Chapter 1: Knock Knock

"Starlight, do you mind helping me set up for tonight's slumber party?"

Before Twilight had asked for help, Starlight Glimmer had been staring in frustration at the blank pages of her new journal, quill in a full bottle of ink.

The journal was a gift to her from Twilight, being her teacher and all. On the front cover of the leather journal was Starlight's cutie mark, full color and all. It had been gifted to her because Twilight had insisted Starlight could use it to write down a lesson of friendship she had learned.

The bad part was Twilight was going to collect it the next day to check on Starlight's progress.

It's been nearly a week since Twilight has given me this journal, and I still don't have a friendship lesson, Starlight mused. Twilight's going to be disappointed, especially since I haven't been trying. She blamed her lack of friendship lessons on the...first fight.

"Uh, I don't mind at all!" Starlight called out. "I'll be there in a moment!"

Starlight closed her journal and promised herself that she would find a friendship lesson to write about. Even though she had only a few hours to do so. Hopefully, the slumber party would teach her a valuable lesson about friendship. She got up from her seat in the library and left.

As Starlight made her way to the official slumber party room, she thought back to her very first slumber party. Sweet Celestia, she couldn't believe it had been months since her first slumber party and game of Truth or Dare. Each slumber party was fantastic, and every game of Truth or Dare made Starlight regret playing it. But she couldn't help the smile that slid onto her face at the memory of Rainbow Dash acting like a fish or Spike trying to juggle half a dozen Rarity plushes.

Spike...

Starlight shook her head at the thought of his name. She had managed to avoid him for a solid week and Starlight wanted to keep it that way. She continued on her way to the slumber party room.

Inside the slumber party room, Twilight was hanging up streamer decorations from the middle of the ceiling to the end of the ceiling. The streamers were in the pattern of a rainbow. The streamer colors went from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Or was it purple? After the sixth color, the streamer color went back to red. Several glow-in-the-dark stars hung at different heights from the ceiling, each star attached to a wire. One star was so low, Starlight could touch it with her horn if she stood on her hindquarters.

"Whoa," Starlight said, walking in. "This place looks stunning! Fantastic job, Twilight!"

Twilight turned to Starlight and smiled. "Thank you!" she said. "This week is Fluttershy's turn to bring food and drinks. So we can wait for the others to arrive in a few minutes. Or maybe some of our friends are helping Fluttershy carry the refreshments."

Starlight suddenly became confused. "But you asked me to help you set up the room," she said.

Twilight flapped her wings nervously. "Well, you see, I actually wanted to talk to you about something important," she explained.

"Really?" Starlight asked. Knowing her luck, Twilight was going to ask how her journal was coming along or what the sudden influx of letters from Sunburst was about. Questions she didn't want to reply to. "What about?"

Twilight folded her wings and sighed. "What's going on between Spike and you?" she asked.

Starlight's heart leaped out of her chest. This question was even worse.

And since she definitely didn't want to answer, Starlight naturally responded, "What do you mean?"

"After my first real game of Truth or Dare, the two of you hung out more often. Like every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you two used to go to Sugarcube Corner for snacks and you came back with a few bags of goodies. Spike and you spent a lot of your time in the castle reading and talking. And Spike never reads! If that weren't enough, you two went out for random walks!"

"Hey! My personal life is none of your business," Starlight snapped.

"Actually, it is," Twilight said. "I watch over your progress of friendship, who you make friends with, and what kind of ponies your friends are."

Starlight tried to make a comeback, but she knew any one that she would try to make would be a failed attempt.

"How did you notice our schedule?" she asked instead. She resisted the urge to say, former schedule.

"It had been going on for about four, five weeks, so I was able to pick up the pattern on the third week," Twilight replied. "Now answer my question: What's going on between the both of you?"

"I still don't understand your question," Starlight said.

"Ever since Spike's visit to the Dragonlands, you two have been distancing yourself from each other," Twilight explained. "You've stopped hanging out. Whenever I have you two work together, work ends up as a fighting match. What about? I'd like to know!"

"Everything between Spike and I is alright," Starlight lied.

Twilight stared at her for a few seconds. "There is something wrong between you two, and I am going to find out what it is," she said. "No matter what it takes."

A determined expression settled on Twilight's face. Now Starlight was certain Twilight was going to keep her vow and use any method she could to figure out what was going on. She heard Pinkie Pie recount a time when Twilight spied on her and ran tests to try to make some sense out of Pinkie's Pinkie Sense.

"Then good luck, because nothing is wrong between Spike and I," Starlight said.

"We'll see about that," Twilight said.

Suddenly Twilight's ears perked up as if she heard the Ding! of the toaster in the kitchen. How was she be able to hear it from the second floor of the castle? Starlight wasn't sure.

"The others are here," Twilight said. "I'm going to get my stuff. Meanwhile, you can settle yourself in."

Twilight left the slumber party room. Starlight looked around the room. It was a shame she didn't get to help. Maybe she would have learned a valuable lesson about friendship.

"Ahem."

Starlight turned her head and body around to face Spike, who appeared in the doorway. His arms were crossed and in the light of the stars, Starlight could see he was frowning.

His eyebrows furrowed. "You're standing on my spot," he said.

Starlight looked behind herself and saw Spike's bed. She was on Spike's spot of the room.

"Sorry," she mumbled, walking over to her own bed, next to Fluttershy's. It had been added the Saturday of her second slumber party.

Starlight could sense Spike roll his eyes. "I doubt it," he mumbled as he brought in his sleeping bag.

She whipped her head around and glared fiercely at the dragon. "Oh please!" Starlight snapped. "Like you're sorry for meeting Dragonlord Ember!"

"Are you bringing this up again?" Spike said through gritted teeth. His back faced Starlight as he curled his claws into a fist.

"This never ended!" Starlight said angrily.

Spike turned to face her. He was glaring at Starlight.

"And neither will your conversations with Sunburst!" Spike snapped. "So it's totally fine that I'm still in contact with Ember!"

"You're what?!" Starlight shrieked.

"You heard me!" Spike yelled. "You're still in contact with Sunburst, so why can't I keep in touch with Ember?"

"You can!" Starlight yelled.

"And why do you care?!"

"I don't!"

"Well, I don't care that you still talk with Sunburst!"

"Fine!"

Starlight turned herself away from Spike. A few tears fell, but Starlight blinked the rest back. Their arguments were escalating and ending quickly now. They were also becoming worse.

She quickly wiped away the tears on her face and dried her eyes. She couldn't let Spike get to her. Even though...

"Hey, guys!"

Starlight turned and put on the best smile she could muster. "Hey, Rainbow," she greeted.

Rainbow Dash zoomed into the room, dropping her slumber party gear on the floor behind her bed. She landed on her bed and grinned. "Long time, no see! How's life been, Starlight?"

"Oh, you know, busy as always," Starlight said. "Learning about friendship and writing about it. Nothing exciting for me."

"Still getting letters from Sunburst?" Rainbow asked. Starlight studied Rainbow's smirk and determined there was a different meaning to her question. From out of the corner of her eye, Starlight could see Spike's grip on one of his bedposts tighten.

Starlight laughed nervously. "And replying!" she said as cheerfully as possible.

Judging from Rainbow Dash's even smugger look, Starlight could tell she didn't believe her. Before she could begin an argument, the rest of the Mane Six filed in.

Fluttershy was carrying several bags in her saddlebag bagception? and a little yapping dalmatian pounced Fluttershy's bed.

For the past few weeks, Fluttershy had brought along her puppy, Cookie Dough, to the weekly slumber parties. She claimed Cookie got lonely in her cottage when she left for the slumber party. So Fluttershy brought Cookie Dough to the Castle of Friendship every Saturday night. No pony really complained or argued. Cookie Dough was too adorable.

"Hello, everypony!" Rarity said. "It's a pleasure to be back with all of you again!"

"Oh that's right," Fluttershy said. "You came back from your business trip to Canterlot a few hours ago, didn't you?"

"Indeed I did!" Rarity said. She walked over to her bed and used her magic to take off her saddlebag. She placed it at the foot of her bed and said, "Not only did I see how successful my boutique has gotten, I checked on the Tasty Treat Restaurant. Saffron and her father are doing better than ever!"

"That's amazin' news!" Applejack said, lowering her saddlebag on her bed. "Ah'm glad you and Pinkie Pie managed to pull that restaurant out of the dark and into the limelight."

"They totally deserve the limelight!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping onto her bed. "Their food is DELICIOUS!"

"Now, enough about me," Rarity said, resting on her bed. She flashed a knowing smile to Rainbow Dash. "How has life been treating you, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow blushed furiously. "Soarin' took me on a date to Manehattan on Thursday," she mumbled in reply.

Rarity batted her eyelashes at Rainbow. Of course, there was always the one detail she wanted to know.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, we did kiss! At least my kiss count is higher than yours!"

Rarity gasped in shock. "How dare you!" she said. "I will have you know my relationship with Fancypants is very complicated, and new to me, with him being in Canterlot and I here in Ponyville. He has to maintain his social status and I have to maintain my business."

"But did you see him in Canterlot while you were there?" Twilight asked, helping Fluttershy unload her saddlebag.

A small smile appeared on Rarity's face. "Well, yes," she replied. "As a matter of fact, Fancypants took me to a fashion show yesterday. Oh, you'll never guess who I saw there."

"Oh! Oh! Hoity Toity!" Pinkie Pie guessed. "No, Sapphire Shores! No, wait! How about "

"Coco Pommel!" Rarity squealed. "I got the chance to chat with her, and she explained to me that they were featuring one of her dresses!

"If one of Coco's dresses got featured at a fashion show in Canterlot, that must mean Coco's making it big in the fashion world," Twilight said.

"Indeed she is!" Rarity exclaimed. "I'm so happy for her!"

"So, anypony else got something exciting to share?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Twilight smiled as if she'd been holding in the news for days. "Well, I finally got the opportunity to talk with Mayor Mare on Wednesday. She's agreed to begin planning and funding a new library and a new bookstore in Ponyville!"

Like every Saturday night, the Slumber-Party Eight caught up with each other about what was happening in each of their lives. Fluttershy spoke of Cookie Dough, who had recently gotten into the Everfree Forest. Luckily, Discord was able to find the puppy before she could get into serious danger. Pinkie Pie had visited the rock farm on Wednesday to see how her family was doing. Applejack had chores, as usual, but had managed to sneak in a night out in Ponyville.

"Anything going on for you, Spike?" Rarity asked the dragon, who was eating some potato chips. Starlight had noticed things between Spike and Rarity had been going smoothly ever since they had a heart-to-heart talk at the Star Night Festival. Their friendship had been growing stronger, from the looks of things. Not that Starlight cared.

Spike swallowed and grinned. "Oh, you know, the usual," he said. "Helping Twilight around the castle. Enjoying life."

"Ooh! Have you gotten any letters from Ember?" Twilight asked eagerly. "I have a question about dragon sleeping patterns and a few other "

"Sleeping patterns?" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "You could ask Ember how much treasure she has as a Dragonlord, or any past wars the dragons have fought, but you decide to ask her about dragon sleeping patterns?"

"Well, why not?" Twilight asked.

"I still can't believe Spike's first friend from the Dragonlands is Ember," Rarity said. "The new Dragonlord!"

"Yeah, that's REALLY crazy!" Starlight said through gritted teeth. She violently dipped her chip into some sauce. As a result, the chip broke.

Starlight noticed Spike was enjoying this. He said, "Yeah, Ember's great! One of the best dragons I've ever met!"

"Hey! I have an idea!" Starlight said. "Let's stop talking about Ember and talk about somepony else!"

"Somepony like Sunburst?" Fluttershy asked politely.

Spike's claws suddenly balled into a fist, crushing the chips he was about to eat. Several pieces crumbled out of his fist.

"Yeah! What's going on with Sunburst these days, Star?" Rainbow Dash asked with a sly grin.

"Oh, nothing much," Starlight said with a soft smile. Spike glared at her and dropped the chips out of his claws. The crumbs were all over his bed, but he didn't really care. Starlight's smile made his heart beat faster, but it also made his temper boil. And Sunburst? So we're playing this game, are we now? Spike mused angrily.

"Are you sure that's all that's going on with him, darling?" Rarity asked, batting her eyelashes.

"I don't understand what you mean," Starlight said, grinning. She knew exactly what was happening and she wanted it to happen. It irked Spike. A lot.

Twilight didn't seem amused. "Um, hey, how about we start the game early?" she asked.

"Oooooh yes!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Please! I have been waiting FOREVER to play Truth or Dare!"

"It's only eight, and we can definitely play four rounds of Truth or Dare!" Rainbow added.

"Okay, we'll start playing!" Twilight said. "Let's go over the rules first."

"One, if choosing Truth, you must tell the truth when some pony asks you a question," Fluttershy stated.

"Two, if choosing Dare, you must perform the dare some pony dares you to do," Rarity said.

"Three! You cannot change your choice once you have selected something to perform!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Four. You cannot choose somepony to dare you to perform something or ask you something," Starlight said. Spike and she exchanged fierce glares.

"And the final rule!" Twilight said.

Suddenly, their ears were filled with three powerful rings, coming from the doorbell downstairs. The doorbell shouldn't have been able to make that much noise. Only enough so Twilight could hear. But judging by the faces on each of her friends, Twilight knew she wasn't the only one who heard it.

The ringing stopped. Everypony blinked as if coming out of a trance. They looked around, exchanging curious glances with one another.

Fluttershy was the one who finally spoke. "Who could that be at this hour of the day?" she asked.

"I don't know," Twilight admitted. "I'll check out who it is. Don't start the game until I come back!"

Twilight left the room and trotted downstairs. Who could be at the Castle of Friendship's door at this time of the day? Ponies were surely getting ready to close up shops, maybe head out for something fun to do, or perhaps the Ponyville Tavern. But coming to the Castle of Friendship? The only ponies who came were the Mane Six, Starlight, and Spike.

She trotted down the grand staircase of the castle and hurried to the front doors. The echo of her hoof steps against the floor was all she heard besides the thoughts racing through her head of whom it could be.

Twilight slowed once she reached the doors. She took a deep breath and opened one of the doors.

"Hi! How can I help AGHHHHHHHHH!"

Twilight took several steps back, but not before slamming the door. Her heart was trying to jump out of her body. Once she was calm enough, she immediately became unnerved again.

Why would I slam the door?! she mused frantically. Why?! I need to open it again! Hopefully, they won't be mad at me!

Twilight quickly rushed to the door and opened it again. She had to tilt her head upwards to talk with them.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Twilight said nervously with a sheepish grin. "How...lovely to see you at this time of day!"

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood side-by-side, beaming as if they didn't mind having a door slammed in their faces. In fact, they seemed eager about something. They wore their own saddlebags, and for some strange reason, neither of them wore their crown.

"It's lovely to see you again, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia said.

Twilight shook her head. "What are you doing here at this time?" she asked.

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances. Luna smiled. "Well, Twilight Sparkle, do you remember the night you asked us to extend the night?" she asked.

"Well, yes, of course," Twilight said. She remembered vividly that she wanted to get back at Rainbow Dash for making her act like a princess for a whole hour. She had teleported to the Canterlot Castle and asked for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to make the night stop before midnight.

"My sister and I were wondering..." Celestia smiled. "We were wondering if we could play with you girls this week."

Twilight blinked and her eyes widened. Here were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, saddlebags ready for a game of Truth or Dare. Their expressions said they were waiting a long time to play.

"Don't the both of you have work running Equestria?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, if it's alright with your friends and you," Luna said.

"No. I mean, I'm sure my friends wouldn't mind having you join us for this week's game of Truth or Dare," Twilight said in a daze. She opened the door wide. "Come in."

"Princess Celestia?!" Spike asked.

"Princess Luna?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Three princesses in one room at the same time?" Starlight asked. "This is a first for me."

"You'll get used to it," Applejack said.

"Hello, Elements of Harmony!" Celestia greeted the room. "My sister and I have decided to join you for a game of Truth or Dare!"

"Oooooh really?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Great! We're just about to start! Let's go over the rules again! One, if choosing Truth, you must tell the truth when some pony asks you a question. Two! if choosing Dare, you must perform the dare some pony dares you to do. Three! You cannot change your choice once you have selected something to perform. Four! You cannot change your choice once you have selected something to perform! And finally, five! The game ends at midnight!"

Luna smiled, taking a seat next to Twilight's bed. Celestia took a seat by Starlight's bed, which made a circle with the rest of the beds. Celestia said, "Sounds like fair rules." She exchanged another round of knowing looks to Luna.

Luna spoke. "Is it alright if my sister and I just change one rule?" she asked.

Twilight glanced around the room. The faces on her friend's faces said, No but Fluttershy replied, "Of course."

"The game shall end when the Royal Sisters say it ends!" Celestia announced.

The Mane Eight glanced around, giving looks that said Oh boy. But instead of saying that aloud, they nodded their heads in agreement with the new rule.

"And you thought this was a good idea?" Spike whispered to Twilight, who flew onto her bed.

"Well, I couldn't say no to them," Twilight whispered. "And I certainly didn't know how to respond to such a surprise. I had to let them in. Besides, it's just one game."

"A game that ends when both Royal Sisters say it ends," Spike said. "This won't end well."

"None of our games ever end well, do they?" Twilight asked.

Spike nodded. "True," he said. "But with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, things could get a little hectic."

"Just one game," Twilight said. "That's it. We can do this. And we'll end up regretting playing this, but we always do that at the end of these games.

"If everything's taken care of, then I say this week's game of Truth or Dare shall BEGIN!" Pinkie Pie yelled. Suddenly, she brought out her party cannon. She stuffed it with scented streamers Maud had gotten her for the Pie Sisters' Surprise Swap Day. She lit the fuse and dozens of streamers blasted out of the cannon, sending sweet-smelling aromas around the room.

The game was on.

Chapter 2: Twilight: Spend 30 Minutes with Trixie

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Twilight shook the scented streamers out of her mane before saying, "I love these new streamers as much as you do, Pinkie, but they're a slight pain to clean up after."

Rainbow nodded in agreement, flapping her wings to rid her feathers of streamers. "Maybe can you not do that next time?" she asked.

Pinkie Pie grinned sheepishly. "Sorry!" she said. "I just can't help myself!"

Applejack chuckled. "Ah'm sure ya couldn't," she said, "with those streamers bein' from yer sister Maud and all." She used her tail to sweep the streamers off her bed. "Alright, now that we've got the party canon outta the way, who's got the Wheel of Choice?"

Princess Luna turned to Twilight. "What is this Wheel of Choice Applejack speaks of?" she asked. "This princess needs to know everything before beginning a game."

"It's this cardboard wheel that Rarity designed," Twilight explained. "We decided that we'd use the wheel to decide who's turn it is. We also use it as a fair method to pick the players who suggest Truth questions or Dares to the pony chosen. We just spin the arrow in the middle of the board, and when the arrow stops, the pony the arrow points to takes their turn."

Celestia had been listening to Twilight's explanation of the Wheel of Choice. She asked eagerly, "May I spin the Wheel of Choice?" She raised her right hoof as if she were in school asking the teacher a question. Quite the ironic analogy.

