> Twilight's Slumber Party
>  by Furious Thestral
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Since when are we friends?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun yielded down to make way for the silver orb to rise from its resting point. Hiding behind the mountains, the golden sphere lowered to rest in the horizon to shun its light, revealing the gleaming stars to have their moment to shine next to the moon under the black mantle of darkness.

Under the moonbeams, and the light of the oil lanterns of the castle gardens that illuminated the place, Twilight Sparkle and Spike walked down the cemented road back to her tower where she lived and spent her time studying under the tutelage of Princess Celestia, exhausted after their fifth, and hopefully last, press conference of the week after the incident, that every pony began to call, the Longest Night.

With a slam from the door of her tower, Twilight rushed to the stairs of the upper levels passing by the library section and towards her bedroom, from the very top of the building, and with an unceremonious movement, she dropped her body to the bed, finally having a rest from what the afternoon meeting.

“And I thought that meeting wasn’t going to last that long,” pointed out Spike as he watched how Twilight tried to rest her body to welcome the world of the sleep and embrace a good well rest for the night. “Twilight, don’t you want to have dinner first, before going to sleep?” asked the little drake, once noticing that his caretaker was about to give in to slumber.

Twilight opened one eye to peek at the dragon who asked her a question about eating that caused her to remember that she had to eat, as her stomach began to grumble in need to be filled by food. “Better do it now, rather than to have a midnight snack,” replied Twilight, taking off from the bed and deciding to follow Spike down to the first floor where the kitchen was.

Spike began to place out some ingredients to prepare a simple daisy sandwich for the two of them while Twilight joined him to give some assistance in the slicing of some vegetables, just to go along with the baby dragon to make the dinner more quick and easier.

Both took a seat at the small table with a sandwich for each of them, along with a glass of warm milk to drink it down.

“So… I assume that the last interviewer was just the same as the others, right?” asked Spike as he took a bite from his meal and awaited for Twilight to make her reply.

“It was just the same as the others: same questions about how the six of us ventured into the depths of the Everfree Forest, defeated Nightmare Moon, returned Princess Celestia from her prison and freed Princess Luna from the darkness,” replied Twilight, biting her sandwich and chewing it a few times. “Honestly, I would prefer for this to stop, but every time I wish to say no, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine insist that we all should go and let everypony know how we saved the world, and then Minuette agrees, thinking that it would be fun. Moondancer would reason if we just shooed them away, they’d come back in greater numbers. And last would be Lyra to complete the majority vote to tell the reporters the part where she saved us from an impending doom of the giant boulder that fell slowly upon us.” She ended her complaining by taking another bite and washing it down with some milk she had been served.

“Well for most part of what you said, I’m glad that I didn’t go to that last conference” said Spike, feeling himself relief about avoiding such activity.

Twilight nodded her head in agreement, but a sudden memory from the past event appeared inside her mind and gave a little thought on the matter.

***

A small conference room, from the castle, had been scheduled for the occasion as a small group of reporters from several, if not all, cities of Equestria had taken their seats with their pencils and quills taping on their notepads, ready to write down everything they found important and interesting for their newspaper to tell.

The six unicorn heroes sat around a desk, where Twilight remained with dignified posture. Although her mind was elsewhere, Moondancer was filled with boredom as she watched the clock go slower with each second, Lemon Hearts and Minuette remained looking forward to the guests and smiling brightly, Lyra was smiling more eagerly and waving her ethereal hand for all the reporters to gain a bit more attention from them. Twinkleshine was the one responding to the current question, from her perspective on the matter.

After their return to the white city of Canterlot, it was notified to all the ponies, mostly royal guards and any affiliated organization, about the world changing event, known as the ‘longest night incident’, that caused a huge commotion in the entire kingdom. Within the explanation came the announcement of their heroes that defeated the dark alicorn and brought back the long lost Princess of the Night, along with bringing the Elements of Harmony back to life.

This brought the interest of every newspaper of every part of the land, and all demanded to know more about the incident and those who saved them from the mythical threat.

“We certainly were afraid once we saw the dark alicorn in front of us, but the fire of courage from our hearts let us stand our ground to face the dreadful opponent and to find a way to free the elements to aid us in our mission,” she began reciting moving her forehooves in a dramatic fashion to make the odyssey a more epic scene for the public. “With the spark of Friendship, we gathered the power to act against Nightmare Moon and stop her from casting her evil rule against the land of Equestria, thus cleansing her in the Magic of Friendship to stop her once and for all.” She then finished with a bow of her head, and the reporters couldn’t avoid the need to clap and stomp the floor in cheers for the tale that Twinkleshine told.

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes after hearing the last part of their adventure, but she still wasn’t quite fond on the insistent question of the defeat of Nightmare Moon. Twilight guessed that they didn’t know that she was Princess Celestia’s sister, even if the legend tells exactly that part.

“Next question?” asked Raven from aside the six unicorns, keeping an eye on the guests to prevent any scandalous question about any subject that was instructed by Celestia herself to make use against the two royal sisters.

Many reporters began to rise to their hooves and shouted to call the attention of the six heroes of Equestria, until one of them was selected to speak his inquiry.

“Yes, Quickscope from the Morning of Canterlot,” a female unicorn reporter with a notepad and quill floating next to her introduced herself before making her question. “Did Princess Celestia grant any position of authority for the six of you? Are you affiliated in one of the military services for your royal highness?” she asked with a stern face of concentration on the position of power Element Wielders would gain after the victory they held.

Moondancer looked at the reporter with a surprised look, as did the other four, while Twilight seemed certainly disinterested on the question. All six mares looked at each other nervously without any idea on how to reply to the question.

Acting quickly, Raven assigned to take control of the conference, replying in place of Twilight’s friends. “I am sorry, but information about such a matter is only revealed by your highness, Princess Celestia, in person when the time she deems necessary.” She explained with a serious tone, with the thick uptight accent from the ones that lived the most in Canterlot possessed. “Now please, next question,” she requested from the group of reporters.

Several ponies raised their hooves, once more, and shouted for attention when Celestia’s personal secretary pointed her hoof to a stallion from behind the group. “First Column, from The Breezing News of Horseshoe Bay. Where are the Elements of Harmony located? Are they within your possession? Or in a vault inside the castle?” the reporter asked with an eager curiosity, focused on all six to see which one would answer his question.

But his answer came in the words he didn’t expected and from the last mare he expected to hear. “I am sorry, but all questions regarding about the Elements of Harmony will be ignored and not be answered by any means, so please refrain from asking about them,” she explained, watching that several hooves lowered down from her words. “Or regarding about the subject in relation of Princess Luna,” she added watching several more hooves lowered down, and noticing that the reporters began to reformulate their questions for their newspapers.

From the few ponies that kept their hoofs raised, a pegasus mare was selected to make her question for the six unicorns. “Yes, News Flash from The Truth of Trottingham,” the pony introduced himself from where she stood and looked directly to Twilight Sparkle. “Since how long have you six been friends?” Her question was simple and direct, and most of the reporters seemed a bit confused by it.

But for Twilight, it was a question that made her ears perk up and point at the source of the voice. The question was simple in every way, but yet complicated for her to answer.
With a movement of her head, she was facing her five friends. She was nervous to be the one answering. Never thinking about them as friends ever since she had met them, they all were simple classmates and project companions during her school days. That was all they had been considered from her side.

The lavender unicorn bit her lip as the seconds began to drag on. She wouldn’t dare say that they only tagged along with her from the beginning of her quest, and through many circumstances, they ended up becoming bonded in the ties of friendship. That would insinuate that it took six strangers to meet and join forces to become the wielders of the elements. Such scandal would never be well received among the ponies, or that was what Twilight thought for herself.

But when she saw the other five mares, none of them showed any sign of worry or concern of such matter, such was the case when she saw how Minuette was easy going with her reply.

“We have been friends ever since we have met in our first day of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” she began, looking at the specific reporter. “We met at the first day of class, when they presented us among the classmates, and we joined to make a group activity during class,” she described, as the other four mares nodded in agreement of the story of their first encounter.

All the reporters seemed convinced by the answer and began to note down the words that they heard from the blue unicorn and awaited to have the permission, from the mare in charge, of having their own questions answered from their heroes.

Twilight, for her part, tried to pay attention to the reporters and their questions, but her mind drifted to that last question. She couldn’t believe that they considered her a friend from that time, after so long, because of the fact that she didn’t know anything of them other than their names, and that made the guilt even harder to bare. It was a thought that haunted her through the remainder of the interview and the rest of the day.

***

Even now, she had that dreadful feeling inside of her heart, and the discomfort of it about what they would think of her if they ever found out about this truth made her worries and fear grow.

All six of them are united by the Elements and by the union of Friendship. If they find out how cold and indifferent she had treated them, they could end their bond of harmony and cause the fall of the kingdom and all of the ponies living in it, to leave in its wake a desolated badland that mutated all living creatures into dreadful pony-eating monsters that would wander over the land in a ravenous hunt! That was what her mind concluded, with a mild panic, and with her worries in check, she needed to know how close she was to that future.

“He- hey Spike?” she stuttered with her eyes focused on the half sandwich on her plate. “How… How long have I been... hanging out with Moondancer, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine and Lyra?” she hesitatingly asked with a concerned curiosity about the subject.

Spike scratched his chin in thought as he gave a speculated answer. “Well, considering that you focused all your attention on your studies and your lessons with Princess Celestia, along with your times spent in the library, I might guess that you never hung out with them ever since I was assigned as your assistant,” he replied with a matter of fact tone in his voice. “Kinda surprised that they still consider you their friend,” he blurted out without a second thought.

“Oh... I see...” she said deflated, lowering her ears to her head and her eyes vacant from any emotion but depression.

Spike noticed his error of words as he began to flail his arms, trying to dispel what he just said with brutal honesty. “No! What I mean is that you should definitely go and hang out with them more often, now that you have the chance of doing it!” he tried his best to say in order to lift up her mood a bit.

Twilight moved off the chair, deflated. She then made a defeated walk towards the stairs, and made the slow ascendant through them to the upper levels of her tower.

Spike facepalmed and rushed behind Twilight, though not before eating the rest of his dinner and drink. As he made his way up the stairs, his mind raced to find a way to lift up the dark cloud that he unintentionally made for Twilight.

He rushed up to the bedroom, but he stopped once he saw Twilight in the study room, where she was focusing fervently on writing down in a scroll with her quill that was empowered by her magic.

“Hey… I didn’t mean that, you know?” The baby dragon twiddled his fingers in nervousness, as if to find the right words for a proper apology. “I think that they all just want to hang out with you more often,” he suggested, hoping that Twilight would accept it.

Twilight just remained in place, focused in her writing, not batting an eye towards Spike. Her magic focused on her pen, finishing the last part of the letter with her signature and began to check for any errors.

Spike leaned closer to see what Twilight had written, and then to Twilight to see her determined expression.

“You’re right, Spike,” she said and scrolled up the parchment, placing a ribbon on it, and laying it down on the desk before continuing on to the next one to write on. “Moondancer once told me about how sad she was that I had gone to investigate about the Elements of Harmony and Nightmare Moon instead of going to her party that day,” she continued to explain, while focusing her magic on the quill to fill it with ink, so as to proceed with the next letter. “If they never followed me to the station, taking the train to Ponyville, our friendship might had ended then and there,” she deduced, finishing the second scroll and continuing with another one, doing her best to not think of what a disastrous ending would have happened if they weren’t the element bearers with her that time.

“So, what are you going to do about it?” asked Spike, curiously looking at the well known face of concentration that the studious unicorn had when she focused on a assignment.

“A party!” she replied, as if that was the solution of all her problems and more.

“A party?” repeated Spike with a deadpan expression, deflated on how simple the solution was. “Are you sure something like that will work?” He was a bit dubious about Twilight’s plan of action on the matter, but from what experience he had with the unicorn, he had seen worse.

Twilight gave Spike a big smile and her always confident look. “Not just any party, Spike, but a slumber party. It’s one of the perfect reunions to gather a selected group of ponies to hang along with in specific night time activities, where the focus among ponies is at the maximum, and the attention is divided among them all,” she gave her concrete explanation of the plan as she finished the last of the invitations and stacked them neatly on the desk.

“A simple party can do that just fine, Twilight,” pointed out Spike, thinking that the customary party would bring out the same result. “You don’t need a slumber party for those kind of things.”

“No, Spike. A simple party would only be made of loud music and many games, causing the guests to do several things from one side to another, and it will ruin my purpose to talk and get to know them on a personal level. A slumber party will make it more private, and to a personal level where we can talk calmly and have some good fun in a group instead of being apart from one another,” she explained while taking a book in her magical aura from the bookshelf. “Slumber Party 101 is an excellent guide on what to do in these occasions,” she added, giving the book to the drake for him to check out the book’s content.

The baby dragon gave a look at the pages and read some parts of it. “Huh... It does have some specific traits on how to make a good slumber party,” he deduced, closing the book and returning it to Twilight.

“Of course. With this, I can get to know all my friends and avoid a potential disaster from happening,” said Twilight, placing the book back to its place in the bookshelf.

“What was that? I didn’t hear that last part,” asked Spike as he leaned closer to hear correctly what Twilight had told him.

“Nothing, Spike,” she replied, taking the five letters and piling them in order before sending to bed her little assistant. “Now, you better go to sleep. You will deliver these tomorrow and help me organize the party for that day,” she then dissuaded Spike’s intrigue with instructions for the next day’s event.

Spike shrugged his arms and decided to go get some rest for the night.

Twilight, for her part, took one last parchment and dipped her quill in the ink, waiting to drip off any excess, to make a checklist of activities for the next night event and preparations for dinner, and some snacks.

There was much to prepare before the next morning arrived.
> Inviting the guests.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Three… Two… One,” Minuette made the countdown before opening her clock shop right on time for the arrival of the new day’s morning. “Right on time.” She hummed happily, changing the sign from closed to open and began her daily work.

She returned back to the interior of the shop, watching each and every single clock on display, making sure they were on the correct hour and no minute late or sooner, as was the norm for any member of the Timekeepers Guild. She moved towards the back of the shop, trusting that the bell will chime for the arrival of any possible customer, and moved directly towards where there was a work table was a small atmos clock waiting for her to be repaired.

“Crystal walls, gold structure bathed in super gold with diamond encrustations and plastic cogs. Such a wonderful piece of art, Mr. Fancy Pants,“ Minuette mused to herself as she focused her magic to unscrew the clock open and begin a check up for any possible malfunctions the clock may have.

To fix such piece of art was one of the reasons Minuette loved her job with a passion, ever since the first day she got her Cutie Mark. She never got old on the idea of fixing old relics of high sentimental value and profit.

Once the lid was taken off, she lit her horn to create a scanning spell to locate damages and other pieces that would need maintenance or replacing, as well to check upon the spells the clock was infused with to allow the device to run.

“Not even from the outside, but on the inside, a perfectly made masterpiece from an expert,” she complimented, before taking her tools as she made the first touch to begin. Before she could begin though, she was interrupted by the chiming of the bells of her shop.

Hearing the call of a costumer, Minuette poked her head through the doorway to the shop area and noticed the little purple dragon scanning the many clocks that were on display before noticing the blue mare walking around the counter to greet him.

“Spike, good morning!” greeted the blue unicorn giving the small drake a noogie. “What brings you here?” she asked with great curiosity at the morning visit.

“Good morning, Minuette,” Spike said back with a smile after being released from the hoof of his friend and summoned up a flame that materialized into a scroll in his hand. “Twilight is inviting you, and all of our friends, to a slumber party tonight,” he invited, giving the scroll to the unicorn for her to read the details of time and place for the event.

Giving the scroll a quick read, Minuette beamed happily and hugged Spike. “Ooooh, what a great opportunity! To have a slumber party in Twilight’s home along the others in celebration for our journey in the Everfree Forest! How delightful!” she cheered, giving one twirl on her hindlegs with Spike being held in her forearms.

“Ye- yeah... Twilight is going to make the preparations at her home. Just follow the directions and be on time, okay?” he instructed once he got on his own feet and recovered from his dizziness.

“What could be a good thing to bring? Should I come along with a game or some snacks for everypony? Perhaps just go along with some pillows and several blankets to help Twilight in the sleeping arrangements…?” while Minuette began to plan out what could be good for the sleepover, Spike just decided to let her go on with her thoughts, considering them as a confirmation of her presence to the slumber party as he walked outside the shop towards the street of the next pony to send an invitation to.

Walking down the through the residential area, Spike knew very well where to go in order to find the next pony on the list.

From the many houses that held pristine, and slightly extravagant, decorations that made them unique in their own way, Spike wandered through the same street with his usual even pace among them. They might be as luxurious as the ones from the noble upper villa, but they all had the appropriate look of decency and class that every single house of the white city needed.

And there it was in the distance, the humble home of his friend, Twinkleshine.

Walking over the stone path, he reached the door and knocked three times, awaiting for an answer, but it came too soon for him, with a swift movement of a hoof pulling him inside.

The room was clearly dark, and little could be seen under the shaded light of the curtains. “Uhm... hello? Twinkleshine?” Spike asked, trying to figure out the things that were around him.

A spotlight from above the baby dragon blinded him for a second, and after that, a voice called from the darkness.

“You have such a nerve to come to my house and show your face.” From the darkness appeared Twinkleshine, her posture tall and imposing as she kept her eyes glaring daggers at Spike, who stood there confused and intimidated.

“What? Twinkleshine, what are yo-”

“Silence!” the marble coated unicorn interrupted him with a stern voice of command and leaned her face to meet him closer. “To think that you had some dignity to crawl your way back here and show your face of shame is truly abhorrent for my eyes.” She then shoved Spike to make him step back.

Spike was completely confused at this and couldn’t understand the anger of his friend. He gathered his thoughts on what could be the reason for her enragement, only to find nothing that could be related with him or their other friends.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Twinkleshine demanded, returning to her tall posture, glaring at Spike with a defying manner.

The little drake swallowed his saliva, and with slow and careful movements, he pulled out the letter, shaking slightly, and gave it to her. “I came to deliver you an invitation to Twilight’s slumber party tonight,” he said softly, careful to not irk the mare any further.

And without a word or warning, the dense, cold, atmosphere vanished in a single blink once the light in the room expanded to illuminate it entirely.

Spike could now see the blue walls that the living room had, which was covered with several movie posters from recent and old times. A brown wooden floor with a red tapestry in the middle was below, and it came with three large purple cushions that leaned up against a wall. The films of super eight were placed in order in a display for easy access, along with a movie projector that rested behind the cushions. The room also now included a smiling unicorn that was angry just a few seconds ago.

“A slumber party?!” exclaimed Twinkleshine, reading the scroll in one go as she went all giddy about the invitation. “Oh, how wonderful! Truly, a nice detail of our friend to do for the evening.”

Spike was truly confused at how quickly the unicorn changed her mood, from angry to euphoric, in one go and was worried a bit about her.

“Uhm... Twinkleshine... you alright there?” he asked tentatively on the matter, since he might trigger the anger of the mare once more.

The unicorn glanced at Spike, seeing his perplexed look, and it took her a mere five seconds to realize what he meant with the question.

“I’m sorry, Spike. I was rehearsing some lines for a casting that is scheduled for the next week,” explained Twinkleshine with a sheepish grin. “I will be trying to make the role of a criminal gang leader that has a short temper and a strong attitude,” she explained with a contained scream of enthusiasm as her hooves jumped excited at the idea of obtaining a role in a movie production.

“Oh. Well… good luck on that,” said Spike as he decided to leave her to continue with her practice, walking away and closing the door behind him.

“See you tonight, Spike!” The white unicorn shouted once she saw him leave. “It might be an excellent idea to bring a movie for entertainment tonight, possibly a horror one to boot,” she thought out loud out of earshot as she went and checked her movie list.

Spike returned to the street and gave one last look to the house of Twinkleshine, wondering about the last time he paid her a visit during the days when Twilight was studying magic in her school days, but no such time came to mind, since he was never requested to do anything of this sort. That made this experience the first of many possible awkward meetings inside Twinkleshine’s house.

“Better get going before I get to think of how strange it will be at Lyra’s home,” thought Spike out loud as he began to rush to the next home on his route.

The next one on his list was Moondancer, since it was the closest one from his current location. It was just a few turns, and some blocks, away.

It was in the vicinity of the Canterlot Stadium, a small house in the middle of two elegant buildings, which caused it to stand out all the more as a humble home surrounded by elegance and regal structures. One could walk by the place and not even bother to acknowledge the building existing there.

He walked past a withered tree and towards the door to gave three soft knocks and waited, although he was slightly paranoid that he would be received the same way he was with Twinkleshine.

Nothing happened for an entire time of five minutes, and Spike was forced to knock once more, with more force this time to ensure that his presence was noticed by the resident.
The door opened slowly, and from the small crack, Spike noticed an eye glaring at him right at the moment the door opened completely.

Spike was about to go through the whole spiel and hand Moondancer the invitation as quickly as possible, but once he saw the state of the unicorn, he was frozen from head to toe as his eyes remained focused on what he guessed was a pony.

Her face was tired, and her eyes were red and held bags of a sleepless night, along with her lips that shown cracks of dehydration as well with her mane combed in one knot to keep it all above her head.

“Who is it? What do you want?” she mumbled, adjusting her eyes to have a better look at the figure in front of her.

Spike could see how grumpy Moondancer seemed and wondered if it was a bad time to give her the invitation, but he was still concerned of the current state of his friend.

“Moondancer, it’s me. Spike. Are you alright?” he asked, holding a claw up in case she would fall down at a giving moment.

The vanilla coated unicorn focused her eyes on the green spot until it focused clearly for her to see. “Spike, what are you doing here this late in the night?” she asked, until her brain realized that sunlight fell upon them. “Uhm, rather being… What time is it?” she corrected once she saw how bright it was and retreated back into her home.

Spike followed her inside, stumbling on many things with his feet before his eyes adjusted to the darkness that the room held. “It’s kinda like an hour pass sunrise,” replied Spike once he could manage to see the entire mess the house was in. “Did you even sleep last night?” he asked, finding the mare looking at herself in a mirror.

“No, I spent the entire night catching up on my studies about the Kirin cultural history and the economic exchange of Equestria and the Saddle Arabian tribe,” explained Moondancer as she then walked near Spike. “After the last conference, I was getting so behind in my studies that I needed to catch up on them,” she explained.

Spike mused at how Moondancer was similar to Twilight in how she would act if Celestia gave her a spree of lessons for her all week, but he let that thought slide as he decided to take this as an opportunity to complete his reason for visiting his friend.

“I just wanted to give you this invitation to Twilight’s slumber party tonight. Hope you can spare some time, now that no new meetings will happen today,” he said, giving her the scroll about the details of the event.

Moondancer adjusted her glasses and began to read the scroll before she realized something about the arrival of Spike. “Wait, how did you know where I live?” she asked curiously, recalling that she never gave her address to Twilight, nor had Twilight ever asked for it.

“Oh, well… I went ahead and got written down all the addresses of all Twilight’s friends a while ago, in case she wanted to hang out… or in case she needed help with a group project,” he replied, smiling to himself for his foresight of the need for such a thing, until he realized that he said too much again.

