//------------------------------// // Slumber Party // Story: A New Life // by Lunafan1k //------------------------------// Princess Celestia repaired her door and calmed the guards as I dismissed my summoned creatures. I turned to Twilight, “So she told you my name then?” “Yes, and at first I was angry that you didn’t tell me but after the way I had been acting, I can see why you didn’t want to tell me.” She said despondently. “Well to be fair I was a bit distracted myself, and we were in a rush.” “Yea, I heard you, and I still can’t believe you did it in my bathroom!” She accused. “It just sort of happened, sorry.” I defended. “I instigated it on the train.” Rose added. “Oh yea, then the gardens was me.” “Oh my Celestia, ew. Just ew ewewew!” Twilight said covering her eyes and her cheeks burning red in embarrassment. “Come now, Twilight, it’s a completely natural part of being in love.” Celestia said as she re-joined us. “I would expect you to be about the same when you find somepony special.” “Can we please not talk about… THAT stuff?” Twilight begged, embarrassment flowing from her. Celestia and Rose shared a chuckle as I sat there confused. “What’s so funny?” I asked. “It’s just a mare thing.” Rose said. “Anyway Twilight, so you haven’t found a special somepony, that’s just fine. Take it slow and find someone you know will be a good partner.” “You and Sigma didn’t take it slow.” She jabbed. “I can tell his loyalty quite easily, as he emanates it proudly, as well as his defensiveness of me. While I may be able to do more in a confrontation than him it’s still very sweet and heartwarming.” Rose said and turned to me, “How about you?” I pondered for a moment before answering, “Because it feels right, it feels good to belong by your side, and I don’t want to lose that good feeling, because then it gets complicated, like I’ve lost it once before but I don’t remember when or how, just that it’s bad.” Rose nodded, “And then Celestia even had her eyes on a colt or two growing up.” It was Celestia’s turn to grow red in the cheeks, “It was just a silly crush.” She tried to defend. “Was it? Tell me how, ‘Oh Rose, I just wish he would take me away by the hoof and marry me by the pond and we would have lots of children and live happily ever after!’ How was that just a silly crush?” Rose teased, changing her voice to sound like a filly in love. Twilight went from open-mouthed gaping to rolling on the floor laughing. Celestia looked between incredibly angry and embarrassed at the same time before hiding her face in her hooves, “Oh I dearly hope my sister didn’t hear that…” “Too late for that, dear sister!” Luna said as she stepped out of the shadows with a wide grin, this shan't be the last you hear of this!” She joined Twilight in Laughter. “Much like your infatuation with the guard commander at the time?” Rose piped up, “You would follow him around all day trying to impress him with your imitations of a guard, it was so cute!” It was now Luna’s time to grow embarrassed as Twilight cooed at the thought of a tiny Luna trying to be a guard. “Yes yes, we all were children once.” She coughed, “Perhaps we should explain why we’re here before any more troublesome stories are revealed.” “Whatever you say, Woona, go ahead and change the subject.” Rose said with a chuckle. Luna cleared her throat at the new bout of laughter, “Yes, well, Captain Armor teleported Grand Faina into the medical bay of the castle. He informed us of finding the caverns just as Blueblood had described, but they were deserted. It is likely that whoever is in charge has way of keeping tabs on the guard and possibly more. As for what happened to Grand Faina, she became victim to a very heinous magic. We believe it to have been a Symbol of Pain.” Celestia and Rose suddenly went very serious and the room took on a cool chill. Twilight seemed to notice as well, “Princess? What’s a Symbol of Pain?” Celestia answered, “It is a dark spell, enchanting a symbol to inflict large amounts of pain on any that read it. The symbol can be anything from a letter to a sigil to a random scribble, but it takes time to set up and was generally only used by powerful spell casters due to the difficulty of maintaining the spell, as the spell would fade over time. The effects only last about an hour and don’t do permanent harm so she will be fine, but it sends a clear warning. This entity is indeed very powerful and is willing to go out of its way to cause harm.” “But you can stop it, right?” Twilight asked. Luna shook her head, “It has likely fled and doesn’t wish to be discovered. In order to find it both my sister and I would need to track it down, and it would likely have