The Student and the Time Traveler

by Hidden Brony

Chapter Eight: Troublesome Truths and Dastardly Dares

Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did.

Chapter Eight
Troublesome Truths and Dastardly Dares

I'm terrified of losing my voice.
-Christopher Hitchens, on his esophageal cancer.

Change

Truth or dare?

"When it's your turn, you pick truth or dare and spin the bottle. Who it lands on gets to give you the truth or the dare and go next," Pinkie said. "You have to pick before you start spinning or you lose."

"Truth is one question you have to answer truthfully, and dare is one action that you have to do," Twilight explained. "If somepony physically cannot do a dare, it gets re-picked, and if it was on purpose, the giver loses instead."

"If you refuse to tell the truth or refuse to do the dare, you lose," Rarity explained. "When you lose, you can no longer get or give truths or dares."

"It's not all peachy," Rainbow continued. "The pony that wins gets to choose the punishment for the ponies behind her—possibly him, today—the pony in second picks punishments for those behind her, and so on."

"Punishments could be a truth or a dare, or even something different," Applejack said. "Ah had Rainbow demolish the barn when ah got to pick 'er punishment."

"I totally thought you were that flexible," Rainbow defended herself.

"Ya knew ah weren't," the farm mare said. "Ah should have given you something less fun for that dare."

"Moving on," a blushing Rarity said. "I think the only pony yet to participate in a bottle related game should go first."

Shining Armor rolled his eyes, but said, "Truth," and flicked the liquid-filled bottle. It spun a wobbly spin before pointing at Rainbow. He groaned quietly, knowing the kind of question that would come from the heat-ridden mare.

She grinned widely, wrinkling the fur under her rose eyes. "How old were you when you first banged Cadance?"

"You have got to be kidding me," he groaned.

"You have to answer," Rarity said. "I also have to say I'm interested in the answer, as well."

"Yeah, Shiny," Twilight teased. "Let's hear it."

He sighed. "Eightteen." The bottle lit up bright red.

"Ooh, my tummy's all warm and tingly," Pinkie exclaimed. "I probably should have mentioned that I special ordered this stuff. Every lie lowers the inhibitions of every imbiber, at least that's what Zecora said."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"I know, not enough rhymes. Well, it was more rhymey, but you understand how good she is at the rhyming thing," Pinkie said.

"Why didn't you tell us that before we drank it?" Rarity exclaimed.

"Because you wouldn't have drank it then," the pink mare said, "and then this wouldn't be as much fun."

"So does this glow until I tell the truth?" Shining Armor asked, eyeing the glowing bottle with suspicion.

"Or we accept that you aren't answering," Pinkie said. "So cough it up."

He sighed again. "Sixteen." The bottle stopped glowing.

"Uh, Shiny," Twilight said slowly. "You didn't date Cadance until you were seventeen."

"Officially," he said. "Unofficially, we were friends with benefits for a year and a half before I asked her out." His eyes hardened as he glared around the room. "Word of this doesn't reach Mom and Dad or Cadance."

"Sure," Rainbow said sarcastically, causing the bottle to glow. "I'm telling her soon as I can." The bottle returned to its white state. "Dare," Rainbow said, smacking the neck of the bottle. It spun once, twice, and thrice before settling pointed at Rarity. Rainbow groaned.

Five minutes later the tomcolt's hair was washed and in rollers to give it some curl. Her face clearly telegraphing her displeasure with the situation. Rarity had a victorious smirk on her face, leading Change to believe she had been trying to do this for a while. "Yeah, yeah," Rainbow muttered, "just spin the bottle already."

The victorious fashionista chuckled. “Why not? Dare,” she said, spinning the bottle. It spun once, twice, and landed on Pinkie Pie.

“Hmmm,” Pinkie said. “We could do something fun, or we could do something fun. What do you think, Rarity?”

“Uh, fun?” Rarity asked, not knowing which one she just referred to.

“Okie dokie lokie!,” Pinkie said, bouncing onto her hooves. She pointed a hoof at Rarity dramatically, declaring, “Lick Shining Armor’s ear!”

“What?” the stallion in question exclaimed in unison with the seamstress.

