Chapter 10: Cutie Mark Crusader Sleepover at Twilight's! Yay!
Things have been going well for Twilight and her friends. Especially with Nyx. She's already getting over being lost in an alternate Equestria. Pinkie Pie had set up a party in the library, and not just for Nyx. Pinkie said it was a "National Random Holiday Party". Twilight had gotten used to Nyx when she moved in.
Rainbow Dash then came in, saying, "Heya, Twilight! Aren't you excited that..." She was then cut off when Pinkie came down from the ceiling, blowing a party horn.
"So glad you've finally made it!" said Twilight.
Rainbow Dash was walking in confused about the party and asked, "What's everypony doing here?"
"We're having a holiday party!" said Pinkie Pie. She then blew a party horn.
"So what holiday would today be?" Rainbow asked, confused and looking at Applejack, dancing with a huge red cowboy hat with white apples all over it.
"National Random Holiday Party Day! Woo-hoo!" Pinkie said, blowing another horn.
"I've never heard of it either," Rarity said, walking up to Rainbow Dash. She then took a sip of the drink she had in her magic. "But the punch is quite tasty."
Pinkie Pie leaned in and said, "You might say the secret ingredient is..." She then whispered loudly into Rainbow's ear. "...a secret!"
Rainbow Dash turned her head towards Applejack and asked, "How come nopony bothered to invite me?"
"I came to invite you personally, but it seems you were a speck too busy reading the last Daring Do book for the twelfth time," Applejack said with a deadpanned expression.
Rainbow Dash then walked over towards Twilight who was holding the drinks with her magic, saying, "Yeah, well, in three months and twenty six more days, I'll be able to read the next one." She then took one cup of punch and drank it.
"Oh, haven't you heard?" Twilight asked. "The release of the next book got pushed another two months." That made Rainbow Dash do a spit-take into Twilight's face.
"Two more months?!" Rainbow shouted. She then started sweating. "I've been waiting so long already! I don't think I can take another two months! I'll never make it!" She then face planted on the floor.
Fluttershy came in behind Rainbow Dash and said, "Yeah. I can vouch for that..." Pinkie then put a party hat on Rainbow's head.
"Did they give a reason?" Rainbow asked.
"The publisher just said author A.K. Yearling won't be able to finish the book for another two months," Twilight explained. She then levitated a platter full of cupcakes. "Cupcakes?"
Rainbow Dash growled and said, "How could you possibly know that before me? I'm the series's biggest fan!'
"I'm just as big a fan as you!" Twilight said. "In fact, I'm the one who first introduced you to the books, remember?"
"Oh. Right," said Rainbow, remembering her time in the hospital.
Dusk and Nyx were confused by the commotion. Nyx was eating a cupcake, and asked, "Do you know something about that?"
"No," said Dusk. "It probably happened before this body was born."
"I guess that makes sense," said Nyx. She then levitated another cupcake over and asked, "Cupcake?"
"Thanks," said Dusk, taking it in his own magic, and eating it.
"A.K. Yearling just might be my favorite author," Twilight said. "I know everything about her. Where she grew up, where she studied literature, where she wrote the first Daring Do book..."
Rainbow got an idea and asked, "Where she lives?"
"Uh... no, though I could probably find out somehow," Twilight said. She then wondered. "Why?"
"Don't you get it?" Rainbow asked. "The new book is obviously delayed because she needs help dealing with whatever everyday nonsense is distracting her from spending her every living breathing second writing! So I– I mean, fans like me, can get to read the new book ASAP! Think about it! We could help her with her laundry, buy her groceries, cooking her meals, whatever! Now, who wouldn't appreciate that?"
"Hmm, I don't know... what she probably wants most of all is respect for her privacy," Twilight said.
Rainbow then wrapped her foreleg around Twilight and said, "She can always just say no." That made Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy nod their heads in agreement.
"Mmh... I suppose you're right..." Twilight said, making Rainbow smile wide.
"Of course I am," Rainbow said flying and winking. "So... how's about getting that address?"
Twilight became grumpy and said, "Well, I'm just gonna have to ask my parents to watch over Dusk and Nyx since Spike is in Canterlot."
"Oh, that reminds me," said Rarity. "I'm afraid that my parents are out for their own personal trip, and I can't leave Sweetie Belle all by herself."
"Yeah," Applejack said. "Big Mac and Granny Smith are visitin' relatives. It's just me an Apple Bloom at home."
"I guess we wouldn't mind having Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle here," said Twilight. "I guess that we can't leave Scootaloo out of it. We can't let the Cutie Mark Crusaders have one Crusader left out."
"Good idea," said Dusk. "I'll go find them." He headed for the door and opened it. He then went wide eyed and said, "Never mind!" Then came in, crashing into Dusk, was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They all went onto the other side of the library, and then got buried in books. Then the Crusaders and Dusk popped their heads out from the books.
"Ah told ya ta slow down, Scoot!" Apple Bloom said.
"It wasn't my fault!" Scootaloo argued. She then held out the handlebars of her scooter and said, "The handlebars on my scooter popped off!"