devastating traps and false leads to keep us at bay.” Celestia nodded, “For the moment all we can do is investigate further into the lair beneath the city and see if there are any clues, but I fear there will be no leads. In the meantime all we can do is up the security patrols, and having a lunar guard will be a great benefit to the protection of the citizens.” “I heard that before at the training grounds, what is the lunar guard?” Twilight asked. Luna stepped forward, “The lunar guard was my idea, Celestia has her guards in gold armor to act as stalwart watchers and defenders, but I will have my guard consisting of the bat ponies from Hollow Shades. With their darker colors and unique abilities they will serve well as bastions of the night!” She declared proudly. “Plus they all admire her to no end.” Celestia said. “But Tia!” Luna whined, “You have admirers too!” “I don’t turn them into guards.” “But they want to protect me!” “Ahem.” Rose cleared her throat loudly, “Need I treat you like little fillies again?” The princesses looked to each other, memories from forever ago surfacing of their spankings when they acted out of line. They shook their heads, “No ma’am…” “Good.” There was a knock at the door, “Who is it?” Rose asked. “Oh! Uh, Princess Celestia sent for some fish to be sent to her room?” The voice on the other side informed. “Wasn’t that like hours ago?” I asked. Princess Celestia opened the door with her magic, “Thank you, I am sure she will appreciate it. However, could you deliver this to Grand Faina in the hospital wing?” The mare bowed, “Of course your majesty, have a good night.” “And you are well.” Celestia replied. She closed the door, “It takes some time for the chefs to prepare meals not commonly accounted for, I am sure this was the fastest they could catch a fresh fish or bargain for one this late in the evening.” “Oh.” I replied. “So what happens now?” “You are all welcome to stay in my room tonight, being that your rooms are being investigated for intruders or hidden assassins. But tomorrow I was thinking you should all return to Ponyville, Faina included.” Celestia said. “I’m fine with that, but why Faina as well?” I asked. “It is her mission to learn as much as she can about us, and I can think of none better than Twilight and her friends. Plus I am sure she will be interested to meet all the citizens from both Ponyville and Old Canterlot.” Celestia said. “So this is like a slumber party?!” Twilight asked with far too much excitement. Celestia smiled, “Yes, I suppose so.” “Yay! My second slumber party! But I didn’t bring my copy of ‘Slumber 101: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask!’” “I am sure we can find something to do for fun.” Rose said as she started gathering up a bunch of pillows. “Where did you find all these pillows?” I asked as she unloaded a heaping pile on us all. “The closet, of course.” Rose replied. “Sister, thou have a numerous amount of pillows.” Luna commented. “Some of these are really old too.” Twilight added. Celestia sighed, “I have a habit of collecting them, I try to switch them around every month or so but it appears I have more than I thought.” “How did these all fit in a closet?” Twilight asked in bewilderment as Rose kept tossing more and more pillows out of the closet, the bedroom now neck deep in pillows. “It’s bigger on the inside of course.” Celestia remarked. “A bit of magic saves millions in renovations for more space.” “You must teach us this spell, our chambers are rather… foal-sized.” Luna said. “Is it not the eldest that gets the larger bedroom?” Celestia grinned. Luna growled playfully, “You always got the larger things! A larger bedroom, the larger chair, the larger cakes, and the larger flanks!” She gleefully jabbed. Celestia gasped in mock horror before lighting her horn and thrusting forty-seven pillows at Luna. She retaliated with a barrage of her own, one hitting Twilight, so she threw pillows at both of them. “PILLOW FIGHT!” Rose yelled out as she tossed a flurry of pillows at everypony. I did my best to dodge out of the way but I still took a few to the face. I managed to work my way up to Rose by crawling under the massive amount of pillows. “Rose?! What’s going on?!” I asked in confusion. “It’s a game dear, you throw the pillows at the others until you win!” She explained as she beat the projectiles out of the air with a pillow of her own. “Really?” She nodded. “Alright then.” I began using my own magic to throw the pillows, mainly at Celestia because she was a bigger target. However the return volley was somewhat of an issue, they traveled too fast for me to catch or block in time, and the power behind them was