“So, she knew that all along and never decided to come and visit? Even if it would mean to make a study group?” she questioned with a low growl in her voice, feeling hurt at the implications.

The green drake gave a step back and placed his claws in a defensive manner as he saw the heated glare that Moondancer gave him, and the red of her eyes made it even worse.

“She doesn’t!” he shouted, making the unicorn stop her pressure and give him a confused look. “I went ahead and wrote down all the addresses, but Twilight never asked me for them or that she had planned to have a group study with anypony back then. But don’t take it all on her, because she usually was the lonely type. That’s all,” Spike explained, trying to dissuade another unicorn from his slip up.

The vanilla unicorn was tired and needed sleep, but she listened to his words and calmed herself down, wanting to base her decision on Twilight with as clear of thoughts as she could manage.

“I know she has been a bad friend in the past, and I bet that she is doing this as an apology for the past and to make amends for the day before the Summer Sun Celebration,” she thought out loud as she glanced once more to the invitation and to the baby dragon with serious look. “Fine. I’ll be there, just because I want to know where she lives,” she accepts, guiding Spike once more to the door while giving him a weak smile.

Spike nodded, satisfied with the answer and decided to take his leave, “Great! We’ll see you in the evening then!” he shouted before passing by the stone fence and to the street once more.

Spike now had only two houses left to visit, and they were located in the upper section of the city, almost closer to the castle itself. He needed to finish his task before returning to assist Twilight in the preparations for the party itself.

He walked where most of the ponies trotted on the sidewalk with their usual practiced grace and elegant clothes, clothing meant to show off to those around them just whom they were... Nobility.

For Spike, it was just some unnecessary fashion show, so he, as usual, decided to ignore it and get on to his next target, the house of Lyra Heartstrings.

Walking down through one of the finest districts of the city, where mansion after mansion were lined up for each noble to live in, Spike could not help but note how all of them were displaying a unique design, along with each housing a symbol designating which family it belonged.

One in especifically was the one he was searching for, a heart with four strings crossed from one side to the other, with a golden Sol key in the center of the heart to tell those who walked in front that this was the home of the Heartstrings family.

Spike reached to the entrance and rang a bell that chimed with a sweet melody.

After a brief moment, a butler came and answered the call. “Yes? What is your business here?” he asked once he saw the small drake at the door.

Spike cleared his throat and did his best to act as regal as possible, while failing doing so.
“Is Lyra here?” he simply asked, giving a curious glance to the butler, expecting to receive a simple answer from his part.

The butler remained unfazed but decided to go with answering the baby dragon’s request.
He opened the small part of the gate and stepped aside to let Spike enter. “Follow me please,” he instructed and guided him into the front gardens, taking a side route to pass by the mansion.

Spike followed the butler to a small path that didn’t lead directly to the mansion but to a route that went by to, what he assumed, was the backyard. He could see a giant pool and a canopy that was meant for summer parties, along with a smaller house on the other side of it.

The butler guided Spike until they reached the small house that Spike saw, and gave it three steady knocks.

“Good morning, Rumpelstilking!” greeted Lyra with a broad smile as she noticed the eye roll the butler gave her and leaned on the frame door, “So, what do I owe for this morning visit?” she asked casually, until she noticed the small drake waving his claw to her.

“Sir Spike is here to see you, Madam Lyra,” the butler announced with a nod of his head. He soon took his leave once he fulfilled his current task, not bothering to wait for permission from the mint unicorn.

Lyra ignored the stallion and stepped aside from the door, allowing Spike better access. “Hey there, Spike. Come on in!” invited Lyra with enthusiasm at the sudden visit of Spike. “Sorry for the mess here, but I was quite busy… “ the mare added as she saw the mess that the small home was in.

Spike decided to ignore the litter that the room was filled with and sat down on a couch in the middle of the living room, followed by Lyra as she took a seat on the sofa in front. “So, what’s Twilight been up to? Guess that Twilight has begun with her solitary readings as usual, huh?” Lyra asked as soon she relaxed on her own sofa from the front.

“Not really,” Spike straightened his back and summoned the next invitation and handed it over to Lyra. “Twilight is having a slumber party, and she’d truly love for you to come,” he explained after seeing the mint unicorn holding the scroll in her magic hand.

“Well, that seems to be a sudden change of scenario,” Lyra said while placing the invitation on a stand, ”Okay. I’ll be there on time,” she added with a smile, along with an awkward silence that Spike didn’t expect to happen. After all, the other four spared some time to speak with him, and this meeting seemed to end rather dryly.

“So, uhm… how are things here? Still being a free spirit and all that?” asked the baby dragon, noticing several things the small room had that would resemble a home, but not enough to be comfortable to live in it.

“Yeah. Been spending some bits to have this little piece of heaven looking nice and comfy,” replied the mare as she picked up a juice box with her magic and took a sip from it. “Orange juice?” she suddenly offered one for her guest, receiving an eager nod from him.

Spike eagerly accepted the drink and took the moment to relax a bit more with his friend. “But why are you not living there? You know, with your family?” Spike asked pointing at the bigger house in front of them.

Lyra sat back and relaxed her head on the back of her sofa as she looked up at the roof. “It’s just not my style, you know?” she replied, waving the juice box from one side to another. “I just kinda want to obtain things by myself, and not just because I’m a Heartstrings,” she told the baby dragon, before smiling at him the same way she always did, to make him know to not say a word about it.

“Uhm... okay then. Well, see you at the party!” Spike finished his juice quickly and walked to the door, before waving goodbye to the mint green unicorn.

“It better be fun!” she shouted once the drake walked back around the pool and through the front garden.

Spike now needed to rush and deliver the last invitation to Lemon Hearts, the only one that lived close by to Twilight. More specifically, he had to go closer to the castle, where a small neighborhood was built exclusively for the ponies that work under the service of the crown, aside for the royal guards and servants.

Many of the houses were modest and not outstanding, unlike the ones of the high class nobles of the luxurious district, but they all were well maintained and held a pristine look of their own.

It didn’t take Spike long to find the humble home of the yellow unicorn, one that was painted light pink with white spots, a small frontal garden, with a flower bed of daisies and lilies and a backyard that held a big lemon tree that could be seen from the street.

The baby dragon walked confidently and rang the doorbell, hearing a small tune from inside the residence.

Lemon Hearts opened the door with an excited smile, “Hello there, little Spike! Come on in,” invited Lemon Heart’s with a smile, as she guided him to the kitchen. “I was about to take breakfast early today. Wanna join me?” she offered with a smile as she began to collect two plates with her telekinesis, and placed them on the table.

“Actually, Lemon, I am here to deliver this invitation,” Spike, as he had been doing from the very beginning, gave Lemon Hearts the last invitation for the party that Twilight was planning for the night.

The yellow unicorn put aside the plates and received the parchment, revealing the contents to read for her own eyes and smiling broadly at what they had inscribed.

“What a great opportunity! A night gathering in Twilight’s home, for all of us to take part in!” She rolled back the scroll and left it on the table. ”Would it be better to bring something for the party? I can bring a good batch of my delicious lemon flavored cupcakes, with sour sweet gummies in the top,” she offered, having a need to give something for being invited to the party that she was now eager to assist in.

Spike beamed with glee at the proposal of Lemon Hearts bringing one of her special treats to the party, ones he enjoyed whenever they are brought before him.

“Definitely! I’ll be waiting for them tonight,” he licked his lips in anticipation, while Lemon Hearts giggled as she saw his reaction at the mention of her pastries.

“Expect a good batch for tonight then,” Lemon Hearts smiled as she guided Spike out to the entrance door to see him off to the street. “Until tonight!” she said, waving her hoof at him.

“See you there!” he replied before rushing back to the streets and heading to the Castle of Canterlot.

He rushed as quickly as his little legs could take him, having wanted to make sure everything on Twilight’s side was prepared.

At the main entrance of the castle two guards saw him rushing towards them, but never bothered to stop him.

“Good morning, Sir Spike!” called out one guard as the other gave the baby dragon a polite smile.

“Good morning, guys!” Spike greeted in return, passing by with a wave of his claw. He didn’t have time to stop, though not like he could remember their names due to not remembering which guard was in which place in the castle.

The two guards just simply saw him ran off the paved road and take the usual road, leading to his home with the princess’s prized pupil.

Spike could see where he, and Twilight, lived from a distance, and decided to rush up a bit to see what else he could do for the lavender unicorn

Running as fast his little legs could give him, Spike reached the stairs that were the only access to the front door and opened them, with more force than he might have intended to, and found Twilight with a check list held in her magic and a saddlebag in the floor.

“Spike! Glad you came back,” Twilight greeted the baby dragon and rubbed his head. “I hope you didn’t have any problems with the invitations, right?” she asked, not wanting to deal with any kind of disaster before the party itself.

“All invitations delivered, and all of them have accepted to come tonight!” Spike reported with a smile and leaned closely to inspect the checklist that Twilight was currently writing.

“That’s great! With all of them here, the first part of the plan is a success!” Twilight smiled as she levitated a second scroll and made a mark in it before she returned it to its place. “Alright, Spike, I’ll be going out to buy some supplies and obtain some extra pillows for tonight. You will be taking care of cleaning and bringing out some of the games for entertainment in order to begin phase two,” the lavender unicorn instructed while adjusting her saddle bags on her back and walking to the door.

“Yes, Ma’am!” the purple baby dragon gave a military salute, the thought of making this as a serious royal guard task made it a little more fun for him, rather than another labor to do.

Twilight closed the door and walked down the stairs to the road that directed to the castle, her mind filled with how well things would go for tonight.

After all, the real purpose for this event was to have a better understanding of her friends and to have a stronger bond with each other. Or with her for the most part.
> Shopping madness.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was cantering through the halls of the castle, her first priority on her list of things to have for the slumber party: obtain extra pillows and some blankets. The reason she went to the castle was because of how short notice the party was, along with how limited her budget was in order to acquire several things before the night.

Being the prized pupil that she was, Twilight was able to feel free to request almost anything from the maids in the castle and have it be delivered with no amount of questioning nor hesitation from them… it was something she was not eager to abuse.

It didn’t matter where she was heading to or whether she had a specific place in mind to go. She only needed to find a maid that could fulfill her request before the night could fall upon them.

It didn’t take her that long in her search, for Twilight had encountered a maid walking humbly in her direction with a quick well practiced trot.

“Excuse me, miss?” Twilight attempted to call for her attention and succeeded once she saw her stop to meet the lavender unicorn.

“Do you require something, Lady Twilight?” asked the maid, giving a courteous bow to her superior, eager to please her in whatever the princess’s student needed.

It was a little uncomfortable for Twilight to be in such position but she needed to try to keep herself calm in order to be clear in what she needed, “I... uhm... can you please deliver some extra pillows and a few blankets to my tower today, before sundown, if it’s not much of a bother?” she was polite in her request and did her best to not make any imposing move upon the mare, to avoid causing her to think that some sort of punishment would happen to her if she failed on pleasing her superior.

“Of course, Lady Twilight. I will make sure that your request is fulfilled immediately,” declared the maid with a respectful bow, and soon turned around to trot directly to, what Twilight could only guess was, the supply room and rushed to do her job.

“Thank you!” Twilight shouted before she lost sight of her. Now that that was done, it was now time to obtain the next thing from her list: some groceries in the market district.

Marking a check on the top of her list, Twilight took towards the direction that led to the main gate and to the main street out of the castle, where two guards had been stationed in order to check upon incoming and outgoing ponies.

“Good morning, sirs,” she greeted with her usual kindness as she walked past them.

“Good morning, Lady Twilight. Heading to the library early?” asked one of the guards, knowing too well the daily routine of the scholarly unicorn.

Twilight stopped and smiled at both ponies. “Actually, I am heading to the market district to buy some things for tonight,” she explained as she saw the two stallions mouth go agape.

“Re- really!? You never do th- I mean. Ahem... Have a good day then, Lady Twilight!” saluted the same guard as his partner did the same, both being surprised at such a sudden change of pace, since many ponies that worked in the castle knew that it was Spike that was usually the one in charge of handling the shopping for Twilight.

“Thank you, and you two have a good day, as well!” Twilight said back and trotted away to the inner part of the city.

“It’s good to have friends, right?” asked the guard to his partner once she saw the mare go off in the distance.

“Definitely. I have never seen Lady Twilight do anything for somepony else before,” replied his partner from aside, giving a soft smile to the mare as she got out of sight, before returning to their usual stoic demeanor.

Twilight gazed at the sun to gauge the time, and she decided that she should probably take a quicker pace to the market district, before things got to crowded.

Canterlot Kiosk is certainly the place that Spike had recommended her to go, and he helped to make a list of which stands she could get a discounted price during her shopping spree. Many stalls aligned the road, with each one holding on sale typical daily life supplies and other not so typical things that could only be obtained in other regions of the land.

Twilight could see the many ponies walking throughout the many stalls. Most of them were servants that had been dealt the task to restock the shelves of their patrons, as they inspected the contents and selected only the best things that the vendors could offer.

From the small list of local shops, she needed to find a certain stall that would be selling the first thing on her buying list.

Fortunately for Twilight, the walk didn’t last long, as the lavender unicorn found the first thing she needed on her list and rushed to the location of the broccoli stand.

Keeping a friendly smile towards the mare that was in charge of the stall and taking out her scroll to prepare for finishing this task.

“Good morning. I would like to buy two batches of broccoli, please,” she requested politely to the unicorn mare from the other side of the counter, who was returning the same smile at her.

“Right away, miss! And let me add that we have the best product this city can offer!” the mare said, using the boastful slogan towards Twilight, since she considered that she was a new buyer that could become a regular customer, while placing the vegetables that the client requested on the counter for the lavender mare to judge for herself.

Twilight collected her broccoli, putting them in her saddlebags, and left the necessary bits in its place. “Thank you very much,” she said before trotting off to the next stall, though not before making a mark next to the word broccoli on her list.

Once Twilight was out of earshot the mare pondered on a simple question she had from the moment she saw the lavender unicorn arrive to her little stall.

“Have I met that mare before?” she asked herself while another mare, from another stall, leaned closer to her friend. “I think I have met her before.”

“That’s Twilight Sparkle!” her friend answered with an urgent tone as if she was under a rock during the week long of news about the six heroines of Equestria. “She is the prized student of princess Celestia, and little Spike, her ward, comes here often, to buy from our business!” her friend reminded as she saw the lavender unicorn vanish among the crowd.

“What? Really!?” the mare from the broccoli stand jumped from her stand, not believing that such a huge celebrity had come and bought her product just as any other pony did, and soon enough brought her shame for not treating Twilight with the respect she deserved.

After that, the word about, Twilight’s presence, was quickly spread through the entire market district, and everypony, even those who roamed among got the news about the lavender unicorn was doing shopping with them.

The murmurs around Twilight began to increase, and the feeling of gazes falling solemnly on her increased as well as she continued to walk towards her next destination to continue her shopping.

“Good morning. I would like to have…” Twilight was in the middle of her request, but she noticed something from the corner of her eye, something she found slightly worrisome and quite disturbing to a degree for her well being.

The owner of the stall was smiling quite broadly and watched Twilight without a blink from his eyes, eyes that were expecting to fulfill anything the lavender unicorn wished from him.

“Yes?” asked the stallion, awaiting for his customer to make the order he was so eager to obey. “What can I get’cha?”

The way that he asked was something that made Twilight uncomfortable, as she felt that not only the stallion was watching at her with desire, but also the other ponies’ eyes around her were also on her, watching her... as if she was somepony out of place.

“It’s Twilight Sparkle!” shouted a mare from behind the lavender unicorn, and with that affirmation, everypony rushed closer, surrounding her, and began to shout their attention to her in an ecstatic way.

“Lady Twilight, can I have your autograph?”
“Can you tell me how powerful your magic is?”
“How can I become Celestia’s prized pupil, like you?”
“Is it true that you are more powerful than Princess Celestia herself!?”
“Please let me have a picture with you!”

Those and many other questions and requests filled Twilight’s ears as they also pulled her limbs from one place to another in order to have her attention for themselves.

Twilight, for her part, wasn’t having any comfort at all with with all the ponies around her as they struggled to have a moment with her without her consent, pulling her from one place to another, shouting at her ear in order to be heard and bombarding her eyes with flashes of light with cameras, that they conveniently brought with themselves.

All the peer pressure that the crowd began to give, made the unicorn feel desperate to leave the place immediately, without being followed or being sought out from her escape.

She quickly channeled her magical energy, as she recalled the basic proceedings of the magical formula to complete a teleportation spell, in order to get away from the many ponies that still barraged her with questions and requests.

Without any warning nor having any idea of what was about to happen, the crowd closed their eyes for a moment, as they were suddenly blinded with a flash of mulberry light from the spell. After they recovered their sight, they noticed the absence of the lavender unicorn that was once in front of them.

“Hey! Where did she go?” asked a stallion as he glanced around, searching for Twilight.

Noticing that nopony could find the lavender unicorn, all the ponies groaned in disappointment and dispersed from the point where they gathered, returning to their usual chores of shopping from before Twilight’s arrival. Certainly, an opportunity was lost that day for those ponies, as they all felt that they reached the silent conclusion that nothing good had come from assaulting their heroine with such a lack of consideration to the wielder of the Element of Magic.

At the other side of the kiosk, inside of an alley, Twilight reappeared, with heavy breathings and a shaky posture, she took a look over herself before nodding satisfied that nothing was out of place, except for a few little burnt marks. “Not bad for a first test run,” she complimented to herself with a satisfactory smile, but she then frowned once she looked back to the street that connected back to the Kiosk. It was clear that going back there again would not be an option anymore.

Twilight then checked her saddlebags and was glad that her belongings were still intact, including the broccoli she recently bought.

“I can’t risk it going back there again. Those ponies might actually begin to mug me,” she guessed, and with a defeated sigh, she started to turn around and head back to the castle.

“Twilight!” exclaimed a pony from behind, which caused the lavender unicorn to scream, startled. In her fear, Twilight didn’t hesitate to go full on gallop, but she was stopped by a magical tug on her shoulder, which forced to turn around and meet with a mint green unicorn. “Hey, what’s the rush for, Twilight?” asked Lyra with a smile as her magical hand vanished.

Twilight let go a breath of relief once she saw that it was only her friend that was behind her and smiled. “Sorry, Lyra. I was just startled because I was assaulted by all the ponies back in the Kiosk, so I kinda panicked when you called me,” she said as she rubbed the back of her head as she neared Lyra. “So, what are you doing here? If you don’t mind my question.”

“I was just on my usual daily shopping routine,” she replied with a casual tone as she pointed back to the market. “Usually, I go to that one over there.”

Twilight flinched once she noticed where she was pointing, while Lyra noticed her pained expression all the same. “What’s with that face? Did something happen there?” she asked, concerned for the reason her friend was worried.

“I was assaulted recently, by a group of ponies, asking me questions and demanding autographs from me, and the worst was that they were pulling me from one side to another, like two foals fighting for a doll,” Twilight explained, feeling wary of another pony popping out to see her and calling others to follow them.

Lyra noticed how paranoid she was being and decided to keep things calm and collected. “Hey, Twilight? You don’t have to be all like that… Those ponies just wanted to meet their new famous celebrity, that’s all,” she said reassuringly with a smile, “Tell you what, I’ll go with you back there, so you don’t have to deal with them alone. Okay?” she offered, in order to calm the lavender unicorn.

“I don’t know, Lyra. Those ponies surrounded me quickly, throwing question after question at me, not even giving me a chance to reply. They consistently requested me photos with them and autographs, not caring for any proper use of forming a decent order of line, and all that was happening while they were pulling my limbs away, just to have my full attention even when there were many others that did the same,” she complained, not liking the idea one bit of it until she decided to leave the market while she still could. “I better go back home and try to do something else for tonight.” She then turned her back at the Canterlot Kiosk and began to walk away.

Lyra placed a hoof on her right shoulder. She smiled calmly to her friend as she chuckled softly. “There is no need for that, Twilight. I’ll be there with you that nothing that bad is going to happen… Again, I promise,” she assured her with a smile before trotting happily to the market.

Twilight just stood in place, watching how Lyra trotted without her to the Canterlot Kiosk with only a simple glance from behind of her to make sure that Twilight was, at least, still there.

Her mind began to tell her to go back home, just to avoid any other pony that would rush against her, like the market ponies did, until the news of the six heroines would finally end… But her heart made her remain in her place, to make her reconsider trusting in her friend’s words of reassurance and the promise of her being there, no matter the outcome.

Certainly, the decision didn’t need to be weighed upon, as Twilight made a clear decision in trusting her friend. After all, she knew that the mint green unicorn would never let her suffer alone, not even against a mob of overemotional fans that would most likely redo what began the last five minutes ago.

“Lyra, wait!” Twilight rushed to be at her side and smiled at her, “Only because you offered to be there with me,” she clarified to Lyra, which caused her to smile in return, and they both began to walk back to the market with a simple trot to the stalls.

Returning to the market district, they both walked among the ponies, who now were just averting their eyes to see both unicorns walk past them and whispering to each other. While Twilight began to gaze at every simple movement the ponies did, she was also keeping an eye for those who would dare to make a jump forward that would create a reaction from others to follow said pony.

So far, nopony dared to even point at them as both unicorns walked aimlessly across the paved sidewalk of the market while making their way through the crowd. Twilight was still looking from left to right at all the ponies she could gaze upon, but so far, nothing happened that would cause the lavender unicorn to flee.

“Uhm, Twilight?” Lyra’s voice made Twilight flinch, but she suddenly knew that it was only her friend that called. “You know what you are buying? Because we’ve been walking with no direction whatsoever for a few minutes,” she complained while trying to look calm for the other ponies to see.

“Oh. Right,” Twilight took out her grocery list and began to check it for the next item to buy. “We need to buy some potatoes and carrots. Spike told me that there is a mare from this section who would sell them to him for a good price for each vegetable,” commented Twilight as she decided to change focus, from the pedestrians towards the vendors in the stalls.

“Well, luckily for you, I know where that mare is,” expressed Lyra happily as she increased the pace. “Follow me!” she exclaimed as she trotted forward, leaving behind the lavender unicorn, which needed to rush a bit faster before she could feel herself defenseless.

Twilight had to do her best to keep up with Lyra until they arrived at a stall where carrots and potatoes were on display.

“Lyra! It’s good to see you here!” exclaimed a blue unicorn mare with brown mane once she spotted the mint green mare that was trotting towards her. “What are you in the mood for today? I got a good batch of potatoes, not unlike the last time,” she offered as she showed her a potato that was certainly in good condition for consuming.

“Hey, Vinaigrette!” Lyra said as she stepped aside to introduce her friend to the vendor. “Twilight Sparkle, this is Vinaigrette Sauce, the most trustworthy pony in selling veggies on this side of Canterlot. Vinaigrette Sauce, this is Twilight Sparkle, the smartest unicorn in all Equestria.” The two introduced mares inspected each other closely.