“C’mon,” Rainbow said, snickering. “Go ahead Rarity. Lick his ear.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I love you all, but I hate you all right now,” she said, walking up to the stallion.

“The sky is green,” Rainbow said, causing the bottle to glow.

Rarity looked over at her. “What are you doing?”

“Lowering inhibitions,” she said. “The Earth is flat, and Celestia raises the moon.” The glow increased with each lie, as did the warmth in the stomachs of each pony in attendance of the party.

“Stop that!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Fine,” Rainbow said. “The sky is blue, the Earth is round, and Celestia raises the sun.” The red glow that had pervaded the room faded completely after she stopped talking. There was a slight blush on her cheeks, and she had a perpetual small smile plastered on her face. The rest of the ponies—despite not having the assistance of heat to speed the process—were not far behind.

Rarity scowled at the flier, before turning to the Captain of the Guard. She quickly stuck out her tongue and flicked his ear with it, before blushing and quickly shuffling back to her spot. Pinkie grinned. “Truth!” she declared.

And so it continued. Minor secrets were spilled—nothing to the level of Shining Armor’s, though—and dares were completed. There was a long stretch of truths and easy dares, before the lies started. From there, things only got more interesting.

At one point, all of the ponies’ cheeks were dusted red from the lie detector, and Fluttershy had just spun the bottle and gotten Rainbow.

“Okay Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, “who in this room would you buck?”

“I–I’m sorry?” she asked, blushing.

“Pick one pony from this room that you would buck,” the heat-ridden pegasus said. “Bump uglies, do the dirty, fornicate. You know the word.”

“Uh, uhm,” the shy mare said, looking around the room in worry.

“Rainbow,” Rarity scolded. “Don’t do this to the poor mare!”

“Relax,” Rainbow said, waving a hoof dismissively. “She’ll be fine. So Flutters, who is it?”

“Uh,” the mare in question said. Her eyes jumped from one pony to another. Eenie meenie miney moe, catch an ursa by the toe. If it hollers, let it go. Eenie meenie miney moe. “Rarity.”

The bottle lit up a dull red.

Pinkie peered at the half-glowing bottle. “I think that’s a half lie,” she declared. “But it counts. Who would it be, Fluttershy?” The mare blushed bright red, eyes glancing over at a pony. A glance caught by Change.

Shining Armor?

“Eep!” the yellow pegasus yelped, locking up from embarrassment. Change nodded and passed the note over to Rainbow, causing the bottle to stop glowing, somehow.

“Shining Armor?” Rainbow asked, causing the named stallion to start and blush. “Nice choice,” she said with a smirk in the stallion’s direction.

“I must say that I’m flattered, but married,” Shining Armor said. “That would be something you talk to Cadance about.”

“Why would she talk to Cad–oh,” Twilight started, before blushing. “I see.”

“Moving on!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Truth!” She smacked the bottle, causing it to spin and wobble quickly. As it settled down, it pointed to Change. He hummed, before scribbling down on one of the myriad pieces of paper strewn around him. Some had truths, some dares, and some bore doodles from when he got bored waiting for a dare to complete.

Who have you slept with?

“That’s an easy one. Nopony,” the flier said. “Next!”

She looked at the bottle to see it bright red.

“That didn’t count, stupid bottle!” she shouted at the inanimate object.

“What didn’t count?” Twilight asked, cocking her head slightly.

The flier sighed. “I went to a party, got drunk, and ‘experimented’ with Gilda,” she said. The bottle dimmed, but kept glowing. She sighed, rolling her eyes and adding, “And some random mare from off the streets that Gilda found.” It dimmed more, but remained slightly red. She blushed, adding to the story once more, “And Fluttershy.”

The room was completely silent as the bottle stopped glowing. You could almost light the room with Fluttershy’s cheeks. You could certainly warm the room with the heat radiating from them. “It, uh, was my heat week, and it got really bad. I, uhm, walked in on the three of them and, uh, joined in.”

The room was silent for a moment before Change grabbed one of his two most used notes. It was slightly bent in places, and the writing was partially wiped away from use.

