//------------------------------// // Alicorn Princess Slumber Party! Hurrah! // Story: Princess Rainbow Dash, or An Alternate Ending to How Rainbow Dash Got Her Cutie Mark // by LuluCalliope //------------------------------// Princess Rainbow Dash Rainbow yawned. As a government official in Ponyville...or at least, a royal figure...she had to be on top of things like the weather scheduled for the week. On this particular week, a strong thunderstorm was planned. Rainbow Dash was looking forward to it. The sun seemed to shine all the time in Ponyville, and a little bit of rain would be refreshing. She stretched her wings and flew from her house, headed for the Town Square. Then... "Hey, Rainbow Dash!" It was Derpy, dressed in her mailpony uniform. "I've got a letter from Princess Celestia!" She reached into her saddlebag and procured it, giving it to the princess and flying off. It was Tuesday, one of her busier days of the week. Rainbow watched her fly away before she opened the letter and read: "'My dear Princess Rainbow Dash, the annual Alicorn slumber party is upon us, and this year we are joined by my sister, Princess Luna. We look forward to seeing you tonight. Yours truly, Princess Celestia.' She didn't even ask if I could make it!" Rainbow groaned. "Guess I'm gonna have to miss the rain showers..." When Rainbow Dash arrived at Canterlot Castle, the first thing she did was head to Cadance's room. The pink Alicorn was there, along with Fleur-Dis-Lee. "I couldn't have done it without you," Cadance was saying. "Anything for my favorite princess," Fleur replied with a wink. "I thought I was your favorite princess?" Rainbow laughed as she stepped into the room. Fleur's eyes widened. "Oh, hey Princess Rainy!" She giggled. "I was actually thinking about you when I brought this over!" "Brought what over?" "You'll see," she said with a wink. She waved one last time at Cadance before she took her leave. As soon as they were alone, Rainbow Dash turned on Cadance. "I thought we weren't supposed to use nicknames for each other in public!" "I don't!" Cadance replied, her eyes wide and innocent. "I only call you 'Rainy' when you and I are alone...or when Fleur and I are alone!" She giggled. Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you have any idea what we're going to do for the sleepover? And what did Fleur bring over that was so important?" "I thought you'd never ask!" Cadance grinned. Using her magic, she levitated two things over to the cyan mare. The first was a large, but elegant box containing hoof polish in every color imaginable, lotions, hair curlers, and towels. Rainbow groaned and looked at the second object: a sheet of parchment with the following written on it: Slumber Party To-Do List: Watch Luna raise the moon Spa Treatment and Makeovers Catch Luna up on more things she's missed Sleep (?) "Twilight Sparkle told me that she wants to have a slumber party at some point," Cadance informed Rainbow as they walked to Luna's chambers. The pink Alicorn had her lovely mane pulled back in a ponytail. She looked younger, more relaxed than she did when she wore her formal attire. Rainbow hated her own royal regalia: the tiara, the fancy horseshoes, the necklaces. It made her feel too superior and fancy...and taller. Alicorns were already taller than their peers."I sent her a book about the basics of slumber parties," Cadance continued. "I hope she skims it...she never had any parties when she was just a filly..." "Knowing her, she'll probably have an essay ready on Saturday," Rainbow joked. Cadance laughed, and the Lunar guards opened the doors to the chamber of the Moon Princess. Rainbow stepped inside. The room was beautiful and dark. The only lights came from the ceiling, where a replica of the night sky and all the constellations and planets was painted. Several of the stars seemed to glow and twinkle, and Rainbow wondered, briefly, if the light of the night sky was what gave life to this replica. She shook her head and looked away and at the rest of the room. There was a large, lavish bed for the princess, but three queen-sized inflatable mattresses had been brought in for the guests. Celestia lounged on one of them. "Hello, niece and Rainbow Dash," she greeted with her trademark warm smile. "Hello, Auntie Celestia," Cadance replied. "S'up?" Rainbow smirked. "Hello, everypony!" Rainbow spun around to see the last Alicorn to join them, and her mouth fell open. There were only a few traces of the weak, defeated mare from the Summer Sun Celebration. This Princess Luna was taller than Cadance by at least an inch. Her coat was darker and her mane, although still the same shade of light blue, seemed to sparkle in a certain light. Luna smiled. "I know, isn't it wonderful? Tia has been so helpful...I might have all the properties of my old mane back in a fortnight!" "Maybe even sooner!" 