formidable. I needed a defensive position, but running to cover would be a death sentence. My horn grew bright as I concentrated, focusing through the feeling of the fluffy pillows assaulting me from all sides. After a few seconds the spell completed and the pillows stopped. The silence was filled with a war cry as my armor, now wielding a Warhammer, launched a wall of pillows at the opposing forces as Rose and I ducked behind it. “What’s the situation?” I asked Rose, a barrage of pillows blasting our location from three points. “It seems the enemy has no doubt come to a truce, they fear the defensive might of our forces!” She responded. “Then we should focus them down, one at a time. Celestia is the easier target.” “Twilight is nimble, with the others gone she’ll have more room to evade.” “And Luna is… why is it quiet?” I asked and peered around the armor. If I could I probably would have paled at the sight, the armor was a bit too effective at flinging pillows as we now had none. Across from us, all three of our enemies grinned evilly as they held every pillow above them in a tri-colored glow. “Uh, maybe we could talk this out?” I asked hopefully. “The time for talks ended when you breached the code of pillow combat, you shall be dealt with swiftly!” Luna declared. “FOR EQUESTRIA!” They yelled and launched all the pillows at us, crushing us softly as their shouts of victory drowned out our muffled cries. Morning arrived swiftly, the golden beams of sunlight traced across the remnants of a battle hard fought, tall masses of pillows stood as great monoliths depicting a hard fought war. Eventually one started to stir, bringing down a cascade of pillows to reveal the golden glow of magic that raised the sun. Celestia stood, ever eternal with the morning light casting a halo around her imposing form as she gazed out upon the battlefield. Memories of loss and victory clouding her mind as she used the ancient magic of the alicorn to awaken her fallen comrades. “LAST ONE TO BREAKFAST IS GETTING RAW HAY!” She yelled out in ancient power, blasting away the once great mounds of pillow to reveal friends and family new and old as they cowered before her might, her radiance burning their sensitive retinas as they blinked rapidly in the sudden light for but a moment before jumping to their hooves. Celestia lead the way out the door, a head start to serve her well, for she will not be the one eating the raw hay on this beautiful morn. “I have no idea what’s going on.” I said as Rose, Twilight and I ran as fast as we could down to breakfast, blowing past maids and guards alike. “We need to not be the last one or be served only bad tasting food.” Rose explained to me. “That’s dumb, I thought the castle had plenty of food.” “It’s another game Sigma, just for fun~” Rose said and poked her tongue out at me. “Can you get the door? Ladies first after all.” I turned to Twilight, “Is that a thing?” She nodded, “While courting it is customary for the stallion to go out of their way for the mare such as opening doors and holding out chairs for them and much more.” That seemed weird, but for Rose I wouldn’t mind, she might appreciate the gesture. “Oh, I think I get it.” I said as I used my magic to pull open the door. Rose ran inside first followed by me, but there was a ‘poof’ sound as I crossed into the dining hall. I looked up to see Celestia looking grumpy, Luna grinning, Faina confused, and Twilight seated at the table as Rose and I approached. “Twilight? You were behind me!” I exclaimed. “Princess Luna teleported here from her chambers-” Twilight began but was cut off by Celestia. “That was totally unfair!” She said. “We still beat thee, thus we get the best meal.” Twilight continued, “Princess Celestia went on hoof, but Faina was released early and had arrived before she did, then I teleported ahead of both of you when you held the door for Rose, meaning Sigma came in last place.” She finished with a nod. “I can’t believe I arrived third!” Celestia cried out despondently. “That means I get all the cake, right?” Faina asked with a grin. Celestia narrowed her eyes, “You wouldn’t dare!” “Relax sister, We shall have the chefs serve you with cake, as well as Faina. To deny an ambassador cake would be unbecoming of us.” Luna said in a serious yet teasing tone. “I suppose that would be alright then, thank you.” Celestia nodded. I raised my hoof, “Am I really getting raw hay? I think I would rather eat elsewhere if that’s true.” “No Sigma, the food will be just as it usually is, I was just having a bit of fun.” Celestia said with a smile. Rose chuckled, “It’s hard to imagine that after a thousand years you two are still acting like