"Of course, Your Highness!" Rarity said enthusiastically. She tapped her chin and after a moment, said, "Pinkie was the last one who took their turn last week, correct? She must have the Wheel of Choice."

"Uh huh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Lemme just find it first!"

She shuffled through her saddlebag, throwing out several items, which included a notebook, several rubber ducks, a life preserver, and a tuba. Luna was fascinated by the number of items Pinkie could hold in what looked like a saddlebag that could only carry a few books at most. How could she manage to fit, of all things, a tuba in it? Why in Equestria did she have a tuba in her saddlebag for a slumber party in the first place?

"A-HA!" Pinkie Pie took out a pink cardboard circle with a red arrow dangling from the center of it. "Here it is!"

She jumped off her bed and landed on the floor. Pinkie let the Wheel of Choice fly into the air and land on her head. She walked like a Canterlotian, back straight, head high, hoovesteps dainty but powerful, and made her way to Princess Celestia. Pinkie Pie lowered her neck and presented the Wheel to Celestia by saying, "It is my honor to present you with the Wheel of Choice. Spin if YOU DARE!"

Pinkie slid the Wheel off her head and onto the floor in front of Celestia. She hopped back to her bed and grinned. "Let's do this!" she exclaimed.

Celestia smiled. "Thank you, Pinkie Pie," she said. She held down the cardboard with one hoof and spun the arrow with another.

The arrow spun around for a few moments. All eyes were on the arrow, each player hoping it didn't point towards themselves. With the exception of Celestia and Luna. The Royal Sisters were eager to take their turns, not knowing the true evils of Truth or Dare.

The arrow slowed down. The eyes of the players moved to the direction the arrow was pointing at.

Twilight.

"I guess it's my turn!" Twilight said sheepishly. What a way to begin the game.

"Truth or Dare?" Rainbow asked with one of her famous sly grins.

"Tonight, I think I'll be frisky," Twilight said. With Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the game, the possibilities were going to be 100% disastrous. So why delay the inevitable?

"Dare," she said.

"Twilight Sparkle, first up to tango, the first player to choose dare?" Applejack asked with a grin. She whistled. "And ah thought the chances of Flashlight were greater!"

"Very funny, Applejack," Twilight said, rolling her eyes, "but I don't have a crush on...that Royal Guard member."

"What Royal Guard member?" Celestia whispered to Starlight excitedly. Twilight Sparkle, with a crush? This was big news to her. She needed to know everything about this stallion. Then Celestia could endlessly tease both Twilight and the Royal Guard member.

Starlight Glimmer shrugged. "I've never known Twilight had a crush," she whispered.

"And now, to spin the wheel three more times!" Pinkie said. "Whoever the arrow points to gets to dare Twilight, and out of those three dares, she has to pick one."

"I shall spin the wheel this time!" Luna declared. She reached over and spun the arrow with incredible force. The arrow spun at a high velocity for a few moments before it slowed down. Starlight. Luna spun two more times, and the arrow landed on Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

"Alright!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Whaddya girls have for Princess Twilight?"

Rainbow Dash came up with a dare immediately. "Challenge Discord to a food fight!" she said.

"Okay, no," Twilight said. "Let's hear what other dares there are. Starlight?"

"Um..." Starlight had learned a few weeks back that Twilight was afraid of quesadillas. Perhaps a dare about the tasty food?

"I dare you to learn how to make a quesadilla," Starlight said.

Twilight shuddered. "Definitely not," she said."What dare do you have for me, Rarity?"

"Well, I have been thinking about this dare for several days," Rarity said. "And I think you'll prefer this dare to the others."

"Then please, share your dare, Rare," Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash stuffed her hoof into Pinkie's mouth. "Yes, Pinkie," she said. "The sentence rhymed."

She took out her hoof and quickly wiped it with a napkin. Pinkie Pie giggled and said, "You were one step ahead of me, Dashie!"

"Twilight," Rarity said, "I dare you to spend half an hour with Trixie."

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise.

"Trixie?" Celestia asked. "As in, Trixie Lulamoon? The mare who used the Alicorn Amulet to take over Ponyville the day I was coming to town with the delegates from Saddle Arabia?"

"You know about Trixie, Princess Celestia?" Fluttershy asked politely.

"Do I know her?" Celestia asked. "She could be my potential niece-in-law!"

The room suddenly became quiet, registering the words one of the Royal Sisters had said. All eyes moved to Princess Celestia, who was covering her mouth with her hooves.

The only nephew Celestia had was Prince Blueblood. Potential niece-in-law? How much did the public not know about the Royals? And how did Twilight not know about this sooner?

"WHAT MY SISTER MEANT TO SAY!" Luna yelled in her Royal Canterlot voice. Her face was beaded with sweat and her pupils had shrunk by several times. She plastered a nervous smile on her face.

"She MEANT to say Trixie Lulamoon could be her potential nnn...new LIBRARIAN! At Canterlot Castle!" Luna said nervously. She glanced around the room, scanning the faces of each player. None of their faces said they believed her.

Applejack coughed awkwardly. "Ah suppose that's another story for another time," she said. "Now, back to Twilight!"

Twilight nodded. "I think I will accept Rarity's dare to spend time with Trixie." It was the only reasonable dare for Twilight to do. A food fight with Discord would just end up with a clean up crew for all of Ponyville. And why would Twilight want to make the stuff of her nightmares? She was surprised she didn't get nightmares about the cheesy tortilla. But thirty minutes with Trixie? That was alright.

"Is Trixie still in town?" Rarity asked, turning to Starlight. "You're the closest to her out of...the majority of us."

Starlight nodded in reply, smiling. "Last week, Trixie told me she was thinking about permanent residence here in Ponyville," she said. She gasped, a wonderful idea forming in her head. She noticed Celestia's frown of disapproval out of the corner of her eyes. "If Trixie does stay, can she come to our weekly slumber parties?"

Her question was met with silence. Spike could understand what his friends were thinking. None of them had seen Trixie for months, as far as Spike knew. Having Trixie at one of their slumber parties? Give it a few weeks with them all spending time with Trixie, then maybe they'd consider inviting her. That was if she did stay in Ponyville.

"I...suppose my question is best saved for another time?" Starlight guessed, clearly upset.

"For the best," Rarity agreed.

"So, ahem, where can we find Trixie now, Star?" Twilight asked , moving on from Starlight's question.

"Right now, Trixie is staying at the Ponyville Inn. But I think she's practicing her magic at the park," Starlight replied.

"Then let's go!" Rainbow Dash zoomed out of the room, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.

The players looked at one another, exchanging glances before Rainbow dashed back into the room.

"Um, hello?" she asked impatiently. "Let's go already!"

"Yes, Rainbow! What a marvelous idea!" Rarity said sarcastically. "We'll go around Ponyville, with Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight all with us! No pony would EVER notice them with us!"

Rainbow glared at Rarity. "Hey, you don't have to be sarcastic about it!" she said, flying back to her bed.

"But Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in their forms would give us unwanted attention for the night," Fluttershy pointed out.

"Which is why Luna and I will change our forms," Celestia said.

"What ?"

Twilight's question was interrupted with two powerful glows, one golden, the other blue. The glows were so blinding, Twilight had to avert her gaze to the other side of the room. Even then, she could see the glow, and could feel the burning heat from the magic being performed. Her friends averted their gazes by covering their eyes with their legs or a pillow.

Finally, after a few moments, the glows and heat died down. Twilight turned her head back to the princesses and suddenly gasped.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were no longer. In Celestia's place sat a unicorn about Twilight's age. She had a white coat, stunning blue eyes, and an ombre mane, with the colors red, orange and yellow. Her cutie mark was a coal on fire.

In Princess Luna's place, there was a unicorn who had a light blue coat, midnight blue mane, and magenta eyes. Her cutie mark was a star with a tiara on it. She winced. "That spell always hurts," she said.

"It hurts worse for me," Celestia(?) said. "This forms feels strange without my wings."

"Indeed it does," Luna(?) nodded in agreement.

"So, you changed forms," Twilight said. "What are your names now?"

Celestia smiled. "Ember Fuel," she said. Her voice was slightly different. Younger and immature.

"Stargaze Headdress," Luna said. Her voice sounded like it had when the Elements of Harmony restored Luna from her Nightmare Moon form.

Starlight and Spike definitely exchanged death glares from across the room. They weren't even trying to be secretive anymore.

"Those are lovely names," Fluttershy commented. "But, um, this dare is just for Twilight. She doesn't need a lot of help finding Trixie, does she?"

"No," Twilight agreed. "I just need Starlight and somepony else. Everypony else can still play the game."

"I shall go with you!" Celestia/Ember Fuel declared.

"And why is that?" Twilight asked.

"Because my word is law!" Celestia said. Twilight raised an eyebrow. This kind of behavior from Celestia was shocking, to say the least. Twilight had never seen the princess act in such a way.

Twilight turned to face the rest of the players. "What will you all do while I'm gone?" she asked.

"We keep playing," Rainbow replied. "That's what we did whenever somepony went somewhere to do something!"

Sounded good to Twilight, but it would also mean she would miss out on the next turn. If luck had been on her side, Twilight would watch the arrow land on Starlight, and then Twilight, and then she would ask Star what was happening between Spike and Starlight.

But unfortunately, fate decided she had to talk to Trixie.

"Alright, then you all go at it," Twilight said, rising from her bed. "Starlight, Princess Cele Ember, let's go."

Twilight trotted out of the room, Starlight and Ember Coal following close behind.

As soon as they were out of ear distance from the room, Celestia said to Twilight, "Young filly, I'd like to have a word with you."

"Ditto," Twilight said.

It was about eight thirty when they arrived at the Ponyville park. On their way to the park, several ponies had questioned this Ember Coal that was walking with Twilight and Starlight. Luckily, the mares explained Ember was just staying in Ponyville for the night. No further questions were asked.

The sunset had just arrived. Ponies were gathering at the park to enjoy the weekend night. How the sun had set without Celestia's magic, Twilight wanted to know. But what she wanted to know even more was what Celestia was keeping from her.

"Why didn't you tell me that Trixie and Prince Blueblood are dating?" Twilight demanded as soon as they arrived.

"And you didn't tell me about the crush you have on a Royal Guard?" Ember asked.

"That's different!" Twilight said, stopping to face her former mentor.

The look in Ember's eyes said it was a lie. "You and I both know there is no difference between our secrets," she said. "Now, you begin, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight stared at Ember. The mare's gaze was intense, the only look Celestia gave to the unicorns who had broken important rules, one of them being never to try dark magic. Twilight remembered the fear on the faces of the unicorns. They never could stand against Celestia's Look.

Neither could Twilight, years later, a grown mare, Princess of Equestria, no longer a student. Her legs became weak. Sweat started trickling down Twilight's face. Celestia's look said, No matter what, I will learn what you are hiding from me. I should punish you right here and right now for not doing so before.

She couldn't withstand it. She quickly blinked and faced the ground, the effects of the stare wearing off.

"Flash Sentry," Twilight admitted. "I saw his alternate self in the other world. Without his help, I wouldn't have been able to set up the Fall Formal in time, which would have resulted in my failure to recover my crown and return to Equestria. I saw him in the Crystal Empire, and I...I just fell for him. For a few months, I might add.

"But no longer do I like him," Twilight said. "It's been months since I last seen him. My crush on him faded after our first game of Truth or Dare."

"I don't mean to be rude," Starlight interrupted, "but we should start walking to find Trixie."

Twilight and Celestia exchanged glances. "We can talk about my situation on the way," Ember said.

"Fine," Twilight said.

Starlight led the way. She claimed she knew Trixie's favorite spot to perform magic. Twilight paid more attention to Celestia than what she passed.

"Trixie and Blueblood have been dating for three months," Celestia said.

"Then why would you say Trixie could be a good niece-in-law?" Twilight asked.

Ember sighed. "I meant it as a joke," she said. "Luna knows if they'll get married. But Blueblood has been happier lately. That's all I really know about their relationship. I'm busy ruling Equestria with my sister, so it cuts quality time short."

"Then why are you playing Truth or Dare?" Twilight asked. She shook her head. "No, more important question: Why didn't you tell me about Trixie and Blueblood?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Flash Sentry?" Celestia asked.

Twilight's mouth opened to reply, but nothing came out. She promptly closed it back shut and stayed silent, until minutes later, she heard somepony yell, "ALWIND!"

A burst of wind suddenly flew their way. Twilight's mane flew in the wind, and it the breeze, she had to admit, felt nice.

The wind that had suddenly occurred died down. "Trixie!" Starlight called, surging forward.

Twilight looked in the direction Starlight was galloping in, and saw Trixie was holding a journal book with her magic. Nearby were other books, including, "Magic Tricks 101" and "Illusions Nopony Will Believe." She looked like she had been in deep concentration, her eyes slightly glazed over. Her magic aura was a paler pink than usual. She had been practicing magic under a willow tree. The billowy branches and leaves on the tree cast a large shadow in the sunset light.

Trixie lowered her book and smiled wearily as Starlight galloped forward, like just seeing Starlight, her best friend made her day a little brighter.

"Trixie! It's so good to see you again!" Starlight stopped in front of Trixie and smiled. Though embracing a friend was a good greeting, the two mares were still uncomfortable with the "friendship" concept.

"Yes, it has been a while since we have last seen each other," Trixie said. "Tell me, Starlight, what brings you here with your friend, Trixie?"

"Oh, right," Starlight said. "So, I'm in the middle of playing Truth or Dare. Twilight's turn is now and she chose Dare."

"Oh?" There was a twinge of...something on Trixie's face. "What was Twilight Sparkle dared to do?"

"I was dared to talk to you for half an hour," Twilight answered, coming forward. Celestia was close behind.

"Well, well," Trixie said. "Twilight Sparkle. It's been some time."

"Too long, I think," Twilight said cautiously. "So, you know why I'm here. You won't run away, will you?"

Trixie snorted in laughter. "Run away?" she asked. "For what reason?"

"Well, maybe you don't want to be around me is all," Twilight confessed. She was completely fine with Trixie now, but how did this blue-coated mare feel about the princess of friendship?

"I suppose we shall discuss it in the thirty minutes we have together," Trixie said. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw a white-coated mare behind Twilight.

"Who is she?" Trixie asked, pointing to Ember.

Twilight looked behind her. "This is Ember Fuel," she said. "She's staying in Ponyville for the night."

Ember put on her best smile. "Hello!" she greeted.

Trixie smiled. "Hello, Princess Celestia," she said. "I have not seen you in a while, as well."

Ember paled if that was possible with her coat color. But she laughed. "Of course," she said. "You know about my anonymous disguise."

"That's not the point of what an anonymous disguise is, for me to know what it is," Trixie said, "but you have your reasons, Your Highness."

"Well, we'll leave you two here," Starlight said. "Come, Princess Celestia! I don't want to miss out on the next turn!"

"I'm right behind you!" Ember said, galloping behind Starlight.

"Uh, goodbye! See you soon!" Trixie called out. She turned to Twilight with a smug look. "Looks like we're going to have time to become besties, as they say!"

"Oh boy," Twilight said with a defeated expression.

Trixie and Twilight sat in the shade of the willow tree. It was beginning to grow darker, so Twilight had cast a spell with bright blue orbs of light around the tree and their location.

"So, what kind of magic were you practicing?" Twilight asked after two minutes of awkward silence.

"Elemental magic," Trixie replied.

"Really?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. The only magic Trixie used to be interested in was magic that defied all logics and blew the minds of ponies, who found it entertaining. "What inspired you to practice a different kind of magic?"

"Starlight Glimmer," Trixie admitted. "She told me one time that she'd been practicing all kinds of magic with you, and she said it was fun. Starlight said I should try different types of magic. So I recently got this book called A Unicorn's Guide to Beginner's Elemental Magic in a library in Canterlot."

"Gee, I wonder what you were doing there," Twilight said sarcastically.

Trixie raised an eyebrow, no doubt wondering if Twilight was nuts. But she said, "I started practicing elemental magic a week ago. It's much harder than I thought."

"What do you have trouble with?" Twilight asked.

"Mostly fire and water magic," Trixie replied. "They seem like the easiest things to control! But I soon learned if they aren't controlled, they can become unpredictable."

"I had trouble with fire and water magic, too," Twilight admitted.

Trixie laughed bitterly. "Twilight Sparkle, unable to perform a simple magic spell? I must be dreaming!" she said.

"I'm serious!" Twilight said. "I also had a lot of trouble with air magic. Controlling wind? I'd rather teleport a few dozen times!"

Trixie smirked at Twilight. "Air magic is the easiest!" she said. "Whenever I cast a wind spell, I concentrate my feelings into the spell. The wind is powerful, but it can be gentle. It can make you feel like you are floating. It also hates being restrained. I've found that if you connect with the elements, the spell becomes easier and stronger."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "In all my years, I never noticed."

"Oh, come on," Trixie said. Her enthusiasm deflated. "The great and powerful Twilight Sparkle must surely have noticed. She is greater and far more powerful than Trixie, after all."

Twilight frowned. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

Trixie glared at her. "What does Trixie mean?" she asked. "You are the Princess of Magic! The Princess of Friendship, the most powerful magic of all! I've heard of the deeds you have performed with your friends! With your friends, you are practically unstoppable! It stopped the chaos spirit Discord! It ended Tirek's tyranny over Equestria! Even your friendship lessons reformed Starlight! You can do so much more than I can!"

At this point, Trixie had started crying. "It's hard knowing Starlight is your friend, the friend of the princess of magic," she said bitterly. "She's the first friend I've had in a long time. I originally performed magic shows to cheer ponies up, so they didn't have to be as down and lonely as I was. But the praise and approval got to my head and I started doing magic to prove how powerful I was.

"So you can understand now why Trixie doesn't believe you had trouble with magic," Trixie said, her ears flopping down in sadness.

After all that Trixie did, Twilight no longer had the heart to see her as an enemy. Trixie was essentially jealous of Twilight, bitter that she had more magic and friends than her. Something Twilight never thought Trixie would ever be jealous of.

"I didn't always have my friends," Twilight said softly.

Trixie wiped away her tears. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Before I moved here, I lived in Canterlot," Twilight said. "I didn't have any friends there. I was just there with me, myself, and I. I didn't understand how powerful the magic of friendship was until I came here. I am who I am now with my friends. But even with my friends, I was still scared. Discord almost won. I almost gave up on my friends because of a spell I cast. Every villain I've faced, I came close to losing my friends. I'm not perfect either, Trixie."

She turned to face the broken unicorn. "Starlight became my friend because she had nowhere else to start over," Twilight said softly. "She also needed a friend. I have a feeling you need a lot of friends."

Trixie stared at Twilight with doubt. "But I know nothing about friendship!" she said. "How am I supposed to make another friend?"

"Well, you just made one," Twilight said. She gave Trixie a soft smile. The unicorn became confused.

"You're willing to forgive me?" Trixie asked.

"Of course," Twilight said. "After all, a friend of Starlight's is my friend. We also have something in common."

Trixie cracked a small smile. "Like what?" she asked.

"Magic," Twilight said, raising the book Trixie had been using earlier. "I learned a trick with fire in my early years. Would you like help?"

"Yes, please," Trixie replied happily. "Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for being my friend."

"You can thank my friends, who will definitely become your new friends, too."