'Tia' said, approaching her sister. She nuzzled the top of her head for a brief moment, then pulled away to address the other two guests. "Are we all ready for the spa treatment?" She clapped her hooves. Masseuse ponies entered the chambers. "Sit down," Celestia said to the other princesses. "We've earned this break. It's so exhausting, being a princess." "You don't have to tell me twice," Rainbow said, stretching out on one of the mattresses. "I'll have the Hummingbird Herbal treatment on my wings, please," she said to the pony awaiting her orders. "But NO HOOFICURE." There was only so much pampering and makeovers that she could take! "I haven't had a hooficure in a thousand years," Luna sighed, her eyes closed. She was at peace as one pony massaged her back and another began to apply a coat of polish to her hooves. "This is the life..." "So, Luna, what have you been up to?" Rainbow asked, tilting her head to look at the blue Alicorn. "Regaining my strength," she replied. "I'm a little out of practice with raising and lowering the moon...but I think I have enough strength to do so in a few days. And I shall continue to explore the dreams of the little ponies." "Ooooh, you HAVE to watch this, it's super cool!" Celestia giggled. She brought her hooves together. "Servants, leave us!" She said to the masseuse ponies. "We don't work for you," one muttered under his breath as he left. Rainbow and the others didn't hear him; they were too focused on Luna, who had opened her eyes. The pupils and irises were gone. An unearthly white glow shone there instead, and she began mumbling to herself in various tones of voice. "No, I don't think he's going to leave you...yes, that is a painful boo-boo, but I think that can be fixed...well, why don't you turn on the light? Thanks, Silver...bring me that plant over there...you need to sign your name up first...oh, for the love of me...that's not going to happen!" The bright light faded from her eyes. She blinked, registering her surroundings, then scowled. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" "Anything interesting?" Celestia asked, using her hoof in an attempt to cover her laughter. "Just a few nightmares and wet dreams," Luna yawned. "Nothing too serious. Twilight Sparkle seems to be suffering from a recurring nightmare about being sent to magic Kindergarden...." Cadance snorted. "That's Twilight, all right...also, I can't believe you didn't raise the moon tonight..." "Twilight is such an egg head!" Rainbow laughed. Luna cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?" "Oh, it's just an expression!" Cadance explained. "It means someone is nerdy!" Rainbow added. "...what is 'nerdy'? And why would you make fun of the shape of someone's head? Especially if it is an egg...? Are eggs humorous?" "No...but...erm...why do we say 'egghead', Candy?" Rainbow asked, a slight blush creeping onto her face. She had used this playful insult so many times, but never once did she consider the origins of the expression! Doing that would make HER an egghead! "How should I know?" Cadance shrugged. "You're the one who spent pretty much eighty percent of her princesshood foalsitting the egghead!" "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I know everything there is about eggheads!" She gasped. "Are...are you implying that I'm an egghead?" "Well, when you put it like that..." Rainbow shrugged and smirked. Cadance gasped again. "I just realized something..." "What? What is it?" Rainbow still had the smirk on her face. "YOU'RE the one who realized Twilight was an egghead. Doesn't it take one to know one?" The pink Alicorn smirked back. Rainbow frowned and charged up her horn, levitating a pillow. "Take that back!" "Nope!" "TAKE. THAT. BACK!" She yelled, tossing the pillow. She aimed at Cadance, but it hit Celestia instead. "Oh, no..." "PILLOW FIGHT!" The white Alicorn proclaimed in her Royal Canterlot Voice. Rainbow Dash's Log: Day 310 When will the feud end? The pillows have caused more casualties than any Equestrian war. It has been many months since I have seen my foals...do they remember their mother's face...? "You don't have any kids!" Luna hissed. Rainbow yelped and crumpled up the sheet of parchment. "I was just creating a comedic effect! Also, don't read over my shoulder, okay?" "Fair enough," Luna shrugged, launching a pillow over the