Dare

The room remained silent as the bottle spun around, pointing at each member of the group with indecision. It slowed, and finally made its choice. Shining Armor sighed, looking down and thinking. When he looked up, his face was not quite malicious. It was more mischievous. “I have a great one for you,” he said. “Sit still for thirty seconds. Breathing and blinking don’t count, neither does trying to catch yourself if you fall. Basically, if it is involuntary, it doesn’t count. Begin when I say ‘go’.”

Change cocked his head in confusion. This wasn’t a good dare. It was terrible, frankly. He shrugged and settled into a comfortable position.

“Go,” Shining Armor said. He turned to Rainbow. “You can do whatever you want—as long as it is legal and not kissing him—until his dare is over. If he moves under his own power, he loses.”

Change’s eyes widened as he saw the Guard’s game. Clever. Rainbow grinned and walked over where she knew he would be watching, and thus unable to look away. She swayed her hips sensuously as she walked up. The effect was diminished due to the angle of her walk, but his cheeks still lit up. Her recently-styled mane did little to diminish the effect her lidded eyes gave her, though.

Her breath made his ear twitch as she whispered into it, silently enough that nopony else heard her speak. “I’m going to have a lot of fun with this, if you don’t mind.” His face lit up and a shock of electricity ran through his body as she immediately started to nip at his ear. She ran the tip of her tongue down the edge of his ear, exhaling slightly as she went. He squirmed, but did his best to sit as still as possible.

Her next target was his neck. She started to nibble by his collarbone, making him exhale sharply. If he could have, he would have been groaning. Every single one of her actions were riling him up more and more. The effects of Pinkie’s potion definitely didn’t help him calm down as she moved back to nibbling on his ears.

He yelped silently as her hoof rubbed his cutie mark. He bit his lip and closed his eyes as a shiver ran through his body. She smirked as she stopped. It had reached the fifteen second mark, and she switched tactics. She turned around and whipped her tail into his face.

His head reeled as he was assaulted by a smell thick with pheromones. He opened his eyes in surprise, only to be met with the cyan pegasus shaking her plot in his face. Her tail was placed for modestly, but that did little to diminish the effects of the display on the poor stallion. His body was trembling and he whined silently. Not fair.

The flier looked over at Twilight, who was biting her lip. “C’mon over,” Rainbow said. “He’s got ten seconds where he can’t move.” When Twilight stood up, Rainbow expanded her command. “That’s for all of you, if you want.” The other mares looked over at each other, and one by one shook their heads. This was Twilight’s stallion, and they respected that. Rainbow got a pass because she was in heat.

Twilight nervously nibbled on the riled up stallion’s ear, trying to emulate what she saw Rainbow doing. The flier looked over at what she was doing, and shook her head. “Like this,” she said, demonstrating on his other ear. When Twilight tried again, Change started panting.

Rainbow looked at the stallion’s eyes, trying to make eye contact. She was amused when she noticed that they were glazed and unfocused, staring off into nothing. “I have another idea,” she said, licking her lips. She walked over to the other mare—whipping her tail into the stallion’s face again as she passed—and whispered in her ear. After that, the flier walked to where Change couldn’t see her.

Another jolt of electricity ran through his body as Twilight’s tongue started licking the inside of his ear. Her breath came out of her nose in bursts that he felt on the top of his head. His eyes widened as he felt another tongue on the inside of his other ear.

“Three seconds,” Shining Armor said.

The stallion’s tongue started hanging out of his mouth as the mares brought their hooves to his flanks, rubbing the sensitive cutie mark as they returned to nibbling on his ears. Rainbow traced half of the outline in the three seconds she was given, and Twilight’s inexpert hooves trembled as they rubbed.

“Time,” the older stallion said.

Rainbow smirked at Twilight, who merely blushed and looked away. As the two started walking back to their seats, the flier turned to look back at the unfocused eyes of the stallion. “Hey, Change. You’ll want to see this.”

Rainbow tapped the other mare on the flank to get her attention. Change's now-half focused eyes widened considerably as Rainbow pressed her lips directly onto Twilight’s. For her part, Twilight’s eyes widened as Rainbow’s tongue sought out her throat. The lavender mare pushed off the cyan flier, blushing even more than she was before and returning quickly to her spot. Rainbow winked at the shellshocked stallion and returned to her own spot.

