.
"Now hold on, what you don't want is to play something chosen by Rarity." Applejack added looking at Dusk and then at Rarity in disgust. "It’ll just be some fru-fru frilly game that you’ll lose interest in. Surely nothing a stallion like yourself would enjoy." Applejack then quickly shot Rarity a smug grin at how she subtly complimented Dusk by appealing to his masculinity.
Noticing that there was some tension in the atmosphere, Dusk looked confused at Spike, who just shrugged, not understanding why their friends seemed to be in a bad mood.
"Wait! I have an idea!" Dusk said excited, suddenly remembering something.
Then Dusk went to one of the many shelves full of books in his room, reading the spines of several books until he finally found what he was looking for.
"Here! 'Slumber 101'." Dusk said, proudly showing a book he opened before his friends, showing some pages with illustrations. "This book explains the whole theory of slumber parties, such as what activities to do, what schedules to do, what to eat..."
"That! I always wanted to do that in a slumber party!" Spike suddenly said excitedly, pointing right at the page of the book that Dusk was showing at that moment. "That's the first thing we have to do before we start the games."
Applejack walked over to get a good look at what Spike was saying and made a confused face.
"Roasting marshmallows?" Applejack asked incredulously. "Have you never roasted marshmallows before?"
"Hmm... well... once we tried." Dusk whispered with a nervous smile, as he and Spike remembered something.
Both brothers then remembered an image of half of Canterlot Castle on fire as the castle staff ran in panic to stop the flames.
"Yeah... uh... it didn't turn out very well." Spike said embarrassed, scratching his head and putting on a nervous smile just like his brother.
Determined that this time it would turn out well and that they would not set fire to anything on the spot, Dusk went to the kitchen to find all the necessary candies and utensils. Then Applejack took a few marshmallows and threaded them onto the tips of a few rods, moving them slightly closer to the fireplace so that they roast slowly over the flames.
"The key is to turn them around and not let them burn." Applejack said proudly, as Dusk and Spike watched in amazement and hunger as their friend roasted those marshmallows to perfection. "If they’re too far from the fire, the inside doesn't melt. And if you bring them too close, they burn on the outside."
So, Applejack finished roasting the first marshmallows and shoved them quickly and surprisingly into the mouths of Dusk and Spike. The pair were amazed at the new texture and flavor they tasted in their mouths, making Applejack smile with pride.
"It's so delicious!" Dusk said as he enjoyed the marshmallow melting in his mouth.
"We always made marshmallows with my cousins over a campfire." Applejack said smiling. "Normally Granny Smith wouldn't let me eat marshmallows at night. She said they didn't let me sleep well. But this time I think I'll make an exception." Applejack added, also enjoying some freshly roasted marshmallows.
"Ugh, what a common and unoriginal way to eat a marshmellow. While don’t I whip up something a bit more refined!" Rarity suddenly said, she couldn't help but feel jealous seeing Applejack get all the attention.
After saying that, Rarity took a couple of roasted marshmallows, along with a couple of crackers and some chocolate. Then she made some nice sweet and tasty s'mores, putting the marshmallow and chocolate between crackers, and offered to Dusk and Spike.
The brothers' eyes sparkled as they saw Rarity's beautiful creations, and they brightened even more as they felt that new combination of flavors explode in their mouth. It was now Rarity who was smirking as Applejack looked at her jealously.
"Eating it this way is also delicious!" Dusk said very happy as he finished savoring his s'more.
"Yeah, that’s fine and all, but it's a lot of work and the marshmallows will end up cold." Applejack said looking annoyed at Rarity and then looking seriously at Dusk. "Better eat them hot straight from a stick, right?"
"Of course not. Take time to combine and make something delicious is much better, right?" Rarity said, also looking annoyed at her friend and then looking serious at Dusk.
"Hmm, I think they are both delicious." Spike said as he still eating his s'more with a claw, and in the other claw had two rods with marshmallow.
"No! You have to choose one!" Both mares said at the same time, looking seriously at Dusk and Spike, letting their rivalry boil to the surface again.