“So, you are the famous Twilight Sparkle. Lyra has talked so much about you,” greeted the unicorn mare, giving her a hoofshake, which Twilight returned kindly.

“I hope not that much of a famous pony,” muttered Twilight as she smiled once more to the mare. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I was in a search for a batch of potatoes and carrots to buy,” she then requested while taking a look of Vinaigrette’s vegetables.

“Search no more! Because this is the right place for what you are looking for, and for a good price as well,” declared Vinaigrette as she prepared two bags of each product Twilight requested. “Lyra here can guarantee all about the quality of our products,” she added while handing them over to the lavender unicorn with her magic.

Twilight placed both veggies in her saddlebag, but not before giving a look to Lyra, who was smiling nervously at Twilight while avoiding eye contact with her. A certain strange choice of words for Twilight to hear, since she knew that Lyra was the daughter of a noble family, and that would imply that she had somepony else to do the shopping. Also, there was the fact that they both knew each other very well.

But before she could make her friendly question about the subject, a small foal arrived slowly and stopped near the two unicorns.

“Miss Twilight?” asked Tootsie Flute, who was close to the lavender unicorn, “Can I have your autograph?” he suddenly asked before pulling out a small notebook and pencil.

It took one second for Twilight understand what the little pony wanted and another second for her to notice that the other ponies began to walk closer to her with the same eagerness to be with her.

Panic began to grow inside of her, causing Twilight to react immediately and prepare her teleportation spell to flee away once more from the mob, but a hoof on her shoulder distracted her concentration as she saw Lyra smiling and remembering her words of not abandoning her. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she smiled at the sky blue pony and took hold of the pencil and paper with her  magic.

“To whom should I dedicate this to, little one?” Twilight asked as she was ready to sign the paper once she heard the filly’s reply.

The little foal shook its head, not wanting the dedication. “Only the signature, please, next to the other four,” The little pony requested wagging her tail in happy excitement, which gave Twilight an inquiry look of what he was referring to.

Twilight’s answer came once she saw that the page that she was about to sign was already filled with the signatures of Lyra, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts and Minuette, which left only Moondancer and hers.

“Okay… let me take this spot for my signature,” she said softly and wrote her name with her magic writing, and giving back the pencil and paper to the foal.

“Thank you, Lady Twilight!” exclaimed happily the foal, as he rushed through the gathering crowd that was now more conglomerated around both mares.

Feeling cornered by the surrounding ponies, Twilight took a tentative step back, but Lyra was soon taking the step forward in front of Twilight, creating a wall between the crowd and the lavender unicorn. “Alright, everypony, listen up!” began the mint green unicorn with a voice loud enough for the crowd to hear. “You can all get an autograph from Twilight Sparkle if you form a decent line…” she announced as the ponies smiled with interest and slowly began to make a line, but they stopped once Lyra continued to add more. “ And pay ten bits for each one!”

This caused several groans and complaints from the crowd of ponies while Twilight almost lost her balance from the choice of words her friend had mentioned, and she now placed a hoof on Lyra’s shoulder. “I don’t think that part of selling my autograph is a good idea,” she said softly but firmly, which caused Lyra to smile nervously and feel ashamed for her action.

“Alright, alright. There won’t be any charges for the autograph, but we still require a nice line in order for everypony to be calm!” Lyra soon corrected herself as the ponies sighed in relief and began to form the line, allowing some foals to cut to the front.

Twilight was at least glad that the crowd, this time, decided to act in proper order as she began to give autographs and take some pictures, from those who coincidentally held a camera with them.

For Twilight to be considered as a famous celebrity and to be doing this... it was still uncomfortable for her to subject herself to this, but it was something she wanted to do in order to please those who were grateful for the aversion of a catastrophe. 

“Who’s next?” she asked with a pleasant smile as the next pony took a step forward.

***

In the tower, Spike was taking a moment of relaxation, once he managed to clean the house for the event, sitting on the couch and resting his body until Twilight returned.

It wasn’t long before there was knocking at the front door, and Spike groaned as he dragged his body from his position of comfort and answered the call.

“Hello?” the little dragon said as he saw the maid smiling at him.

“Sir Spike, we brought the pillows Lady Twilight has requested,” the maid announced with a proud smile of her task being near to be completed successfully.

Spike beamed happily at the announcement, since he was expecting them to come, but he soon was inquisitive, giving a good look around the mare. He couldn’t find any pair of extra pillows, or even a blanket with the mare, or nearby. “I don’t see any of the pillows,” he pointed out simply as he raised an eyebrow at the maid, curious as to know if she had dropped them somewhere on the way.

The maid was a little confused, as she had to let the little drake know where to search. “Oh, we still need to bring them up the stairs. I just went ahead to call the door and announce our arrival,” explained the maid, which caused the little dragon to be more curious as to know the reason for the maid to speak in plural, since she was the only one before him.

It took a moment for Spike to realize what the maid meant, though it became apparent as he followed the eyes of the maid and saw that another five maids were formed in line one after another with a cart attached to them that was filled with pillows.

“We were not informed on how many pillows Lady Twilight requested, so we did our best to bring these many pillows to her room, in order to fulfill her needs of having more pillows for tonight!” informed the maid as the others unhooked themselves from the carts and began to unload the pillows, loading them on their backs to bring them up through the stairs and into the tower.

Spike only remained in the doorway as he watched the group of ponies do their job, not being able to know if this is what Twilight had requested for the slumber party, since it would be bad to let the effort be set to waste by his intervention.

“Uhm, you can put them in the middle of the living room,” Spike instructed as he saw the maids began to unload the pillows in the place he indicated, leaving the pillows in the middle of the room and returning to bring the next batch, while he offered to help them with bringing more pillows inside the tower.

One by one, the maids placed a small stack of pillows one after another, going back and forth between the stack and the ones they were retreating from the base of the stairs, until the pile was big enough to reach the ceiling. Spike was impressed to see the amount of pillows the maids had gathered, and he was wondering what could Twilight be doing with such an amount.

“If I may be so bold to ask, what is Twilight planning with so many pillows?” one maid asked, as it was clear that her curiosity won against her own judgement of not wondering about the affairs of others. “We might have exaggerated the number of pillows she requested, but we didn’t wish to fail in her need for pillows,” the maid said softly.

“Twilight will be hosting a slumber party for tonight, and she requested the extra pillows for her friends, who will arrive here this night,” he replied happily as he answered the maid’s question.

The group of maids gasped in surprise and joy at the sudden news of the reluctant Twilight hosting a night party for other ponies of her age.

“Oh, how lovely... to see the young filly having a night time with friends. We have never seen her get along with those other fillies of her school,” one maid said as the others nodded in agreement, since they all had spent time servicing the lavender unicorn from time to time, but they never saw her within the company of another pony of her age. “But, if that is the case, we shouldn’t bring that many pillows here. Would you like for us to take them back and only leave those she needs?” she offered while the other maids looked at the little drake, concerned of what his reply would be.

Spike paused in thought as he looked at the pillows, placing his claw on his chin to simulate a thinking pose as he thought of what to do with such a huge amount of pillows for the night with the girls. It needed to be enclosed enough for them stably hold each other together, and also be something that could be described as fun and entertaining, something that could surprise them once they arrived.

“I think I got an idea on what to do, just give me a second,” the little dragon said as he rushed quickly to the second floor and to Twilight’s study.

Searching through several cabinets with Twilight’s personal documents, Spike began to search for a specific set of blueprints that were located in the architectural section, subsection Forts, and picked the specified file for the little idea he had in mind for the use of the pillows.

Spike then returned back down with the specific blueprints in his claws and showed the design to the six maids that awaited him, “We can use the pillows to build a fort. Twilight used to love these when she was a filly. She made less of them once she dedicated her time to more of her studies,” he confessed, showing the schemes to the maids to see how it was done.

The blueprints were drawn in a childlike fashion, and some of them had doodles of a little  lavender unicorn and a pink alicorn waving hello to those who saw them, but the details and measures were very accurate and neatly done, making it easy to follow.

“We can assist you in constructing it, if that is what you wish,” the maid offered her aid, along the others.

Spike smiled and pointed at the pillows. “Very well then. I’ll be supervising, so that everything will be in order and that the fort will be well built for tonight!” he exclaimed, happy to be in charge of the team of maids. They saluted like a group of guards, ready to follow orders from the little drake, and began to gallop to build the base of the fortress of pillows.

***

“Thanks, Miss Twilight!” one stallion said as he happily left with his camera hanging on his neck, trotting with glee that he had taken a photo with the hero of Equestria.

Twilight wiped the sweat off her brows and exhaled with satisfaction. “That was the last of them,” she said to herself, smiling at Lyra, who was currently talking with Vinaigrette due to the time Twilight had spent dealing with the ponies vying for her attention. “Never thought that so many ponies would be requesting something from me,” she said once she returned to Lyra and Vinaigrette, while she regained her saddlebags and placed them on her back to continue.

“It sure did get hectic since the word got out about you being here and more ponies arrived,” Lyra said as she and Twilight waved goodbye to her friend, Vinaigrette, and marched down the street to continue with the shopping Twilight had to do. “You gotta admit that giving autographs and receiving photos was pretty fun though,“ she said as she tried to make small talk of it.

“Not really the type of fun that I would like,” replied Twilight, which caused Lyra to look at her in surprise and disbelief.

“What do you mean?” asked Lyra, slightly curious as to know why she chose such words, since it was really thrilling to be acclaimed and cheered for being a hero. That was… until something called her attention.

“To be honest, I’m not very fond of being the center of attention, not even when I was chosen to be Celestia’s personal pupíl,” Twilight said as she focused on the ground rather than her surroundings. “The compliments and the praises aren’t something that suit me well… I just did what anypony could’ve done at that time, and that’s it. You know what I’m saying?” she asked, but soon noticed that Lyra was busy waving at some foals that were talking to her.

The mint green unicorn returned her attention back to Twilight, as if nothing was amiss. “Oh, sorry, did you said something?” she asked once she returned next to Twilight.

The lavender unicorn snorted and decided to continue. She might as well indulge her friends by allowing them to bask in the glory, since they had a participating role in all of it.

“Nothing,” she mumbled as she continued her way forward to continue with the shopping.

Lyra had noticed how silent it had become during their walk through the plaza, and Twilight was now stacked with all the groceries she needed.

Twilight set to a stop, once she arrived to a bifurcation of the road and smiled thinly at Lyra. “Well, I should go back home and help Spike with the finishing touches for the night,” she said.

“Okay… See you there then!” replied the mint green unicorn with excitement, eager to see what things Twilight had planned for the slumber party.

The lavender unicorn nodded and turned to return to the castle and continue with the next step of the preparations, which consisted more of cooking and preparing a good dinner for the evening.

Even if the unexpected mob of ponies delayed her time in the market, it wasn’t much of a problem. There was still enough time to prepare things before the night arrived. A good dinner and the plans of what kind of activities would be held at the time were something that can still be made, with even a little time to spare for a book.

With all things good, Twilight was certain that no problem would fall on her behalf in regards to the planning of the party, and it would be a huge success for her first party with her friends… But for some reason, she felt that something was of amiss in some part of her plan. Something that was almost crucial in the fact that one could say was the key towards making it what one could call a party.
> Intermission.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proper Pose, a middle age coral pink pegasus with an ebony mane which was tied into a professional bun, trotted down through the big halls of Canterlot Castle. After giving a look at her pocket watch, she noticed that only ten minutes were remaining before the afternoon tea had to be delivered for her majesty, causing the mare to double her steps into a canter, heading directly towards the kitchen in order to pick up the set of tea and biscuits for her majesty.

Taking the secondary route led her quickly to the kitchen without having to go through the dining room. Once inside, she passed by the bustling chefs and assistants that were preparing the food for the royal guard and other maids.

Pose reached a small area where the maids and butlers had to receive and deliver the platters of silverware for the the employers of the castle and princesses. She walk forward and noticed the group of maids had been talking amongst each other.

“Can you believe it? Twilight Sparkle, the princess’s pupil, is having a party tonight!” the voice of a mare made the ears of Proper Pose flick at attention, knowing that the voice came from the small group that was reunited inside of the kitchen, and the coral mare decided to walk in on the conversation to barge in and make her presence known.

“I hope this is not another ill speaking of Lady Sparkle,” Proper Pose said, with a stern gaze directed to each of her workmates as she walked in between the group of talking ponies, making sure that her presence made them realize that nopony was going to make any ill intentioned talk to one of the most respected ponies of the castle, aside from the princess herself.

“You all know very well that the princess’s student is a renowned figure that has not only averted a natural disaster to the entire kingdom, but she has also returned the lost princess of the moon, Princess Luna, sister of princess Celestia,” she admonished, glaring from the corner of her eye to the others, as she stopped in the room and waited for the princess’s personal tea set to arrive at her hooves.

It was common that ponies from the castle would be talking about rumors from pony to pony, something to keep them entertained during their daily duties and obligations, but such rumors were still a clear way to damage the reputation of the one who was being subjected to such activity. It was something that Pose never intervened in unless it was about the few respected ponies that worked inside, since it was somehow her responsibility to keep the young ones from going and spreading unmerciful rumors of everypony in the castle.

The group of mares remained silent from the stern words of their superior, but it was one of the maids from the group who stepped forward and decided to act in defense of the others to avoid any confusion. “We weren’t giving bad talk about Miss Twilight, Pose. It’s just that we heard from Squeaky Clean that Lady Twilight is preparing a slumber party in her personal quarters for tonight,” she explained while the others backed her up with simultaneous nods.

Proper Pose eased her glare as she received the silver platter that was for her to deliver directly to Celestia, not before noticing that it held more tea cups and biscuits than it usually required, picking it up and placing the tea set in a service trolley nearby.

“She seems to be opening her heart for others then,” Proper Pose commented with a soft smile, which was received by the smiles of the others.

“This information could please Princess Celestia. I bet this would make her very happy to hear!” a maid said, nodding with confidence.

Proper Pose chuckled a bit as she pushed the trolley out of the kitchen. “She might as well know already. Lady Sparkle might gave her the news personally about the event, since they spend so much time together.” It was almost certain that everypony in the castle would assume that Twilight and Celestia had not only a relationship of teacher and student, but almost that of a daughter and mother.

Without wasting what’s left of her time, the coral pegasus rushed carefully towards Celestia’s bedchambers, taking several shortcuts she had memorized from the many years of service for the crown. As she arrived at Princess Celestia’s tower, she walked with a brisk yet graceful pace towards the princess’s bedroom was located.

Walking down the small hall that connected the castle to the Solar Tower, Pose arrived at the mahogany double doors that held the symbol of the sun on it. She was grateful that there was only one minute to spare and knocked on the frame two times, awaiting for her permission to enter.

“Thou can come in!” a soft and nervous reply came, causing Proper Pose to look slightly confused, since the voice was not near from the Princess of the Sun. One could only assume that an intruder had infiltrated inside the castle and into the royal bedchamber, but the inconsistencies were obvious from the amount of food that the tea set held and the voice that granted her permission to enter, giving the idea that a guest was inside.

With a quick exhalation in order to calm down her nerves, Proper Pose opened the doors wide and pushed the trolley in first, as she assumed that she would eventually know who was the new guest that was inside the room.

Once inside the room a tall, midnight blue alicorn with azure mane stood next to a small coffee table, in the middle of the room, she watched the pegasus with a hint of nervousness in her eyes as she unconsciously rubbed the back of her left forehoof with her right one, expecting something to happen.

Proper Pose was uncertain on what to do, for it was the first time she saw the alicorn mare before her, from the way the new princess was standing and the way her eyes wandered around the place she could assume that she was a little filly that was visiting her majesty’s bedroom for the first time, even if her possible age proved otherwise, but the more Proper Pose examined the blue alicorn, the more she noticed that she was making the royal pony more uncomfortable.

Taking action, while being careful not to act out of place, Pose pushed the trolley further in and kneeled before the alicorn.

“Greetings, my name is Proper Pose, I will be serving the tea this afternoon,” the maid introduced, trying her best to look friendly and welcoming.

The blue alicorn wanted to say something, but she hesitated in order to choose the proper words to say, “It is thine pleasure... to be acquainted of thee. We are known as Princess Luna...” she said softly, trying to find anything else to add. “We would appreciate if thee can commence with the service of the tea,” she decided to add once her eyes landed on the platter on top of the trolley.

“Is Princess Celestia joining you for the tea?” asked the maid while handling the platter with one hoof and a plate of biscuits on her wing, as she failed to see the white alicorn inside the room.

“Certainly she is, though I must admit that she likes to dedicate her time in the bath,” she replied, beginning to speak in a strange combination of old and new Equestrian in the sentence that the coral pegasus decided not to point out.

Taking the words of her sister as her cue, Celestia revealed herself from the doors of the bathroom, walking directly to be with her sister and maid, “Thank you for bringing the tea, Proper Pose. Please continue.” She offered while she take her place in the table.

Pose nodded from her position and began to settle down the platter on the coffee table, along with the treats on her wing, giving one cup to the Lunar Princess and another to the Solar Princess before pouring lukewarm tea in each cup with ease and precision, not spilling the drink nor making a sound in the process.

While the maid continued with her task, Celestia decided to make a small conversation with the three of them, “How is everything with the staff members? Something interesting happening inside the castle walls, perhaps?” asked the white alicorn, checking on anything that her little sister would react upon.

The coral pegasus began to place down two cups of sugar and honey next to the teapot before coming up with an answer to the princess’s question. “There is a rumor that the maids have caught wind of, and it seems that Lady Twilight had requested some preparations for a slumber party this night. Certainly, it is something that the maids and other members of the staff find rather amusing,” she explained while finishing her service and standing next to the trolley. “Please enjoy,” Proper Pose said as she bowed once more before the blue and white alicorns.

Celestia smiled once she saw Luna’s ears perk up at the mention of the party Twilight was hosting for the night and wanted to inquire more of her opinion about it. “It certainly is something amusing and a very fun activity to do for tonight,“ she said as she levitated a spoon from the platter and began to stir her tea. “Thank you for bringing the tea and telling us about this information,” she added while glancing back at her sister and subtly signaled her to say something as well.

“We thank you for thy service. Thou are free to leave,” Princess Luna said with a smile as she glanced at the tea and treats.

“It is an honor, your highness.” The maid took it as a sign to leave and pulled the trolley out of the room, closing the door to make her departure.

Once the door was closed, Luna let go of a small breath of relief, one she had contained inside her lungs before she noticed that her big sister was keeping an eye on her the entire time, certainly to see how she would deal with those others that she would soon be interacting upon with.

“So, what do you think?” Princess Celestia asked as she was expecting the sincere opinion of the blue alicorn, all at the same time adding some teaspoons of honey, that were on the tray that the maid had delivered, and poured them directly into her teacup.

The blue alicorn took a sip of her tea and then met the eyes of her sister with her own. “Thy maid seemed afraid once she became aware of thy presence,” she concluded as she shifted her eyes back to the teacup.

Celestia could see how her eyes were downcast and filled with depression, not an emotion that she wanted to see. “Luna, I don’t think that she was afraid. Well… more like I didn’t hear her voice tremble in fear, nor did she rushed to leave the room immediately,” the white alicorn said in order to comfort her sister while taking a soft sip of her tea.

“But thou cannot see the body of thy servant tremble before our sole presence, Celestia. We can be most certain of that fact!” the blue alicorn shouted as she took an aggressive bite of a cookie and swallowed it down with her tea.

Celestia wanted to retort and break down her argument but it was certain that she wouldn’t be able to dissuade her from that train of thought, but it was something that she had foreseen and had been planning to deal with, little by little. “Don’t think of yourself like that, Luna. The service staff and the others are just taking their time to know you and get accustomed to your presence. That’s all,” she assured her while nibbling on a biscuit of her own. “I also noticed that you were having troubles with common vernacular. Is my book serving you well?” Celestia suddenly changed the subject onto the next issue of the rehabilitation of her little sister.

At the mention of the question, Luna summoned a book from the nightstand of her own room to appear directly in front of her, scanning through the many pages where she had left a bookmark. “We dedicate our time in the book thou has given us, Celestia, but We hardly make sense of it, nor do We have such luck in the opportunity to speak with others,” she said, putting down the book on the table.

It was such a curiosity for the Lunar Princess to receive such a thing on the day after her return. It was even stranger for the ponies to publish such a book by personal request of the Solar Princess, but Luna already had been told about the major changes that the kingdom had suffered during the time of her exile: historical events, the foundations of new cities, new vehicular machines that allowed the transport through the entire kingdom much easier, along with the new way the ponies had began to change the way they speak.

“That is why I wish for you to receive the servant once he, or she, comes here and have a friendly chat with each other,” Celestia said, chuckling to herself while starting to continue to drink her tea. “I know it is still somewhat difficult for you to make a proper conversation one on one, but soon enough, you will have to make a second public appearance,” she added, smiling softly at her sister.

This made Luna almost spit out her drink as she felt nervousness grow inside her mind as her sister spoke on the matter of her having to talk so soon with the public due to her return to the throne. She still had problems during the press conference. She had to assist with all the questions about her past and her shameful fall of grace, which filled her mind with fear of doing this again because of her belief that all of Equestria would still know her as the mad alicorn that wanted to submerge the world in complete darkness, so she needed a scapegoat on the current conversation to avoid more of the subject.

“Pray tell sister, We were inquiring on the matter of that information thy maid reported. What is a slumber party?” she asked, trying her best to keep her face calm and with a hint of honest curiosity, knowing so little of the new customs that her ponies now had, and even more so than normal, as it sounded more like an activity celebrated during the night.

“It is a nighttime event that has the purpose of gathering a small group of friends together in order to have special activities of personal nature. Most are meant to have the purpose of making small talk and getting to know one another on a personal level, while others are meant to have some safe games of a more mischievous nature,” explained the white alicorn in a matter of fact way as she kept a smile that was more a teacher than sister.

“We can probably host a slumber party of our own, in order to obtain more knowledge on the matter!” suggested Luna with some excitement. “We can even bring some… ponies... to interact with.” She fidgeted her forehooves after, hesitant on the matter of reuniting herself with ponies, but hosting a night celebration was just the thing that Luna needed.

Celestia mulled over the idea and smiled from how eager Luna wanted to have her first experience of nighttime activity. “I will give notice to the staff to prepare something for tonight, so you can have an experience of your own about slumber parties, but we must continue on with the subject at hoof,” the Solar Princess promised before she continued on with Luna’s question about the ponies and the night.

Luna seemed rather curious on the subject as she leaned closer to listen to more about these night parties. “Is there any other type of night time events that had been created during my absence?” she asked with sheer curiosity about the new things that had taken place that allowed the ponies to stay awake during the stellar night.

“There have been several things that have been implemented in the traverse of time from the past millennia to now, yes,” replied Celestia as she looked up at the roof to think of the several activities that her ponies have taken dedication to during the night.

“After your banishment, ponies decided to plan a celebration during the night in your honor, such as night gala parties, that after several centuries began to change to be simply known as raves. Certainly, it’s a kind of party where ponies would dance and drink all night, till the dawn if necessary. Other activities would be stargazing, which had started as a job, but to others it has been taken as a hobby to search out and admire the many constellations that the night held,” she began to explain about the many things that the ponies did during the night, but she was soon interrupted by an inquiry from her sister.