Chapter 3: Rainbow Dash: Stand-Up Comedy Act

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"So, who wants to spin the WHEEL! OF! CHOICE!" Pinkie Pie yelled on her hindquarters.

"Go ahead, Pinkie Pie," Applejack said, smiling. She understood Pinkie's enthusiasm to spin the wheel every week. As long as the arrow never landed on herself.

"Weeeeeeeee!" Pinkie bounced off her bed and stood in front of the wheel. She turned around and sat down on the floor. Using her tail, Pinkie spun the arrow around the board.

After a few tense seconds, the arrow slowed down and pointed to the next pony up.

Rainbow Dash.

"Really?" she groaned. "It's like I've been jinxed to almost always be one of the first players up!"

"Well, ya do deserve it from our first game of Truth or Dare," Applejack pointed out.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Do we have to bring that up again?" she asked with a clearly annoyed tone. "Our first game was months ago!"

"Ah don't have ta bring it up again," Applejack said. She smirked, knowing she was going to win this argument. "Ya can remember it whenever you see Soarin'."

"Princess Luna, Spike, and me!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Princess Luna, Spike, and you what?" Rainbow asked, turning away from Applejack's statement.

"We give you the choices you have!" Pinkie replied, hopping back onto her bed.

"Rainbow still hasn't chosen what she wants to do," Fluttershy said.

"You're absolutely right, Flutters!" Rarity said. "And what do you choose, Rainbow?"

"Dare, of course," Rainbow Dash answered with a scoff.

Spike spoke first. "Rainbow, I dare you to make your own tea!" he dared.

"That's the best you could come up with?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not choosing that one, it's way too easy! I could do it with my eyes closed. Next!"

Spike crossed his arms as Luna spoke. He had to make better dares and questions. All of his were never picked, and he didn't blame anypony for it. Once, he had dared Fluttershy to be alone outside in the dark for ten minutes. Ten minutes later, they found Fluttershy eating and chatting with half a dozen owls. Another time, Spike asked Twilight what her favorite memory was. She had picked Spike's question, which led to the others saying it wasn't fair that Twilight got to answer an easy question.

"Rainbow Dash, your Princess of the Night dares you to perform a stand-up comedy act at the Ponyville Tavern!" Princess Luna announced.

Rainbow smiled. "Hey, that's actually a pretty good dare," she said. "I might go with that dare! I mean, how hard can stand-up comedy be, right?"

Princess Luna beamed with pride. She did something right during her first game of Truth or Dare! One accomplishment checked off her list.

"You got anything better than a stand-up act, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.

"I sure do!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I dare you to perform a Sonic Rainboom and right after, perform a bunch of Wonderbolt stunts!"

Rainbow frowned. "I would do that," she said, "but performing a Sonic Rainboom would require me to go at super speed right after I perform it, and I wouldn't be able to slow down fast enough to perform any stunts. So I'll go with the stand-up act!"

"Then what are we still doing here?" Pinkie Pie asked, doing a cartwheel. "Let's go to the Ponyville Tavern!"

"One moment, Pinkie Pie," Luna said. "What about Celestia and Starlight? They should be back from the park any moment now."

"Leave them a note," Applejack suggested. "Write an' say we're at the Ponyville Tavern for Rainbow Dash's dare. They can meet us there or stay here until we get back."

"Wonderful idea, Applejack!" Stargaze said. "Let me find myself a bottle of ink, a quill, and parchment. Twilight Sparkle must have those supplies around here somewhere, correct?"

"If she didn't, she wouldn't be Twilight Sparkle," Rarity said with a smile.

"I don't know about you guys," Rainbow said, "but I'm gonna get a head start to the Ponyville Tavern. Wouldn't want to delay my awesome performance!"

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and sped out of the slumber party room, leaving the other players in her dust.

"Stand-up comedy act?" She scoffed as she shoved the entrance double doors open, letting her exit into fresh air. "It's gotta be a piece of cake!"

"I can't change my choice, can I?" Rainbow asked, gulping.

Rainbow, Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Stargaze Headdress were backstage in the Ponyville Tavern. Backstage, it was quite big, when it looked smaller on the outside. Several lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room. There were four chestnut brown doors, each opening to a dressing room for whoever was performing. Rainbow had fortunately booked an empty room before any other acts were taken. Or rather, unfortunately. The rest of the backstage area was with ponies running around, doing a sound check and making sure the lighting was correct for the next performance. Behind them was the red curtain, waiting to be pulled open.

Rainbow was in her dressing room. She had her door wide open, which revealed a mess of clothing and beauty products. Rarity was running around, adjusting a design, then throwing it away for another one. Fluttershy did her best to help Rarity by using hair care tips her brother, Zephyr Breeze, had given her.

Heh, Rainbow mused, smirking. Only one of the few times Zephyr's advice is actually helpful.

But she had to admit, Zephyr had learned a lot. Fluttershy was able to style Rainbow's hair so it was straight, but at the ends, her hair was curled ever so slightly. Her hair looked good.

Rainbow didn't have to worry about her hair as much as she worried about what she was going to do. A stand-up comedy act? What in Equestria was she thinking?! She didn't know anything about comedy besides pranks and bad puns. If only Pinkie Pie could give her some pointers. But Pinkie was the ultimate comedy master. Rainbow couldn't be able to learn anything in ten minutes. And trying to remember her joke? Even harder.

Stargaze smiled. "Now you regret your choice, Rainbow Dash?" she asked.

"I should have known this wasn't going to be easy!" Rainbow groaned.

"Wellllllllll, you did say, 'how hard can stand-up comedy be,' which meant you thought a stand-up act was going to be easy!" Pinkie Pie pointed out.

"Hey!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Don't use my own words against me!"

"Aha!" Rarity levitated a purple sequin top and a silver necklace. "These will look wonderful on you." Rarity closed the door and the ponies outside could hear Rarity say, "Make sure her hair doesn't get messy!"

Spike walked over to the red curtain and took a peek at the tavern. The tavern was full of ponies having a good time, drinking cider and eating nachos. They sat at wooden tables, on wrap-around red couches. On each circular table was a candle, lit with an enchanted flame so the fire could not spread or use the wax from the candle. To the left was the bar and to the right was more seating and the restaurant area. The walls were made from cobblestone and the ceiling from strong pink wood.

He spotted something interesting, something very interesting. Ember Coal, Starlight Glimmer, Twilight, and Trixie were all sitting together at one of the tables near the front stage. They were chatting and laughing, eating hay fries and drinking water, like they were old friends.

"Well that's something you don't see every day," Spike mumbled to himself.

Spike stole a glance at Starlight. She seemed to be giggling about something Trixie had told her. He wished he was in earshot to hear Starlight's giggle. At least one if they were never going to reconcile.

He quickly pulled his head back from the curtain when Starlight Glimmer caught him staring. His heart beat increased in fear of what would happen when he got back to the castle.

"Two minutes till showtime!" somepony announced.

"I'm nearly done!" Rarity exclaimed from the dressing room.

"Should we go to the tavern area to watch Rainbow Dash perform?" Stargaze asked.

"No," Applejack said. She smirked. "Ah wanna see Rainbow's face when she breaks down here."

"One minute!" the same pony shouted.

The door to Rainbow's dressing room burst open. Rainbow Dash was pushed out by Rarity and Fluttershy. She rocked the shirt and necklace, and her hair went along very well.

"Please don't make me do this!" Rainbow Dash pleaded.

"It was your choice!" Pinkie Pie said, helping move Dashie.

"And it's time for you to pay the price!" Applejack said, joining in.

A light tapping emitted from the speakers in the spectator area. All heads turned to the stage, where Amethyst Star had the microphone.

"How's everypony tonight?" she asked with a smile.

The audience cheered and hollered in response. Amethyst said, "Well, you're night's about to get better. We have a special stand-up act from Ponyville's Wonderbolt hero, Rainbow Dash! Give it up for her!"

Amethyst placed the mic on a wooden stool. She got off stage as Rainbow Dash tripped onstage.

The crowd of ponies smiled and giggled lightly, thinking it was a part of the act.

"How good is Rainbow Dash with comedy?" Celestia asked Twilight.

"Trust me when I say Rainbow had no idea what she was getting herself into," Twilight said, grinning.

Rainbow sat on stage for a moment, staring at the ponies who were waiting for comedy. Their grins faded when they realized the rainbow speedster was just sitting there.

If she was going to suffer from embarrassment, she might as well do it properly. Rainbow got up and grabbed the mic. She flapped her wings nervously and cleared her throat.

"So, uh...How are we doing tonight?" Rainbow asked, sweat trickling down her face.

The audience replied with "Good,"s and, "Okay"s or nods. Rainbow exhaled. She could do this. She could do this. She just had to make up something funny. Easy.

"Well, I'm glad you were having fun," Rainbow said to the crowd. "Because I don't know about anypony here, but last night, I got it on with a stallion last week."

The crowd just stared in silence.

"By the way, anypony remember what 'it' was? I can't remember anything from last week," Rainbow said hastily.

A few laughs rose from the crowds. Rainbow tried breathing normally. "This one time, I drank too much cider, I woke up in a tree. And the smart side of me asked, 'When did the tree pick me up from the party?'"

Several laughs erupted from the crowd. Rainbow grinned. Maybe this would turn out okay. But she would have to last for a few more minutes.

"So, how do you ponies spend your Friday nights?" Rainbow asked. "I bet you don't have to do a chore for Princess Twilight."

Applause erupted, hooves stomping and cheering were meant for Twilight. She smirked as Rainbow Dash continued her joke.

"You'd think it'd be a nice chore, right?" Rainbow asked. "It's Princess Twilight, Princess of Friendship, my friend! Of course it's gonna be an easy chore right? Does reorganizing her clothes sound like a nice chore?"

Several ponies laughed or booed in reaction. Twilight shook her head, trying to keep herself from laughing.

"Ever try to sort out your clothes after a shopping spree?" Dash asked. "It's pretty hard, especially since you gotta organize your new clothes with the old ones, make some new room. But Princess Twilight didn't want me to organize her clothes by new or old. She wanted me to reorganize them by material, color, type of clothing, and size. Which is about a hundred times harder than sorting after a shopping spree."

Ponies laughed and whistled, stomping their hooves in approval.

"So I take a look at her clothes, right?" Rainbow asked. "There's about two dozen clothes. I think to myself, 'I got this, I got this.' But I had no idea what the material was or what the size was. There were the times when Twilight was still a unicorn, but now she's an alicorn. Thinking about this now, why does she still have her old clothes if she can't fit her wings in it? Can she magically take her wings off and pretend she's Twilight Sparkle? Prance around Ponyville, saying, 'I am Twilight Sparkle!'"

The audience was loving it. Even Celestia and Trixie were laughing. Starlight was barely containing her giggles.

"I had to read books to find out what the materials were!" Rainbow said. "Unfortunately, I could not get past the first sentence before falling asleep."

Twilight rolled her eyes, while Starlight chuckled lightly.

"So I just gave up. I go to find Twilight, I ask her, 'Why do I have to organize your clothing if you can do it?'

"She tells me, 'To see if you can actually do something,'" Rainbow said.

At this point, the entire audience was laughing, with Twilight as the exception.

"I get mad. You'd get mad too if the Princess of Friendship said that to your face," Rainbow said once the applause died down. "What do I do? I only sort out her clothes by color. She gets mad when she finds out a few minutes later. She says to me, 'Didn't you hear what I wanted you to do?' I reply, 'Yeah, I did. You said to sort your clothes by color.' Twilight then says, 'Looks like you couldn't do something.' And I respond with, 'OK then! Show me how to do something!' Twilight says, 'Okay!'

"What then happens is Twilight reorganizes her clothing. I sat there, watching her do the work for me. I'm just there, watching. When she's nearly finished, twenty minutes later, she sees me on the floor. She asks, 'What are you doing?' And I reply, 'I am watching you do something.'"

The tavern erupted with cheering, applause, and hooves stomping. Twilight finally laughed, pounding her hoof on the table.

"Thank you, everypony!" Rainbow said, grinning.

Amethyst Star got back on stage. "That's all the time our comedy segment has for tonight!" she said. "Next up, we have Sweetie Belle's Singing Bells."

Rainbow Dash took a bow before escaping backstage. The players were waiting for her.

"I did awesomely," Rainbow said, smirking.

"Ah'm sure you did," Applejack said, grinning.

Rainbow glared at AJ. "What's so funny, Apple Butt?" she asked.

"Oh, nothin'," Applejack said. She smirked. "But did you notice Pinkie Pie reenacting yer scenes behind ya? The ponies sure loved it."

Rainbow Dash blinked. She looked around and saw Pinkie Pie was not there.

"PINKIE PIE!"

"To be honest, Dashie's stand-up act was actually pretty funny," Pinkie said to the four mares at their table.

"Did you really ask Rainbow Dash to do that?" Trixie asked Twilight.

Twilight smiled. "No," she replied.

Chapter 4: Princess Luna: Has She Ever Had a Crush?

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After Rainbow Dash chased Pinkie Pie for a good fifteen minutes, the players all decided it was a good idea to get back to the Castle of Friendship. But not before ordering a whole lot of hay fries and saying goodnight to Trixie.

"I really did have fun tonight," Trixie said to Twilight. "I don't remember having this much fun before."

Twilight smiled. "If you did, that means I'm going to have to find some time next week to hang out with you again," she said.

Trixie beamed. "Do you really mean that?" she asked.

"Of course!" Twilight replied. "As long as you're up for the night out."

"The Great and Humble Trixie will always be up for a night out," Trixie said.

Waving goodbye, Twilight watched Trixie leave the couch and head to the staircase on the left side of the tavern, where the Inn part of the Ponyville Tavern and Inn was at.

Another fifteen minutes later, Pinkie Pie's saddlebag was stuffed with hay fries and the Truth or Dare Squad was back in the slumber party room.

"It's been nearly an hour, but this game is already saucy!" Pinkie Pie said to Rainbow Dash. She gasped in horror. "Sauce! I FORGOT TO ASK FOR SAUCE FOR THE HAY FRIES!"

"Tragic," Rarity said, posing dramatically before resting on her bed.

Celestia and Luna settled themselves on the floor while everypony else sat on their rightful beds. Applejack asked, "So, who wants ta spin the wheel this time?"

"Ooh! Me!" Spike said, jumping off his bed. He rushed over to the wheel, which was in the middle of the room. He flicked the arrow with ease and watched with everypony else as the arrow pointed to the next pony up.

Princess Luna.

"Well, luck is a very mean lady tonight," Luna grumbled as Celestia kept herself from laughing.

"And who will be giving the suggestions to Princess Luna?" Rainbow asked.

"Let's find out!" Spike replied. He spun the arrow three more times to reveal the players who would give suggestions to Princess Luna.

The arrow slowed down to Applejack, Celestia, and Pinkie Pie.

"Curse it all!" Luna said, stomping a hoof on the floor.

Celestia grinned. "Luck is a lady to me tonight," she commented.

"So, Truth or Dare, Your Highness?" Fluttershy asked politely.

Luna had to think about it. So far, none of the ponies had done truth, so truth should be done. But dare seemed to end in more positive results. Then again, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash had done more positive dares, which would explain the outcome.

In the end, Luna took the road less taken by.

"Truth," Luna said. "Applejack?"

"Yer Highness, do any Equestrians still see ya as Nightmare Moon?" Applejack asked.

Luna immediately thought, No. I will not choose this question. Mostly because she didn't know the answer herself.

"Sister?" Luna asked.

Celestia smiled. "Luna, dear, have you ever had a crush on somepony?" she asked.

"Oooh! I wanna know that, too!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "My question is the same as Princess Celestia's!"

"Is that allowed?" Luna asked.

Twilight nodded. "It's the negative factor of having the player able to choose whichever truth or dare is present," she explained.

"Please, Princess!" Rarity squealed. "I'd LOVE to know if there's ever been a special somepony in your heart!"

"I...suppose I can answer this question," Luna said hesitantly.

"Wonderful!" Celestia exclaimed. Her eyes narrowed. "Because I have never been able to drag the answer out of you before. Now is the perfect opportunity."

"Princess Luna, have you ever had a crush on somepony?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

The players in the room stared at Luna for an answer, a fortunately easy one to answer. Luna replied, "No. I have never had a crush before."

The entire room gasped and stared at her in shock. Celestia looked the most shocked. Her mouth was agape, and her eyes were wide.

"You've never had a crush on somepony?" Fluttershy asked. Even the quiet pegasus seemed to be taken back.

"Er...no?" Luna said uncertainly, her ears flopping down.

"What...What's the story behind that?" Rainbow asked, flapping her wings nervously.

Luna sighed. She knew somepony was going to ask that question. "It's simple," she said. "I've never been attracted to anypony before in my life."

"Not ever in your over 1,000 years?" Starlight asked.

"No," Luna replied. "And even if I did have a crush on somepony, I would choose to tell you if I know anypony who still knows me as Nightmare Moon."

"So, no crush?" Spike asked one last time.

"No," Luna said.

"You know, it could happen," Rainbow said.

"How would you know?" Luna asked, rolling her eyes.

"It happened to Twilight and me!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "The two mares who everypony thought would be bachelorettes forever!"

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"I'm dating Soarin, a stallion in the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow said.

Celestia gasped. "The tabloids said no such thing!" she said.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Those tabloids are pure garbage, Tia," she said. "We learned this after we read an article about Prince Blueblood and Trixie getting married in Manehattan."

"They were right about Photo Finish and Hoity Toity's break up!" Celestia pointed out.

"No, they were not," Luna argued. "I saw them walking together to a fashion show the other day."

"Hey! Did the fashion show happen to be in Canterlot?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Luna raised her eyebrows. "Yes, but how did you "

"Rarity and Fancypants went to the same one together!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Luna flicked Celestia's horn. "I told you I saw Rarity and Fancypants there!" she said.

"But I've heard about the number of stallions Rarity has had a crush on," Celestia said. "I didn't think they would ever become an item."

"Well, it happened!" Rarity said, batting her eyelashes. There was a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Celestia is right about the number of stallions Rarity had crushed on before," Twilight remarked.

"And all the guys who've ever liked Rarity is a stallion and a dragon!" Pinkie Pie said.

Celestia and Luna blinked. "What?" Luna asked.

"I, uh, sorta had a crush on Rarity for a long time," Spike said sheepishly.

Celestia smiled. "Do you like anypony else now, Spike?" she asked. "What about that dragon you told me about from the Dragonlands? Ember, wasn't it?"

"HEY!" Starlight suddenly exclaimed, jumping up. There was a crazy grin and twitch on Starlight's face. "I have a WONDERFUL idea! How about we find out who goes NEXT?!"

The players stared at Starlight with confused expressions. Spike, however, smirked and crossed his arms.

"I suppose we should go on with the game," Rarity said.

The room was quiet, save for the yapping of Cookie Dough.

"Hey, Luna?" Celestia whispered.

"What is it, sister?" Luna asked. She figured Tia was going to apologize to her for asking her such a rude and meaningless question, revealing the emptiness of Luna's life.

"If I pick dare on my turn, can you dare me to take the puppy? I have not heard nor seen it until now, but I want it."

Chapter 5: Rarity: How's Her Relationship with Spike?