"Choose one..." Dusk whispered as he looked at his friends. Then he understood that this dilemma could be applied to something that went beyond the way of eating marshmallows, to something related to the new feeling that he had discovered that he felt. Which made Dusk blush completely. "I... I don't know what to choose..." Dusk finally said looking away to hide his blush.
In looking at Dusk, both mares noticed that he was uncomfortable, and then realized that forcing him to choose what marshmallow was better was totally the opposite of what they set out to make Dusk enjoyed his first slumber party. So, both mares looked at each other in disgust and then looked away, deciding to not settle the marshmallow issue for now.
"Maybe it's just my idea, but Dusk seemed more nervous than usual..." Applejack thought, glancing at Dusk, who for a moment seemed lost in thought as he blushed.
"So, what do we do now?" Spike asked after devouring the last remaining marshmallow.
"I know what to do!" Applejack said quickly, lifting her hoof, anticipating Rarity and glancing at her.
"Whatever." Rarity whispered annoyed, determined not to argue with Applejack again in front of Dusk.
"Whenever I went camping with my cousins, we roasted marshmallows at night. But the other thing we always did was…" Applejack said excitedly, then turned off the light and illuminated her face with a flashlight. "Tell horror stories!"
Hearing Applejack, Spike trembled and put a nervous glance on, which amused Dusk as he knew his brother was a bit of a scaredy cat. Meanwhile, the room was not completely dark, since the fireplace was still lit, but that same caused everyone's shadows to dance to the flames, which gave a chilling atmosphere, perfect for telling horror stories.
"That sounds fun!" Dusk said excitedly. "Who will tell it? I don't know many horror stories."
"I know one!" Rarity said with a smile, also amused to see Spike tremble just for mentioning that they would tell horror stories.
"Telling horror stories isn’t such a bad idea..." Rarity thought, almost about to compliment her friend, but since they were fighting, she kept it to herself. "If I tell that story that I told Sweetie Belle once... It sure will scare them!" Rarity thought amused.
Applejack was far from amused, who felt Rarity had taken away her chance since she had come up with the idea of telling horror stories, and she wanted to be who frightened everyone.
"This is the story of a lonely mare... wandering alone through the dreary Everfree Forest one night on Nightmare Night..." Rarity said with a sinister air, to give atmosphere to the story, while Dusk and Spike watched her closely.
"Surely she was alone because she was unbearable and no one could stand her complaints..." Applejack muttered in a bad mood while giving Rarity a scathing look, which surprised the white unicorn.
"So that's how you want to play, huh?" Rarity thought annoyed at Applejack's interruption.
"Yes... this mare was dirty, clumsy and rude, and lived alone all her life until she married one of her hundreds of cousins, as rustic ponies of her type used to do." Rarity said angrily, glancing at Applejack.
"Oh yeah... I know that story too..." Applejack said, glaring at Rarity. "Except that wasn’t how I remembered it. That mare was alone because she was an irritating, bitter and shallow pony, and she never married. She grew up and became an old spinster surrounded by cats, and she was never loved by anyone other than herself and her huge ego."
Both mares had leaded forward and were glaring at each other, almost touching their faces. Meanwhile, Dusk had shrunk nervously, feeling the hatred in the air that for some reason his two friends were expressing each other.
"Hmm... I don't know... that story isn't too scary..." Spike said scratching his head, not getting it at all.
"I-I have a story! Hehe…" Dusk said quickly nervously, taking advantage of the fact that his brother had broken the tension for a second so that his friends didn't continue to look at each other with hatred.
"Why are they so angry...? Well, I'll ask later. Now I must think of a quick horror story, before they argue again!" Dusk thought nervously, thinking about the few horror stories he knew, which were mostly boring. Then he looked down and felt the carpet on his hooves. "Wait, I know! This can work!"
"Well, what I'm going to tell you isn’t exactly a horror story, rather it’s historical and scientific data." Dusk said with a smile, and then getting very serious to attract the attention of Spike and his friends. "Did you know that the Pegasi originally invented lightning bolt to kill unicorns?"
