Some wounds hurt less as time goes by. Some events you get used to once exposed to multiple times. Even the most uncanny of moments become a norm over time.
"Hiya Moonbutt!"
"MEEP!"
Yet Moon Sky always, without fail, jumped from her seat and got a small heart attack. She wondered if it was only her hidden alicorn physique that kept her alive thus far, but considering that Moondancer seemed to be friendly with all ponies in the academy (and probably outside as well) and didn't get expelled for multiple attempted murders, it was probably just her reacting like this.
"Y-yes, Moondancer?" She turned toward the oblivious (or pretending) cheerful unicorn.
She smiled brightly, despite being rejected everytime she asked, yet coming back, her will never faltering. Luna wondered what kind of silly occasion she would find this time, because in all honesty, she was struggling to keep up with excuses to avoid her. Or reasons.
"You see, next month is kinda, well, special, because..." her horn lit up and before Moon Sky could raise her eyebrow and ask anything, a small explosion of conffetti and streamers exploded right at her desk, and a floating white card with flower patterns on its sides fell on the desk. Before Moon Sky could reach for it, Moondancer grabbed her hooves and looked her into eyes, smiling probably wider than ever before. "My birthday is in one month and you are officially invited! Don't worry, it won't be one of those giant, hundred pony parties, just a small get together with my closest friends. There'll be me, Twily, Sunny, Spikey-Wikey (you know, that adorable widdle dragon librarian) and two royal guards, but don't worry, one is totally gay and the other I'm trying to matchup with Sunset. I don't think it's working, but you know me, I never give up."
"...uhh."
"Anyway, I gotta go, I promised some ponies to met them and I'll probably be a bit late, so see ya later, bye Moonbutt!" And then she zipped away, leaving only dust and a confused alicorn disguised as unicorn alone, with a bunch of confetti at her desk and an invitation.
She blinked. "...what?"
As Moon Sky slowly recovered, other ponies in class were starting to talk.
"Did you see that? Moondancer invited her!"
"Who is this filly?"
"Man, I wish I was invited to her party!"
"Can you imagine what's happening there?"
"I could land on some moon, if you catch my drift!"
"...I don't get it."
"Gosh, you're such a virgin!"
In the midst of all the murmurs and whispers, Professor Silver Scroll walked to Moon Sky, still as wide-eyed as before. He looked at the mess that was left, then at the filly in question.
"Miss Moon Sky, need I remind you that this is a school ground and we do not tolerate litterring in--"
SLAM!
Silver Scroll immediately stopped and jumped away, when Moon Sky suddenly stood up, slamming her hooves at the desk.
"SHE TRICKED ME!" She shouted at nopony in particular, completely ignoring the professor and rushing out of the class... only to come back few seconds later to pick up the invitation, then went out again, leaving the dumbfounded ponies behind.
Luna was mad. Furious! It was such an old trick. Making a scene so that everypony would notice, be nice and friendly then escape before she could say or do anything. She remembered emmissaries from all around Equestria using that same exact tactic many times to gain her support. If one didn't act fast enough, it turned into a lose-lose situation. Either she confronted them later and get back their word (or lack thereof), suffering the humiliation of letting ponies know that "she changed her mind" (a common faux pax of inexperianced rulers), or let herself be manipuated into whatever they expected from her and possibly save face, but lose something else in the process. She knew that trick all too well, yet she fell for it again.
And she was about to give her a piece of her mind, along with less than kind words (but not too unkind- Moondancer was sinister, but not bad at all). She wanted to keep the matter as private as possible, which is why she followed her to the dorms. She was pretty sure her roommates were currently taking extra classes, which meant she was alone in the dorms, except...
When Moon Sky finally turned into a long corridor where her room was placed, she stopped and immediately jumped back the corner, hiding from the sight of the white unicorn she just followed. She got there in time for Moondancer to also reach her quarters, but she was not alone. She leaned back and looked at the small group of ponies that entered her room with her. Not just any ponies, though- stallions. In a dorm where they were not allowed. Moon Sky hummed and approached the door when it closed, a lone piece of fabric stuck in it. She shook her head at the tardiness of the unicorn and raised her hoof to knock... but didn't.
She wanted to talk to her alone, just knocking on the door and asking for privacy would stir up rumors. She recognized the boys from some classes she took and knew full well that none of them would be able to keep a secret for too long (and apparently brainwashing was banned nowadays). This meant that she had to wait until they were done with... whatever they were doing. That was a good question- what WERE they doing in there? Probably some group project from other classes, though why they met here, where colts were prohibited, was anypony's guess. This got her slightly curious, which gave her an idea. She concentrated on casting a spell.