Shining Armor watched the whole thing with jaw agape. He shook his head swiftly, dispelling any thoughts that might have come to his head otherwise. Rainbow was skilled though. He shook his head again, more fiercely. He declared his choice with a “Dare,” before spinning the bottle.

It, of course, landed on the worst possible pony for this. Rarity smirked at his groan, knowing exactly what his dare was going to be. “I have a good one for you,” she said. “One that doesn’t require another pony. You are to write a letter.”

“What letter, to whom?” he sighed.

“A letter sent to your wife,” Rarity said, eyes hardening, “explaining that you wish her to join you on your vacation and that you threatened a traumatized pony.”

The stallion sighed, but obeyed. He should tell her to join him anyway, and she was going to learn about his threatening Change whether he liked it or not. It was best if he learned it from him, instead of one of the girls. “That sounds fair,” he said. “I’ll write it afterward.”

“You’d better,” Rarity cautioned. “If you don’t, you’ll be in even more trouble for not wanting your wife to join you on vacation.”

"Fine," he said. Spin the bottle, Rarity."

After declaring her intent for a dare, she spun the bottle. She waited expectantly as it settled on Twilight. The lavender unicorn sighed, humming thoughtfully. After having Rarity lay on the floor without her omnipresent couch, Twilight declared a truth. The bottle spun around before it landed on Shining Armor.

He grinned as she groaned. “Who do you have a crush on?” he asked.

She frowned. “Nopony.”

The bottle lit up brightly.

Twilight’s lavender coat turned the same color, and not just due to the glow. “Okay, that was a lie,” she said, dimming the bottle. She shuffled her hooves as she shifted her weight from one side to the other and back. “I forgot about that stupid bottle,” she muttered. Louder she said, “I’ve always fancied Fancy Pants.”

The bottle glowed red, although not quite as brightly as before.

“Don’t lie, Twily,” Shining Armor said. “It just makes this more interesting, and that’s the last thing we need with Rainbow in heat.”

“Keep lying Twilight,” Rainbow said, grinning. “It makes things more interesting, and that’s exactly what we need right now.”

“Change,” Twilight said, her blush dusting her cheeks red. The bottle went inert instantly.

The stallion in question blinked twice slowly in surprise. That was unexpected.

“Well duh!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Shining Armor, you suck at this game. Ask something that everypony doesn’t already know.”

What? “What?” Twilight exclaimed.

“Oh please, Twilight,” Rainbow scoffed. “It’s obvious. It has been since before this game even started.” The heat-ridden mare stared at her friend with a smirk. “It didn’t hurt when you oh so eagerly submitted to him during that makeout session.”

Twilight’s blush deepened. “I didn’t submit!” she defended herself.

She kinda did. “Twilight, darling, you surrendered with no fight,” Rarity said, joining the conversation. “You just let him put you onto your back at the slightest push.”

“Just spin the bottle already, Shining Armor!” Twilight exclaimed in exasperation.

"Truth," the stallion said, taking mercy on his sister. The bottle didn't spin long before landing on Applejack.

"Yer hidin' somethin'," she said. "Ya have been since before tha party. What is it?"

The stallion was silent for a moment, his blue eyes staring into her green orbs. His gaze flicked over to Change momentarily, catching sight of the younger stallion's own blue eyes as they flashed green momentarily. Shining Armor stood up. "I lose," he declared, getting a narrow-eyed glare from Applejack. He stepped backwards out of the circle, standing next to the twice-forgotten Spike. The guard looked at Rarity. "I'll get to work on that letter."

"Yer not gettin' out of this so easily," Applejack growled, standing up. "It's somethin' important, else you wouldn't care if we knew, and it involves Change, else you wouldn't have looked at him before backing out."

"Applejack, drop it," Pinkie pleaded. "Just get back to the game. We have plenty of time to talk with him later."

Applejack—like the rest of the mares at that moment—was drunk on the truth serum, and therefore immune to logic. "Uh, uh," she said, shaking her head. "Ah'm not leaving it alone."

Not a glimmer from the bottle.

Shining Armor spoke up, "It's not my place to be telling."