Nyx turned to the bookshelf she was standing in front of and picked out one book with her magic. She then walked over towards the group, and handed Scootaloo the book. She then said, "This book has the answers on how to fix your scooter."
Twilight was confused and asked, "How did you know that was there?"
"Scootaloo did this back in the Equestria where I'm from," said Nyx.
"Anyway," said Twilight. "Now that you girls are here, I might as well..." Twilight said, but was cut off by Scootaloo.
"Yeah, whatever it is, I can't," said Scootaloo. "My parents are still out of town, and my aunts, Lofty and Holiday, are going out for their quilting business, so I need somepony to watch over me until they get back."
"That's... actually a coincidence," said Twilight. "Basically, the six of us are going out of town, and I'm gonna have my parents watch over Dusk, Nyx, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. There's always room for one more."
That made the girls gasp in excitement. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Nyx began to breathe in a huge whiff of air. Dusk then said, "Everypony, cover your ears." Which they all did.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SLEEPOVER AT THE LIBRARY! YAY!!" the four fillies shouted.
That made the Mane 6 laugh at the Crusaders's group cheer. Especially with Nyx joining in.
It had become the late evening with the girls and Dusk sleeping down in the main room of the library. Twilight and her friends left for their journey to find A.K. Yearling. Velvet had prepared s'mores for the fillies and Dusk to enjoy. Nyx really enjoyed the s'mores.
"You seemed to enjoy the s'mores, Nyx," said Velvet. "Are they a favorite of yours?"
"To tell you the truth," Nyx said. "This was my very first s'more."
"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Your whole life, you never had a s'more?"
"I... I wasn't really born like any normal pony," Nyx said.
"Ah just thought that ya were born from a unicorn and a bat pony," said Apple Bloom.
"No way," said Nyx. "Although, with my eyes, I guess that would make sense. But, on my first sleepover in my Equestria, the Apple Bloom there thought that one of my parents was a unicorn when the other one is a pegasus. And I was wearing enchanted glasses that made my eyes look normal."
"Enchanted glasses?" Dusk asked. "Oh, so none of the ponies would see you as Nightmare Moon. And the vest to hide your wings."
"You wore a vest?" Scootaloo asked. "Oh, yeah. Alicorns don't pop out of nowhere. Anyway..." She then turned off the lights, and pulled a lit lantern and said, "It's time for ghost stories."
"No offense, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said. "But your ghost stories aren't that scary. Ah doubt that Nyx is afraid of them." That made Nyx snicker. Apple Bloom then asked, "What? You heard that before, too?" Nyx nodded.
"It was actually said on my very first sleepover," said Nyx.
That made the girls laugh. Dusk smiled.
"Guess you've already done a lot of things with the Crusaders from your world," said Dusk.
"Yeah," said Nyx. "We had a lot of fun. But there was also moments ruined by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I wasn't with you three in my Equestria when Babs Seed came to town."
"Why weren't ya?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I was helping Twist with her sweets for the parade," said Nyx. "After all, she was the one who pointed it out to Apple Bloom that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were picking on me on my first day of school in my Equestria."
"So, nopony besides you and Twi knew ya were a filly Nightmare Moon before certain events?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well, there was one pony," said Nyx. "It was Rarity. She was the one who made me that vest to cover my wings."
"That makes sense," said Sweetie Belle. "But why would Rarity help out?"
"She didn't want to, but Twilight got her to help," said Nyx. "Although, it was a little irritating just to stay in the same spot while Rarity was designing something on me."
"Tell me about it," Sweetie Belle said. "It's even worse when you have to go to the bathroom."
"I had to when I was being fitted into that outfit I wore for my party when I got my Cutie Mark," said Dusk. "Luckily, the fitting wasn't on that day."
Velvet chuckled and shook her head. She then said, "Alright, my little ponies, it's time for you all to go to bed. You got school in the morning."
"Okay, grandma!" said Dusk and Nyx at the same time. Both of them looked at each other and laughed.
"Now, for you three, I set up the sleeping bags upstairs in Twilight's room," said Velvet. "So, don't do anything to keep up anypony."
"Okay," said Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Then they headed upstairs and followed Nyx.
Twilight and her friends came back from their adventure. Applejack got Apple Bloom back to the farm, Rarity took Sweetie Belle back to the boutique, and Scootaloo's aunts came back from their quilting and picked her up. It was dark when the Mane 6 got home. Dusk and Nyx were happy to see that Twilight came back when they woke up.
"So, what did you and your friends do to help A.K. Yearling?" Nyx asked.
"Oh, it wasn't that much," said Twilight. "Just certain things. Nothing too much." Twilight then thought, "I can't let them find out that A.K. Yearling is Daring Do, and keep it a secret from anypony who doesn't know." Twilight then looked at the time and said, "Alright. It's time for school. Head on out."
"Okay, Twilight," Nyx said. Then she and Dusk headed out.
Twilight sighed and said, "Guess she doesn't feel comfortable on calling me Mom." She then thought about it and said, "Well, I guess it makes sense since she didn't call the Twilight of her Equestria 'Mom' either." She then shrugged her shoulders and said, "Hopefully, things will be different."