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Starlight stared in frustration as Spike clambered back onto his bed. She vaguely noticed Rainbow Dash had spun the wheel, but she wasn't focused on her.

Spike loves this game, does he now? Starlight mused angrily. A small part of her asked, Does he love it as much as me , uh, Ember? I mean, he couldn't possibly love me.

Starlight could remember the days Spike had made her laugh. She remembered vividly how much fun they had had at the Ponyville Tavern one night. She remembered with perfect clarity the day she had started falling for him.

Starlight also remembered the day that shattered her fantasy.

"Hey, Starlight! I'm back from the Dragonlands!"

Starlight had been in the middle of reading another friendship assignment. #11: Learn more about your friend. What's their favorite color? Where did they grow up? What kind of hobbies do they have?

She moved them aside, glad there was an excuse to ignore them, and beamed as Spike entered her room. "I missed you!" she said. "You've been gone for days. I'm going to guess your mission is over?"

Spike nodded and said, "It was worth a good three-day trek, to and from." He gestured for Starlight to rise.

Starlight got out of her seat and followed Spike out of the room. They had been planning to go to the park when Spike came back from his journey, and that was where they were going.

She couldn't help but smile all the way there. Even though there wasn't much conversation between the both of them on their way to the park, just being near Spike was enough.

It was two weeks ago when she started...feeling something towards Spike, sometime after Princess Flurry Heart was born. She had felt the same thing toward Sunburst but in a much friendlier and lighter way. Her feelings for Spike were different. More intimate, perhaps? And certainly stronger.

Starlight presumed, because of these feelings, she couldn't get Spike out of her head.

It was nearing dusk as they headed to the park. Starlight glanced around and saw other ponies were watching as they passed, whispering. Some seemed to smile and giggle. If they were thinking the same thing Starlight was...She couldn't help but blush at the mere thought.

Minutes later, they arrived at the park. Few ponies were there, which made their night out seem more like a date.

This is anything but a date, Spike thought. Starlight probably doesn't feel the same way I feel about her.

"So, tell me about your trip," Starlight said. "How was it?"

"A little time-consuming, but it was worth it," Spike replied. "I had to go to the Dragonlands because a new Dragon Lord was needed. I competed in it. I had to! If I hadn't the dragons would have run wild, destroying Equestria!"

"And how did you do that?" Starlight asked.

"I had to get the bloodstone scepter from a volcano and get there first before anyone else," Spike explained.

Starlight became confused."If you got the scepter, then why are you here? Shouldn't you be taking care of the Dragonlands?"

"No," Spike replied. He smiled, sending butterflies into Starlight's stomach. "I have a home here, and I've got a bunch of friends! Wouldn't ever want to leave Ponyville."

Blushing, Starlight asked, "Is there any other reason?"

This time, Spike blushed. "Well..." he said, shrugging. "Oh! I almost forgot. I had the help of a dragon named Ember. She's the daughter of the old Dragon Lord, and she's the one in charge of the Dragonlands now."

Starlight froze. "Ember?" she asked. "How is she?"

"She's awesome!" Spike replied eagerly. "Even though she didn't want my help at first. Ember warmed up to me, and I became her first friend! Because of our alliance, we were able to get to the scepter. And I thought I was a goner when Garble showed up. Star, you should have been there to see Ember fight him! She also rescued me when I thought she wouldn't! Goes to show dragons can be friends. Twilight isn't the only one who's good with Star?"

Starlight had completely stopped. Her lip trembled slightly and her ears were down.

"Are you okay?" Spike asked worriedly.

"No," Starlight replied. "I'm feeling a little dizzy. I need to go back to the castle."

"Oh," Spike said. "Here, I'll come with you "

"No thank you," Starlight interrupted fiercely. "I need to be alone right now."

"Oh," Spike said dejectedly. "Then are we still on for tomorrow's baseball game?"

"I don't know," Starlight replied, turning away from Spike. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Starlight "

But Starlight was gone. Once she was out of sight, Starlight began galloping back to the Castle of Friendship. Before she knew it, Starlight was crying.

What was I thinking?! I'm out of my mind! Of course Spike would fall for somedragon after getting his heart broken by Rarity! Starlight screamed in her head.

Spike watched as Starlight left the park. He was speechless, his heart slightly broken. He plopped himself on the ground and took out a fire ruby necklace. It was smaller slightly smaller than the one one he had gifted Rarity, but this one was encrusted with diamonds on the perimeter.

"Today was probably a bad day to ask her out," Spike said to himself. "Maybe it's too soon."

Ever since that day, everything between Spike and her went downhill. Starlight canceled on several more days, and Spike soon found out that she was writing more letters than usual with Sunburst. Then the fighting began...

No, Starlight thought, shaking her head. I refuse to think back.

She half-heartedly munched on some hay fries as the ponies were announced.

"Alright! Rarity! It's your turn," Rainbow Dash announced. "And the players who will make suggestions for you are Twilight, Luna, and Fluttershy!"

"Truth!" Rarity exclaimed. "Twilight, darling, go ahead and ask me a question!"

Twilight was about to yell, Have you and Fancypants kissed? But she suddenly noticed how Spike and Starlight stole glances and glares from one another. It wasn't possible, but could something be brewing between Starlight, Spike, and Rarity? Was there a love triangle going on? Definitely unlikely, since Rarity was dating Fancypants...But she had to try.

"How is your relationship with Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Oh! I'd like to know as well," Luna said. "I never knew in the first place Spike had a crush on Rarity."

"And I am interested to hear how the two of you have been doing with each other," Fluttershy said.

Rarity frowned. "Three ponies and you all ask the same question?" she asked. "No fair!"

"Fair," Twilight said.

"Hmph!" Rarity stuck her nose in the air, causing her horn to hit a star. "Then I suppose I shall tell you how things are going between Spike and I.

"As all of you know, Spike confessed his feelings for me during our first game of Truth or Dare," Rarity began.

"Luna and I did not know," Celestia pointed out.

"Hey, how come you two are still in your incognito forms?" Rainbow asked, hovering over them.

"It requires a vast amount of energy to transform back into our real forms," Luna explained. "We must wait until we have regained enough energy."

"And these forms are really comfortable," Celestia added.

"Rarity?" Spike asked. "I didn't confess my feelings to you. Somepony else must have!"

"Er, yes, that's right," Rarity said. "Anywho, I learned Spike had had a crush on me for over a year. I told him we could not be together, for I did not feel the same way about him! My feelings went to Fancypants. Ever since then, Spike and I have become closer friends! I don't ask him to help me in the boutique anymore, and if he offers, I turn him away. We've spent some time discussing some fashions designs and if gemstones is a yes or no since they are in season. And I've begun learning several interesting facts about gemstones! All thanks to Spikey." Spike and she exchanged smiles.

"To answer the question, everything between Spike and I is splendid!" Rarity concluded.

"Alright, let's see who's next!" Rainbow said.

"Hold on," Twilight interrupted.

The players turned their heads to Twilight. Fluttershy was the one who asked, "Hold on for what?"

"I just...want to see what Spike says!" Twilight replied. "You know! To see if he agrees with what Rarity said."

Spike raised an eyebrow as Twilight asked, "So, Spike? Is what Rarity says true?"

"Well, yeah," Spike replied. "Everything's a lot better than it was before."

"So, you don't write letters to Ember all the time?" Starlight suddenly asked.

Spike's eyes widened in surprise, but he said, "When I'm working with Rarity or doing something else, I usually sneak in a letter to Ember."

Starlight glared fiercely at Spike as he smugly ate some hay fries. Twilight glanced back and forth between the two. Even Cookie Dough whimpered, as if she didn't like what was going on.

Okay, so the problem doesn't seem to be coming from Rarity, Twilight thought. Her eyebrows furrowed. But how does Ember play into this?

"Um, how about we find out who goes next?" Fluttershy asked politely, petting her puppy.

"Just a minute," Celestia said.

"Ugh!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "Come on, already! I wanna see who goes next!"

"Spike, when was the first day you had a crush on Rarity?" Celestia asked.

Spike played with his fingers and pretended to remember. "Uh...the Summer Sun Celebration last year?" he said sheepishly.

Rarity's jaw dropped. "Wha ?!" she exclaimed in shock.

"And you no longer have a crush on her?" Luna asked.

"Nope!" Spike replied. "Wouldn't want to keep my friend from dating a stallion she really likes."

"Really, now?" Starlight asked. She raised an eyebrow and said smugly, "And if I like Sunburst?"

Spike's eyes widened in surprise. The other ponies giggled and whispered, Celestia whispering, "I ship it!"

He crossed his arms. "That's your problem, isn't it?" he asked.

"I don't have a problem," Starlight spat, turning away from Spike. Was it Twilight's imagination, or did Spike seem to frown unhappily as Starlight did so?

No matter what, I will find out what's going on with Starlight and Spike, Twilight mused, even if it takes the entire game to discover the problem.

Tonight was supposed to be a night of laughter and fun and bonding, but walls were thick between Spike and Starlight, and she feared they would grow thicker if she didn't do anything about it.

Twilight gently lifted a quill, a bottle of ink, and parchment from under her bed, writing down a few notes as Pinkie Pie spun the arrow.

Chapter 6: Pinkie Pie: Act Like a Canterlotian for 15 Minutes

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"Looks like it's my turn!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

The arrow had landed on the party pony. She giggled and spun three more times, the arrows landing on Princess Celestia, Spike, and Fluttershy.

"Truth or Dare?" Starlight asked with what seemed to be a half-hearted smile.

"Dare, of course!" Pinkie said, hopping onto her bed. "So, what dare is everypony gonna make for me? Will it be daring me to battle a ferocious beast in the Everfree Forest? Or will I be dared to walk on a thread across a fifty-feet chasm? OR will "

"Pinkie Pie, I dare you to act like a Canterlotian for 15 minutes," Celestia interrupted.

Pinkie paused. "OR act like a Canterlotian!" she said, chuckling. "What else do ya ponies have?"

"I dare you to eat two dozen cupcakes in ten seconds!" Spike dared. That sounded like a good dare, didn't it? Unless Pinkie Pie choked on them. Or threw up.

"What dare do you have for me, Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked, jumping on her bed, her head hitting the stars, making them dance in the air.

"Um, I guess, I dare you to run from the castle to Sweet Apple Acres and back in two minutes," Fluttershy said.

"Hmm..." Pinkie Pie stopped jumping and rubbed her chin. "You know what? I'll act like a Canterlotian for fifteen minutes!"

Immediately, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Twilight rushed over to her and started shouting.

"Always stay poised and don't slouch when you walk!" Celestia said.

"A mare never runs, jumps, skips, or hops, she only walks with grace," Luna said.

"Don't have too much for breakfast or lunch, save your stomach for dinner, and even then, don't eat a lot," Twilight said.

"Always looks your best," Celestia said. "You never know who's looking."

"First impressions are based on appearance and manners," Luna said. "Never act rude or snide, ponies will start whispering."

"Always keep in touch with a handy tabloid," Twilight said. "Gossip is everywhere "

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Pinkie Pie said. "I think I got this in the bag!"

Rarity scoffed. "Not in that state of yours!" she said. "A true Canterlotian must have a fabulous sense of fashion! Not too dazzling, wouldn't want the others to get jealous, unless they're your enemies, of course. Appearance is everything!"

As she talked, Rarity swiftly used her magic to grab several accessories out of her saddlebag, including a pair of shades, a cream colored summer hat, and a red scarf. She helped Pinkie Pie put on the accessories while Rainbow Dash checked the clock.

"Whenever you're ready, Pinkie!" Rainbow said.

Pinkie grinned as she got off her bed. "Ready!" she replied.

"Fifteen minutes starts now!" Rainbow exclaimed.

Immediately, Pinkie Pie's hair deflated, she straightened her back and she said, "What am I doing here? I should be eating dinner! One of you, bring me my dinner this instance!"

The whole room stared in surprise at Pinkie's impeccable acting skills. For a moment, they could see a mare of Canterlot in a fashionable hat, a scarf that complimented her complexion, and sunglasses that went well with her accessories.

"Well?" Pinkie Pie snapped. "Where is my dinner? I can't afford to eat any LATER!"

"Well, one of us is gonna have to," Applejack said, stepping onto the floor. "Right away, Miss Pie."

"And make it snappy!" Pinkie said as AJ walked out of the room.

"Miss Pie, how lovely to make your acquaintance!" Rarity said, beaming. "The name is Rarity. How do you do?"

"The name is Pinkie Peach," Pinkie said, smiling. "So honored to see you. I've heard of your boutique in Canterlot. I say, it's certainly riveting! You sense of fashion is what Canterlot needs to see these days."

She turned to the princesses. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna. Princess Twilight, I can't tell you how honored I am to be standing before!" Pinkie said kneeling before them.

Celestia grinned as Luna's giggles were muffled by her hooves. "We're honored to be in your presence!" she said.

Twilight smirked. "Yes, Pinkie Peach!" she exclaimed. "We're so glad you're here!"

Pinkie Peach looked around the room. Her eyes landed on Starlight. "You there!" she said.

Starlight blinked. "Me?" she asked, pointing at herself.

"Yes, you!" Pinkie replied. "Go find out why my dinner is taking so long!"

"Right away, Miss Peach!" Starlight said, her mouth twinging with a smile and trotted out of the room.

"Somepony tell me what's going on with Jet Set," Pinkie Peach said. "He says he's coming to Fashion Week in Manehattan, but he hasn't shown up any of the past years!"

"Oh, I can tell you all about that," Rarity said, waving a hoof.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "These are gonna be a loooong fifteen minutes," she said.

Starlight entered the castle kitchen and found Applejack tossing an apple back and forth with her tail.

"Hey there, Starlight!" Applejack greeted, flicking the apple with her tail so it flew into a bowl with other fruits. "Did Pinkie Pie send ya down here to check on how her dinner's goin'?"

"Yeah," Starlight said, smiling. "You're not actually going to make her dinner are you?"

"Eynope!" Applejack replied heartily. "Fifteen minutes pass by quick. By the time ah would've finished makin' dinner, the next turn would start."

"So you're going to stay here until the fifteen minutes are up?" Starlight asked.

"Eyup!" AJ replied. "What about you?"

"I don't wanna go back upstairs for a while," Starlight admitted.

Applejack's eyebrows furrowed. "Got somethin' ta do with Spike?" she asked, resting a foreleg on a countertop.

Starlight's eyes widened. "How-How did you know...?" she asked, her eyes flopping down.

"Well, for starters, you two have been starin' daggers at each other throughout the game!" Applejack pointed out. "Second of all, Spike was tellin' me about his unstable relationship with you."

Starlight's heart jackhammered against her ribs. "Spike went to you for help?" she asked.

"Sure did," Applejack replied. "Was really worried, too. Ah would tell ya about what we talked about, but you're gonna have ta ask him yourself."

Spike was worried about me...Does that mean he does care? Starlight wondered.

Applejack turned to the clock. "Looks like Pinkie's fifteen minutes are almost up," she said. She reached into a cabinet and grabbed a bag of gummy bears. "Might as well get Pinkie something since we're here."

As they walked back to the slumber party room, Starlight was lost in thoughts. Spike had gone to Applejack because of Starlight. Had she done something wrong? Was this about when Starlight left that sunset from the park? If Spike had sought help, did that mean he didn't want to be fighting with Starlight? Did he care about her?

By the time they arrived, Pinkie Pie was saying something about sugar.

" and although it is very sweet and oh so scrumptious, I'm afraid I could lose a few pounds before I go back into sweets," Pinkie Peach said.

"You're absolutely right!" Rarity agreed, nodding her head. "A lady must keep her body in shape after all!"

"A question, dear Rarity," Pinkie Peach said. "Has Fancy Pants seen that old marefriend of his, Fleur de Lis, recently?"

Rarity's face fell. "No," she replied uncertainly. "I-I mean, they still talk and have tea, but "

Suddenly, Pinkie Peach's hair poofed back into curls and the hat fell off. Pinkie giggled as she did a cartwheel. "Weeeeeeeeeeee!" she exclaimed, her sunglasses falling off.

The room, excluding Rarity, laughed as Pinkie Pie jumped back onto her bed. "That was fun!" she said. "But not as fun as the game! Let's continue!"

And although Fluttershy got up to spin the wheel, Spike stole a glance at Rarity, who seemed shaken by Pinkie Peach's last question. She stared at the floor with a rather mixed expression.

He also stole a glance at Starlight. She was glancing at him. They stared at each other for a few intense seconds and then Starlight turned away, looking embarrassed.

Chapter 7: Fluttershy: Would She Go Back to the Other World?

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Fluttershy had spun the arrow, and it had landed on Twilight.

"Looks like it's your turn again, Twi!" Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

Twilight rolled her eyes, knowing she didn't have to go next. "Rainbow, you know it isn't," she said. "You know what happens if a pony who went is chosen again. We have to spin the wheel again! It'll be my turn again when everypony's gone and we're on the next round!"

Rainbow groaned as Fluttershy spun the wheel again.

Fluttershy.

"Oh my," she said, blushing furiously. "What are the odds?"

"The real question that should be asked is, 'Truth or Dare?'" Starlight said.

"W-Well, I suppose I could do truth," Fluttershy decided.

"Truth it is!" Rainbow said. "Go on, Flutters! Spin another three times!"

Fluttershy sighed as she did so. After a few tense seconds, the arrow pointed to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.

"Oh, this is gonna be good!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Mares! Ask your questions!"

"Okay, I have a good one!" Twilight said eagerly, her mouth spreading into a grin. "Do you still have the same crush you did the first time we played Truth or Dare?"

Fluttershy blushed furiously. "Next!" she called out in a quiet voice.

"Really gotta know this one," Rainbow said, her wings flapping. Her eyes darted back and forth as if she were nervous. "Do you miss the other world? Do you wanna go back there?"

Her question caught Flutters by surprise. Her ears twitched downwards as she returned to her bed, careful not to lay on Cookie Dough. "Rarity?" she asked timidly.

Rarity looked just about ready to ask several questions, but she faltered at the expression on Fluttershy's face. She pressed her lips together for a few seconds before saying, "I would actually like to know the answer to Rainbow Dash's question as well."

"Oh." Fluttershy seemed even more upset. "That seems to be the topic of discussion."

"One question, when did Fluttershy go to the other world?" Celestia asked. She seemed rather cross. Twilight suddenly remembered Fluttershy wasn't supposed to go in the other world. It was just Twilight who had permission.

"It was a dare, Your Highness!" Rainbow Dash said nervously. "We didn't actually intend to break your rules."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie said. "Please don't be mad!"

Princess Celestia rubbed her head from a growing headache. "It's alright," she said. "The princess instinct in me just jumped out. That's all. Let's continue."

"I suppose I can answer Rainbow Dash's question," Fluttershy said. "Do I miss the other world?"

Twilight glanced around the room. She realized every player in the room was staring at Fluttershy with an uneasy tension. She knew she was anxious as well. What if Fluttershy did miss the other world?

"My time in the other world wasn't long," Fluttershy said. "But I did enjoy it. Meeting everyone there, they were so nice and kind! Sunset Shimmer was also very nice, especially since we had to clear up which Fluttershy was which."

"You meet both Sunset Shimmer and your alternate self?" asked Luna incredulously.