Applejack snorted and looked at Change, who was blushing and looking at the ground. "What is so important that he's risking first loss to not tell?" The mute didn't look up, almost as if he was avoiding locking eyes with the mares. After a few moments of not even acknowledging the mare's question, she exclaimed, "Change!"

His eyes jumped up with his head. He looked around the group with a confused expression written on his face. He saw the expectant looks aimed his way and shrugged, not knowing what they wanted from him. Applejack repeated her question, and he heard it this time. "Shining Armor's deepest darkest secret involves you. What is it?"

The mute's brow furrowed in thought. The stallion had been acting strangely, but it could just be how he was. Change grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down on it. He handed it to Applejack, who took it expectantly.

I don't know, and if I did I wouldn't tell anyway.

She sighed, "Really?"

He's cool, and it's his secret, isn't it?

Shining Armor nodded. "Of course."

The bottle glowed dimly.

Applejack looked at it. "Half-lie," she declared. "Who else is involved?"

"Not my place to tell," the guard said.

Pinkie sighed. "I'll go next," she declared. "Truth." The bottle spun around, landing on Applejack. The mare in question gave a glare to Shining Armor before rejoining the group.

The game continued as such for the next half hour. Eventually, there were only three ponies left in the circle. Change was—surprisingly—still in the game. On either side of his was Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, the former to his surprise, the latter to nopony's surprise.

The trio were having troubles staying upright at that moment, as were all the ponies around them. Fluttershy had just chosen dare, and her spin had landed on Rainbow, much to she shy pegasus's dismay.

"Hokee," Rainbow slurred. "'Ere's a good one. I. Want you. To kiss Change on the lips.”

Shining Armor stepped forward, stumbling slightly. “How ‘bout we just end this now,” he suggested. “It’s nearly mird–nearly midmi–it’s late.”

“We still got three of us in th’ game!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I’m not outta this until it’s over!”

Change wobbled slightly, before his face smacked into the hardwood floor. His breathing evened out as it was clear to any around that he had just passed out.

The assembled ponies chuckled at the poor stallion. “Poor guy’s all tuckered out,” Twilight giggled.

Rainbow stared at Change for a moment. After a little bit of thinking, she came to a decision. “We’ll finish th’ game later,” she announced. “For now, we’re sleepin’.”

—*~*~*—

Shining Armor

—*~*~*—

Twilight sat in the entry room of the library as her friends stumbled out the door, snickering with amusement. It wasn’t that she was making fun of her friends for their intoxication or anything. . . actually that’s exactly what it was. Nevermind. Twilight sat in the entry room of the library, laughing at her friends as they tried to stumble out the door.

Shining Armor shook his head as he walked up the stairs. He placed each hoof carefully before moving the next one, understanding that he was—in the popular vernacular—drunk off his ass. His heedful steps brought him unerringly up the stairs to the two-bed room on the second floor. This brought an important revelation to the forefront of his mind.

“Twilight!” he yelled downstairs. “There are only two beds!”

There was a moment of silence before he heard faltering hoofsteps downstairs. He heard three clops on the stairs before a crashing sound echoed throughout the library. “I’m okay!” he heard his sister yell from downstairs. “Jus’. . . gimme a sec to figure out why th’ stairs threw me onto the floor.” There was a slight pause. “Stairs, why did you throw me on th’ floor?”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes, carefully walking to the top of the stairs. Twilight was upside down, flailing her legs back and forth and muttering to herself. After a moment of concentration, Shining Armor fired up his horn, enwraping Twilight in his rose aura. She squealed in surprise as her brother pulled her up the stairs. He panted in exertion when she reached the top of the stairs. He dropped her onto the landing, caring not that she was still upside down. “That is much harder than when you were a filly, Twily,” he panted.

She crossed her hooves crossly from her position on the floor. “Are you calling me fat, Shiny? You don’t call mares fat.”

The guard sighed, grabbing her tail in his mouth and walking into the bedroom. Twilight squeaked in indignation as she was dragged across the floor. After a second, Shining Armor dropped her and pointed at the beds. “There are two beds, Twilight, and three of us.”

She cocked her head. “We can share.”