Fortress of Fluffiness at Celestia and Cadance's Great Wall of Pillow. "Incoming projectile on the port side!" "I'm on it!" Rainbow shouted, leaping to the front of the lines, blocking a pillow and saving a large portion of the fortress. "Time out!" Celestia shouted, raising both of her hooves. "Do you surrender?" Luna grinned. "No, I said 'time out'! There's a difference! I'm tired and need my beauty rest. Can we sign a truce or something until the next sleepover?" "...oh, very well...does anyone have a large piece of parchment, or did Rainbow use all of it on her stupid war log?" "Hey!" A few hours later... Half of the Alicorns were asleep. Luna dozed in her own bed, and Celestia snored from her mattress next to her sister's bed. Cadance and Rainbow had shoved their mattresses against the wall so that they could have a conversation facing each other. Rainbow opened her eyes and tapped Cadance's head. "Hey." "Hey," the pink princess said, shifting to face Rainbow. "I can't sleep." "Me neither. Remember our first slumber party?" "You betcha!" Flashback Time... Rainbow clutched a pillow in her mouth as she stood outside of Cadance's royal chambers. The weather had been beautiful for at least a week...Celestia had arranged this for the coronations and excitement...but now there was a terrible thunderstorm. Rainbow Dash was spending another night in Canterlot. Her bed was large and soft, but as she lay in the dark, she became aware of how large the bed was and how there was plenty of room for monsters...normally she felt like she could handle the monsters...but that only applied if she was in her bed at home. Canterlot Bed Monsters might be totally different from Cloudsdale Bed Monsters! She needed help...and that was why she was in the teenage Alicorn's room. She tiptoed over to her bed and poked her until her eyes opened. "What is it, Rainbow Dash?" She yawned. "I can't sleep. Can I stay in here for tonight?" Cadance nodded, and the cyan filly climbed into bed with her. "Are you afraid?" Cadance whispered. "Who said I was afraid of monsters? I'm not afraid of nothing!" Rainbow said, raising her voice. "No, no, that's not what I meant!" Cadance hissed. "I meant...aren't you scared about what happens to us now? Are we going to live forever? I don't want that to happen..." Rainbow couldn't see her tears, but she could hear the pink Alicorn sobbing, so she reached her hoof out and placed it on the older pony's shoulder. "I don't think we will...we just got these horns, right?" "Right..." "I think we're really more of 'winged Unicorns' than we are 'real Alicorns'," she shrugged. "Anyway, we're princesses now. If we end up being immortal, and I don't think we are, then we can do something to change that." Cadance sniffled. "I hope you're right..." She pulled Rainbow into a hug. "Thank you..." "No problem," Rainbow yawned. "I'm gonna get some shut-eye now..." She closed her eyes and turned over. She couldn't get to sleep. It was the horn! It was too distracting! "Ugh, it's no use!" Cadance groaned after trying to sleep with a pillow over her face. "These horns are the worst!" They had found out the next morning that Rainbow was right. They weren't real Alicorns, so they didn't have immortality. "Good times, huh?" Rainbow chuckled, remembering the relief on Cadance's face. "Yeah...I've been thinking..." "Hmm?" "When I became a princess and an Alicorn, I got my cutie mark, but I don't know what it means. Aunt Celestia says it means something about my purpose as a princess, but what if I never find out?" "I know that feeling," Rainbow sighed. "You have your fancy Love spell and the other two can control freaking planets...I have no idea what special magical powers I have!" "We'll figure it out if we dream a little harder...I think that's usually what princesses do, anyway," Cadance replied, but something in her tone said she wasn't sure about her own solution. "We should get some sleep...you're going back to Ponyville tomorrow morning and I have a date in the afternoon." "Shining Armor hasn't proposed?" "Not yet." "Goodnight Candy." "Goodnight Rainy." Both mares closed their eyes and fell asleep to the sound of Celestia singing in her sleep: "...trust me when I say that when you dream a little harder, you're sure to muddle through...because if you're good and you're attractive, no need to be proactive, good things will just happen to you..." Luna chose that moment to sit up and lightly slap her sister. "Wake up and go to sleep..." "Wha? What's going on?" "You were singing in your sleep." "Again?" "Again." "Buck, I should really see a doctor about that..."