“What kind of jobs were designated to those who stayed awake during the night?” Luna asked, interrupting her older sister about the many things that the ponies had been doing in her honor.

Celestia smiled thinly as she kept her eyes on her sister. “There are many jobs that ponies began to take during the night, but there are two major professions that ponies had dedicated most of their time to learn and master,” the white alicorn began to explain, but gave a subtle pause to eat another biscuit and have a sip of her tea. “One is Astronomy, the science that studies the celestial bodies, the natural satellites, stars and comets. It is a dedicated job, in which ponies had built several observatories around Equestria to have their own personal piece of starry sky to look at. The next one is Astrology. This one is focused in the magic branch that is the study of the position of the stars to make fortune telling and elaborate predictions to all ponies who wonder what the future would bring to them. Most ponies who learn in depth about the predictions of the stars can have an impeccable accuracy in their predictions,” Celestia explained, all while Luna listened intently to every single word the white alicorn spoke.

“Who were the bright minds behind the creation of such wondrous things?” asked Luna with a clasp of her hooves, eager to know more about the current subject she was now immersed in. “Has there been other things that our subjects achieved by the magnificence of the night?” Celestia could see how eager she was to know about all the things her little ponies did in order to appreciate the night.

“His name was Eye Sore, quite the name for the pony that was the pioneer in the creation of the telescope and father of astrology, but in any case, he demonstrated to the ponies that the stars had many uses for the ponies during the night, especially for travelers and navigators,” she began with the first pony that discovered the first wonders of the night, all the while she was noticing the big grin on her little sister.

“You mean that they…” Luna trailed off as she was expecting Celestia to finish the sentence, keeping her enthusiasm at a high peak.

“Yes, Luna, they used the stars of night sky as a map, and with them, they were guided through the vast corners of the land, and even the vast seas, to other kingdoms,” Celestia completed her sentence with a proud smile drawn on her lips. “Most of them even created star maps to have an accurate position in their travels,” she added, summoning an old scrolled map that seemed to be just as old as a relic from the days past.

Luna opened the scroll and gasped as soon she saw all the constellations and their positions. She knew them all and where each one was located, as she had always done in the past. “Polaris, Sirius, Regulus, Aldebarán, Antares…” she began to name the stars one by one and the constellations they belonged to, surprised that ponies used them as guides to reach their destination and that they had studied them.

“All of them discovered and registered,” Celestia said, pleased that her sister was now informed about the newfound love for the night their ponies had. “In the beginning of the creation of such science, most ponies were skeptic about using the stars as guides, since they had the belief that you could move them at your beck and call, which it had been proven as false over the passing time,” she concluded as she noticed the confused look of her sister.

“If we had the power to control the stars, we would had used them to break free from our imprisonment far sooner than a thousand years, instead of having to wait for their aid,” Luna commented, annoyed that the ponies never knew about the limits of her powers.

Celestia doesn’t make a comment as she decided to head on to the next part of her recount of history. “Now, about the night based magic implied in astrology…” she added, using the momentum of excitement in order to keep Luna happy.

“The mare that gave birth the magic of the stars was named Twilight Nebula, an intelligent mare in the arts of magic,” she continued with the historic event from what she could remember about it. “Once astronomy had become the big topic in the Great Science Academy, the Guild of Magic and Mysticism began devising many things in order to catch up with the science of ponies of that age,” Celestia explained, but she was cut off by a blue hoof that was waving in front of her.

Luna was indeed interested in the story, but the name rang a bell in her mind, causing her to interrupt Celestia from her narration. “Twilight Nebula? Was thee an ancestor of thy student, Twilight Sparkle?” the blue alicorn asked, quite surprised by the similarities in the name compared to the name of her savior.

Celestia stifled a laugh before nodding. “She is, Luna. Twilight Nebula is Twilight Sparkle’s ancestor, just another proof of her extraordinary natural abilities in magic,” she replied softly before continuing with the events of the past.

“Creating new magic was a challenge itself for the magicians and wizards of the guild, and I remembered how dedicated they all seemed to be by trying to develop something that can be useful and easy to use for everypony who is interested in learning the magic of the stars. I, of course, allowed their investigation under the condition to keep an eye on their progress, to make sure that no pony would try to invoke something under ill intentions,” the Solar Princess said, all while levitating an ancient calendar that contained twelve specific constellations over each month of the year drawn upon its paper.

“After several months of research and investigation, Nebula had made the discovery that a specific constellation acted as a symbol of fortune for the ponies during a constant cycle every month. It was something that, with enough focus and a stable connection with the stars, she was able to read the fortune of the stars for those born under the the mentioned constellation. At that point forward, Nebula developed magic spells that can allow the prediction of one's future through the use of the stars.”

“My expectations had been surpassed when Nebula joined her investigation with an earth pony stallion, named Lucky Charm, and created an earth pony method of astrology. Together, they developed their own earth pony ways to predict the future based on cards,” she concluded with a proud smile at the historic events that made her beloved ponies love the night more than ever.

Luna, for her part, kept her eyes on each constellation and recognized them once her eyes posed on them.

“We never expected that the constellations would bless thy ponies with good fortune, nor that they could be used to predict the future,“ she commented, surprised that ponies had achieved such feats. “But it still saddens me to learn this secondhoof instead of being there to see it,” the Lunar princess explained morosely, lowering the empty teacup and her head along with it, looking directly to the floor.

Celestia soon caught up with her words and acted quickly to comfort her sister. “I am truly sorry that I never acknowledged your work and efforts that you did everyday, and I admit that I was truly blind to miss all the things you did in order to aid the kingdom,” Celestia began, walking to sit next to her sister, giving her a hug with her wing and setting her right hoof on her right shoulder. “It is how that old saying goes: you never know what you have until you lose it,” she said with sadness clear in her tone.

“We already have forgiven you, sister, and thou know very well that I was also to blame for my actions back in the old castle which caused the break of our ties. Thou must please stop resenting thyself, for We also need to forgive our own sins,” the blue alicorn said, returning the hug from her position.

They remain immobile for a few more minutes, until they both broke the embrace and smiled at each other, feeling a heavy burden leave their backs, glad that their bond was once again restored and stronger than ever.

“As long as you are happy, my sister, I shall show you my smile,” Celestia said, booping Luna’s muzzle as if it would force a grin out of the blue alicorn, which it did, as the lunar alicorn did the same thing for the white alicorn. “Remember that I am here now, and so are all our little ponies that will be in your care during the night,” she added, smiling broadly with her eyes wide open and a glimmer of sincere support that Luna could easily see.

“Of course, sister, but we wish to have a complete recovery of thine own magic back, before we can return to our royal duties, if it does not causes any bother to thee,” Luna conditioned while standing up from her place. “We wish to return to our personal chambers and rest for the rest of the day,” she abided farewell and began to take a few steps out of the Solar princess’ bedchambers.

“Luna, wait,” Celestia called to her sister, who stopped to look curiously at her sister as the white alicorn levitated two old books and presented them before the Lunar Princess. “I want you to have these books,” she said once the two books were passed to Luna.

One was a green painted book with a portrait of stars and a telescope that Luna assumed was a book of Astronomy, while the other one had a black cover with several golden nuggets that were connected to each other to make constellations around the cover.

“These two are the first edition of Astronomy and Astrology ever made, written by the two creators of their respective science,” Celestia explained while summoning a third book that was decorated with lavender painted cover with a design of six shooting stars upon it. “And this one is a star magic based spellbook, the Astra Grimoire created by Luminous Blaze, which I allowed to be published. This one has more than one hundred spells that are useful in many forms, except to be used for any harmful purpose as you should well keep in mind. The three of them also have a preservation spell which makes them almost indestructible,” Celestia added once the third book was in Luna’s magic hold.

“Thank you, sister, for these gifts. I shall read and treasure each and one of them,” Luna said, looking at the names of the authors who created the studies of the stars, tucking them under her wing and smiling once more to her sister. “We shall return after the nightfall for the continuation of my studies of this modern era, sister. Have a good day.” She returned to her leaving route and opened the door to step out of Celestia’s personal room.

“Rest well, my sister, and I will await you here for our next session of lessons,” Celestia bid her farewells with a smile, before the door was closed shut. “Now… who should I consider bringing tonight for Luna that she’d get along with?” The white alicorn mulled over within her mind for Luna’s slumber party, as several names popped up to have as guests for her little sister, some loyal friends that would be worthy companions for her.

Once they were separated apart Luna’s smile vanished and a face of worry took its place as she walked down the hall, worried about several things, but the most important one was what the future would hold for her. Thoughts rumbled from one side to another, and each one of them was a nightmare worse than the previous one, for she feared that the ponies would still remember her as the terror that can bring eternal darkness upon their lives, that they would never forgive her actions of certain doom or that she would be condemned by them for causing harm upon her own sister. She was not ready to return to the throne.

On her way, she noticed a maid, awaiting for her arrival at the end of the hallway, “Do you wish for me to guide you back to your chambers, mistress?” the thestral asked. She had a grey coat with sky blue mane and was wearing the proper uniform, bowing before her princess.

“Please lead the way, Midnight Snack,” Luna said while her thoughts still lingered in the unpleasant outcomes that would occur because of her return to the seat of power. They were things that she needed to prevent somehow.

***

Twilight arrived to the base of the stairs of her personal tower and began to reach the top, excited to be hosting a party for the coming night. She opened the door and made her way inside.

“Spike, I’m here!” she announced while trotting happily to the kitchen. “I brought everything from the list, and you won’t believe…” Twilight trailed off once she saw the big pillow fort that was in the middle of the room, reaching from the floor to the roof with a size that could barely fit in the entire living room.

“Hey, Twilight. Did you go to the comic stand and get me the latest issue of ‘The Astonishing Web Slinger’?” Spike asked from the kitchen to see the frozen state of Twilight and smiled at how speechless she was. “Guess you are happy to know that I followed your plan step by step,” he said proudly, glad about his foresight and his ability to be a step ahead for her.

Twilight, for her part, was struggling with whether such a thing was needed or not for the occasion, but she knew the answers lay inside the book she used as a guide for the party itself.

Twilight gently gave the bags to Spike, which he received with a little more effort than usual from being a bit overexerted over the fort, and rushed to pick up the book from its resting place. With a quick scan, she found the chapter she needed.

“Hmm, let’s see here… Accommodations: it is recommendable to have a close space area, where the host and guests would be in comfort for close up interactions and small talks.” Twilight recited before closing the book with a sense of relief, and returned down to the first level, where Spike was now giving a look of uncertainty that he somehow ruined everything. She noticed his expression and hugged him with appreciation for his good work.

“It looks perfect, Spike. You even made it resembling the exact appearance of the blueprints I once made,” she added while ruffling his spines.

Spike took a few steps back to stop the noogies as he gave a heartfelt laugh. “Yeah, I found the blueprints in your personal archives, and the maids helped me with building it according to your schematics,” he explained, giving the fort a few pats to show how sturdy and comfy it was.

Twilight smiled at how well built it was and made a mental note to thank the maids, once they return for the pillows the next day, for their assistance. “Alright, Spike, I’ll be in the library section, cleaning the study and the observatory before heading to do the cooking,” Twilight said before heading to the storage room and picking up a broom, a trash bin and a duster with her telekinetic spell and proceeded to walk upstairs.

“Wait, are you going to cook?” asked the little drake showing every ounce of skepticism in each word. “No offense, Twilight, but have you ever tried to cook before? Because I am the one that’s usually doing that task,” Spike said, worried of the things that could happen if Twilight began to cook.

Twilight frowned a little at his accusation, but she let it slide, since he was right about the fact that she never tried to cook before. “I know about that, Spike, but I want them to know how much I care for this party, on a more personal level. I can prove this to them by preparing dinner worthy of their value of friendship,“ she pleaded, giving a begging smile at the baby dragon. “Besides, I am a tier five Alchemist in the guild. If I can make diamonds into coal, then I can make a simple dinner,” she proclaimed as she gave him a look of reassurance, along with a confident smile.

Spike was still unsure as to whether he should give her the opportunity, but since it was important to Twilight, he nodded, giving a smile to the lavender unicorn. “Alright, I trust you, Twilight,” he agreed and began to return to the cleaning. “But I’ll be there to help you if you need it,” he conditioned, which Twilight nodded to, agreeing to his terms.

“Thanks, Spike. I know I can count on your help with this,” Twilight said as she returned to head back up to the study room and took the elevator to reach her personal observatory, to begin her task in the highest point of the tower, in case her friends would like to see the telescope and the stars. She promptly began to clean the place. She was certain that, with enough preparation, this night was going to go as perfect as she expected it to be.
> At the last second.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ding!

“Done!” Lemon Hearts shouted happily, as the bell of her timer chimed to announce that the content inside the oven was ready. Right after she trotted to open the oven doors and pick out the third batch of cupcakes out of it with her hoof mitts, she took a deep breath to let the smell of lemon scented baked goods fill her lungs. “Perfectly made, just like the others,” she praised herself while letting the platter cool down next to the other two batches that were recently made before going to add some decorations and make some other treats.

It had always been a hobby and a joy for her to create many lemon based pastries and desserts of any kind she could learn of, and the cupcakes had been a certain well praised specialty of hers, since she made a lot of the baked treats for some of her partners of the working staff. She was very certain that her friends would be delighted to have a taste of her baked goods once she arrived at the party.

Leaving the cupcakes on the counter in order to cool down enough, she glanced outside of her window, noticing that the sun was still too early to reach sunset nor even dusk, indicating to her that the time of their slumber party was still a ways off. This allowed her time to prepare her personal belongings before spending the night at Twilight’s home. “Oh, I just can’t wait any minute longer. I gotta leave now to get there and be the first to arrive. The face that Minuette would make once she sees me there... she will be shocked to know that I beat her on being the first one to arrive!” she exclaimed while rushing to pack up the cupcakes and some other objects to take with her.

The yellow unicorn reached her room and happily packed her blanket, her jumper and her fluffy slippers, excited at the chance to be assisting a party where Twilight was acting as  the host for the first time.

“Oooh, I bet Twilight might be surprised that I arrived early so we can have a moment to chat, one on one, while I help her prepare some last minute arrangements!” Lemon said, all while packing the cupcakes in her saddlebag before leaving her home for the night event.

On her way through the streets, Lemon Hearts reminisced about her past with Twilight and her friends when they got along together, but most of them were from the lavender filly being in the background with a book in front of her face most of the time during their reunions. That was about to change, and for the better.


***


“Moondancer, you can’t be serious,” exclaimed a tall mare while kicking an empty cup of instant noodles aside on the floor. “You can’t leave this place like this, Moondancer. At least give it a swipe or something,” she gestured around and pointed to the many things that were dispersed all over the room, without mentioning the other quarters of the house itself.

Moondancer looked at the mess that was around her home, followed by the clock on the wall indicating that it was almost time for the party to begin. “I can do that later, Morning Roast. I have to go and meet with Twilight and the others tonight,” she said before trotting to the second level of her room and packed up the necessities for the slumber party.

Morning Roast followed suit as she sighed at the answer of her sister. “You told me that the last time, and you still haven’t done it since then,” she complained, watching her sister put her belongings in her saddlebag.

“I was so busy with my studies that I didn’t have time to do some maintenance here when I dedicated my time to several research projects that I still need to focus on,” Moondancer said as she closed her saddlebag, finally focusing on her sister and giving her a soft look. “I still need to finish my research on the ancient order of the Sunsingers and the theory of the Portable Sun,” she added while pulling her saddlebags on her back and trotting off to the stairs.

“I know that you want to dedicate your time on your studies, but this house needs attention, too. Having it in such mess won’t be healthy for you or anypony that would come and visit you,” she said with the tone of concern she usually gave.

Moondancer gave a look at the clock once more and knew that if she stayed to give a quick clean up to the house it would make her arrive late for the slumber party. This event was meant to be Twilight’s second chance to open up to her sense of friendship, and to the others as well.

But on the other hoof, this was a perfect opportunity to give the lavender unicorn a bit of her own medicine and make her have the same feeling Moondancer felt for not being present at her own party.

“Alright. I will give a quick clean up of the house before leaving,” she said with a calm tone as she put her belongings on the couch and levitated over a broom and a dustpan.

“I’ll help you, so you don’t have to be late,” her sister said, happy to know that her little sister would see it her way. As she began to levitate all the garbage around them and placing them into the trash bin, followed by emptying the trash bin filled with crumpled papers and broken quills, she took the silence as a moment to gather information via a simple question. “So, are you going to tell about your feelings for Twilight tonight?” she asked with a certain mocking tone in her voice and face filled with mischief.

“What!?” shouted Moondancer as she dropped the broom and dustpan while facing her sister. “She’s only my friend, Morning Roast. I have nothing but respect for her!” she defended herself as she composed herself and returned to cleaning.

“Yeah. She was all you thought about before. You told me how much you wanted Twilight to arrive at the party you hosted,” she continued while placing some dirty dishes in the sink. “Not that I forgot to mention that you have her same manestyle,” she added with a smirk.

“Th- tha- that is because it helps me focus on my studying. It prevents me from being distracted by anything that can keep me away from my education!” the vanilla unicorn shouted as she dangled her hoof on her mane, wondering if that was true and that she might need to have a haircut someday. “Besides, like I already said, I was eager to have Twilight at the party back then because I respect her as a fellow student in Celestia’s School of Gifted Unicorns, as she is academically smart, talented, composed, a helpful mare, known by the Magicians Guild, well presented, beautiful eyes, a well trimmed coat...“ she stopped herself as she noticed where her list of traits to her fellow scholar was going, all while feeling her sister’s eyes piercing upon her nape, and when she turned to see her, she could add a smug grin on her face to sum it all up with it.

Moondancer felt her cheeks burn as her face went completely red, and without any moment for hesitation, she levitated her saddlebags and rushed to the door. “It’s late! I gotta go now! See ya tomorrow!” she shouted before leaving the house.

“Sis! Wait! I was only tea-” the slamming of the door made it clear that Moondancer was no longer in earshot, “-sing... That’s what you get for having your own fun, Morning, and now, you have to clean this place on your own before heading home.” Picking up the dustpan and broom, she continued where her little sister left off and began to chuckle to herself, wondering if she really hit the nail on the head.


***


“Let’s see... Blanket, slippers, toothbrush, Mr. Chord, some magazines just in case and some gummies, because I am a good friend!” Lyra said while placing all the mentioned belongings, and plushie, into her own saddlebag, ready to leave once the sun reached sunset.

As she wondered what to do in the spare time that remained, a knock from her door called for her attention. “Lady Lyra? It’s me, Rumpelstiltskin,” called a professional voice from the outside of the mint green mare’s home.

Without a moment to think, Lyra opened the door to meet with the butler of the Heartstrings family. “What does my mother want now?” she asked with a hint of annoyance, not wanting to dawdle with formalities and go directly to the point. “Hope it isn’t the same thing she usually wants to talk about, again.”

“I apologize for the interruption, but I am here on behalf of Lady heartstrings to request your presence tomorrow at noon,” he announced with a perfect tone and a slight bow.

Lyra grumbled to herself all while clenching her teeth. She never liked to agree to her mother’s invitation, since they always talked about the same subject, but it was all part of the deal she made, ever since she began to live in the small shack. “Fiiiiine. I’ll be there on time.” She agreed and waited for the butler to nod and leave before closing the door shut in one swift movement.

Huffing down on the couch, she lifted her face to the roof and reminisced about her little bet she had with her mother, a bet that would define her future from Canterlot to Ponyville.

She shifted her head to look at a small photo that was standing at the coffee table, a photo that portrayed both Lyra and Bon Bon smiling with cheerful joy at the camera while hugging, like they were fused together. “I won’t lose, Bons. I will prove to her that I can make a name for myself and win this bet,” she declared at the photo with a soft smile before she got up again and noticed that the clock was telling her that it was almost time for the party. She had to get going. “Time to go and have a good fun night at Twilight’s… Hope she likes to play Truth or Dare! Hee hee hee….“ she smirked at the idea of how much she would embarrass Twilight or the juicy secrets she could obtain from her. Tonight was going to be a night to remember.


***


Minuette was closing the blinds of her shop windows as well rummaging through her list of things to take for the party. “Jumper, blanket, special back pillow, toothbrush, floss, mouthwash and six hoof lanterns in case we tell some spooky stories… All check and ready!” she affirmed while scrolling up her parchment and locking the front doors of her home, closing the clock shop, Time to Shine, for the night and returning to her saddlebags, where everything she listed was in there.

With everything ready, Minuette didn’t need to look at the clock nor to the window to have a good sense that it was almost time to be on her way for the event, but a detour to her mirror wouldn’t affect her time of arrival.

She checked herself for any stray hairs on her mane and checked if she needed to look more presentable, but with a simple wink of self confidence, she trudged off to the back door of her home and off to her destination once the sky began to burn a soft color of orange and violet.

“If I manage to get her to speak with ease, I bet I can get her to have a good time along with the others. She had always been so reserved and hidden behind a book with us that it has to be a good theme of conversation to get her more open about herself, just as it would be a good idea for her to learn more about us,” mused Minuette as she considered the many subjects that Twilight would feel more comfortable to be open about. “Knowing Twilight, she can talk nonstop about magic and the many intrinsics about it… I can even explain to her the many magical artifacts the Timekeepers Guild has in their collection and the mechanical devices that have been improved in the clocks of today compared with those from the beginning of Gear Cogswell!” She gave a quick rush in her step as the thoughts of them bonding closer made her smile grow wide in happiness as she almost bounced in her steps.


***


Twinkleshine was looking at her personal library of films and began to consider which ones  would be the most entertaining to bring with her for the slumber party.

“Hmmm… Horror? Probably… Comedy? That seems certain… Romance… Nah.” She walked by several collections as she levitated the few selected ones that could be fun to bring for her friends and placed them in the saddlebags, with her own belongings and a movie projector.

With a struggling effort, she levitated her saddlebags upon her back and walked to the door, using her magic to twist the doorknob, then left her home for the night.

With a careful step through the streets as she made a quick beeline to Twilight’s home, Twinkleshine was busy in her thoughts about her upcoming casting in a small production set for a movie they were making. Sure, it was small set, but one needs to start somewhere before hitting the big stars of the big productions of Canterlot, Manehattan and Applewood.

“Just you wait, Equestria! I am going to be the biggest star that ever shines upon the firmament of celebrities!” she promised herself with a vigorous determination…. until she realized that she was shouting in public to herself as she blushed in embarrassment, lowering her head. “But first will be Twilight’s party...” she whispered, right after she walked on with the several objects on her back.


***


“And then, you pour the tomato sauce, along the rest of the ingredients, and you let it heat inside the pot for the next ten minutes. Just as easy as that!” instructed Spike from his stool, watching how Twilight was following his instructions before placing the lid on the top, in order to let the heat do the rest for her tomato soup.