“They’re not two-pony beds, Twily,” he tried to explain.

“Well, why not? They’re called ‘twin’ beds, aren’t they?” She seemed immune to logic. Her horn fired up, picking up Change—who had been placed on the spare bed after passing out—and placing him on her own bed with a gentleness that betrayed her current intoxicated state. “See? Sharing.”

“Twily,” Shining Armor said slowly. “You aren’t sharin’ your bed with a stallion.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Well, why not?” After a moment of flailing, she righted herself. With a grunt, she stood up and locked her purple eyes with Shining Armor’s own blue orbs. “Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do, Mr. Friends-With-Benefits?”

He flinched at her words. “Twilight, I started dating Cadance because I realized I made a mistake. Don’t let me makin’ mistakes cause you to make your own.”

Twilight waved a hoof in a clear sign of dismissal. “I’m not ruttin’ him, Shiny. I’m sharing a bed with him.” She paused, finished before realizing what she had just said. “Platonically,” she added quickly, blushing heavily.

Shining Armor sighed. “Fine, whatever.” He paused in thought. “His passing out was perfectly timed, I have to say. Almost as if he did it on purpose.” His eyes flicked over to Change only to find the stallion’s eyes open. One of the blue eyes vanished momentarily as the colt winked at the older stallion.

Clever.

Twilight arched an eyebrow and whipped her head around to look at Change. She stumbled slightly before beholding the cyan pony’s eyes were closed. She turned her gaze back to her brother. “What were you looking at, Shiny?”

Shining Armor’s inebriated mind raced for a few seconds before finding a suitable excuse. “He looks peaceful when ‘e’s sleeping.”

Twilight looked at Change again, smiling slightly. “Yeah, he does.” She sighed slowly before she suddenly said, “Welp, time for bed.” She stumbled over to the bed, slipped the covers down, and—with a surprising amount of gentleness—slipped both herself and the ‘passed out’ stallion into the bed. Change instantly snuggled up to her, wrapping his hooves around her like a giant teddy bear. “He’s more adorable when he’s all cuddly,” Twilight mused quietly as her eyes slowly drooped closed.

Her breathing evened out quickly, giving the stallions a clear signal that she had fallen asleep. Shining Armor leveled a slight glare at Change, who carefully raised his head to see eye-to-eye with the other blue-eyed stallion. “Watch your hooves, buddy,” Shining Armor warned. “I know many ways to make you miserable without hurting you.”

Change lifted one of his forehooves out of the covers in a clear sign of submission.

“And the other one?” Shining Armor asked.

Change glanced down at Twilight before looking up at her brother helplessly. He gave a one-legged shrug and smiled sheepishly.

“Keep them above the cutie mark,” Shining Armor cautioned. “I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night because you got touchy-feely with my sister.” Change’s off-hooved salute seemed to satisfy him, since he gave the younger stallion a small smile. “Good night, Change.”

Change returned the smile and nodded before slowly lowering his head to rest in the crook of Twilight’s neck. He gave her a small nuzzle, making her groan softly and shift in her sleep. Confidant in his ability to sleep without waking up his host, the colt allowed himself to drift off to pleasant dreams.

Shining Armor watched the two of them as their breathing seemed to sync. He never lost that small smile as he climbed into his own bed. His thoughts drifted to his wife, who—undoubtedly—was going to show up tomorrow. What with the letter sent through Spike to Princess Celestia, who most likely sent it immediately to Cadance. He sighed as his smile faded. No matter if he had already fixed his mistake and made up with Change or not he was getting a stern talking to, one he wasn’t looking forward to.

Another sigh seemed to pervade the room as Shining Armor resigned himself to his fate. There were going to be a lot of awkward moments for the rest of the week. He winced as he remembered the secret he had spilled during Truth or Dare. That was getting him “assigned to the very important duty of guarding the couch for the night,” as Cadance would put it. If he was very lucky, it would be just the night.

One last thought flashed through his head right as he fell asleep. Doesn’t Twilight have a couch?

Comments

[Gskar]

Lol this chapter made my day. Hope you dont have to cancel this story, but do what you have to do.
Know that i will still read it if you decide to continue with it as well as your other stories.