Saying that chilling fact, Spike and the mares' eyes widened with fear, to Dusk's satisfaction.
"In ancient times, thousands of years before Princess Celestia, the three pony tribes were at war, with the unicorn having the upper hoof. With their abilities to use physical magic, they had the advantage over the other two tribes. Thus, the Pegasi had to invent a countermeasure so as not to be an easy target for the unicorn horns when they attacked from the air. And so, the lightning bolt was born... A powerful electric shock generated from the collision of two storm clouds. This weapon ran at incredible speed, faster than magic, and was designed to hit high things on flat ground, so unicorn horns were the first to be hit once this great weapon was unleashed…" Dusk said speaking seriously, as if he was giving a history class, but little by little he made his voice more gloomy as he advanced in his story, all while Applejack had her mouth open and trembling, Spike had his teeth clenched with fright, and Rarity had a shocked face as she gently touched her horn. "Now, a lightning strike can generate an electric shock of two hundred thousand amps and a million volts, in addition, for a micron of a second, its temperature reaches six thousand degrees, enough to carbonize everything it touches... But those times are over, there aren’t any wars to worry about now. The only thing to worry about is not standing next to a tall tree in a thunderstorm."
"B-But we’re inside a tree..." Spike whispered in terror, looking around.
Just then, a big flash appeared, putting out the fire in the chimney and leaving everything dark. And in that same instant, an electric current ran through everyone's body.
"KYAAAA!!" Applejack, Rarity and Spike screamed in terror in the dark.
After a few seconds of darkness, the light returned to the room, revealing a very smiling Dusk, and Rarity, Applejack, and Spike, the three of them holding each other tightly and trembling with terror.
"Hahaha, it seems like my horror story worked better than I expected." Dusk said with a big smile, levitating the slumber party book next to him, and writing some notes to take into consideration for his next slumber party.
"Y-You put out the chimney?" Applejack asked, still trembling with fear.
"Yes, a simple spell. I also made that flash of light to simulate lightning." Dusk said smiling.
"B-But, I did feel an electric shock." Rarity said also trembling, who, like Applejack and Spike, had felt for a second electricity in her body, which she thought had been struck by lightning.
"Oh! That was electricity." Dusk said smiling, then looking at the floor and slowly dragging his hoof over the carpet that was there. "It was a little static electricity. I guess the suggestion made all you feel like lightning had hit you."
"B-But what if a lightning bolt actually hits the tree!?" Spike asked still shivering, looking up at the ceiling.
"Don't worry. This, like all houses, has a magic lightning rod." Dusk said with a shrug and a smile, thinking that it had been a fortune that none of his friends knew that information.
Once Dusk had explained everything, Spike and the two mares stopped shaking slowly, and gradually recovered and relaxed. It was then that Applejack and Rarity looked at each other and realized that they were still holding each other tightly. Realizing this, both mares quickly parted and shifted their embarrassed glances. Then Rarity looked down at her, and saw that Spike was still holding her tight, looking at her with a clumsy blushing face.
"Hehe... sorry." Spike blushed, slowly letting go of Rarity, and thinking that despite the scare, it gave him the opportunity to hug his beloved Rarity.
After everyone calmed down completely and congratulated Dusk on his terrifying story, it was time to continue the slumber party games.
"Okay, now it's my turn to pick a game." Rarity said shaking her mane and glancing at Applejack. "Now, let's make a circle."
"It'll surely be boring..." Applejack whispered, still in a bad mood with her friend, while doing what Rarity asked.
"On the contrary, I think even you'll enjoy this game. The fillies at school used to play it when they made the first parties between fillies and young colts." Rarity said with a little giggle and putting an object in the middle of the circle they had just formed. "We'll spin this."
Seeing what Rarity put in the middle of the circle, Applejack blushed when she saw that it was a bottle, so she immediately guessed what they would play. When the orange mare looked to Dusk, she saw that he had a confused look on his face. It seemed that the colt was unaware at what they could all possibly play by spinning a bottle.
End of chapter 45