Twilight smiled proudly for her achievement at cooking, with Spike’s help of course. “Thanks, Spike. I know that they will enjoy this dinner and have a perfect night with all the things made and done,” she praised as she saw the other prepared dishes resting on the stove, ready to be served to her guests.

Aside from the tomato soup, there was several other meals they both cooked, such as a batch of garlic bread filled with cheese and a spinach pasta for the night.

Twilight felt that everything was now ready, and in its proper place for the party tonight, the tower was cleaned, the dinner was ready and the guests would soon arrive and have a good night of fun, getting to know each other in a deeper level to strengthen their bonds of friendship… Nothing could go wrong.

“Uuumm, Twilight?” ...except for those two words. Those words that Spike always used in order to express his discomfort of Twilight’s actions whenever she had an idea or plan that she was just going through to dubious proportions. She never liked it when he did that, and it was worse now than all those times put together.

Her mind raced at the speed of light, making a mental list of the things that were missing or that had not been done to make Spike be uncertain and doubtful of her recent actions, but no matter what the problem is or what was the reason was, Twilight couldn’t grasp any idea of what problem could be bothering him.

“Is something of matter, Spike?” Twilight asked, as if nothing was amiss and that her little assistant had a simple question in his little mind, or at least that was what she wanted it to be and hoped to leave it as such.

Spike was hesitant on his answer, but he knew that something was certainly amiss. It was right before his eyes to point out. “Don't you think this is all too formal?” he gestured to the dishes for the dinner as he looked back to Twilight.

Twilight gave a look to all the food and then at Spike? “What do you mean with being too formal? This is barely an entre compared to the royal banquets during the meetings that I was invited to assist in,” she pointed out as she gestured at the feast she made.

“That’s the thing, Twilight. This whole dinner is too formal, and that won’t fit in with the purpose of this meeting.” The simple fact that Spike gave had made Twilight feel more anxious, since she remembered all too well those meetings about how quiet everypony was.

How the table was too silent, during dinner, with each guest too busy checking their own eating habits and etiquette to even make a good conversation with one another.

“You’re right!” Twilight shouted as she grabbed the little drake by his head and dragging him close to her muzzle. “How did I not foresee this?!” She suddenly dropped the baby drake and rushed quickly back to the upper levels to the book she used as a reference and searched through the pages in order to find a quick solution to the problem that had managed to creep its way into her first party.

She held the book right near her muzzle and quickly began to read every word in order find a proper solution. “Aha! Here it is!” she said happily as she rushed down to meet Spike in the living room. “It says here that having a light dinner or a small snack bar can provide a good combination of eating and communication. Some of the meals suggested are oatmeal cereal, s’mores, sandwiches, donuts with milk, etc.” Twilight listed out as she closed the book with an almost manic grin.

Spike knew that symptom, and it meant that nothing good will come if the solution wasn’t made present right away. “I’ll go and check if we have some donuts  to offer…” he suggested while walking back slowly and soon enough running away.

Twilight nodded as she thought of the other options, but she soon realized that she had little to no oats for dinner and that she doesn’t have any kind of snacks for tonight, since she never considered such an option to be planned out.

“Uhm… We don’t have any donuts… At all,” Spike almost whispered as he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes to prepare himself for the burst of the madness that Twilight would become… except that it never came. Daring to open one eye, Spike noticed that Twilight was mumbling something and was deep in thought.

“This still can be solved… Yes, it can still be fixed. All I need to do is to rush to the market and buy what the books says… Easy!” Twilight exclaimed with several nods of approval.

“T- Twilight... the market is closed at this hour,” Spike said, almost regretting to tell her, but it was necessary for her to be reminded and not being running around the entire city in such a state.

Twilight’s left eye twitched, but soon, she began to take a deep breath and look at the clock. Relief fell upon her once she noticed that it was still early for her guests to arrive, so she could still be able to have something sorted out before it was too late. “Okay… There is still time, forty five minutes to be precise. I just need to head directly to the castle and ask the kitchen staff for some snacks, just what’s needed to prepares s'mores and other simple biscuits... Easy!” With her plan now made, it was all a matter of a quick round run to the castle kitchens and back. “Spike, I can trust you with making something to drink, right? Hot chocolate can be an excellent option for tonight,” she instructed with a serious tone.

“You can count on me, Twilight. I can make it in twenty minutes flat!” he declared with conviction now that a plan was present and the crisis was averted.

“Great! Now, all I need to do is-”

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

The knocking from the door caught both of them by surprise, Spike being nervous while Twilight was frozen in panic, worrying who could it be.

“Who is it?” the drake finally asked for both of them. He could assume that a servant from the castle was visiting them, since it was still too early for any of their friends to arrive.

“Spike? It’s me. Lemon Hearts… I came early,” replied the yellow unicorn from the other side of the door, which had the young drake gape in surprise at the inconvenient and disastrous development.

Tempting fate as it was, Spike turned his head around and dared to meet with the creature that used to be his mother figure and expected a mental break down from her… But all he saw was a living statue of a lavender unicorn with her pupils shrunk into tiny amethyst dots, a small twitch in her eye and a small smile that could be described as insanely calm. He dared to take a step towards Twilight. But as soon he did it, a bang and flash came out of nowhere, and with it, Twilight disappeared.

It took Spike a minute to know what Twilight had done and let out a small sigh of relief. “Well, guess I should take care of the door and entertain the first pony to arrive,” muttered Spike as he shrugged it off and went to the door to receive Lemon Hearts with a smile.


***


In kitchens of the castle, a small group of ponies rushed from left to right, preparing themselves to take their places in order to begin with the dinner for tonight, as chefs and assistants trotted from carrying the specified ingredients and chopped the vegetables in several bowls in order to get them ready for their royal superiors.

“Come on, ponies. We barely have thirty minutes to have these veggies sliced and diced!” a golden coated stallion with a white mane shouted to the assistants, inspecting and ensuring that everything was cutted in perfect shape. “Quickly now! I want those spices crushed into dust, or it will be certain that there will be a good pile of dirty dishes and pots to wash for the next morning that will last all day to clean up!” he warned while walking throughout the entire kitchen, making sure everypony was doing their job with the utmost dedication and perfection before he decided to take a seat and read the menu for tonight’s dinner.

Taking the small chart, he had already memorized the several dishes and desserts of today’s menu, but he pushed himself to find ways to improve every dish, as it was his real job in the kitchen to give an improved taste for his superiors to enjoy.

His inspiration fell short once the noise of pots and utensils clashing into the ground came about, followed by the scream of a mare that snapped his concentration and made him grumble and check upon the accident. “What is going on? Who is the responsible for causing such a commotion?” the first chef asked as he suddenly spotted a lavender unicorn standing in the middle of the kitchen with her mane made a tangle of a mess and her eyes wide open. With her irises as small as pin pricks, he assumed she was the reason of the small accident once he saw the nearest assistant of the kitchen, who was the one that screamed, getting up on her hooves.

Twilight Sparkle looked from left to right until her gaze fell upon the first chef and rushed quickly to be in front of him.

“First chef Golden Yolk!” the lavender unicorn shouted as she desperately clung onto his uniform.

“Calm down, young mare.” The sudden surprise caught Yolk off guard as his mind wondered what the personal student of the princess wanted from him. “Tell me what ails you, and the kitchen staff and I will be sure to assist you in your needs,” he held his hooves on hers in an effort to be freed from her strong grip before she could wrinkle his white pristine uniform.

“I need the keys of the White Vault!” Twilight pleaded as she calmed herself and waited for the stallion to aid her in her desperate need.

Golden Yolk raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Hooh... Is that why you are in such distress?” he asked with a coy smile after he glanced to the other ponies to make them return to their own jobs. “I can give you the key, but I assume that you would normally ask me in a proper manner in order to obtain the key,” he added.

Twilight knew what he wanted to hear, and she never liked it one bit to go through that kind of stuff. In some regard, Golden Yolk was almost the same as the nobles and wealthy ponies of Canterlot. They liked to go with the entitlements and nothing less.

With a deep breath and a swift movement of her right hoof to brush and straighten up her mane, Twilight took a posture of regal attitude and did her best to rise her chin and look down at the stallion. “I, Twilight Sparkle, personal student and protege of Princess Celestia, Daughter of Twilight Velvet and Night Light, younger sibling of Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard, demand you to give service upon me and hoof over the key of the White Vault… Please?” she announced with the tone she had heard from Celestia herself whenever she made a royal proclamation or a speech. It was never of her liking to go and make such a statement of superiority and privilege, but it was something she had to do in order to get Golden Yolk to help her in her times of food emergency.

Golden Yolk chuckled as he patted Twilight’s head a little. “It is my honor and privilege to serve such an important mare of the castle,” he said while giving reverence to her, to which she just merely rolled her eyes. “Sous Chef!” the stallion then shouted, calling for one of the ponies from the kitchen.

A young mare rushed in between the others as she stopped in front of Golden Yolk and Twilight. “Silver Platter, at your service!” the violet pegasus declared with a salute to both ponies.

Yolk gave the mare a golden fork that was adorned with several encrusted gems. “Guide our important guest to the vault and let her take everything that is not labeled under personal authorization,” Golden Yolk instructed as he gave the key to his Sous Chef.

“Right away!” Silver Platter said as she held the key in her mouth and nodded for Twilight to follow her to the indicated place.

“Thank you, Yolk,” Twilight said before following the pegasus mare through the kitchen.

“Whenever you wish, my lady!” the yellow stallion said before returning to his own job and shouting to the others ponies to continue their jobs with the utmost perfection that he always demanded.

Twilight followed the mare until they arrived to a big, white door, and Silver Platter inserted the key into the lock and gave it a turn until she heard the mechanics shift, hitting metal with metal to indicate that the giant door was now unlocked and ready to be opened.

“After you, my lady,” invited Silver Platter, opening the door and bowing with courtesy, allowing access to the lavender unicorn.

Twilight smiled awkwardly as she nodded to the mare before she went inside the White Vault.

From inside the vast room of groceries, Twilight saw the the endless shelves filled with many supplies far beyond what the eye could see, enough food to feed the entire city if the dire situation ever occurred, and everything was protected with a preservation spell to keep it in fresh conditions whenever they needed it.

It was the second most valuable and secured place in the castle, aside for the treasure chambers of course.

Walking down into the depths of the vault, the lavender unicorn selected several bags of marshmallows, crackers, pretzels, chocolate, potato chips, fried hay sticks, apple cider, root beer and a box of donuts for the perfect replacements for tonight's dinner.

With all the products she needed and placed inside several bags that the vault offered, Twilight carried all of them out from the vault and met back up with Platter at the entrance. ”Okay, I have everything I need. Thanks for your assistance, Silver Platter,” Twilight said as she nodded to the Sous Chef.

“O-oh... I just did what I must in order to help,” the violet pegasus replied as she hid the blush for the compliment she just received from one of the most famous mares of the castle, and most respected as well.

Twilight nodded and teleported herself back to her room, leaving the kitchen behind with the working chefs.

Twilight reappeared back in her own kitchen, where the boiling noise and smell of chocolate made her notice that Spike managed to brew the hot beverage for the night. She took the opportunity to take away the other dishes, and save them for another day, replacing them with the snacks she just brought and began to pour them all in several bowls, just to be ready for when the guests would feel hungry.

Relief was with her as soon as she saw that she was just in time, with a few minutes to spare.

“She did what!?” the shout from Lemon Hearts called the attention of Twilight, reminding her that she was already in the tower, and decided to go and greet her properly.

“Yeah. Twilight once made a small bust of Celestia that giggles whenever somepony passes near it,” Spike replied, excited to tell her friend about the things his caretaker had done in their times when they had been with the princess. “You should’ve seen the ponies that crossed in front of it during that time! They were scared once they heard that thing laugh!” he added while laughing, just before Twilight arrived to the living room and made herself present.

“I hope you’re not telling about my dark secrets, Spike?” Twilight said jokingly as she met with the yellow unicorn with a hug.

“Twilight!” Lemon Hearts shouted as she smiled broadly to her friend. “I hope I didn’t come in an inconvenient hour?” she asked once she finished the hug.

“No, of course not!” Twilight laughed almost nervously as she saw Spike shake his head and took the chance to attend the hot chocolate in the stove. “You just surprised me. Nothing else,” the lavender unicorn assured her with a nervous laugh.

“Well, I just couldn’t wait any longer and decided to jump in early to have this good get together!” Lemon Hearts said with a little jump from her hooves.

Twilight was happy to know that her friend was hyped to be present at the party, and she was aiming to please her and the other girls with the night she had planned.

Another set of knocks called at the door at the moment the clock chimed the hour, and Twilight was far more eager to receive the door now that everything was made and done. Reaching to the handle and opening it with a quick movement, Twilight saw the second guest of the night. “Minuette, just in time!” the lavender unicorn shouted as she hugged the blue unicorn.

“You know me, Twilight! Always being the first to… arrive…” Minuette said, until her eyes spotted Lemon Hearts inside the room. “Lemon! being here earlier doesn’t count!” she complained as she walked inside the living room and placed her saddlebags on a perch as she sat down near the yellow unicorn.

“We never made any rules for who could be here first, so I can assume my victory is certain,” Lemon Hearts declared with a victorious smile at her friend.

“Well, that would make things easy and not fun, since I could have been here five hours ago!” the blue unicorn complained.

“G- girls… I don’t think that we should be fighting,” Twilight was nervous, as she did not know what to do in order to stop them, except to make herself be in between the two mares to avert their eyes from each other and stop their argument... but even though they didn’t listen to her, the two mares started to laugh at each other.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. This is just a thing we both had since long ago,” Minuette said as she calmed herself enough to talk. “We had been competing on who would be the first to be on time… And since Lemon doesn’t like to lose that much, she just decided to go forward and be ten minutes early to the deadline.” She gave a look at her friend and hit her gently with her right forehoof.

“Alright! I will play by the rules next time,” Lemon said, as she felt curious and decided to head directly to the pillow fort.

“Ooh! A fort made out of pillows!” Minuette shouted in awe once she saw the comfy structure that was in the middle of the room and didn’t hesitate to test its level of comfort by jumping inside of it.

Twilight, watching how happy they were in the fort, was going to join them for the moment, but a new knock from the doors called her attention as rushed to open it again to receive her third guest.

“Hey-ho! Twilight,” called Lyra as she saluted her while making her way inside the tower without a second to spare and ruffles Twilight’s mane before hugging her.

Twilight hugged the mint coated unicorn once inside, and the mint unicorn suddenly noticed the big white building in the middle of the living room. “Really, Twilight? A pillow fort?” asked Lyra, not sure what to make of the unexpected object she had in front of her. “I’m not a little filly anymore,” she said with a soft chuckle at the childish idea of her friend.

Twilight blushed as she scratched the nape of her head while looking at the fort, “We- well... it is kinda-”

“Can somepony please lend me a hoof here?!” the voice of Twinkleshine called them from the stairs, which made both Twilight and Lyra to rush over to see the marble unicorn staggering up the stairs with her heavy equipment. “Never thought there were... this many stairs!” Twinkleshine complained once she spotted her two friends.

Lyra and Twilight lifted her saddlebags to bring them up to the top of the stairs to help Twinkleshine finish her trek far more easier, “Thanks. I thought I would be stuck down there with all those stairs,” she said as soon she reached the top and met with the others.

“What’s in these saddlebags? Bricks?” complained Lyra as she carefully placed the bags on the floor next to the others.

“Only a movie projector and some movie films,” Twinkleshine replied casually after hugging Twilight before she made her way inside the tower and noticed the pillow fort and with it, Minuette and Lemon Hearts. “A pillow fort? Yeah!” the marble unicorn rushed and joined the other two as they jumped together in the pillows of the comfortable structure while laughing.

Lyra was in disbelief once she saw how easily the three mares were having fun in the pillows, jumping up and down and laughing with the sheer fun of the activity.

“Well, I guess I should just go and enjoy it with them, since it is no fun to just stay on the sidelines,” the green unicorn shrugged as she rushed to jump in the fortress and laughed with the others in the activity.

Twilight was happy to see them having fun, a sign of a good start, and once their last guest arrived, they can begin with the event, to finally have fun together.

She awaited for Moondancer to make her arrival, and she would cheer once she made herself present, while everypony would join in a group hug as they shared smiles with one each other. This would be followed by Spike joining the evening with the snacks and drinks as he takes place in the hug for days to come. They would spend a good time together at night with laughter, a good bonding friendship with one another…

…

That would be if Moondancer arrived after the fifteen minutes that had occurred. No sign of her presence was seen neither, causing a dreading feeling inside Twilight the more time passed. “She must of had something important to do…” the lavender unicorn said as her ears deflated in sadness. Her friends noticed the dreadful feeling and noticed how sad she was being.

“Aww... don’t worry, Twilight. We can still have fun with only the five of us,” Minuette promised as she walked closer to Twilight with a bright smile, feeling a dread of Deja Vú from the scene.

Twilight didn’t know what to say. She felt abandoned, and the feeling of a failure was crawling upon her mind once more as she felt that, without the most important guest, she would cancel everything and send back everypony to their homes. However, Princess Celestia had taught her to never derail from any plans, for better or worse. It was imperative to continue forward as scheduled, regardless of the outcome. Twilight could not lose face in front of her guests.

“You’re right… I can plan out something with her for tomorrow, so why don’t we all gather arou-”

“BOO!” shouted Moondancer once she saw her opportunity to surprise the lavender unicorn once she averted her eyes from the door. “You didn’t think I would miss out on this party, did you?” she smirked at the scared expression of Twilight’s and hugged her tightly.

“I’m glad I didn’t!” Twilight hugged her back and felt the dreadful feeling in her mind vanish. “Now, come on in and put on your pajamas, cause we are going to party!” she invited with a smile while the others cheered in excitement as Spike arrived with a platter of snacks and drinks before joining them in the fun.
> Intermission two: Meeting the new team
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

From within the castle itself, Midnight Snack rushed down the hallway quickly to Princess Celestia’s personal office. She was given a notification to be at the white alicorn’s office before the daily transition, and she was certain to be there to be ready for her new task, regarding Princess Luna. With a swift movement, she knocked three times at the door before she waited for her presence to known, as usual.

“Come in,” came the regal voice of the princess, and with it, Midnight opened the doors and trotted inside the room until she stood in front of the solar princess’s desk.

“What is it that you require this evening, my princess?” Midnight bowed as she made her arrival known to the white alicorn.

“Good evening, Midnight Snack. How are you’ve been doing with my sister during the past week that you have been with her?” Celestia asked as she put aside some finished papers before focusing on the maid before her. “She hasn’t been too much to handle, is she?”

Midnight Snack raised up on all four hooves and beamed at the question of her mistress. “She has been doing much better since our meeting. She has begun to find herself more curious about the history of how our kind are, in their relations to Equestria, and she has opened herself up more the more time we spend together,” she reported with a bright smile upon her face.

“I am glad to hear that, Midnight Snack!” praised Celestia with a smile as she began to rummage through her papers. “I knew I could count on you for the task,” she added with a smile as she levitated four documents, along with a folder to place them inside.

Once the news about the return alicorn princess was made, it was a huge impact among the entire kingdom and an even a bigger one for each Thestral who was eager to be at the service of the new Princess of the Night. That was until Celestia, herself, chose Midnight Snack from the first noble house of the thestral community to be in charge of taking care of every need Princess Luna required.

Midnight was in the middle of reminiscing when a folder with three documents landed on the desk before her. “These are the names and personal information of Luna’s new working staff. They will be under her service, and they will be responding to her every need,” Celestia instructed as she then handed them to Midnight with her magic. “Once Luna arrives after nightfall for her daily studies, these ponies will be in her personal chamber in order to get to know you, each other and to be more accustomed to Luna as well,” she specified while letting Midnight check upon the files of each pony.

“Does this involve with the slumber party that my mistress has requested?” the Thestral asked once she shifted her eyes from the papers to the Princess of the Sun.

“More or less, as I intend for Luna to have a personal working staff and a few responsibilities in order to reintegrate her fully into her official royal duties and pony society. I wish for her to be more at ease with all the ponies around her, and with the present party, I can expect that she will be more at ease with her new working staff, with the same being the case for the ponies working for her,” Celestia explained for the details for tonight’s plan. “I hope you can convey my intentions to everypony during the event, Midnight... You may now retire,” she added, expecting that everything would go as pleasant as she hoped them to be. Luna really needed to have companions and friends along with her.

“I’ll do my very best, my princess,” Midnight Snack bowed before walking away from the office, with documents under her wing, and trotted to her personal room to study the ponies she will be working with further as ordered.

Celestia smiled as she watched the door close, causing her to recall the time she had received the new kin in Equestria, a memory of when she responded to a plea of sanctuary from a Thestral tribe several centuries ago because of the threat they had suffered from the constant attacks of dangerous creatures and foreign menaces against their kind that threatened their peace.

Celestia made their presence known to her subjects by giving them sanctuary in the nation, and even when the majority of the Thestrals had left to continue their own ways, the others remained in Equestria to obtain their nationality and citizenship along with the other three tribes of the land, in order to live in peace and harmony.

The memories brought the white alicorn a smile once she thought about the ponies that now would be fond of the idea of living alongside Luna, the Princess of the Night, as their new guide and role model to follow. If the Thestrals lived in Equestria back then in those times of jealousy and hate, then a different result may have taken place during that dark night of the fall of Luna’s sanity.

Celestia returned to her documents, giving the final adjustments to them before preparing to lower the sun and have dinner with her beloved sister, intending to enjoy her time with her before the lessons and the party that was planned for her.


***


Midnight Snack was in her personal room and sat down in a small chair, placing the documents on her own table and decided to read through each file thoroughly to gather any information regarding those who would meet with her mistress.

“Let’s see... first, we have… Night Life,” the maid read out loud as she focused on the contents of the document and file photo. “Thestral mare… Onyx coat, indigo mane... Ranked: Specialist. Skilled in hoof to hoof combat, aerial maneuvers and stealth…” she began with a hint of a smile, feeling that the guard was capable of handling her job when the moment arrived... until she read further on. “Has… lack of discipline!? Caught reading during sessions of training? What kind of mare did Celestia assign to her sister in order to protect her?” she questioned after reviewing the most important parts of the document and placing it down by the next one.

“Hmm… North Star: Unicorn mare, ivory coat and aqua mane… Given the position of secretary and notary of the castle… Educated in the university of Stalliongrad in linguistics… Known for being responsible, polite, punctual, hard worker, caring, kind, organized… Does this list ever end?” Midnight Snack asked in disbelief, dropping the papers before she got herself caught in the never ending list of good attributes from the unicorn mare.

One pony being an irresponsible guard, and the next one was the perfect secretary that seemed to have little to no flaws. Both sides seemed to balance out well, but it was still a fact that she had to question if they would be of any use to Princess Luna.

With a deep breath, she decided to head on to the next file from the folder. “Waxing Gibbous… Unicorn mare of white coat and black mane… Given the position of Chambermaid, efficient, quick responder, expert in the magic spells of the Immaculatam Grimoire and other cleaning spells in her experience as a Royal Maid... No antecedents nor bad word of her behavior, seems a good worker and a very loyal one at that,” the thestral maid read and commented to herself as she relaxed, knowing that at least there might be more capable mares than those relaxed undisciplined ponies.

