//------------------------------//
// Prompt #31: Sleepover Games 
// Story: Ponywatching 
// by ThunderTempest 
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“...and that’s how Big Mac ended up trotting down Mane Street with a wedding veil on,” said Apple Bloom, “and that’s my truth. My turn.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were gathered in the main room of the Apple family’s home. With Rarity out of town, and her parents on yet another cruise, Rarity had allowed Sweetie to stay with the Apples until she got back. Thus, the obvious thing to do had been Cutie Mark Crusader Sleepover. Scootaloo was just staying for the night. Spike was also there as well. Though both Twilight and Spike knew that Spike could take care of himself, Twilight had forced him to come as she was going out of town for a few days-this was as much for his relaxation as the trip was for hers.

“Right, I pick Spike,” said Apple Bloom, “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” said Spike, almost immediately.  To the side, Scootaloo pouted. The dragon had been picking truth all the time. She’d been hoping to prank him if he ever picked dare.

“What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen Twilight do?” asked Apple Bloom, “you’ve gotta have something, right?”

“Weirdest thing?” said Spike, “okay, I got one, but you can’t tell anypony, okay? Twilight would kill me if she found out I told anypony else about this.”

The three Crusaders nodded.

“Alright, so it was a while ago. You know that Twilight has an apartment in Canterlot, right?”

Again, the three girls nodded. They’d all heard second-hoofed about Twilight reconciling with her friends from Canterlot, mostly from their sisters or Rainbow Dash. 

“Well, Twilight got that as a present from Princess Celestia when she finished at the School for Gifted Unicorns, and Twilight moved in as soon as she could. Thing is, though, that Twilight missed living with her parents, but she didn’t want to let anypony know about it. And while she was completing her first degree, she sort of found a different group of ponies for a while.”

“So, what did she do?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Well,” snickered Spike, “She dyed her coat black, renamed herself ‘Dark Eclipse’ and wrote terrible poetry about the eternity of the universe and the futility of life. But it was scientifically accurate terrible poetry. She used to read it out loud in the middle of the night, with as few lights on as possible. I used to get real hungry around midnight, so I’d come down and find her standing in the middle of the room, lamenting about the heat death of the universe, or the inevitable fate of the sun.”

There was silence for a while, as the Crusaders attempted to picture Twilight Sparkle reading poetry with a black coat. Then, as one, they all burst into giggles. 

“Oh my gosh,” said Sweetie Belle, “Twilight had a goth phase?”

“It was utterly ridiculous, because no matter how hard she tried to act depressed,” said Spike, “If you put a new spell in front of her, she’d get all giddy over it exactly like she does now.”

The image of Goth Twilight getting excited over a new spell immediately brought a fresh round of giggles to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“But seriously, you can’t ever let her know I told you about that. She’d ground me forever. So it’s my turn now, right?” said Spike, continuing at Apple Bloom’s nod, “Scootaloo, truth or dare?”