"Yes," Fluttershy replied. "The other students were very welcoming. I'd like to be with that group if I ever want back to the other world."

"And with Nami?" asked Rainbow slyly.

Fluttershy blushed. "He's going to college next year. I wouldn't be able to see him again," she said quietly.

"Well, there's always his Equestrian counterpart," Rarity said in a sing-song voice.

"Let Fluttershy finish!" Starlight said.

Fluttershy looked around as the room became quiet. She continued. "But the other world was strange. There wasn't any magic. I didn't have my wings. And there's already one Fluttershy at Canterlot High. There doesn't need to be another one. Besides, I already have a souvenir." Fluttershy petted Cookie Dough. The little dalmatian was sleeping soundly, curled up into a ball.

Smiling, she looked up. "Cookie Dough is all I need," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash frowned. "But that doesn't answer the question," she said. "Would you go back to the other world?"

"Maybe," Fluttershy said. "But in the end, I wouldn't. Why would I want to leave my home, where all my friends are?"

"Not even to see Nami one last time?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. "He's a year older than me," she said. "Besides, we're from different rules. It'd certainly be a long-distance relationship."

"And you still got a crush on...you know?" asked Rainbow.

Fluttershy blushed. "We don't have to talk about that right now," she said.

"I'm sorry," said Luna, "but who's Nami?"

"Nami's this really cute guy Fluttershy met in the other world!" replied Pinkie Pie, doing a cartwheel around the room.

Celestia's face was like stone. "I'm sorry," she said, "but was it Fluttershy's idea to go to the other world?"

All eyes turned to Celestia. She looked quite stern.

Rainbow nervously replied, "N-No. I...threw her into the portal maybe?"

"You THREW HER?!" Celestia yelled.

Several players backed up onto their beds. Rainbow Dash flinched as Celestia yelled, "Do you know what the consequences of your actions would have resulted in?! Fluttershy could have gotten injured! The portal could have been destroyed! Did Fluttershy agree to your throwing her into the portal?"

Rainbow's ears fell back. She opened her mouth to answer, but no word was spoken.

Celestia rose. She was about to yell even more, but she glanced down. Luna stared in disbelief at her.

"I..." Celestia's face fell. "I'm sorry."

She left the room. The room was silent as Fluttershy got up. Cookie Dough had woken up. She whimpered as Fluttershy left the room. Luna didn't seem to have the motivation to go and comfort her sister. She had never seen Celestia so...angry.

Celestia was down the hallway, sitting alone in despair. She didn't seem to notice when Fluttershy arrived next to her.

"Princess Celestia?" Fluttershy asked.

She looked up. Her face showed sign of tears, and her lip seemed to tremble. "Oh, Fluttershy," she said. "How are you? I'm terribly sorry I raised my voice. I didn't mean to..."

"I'm sure you didn't, Your Highness," Fluttershy said.

"It's just..." Celestia sighed. "It's difficult, playing a game and having a good night, knowing I'm still one of the rulers of Equestria. The princess part of me just seems to stay. I never truly got to relax and unwind like I have tonight. I ruined the game, didn't I? I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea."

"No," Fluttershy said. "You did not. If anything, you made it better. "

Celestia looked up at Fluttershy with doubt. "I think you're mistaken," she said, shaking her head.

"On the contrary," Flutters said. "Coming here tonight, you helped us understand our princess better. Not the Princess Celestia part of you. The normal Celestia, the mare who's just like everypony else. I'm glad you came tonight, Princess. You need to unwind and relax as much as Luna needs to."

Celestia cracked a smile. She said, "Thank you, Fluttershy. It's no wonder you're the bearer of the Element of Kindness. And please, don't call me Princess. Tonight, I'm Celestia."

Fluttershy smiled kindly. "Of course, Pri Celestia," she corrected herself.

She helped Celestia up and walked with her back to the slumber party roomed.

"If you'd like, I can help you to relax," Fluttershy offered.

"I will have to take you up on that offer," Celestia said. "It's been Luna knows how long since I've truly been at ease."

When they opened the door, the entire room turned to look at them.

"Feeling better, sister?" Luna asked, getting up to look at Celestia.

Her sister smiled. "Yes, I'll admit I am," she replied.

Twilight grinned. She stood in front of the wheel. "Wonderful!" she said. "Because I spun the arrow, and it landed on your part of the room!"

"Looks like you're up, Sister!" Luna said with a wicked grin.

Chapter 8: Celestia: Basically, Cakelestia

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Celestia chuckled. "If fate wants me to go, then go I shall," she said. Fluttershy flew over Celestia and back onto her bed, the stars swirling and dancing and spinning as she passed by.

Celestia took a seat next to her sister, noticing Luna had transformed back into her prime form. "Regained your energy, sister?" Celestia asked.

Luna nodded. "Though my everything hurts terribly," she explained, wincing.

Celestia smiled. Before anypony could ask, she said aloud, "The next three ponies who are chosen by the wheel are to come up with dares for me, for I choose dare!"

"Ooooooh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping up and down on her bed. "This is gonna be so exciting! I NEED TO SPIN!"

She stopped jumping for a moment before she sped towards the center of the room. Pinkie somersaulted over the wheel, and in midair, spun the arrow with her tail.

The arrow slowed to a stop after a few seconds, pointing to Princess Luna.

"Oh, this will be wonderful," Luna said, grinning very slyly.

Celestia began to glare at the wheel but saw Fluttershy out of the corner of her eye. Her eyebrows furrowed, and the look in her eyes said, Relax. This is just a game.

Celestia took a deep breath. "Alright," she said as calmly as possible. "Please continue spinning."

Pinkie Pie grinned and spun, this time, with her muzzle. Slowing down to a stop, she giggled. "Yay, it meeeeeeeee!" she exclaimed, cartwheeling around the room.

The princess of the sun continued to breathe calmly. Pinkie Pie wouldn't be so bad, would she? Then again, Pinkie Pie had eaten an entire cake in one fell CHOMP! Pinkie knew nothing that was impossible or unbreakable.

"One last time," Celestia said hopefully.

Pinkie spun one last time normally and looked with the other players to the arrow's direction, which pointed to Twilight.

"This turn is going to be wonderful!" Twilight said cheerfully, clapping her hooves.

"If you say so, Twilight," Celestia said with a sheepish smile.

Luna was just about to storming up ideas for Tia's dare when Twilight said, "Pinkie Pie? Princess Luna? Could you please follow me outside for a moment?"

The princess of the night and Pinkie Pie exchanged glances and stood. They watched Twilight get off her bed and trot outside. They then followed her out.

Twilight was pacing as if formulating a plan in her head. She looked up when they closed the doors and stopped. She grinned. "I have the perfect dare for Celestia," she said excitedly.

Pinkie Pie beamed. "Does it have to do with explosions?!" she asked, whipping out her party cannon.

"Uh, no," Twilight said. "We can do this dare with some help from you, Pinkie Pie, and Discord."

"What task in Equestria would require us to summon Discord?" Luna asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

The smile on Twilight's face made Luna grin as well.

Ten minutes later, Twilight, Pinkie, and Luna burst open the doors and rushed back to their spots. The players suddenly straightened themselves and paid attention. Spike dropped his poker cards and turned. Fluttershy nudged Applejack with a hoof and the farm mare awoke from her nap.

"That took you long enough," Rainbow mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Did you all finally create the perfect dare?" asked Rarity, fanning herself. "I'm simply thirsty for drama!"

"We don't think so," Twilight said slyly. "But we do have something hilarious."

"What are my dares?" asked Celestia.

"You only have one," Luna said. She grinned at Pinkie Pie and Twilight, knowing something the others didn't.

"One dare?" Celestia demanded. "That isn't just!"

"Oh, it is!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "It's called the Trio Treaty! The three players chosen to make a suggestion are allowed to form a pact in which they agree to a suggestion made by the three and present it to the victi I mean, the player up! The Treaty can only be formed if all three Suggesters agree to a single suggestion!"

"That's the only one there can be just a single suggestion," added Starlight.

"Great," mumbled Celestia. "Please announce it so that I may deal with it and enjoy the next victi player!"

Twilight grinned. With a grin like that, Celestia knew she was in trouble. "Princess Celestia, we dare you to sit in a room filled with cake for ten minutes and not eat any of it!" Twilight said.

The look on Celestia's face was priceless. It seemed like she was having trouble comprehending the task set before her. She was smiling, but her eye twitched every few seconds. Her expression was frozen.

Twilight heard chuckling. She turned and saw Spike covering his mouth with his claws. Applejack had lowered her hat to hid her smile. Rainbow had put her head on a pillow and was clutching it tightly, muffled laughter coming from her direction.

"OKAY!" yelled Celestia suddenly. She stood up and continued to smile. "Twilight Sparkle, lead me to the room with this cake!"

Twilight eagerly rose from her bed and trotted outside, Celestia on her tail. The room was silent as the doors closed.

Luna smiled. "What are we doing here?" she asked. "We could be seeing this glorious room with cake in all its glory. Who would like to go and see?"

The players grinned and leapt off their beds, following Princess Luna as she ran out of the room.

They were just in time to see Twilight open the library doors.

Everyone froze. Rainbow forgot how to fly and promptly landed on the floor with a Thud! Rarity was swooning at the amount of cake in the room. Pinkie Pie could barely contain her excitement.

The library was flooded with cakes of all kinds. On the top of shelves were rich and creamy chocolate cakes, alternating with juicy raspberry cakes. On the window sills were coconut, red velvet, and strawberry cakes. Tables had been set up all over the library, but there was barely enough room for all. Several cakes on the tables towered over the smaller ones, including a vanilla and strawberry four-layer cake with blue frosting, a thick three layered cake with chocolate frosting and vanilla frosting, and even what seemed like a replica of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness cake. Cakes, all cakes in existence on Equestria was in the library.

"This...this is impossible," said Celestia after two minutes of silence. "How do the Cakes have these many cakes?"

"Oh, they don't!" said Pinkie Pie, beaming. "Some of the cakes here are from Sugarcube Corner. But we couldn't have gotten all of these cakes from a certain draconequus we know!"

Fluttershy's heart did a somersault as a cake exploded, and Discord stood on top of a table, covered in cake.

"Hello, everypony!" Discord said gleefully. "Good to see you all here tonight!"

"Discord?!" exclaimed Celestia, taking a step back.

"Oh, Celestia!" Discord said. "What a surprise! Is that you? Well, I can see past your little spell of yours." Discord summoned an x-ray machine and on a screen he had also summoned, in Ember Fuel's place was Princess Celestia with the same shocked expression.

"You're in on this?" Celestia asked, straightening herself at once.

Discord snapped his claws and the x-ray machine and screen disappeared. "Of course, I am!" he replied heartily. "Princess Woona called on me and explained the situation. How could I have turned down such an opportunity for some chaos?" He floated above Luna and patted her mane. A small bubble of jealousy formed inside Fluttershy.

"Well! I must be on my way!" Discord said, picking up a suitcase with stickers from all parts of Equestria. "I truly wish I could join you all for this game, but I have some important business to do. And Celestia," he glanced at the princess, "I do hope you'll agree to tea next Sunday."

Celestia suddenly giggled. "I'll send you a letter," she said.

Discord turned and smiled at Fluttershy. "We're still on for a picnic Tuesday afternoon, right?" he asked, leaning towards her closely.

Butterflies swarmed her stomach. She smiled warmly. "Of course," she replied.

"Wonderful!" Discord exclaimed, rising to the ceiling. "I'll be on my way now!" A sparkly explosion surrounded Discord and suddenly, he was gone.

"So...what now?" asked Celestia.

"Now you go into the library," replied Twilight. "I cast a spell on the library, so you can only leave the room after ten minutes once the doors are closed. We'll have two guards to open the doors and see if you ate any of the cakes."

Celestia took a deep breath. "Then I shall see you all in ten minutes," she said.

She strode into the library with confidence and sat down in front of a cake. She sat upright and didn't move a muscle.

Twilight walked to the doors and used her magic to close them. A quiet humming resonated from the doors. She sighed. "Okay, who would like to guard the doors?" she asked. "I need two volunteers."

"Shoot, ah'll help," said Applejack, walking forwards.

"Anypony else?" Twilight asked.

"Nah," said Rainbow. "I wanna get on with the next turn! And guarding a door's pretty boring. What am I gonna do for ten minutes? Sit around and fall asleep?"

"Okay then," Twilight said. "Do I have any volunteers?"

"What if we got Discord to watch over the doors with Applejack?" suggested Starlight, looking slightly bewildered. Of course. She hadn't met Discord before. His appearance could be off-putting.

Applejack looked like she was about to argue, but Luna said, "Leaving Discord to watch Tia's doors? She'd try everything to get out of the room."

"Why would she try to do that?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Luna smirked. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "You didn't hear it from me, but Tia's got a crush on Discord."

She expected something to break or something to be thrown or at least yelling. But the expressions on their faces were shocked, pale. A few glances were thrown to Fluttershy, who was frozen in place, pokerfaced.

Luna coughed. "I know it's shocking to find out," she said uncertainly, "but anything can happen "

"I'll help watch over the doors."

All eyes and heads turned to Fluttershy. She had her lips pressed together and her eyes were solemn. "I'll help," she said.

Twilight cleared her throat uncertainly. "Are you sure, Fluttershy?" she asked.

"Positive," Fluttershy replied, but she looked anything but it.

"Alright," Twilight said dubiously. "We'll come back in ten minutes. Come on, everypony." The players, excluding Fluttershy and Applejack, left back to the slumber party room.

When they were out of sight, Fluttershy fell onto the floor.

Applejack walked over to her. Her eyes were teary and her lip trembled.

"Are ya okay, sugar cube?" Applejack asked.

Fluttershy shook her head.

"Do ya want to talk about it?" Applejack asked softly.

Fluttershy nodded.

Cakes.

Cakes everywhere.

Whenever Celestia turned her head, all she could see were cakes. Delicious, rich, creamy cakes. The temptation to have a bite was too strong for her to handle.

She had to eat.

But there would be consequences, Tia was sure, if she did eat even the tiniest bit of cake. But she had to eat. It had been forever since she had eaten a slice. She had to form a plan.

Celestia could eat a few cakes, perhaps, but before that, she would need to make exact replicas of the cakes, quickly. Ten minutes would finish quicker than she could imagine.

Ten minutes was a small time period. Perhaps just eating a slice from each cake would suffice. Not from every cake, but perhaps from the cakes she would like a bite out of most.

For about a minute, Celestia quickly looked around the library for the most appetizing cakes. The MMMM was definitely on the list, along with the towering cakes. Soon, she picked out enough cakes and a thought came to her: In her unicorn form, she wouldn't be able to perform enough replication spells for the cake slices. But if she ate enough cake, perhaps the energy would give her a boost to transform back, eat more cake, and perform replication spells.

Celestia smiled to herself as she came across a chocolate cake. Time to put the plan into motion, she thought.

"Why does Princess Celestia like Discord, too?" Fluttershy whimpered miserably, sitting upright on the left door. "I thought I was the only pony. What if Discord likes her back? What if he doesn't like me?"

"Ya gotta calm down there, Flutters," Applejack said, sitting against the right door. "Yer startin' ta sound like Twilight, and we don't need anotha one of her, no matter how much we love her."

Fluttershy managed to smile. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Sorry?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry for what? For carin' for somedraconequus? For lovin' him? Shoot, ah'm just glad you have a crush."

"You had one," Fluttershy pointed out. "You regretted saying it. I regret saying my crush, too. Did you see how everypony was looking at me? They were staring and looking like I was going to start crying. Me and my big mouth."

Fluttershy wrapped her wings around herself. Applejack sighed, walking over to her.

"First of all, it wasn't your big mouth's fault," Applejack said. "We asked ya to tell us your crush. You couldn't say anything otherwise because it would've been a lie, and lies turn out for the worse."

"Says who?" Fluttershy asked miserably.

"Says me," Applejack said. "Ah regretted sayin' mah crush. Everythin' turned out real bad. Rainbow gettin' at me for revenge, ah don't blame her, she's never loved anypony else before, and tryin' to keep myself together the entire game."

Everythin' turned out real bad. Her words rang in Fluttershy's ears. Those were some specific words Applejack picked out. She could've said, It was bad, or It didn't turn out so well. But it "turned out real bad."

Fluttershy remembered what Applejack had said during her last turn in the first game: While ah have to admit, Rainbow has been a bit outta line this game, ah kinda deserve it. Applejack had kind of deserved it. There was only one reason the Element of Honesty would say something like that.

"Applejack," Fluttershy said quietly, "you said you deserved the revenge from Rainbow Dash. Is it because you lied about your crush? Did you have two crushes? Did you have an even bigger crush than Soarin'?"

Applejack glanced at Fluttershy. There was a sudden flash of terror in her eyes, fear that Fluttershy had discovered her true secret. But before they could say anything, the humming stopped.

"Come on," Applejack said. She helped Fluttershy up and with her help, pushed open the doors.

Celestia was sitting in the same spot she had, only she had transformed back into her alicorn form. Applejack became suspicious almost at once.

"Your Majesty?" Applejack asked.

Celestia turned her head and smiled. "Hello, Applejack, Fluttershy," she said heartily. "Care to check out the library? I didn't eat any cake for ten minutes, just like I was supposed to."

Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged glances. They entered the room and took a look around. Fluttershy searched the window sills. Applejack looked around on ground level. Each cake was gleaming with icing and frosting, none out of place. The room looked like it had when Celestia had entered.

They got back to the doors as the other players arrived.

"Everythin's in order," Applejack said to Twilight. "Looks like she didn't eat anythin'."

"Do you believe her?" Twilight asked.

"Not that much," Applejack admitted.

Twilight scanned the room herself, taking flight every few moments. Meanwhile, Luna looked at Celestia suspiciously.

"You didn't eat any of the cake," Luna said dubiously.

"That is correct, sister," Celestia confirmed.

"Tell me, how did you get enough energy to transform back into your alicorn form?" Luna asked.

"I regained my energy, that's all," Celestia replied.

Twilight exited the room. "Everything seems to be in place," she said. "Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie stood in place and smiled. "She ate the cake," she said.

"What?!" all the players asked.

"How do you know?" Celestia demanded. "You have no proof!"

"Oh, but I do!" Pinkie Pie said. She pointed underneath one of the tables. "You left crumbs under the tables! Oldest trick in the book!"

Celestia stared at Pinkie in defeat. Twilight checked under the tables and nodded. "Fool me once, shame on you," Twilight said, coming back. "Looks like you have to pay as a consequence of not abiding by the dare."

"And what is that consequence?" Celestia asked.

"When it's your turn in the second round, you have to do both truth and dare," Twilight said smugly.

Celestia exhaled deeply. She walked back into the room and slammed her face into the nearest cake.

"Tia?" Luna called out. "What are you doing?"

Celestia lifted her head. "I'm drowning my misery into my pleasure," she replied before stuffing her face back in.

Chapter 9: Spike: Saving a Damsel in Distress

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After the players had a bite or two (or several) from a cake, and Luna managed to pry her sister away from the room full of cakes, they headed back to the slumber party room to begin the next turn.

This time, Pinkie Pie invited Fluttershy to spin. She tentatively walked over to the board and gave the arrow a small push, which barely made the 360-degree turn.