“Now, the last one…” Midnight Snack switched to the last document within the files and began to read it to herself.

“Waning Gibbous?” she read the name again, as it felt familiar, but she decided to go on, “Unicorn mare of black coat and white mane… Given the position of Chambermaid, efficient, quick responder, expert in the magic spells of the Immaculatam Grimoire… Wait,“ Midnight felt as if she had read the same document and quickly reached back to the previous one and made the comparison. “They are the same!” she concluded as she saw that both of them had the same description and that the only difference was the name and colors of the mare.

Certainly, a group of strange mares had been chosen to be Princess Luna’s personal servants, and Midnight Snack should be able to voice her opinion to recommend ponies more suitable to her princess. But, if there was something that she and all the ponies that work inside the castle grounds have learned in their working experiences, it was to never question The Big Mare.

She might never know why they were chosen for the job, but she knew where to put her trust in, and that was, albeit, enough for her to go on with.

Now that the research has been done, the last thing she needed to do was to head on to Luna’s room to meet them all personally and introduce herself. Without any delay, Midnight trotted to her personal wardrobe and collected her own jumper and her little fluffy slippers, with the design of an owl on each pair, and put them inside her personal saddle bag, ready to leave for her mistress’ chambers with enough time for the Lunar Princess to leave them to meet with her sister.

With a professional strut, Midnight made her way through the castle halls and reached the Lunar Tower, where she made her way forward to the giant ebony wooden doors that held the symbol of the moon on it.

On her way, she noticed a familiar face that just left the room where she was heading to. “Proper Pose... a pleasant surprise to see you here,” Snack said with a polite bow.

“The same could be said to you… Midnight Snack,” the coral pegasus replied with a smile as she met with her fellow maid. “Seems you will be having a party of your own tonight, eh?” she asked with a wave of her head back at doors of the bedchambers.

“It is not a party. What we are doing here is a gathering of her new working personnel, in order to be acquainted of each other before becoming servants of our mistress’ needs,” Midnight corrected, making it clear that everything was pure work ethics and no fun.

“Suuure, and the whole refreshments and snacks that have been piled up, along with the phonograph, inside the royal bedchambers has just the same air of business as the royal courtroom of the castle,” Proper Pose pointed out rather sarcastically, “And the way you call her mistress is probably the cherry on the top for this proper gathering you and the others are having.” She gave coy smile at her friend, and it grew wider as once she saw the red color mark her entire face.

“You c-c-c-ca-can’t say it like that!” Snack shouted as she looked desperately to silence Pose from using such words. “I-I-I c-c-c-call her that way because it is proper to address your superiors in such a manner,” she stammered as she waved her forehooves to motion for her to tone it down as she stumbled on her own words because of how flustered she was.

“Well, anyway, hope you get along with the new members of the Lunar Team!” she exclaimed while marching away with a wave of her hoof.

“Ye-yeah... See you in the morning!” she replied as she let her heart calm down and regain herself from the teasing.

Resuming her pacing, Midnight arrived at the doors, and since she knew that knocking was not necessary at this point, she decided to barge herself inside the bedroom. She soon spotted that most of the furniture had been relocated in order to place a new table, filled with several pastries and salted snacks of different varieties. A phonograph was at the other end of the room, where it played a soft tune that wasn’t meant for dancing but more for ambiance.

At the arrival of Midnight, four pairs of eyes fell upon her presence, and they observed at the new incomer.

“Thank Luna’s moon! I thought I was going to be the only Thestral under Princess Luna’s command!” another Thestral trotted directly towards Midnight and stretched her hoof out to meet with the maid. “Night Life. Nice to meet another one like me!” she introduced with a wide smile.

Midnight looked at the mare with a keen eye and questioned if they were really alike. From what she had seen in her reports, she hardly thought they are. “Likewise…” she said as she gave her hoof to shake with the new mare she would work with, but it was received by hoof-bump instead, as Nightlife rushed to hug her tightly and smiled excitedly.

“Now, now, Miss Nightlife, I do not think that it is proper to act like that to a superior, now is it?” a motherly tone came from the ivory unicorn, who was walking swiftly to where the two Thestrals were. “North Star, a pleasure to be acquainted with you,” she introduced herself with a bow of her head.

Midnight manage to get herself free from Nightlife and greeted in the same manner towards North Star. “Midnight Snack. A pleasure to be working with you.”

They kept an eye on each other until two sets of hooves walked towards them, and with Midnight averting her gaze, she saw the two last ponies she needed to encounter.

“I am Waning Gibbous!” the white unicorn said.

“Waxing Gibbous!” the black one added a second after.

“It is a pleasure to know you!” both mares replied in unison as they bowed at the same time.

Midnight didn’t know who to give a hoofshake first, so she decided to just bow to both of them. “Let us work hard for the benefit of our princess,” she said once her head rose up again.

Both unicorns nodded, and soon enough, the five mares were lost in silence... until Midnight decided to make her move before the silence became unbearable. “I have read about you, Nightlife, but I wish to know some things before we get to have a professional role alongside each of us,” Midnight suggested as she walked into the center of the room to find some cushions to sit on.

“Well, what can I say about my own self?” Nightlife asked as she and the other mares joined Midnight in the circle of cushions. “Hmm... how about the story about the time I got enlisted to the Cadet Academy?” she asked, while receiving several nods from the others.

Nightlife adjusted her body to have as much comfort as possible and smiled. “Well, it all began when I was assigned at the E-5 division, which was assembled mostly by pegasi, and I was one of the five thestral in them…” she began, telling the others as each of them listened attentively while preparing their own stories to tell before Princess Luna’s arrival.
> Daring Doers.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room was dark, and the only source of light came from a projector that aimed at an improvised curtain made from a blanket, where the noise of a screaming stallion was heard from the phonograph that was next to the projector. From it came a visual display that the six ponies, and one dragon, were watching with awed attention from inside the fortress of pillows, while sharing some snacks and juice with each other.

“Now, here is the good part…” Twinkleshine said with excitement as the ponies embraced themselves from the warning and curled up together, anticipating what was about to unfold.

The scream of horror and the cruel noises from the movie made the group of mares gasp in fear as the horror appeared before their very eyes. Then, the screen went black, followed by the words of the credits scrolling up the screen.

Twinkleshine stopped the phonograph and the projector once the movie was over, and Twilight turned on the light to illuminate the room properly, as the group began to relax from the horror thriller.

“Wow! That movie was great,” Minuette complimented as she checked her right forehoof. “I can see my fur standing up after all the scares that movie had!”

“To even choose an accurate creature of the ancient times of the Chaotic period of Equestria has a certain touch in itself,” added Moondancer as she still hugged tightly onto Lyra, who hugged her in return.

Each of them nodded in agreement about how the movie was a good movie in its own genre, while Spike was still hidden under the blanket, hugging it tightly as a small bundle of shivers. “It’s alright, Spike. The movie is over,” Twilight said softly as she gently poked him to make sure he was calming down enough.

“Oh, thank Celestia it’s ov- I mean-! T-that movie wasn’t that s-scary,” Spike said with a slight stutter as he tried to brush off any signs of terror. “That monster was kinda fake anyway,” he defended with a fake apathetic attitude that was betrayed by the shaking of his legs.

Twilight smiled as she patted his head, “Come on, brave boy. We’ll be having dinner, just as we scheduled for tonight, before we delve more into the other activities...” Twilight gestured to her assistant as they both walked to the kitchen, leaving the other five to their own conversations.

“I’ll take care of serving the hot chocolate, while you go bring the donuts and the cupcakes that Lemon Hearts brought,” she instructed to the little drake as she levitated a serving spoon and poured the chocolate in each mug while Spike placed all the pastries on a platter.

“Twilight… you don’t think that a… Grey Widower would come here tonight, right?” he asked in deep concern and was almost afraid of hearing the answer itself. “Because I might have a feeling that Princess Celestia wants me for an important meeting tonight,” Spike almost whispered as he held the platter in his claws.

“Don’t worry, Spike. Those creatures have been extinct since the Era of Harmony started, and nopony has ever seen them since,” she assured him, as she giggled once she saw him take a breath of relief. She took the lead while levitating the mugs and taking the lead as they returned to the others.

Upon their return, they began placing the platters on a small table for each of them to reach. “Alright, dinner time is here!” Twilight announced as the others rushed to her place and selected a pastry of their liking.

“Twilight, we have snacks to eat throughout the night. Why would we be having dinner?” asked Moondancer, taking a bite of a cupcake.

Twilight mentally facehoofed herself for calling it that way, since she was certainly right about the pile of sweets that still remained for the entire night, but she was always prepared to give an answer. “Well, it was just to take a break from that movie. After all, I don’t think either of you would be coherent if you ended up scared of every little thing that crawled right under your peripheral vision, right?”

“Sounds reasonable to me!” agreed Twinkleshine just before she had a good bite of a donut and a good gulp of the hot chocolate. “These movies really get you hungry after so many spooky happenings,” she added before wolfing down her pastry then going for the next one.

“Twinkleshine, you better be careful with eating so many pastries,” warned Minuette as she took a small bite from her own cupcake.

“Oh, Celestia... here comes Colgate, going on her dental lectures,” muttered Lyra, rolling her eyes at the comment of her blue friend.

Minuette gave a good glare at the mint unicorn and scoffed, “I do not wish to be called like that, and you know it, Lyra.” She did her best to keep her cool and continued to eat. “I was just telling her not to get too full for when we have to prepare some s'mores and all,” she notified in her defense as she returned to eating her pastry.

“Then, why did you bring all those dental products with you tonight, hmm...?” Lyra retorted with a winning grin as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, using her well known hand construct.

“Those are for me. I like to have good dental care,” she defended herself as she then smiled calmly at her friend. “Besides, you have a cute plushie in yours,” she countered while the others snickered at the jab.

Lyra blushed fiercely as she saw how easily she was outplayed. “H-he is not for you to ask about it!” she almost shouted, feeling embarrassed by how her friends were laughing.

“I think it’s cute to have a plushie, Lyra,” Lemon Hearts said with a good hearted smile of her own.

Twinkleshine nodded in agreement at Lemon’s words. “Yeah. I sometimes go to sleep with Shooting Star, my plushie from since I was just a foal,” she said with a smile, just to ease Lyra’s discomfort of the plushies.

Lyra was about to ease up and add her words of confession, until Twilight chimed in to say something.

“Why don’t we save these things for when we can play a little bit of Truth or Dare? It can certainly be fun that way, by just making the right question,” she offered while putting a spinning arrow in the middle of the table.

All those present nodded in excitement for the game, as they glanced at one another to prepare for their own questions and challenges for when their turn arrived.

“How about we let Spike take the first turn, and then we rotate from the right side?” Twilight offered to the others as each mare made no claims of disagreeing the order of players.

Spike didn’t waste any second, as he took the arrow and gave it a spin in the middle of the table, twirling around for everypony to see and wondering on who would it stop on.

The arrow began to recede in its speed until it came to a total stop, pointing directly at Twilight Sparkle. “Yes!” shouted Spike happily as he then looked at Twilight with a certain look at the lavender unicorn. “Okay, Twilight, Truth or Dare?”

Taking consideration of her options and thing of any possible outcomes he could make her do should she choose dare, she decided with a light start for everypony. “Truth!”

Twilight never expected her young assistant’s smile to grow as wide as it did towards her response. “Then, tell me... where do you keep the stash of Midnight Amethyst gems hidden?” he asked, which caused Twilight to widen her eyes in surprise.

“That is not a valid question for the game! ...Is it?” the lavender unicorn protested as she looked at the others for support of her objection.

“We never ruled out the extent of the questions, so…” Moondancer pointed out, since no rules had been made except for the most obvious ones.

“Come on, Twilight. Give it up. A question is a question,” Lyra said with a grin of her own.

Twilight could see that there was no way out of it as she sighed in defeat and looked back at Spike. “They are in the basement, in the fourth drawer of the desk where I examine my antique collection,” she replied as she pointed to the door that goes to the lower levels of the tower.

Spike beamed in glee, as he didn’t waste any second to rush off to the door and to the location that Twilight gave him, all while ignoring the calls from the others.

“Well… I think we have the first drop out of the game,” Twinkleshine said as she took her turn and gave the arrow a spin.

“Don’t worry. He will come back…” Twilight said with a smile as she saw that the arrow slowed more and more until it pointed towards Lemon Hearts.

Five pairs of eyes fell upon the yellow unicorn, who was being a bit overwhelmed by the gazes, awaiting for the answer they expected from her. “Alright… I’ll choose Dare,” she said with a defeated sigh but her eyes brimmed upon the improved challenge.

Twinkleshine clapped her hooves in joy as she squee’d at the fun option. “Then, I dare you to do the rabbit dance!” she said as she enjoyed the baffled look from Lemon’s face.

“Would that include-”

“Yes, with the suit and all!” Twinkleshine said, giving the answer she knew that Lemon would not like to know.

“So, where is the suit?” Lemon asked, which made Twinkleshine’s smile shatter as she realized the flaw of her dare.

“I have a bunny suit well preserved in the basement,” Twilight’s words came for the rescue of Twinkleshine and the bane for Lemon, who was now looking at the lavender unicorn in disbelief.

“I don’t think that a filly sized bunny suit will fit me,” Lemon argued in her own defense, just to minimize the embarrassment and the hope to just go on with the simple dance.

“That can be fixed with a growth spell from Elongated Distance’s spellbook. Pretty easy, if you ask me,” Moondancer suggested, while completely ignoring the wordless shout of traitor from Lemon’s piercing gaze.

Lyra, for her part, was barely containing her laughter as a snicker threatened to burst out of her hoof contained mouth.

“Great! Just let me focus and bring the suit here.” Twilight closed her eyes, and suddenly, with a burst of magenta light, a red colored bunny suit was levitated in front of Moondancer, who began to use the growth spell to enlarge it to Lemon’s size.

Lemon Heart, for her part, was only resigning herself to remember the dance from when she was a foal. It used to be a fun activity at the time, but now… it was a humiliating experience, for the sake of fun.

“Don’t forget to sing,” Twinkleshine added, since it was part of the dance itself.

Lemon Hearts grumbled a bit as she began to suit up in the costume and did some stretches with it, to see if she could give a good bounce during the dance.

“Okay… here it goes,” the frowny face Lemon had was now a smile of a happy foal as she began to jump around the mares.

The five unicorns watched her bounce around, and as soon she gave the second lap, she stopped in front of the pillow fort and began to sing.

“With a little squeak and no other sound.
We, little cute bunnies, are jumping around.”

She began as she danced in place by waving her forehooves in a simple rhythm as she bounced in place.

“We rush all as one, staying together,
We, little cute bunnies, protect one another.”

Lemon Hearts now began to give three twirls in place before she went to the next part.

“We see the wolf coming, but there is no fear
We, little cute bunnies, have someone who is near.”

Each mare smiled as they saw how lovely Lemon seemed to be as she waggled her bunny tail on both sides.

“With a little squeak and no other sound,
We, cute little bunnies, arrive safe and sound.”

Lemon Hearts finished the song with a hug of herself as the end of the verse came, and it was soon followed by the clapping hooves of her friends for a well done performance.

Lemon Hearts blushed in embarrassment as she began to unzip the costume and folded it neatly as she gave it back to Twilight, unaware that she was hopping back to her place.

The group of mares giggled a bit at the expense of her hopping, just as Lemon smiled lightly as well.

“Okay, my turn!” declared Moondancer as she gave the arrow the next spin with a little force. It soon pointed directly at Minuette. “Alright, truth or dare?”

The blue unicorn didn’t hesitate to go with a side grin and a puff of her chest, “Dare me, sister!” she proclaimed with a defiant look.

Moondancer hummed at the possibilities to make a good dare for her friend, who could go with almost anything that she could come up with. “Alright… I dare you to juggle three cupcakes in your hooves and while reciting a tongue twister,” she challenged with a proud smirk.

“I could give a better dare to her,” Lyra said with a smile as she shook her head in slight disappointment.

“Let her be, Lyra. You know that this is her first time playing,” Lemon Hearts defended her friend. “Bet Minuette will have a difficult time accomplishing it,” she nodded to Moondancer, who nodded back in appreciation for sticking with her.

“No kidding! I know I can juggle three objects with my hooves, but to be able to pull it off with cupcakes will be a bit of a doozy here!” The blue unicorn levitated the pastries into her fore hooves and tested their weight before she began to throw them into the air.

Once she had the hang of the movement of the cupcakes in the air and a steady rhythm to juggle them with, she began to recite a tongue twister.

“Pretty Pie picked a pack of pickles. A pack of pickles Pretty Pie pic- Aah!” Minuette shouted as she failed her throw of a cupcake and hit her on the tip of her muzzle. Soon after, the others fell down on her eye and horn.

Each mare began to laugh at the mess that Minuette was in, though Moondancer soon helped the blue unicorn get rid of the sugary treat from her face.

“Well, we can call that as a dare completed,” Lemon Hearts said as she aided in cleaning her friend. “Your turn, Twilight!” she added once she knew who was the next in line for the game tonight.

Before Twilight could get to begin her turn, the door of the lower levels of the tower opened, and from in it, the purple dragon returned, mumbling some words as he begrudgingly sat on the floor and crossed his arms.

“So, I guess you burned out all ten attempts on the lock?” she asked with a winning smile at Spike.

“Yeah, and even worse was that you fireproofed the lock,” he added with a huff of his breath.

Twilight pat his head. “You know that those are your special reserves, and you told me to give them on the special occasions of your baking prowess,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, I did told you that…” he mumbled as he decided to rejoin the fun among the mares.

“Okay, Twilight, let’s see who the next victim will be!” Lyra joked, waiting eagerly to continue the game.

Twilight gave a nod and spun the arrow at a good speed. As it went slower at every second, it eventually pointed directly at Twinkleshine, who groaned at being selected. “Okay, Twinkleshine, Truth or Dare?” she asked with a smile.

The white unicorn gave it a thought as she nodded to herself. “Dare!” she exclaimed with a grin.

Twilight grumbled under her breath. She expected that she would choose truth, in order to know more about her friend, but since the others chose the same option, it seemed rather illogical not to go with the flow.

“Alright then,” Twilight began as she smiled at her friend. “I dare you to go to the Royal Garden and tilt the statue of Winning Victory,” she said with a sly smirk that fazed the others from its suddenness.

Each mare, except for Spike and Lemon Hearts, gave Twilight a skeptical look. “Twilight, I don’t think that sounds challenging enough… It’s just a statue” Lyra said, as she was expecting a real challenge from the lavender mare.

Lemon Hearts, for her part, leaned closer and almost whispered. “You’re serious about this?” she look at Twilight and expected a nod from her or anything in relation, but all she saw was a serious look of determination.

“Twilight, you know what will happen if she goes there and tilts the statue right?” Spike asked with a more serious voice. “Remember what happened to the last pony that did that?” he insisted with sheer horror in his eyes.

The lavender unicorn ignored the questions as she gave a serious look at Twinkleshine. “So, do you accept?” she insisted, keeping an eye out for any sign of hesitation.

Twinkleshine, for her part, was silent and began to consider what the challenge was, based upon a simple thing that probably, judging from the reactions of Lemon and Spike, would end up putting her in trouble if the Royal Guard caught her in the act. With that in consideration, the marble unicorn smiled as she was about to give her answer.

“Wait, hold on, what is this about the statue of Winning Victory?” Minuette asked as she waved her hoof in between the two mares in order to gain their attention.

“Winning Victory is the name of one of Equestria’s bravest soldiers, and smartest tactician, from the past. She defended the land against all threats at the border during the Invasion Wars. She was called, by many soldiers and nobles, the Goddess of Victory, due to her well planned strategies and tactics during the war that led the Equestrian forces to win countless of times. That’s why the statue is located in the Royal Gardens, near the training grounds,” Moondancer explained in a matter of fact tone, pausing a bit after remembering a small detail about the statue itself. “There has been a certain rumor about the statue when it’s tilted, but I haven’t got a confirmation about it…” she trailed off as the three mares huddled together as they listened attentively to Moondancer’s explanation.

Only Twilight remained in her place with a soft smile, while Lemon Hearts was trembling in place, as she was nervous about the subject itself.

“What is it? What does the statue do when it’s tilted!?” demanded Lyra, as she was a bit more excited to know what would be expected to happen to Twinkleshine when the moment of truth came.

“Well, something that is almost certain is that the-”

“Moondancer, I do wish to know how much you know about the statue, but it would certainly be better to keep it a surprise.” Twilight was quick to stop the vanilla unicorn from going on and spoiling the surprise for her friends.

Twinkleshine felt a bit uneasy, to be left in the dark, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to learn what she was dealing with in regards to the possible consequences for dealing with such a troublesome dare. “What is in it for those who do not want to partake in a dare?” she asked softly with an uneasy grin.

Twilight was a bit surprised, since there was no rule for those who bailed out of the game, and looked at Spike for an option.

The small drake took the hint, smiled and gave her a single nod. “For those who bail out of the game are going to pay for the morning breakfast at Donut Joe’s coffee shop for all of us,” he recited, as if he made a royal proclamation.

Twinkleshine weighed out the options and considered which one would be worse, which didn’t cause any time to be in consideration at all since she didn’t have any money with her for such an endeavor and gave a small sigh. “Which one is the statue?”

“Take the road through the gardens that lead to the Vigilance Tower that is near the training grounds, just a five minute walk from here to the statue,” Twilight directed as she smiled with glee.

“Right then. I’ll be off to complete the dare,” the marble unicorn said and trotted off through the door and down the road towards the mentioned place.

“So, we’re just going to let her be on her own while we wait here until she completes the dare?” Lyra said with a huff, all while crossing her forelegs.

“She’s right! We can’t be sure that Twinkleshine completed the dare if we aren’t there to witness the event,” joined Minuette with a quick nod.

“I didn’t say that we were going to leave her be. It’s just that we are giving Twinkleshine a head start, so that we won’t be near when the moment of truth happens,” Twilight said while standing up and rushing to the door. “Come on! We gotta keep an eye on her.”

The others quickly rushed behind Twilight and carefully rushed down the stairs in order to follow Twinkleshine.

Keeping a quick pacing, but also maintaining silence with their hooves, the group spotted their friend from the distance before slowing down and watching from afar.

Twinkleshine, for her part, illuminated the road to see through the night while walking down the path that led to the training grounds in order to meet up with the statue and complete the challenge that Twilight had given her.

It wasn’t that much of a walk until the mentioned statue was in sight. She quickened her pace and stopped once she was at the base of the sculpture itself.

“Here it is… So far, nothing bad has happened, nor was I seen by any royal guards,” she mused to herself as she inspected the statue of Winning Victory. “So, how do I tilt it?” she wondered as she began to poke the base to inspect any loose ground from it.

The statue itself was made of a solid stone rock that depicted the figure of a mare standing on her rear hooves, shouting to the skies. On her left fore hoof, she held a banner of Equestria, while her right fore hoof was rising to the air.