Spellbook entry #575: X-Ray Vision: After casting, allows the user to see through solid objects. In case of materials of higher density or magical barriers, a substantial aount of magical power is required.
Difficulty: 4/5
She closed her eyes for a moment and when she next opened it, they glowed with blackness and suddenly, her entire perception has changed. While most of the world remained as it were, parts of it gained a new trait. If she so desired, any object, be it door or wall or anything else, became translucent, revealing whatever was behind. Except, for some inexplicable reason, the room she was most interested in appeared to be contained in a dark, red rectangular aura. She cast a Cloaking Sphere on the entire room... interesting. Now she was VERY curious what was going on inside. And while none of the students and even staff members could muster enough mana to bolster her spell to be able to pierce through a relatively powerful barrier, she wasn't just Moon Sky, transfer student. She was Luna, Goddess of the Moon. She was no to be denied and her curiosity was to be satisfied, at all cost.
"BY CELESTIAS PLOT!"
Very, very high cost.
Princess Celestia sighed deeply, but not until after she wiped her tears caused by a massive fit of laughter she couldn't help herself from having (mom and dad in heavens know she tried and failed, but she was only a mare... overpowered, sun moving mare, but mare nontheless) after hearing her sister's new adventure.
"This is the moment I should be sermonizing you about ponies' rights for privacy and why even we, the rulers, shouldn't breach it unless absolutely necessary for the safety of the kingdom. But..." she paused to look at her sister, sitting in the corner of the room in fetal position, looking dead into the emptiness, trembling "...I feel like you learned your lesson the hardest of ways."
"...ponies... don't... bend... like... that..."
Celestia rolled her eyes.
"Luna, remind me please, thousands of years ago, which princess built herself a giant, castle-sized harem and outfitted it with most beautiful stallions and mares from all around Equestria?" She asked, smiling smugly. "Because I remember mine was a bit more modest."
"T-that's not the point!" Luna finally shook her head and rejoined the world of living and relatively mentally sane. "T-that building was only ever built to stir up jealousy in you!" She paused. "Back when I still held a grudge, that is..."
Celestia blinke and cocked her head. "It was?"
"And as I see it now, it was a failure." She pouted and looked away. "That was a part of the kingdoms treasury not well spent."
"You did made quite a few ponies happy with it." Small pause. "I stopped counting at one hundred and twenty."
"Don't get too excited, sister. Most were there just for 'decoration'... which sounds awful now that I heard it said out loud and I hope nopony will ever take it out of context."
Celestia leaned in, smiling in her usual, smug way. "Most?"
Luna's face caught in blush at the implication. She coughed. "Anywhoo, let us not change the subject. I just caught Moondancer having.... with... yes..."
Celestia sighed once again. There would one day be a time where she wouldn't have to explain every little detail like in a fantasy book, where a mentor figure had to explain a naive stranger common knowledge. Though in Moondancers case, not all was considered ordinary. "While I surely can give her a punishment for inviting a bunch of stallions into a no-male zone... again, as well as lecture her on safe intercourse, I feel like she has more knowledge and experiance than both of us combined. I could be wrong."
Luna blinked, not believing on what she was hearing right now. "B-but... she was... in the middle of the day!"
"Moondancer is of age of consent, she is allowed to choose her partners, both who... or how many. I decided to trust her decisions and thus far I approve of all her partners, the ones I'm aware of at least. As a headmistress of this school my main goal is to teach and guide my students. Moondancer is among my best students despite her hobby. Or maybe because of it?" She hummed. "Not many of my students managed to master a spell as complicated as Cloaking Sphere at such young age and be able to use it on her entire room."
Few moments passed. Luna looked at her sister curiously, then asked. "Tia, how did you know...?"
A giant blush appeared on the sun goddess's cheeks.
"Let me put it that way," small pause "you were not the only pony curious what happened inside that barrier."
The two looked at each other for a while longer, their faces betraying no emotions. Aside from the giant blushes both produced.
One cold shower and few hours of solitude was just about enough to clear her mind. While the mental image of Moondancer engaged with four or five stallions (she wasn't sure) was still strong, she had to agree with her sister. Back in the day when she was as powerful, tall and regal as her sister currently is (maybe a tad shorter), she had her fair share of sexual encounters in many shapes and forms. The reason she was so flustered was, well, the fact that looking into the mirror she had yet to see herself. Or rather, her old self. Old paintings, stained glass windows around the castle floors and poems put an emphasis on her mane, seemingly made out of stars, nebulas and the midnight sky itself. Nothing like the plain, purple mane she was now sporting. And while the population of Equestria could be fooled, as old art tended to exagarate traits more often than not, she knew it meant she wasn't even close to her original level. And waiting wasn't making her grow thus far.