Rainbow scoffed. "Really?" she asked in a bored manner.

Fluttershy spun again with a little more force and the arrow went around four times before coming to a stop.

Spike.

"Aw yeah!" Spike said eagerly. "It's my turn now!"

"Looks like you're excited to have a go," Twilight said with a smile. "You do remember what happens during these games, right?"

"Of course I do!" Spike said, scoffing. "But that's what makes this game so awesome! It's also one of my favorites!"

Twilight rolled her eyes but smiled. "Anyway," she said, focusing the attention back on the seriousness of Truth or Dare, "truth or dare, Spike?"

"Dare, of course," Spike said, crossing his arms smugly. "I can handle any challenge you wanna throw at me!"

"That's what you said last week," said Rainbow Dash, laying on her back and touching the stars with her hooves, strangely, like a cat. "Then we dared you to fight a Timberwolf blindfolded without a weapon but yourself."

"And the week before," added Fluttershy, stroking Cookie Dough. "You said dare was going to be easy, and then we dared you to recite the Equestrian Anthem while hanging upside down above a lake full of crocodiles."

"AND the week BEFORE that!" exclaimed Rarity, examining her already-perfect hooves. "You laughed and said dare was for babies. Next thing you knew, you were standing in a freezing room full of baby seals."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Celestia. "That sounds wonderful!"

Spike rubbed the back of his head. "It was too cold in that room and I couldn't light a fire with all those baby seals!" he explained. "I had to stand there and shake my claws off before I cried uncle."

"Well don't do dare, Spike, you mad dragon!" Celestia exclaimed, reaching out her hoof. "I know you are sensible! Think twice about what you are about to do!"

"I'm sorry, Princess Celestia," said Twilight, "but he cannot possibly think twice, not even once, about what he's about to do because we have yet to find out the ponies who will be creating Spike's dares."

The entire room stared at her in silence. Twilight blinked and blushed furiously. "What?" she demanded.

"Uhhhhhhh nothing," Princess Luna said hastily.

"Mhm," Twilight said. "Well? Are we going to continue the game?"

"Of course we are!" Celestia said. "If we weren't, then there'd be no purpose in staying!"

Fluttershy spun three more times, and the ponies who were to create Spike's dares were Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. A dangerous combination for Spike.

Spike tapped his claws nervously. He was silent as his eyes darted back and forth between the three of them.

Twilight needed a good dare. Spike always regretted choosing dare, but she didn't want to hurt Spike in some sort of way.

Hmm...

"Spike, I dare you to save a damsel in distress!" Twilight said.

"Wh-what?!" both Starlight and Applejack exclaimed.

Spike grinned. "Sounds like a piece of cake," he said. "Hey, Rainbow! Let me hear your dare!"

Rainbow exchanged glances with Twilight and she grinned slyly. "You know what, Spike?" she asked. "I think I'm gonna steal Twilight's dare."

"W-what?!" Spike exclaimed.

"The same goes for me," Rarity said, polishing her hoof. "Do you know how marvelous it would be for Spike to save someone in Ponville? He'd be the hero of two cities!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Spike complained, beginning to sweat nervously.

"Oh, but it is," Twilight said brightly. "I made the rules!"

Spike turned frantically to Princess Celestia. "Please, Your Majesty!" he urged. "Can you help me out?"

"I'm afraid not, little dragon," Celestia said, grinning. "I would very much like to see how this ends up going."

"Come on, Spike!" Pinkie Pie suddenly grabbed him and threw him onto her back. "Let's go find you a damsel in distress!" She galloped out of the room.

"Hey!" Spike protested. "I never agreed to this!"

"Follow that dragon!" Twilight said, rising from her bed.

"Okay, we can split up into groups of 2," Twilight said, walking alongside the rest of her friends. "Fluttershy and Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie and Luna, Spike and Applejack, Starlight and I, and Rainbow Dash and Rarity."

Rainbow Dash suddenly pulled Twilight over. "Did you really just pair up the two mares in Equestria, maybe the only two mares in Equestria who have crushes on Discord?" Rainbow asked.

"Of course I did," Twilight replied. "I believe we can have the two of them work together to clear the air and encourage a night fun instead of a night of rivalry."

"If you say so," Rainbow said, flying to Rarity.

Applejack looked down at Spike. "Ah guess we're working together," she said with a pleasant smile.

"I guess so," Spike said nervously. "Let's get this dare over with before I have to face the punishment." The small dragon had found out two weeks ago the punishment for him not completing a dare: forcing him to sing karaoke in front of a large crowd while the songs changed at random times.

All pairs split off into different directions. Applejack and Spike traveled towards Everfree Forest.

On the typical Saturday night in Ponyville, most ponies were at home or hanging around the shops that were still open in the late evening. Spike couldn't believe how much time had already passed since the beginning of the game. He also couldn't believe they were still on the first turn.

They were quiet for the first few minutes. Spike merely stared at the sky, hoping a miracle could save him from embarrassment when they came back to the castle without so much of a commotion.

"Hey, Spike?" Applejack asked suddenly.

Spike flinched slightly but continued walking smoothly. "What's up, Applejack?" he asked nonchalantly.

She stopped and turned to look at him. Spike realized her eyes stood out in the sparkling night sky, like dazzling emeralds in a sea of white diamonds. In Applejack's mind, his eyes stood out with more clarity than the stars.

"Uh..." Applejack shook her head. "Do ya think we should pretend ah needed saving?"

"Pretend?" Spike asked. "But what if anypony found out?"

"Would anypony come out at night near Everfree?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

Spike opened his mouth to speak, but Applejack's logic was sound. "Alright then," he said. "Anything to avoid the consequences."

Applejack sat down, Spike following suit. "So, let's say a pack of Timberwolves jumped outta nowhere and you gallantly came to the rescue," she said. "That outta fool 'em."

"But everypony knows I barely escaped from them the last time we saw them," Spike said. "You were the one to save me."

"True," Applejack said. "What if we say ah got myself stuck in a trap and ya had to rescue me?"

"I don't know..." Spike said. "Twilight would suspect something..."

Suddenly Applejack cried loudly. Spike whipped his head around in time to see Applejack being dragged into Everfree before something cold and hard hit him in the back of his head, causing him to lose consciousness.

Most of the players had returned around 10 O' clock, but Spike and Applejack had yet to return. Their friends waited back at the castle anxiously, hoping that they would return soon.

"Do any of you remember where they went?" Twilight suddenly asked.

"Not since the last fifty-three times you asked," Rainbow said. "I'm sure they're fine."

"But there's a twenty-minute time limit for this sort of dare!" Twilight argued. "And Spike's dare began well over an hour ago. I think we should go look for them."

Rarity turned worriedly to the Royal Sisters. "Pardon me, Your Highnesses, but don't you have any magic to track them down or perhaps teleport them back to us?" she asked.

"We already tried, dear," Celestia replied calmly. "However, a magic barrier is keeping me from knowing where they are."

"But what kind of magic can block alicorn magic?" Starlight asked.

Luna narrowed her eyes menacingly. "Chaos magic," she replied matter-of-factly.

"You mean Discord has them?" Rainbow asked. "Wonder what he's doing with them."

"Heyyyyyyyy Fluttershyyyyyyyy!" Starlight said suddenly, popping up behind Fluttershy. "You're good friends with Discord, right?"

"Um, well, yes, of course "

"And since you're MY friend too, do you think you could do me solid and ask Discord to let them go? Whaddya say, PAL?!"

Starlight began stroking Fluttershy's hair creepily, making the entire room uncomfortable.

"But how would I know where Discord is on a Saturday night?" she asked.

Starlight opened her mouth to rant, and perhaps demand Fluttershy to give her the exact directions to wherever in Equestria Discord lived. But just then, the doors to the slumber party swung open. Applejack and Spike walked in.

Everypony's jaws dropped. Applejack had been wearing what seemed to have been an elegant ball dress, with every kind of shade of green. However, it was torn up in several places, scorched near her stomach, and caked with dust, ashes, and mud. Spike seemed to have been wearing a suit of armor, but it was practically destroyed. It was beaten up, bent, dented, and smelled like fire.

"Hey, everypony!" Spike greeted.

"Spike!" Starlight stood up so quickly, several stars started swinging around.

"Where have you two been?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Applejack and Spike exchanged knowing looks, and they cracked a smile. AJ chuckled and replied, "Ah don't think we have a lot of time right now. We gotta get to the next turn!"

"Well, right after we get out of this stuff," Spike said.

Starlight stared as Applejack and Spike walked out of the room. She narrowed her eyes. You're playing a dangerous game here, Applejack.

Chapter 10: Starlight: What was Her Worst Date?

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After a few minutes of making themselves look presentable, Spike and Applejack returned to the slumber party room. Rainbow Dash seemed to be plotting a way to get Spike and Applejack to fess up while Starlight seemed to have a rather mixed expression on her face. Twilight exhaled. This night was just getting filled with more drama with every turn that passed, regardless of how fun the previous turns had been.

"Starlight and Applejack, the remaining two ponies of this round!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed into a microphone. "Who'll come out of this next turn alive? Will it be the honest-to-a-fault farmer pony Applejack? Or will Lady Luck be with recently-reformed Starlight? No pony knows! The anticipation is killing me !"

"Uh, Pinkie Pie?" interrupted Spike. "It's Starlight's turn."

Pinkie Pie peered over the foot of her bed and saw the Wheel of Choice's arrow had decided Starlight was going to be the pony in the limelight.

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie said. "I didn't even get to finish my commentary!"

"Less commentary, more regrets!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, rubbing her hooves together.

"I already regret everything," Starlight said with a dry smile.

"What'll it be, Starlight?" asked Applejack, looking relieved that she hadn't been picked. "Truth or dare?"

"Honestly, I feel like dares should come later in the game," Starlight admitted. "So for my first turn, I'm going with truth."

The first time Starlight had played Truth or Dare with her friends was a short while after Flurry Heart was born. She had been such a nervous wreck before the slumber party; Starlight had even debated ditching a few minutes before the rest of the players were supposed to arrive.

"They'll understand that I don't want to play," Starlight said to herself, pacing in her room. "They're you're friends. Well, new friends. What if they don't understand? They won't invite me again. But even if they did, I would chicken out, just like what I'm doing now."

"Starlight?"

The reformed mare looked to the door and saw Spike was carrying several plates of nachos. He looked concerned, and without asking, stepped into Starlight's room.

"Oh, uh..." Starlight took a deep breath. "Hi, Spike."

"Hey," Spike said. "I heard you talking to yourself. Again. Is everything okay?"

"That would depend on your definition of okay," Starlight replied reluctantly. "I don't think I'm ready to do this."

"You're not ready to have a slumber party?" Spike asked.

"No," the mare admitted. "What if I mess something up? I'll ruin the slumber party! And I'll ruin my chance at getting closer with everypony."

"Hey, this is my first slumber party with everypony, too," Spike said. "I'm as worried as you are about the same things."

Starlight blinked. "Really? You don't show it."

"That's cause I'm so relaxed on the outside!" Spike boasted.

Starlight paused for a moment to remember him hyperventilating the other day when one of his most precious gems was gone. "Yeahhhhh," she agreed slowly.

"But you need to stop thinking so extremely," Spike said. "Keep your chin up. You can't be so negative about friendship all the time."

"I don't know, Spike," Starlight said. "I'm so new to friendship. And even though I'll become better friends with everypony, I just don't think I'm ready for this yet."

"Of course you are!" Spike said encouragingly. "Think of it this way: Since this is my first slumber party, then we could both mess this up. And if you mess up, I'll mess up with you."

Starlight managed to smile. "You would do that for me?" she asked.

"Yeah!' Spike replied, returning a smile. "We're friends! That's what friends do."

"Twilight, Princess Luna, and Fluttershy! The Wheel of Choice has decided that you three are gonna pick Starlight's question!"

Starlight blinked, shaken out of her memory by Rainbow Dash's voice. Across the room, Twilight, Luna, and Fluttershy were exchanging rapid glances.

What was that about? Starlight wondered. It was strange to remember that night, considering the current situation that Spike and herself had dug themselves into.

"Alright, Starlight!" Twilight said abruptly. "I'll begin with my question: What was your worst day?"

"Oooo! Good one, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said. "Princess Luna, you go next!"

Luna cracked a smile. "Starlight Glimmer, I, Princess Luna, ask you this: Have you ever been on a date before?"

"Very good, Princess!" Rarity exclaimed. "Fluttershy, darling, you're up!"

Starlight braced herself. In the beginning, Fluttershy's questions and dares hadn't been very extreme. From sitting in mud, or asking what their favorite memory was, she was infamous in the "Boring" category. However, as time had passed, her dares and questions had gotten extreme at an accelerating rate.

"Starlight, what was your worst date?" Fluttershy asked.

"Whoa!" Spike said, his left eye twitching. "Fluttershy just combined Twilight's question with Luna's question! And this question involves a date!"

"What's wrong with a silly little question, Spike?" Starlight asked innocently.

A lot. A lot was wrong with the question. Starlight remembered how her most embarrassing date had gone. It was recent, too, and she had a feeling that it was another reason for the arguing between Spike and her.

"So, Starlight?" Celestia asked. "What'll it be?"

"Give me a moment to think," Starlight said.

On one hoof, she could take her next shot at Spike. On the other hoof, she didn't want to relive the experience. And it would most likely give Spike some firepower that she really didn't want to hoof over.

But at least he would know she had more than dates he did in his life.

"You know what, Fluttershy?" Starlight smiled brightly. "I'll answer your question!"

"That's gotta be a first," Rainbow commented. From Fluttershy's bed, Cookie Dough yapped in agreement.

"My most embarrassing date..." Starlight paused to remember the details. "Well, it was in a particularly elegant restaurant in the Crystal Empire. My date was there first, no surprise."

"So are you familiar with this pony?" Rarity asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

"Oh, this pony is a friend of mine," Starlight explained. "I arrive to the restaurant, dressed as if I were going to the Grand Galloping Gala."

"Ooo!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Sounds like you REALLY like this pony!"

"I suppose you could say that," Starlight said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike's eyebrows narrowing.

"I enter and I see him sitting at a table near the window," Starlight continued. "But as I get closer to the table, I trip on my dress and fall muzzle first onto the floor. And that's when he saw me."

"Oof," Rainbow said.

"I know!" Starlight agreed. "I get up, trying to redeem myself and walk over to him. He says, 'What's with the dress?' He didn't even ask if I was alright!"

"Stallions," Applejack said, rolling her eyes. "Sometimes Ah can't understand them."

"Anyway, I try to talk to him about everything new that I've experienced her in Ponyville, but he just wants to talk about one of my friends!" Starlight's voice was beginning to rise. "What's worse is when I asked him why he was so interested in in my friend, he said, 'He's better.' What does that even mean?"

"I ended up leaving early. I didn't like how the date was about my friend and not us," Starlight admitted. "And that was my worst date ever."

"That's it?" Rarity asked, looking quite puzzled.

"Yes," Starlight replied. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, darling, I've had my fair share of worst dates," the fashionista explained. "Your story is very tame compared to the dates I've been on."

"Heh," Starlight said, swallowing with difficulty. "I think that's because I haven't been on many dates, and honestly, Rarity, who wouldn't bend over backwards to go on a date with you? You're an amazing mare with the greatest looks in Ponyville!"

"Oh, you flatter me!" Rarity said, obviously pleased with the compliment.

"I suppose we should move onto the final turn of this round," Twilight suggested. She faced Applejack. "You better get ready, AJ!"

Fluttershy's eyes narrowed. Applejack was keeping something back from the rest of the group. And she was surprisingly determined to figure out what her secret was as the tension began to escalate.

Chapter 11: Applejack: Who Does She Really Have a Crush on?

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"I'll spin the wheel," Fluttershy volunteered.

"Wow," Rainbow commented. "Fluttershy wanting to spin twice in one round? Tonight must be a really special night for her to do something like that."

"You never know when ponies are full of surprises," Fluttershy remarked, glancing at Applejack. The farm mare's expression was calm, but Fluttershy caused her to look anxious.

"I can already tell this is going to be one spectacular turn!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed into a microphone as Cookie Dough fetched the Wheel of Choice for Fluttershy. "Let's check in with the mare of the minute!"

Applejack was suddenly face-to-face with Pinkie. "Sooooooo, Applejack!" the party pony said. "How do you think the Royal Sisters are holding up so far?"

"Ah, uh..." she stuttered. "Ah believe the princesses are doin' a mighty fine job of playing the game. It's real nice to get to know Celestia and Luna instead of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"Any thoughts on the later turns within the game?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

AJ had to pause in order to collect her thoughts. "If Ah'm gonna be honest, Ah hope Starlight and Spike are doin' alright. And Ah just hope to have more fun tonight."

"Thank you, Applejack!" Pinkie said as Spike and Starlight exchanged uneasy glances. "Let's go to Celestia and Luna!"

While Pinkie Pie busied the rest of the players, Fluttershy stared at the Wheel of Choice carefully. She could just ask the other ponies to ask Applejack the same question, given if AJ chose Truth, but the job would be done cleaner if she did it herself.

The only thing she had to do was make sure she was going to be one of Applejack's interrogators.

Fluttershy readied herself and spun.

The arrow began to slow down as Pinkie Pie was returning to her bed. Fluttershy stared at the arrow intensely as it stopped to her left.

Starlight Glimmer.

"Starlight, you've been chosen," Fluttershy said softly.

"Ooo! This'll be fun!" Starlight said excitedly.

Fluttershy spun again. Anxiousness spread into her thoughts. Why am I doing this? she wondered. Why do I have to know? Why is this important?

The arrow landed on Rarity.

"Rarity," Fluttershy announced.

"Before Fluttershy spins again," Twilight interrupted, "we should know what Applejack will be doing for this turn."

The Element of Kindness's hoof hovered over the arrow as Applejack anxiously debated her options.

There wasn't enough force when the arrow chose Starlight. There was too much force when the arrow chose Rarity. I need to find the median.

"Truth."

Applejack is our friend. She's supposed to tell us the truth. That's why I have to do this.

Fluttershy spun the arrow.

Applejack regretted her decision immediately after she said it. She should have known Fluttershy had a plan. That mare got more devious as Truth or Dare went on, whatever slumber party, late or early.

"Me," Fluttershy said.

"Oh sweet Celestia," Applejack mumbled.

"Oh!" Starlight exclaimed. "Applejack, who was your first crush ever?"

"That seems kind of simple," Rainbow Dash commented, blowing a raspberry.

"Then let's see if my question spices this turn up!" Rarity said. "Applejack, darling, have you ever had a coltfriend?"

Applejack gulped as Fluttershy sat upright to ask her question.

"Applejack, who do you really have a crush on?" Fluttershy asked.

The room was quiet. Even Cookie Dough could sense the tension, and the pup escaped to the safety under Fluttershy's bed.

"Fluttershy, whatever do you mean?" Rarity asked.

"While Applejack and I were guarding the library doors during Celestia's turn, Applejack revealed that her lie during our first game of Truth or Dare caused the arguments between Rainbow Dash and her," Fluttershy explained.

"Wait, you lied?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed with an angered expression.

"Ah didn't lie!" Applejack protested. "Soarin' was one of mah crushes."