Twinkleshine kept her eyes looking for anything that could be used to move the statue itself,  all while using her magical grip to probe anything that could come loose from the stone.

“There’s gotta be something here. Twilight would never make things up and have Moondancer as-” while in her ramblings, a soft click was heard from the right leg as it was bent forward, and the statue began to tilt forward.

Soon, a soft humming began emanating from the inside of the podium, as the right hoof began to move slowly down before the statue followed suit by bending forward.

The sudden movement caught Twinkleshine by surprise as she leapt back and kept her eyes open for whatever was about to happen.

The right hoof of Winning Victory reached down to touch the podium and dropped a medium sized plushie of a Twittermite on the podium, right in front of Twinkleshine as the statue returned to its original position. “Nike smiles upon your victory!” the statue recited as the humming noise died down and the silence once more reigned the night skies.

“...What?”

“What?” Lyra joined Twinkleshine in the question as she glanced at Twilight. “What was that all about?” she rephrased, as she was somewhat disappointed about the end of the dare.

“We need to leave first, or a guard will catch us,” Twilight said as she ignited her horn to make a small sparks to signal to her friend, Twinkleshine, and began to run back to her tower.

The moment that the marble unicorn noticed the sparks was when she heard the voice of a stallion from the distance. “Is anypony there!? Identify yourself!”

At that, she quickly took the plushie and bailed out, back to Twilight’s tower along with the others, who were not far ahead.

The group returned to the living room, breathing quickly from the rush as each of them shared a smile.

“Okay. Now, can you tell us what that was all about with the statue?” Lyra insisted while the other four nodded, as they were just as eager to know.

“The statue of Winning Victory was created to bring luck to the soldiers. Then, it was modified into a game for the royal guard to test out one’s luck. It is a mechanical game of lottery, where when the trigger is pulled a random object will fall from her right hoof and a prize will be given,” Twilight began as she retold the mystery of the statue. “In the last era, Princess Celestia modified the prizes when the guards abused it to win a bottle of wine and began to slack off because of it.”

“Last time we played, I got a Star Spider shot right at me in the face when I pulled the hoof. It scared me to no end,” Lemon Hearts replied as she sat down on the floor as she shivered from past memories.

“Well, that is something that I never thought that the castle would have had,” Twinkleshine said, placing her new plushie on the table and smiling a little. “You really did scare me with that whole thing of going down there and tilting the statue, Twilight. Perhaps you do have some mischievous side that we never see in you,” she mused with a smirk at the lavender unicorn.

Twilight chuckled for a moment as she considered that perhaps she went a bit strong in the dare, but with the accepted results, it was still a good idea.

“Okay! It’s my turn now!” claimed Lyra as she snatched the arrow, and without anyone’s permission, she gave one strong spin of it with the force of her energy hand.

The others remained still, watched how fast the arrow spun and held their breaths once it began to spin slower and slower. It soon stopped right at Moondancer.

“Ahhh... yeah! Looks like my first victim will be the mare with the rimmed glasses,” Lyra rubbed her hooves together in a malicious intent with a grin of pure evil.

Moondancer gulped quietly and adjusted her glasses with her magic. “Well, I might go with truth… However, it is preferable to select dare, since challenges are a thing of the moment, but truth is something that last forever,” she said with a smile at her plan to avoid any humiliating questions from the mint green unicorn.

Lyra could almost anticipate the reaction from her friend from what kind of dare she had in mind and was eager to shout it as fast and loud she could, but it was far more sweet to just say it clear and with a good sense of malice. “Then, I dare you to… kiss Twilight!” She shouted out loud, dropping it like a bomb in the middle of the room.

Twilight felt her cheeks burn, as she could only look at Lyra as if she went mad. So did Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts and Minuette, as they hadn’t thought of something so radical and intimate as a dare.

Moondancer, for her part, was doing her best to keep a calm expression. “Is that all?” she asked with feigned disinterest.

“Sorry, but I won’t cha- wait, what?” Lyra was now the confused one, as she couldn’t believe how calm Moondancer was towards her challenge.”Well, yeah. That’s it,” she replied, confused that her plan wasn’t going as she expected.

“And I thought that you would make it more elaborated than that, Lyra, because it’s just a simple kiss in itself. There isn’t anything beyond a small gesture among friends and all,” Moondancer easily explained with a simple shrug from her shoulders.

“She’s right. You’ve been complaining so much on how easy it was Twilight’s and Moondancer’s dares that we thought you had a better one of your own,” Minuette said after recovering from the shock that Lyra had given to them.

Lyra pondered the words they gave, and when she thought that it would be a good challenge for the mare, it was clearly not giving the effect that she hoped for.

As for Moondancer, she was only waiting for her friend to change her mind as she internally sweated bullets. She really put her best effort to think of puppies playing with butterflies in order to conceal her blush and act naturally from the surprise.

Twilight just remained petrified, as the blush never dared to leave her face for the entire conversation, and just waited for the others to convince Lyra to rethink her challenge.

“Yeah… Guess the idea of a small peck was something less defiant than what it sounded like,” Lyra agreed with a sigh, rubbing her nape with her hoof to reach for another good idea for a challenge. “Okay then, you will… Eat a habanero chilli while saying the number and names of the Traveling Spells,” she said with a satisfying smile of the new dare she proposed, ignoring the face of relief that Twilight gave.

“Okay… Tha- that sounds re- really daring enough. Thank you, Lyra,” the vanilla unicorn said, a bit afraid of the painful experience she was about to get.

“I’ll go get the chilli,” Spike offered as he rushed off to the kitchen, since he knew where it was.

Moondancer looked at Twilight, who was now more at ease from their recent surprise, with an inquisitive look about the nature of Spike doing such a thing and was soon answered by the mare in question. “Spike does have a liking for spicy food, even if he ends up getting burned from the chillies, since he should know that a spicy condiment is not the same as a piece of coal in flames,” she explained to her friend and shied away, since they had collaborated with Lyra for the punishment.

“Hey! I should let you know that I can now eat five jalapeños without doing my dance, thank you,” Spike returned with a habanero on a plate and served it right in front of Moondancer to consume.

As expected Moondancer could see that each pair of eyes were facing her directly and forced her to not dawdle on the matter any further. “Here we go then…” Moondancer levitated the chili pepper and gave it a big bite out of it as the spiciness began to take effect in her taste buds. Soon, her entire body shook as her face became red, and her breathing became more ragged with every second.

“The... hagh… Travelling spells are… Hooh… Six and consist of… hiss… Teleportation… Blink… Cough… High range Teleportation… Ooh, it stings… Flash Step… Warp… aaand… Shadestep!” She finished with heavy breathing and a sour face. She quickly tried to search for anything to turn off the burning sensation from her tongue.

A glass of milk floated right before her eyes, and she tried to take it with her hooves, since she couldn’t trust to use her magic for the action, but it hovered away from her grasp, noticing the golden hand that was holding the drink, heading back to Lyra. “What about Summoning?” she asked with a devilish grin at her friend.

Moondancer glared at the mint unicorn. She knew what her intention was, but she couldn’t downright accuse her. “Even if… it is related, summoning spells have been debunked… since- oh, sweet Regulus… Since the spell brings specific objects to their position and rarely… Haagh... It has rarely been used to call for other ponies… since the caster needs a high amount of mana for such feat,” she quickly answered, as she soon noticed that the glass of milk was once more in her reach and greedily drank it to let the liquid rest on her tongue to ease the feeling from the spicy pepper.

The others watched the dare until the very end and decided to move on, keeping a mental note of being careful of Lyra’s dares.

“Finally! It is my turn to spin the arrow!” Minuette said as she prepared to give it a good spin and watched it spin round and round.

The arrow gave an abrupt halt right in front of Spike. “Alright, Spike! You get to choose,” she said with a smirk at the small drake.

Spike was nervous, but he tried to look brave as best he could. “I can take any dare you have for me!” he exclaimed, puffing his chest out in a sign of bravery to his claim.

Minuette snickered as she hummed in delight. “Guess nopony will ever chicken out now from a dare then,” she mused as she gave a pause for dramatic effect. “Then... I dare you to... Actually, I don't have a dare to give. Can you change it to truth?” she asked with a nervous smile.

Spike considered this, and since he wasn’t eager to have anything that much difficult to do, he simply nodded. “Yeah, I go with Truth then,” he eagerly conceded her request.

“Okay, so what is the funniest thing that’s happened to you?” she asked innocently while expecting his answer.

The purple drake gave it a thought and then snickered.

“It was during the first day of Magic Kindergarden,” he began with a wide smile, as Twilight was wearing a weary expression. She knew full well where this was going.

“...And when Twilight and her family walked closer to the school, Twilight went full panic mode the moment we passed by the entrance,” he stopped for a moment as he snickered at the memory.

Each mare, excluding Twilight, looked at each other, not knowing what the real joke was coming from. “But all foals are nervous to their first day of school, Spike… Well, unless she really did a fit there, then I gu-” Twinkleshine made her opinion made, but she was then cut off.

“The fun part was that Twilight was going to her third year of Junior High, and she believed that she was being sent to Magic Kindergarten, again!” Spike explained further, and his laughter increased, as did Lyra’s from the revelation. Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts laughed, but they held their hooves on their mouths in order to conceal them.

Twilight just wanted to sink further to the floor and head directly to the grounds below.

“Twilight, are you afraid of Kindergarten?” Minuette asked with a small smile, as she did her best not to laugh like the others.

“That would explain why I never heard of you attending that grade,” Moondancer pointed out, not having a reason to laugh at the... certainly embarrassing story.

“No, Minuette. I am not afraid of Magic Kindergarten, but I did enlist to the first year… I just decided to drop it, since being home schooled was far better than having to learn what I had already learned from books. But I do still have… atychiphobia,” she confessed the last part with a bit of shame and nervousness.

“Wait, really?” asked Moondancer with a certain level disbelief, until it was confirmed by a single nod from the lavender unicorn. “Well, that seems to explain several things when it comes to school projects,” she said with a hint of surprise.

“The main reason that I felt panic was because Profesor High Standards gave me an A in my final project, just because of a slight mistake in the number of words that my report had,” she explained.

“Well, he is certainly the most severe teacher of them all. Most of the students fail his class, and the others can only get a B+ at most,” the vanilla unicorn said with a weak smile.

“Okay then, are we still going to play?” Lemon Hearts interrupted as she levitated the arrow and pinned it on the middle of the table. “Because it’s my turn now!” Once she made that exclamation, she spun the vector with ease and twirled it around the table until it landed pointing at Lyra, something that, at this point, each mare felt was certain to happen.

“Dare me, sister!” Lyra proclaimed, right before Lemon could even make the question, as she made a guts pose to prove her readiness in the matter.

The yellow unicorn smiled with the same aura that Lyra was emanating, taking the challenge up in her hooves, and nodded. “Okay! I challenge you to declare to all our friends that your theories are wrong!” she exclaimed with a shout as she pointed at the mint green unicorn with her right hoof.

The words struck into her ears and echoed inside her mind. Lyra felt as if she stopped functioning and couldn’t say a single word but incoherent sentences. “Bwha?”

Lyra felt confused and betrayed about the mere thought of her being forced to go against all that she had investigated and all that she had collected… to have to deny it all. “But, all the theories and the evidences… Even my professor of ancient history and psychiatry has given me praise about the thesis I had made regarding the facts that I have obtained,” she complained a little, trying to dissuade her friend from pushing her to go with such a dare that was evoked upon her. “Also, forcing me to say something is more inclined to a truth than a dare,” she objected to gain favor.

“I do believe that, to be a category of Truth, one must ask a question to the selected pony. A dare is focused on forcing a pony to do something with a challenge,” Twilight intervened with her knowledge upon the rules that the game had.

“D’oh...” Lyra cursed, since she knew better than to go with the rules from the only mare that would have an entire section of rulebooks. “Okay, fine,” she yielded as she cleared her throat and prepared to begin with her challenge.

“And don’t forget to go into details,” Lemon said before Lyra could even say a word.

Lyra shot a nasty glare at the yellow unicorn, but regardless, she continued on.”I am wrong. All my research and all the little evidence that I have gathered are completely debunked and proven false. Humans are only myth, in all sense of the word,” she proclaimed as quickly as she could, just to get it over with, and then took a deep breath out of mental exhaustion.

“Harder than it seemed?” Twinkleshine asked while offering her mint green friend a glass of chocolate to digest the possible bile that was residing in her mouth.

“I would never say those words ever again… It’s as if all that I studied for is all for nothing. Just pure terror there,” Lyra said as she soon relaxed herself and smiled. “I can say that I wasn’t expecting that. Seriously, I thought I could go and do almost anything that you could tell me to do, but this was in its own way dangerous,” Lyra said as she shivered a little.

Twilight nodded and called the attention of the others around her. “Then, I guess that concludes this small game of thrills,” she said as she stood up from the table to find the book of sleepovers and marked a check in the games section of it. “Would you girls like to move on the next activity?” she offered, which came from several nods and agreements.

The group then walked together to the pillow fort and began to talk for the remainder of the night.

“So, Twilight… what is atychiphobia?” Lyra began with a big smile and a look of curiosity that Twilight knew all too well.

The lavender unicorn smiled softly and chuckled. ”I will tell you, if you tell me why you pursue fantasies?” she retorted back, which was received by the giggles of her friends and a frown from Lyra. “Okay, I’ll go first, then you will tell me about your research,” she then said as the five mares paid attention to Twilight, while Spike made himself comfortable in his spot to listen to the mares talk.
> Intermission three: Luna's Slumber Party.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A light glowed from one of the tallest tower of Canterlot Castle, one that all ponies have known as the royal bedroom of the solar princess, where Celestia uses her magical incantation to lower the sun.

From inside, the two sisters were sitting in front of each other, a little agitated from their intense study session, due to a magical spell of memory transference they both had performed.

"And with that, we finished our intensive lessons of Equestrian History, Geography and Politics,” Celestia said while levitating several scrolls and parchments that lied around them on the floor and putting them all in order inside her saddle bag. “Excellent work on handling all the information during today’s session, Luna,” she praised with a soft nuzzle to her little sister.

A much agitated looking alicorn returned the gesture as she looked at her big sister. “Thy would much prefer for these sessions of magic infusing knowledge to cease, sister. They have become most vexing rather than educational for thy mind,” Luna said as she took a deep breath and relaxed the drumming feeling inside her head.

“I know, dear Luna, but it is something that we must do in order to update you from your absence,” Celestia said with a soft smile, helping Luna to stand on her own hooves. “Many things have changed, and you must be prepared for everything that this leads to,” she reminded her as she returned to her desk before something caught her eye.

She had been mulling over the thought after the day her little sister returned, and tonight was the right moment to make aloud the inquiry that she had in mind. “Luna… Have you been working in the recovery of your magic?” the alabaster alicorn asked as she returned to her sister to speak closer to each other. “It’s been almost a week, and I was worried about your current condition.”

Luna averted her eyes and glanced at a close by mirror that reflected her small blue coated body, her azure starless mane and her sad eyes filled with regret. “I don’t know, sister… I just need to focus on regaining my bearings before I can return to my former state.”

Celestia hugged her with her wing and pulled her closer to her chest. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried that some sort of aftereffect happened to you that is inhibiting your magic from reaching its fullest,” she said with a sad look in her eyes that showed her concern and worries, words that Luna knew showed her sister’s guilt of her current condition.

Luna put her hoof on her sister’s chin and guided her eyesight to her own blue eyes. “Don’t berate thyself any further, sister… Thou has already been punished so in the past milenia that We wish for it to cease at once,” the blue alicorn said with a soft tone, hoping that it managed to ease the worried looks of her older sister.

“You are right, sister. Just do try and make yourself comfortable and take your time. You will soon be back to join my side in ruling the kingdom, in a proper manner,” Celestia assured Luna, as she nuzzled her cheek.

The alabaster alicorn soon changed her mood and smiled more warmly. “Well then... I think we have had enough of this gloomy talk. Tonight, your first slumber party awaits you, and the guests are already there, waiting for your arrival.” She stood up from the floor and gave her sister some space.

“Guests? We do not believe to know that many ponies, here in the castle, that could be eager to assist in this soiree,” Luna said as she tried to guess the possible ponies that would be partaking in her personal party.

“That’s because, aside from them being guests for the party for the next night, they will soon begin their job as your new personal servants and guards. The party is an opportunity to get to know them in a more informal manner, partaking in some good natured conversations and have fun,” she explained, walking down to the door of her room, while followed closely by Luna.

“Thou must be jesting... Is not miss Midnight Snack my personal servant for thy personal requirements?” Luna looked at her sister with an inquisitive look.

“She is only one of your team of personal servants, Luna, and you need much more to take care of. Some of them will be there to assist you in the daily tasks, and there will be others to aid you with anything you need,” Celestia explained as she opened the door.

Luna was a bit puzzled and certainly lacked the words to discuss with her sister about the idea, but she knew better than to argue with her, so the blue alicorn did her best to hide her discomfort and nodded. “Okay, sister. I’ll be off to my chambers then.”

Watching her sister leave, Celestia noticed how Luna used modern dialect before leaving, making her consider that there was something more that was happening to her little sister than just trying to cope with today’s time. “I know you will soon overcome this feeling, Luna, but that is up to you to surpass,” she whispered, while closing the door to her chambers and heading off to her own bed to sleep.

Luna walked the halls from where the personal tower of her sister was connected to the castle. At the end was a royal Night Guard waiting for her, instead of her personal maid that was supposed to be the one waiting in place.

The guard saluted at her and then turned his back as he marched to guide the Lunar Princess back to her personal chambers without uttering a single word, which caused Luna to sigh softly at the lack of contact they had from the moment they assigned him.

The march, along with the silence, gave Luna something to think about, such as thoughts about how well it can be to return to the throne... and the opinion of the public towards herself and her horrid past.

The hesitation, fear and self-doubt took hold of her mind. The incessant feeling that the ponies would never forgive her from the damage she had caused to all of them was crawling from the back of her head, and it grew worse when thinking about the villagers of Ponyville, for they had witnessed her malevolent form and were the first victims of her cursing magic that could had doomed them all into an eternal slumber

The weight of her misdeeds had been too big for her to even think of returning to the throne, let alone consider returning to the public. She might encounter the glares of thousands.

“We have arrived, your highness!” the night guard announced, waking Luna from her frightful thoughts and causing her to look up at the doors that connected to her own personal chambers. She cleared her throat and regained her regal composure before she glanced at the soldier.

“We thank thee for your service of escort, good sir…” She then waited for the stallion to leave but saw that he stood there unresponsive. It left her rather uncomfortable by the simple presence of the stoic stallion. “Thou are dismissed,” she finally said, which was answered by a salute from the guard, whom then turned away and marched down the halls of the castle until he was out of sight.

With a deep sigh, Luna shook her head and tried to keep her dark thoughts away. This night was meant to be a night of amusement.

With a swift movement from her horn, the handle moved at the princess’ magical will, opening the door for her to gain access... and be overwhelmed with the noises of chatter and laughter of the of ponies hosted inside.

“...The guard then rushed through the halls of the western section, directly to Captain Armor’s personal chambers and bursted the doors open in a single tackle that broke the wood into pieces!” Luna observed a thestral mare talking to the others, including her personal maid, Midnight Snack, being so immersed in the story that they failed to notice her arrival. “With all the noise he made, the Captain of the Royal Guard woke up, and he shouted-”

“Fare evening, young ponies,” Luna soon announced her arrival, just as she closed the doors behind her and walked closely to where the others had been laying down, which caused the group of mares quickly to stand up to meet with the blue alicorn.

“Good evening, your highness!” Both Waning and Waxing said as they tried to bow down before they were stopped by Midnight Snack, who lifted her left wing to stop them, causing the two of the unicorns to be reminded that tonight was a party of casual behavior, without any need for regal presentations.

“There is no need for formalities among us for the remainder of the night… Do feel free to treat me as any other guest for this evening,” Luna requested as she observed all the guests that were in her room.
Each mare relaxed their shoulders and smiled with more ease as each member of her personal staff introduced themselves and gave their positions of work for when the next night arrived.

“It is a pleasure to have you all offer your services to my crown,” Luna smiled as she kept their names in memory before she noticed the tables filled with food and drinks, giving her the need to eat something during the sleepover. “Miss Waning, please bring us some refreshments, and Miss Waxing, thou be generous to bring us something to drink. Anything will be of suffice,” she requested for the unicorn twins with a small smile that she had been practicing.

“Prin- I mean Luna... May I suggest a Moon Pie for you? I made them myself.” offered North Star, using her telekinetic spell to bring forward one of the mentioned biscuits to the lunar princess.

Luna held the cookie, curiously, in her own magic and inspected it closer, smelling the delectable aroma of chocolate and the smoothness of the marshmallow, enticing her senses of the new treat she had never seen before in her time. Not for her to question a offering of something new, she took a small bite to taste it, giving a bright smile of approval along with a moan of satisfaction. “Such a delightful taste! We will demand more of these… Moonpies!”

The two mares bowed their heads respectfully before turning around, heading together to the tables and gathering the requested food for their princess while staying together at all times. This caused a slight sense of interest in Luna, seeing them walking together so closely, but she let it slide, since it might as well be a twins thing.

“Please enjoy… Umm... Luna,” both twins said in unison, as they delivered the delectable treats.

The group soon returned to their sitting places and bringing an extra set of pillows for the princess to sit on, taking their respectives places quietly without making a sound during the moment.

The silence soon fell upon the room. Silent glances from left to right from each pony made it clear that they had no idea on how to make a proper conversation, as some others decided to fill their mouths with snacks and drinks to keep their mouths busy.

“So, Luna… Who was your first?” Nightlife asked with the proper tact of a jackhammer in a library.

Said question made everypony else in the room stop at what they were doing, and their eyes fell directly on the night guard, all while including Midnight Snack having done a spitake with her mouth hung open in utter disbelief from the straightforward question.

Luna was uncertain what Nightlife talking about with the question, so she had to inquire further. “What is this first that thou are referring to?” She was feeling uneasy, based on the reactions of the other mares, not really into the fact that they seemed really uncomfortable about the simple question.

Nightlife was snickering as she tried to reword her question. ”Who was the first stallion to deflower your garden?” Her need to laugh was growing, almost threatening to burst into full grown laughter.

The restructured question only made Luna be more confused on the matter of the question, as she scrunched her face to concentrate. “We never had the chance to meet such stallion, for he was busy working during the day while I was taking care of my duties in the night, but he made sure that all my flowers were properly treated and taken care of back in the time of the castle where we used to live,” she simply replied, hoping that her answer would clear some of the strange looks from the group, but it didn’t improve the mood in the slightest, as she soon noticed that they were blushing rather brightly and avoiding eye contact.

“Prince- I mean, Luna…” Midnight whispered as she gestured for the tall alicorn to lean closer to her. Luna obliged and straighten up her ear. “What she meant was…” in which the maid began to whisper to her princess the true meaning of the question.