playful foals.” Luna cleared her throat as the waiters arrived and set out various trays for everypony, and a large fish for Faina. “Yay I love this stuff!” She cheered and started stuffing her face. I had a weird salad and a soup, Rose just had soup and the others had salads. I ate as the others started eating as well, the salad tasted like a salad would, nothing exciting, but the soup was amazing! I had no idea what it was but as I drank it felt like all the tension I didn’t know I had was literally melting away. “This is amazing, what is this?” I asked as I gulped it down. “That’s just a soup infused with a bit of magic to help recover from magic fatigue. After yesterday I wouldn’t be surprised if you ran yourself ragged with over-use of your magic.” Celestia said. “Oh, well thanks then. Is Rose having the same?” I asked, her soup was more creamy than mine it appeared. “After my own assumptions based on what Rose and Twilight have told me, I think it’s best that she’s on a liquid diet until everything starts working again. It will also help fill her in as well.” Celestia said. “Oh. Hi Faina! How was the hospital, did you have a beeping thing?” I asked. “Morning, and no, I just slept off the effects.” She said before chugging her drink, a bit of foam trickling out her mouth as she did. “Ah! That’s some good drink!” “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Now, does anyone mind if we speak of a civic matter?” Celestia asked. I shrugged, “Don’t see why not.” The others nodded with my assessment. “Thank you. Now, as I understand it Faina, you are here to learn about Equestria and its ponies, so I would like you to accompany my student Twilight in Ponyville. She herself is undergoing similar studies in friendship, and I’m sure she would appreciate the opportunity to learn more about your own people. Is that sound acceptable?” Faina pondered for a moment, “Actually I really like the idea, beats wandering around the countryside until somepony comes my way.” She turned to Twilight, “Bit of warning, there are things I won’t talk about in order to protect the clan as a whole, but I’ll let you know if you ask.” Twilight nodded, “That’s perfectly reasonable. Also I may not have space at the library for you to sleep, would it be alright if we asked my friends to let you stay with one of them?” “Sure, doesn’t matter to me too much.” Faina said as she finished her morning mead. “So are we taking the train again?” I asked as I sat back in my chair, my plate picked clean and stomach full. “Yes, as I doubt the balloon Twilight arrived in can fit all of you. I will see it gets shipped back to Ponyville. I will also have a number of guards escort you all to the station, will you be needing anything before you go?” Celestia asked as the waiters came out to gather the empty plates. Twilight spoke up, “Should we let Rainbow know that we’re leaving?” “Ah yes, Rainbow Dash.” Luna spoke up, “I received word from Spitfire that after the team had eaten dinner with her she decided to visit family in Cloudsdale but will meet up with you all in Ponyville shortly.” “Thank you for telling us all, sister.” Celestia said sarcastically. “I was going to let you all sleep and tell you in the morning, but the events of last night made us forget.” Luna defended. “I can see that.” I said. “Anyway, all that aside, I think you all should head to the main entrance, the guards will make sure you aren’t harassed between here and the train. Was there anything else?” Celestia asked. The others shook their head but I spoke up, “Will you be visiting Old Canterlot sometime?” Celestia and Luna smiled, “One day soon, perhaps. We would need to check our schedule to see when we can, and perhaps make it an event to re-introduce everypony to the world again.” “I’ll talk to my sister and see how long it will take to complete the repairs needed, then open up to a public announcement.” Rose added. Celestia nodded, “Please do, it would be lovely seeing everypony again.” We said our goodbyes and headed out to the guards waiting for us at the entrance of the castle. With them basically surrounding us we didn’t get to see much of the city, and I couldn’t help but express my disappointment in being unable to do any shopping, regardless of a lack of bits. We all rode in the private car again, and by the blush on the train guard’s face she remembered us from last time. Unfortunately with Twilight there I doubt she would have allowed any shenanigans anyway. The trip was spent listening to Twilight regale Faina with stories of her friends and their adventures as Faina nodded along. I turned to Rose, “Well at least we won’t be in any immediate danger in Ponyville.”