"I'm sorry, did you say one of?" Twilight asked.

"This just got very interesting," Celestia whispered to Luna.

"But if Ah said mah other crush, things woulda been way worse," Applejack explained.

"Applejack, we deserve to know who you really have a crush on," Starlight said.

"Well, most of us do," Spike mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"What was that?!" Starlight snapped, whipping her head around to face Spike.

"Ya know what?" Applejack said. "Ah think Ah'll go with Starlight's question."

"And my question is the same as Fluttershy's," Starlight said, forcing herself to turn back to the main issue.

"I change my question to Fluttershy's as well," Rarity said firmly.

"What?!" Applejack demanded.

"The Trio Treaty!" Pinkie Pie said. "This is allowed!"

"Can we all agree this is too much drama too early in the game?" Applejack pleaded.

"Applejack," Princess Celestia suddenly said. "Your friends deserve your honesty. And even if you choose not to answer the question, you will most likely serve the same consequence that I must suffer next round. You will be forced to answer the question either now or later. You might as well have the burden off your back now."

The farm mare looked as if she wanted to continue arguing until dawn. Her eyes blazed with a determined fire, but she sighed in defeat.

"Fine," Applejack said bitterly. "Y'all win. I'll tell ya.

The room once again become motionless as Applejack completed her turn: "Ah have a crush on Spike."

Applejack had noticed it on one solemn sunset on her way back to Sweet Apple Acres. There was a trail of burned parchments and scorched books.

At the edge of Ponyville, on the path to Sweet Apple Acres, she found Spike sitting by himself, frustrated from something significant.

"Spike?" Applejack asked.

The dragon hastily straightened himself out and looked up. "Oh, hey there, Applejack," he said. "Didn't see you coming."

"That's enough about me," Applejack said. "What's wrong, Spike? Why are ya sittin' out here instead of sittin' in your chair in the castle?"

"It's nothing," Spike lied. "I'm fine. No need to worry about me."

"You're talkin' to the Element of Honesty," Applejack said. "Ah can see through your lies."

Spike opened his mouth to deny it, but he didn't speak.

"C'mon, Spike," Applejack said. "We're friends. We tell each other what's wrong."

"It's kind of a long story," Spike explained feebly.

"Ah got some time," Applejack said, taking a seat beside Spike. "Anythin' for a friend of mine."

"I can't tell you all of it," Spike said. "I don't even understand half of what's going on myself."

"Then tell me what ya know," Applejack said assuringly.

Spike had talked for about half an hour. Applejack hadn't known how to react as Applejack, a mare with a somewhat romantic side, when he ended. But she knew Spike needed Applejack, the comforting friend, to help him through his problem, even if it meant gifting his heart to somepony else.

That had happened two weeks back. Now, Applejack had to shut her eyes. She didn't want to see the reactions.

At that moment, Starlight's mind began racing. If Applejack has had a crush on Spike for months...Spike told Applejack about whatever's left of us...Sweet Celestia, poor Applejack...

Meanwhile, Spike's mind had gone blank. He didn't know what to think.

Wait, he thought, is that why Applejack said...When Discord asked her...

The room stayed silent for a full minute until Twilight parted it. "I say this is a good time to take our fifteen-minute intermission, what do you all think?"

As soon as she finished her sentence, Applejack bolted for the door and galloped out of the room.

Silently, the rest of the players got up and left the room, except for Twilight, Celestia, and Luna.

"I suppose my sister and I came for the wrong week," Celestia commented.

"I hope everything gets better," Luna said.

"That's what I'd like," Twilight said. "There was a lot of chaos during our first game of Truth or Dare. It nearly ruined our whole night altogether."

"It looked like you all were having fun that night," Luna admitted.

"And we did," Twilight assured her. "Except when Rainbow Dash and Applejack were at each other's throats during that game. I hope whatever's going on between Starlight and Spike ends up okay. And I'm sure there's going to be more trouble from here."

"Then let's make sure every conflict is resolved by the end of this game," Celestia said. "That's when we'll end the game. Agreed, sister?"

Luna smiled. "Agreed," she replied. "But right now, I'd like to look for a snack. All this drama has drained me of my energy."

Chapter 12: Luna: Listen to Rarity and Twilight Debate "Midnight"

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Celestia hadn't planned on solving friendship problems. At the beginning of the night, she had only wanted to enjoy the company from Luna and Twilight's friends. But out of all the ponies in Equestria, Celestia should've known a dream like that didn't happen the first time around.

Truth be told, Celestia was beginning to enjoy the night more because of what was happening between Spike, Applejack, and Starlight. Of course, it was heart-wrenching to see friends go against each other, but Celestia admitted to herself guiltily that she loved a good soap opera. All the drama in Canterlot was old. It was always "Jet Set got into an affair the other night!" or "There are guards of Princess Celestia who are actually undercover spies!" Friendships weren't normal between Canterlot folk; there were only relationships that could be torn to shreds the moment a nasty rumor circulated around the upper-class ponies.

Celestia exhaled softly, bringing her back to Twilight's castle.

The fifteen-minute break was coming to an end. Most players had returned to their spot in the room. Twilight busied herself with a book she had grabbed from under her bed. Fluttershy had just returned from dropping off a sleepy Cookie Dough at her cottage. Spike, Starlight, and Applejack had not returned. According to Rainbow Dash, Spike had gone out to find Applejack. Rainbow didn't know of Starlight's whereabouts.

When the fifteenth minute struck, Twilight rose from her bed. "I'll go look for them," she said promptly.

Rarity laughed with pity. "Oh, darling. You truly have no idea what drama is like in a love triangle," she said as if talking to a foal.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Twilight, they're all confused," Rarity explained. "Applejack has a crush on Spike, and from what I can see, there's some kind of spark between Spike and Starlight. Applejack's emotions have made it difficult for them to deal with whatever they were going through."

"So we're just gonna let them skip their turns?" Rainbow Dash stood on her bed, obviously ready to argue if her question was answered with "Yes."

"No," Celestia said, rising. "I'll go look for the three of them with...Fluttershy, how does that sound?"

Fluttershy looked as if a chill had gone up her spine. She became alert, which was uncommon of her to do in a safe environment. But she replied cooly, "I suppose it's okay."

"Sounds like a plan," Twilight said slowly as if she knew something Celestia didn't. But she allowed Fluttershy and Celestia to leave the room. As soon as the doors closed, Rarity was spinning the wheel.

Luna's ears drooped as the arrow slowed to a stop, pointing straight at her.

"That isn't fair!" Luna said. "I wasn't ready yet!"

"Expect the unexpected!" Pinkie Pie said, shrugging as she stuffed her mouth with more snacks.

"Go now, Princess," Rainbow Dash said. "At least your turn will be over for this round."

This was true. For the rest of the round, she wouldn't have to worry if the wheel's arrow decided she would be next in the limelight. It already happened, and until the next round began, she could enjoy the game. Though she should be more nervous but excited than just nervous...

Luna exhaled slowly. "I suppose you make a valid point, Rainbow Dash," she said. "In that case, I humbly choose dare for my current turn!"

"Excellent choice," Twilight said, nodding in approval. "Now, since there are only four other players currently present, I say all of us get to have a say in what Luna's dare should be."

"What do you think, Princess Luna?" Pinkie Pie asked, using her tail as a pogo stick to jump on her bed. "I don't know about you, but I like those rules!"

"I'm with Pinkie Pie," Rainbow agreed. "This hasn't happened before, and I'm wondering how much chaos we can make with our questions!"

These were higher stakes, yet the night is young, and the game is only getting better, Luna mused carefully, mentally examining a die and each of its sides. I might as well get to experience the regrets of a game like this.

Luna smiled. "I'd be glad to," she replied.

Almost immediately, Rainbow Dash pulled Pinkie Pie over. Rainbow made sure Twilight and Rarity weren't focusing on them and began talking to Pinkie in a whisper.

"Pinkie, you remember the Midnight series, right?" Rainbow asked.

"Uh huh!" Pinkie replied. "The book series that Twilight and Rarity argue about whenever somepony brings it up?"

"Keep it down!" Rainbow hissed, glancing over to see if the other girls were paying attention. Twilight was holding a list, probably filled to the corners with decent dares she had discovered over the weeks. Rarity was on her fainting couch, and Rainbow knew her best questions and dares came from Rarity's thoughts while on it.

"They always get out of control," Rainbow Dash explained, turning back to Pinkie Pie. "But Princess Luna doesn't know that. Now, imagine what her reaction will be if she watches what'll happen."

Pinkie Pie was rubbing her hooves together when she became confused. "But what's the point of that dare?" she asked. "Why can't we dare Luna to have a rap battle against me?"

"I know your rapping is awesome," Rainbow said, "but I'm thinking somepony else should be in the rap battle. I'll let you know later on in the game. Listen, recently, the author of Midnight has been thinking about making a spin-off series featuring the child of...Isabella and Edward?"

"Estrella and Eduardo," Pinkie Pie corrected.

"Right," Rainbow agreed. "So Twilight and Rarity have a lot more to argue about now. The aftermath is gonna be chaotic!"

"But don't you hate it when they fight about the books?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yeah." Rainbow couldn't express how much she hated Midnight and the ridiculous plot, yet it was one of the bestselling novel series in Equestria. "But neither of us will be there for that. It'll only be Luna."

"Then what do we do while we wait?" Pinkie Pie gasped. "We should see how Fluttershy's holding up!"

A sly smile grew on Rainbow's face. "You read my mind," she said. "And after that, we gotta prepare Ponyville for "

"Alright!" Twilight said suddenly, whirling away from the wall. "Are we ready, girls?"

Rainbow looked to Pinkie Pie with a grin. "You'll see," she said.

"I was born ready!" Rainbow replied, zooming back to her bed as Pinkie Pie hopped back to her own bed.

"Let's start with Rarity's dare, shall we?" Luna asked.

Rarity smiled as she got off her fainting couch. "Princess Luna, I dare you to have a rap battle against Pinkie Pie!"

Luna could only blink as she got flashbacks from the Truth or Dare game that had occurred weeks ago, where Fluttershy had gone up against Snips and Snails. It would be best for her well-being to avoid rapping against a pony full of surprises.

"Ha ha ha!" Luna laughed nervously. "Twilight? Care to go next?"

"Gladly," Twilight said humbly. "Princess Luna, I dare you to go read a romantic novel!"

Luna's last turn snapped back into Rainbow's head. She'd never found somepony she wanted to be with, and believed it wasn't in the cards for her. Yet Rainbow Dash hadn't believed she'd end up with Soarin' and it happened. If Rainbow had been given a chance, then Luna should get a chance, too.

"Pinkie Pie?" Luna asked desperately.

Rainbow opened her mouth to keep Pinkie Pie from saying her dare, but Pinkie Pie said, "I dare you to listen to Rarity and Twilight talk about Midnight!"

Almost immediately, Twilight and Rarity shot each other looks of disgust. Luna seemed to calm down. "That sounds okay," she said cautiously, sensing tensions rise. "Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow wanted to do something about Luna's love life, but she was on the spot. Zero ideas were running around in her head.

"Uh..." She swallowed. "Same dare as Pinkie Pie."

"Then I choose that dare," Luna said, now calmer. "For how long?"

"One hour!" Rainbow called out before Pinkie Pie replied. That would definitely be enough time to prepare Ponyville for an awesome performance.

"What'll you and Pinkie Pie be doing in the meantime?" Luna asked. "This dare is specifically for me, so you two shouldn't have to wait while I complete it."

"We'll help Celestia and Fluttershy look for Spike, Starlight, and Applejack!" Pinkie Pie replied, readying a flashlight and a whistle.

"Sounds good," Twilight said, in a daze. "And Luna, if you fail to complete the dare, you have to do both truth or dare for next round."

"This won't be very difficult," Luna said, confident that Rarity and Twilight wouldn't break her.

"Okay then!" Rainbow said, rising from her bed. "Your time starts...NOW!"

In the blink of an eye, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie were out of the room, and Luna began regretting the dare she had chosen.

The room had been silent for about ten seconds when Twilight and Rarity began a shouting match.

Spike decided to take a break from searching for Applejack. The fifteen-minute break was definitely over now, and the others would've started the first turn of the second round.

He took a seat at the base of a tree nearby Sugar Cube Corner. Few ponies were strolling the streets, considering it was night. The ponies who were up were most likely leaving the Ponyville tavern or getting ready for a night out in the tavern. Meanwhile, Spike had been searching for a close friend of his that apparently had a crush on him for months and had listened to him talk about his situation with a mare that he liked. Yep, this night was definitely one Spike was going to remember.

Starlight could have fled Celestia knows where, but Celestia didn't know either. Spike used to know where she would go when she was upset, when she was confused, when she needed to be lost in her thoughts. Since their fighting began, Spike knew she wouldn't stay in the same spot for long.

But it was worth a shot.

He stood up and before he could start running, he heard somepony call out, "Hey, there he is! Spike!"

He turned and saw Princess Celestia disguised as Ember Fuel and Fluttershy galloping next to her. Was it just his imagination or did Fluttershy seem frustrated?

"Spike, we've been searching for you, as well as Starlight and Applejack," Celestia explained as they slowed to a trot. "It was time well spent to learn more about Fluttershy and Ponyville, but that's not the point. We wanted to make sure you and the other girls are alright."

Spike sighed. "I don't know if we're all alright," he said. "I'll save you the long story, but I'm not going back till I find the others."

"And how do you know you'll find them?" Celestia asked. "We've been searching for half an hour, and we are yet to find either Starlight or Applejack."

"They couldn't have left Ponyville," Spike thought aloud. "This Saturday is about having fun with their friends. They're not selfish enough to worry about their own feelings."

"So where are they?" Fluttershy asked. "Do you have an idea on where they could be?"

"I have an idea on where Starlight is!"

Coming from the direction of the castle was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Their faces were fresh with deviousness but right now, they were focused on finding Starlight and Applejack.

"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked.

"Didn't you start the next turn?" Celestia asked.

"It's Luna's turn!" Pinkie Pie replied. "And we don't wanna be there for that!"

"What if Starlight went to somepony for comfort..." Rainbow Dash began explaining as Pinkie Pie and she arrived. "Somepony she trusts?"

"But she trusts all of us," Fluttershy pointed out.

"We're not all of her friends," Rainbow countered. "Trixie's her friend, too."

Spike blinked. "Hey, you're right!" he said, suddenly understanding Rainbow's guess. "I didn't check Trixie's cart. She could be there."

"Why would Starlight go to anypony at all?" Fluttershy asked. "Don't most of us want to be alone when we're sad?"

"The thing is," Rainbow explained, "Starlight hasn't had any of these moments before. She'll need somepony's shoulder to lean on to figure out what's going on in her head."

"Excellent, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said, nodding in approval. "I'll check there with Fluttershy, and you three can keep searching for any sign of Applejack."

"Good idea," Rainbow Dash said cautiously. Fluttershy still looked rather frustrated. Being around Princess Celestia was not good for Fluttershy's well-being. Meanwhile, Rainbow had important business elsewhere, specifically the new amphitheater nearby the Ponyville tavern. It was scheduled to open next week, but she had plans for it tonight.

"Before I leave," Celestia said, "what dare is my sister doing?"

Pinkie Pie grinned. "You don't wanna know!" she said.

"THAT'S ABSOLUTELY INSANE! What kind of author would write about the descendants of horribly written characters?!" Twilight nearly screamed.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Rarity howled back. "Stephanie Marer is a modern author who can write whatever pleases her readers and her fans!"

"You know, I used to be a fan of hers," Twilight admitted. "But ever since she accepted more feedback from her readers did she become a terrible writer."

"You will TAKE. THAT. BACK!" Rarity yelled.

"Sister, save me," Luna mumbled on the floor, almost ready to admit defeat. And only fifteen minutes had passed by.

"So, Fluttershy, can you continue that story about the pet that reminded you of my own pet?" Princess Celestia asked as Fluttershy and she headed towards Trixie's cart.

"Of course," Fluttershy replied with a bitter taste in her mouth. She didn't know how many more questions she could stand before asking a question of her own:

Do you like Discord?

Of course, Celestia would become offended if not, and if she did, Fluttershy would have a love rival.

This is ridiculous, Fluttershy thought. Princess Celestia doesn't even know I have feelings for Discord. I can't hold anything against her.

"Fluttershy?" Princess Celestia asked.

The Element of Kindness blinked. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Princess," Fluttershy apologized. "I was...thinking."

"What's on your mind?" Celestia smiled at her. Fluttershy thought it was strange to see the co-ruler of Equestria walking around Ponyville in a disguise. Yet hadn't Fluttershy encouraged Celestia to enjoy herself tonight?

"Nothing," Fluttershy lied. "Princess Celestia, have you spent time with Discord?"

The question had come out without any thought. Fluttershy immediately covered her mouth, as if she had spoken a forbidden spell. "Princess Celestia, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to ask that please forgive me "

Celestia merely laughed. "It's alright, Fluttershy," she assured her. "To answer your question, I have spent a few nights with Discord." Before Fluttershy could shrink away or scream or react in some other manner, Celestia quickly said, "He's kept me up with silly pranks and wants to have tea time at midnight."

The scream stuck in Fluttershy's throat sank back to her stomach. "Oh," was the only thing she could say.

"Sometimes, we spend the day together to become better friends," Celestia went on. "I've gotten to understand him better with our time. That is why I am searching for Applejack and Starlight with you, Fluttershy. I'd like to get to know you better."

"But why me?" Fluttershy asked. "Why not Rainbow Dash or Rarity or Pinkie Pie?"

"Well, you are the mare who told me to enjoy myself tonight, correct?" Celestia smiled warmly at Fluttershy.

The Element of Kindness smiled back. Maybe she doesn't have a crush on Discord, she thought positively. Maybe she's just the nicest mare I've always believed her to be.

Sensing Fluttershy needed some space, Celestia remained quiet for the rest of their walk until they reached the park.

"Princess Celestia? Fluttershy?"

The mares looked up ahead. Nearby the willow tree that Twilight had completed her first dare of the game, Trixie was leaving the inside of her cart with Starlight in tow. The reformed mare was poker-faced. There was no telling how she had reacted to Applejack's confession.

"Good evening, Trixie," Celestia said pleasantly. "We were just here to find Starlight Glimmer."

"No need to keep searching for me," Starlight said quietly, stepping up from behind Trixie. "I'm returning to the castle with you both."

"Excellent!" Celestia said. The smile on her face became a quiet one. "The others, as well as I, are worried about you."

"I'm sure they are," Starlight sighed. "Who's turn is it?"

"Luna's, but from what Rainbow Dash told me, not for long." Princess Celestia's bright smile returned. "I do hope she's having fun. My sister has always been quite serious, and I feel tonight's festivities could lighten her mood."

"Of course," Starlight agreed plainly.

"Have a good night, Trixie," Celestia said as soon as Starlight was within her range.

"Wait, you're leaving now?" Trixie asked, her expressions surprised and confused.

Before Trixie finished her sentence, Princess Celestia teleported Fluttershy, Starlight, and herself back to Twilight's castle.

" doesn't justify the flat characters!" Twilight was explaining.