She shook her head, trying to get back on track to the original problem. Whichever decision she would take- whether she'd join the party or not, was less important than actually getting it already. She wasn't angry about the delivery method or rumor stirring now that she had time to think about it. Moondancers intentions were genuine and she didn't have any ulterior motives other than socializing... right?
A small light in her head lighted as she remembered one, small trick she still had. Reading minds, hypnosis or any other mind altering magic was strictly prohibited and Celestia warned her from using any.
She said nothing about dreamscaping.
As Moon Sky, she appeared in a large, bright corridor, with large amounts of marble columns placed in perfect symmetry. As she went along the red carpet, behind the columns she was able to spot many of fountains with various sculptures on them, all of them presenting some kind of big and handsome stallion in an either dynamic, or sultry pose, all dressed in togas. One of them looked suspiciously like her new nephew (who was still a popular eligible bachelor) and his new best friend, Shining Armor, the one who withstood her... no, Nightmare Moon's attacks for so long. He wasn't a bad looker himself, though Luna wondered if Moondancer knew them or was it just a coincidence.
She stopped and looked at her naked self.
"When in Romane..." she shrugged, immediately imagining herself in a toga and thus conjuring one. If she was going to infiltrate a dream, she had to look the part, otherwise the owner would be confused.
The corridor eventually led her to a big, rectangular room, filled with several baths, where dozens ponies of all different tribes (including a few thestrals, much to her surprise), genders and sizes were having innocent fun. They were splashing water at each other, playing tag, swimming and chatting happily; with absolutely not a single naughty act anywhere she could see, aside from occasional butt-slap, taken as a friendly tease more than anything. Luna couldn't help but smile at the whimsical nature of the scene in front of her. She honestly expected some no holds barren orgy that would somehow include her in it (thankfully she had a safe "eject" function built into her power and could escape any time she wanted). She couldn't help but be honestly surprised. Those were not the dreams of evil ponies, though she didn't let her guard down yet; aware that in dreams anything could happen.
"Oh hi Moonbutt!" She heard Moondancer's voice from the center of the room. "Didn't expect to see you here!"
Moon Sky turned toward the dream owner, who was laying on her side on a large throne made out of more cushions than was used in the latest Sun/Moon campaign. As expected, Moondancer was also dressed in a fancy toga, relaxing while two, tall stallions fanned her with giant leaves, and a third one waited for his cue to feed her with grapes. They all resembled their classmates.
"Well..." Moon Sky scratched her head, trying to act as natural as she could in the dream. The fact that Moondancer didn't expect to see her meant that she probably didn't see her as potential sexual encounter. She wasn't sure how she felt about it. On one hoof, she created Moon Sky to be as inconspicious as possible, but she she never wanted to make her ugly. Just less attractive, to not garner too much attention.
She shook her head, clearly overthinking things. None of her closest friends were here either. Neither was Celestia. Or Luna, for that matter.
She coughed, before continuing. "I like what you did to the place."
"I know, right?" Moondancer beamed. "And you're just in time, we're about to start the 'super fun time'!"
"Super... fun time?" She tilted her head and thought, then her eyes widened with realization. She looked at all the ponies gathered in the chamber. "Does that mean that you... with all those..."
"What? No, don't be silly!" Moondancer waved her hoof, relieving Moon Sky of the scariest mental image ever. "Today's Monday, and you know what that means? Yes, it's Monster Monday!"
"Monster Monday?" She asked, clearly knowing it was Thursday, but hey, dreams.
Moondancer took off her bed, and as if on cue, the building emptied; leaving only the two of them and a few guards, while a giant gate to her right which wasn't there before (again, dream) started opening. Moondancer was no longer in toga, this time wearing a plaid mini skirt along with a white shirt, a pink bowtie and twin pigtails. She took a deep breath to shout.
"RELEASE THE KRAKEN!"
Moon Sky's eyes widened, as she observed several long, slimy tentacles come out of the darkness. Her eye twitched.
"NOPE!"
EJECT!
Next day.
"Hiya Moonbutt!" Moondancer said cheerfully, looking forward to her usual, cute reaction she always got when she caught her off-guard in classroom.
Moon Sky, however, did not jump with a squeak, but stood up, packed her things and hastily left her seat.
"Can'ttalkgottagobye!" Then she zipped away faster than you could say...
"Wait, Moonbu--... huh, weird." Moondancer scratched her head. "Was it something I said?"
Moon Sky was absent the following week. Her relative, a pegasus called Sunny Skies, reported that she was ill and was not to be disturbed.