Rarity gasped. "Estrella is NOT a flat character!" she argued. "Stephanie Marer only made her difficult to comprehend!"

"I don't understand what it is with you and vampires," Twilight said, face-hoofing herself. "You see the word vampire on the back of the book, you pick it up, read it, and claim it was a pleasant read! Today's modern writers know nothing about the mythical dangers of vampires."

"As if you could do better!" Rarity challenged.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Twilight asked, taking a step forward. "Twilight Sparkle, reading fanatic! I have read every best-selling novel in Equestria, and Midnight shouldn't even come close to the pedestal that Harry Trotter or All the Sunlight We Cannot See are on!"

"Then let me see YOU write an engaging story based on vampires!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that challenge!" Twilight yelled.

"Well you should!"

"You're on!"

"ENOUGH!" Luna yelled in her Royal Canterlot voice. "I GIVE IN! I CANNOT STAND THIS NONSENSE FOR ANOTHER MINUTE!"

Twilight and Rarity fell silent, turning to look at Princess Luna, whose hooves were clamped over her ears. They both blinked, as if suddenly realizing Luna had been listening to their argument.

"Whoops..." Twilight said slowly.

Rarity chuckled nervously. Clearing her throat, she suggested, "Perhaps we shall continue this conversation another time?"

"Let's," Twilight replied.

Suddenly, a flash of golden magic appeared in the middle of the room. Princess Celestia, Fluttershy, and Starlight stood before the three mares.

"Hello, sister!" Celestia greeted cheerfully. "How is your turn going?"

"I gave in," Luna mumbled in solemn defeat.

"Looks like truth and dare are in your future for next round!" Twilight said. She turned to Starlight Glimmer. "Hey, Starlight. How are you doing?"

"Okay," Starlight replied vaguely. To Twilight, it seemed Starlight had become more relaxed since the game began.

"Where were you?" Twilight asked, needing to know how Starlight Glimmer overcame this obstacle.

"With Trixie." Starlight walked back over to her spot. Though she seemed to be in a better state of mind, she didn't want to have a conversation.

If Starlight stays like this for next round, I could get Spike and Starlight to reveal to each other what's on their minds, Twilight mused cautiously. For Spike, Applejack, and her own sake, they need to sort this out before their love triangle gets more complicated than it already is.

Chapter 13: Fluttershy: Talk for Ten Minutes Straight

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“Hey, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash aren’t back yet,” Twilight suddenly remarked.

The other mares in the room came to the same realization. Princess Celestia transformed back into her alicorn form with a burst of golden magic. “We saw them when we found Spike,” she said. “They should be back soon, considering Luna’s turn has ended.”

Just then, the doors to the slumber party room made way. Rainbow Dash’s jaw had dropped, Pinkie Pie was beaming as per usual, and Spike was with them, seemingly upset with having to return to the game.

“H-How ?” Rainbow Dash was in shock. “Pinkie, how could you have possibly known that Luna wasn’t gonna finish her dare?”

Pinkie Pie laughed in triumph. “If we can’t stand it after listening to them bicker every month, then how could Princess Luna stand their arguing?” she asked.

Spike managed to catch Starlight’s attention by crossing his arms. Neither of them said a word.

Somehow, Spike could sense what Starlight was trying to say with her gaze: Did you find her?

No, was what he hoped Starlight could understand.

Spike, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie returned to their spots in the slumber party room. As Rainbow settled herself in, she asked, “So, do we know who’s going next?”

“No,” replied Twilight, readying herself to spin the Wheel of Choice. “But we’re about to.”

As the arrow spun around the wheel, Starlight had to wonder why her friends were continuing the game when one mare was wandering the streets of Ponyville in the night. When Applejack had revealed that Spike was her real crush, Starlight had no idea what to think. The only straight thought she had was I have feelings for Spike.

But then other thoughts started flooding her head faster than she could process them: What does this mean? What about Sunburst? I think I have feelings for him, too, but I also like Spike. I can only choose one, but if I choose Sunburst, I’ll lose Spike to one of my best friends or a dragon he’s making me jealous with. I’m jealous. Am I jealous? I am jealous. Because I have feelings for Spike. Does Spike have any clue what I’m feeling right now? Wait a minute, just because Applejack has a crush on Spike doesn’t mean Spike has a crush on Applejack. But Applejack said she’s been spending time with Spike to help him with his friendship with me, so they definitely would have gotten closer unless AJ was the only one who was picking up something intimate. But wait! What if I choose Spike instead of Sunburst? Then would my friendship with Applejack be really complicated? I don’t want to hurt her, and I feel like friends shouldn’t date other friend’s crushes, but I really like Spike. Is this what the inside of Twilight’s head sounds like? Dear Celestia, my brain feels like it’s about to explode!

“~~---~~and Starlight!” Twilight’s voice pierced Starlight’s thoughts.

Starlight shook her head. “Wait, sorry, say that again?” she asked in confusion.

“You will be creating a dare for dear Fluttershy along with Princess Luna and Pinkie Pie,” Twilight explained. “But you don’t have to if you aren’t feeling up to it just yet.”

“No, no, no! I’m alright!” Starlight exclaimed. “I’m fine. Just a little distracted is all.”

Back into her thoughts she went. I gotta focus on all of that later. Right now, Fluttershy needs a dare to do. Nine times out of ten, Fluttershy was unable to complete the dares she was given. Singing in front of a crowd of ponies, watching a scary movie, and ding-dong ditching was out of the question for her. Though Starlight remembered how Fluttershy had gone up against Snips and Snails in a rap battle in front of the attendees of the Star Night Festival, so how Fluttershy refused to sing was beyond Starlight.

Let’s see...Something Fluttershy can complete yet something she wouldn’t be willing to do at first...

An idea popped into her head, inspired by the panicking thoughts that had raced in Starlight’s mind.

“Are you girls ready?” asked Twilight.

“Ready!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly.

“I hope you are ready, Fluttershy,” Princess Luna said with a grin.

“Let’s get to it!” Starlight said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

“O-Okay,” Fluttershy mumbled. “Um...Princess Luna?”

“Fluttershy, I dare you to race against Pinkie Pie to Sweet Apple Acres and back!” Luna declared, pointing a hoof to the sky, most likely for dramatic effect.

The Element of Kindness seemed to shrink. “Pinkie Pie?”

“I like Princess Luna’s dare!” Pinkie Pie said. “What say you, Starlight? A Trio Treaty?”

Fluttershy looked at Starlight with desperation in her eyes, begging for something different, something less extreme for her. For the round, Starlight decided Fluttershy needed a break before things got more out of hand.

“Not this round, Pinkie,” Starlight declined. “Fluttershy, I dare you to talk for ten minutes straight.”

The panic in Fluttershy’s eyes simmered down, but it was clear that she was still anxious. “I’ll go with Starlight’s dare,” she said, thankful that there was a better option than having to race Pinkie Pie in the dark.

“But the last time Fluttershy spoke a lot, it was only for a minute!” Rainbow Dash said.

“I want to try,” the Element of Kindness said. “Twilight, set a timer.”

“What are you gonna talk about for ten minutes?” It was Spike’s first sentence since he returned to the game. Starlight nearly flinched at the sound of his voice.

“Um...” Fluttershy didn’t have much to talk about. But when it came to her animals, everything she loved about Ponyville, and all her friends, there was no end to what she could say.

Animals, Ponyville, friends. Fluttershy mentally scanned her brain for as many details, and then some, about all three as possible as Twilight cast a spell.

Four pink numbers appeared above Fluttershy's head: 10:00.

“Just tell me when you’re ready,” Twilight said.

Fluttershy nodded. She inhaled and exhaled slowly seven times, the room quieting down, ready to see if Fluttershy, the quietest of the Elements of Harmony, could complete the dare.

“Ready.” Fluttershy hoped she looked prepared and as confident as possible.

“Ready...” Twilight’s horn started glowing again. “Set...”

“GO!”

“The first animals I ever saw were a flock of birds,” Fluttershy began. “I was flying too low, below the clouds, and as I tried to fly back up to Cloudsdale, I saw a formation of birds flying past me. There were six birds, and they were flying slowly as if they were waiting for something. Rainbow Dash found me and brought me up to Cloudsdale. Before we got back, I caught a glimpse of a seventh bird joining the flock. They began flying faster and it brought a smile to my face. When I came to Ponyville, I learned the birds were called blue jays. From the day I saw the blue jays, I was determined to learn about every animal I found. I visited the Ponyville library daily to look for books about all the creatures that can be found in Equestria. I wrote down whatever I found into a journal. When I filled the first journal, I bought a second one and continued to write about the creatures. I filled several journals, and soon enough, I was able to remember the diet of a sugar glider, the migratory pattern of an eagle, and so much more about animals. Since then, I was offered several jobs as a veterinarian in different cities of Equestria. I couldn’t accept any of them because Ponyville was and is my home. My cottage is also close to the nature that my animal friends live in. And thinking about it now, I won’t be able to move because of all the animals that depend on me. Though maybe someday I’d like to live in the forest surrounded by nature. Maybe for half a year, not too long because I want to check on my friends in Ponyville. Though maybe the animals of Ponyville would go looking for me because they’d miss me. My goodness, I wouldn’t want them to worry about me while I’d be gone! But that’s just an idea. I suppose I could think more about it another day, preferably when I’m thinking straight.

“Speaking of Ponyville, I can’t believe I never told anypony about the day that I arrived in Ponyville.” Fluttershy smiled with a twinge of bittersweetness. “One week after I finished Flight Academy, I told my parents about how I wanted to move to Ponyville to learn more about nature and the animals I could find, the animals that helped me gain my cutie mark. They didn’t want me to leave, especially since I had only graduated the day before. But I told my parents that I had to because there was something on the ground that I was meant to explore and discover. Rainbow Dash even tried to convince me not to, but I had no intention of having anypony stop me. I had a feeling that I belonged in Ponyville. Of course, I love Cloudsdale, but I wanted to live in a town on the earth. If I had given into their wishes, I doubt I would be here. Another week passed. I was all packed up and I had Rainbow Dash help me bring my belongings to Ponyville. The first thing I did was get a hotel room. I didn’t know how long it would be before I had somewhere to call my own. The next thing I did was visit the real estate agency. It’s a small office, but it’s still around today. I explained to one of the agents that I wanted a house that was close to the forest, where I could learn more about the animals. He introduced me to several houses right in the center of Ponyville. After explaining once again that I was looking to live near the wildlife, he told me about a cottage that was run down and had been unused for years. When I saw it, I never noticed the boarded up windows, the broken furniture, or the bad painting job. It was the perfect home for a nature-lover like me! It was just a few feet away from Everfree Forest. The forest was the reason why I hesitated on moving into the cottage. But then I saw several chipmunks searching for food that wasn’t there, and a mocking bird that seemed lost. It was like the last owner of the cottage also loved animals and the animals they left behind stayed in hope that they would return someday. I couldn’t bear to see them like that. I bought the cottage immediately afterward.

“A few days later, I went back to Cloudsdale to ask Rainbow Dash for her help to fix the cottage. She was really reluctant at first. But considering I was her oldest friend, she eventually agreed to come down to Ponyville. The first thing we did was throw out all the old dusty furniture left behind by the last owner. I managed the bits I had, saving the most bits for furniture, then food, and saving the rest for emergencies. But my system was ruined when Rainbow Dash took the wrong bag of bits to the Ponyville market. She spent nearly all of my money on food! I didn’t know what I was going to do. I needed a job, but I was so shy, I had no idea who to go to for work. The next day, I passed by Sugar Cube Corner. Even though my kitchen’s counters were stacked with food, I wanted a treat to cheer me up. Turns out the owners were looking for two new workers to help bake. Up until a year ago, I had no idea why they needed workers. But I applied to work for Mr. and Mrs. Cake the same day. A few days later, they contacted me and asked me to help them out. The other mare who I’d be working with turned out to be Pinkie Pie, who had arrived in Ponyville a month earlier. We became friends after a few days of working together, despite her loud personality and my quiet one. Rainbow and Pinkie met when Rainbow came to visit to tell me about how she wanted to stay nearby Ponyville. They became fast friends and we all spent time together. She even threw us a party to officially welcome us to Ponyville! She’s continued that tradition since then. Eventually, I knew enough about animals to help care for the ones around the cottage and when the word spread, ponies came to me for help with their pets. They paid me for my service, but this took time from my job at Sugar Cube Corner. Eventually, I had to quit my job at Sugar Cube Corner in order to spend time with the animals. We still spent time with Pinkie Pie, and because she hosted parties, she would always invite us to them. We were able to meet more ponies in Ponyville that way. Actually, Pinkie invited us to help prepare for a birthday party at Sweet Apple Acres. I never found out why the birthday pony wanted to have it there, but a mare that worked at Sweet Apple Acres offered to lend a helping hoof. That mare was none other than Applejack. Our three-mare group became a four-mare one. We didn’t meet Rarity until it was announced that Princess Celestia would be coming to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration. Rainbow Dash was in charge of clearing the sky, Applejack was in charge of the food, Rarity was in charge of decorations, and I was in charge of music. Three months later, we became friends with Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Being in Ponyville has been life changing for all of us. I don’t know who I would’ve become if I had chosen to stay in Cloudsdale.”

The five-minute mark had passed. Only four minutes and thirty seconds remaining.

There were numerous reactions to Fluttershy’s talking spree. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were staring with pride as if they had prepared Fluttershy for this very occasion. Rainbow Dash, Princess Celestia, and Starlight Glimmer were shocked, like the Fluttershy before them was from another world. Twilight, Spike, and Princess Luna were grinning at how well Fluttershy was doing.

“I know I’m very friendly with everypony in Ponyville, but that doesn’t make them my friend. In fact, I think I have less than three dozen friends. Of course, all the animals are my friends, but I’m talking about my pony friends. Though Discord doesn’t count----”

The moment she said his name, Fluttershy could feel her face burn up. She quickly changed the topic to bees, but it was too late. She was beginning to lose focus on her words.

“A-And that’s why bees hibernate in the ground during winter...Wait, t-that’s not it! Um, butterflies! I know a lot about every animal, but I know the most about butterflies!” Fluttershy’s words were all over the place.

Oh, Discord. Fluttershy’s thoughts were wandering to him, and it was going to cause her to fail her dare.

They spent dozens of tea parties together, learning more about each other and growing closer as the weeks passed. Sure, there were moments where Discord seemed over-friendly, bordering on intimate, but Discord wouldn't notice the difference. When Fluttershy thought he was trying to charm her, it always seemed to be her imagination. But everything about him soon became a comforting feeling Fluttershy looked forward to every week...

"----and then there's the morpho butterfly. Discord says he likes them because they're not actually blue. Their wings appear blue because of iridescence----"

His name popped up again and Fluttershy couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth.

"I've wondered about Discord a lot. Where is he from? Who are his parents? Where is his family? Has he ever loved anypony before?"

Nervous glances shot across the room. Luna had no idea if Celestia had a crush on Discord, but considering Celestia had all of a sudden become curious, Luna might have hit the nail on the head. It also got Luna wondering why Fluttershy had suddenly brought up the Lord of Chaos.

"How did he gain his powers? I want to know more about him, even though I already know a lot. I wonder if he gets lonely when he's not with me. But he can summon flying pigs and dancing balloons and whatever he wants, so he's probably having fun all the time wherever he goes."

Oh great, Fluttershy thought bitterly. If my crush on him wasn't obvious before, it is now.

She dared a quick glance at the timer above her. The timer read 2:00.

Two minutes. I got this under control.

"I'm glad I became Discord's first friend. I have Princess Celestia to thank for that."

Celestia and Fluttershy exchanged suspicious glances, tensions rising between them.

"When I reformed him, I knew I had to get him adjusted to everyday life. It took quite a while before I allowed him to do simple tasks." Fluttershy giggled. "It was ridiculous how much time we spent fooling around together! One time, we were working on greetings and farewells, and we ended up riding clouds through a zoo! A few days later, I was telling him about what was considered 'normal' here in Ponyville, and the next thing I know, we're having a picnic with polar bears! But eventually, he fit in as best as he could. Ponies still stare and whisper rude things about him. In fact, I remember how I defended Discord this one time when he was my plus-one to a charity event in Manehattan for an endangered species...Discord and I definitely became closer friends after that. He makes mistakes that he doesn't realize will have consequences. Sometimes, he'll let his chaos get out of hoof. But who hasn't made a mistake before? If there was hope for Trixie, Starlight Glimmer, and the Changelings to be reformed, that means Discord can become better, too. And he's gotten a lot better! Even though he's the only draconequus I know, he's my favorite draconequus."

When Fluttershy finished her sentence, she realized her tongue was dry, her voice becoming hoarse. Fluttershy never remembered a time when she spoke for so long. But she couldn't stop. The timer declared that fourty-five seconds were remaining. She had to keep going.

"There could be a Discord in the other world. I haven't actually given it any thought before. Does he have the same chaotic powers in the other world? Maybe not, since magic was introduced when Sunset Shimmer took Twilight's crown to CHS. Or maybe there always was magic there, and it was just waiting to be awakened. Whatever the case, I hope everyone on the other side is doing well.

"Oh! I just remembered how we first decided to have slumber parties every Saturday." Fluttershy smiled brightly, relieved that she still had something to talk about. "We had just learned that Starlight Glimmer was no longer going to attempt to ruin our lives!"

Starlight cringed at the sentence and the mere thought of who she was before, on one hoof. On the other hoof, it was true, and the only thing she could do now was let go of the past.

"We knew we needed to find a way to celebrate our new friend. But an ordinary party didn't sound special. We wanted something different. That's when Twilight suggested that we have weekly slumber parties. I remember Rarity telling me about Twilight's first sleepover back when we had the library. It wasn't exactly what Twilight had in mind, but it was still a very special sleepover! Her first one was most likely the reason why we started the weekly tradition, and I hope we continue it."

Twenty seconds. Spike and Twilight were grinning madly as the timer continued. Rainbow Dash was flapping her wings nervously.

"Fillies and Spike, thank you all for your patience!" Fluttershy said, standing up. "My turn has officially ended! I'll see you players in ten minutes!"

The timer reached 0:00, and it was soon replaced by pink words that read: TIME UP.

The whole room bursted into applause for Fluttershy, who looked just about ready to faint. Now that this is over with, she thought,I'm going to go treat myself with some water.

Celestia and Luna Regret Playing Truth or Dare

by Diamond_Emblem

Chapter 1: Knock Knock

Chapter 2: Twilight: Spend 30 Minutes with Trixie

Chapter 3: Rainbow Dash: Stand-Up Comedy Act

Chapter 4: Princess Luna: Has She Ever Had a Crush?

Chapter 5: Rarity: How's Her Relationship with Spike?

Chapter 6: Pinkie Pie: Act Like a Canterlotian for 15 Minutes

Chapter 7: Fluttershy: Would She Go Back to the Other World?

Chapter 8: Celestia: Basically, Cakelestia

Chapter 9: Spike: Saving a Damsel in Distress

Chapter 10: Starlight: What was Her Worst Date?

Chapter 11: Applejack: Who Does She Really Have a Crush on?

Chapter 12: Luna: Listen to Rarity and Twilight Debate "Midnight"

Chapter 13: Fluttershy: Talk for Ten Minutes Straight