The Princess of the Night soon felt her face brighten up in a deep crimson color as her lips quivered at the scandalous question. “How dare thee to make such question of personal nature!?” she shouted as she then pointed an accused hoof at Nightlife, who was now laughing at her expense. “We deprive ourselves to give thee such an answer!” she added as she scrunched her face in anger.

Nightlife then made a mischievous grin at her. “Oh, please... Don’t tell me that you are a thousand year old virgin!?” she shouted deliberately with a mocking grin plastered all over her face.

The question aroused more awkwardness with a whole new level of silence, as each mare was quite unsure whether to laugh or to blush, or at least one outlier since Midnight Snack fainted on the sole idea of depravity. Luna glared daggers at the little, mischievous mare.

“Do- do not presume to have access to my memories, little pony!“ she warned as her face was beet red, and her wings straightened up in defiance. “I will have you know that I had several consorts during my past, so you will be wise to know before making such accusations!” she added, glaring down to the thestral.

Soon enough, Nightlife was continuing her own laughter, as soon did North Star and the twin unicorn maids join her.

The laughter soon proved contagious, as soon, Luna began to giggle at the little quarrel they just had. Her giggles soon became full blown laughter, which the others seemed delighted to see from their princess.

“I certainly have forgotten the last time a pony ever addressed me in such disregarding manner,” Luna commented, soon finding herself relaxed as she smiled warmly to the other ponies.

“I must say sorry, Pri- Luna, but I just had to know about anything interesting from your old life,” Nightlife said, as she felt the weight of a hoof on the back of her head from North.

“Please forgive the behavior of this mare. She just wanted to ease the tension, by using a such a simple minded idea,” the ivory unicorn said as she glared at the thestral beside her. “We just wanted to make a comfortable night and get along together,” she explained with a serene smile.

Luna nodded as her smile grew. “Thy transgression is forgiven then...” she said with a nod and a smile at Nightlife and the others around them. “But not before a good punishment will be delivered,” she added with a mischievous grin directed to the now frightened thestral.

Waning and Waxing looked at each other and nodded in agreement before they addressed to their princess. “Luna, we would like to know if you have a favorite food?” asked Waning with a look of interest in her eyes. “Just for the curiosity of knowing,” added Waxing, giving the same look as her sister.

Luna chuckled as she gave her answer, not having a moment to think about it. “Cheesecakes is one of the most beloved delight that we enjoy most, certainly, but these Moonpies are certainly a treat worthy of our attention!” Her excitement was evident as she lifted the mentioned treat to the air with praise.

At that moment, Midnight Snack recovered from her recent shock and looked around, to see if anything changed during her moment of blackout. “Lu- Luna, are you enjoying the party?” she asked with concern that perhaps the group was too undisciplined for her princess’ preference, fearing she would make a complaint to Celestia for an immediate change.

But for Luna, everything was new and exciting. The party, the entertainment and the happy feeling of being with ponies that would share her night made the Princess smile in sincere tranquility. “Of course! This is certainly something that I have never experienced in my entire life, and to be so close to my faithful subje- I mean my little ponies... I do feel very pleased with the guests that my sister has arranged for me.”

Midnight Snack smiled once she heard the answer, reaching a better understanding of the reason behind the selected mares that would be under the service of their princess. They weren’t chosen because they were the best at their own services, but because they could help Luna to be at ease and in comfort with all the ponies that will soon be around her, a starting point to receive the love and affection that she needed from the subjects that will certainly be at her side when she stepped up to the throne once more.

Luna smiled as she cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the mares around her. “Nightlife, I heard you telling a story before I entered. Would you mind if you resume your telling?” she requested with a kind smile.

The mare beamed with glee as she nodded enthusiastically, just to keep the conversation going. “Certainly! Now, where was I…? Ah, yes… So, the thing was that this guard just rushed into the personal bedroom of the captain, without any proper consciousness of what he was doing, and deliberately shouted all out the following words…” she gave a long pause, enjoying the anticipating looks of all the mares as she then leaned back to take in some air and shout. “Cu cu ka chuu, Missus Robinson!” She couldn’t resist herself from laughing at the memory that she had witnessed about the event, as soon did the others from the moment they heard the punchline.

“I never thought that a stallion would be drunk enough to reach such lengths as to disturb the Captain’s personal quarters in such an epic way,” Nightlife added as she tried to avoid toppling onto her back in laughter.

“Wha- what happened to that stallion, after his little performance with Captain Armor?” Snack asked, with all the sense of curiosity in her face.

“After that well… Let’s just say that, beside from his daily morning training, the only time you can see that poor guard now is in the bathrooms, cleaning every single one of them, and I mean all of them, including those from inside the castle,” she added with a snicker in the end.

It was clear for Luna that the story was entertaining, but she was hardly able to follow up for the lack of information and other details.

“That seriously happened?” asked North Star with amusement. “I heard about the rumors of the scandalous incident, back then, but to think that the part that he was cleaning all the bathrooms was also true…” she smiled in amusement.

“We can confirm that fact,” replied Waxing Moon with matching nods from her sister. ”Several maids, including us, have seen the stallion do his punishment at various times,” added Waning Moon to complete the confirmation.

“Yeah, that was a fun time indeed,” Nightlife sighed happily while taking in the view of the princess, expecting to see a smile by the use of the punchline, but all that she gained was a look of confusion. Sure, she knew that the alicorn might not know the full story and that it might leave her with some questions, but it still felt bad to let her out of the hook of things going on.

“I know that you just got here and that you may not know the entire story, Luna, but I can tell it again for you,” the thestral knight offered, anticipating the approval of her mistress to recount the events.

Luna looked back at Nightlife, her gaze focused on the mare in front of her as she soon let known the reason for her concern.

“What is this fun that you are talking about?” the lunar alicorn asked, uncertain of the focus upon the word itself nor what it could imply to her.

Nightlife and the other mares looked at Luna, uncertain on whether to laugh or to be worried about the answer. Granted, they all assumed that the word had existed from ever since the creation of Equestria, but it seemed clear that the Princess of the Night was out of the loop far more than they had in mind.

“Princess Luna…” Midnight Snack gestured for her to lean closer as she whispered some words in her ear.

“Oh! So, ponies nowadays refer to entertainment as fun then! How interesting!“ Luna beamed brightly as she clapped her hooves in excitement until she had an idea for the group to enjoy. “Thou all wish to hear a… Fun story of thee times of the Castle of the Two Sisters?” she offered, not wanting to waste time for her to continue on with other conversations that would leave the royal behind in all the talking.

The group of mares changed their expressions, showing their excitement, and each of them nodded in an eager manner, ready to listen.

“T’is was ‘bout a time many moons ago, when the Castle of Two Sisters was at a prime state. My sister and I were at a young age, where jovial of the moments of peace gave us the opportunity to make something for our bemusement. We, that is my sister and I, had the scheming plan that would be of most jovial for us… We called it the Hall of Hooves,” she began, catching the awes of interest of each mare with each moment that she recreated, causing them to laugh altogether.

“...A room where my sister and I had been hidden to scare the innocent ponies that dared to go forth into that section of the castle!” Luna told, smiling brightly as she began.

“It was all part of a plan that I had, which my sister helped to create in order to scare Flash Magnus. He would walk down the halls that intersected to our well prepared trap, but to make sure to entice him into a good scare, we needed to startle him to be in the mood for a good fright. With that in mind, we both used illusion spells, the simple kind that could be easily casted, as well some advanced ones to conceal our presence from the stallion and any possible bystander.”

“We began by just making him listen to faint noises, like hoofsteps in the distance, inclining frames and vases being tilted, followed by displaying shadows move from the corner the corner of his eyes, ensuring he felt that something was close by him.”

Luna’s smile grew slightly as she continued on with her tale. “By the time he was being wary about any suspicious action, Flash had already entered inside the hall, where I was at the ready for the final touch. All the while, Celestia had managed to hide nearby to be witness of our little mischief. All that there was needed was a simple pat on his back that I managed to do from one of the holes that We made for that very purpose, and the stallion flew as fast as his wings could take him, screaming like a foal all the way to his bedchambers!” Luna soon told, hearing the laughter of the other mares around her.

“T’is quite after several other ponies had befallen to our jovial scheming that Starswirl had decided to forbid the entrance into the Hall of Hooves, in order to inspect the entire section, only to find out he hath not known that it was us the masterminds the entire time!”

North Star laughed for a good while until she could speak properly. “That was indeed a fun story to tell us, Luna. Thank you,” she said with a nod.

Luna returned the gesture, before she made another bite from her moonpie, enjoying the new dessert’s taste. “Thou are more than welcome. We thank thee as well for listening,” Luna replied back.

The ponies soon felt jovial after that and started chatting to each other. Luna smiled, taking it all in and enjoying the moment as she enjoyed her moonpie. She felt glad that these mares enjoyed her company, but the lingering thought of what others might think of her still lingered in the back of her mind.

“Okay then… Who is ready for some scary tales?” North’s question startled Luna from her thoughts as a small grin flashed across the alicorn’s face. Tonight would certainly be, what ponies today call it, fun.
> Pillow Fight and starry night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You see, Twilight, there is this theory that proves that humans exist, and the Guild of Ancient History and the Guild of Majestic Beasts consider it complete balloony, because they fear that it will make them look like complete foals once my investigation bares true!” Lyra said as she showed a drawn picture of a human and a list of locations throughout Equestria held in her magic grasp. “This here is the undeniable truth about humans’ existence and the possible locations where they have set foot so long ago!” she said, ecstatic while delivering the picture to Twilight for her to see closely.

Twilight watched the drawing with confusion, trying to figure any creature resembling what Lyra had drawn. Never had she heard anything that could relate to... what her friend had just explained, nor could she find any related proof of the theories she had explained.

“Your theory sounds… convincing, but most of these dates that you mentioned don’t add up to what history has mentioned, nor the artifacts that you assume are linked to the mentioned creatures,” she said, returning the drawing to Lyra as she didn’t consider that such a creature had ever existed in the land before.

“I warned you about asking her about her theories of her creatures,” Lemon Hearts said as she carried five pillows with her magic. “She gets overboard when somepony asks about her fantasies and what they think about them.”

“Hey! They are not fantasies, but facts,“ Lyra objected as she followed Lemon while picking up three pillows in her own magical hands. “I’ll soon take my research to find the proof about humans all over in Equestria!” she declared with conviction, while bringing three pillows to her side.

The lavender unicorn carried her own set of pillows and joined the two of them. “You do realise that this theory of yours could most likely topple over the entire society of science and technology, if your proofs are right?” she said in a tone of voice that resembled a warning, before changing it into total curiosity. “But then again, there’s nothing that says these… Hoomans have ever been here... Where did you find the proof of their existence?”

“It’s ‘humans’, Twilight, and I know the possible risks for our modern society. But, these creatures need to be acknowledged by everypony,” she began with a wide smile, “And as for the day I heard about these creatures, it was when I was a filly, and it was at nighttime when I went to bed. The next thing that happened was that-”

“Is everypony ready!?” Minuette interrupted the mares from their topic as she bounced on her way with excitement for their next game.

Twinkleshine and Moondancer walked out from the pillow fort, carrying their own selected number of pillows in their own magic, smiling in anticipation for the pillow fight that was about to begin soon.

“You can be certain of that! For you all are going to taste the fluffy wrath of my pillow accuracy!” Lyra shouted, dropping the subject of humans as soon as she glared at the blue unicorn.

Twilight shrugged to herself as she levitated her batch of pillows, and so did Lemon with her own, ready to begin the fight.

Spike, meanwhile, was hiding under an armor of pillows from a safe distace, not really eager to partake in a fight where pillows could fly from anywhere thanks to the unicorn magic that would leave him open to any impact.

“Now is the time to get things started!” Twinkleshine shouted as she took the first attack with determination, launching one of her pillows with force directly at Lemon Hearts, who managed to duck from the projectile and counterattack with two pillows of her own.

Soon enough, the others joined in the assault, each mare choosing their own target to throw pillows at, while keeping an eye on other approaching projectiles around them.

Pillows soon flew at a moderate speed as they made impact against the mares and other things that got caught up in their way of collision, all while the noises of laughter filled the room.

Moondancer received the impact of two pillows and felt her head spinning before she soon regained focus and realized Twinkleshine was the culprit of the aggression. “So, it has come down to this then?” She lowered her stance and levitated three pillows, aiming her sights on the fleeing marble unicorn, only to be interrupted by the impact of another pillow landing on her face. “Wha-? Hey!” she shouted at Lemon Hearts, who was grinning smugly at her.

“You know that you shouldn’t be letting your guard down! You make an easy target for my pi- gack!” Lemon was soon interrupted by the hit of a fluffy projectile on the back of her head.

Twilight held three pillows, dancing around her in her magic field, “I think the same would go for you as well, Lemon,” she said with a grin at her friend.

Lyra and Minuette looked at each other intensely, but after a moment, they nodded to each other in silent agreement as their eyes focused solemnly on Twilight, throwing at the lavender unicorn four pillows at high speed.

Twilight soon caught on to the quick movement of the projectiles, and in a matter of seconds, she raised a force field that stopped the pillows right where they impacted.

“Wha-! No fair! You’re using magic!” Lyra objected, narrowing her eyes at Twilight.

“So are you, Lyra,” Twilight called back, having lifted all seven pillows up in the air with her magic and aimed them at her two attackers.

Lyra was unable to make a retort as she soon noticed that she was being overwhelmed and that Minuette was far away from the battle zone, huddling behind Spike for coverage, abandoning her friend to her fate.

“Oh, haystacks…” the mint green unicorn muttered as the volley of pillows fell upon her, burying her from hooves to horn.

The other four mares, and Spike, cringed at the sight of the impact before they resumed their own battles.

“Don’t you think that was a bit too much?” Twinkleshine asked Twilight, taking the opportunity throw a pillow at the lavender unicorn.

“She’ll be fine. Besides, it’s all in good fun!” Twilight replied as she launched another pillow at Twinkleshine, who managed to dodge it by ducking down out of its way.

Moondancer and Minuette were having their own battle, as they each launched several pillows as they hid behind the furniture around them, only to show their heads for the moment to counterattack with their own pillows at hoof.

Spike was just sitting there with his own armor as he watched how Lemon Hearts was hit by another pillow, directly thrown by Twinkleshine. “I wasn’t expecting this kind of pillow fight. These mares are taking this far more literal than I thought they would,” he muttered to himself as he ducked his head from a miss fire pillow that almost hit him.

The game lasted for another five minutes, but for the six mares, it felt far longer than that, as each one felt too tired and happy after it was all over.

“That was really fun!” Twilight said as she marked on her checklist for another completed activity from their night fueled fun time.

“By the look of the collateral damage… I think we went overboard with that last one,” Lemon Hearts said with a small smile as she glanced around the living room.

Twilight followed her gaze and soon noticed the mess the place was in, furniture turned side up, small objects and other trinkets out of place or on the floor and how feathers were scattered all over the floor and on some other parts of the room.

“Maybe…” Twilight agreed sheepishly as she soon coughed to regain composure and take a deep breath. “So then, anypony up for one last activity? It will be more relaxing this time,” she offered while levitating the scattered pillows from the entire room.

Each mare considered the idea and agreed to her proposal. After all that they have been doing, the fun was still in high spirits, and the night was still at its peak.

“I think it sounds like a good way to end the night!” Lyra cheered with excitement as she stood up and looked everywhere that might hint on the activity their host had planned. “So, what is it that we are going to do?”

Spike passed by them with several pillows stacked on his claws as he pondered on the question that Lyra asked. “From Twilight’s List for the evening, the only thing left to do was stargazing, so I’d assume that would be the one to finish it all,” he replied going to place the pillows back with the fort.

Moondancer smiled at the idea and nodded in agreement. “That really sounds like a good way to enjoy the night sky. Too bad I didn’t bring my telescope for it,” she groaned as she helped in the cleaning.

Spike took the opportunity to dismiss any worries that the vanilla unicorn had in mind. “Don’t worry, Moondancer. Twilight has her own set of telescopes in the highest level of the tower. It won’t be a problem to borrow one of them for all of us to use,” he bragged with the kind way he always did.

Moondancer smiled at the mention of the telescopes as she rushed next to Spike. “What kind of telescopes does she have?” she managed to keep her voice neutral, but her eyes gleamed with an incopius amount of interest on the items of interest.

Twilight soon returned from cleaning the mess when she heard Moondancer’s question, which made her grin in delight, as she soon bumped Spike aside to be closer to her friend. “They are all made by the Copper Nickel company. I have the models: The Starseeker, Constellation Admirer and Plus Ultra. Each of them are made with a stainless steel armazon. The lens is made of a specialized crystal from the Leaking Glass shop, which enhances the lighting to see the celestial bodies more easily, and the base model is enchanted, making it capable being steady on any kind of surface,” she recited with excitement every important aspect of her valuable possession.

Moondancer’s eyes widened in surprise, and her smile grew even bigger. “Those are the best models that any astronomer enthusiast could ever possibly obtain,“ she squealed in delight as she walked closer to Twilight. “I heard that those models of telescope have enchanted lens to have a clear view of the night, even against the light pollution in the cities,” she added with excitement.

“You’re right! The three of them were gifts from the school, my parents and from princess Celestia each respectively. They are truly my most prized items,” Twilight said with a fond smile. “So, what model do you have? I can only assume that you have one, since you know them all too well,” she asked now focusing on her scholar friend.

Moondancer was caught off guard as she felt uneasy at her intrigued tone. “I just recently managed to obtain the Sightseeing model,” she said, looking away at the floor, almost in shame for confessing to have one of the cheapest models in store.

Twilight noticed the reaction of shame, and she wasn’t going to let that downcast expression remain. “That’s wonderful! That model comes with a support of notepads and quills along with a star chart, right?” She asked with excitement, watching how the vanilla unicorn nodded eagerly, brightening her features happily as she merrily conversed with Twilight while walking to the upper levels of the tower.

Both unicorns walked happily, chatting about their telescopes and several related subjects they had while the other five watched them from a distance, giggling at how both of them seemed to be enjoying one another’s company.

“Look at those nerds go, talking about their telescopes as if it was the big topic of fashion,” Twinkleshine said with a giggle.

“I think this last activity will be more entertaining for all of us,” Minuette added while walking towards the stairs.

The others followed up to the next level of the tower and were amazed at the sight before their eyes, as they could see from the lighted oil lamps a study room with a giant hourglass in the middle, including a blackboard, globe sphere, several sets of rulers, scrolls and papers around the place. But, the most important thing that was far more noticeable were the immeasurable number of books that were shelved in bookcases, covering the majority of the walls in the room, that even reached to the roof of the three stories tall tower. The only wall that wasn’t filled with books was the giant window that reached to one story tall.

“Sweet Celestia, this place is filled with so many books!” Lyra shouted, as she stretched her neck upon the scene before her eyes, gawking at the possibility that Twilight had ever read all those books.

Lemon Hearts whistled in amusement as she looked at the bookshelves at the highest levels. “I can’t even imagine myself being able to read all these books myself!” she mused as she looked at Minuette, who was still gawking at the room.

“There must be a thousand of them in this very room,” the blue unicorn mused as she soon looked back at the floor level.

“There are exactly one thousand, two hundred and fifty seven books here, not exactly having more books than Canterlot’s public library but still enough that this place can be a library of its own,” Spike said in a matter of fact tone, as he joined the other four mares at the center of the room. “And yes, Twilight did read them all. In fact, she has the world record of more books read in one day, and the world record of more words read in one minute!” he then bragged, expanding his hands to make it look like a big deal of its own.

Lyra was now the one to whistle in surprise. “When was Twilight in the Record Whinnies?” Lyra was unable to hide her surprise at the bit of information she just heard, not being able to believe her friend’s achievement. “I never thought that she would be the type of mare to show off her talent and call upon a judge to make herself famous,” she mused with her eyes still lingering in surprise.

Spike stepped forward and looked at Lyra with a proud smile. “Actually, I was the one who called for the judge back then. I told Twilight that he came for the search of the most dedicated readers among Equestria and that he was going to help promote the love of reading to all the ponies who would love to read... Honestly, that’s all there was to it in order to convince Twilight on showing her reading skills to the judge and win her a place in the book,” he explained, easily showing how he managed to get away with the entire scheme of having a recognition from the famous book of records.

“In the end, Twilight discovered about it when she received her two plaques for the records she established and because Shining Armor brought the book with him, where the entire family saw how Twilight made history in the greatest book of records,” he finished with a chuckle.

Lemon Hearts nodded as she took ahold of the new information of their friend. “Well, that was an interesting fact about Twilight. Who knew that she had something like that hidden within her life?”

Lyra nodded as she soon looked around, “Speaking of Twilight, where are they? Have they reached the top already?”

“This is the book that I have loaned to you!” The voice of Moondancer was evident as the four mares and dragon spotted the two remaining mares discussing about a book that was held in Moondancer’s magic. “It even says here; To Twilight, thank you for showing me the classics. I can see by the fact that you left it here that it meant a lot to you,” she complained, shutting the book and glaring at Twilight, who was looking around nervously once she realised her misstep.

“We- well... it really was a good book... if that helps?” Twilight replied, doing her best to save herself from her own mistake from forgetting such an important thing.

Moondancer eyed the mulberry unicorn with a stern glare for a moment until it faded away as quickly, replaced by a smile upon her face. “Well, I guess I can forgive you for that. After all, you’re still learning to be a good friend, right?” she said with a simple nod.

Twilight returned the gesture, with a fond smile at how her friend easily forgave her accident from the past. She stepped aside and pointed to a set of stairs that guided to the upper levels. “Thanks, I’ll be more careful in the future,” she promised, giving her a hug, which was returned easily by the vanilla unicorn. “We should go on with our plans for tonight.” She gestured to a set of stairs. “It’s only three set of stairs away to reach the highest part of the tower. Come on, girls. The stars are waiting to be observed,” she took the lead to show the way, while Moondancer walked close behind, while the others soon followed.

“Doesn’t that make your heart melt?” asked Lemon Hearts with a dreamy smile, “I know for sure that those two were the ones that had been together the most out of all of us, and to see them being this close again is really adorable,” she said to Minuette, who nodded back.

“It’s good to have them being closer as friends than ever before, and that Twilight is now being more open with all of us,” Minuette said back as they took the stairs, “She has been growing more and more with her friendships ever since.”

They all nodded, agreeing to each other as they followed the two scholars up to the last level of the building, where the access was on a latch door big enough for the entrance of two ponies. Inside was a room with a low roof that also had a balcony attached. In a corner, there were several objects that had been under the covers of blankets, a lunar orrery that showed the Mare in the Moon was displayed in the nearby window, and a small desk was placed in the middle of the room next to a personal bookshelf, which was filled with several journals and star charts. From the balcony, there were three telescopes placed in line, pointing out at the starry night. One was a small basic model of grey color with a white star as a logo that was imprinted on the top. The second telescope was a bigger, blue colored, telescope model with yellow details that held three dials that adjusted the focus of the lens and resolution. The third one was the biggest of the three of them, a red colored telescope with golden details etched in. It included several periscopes that would allow many ponies to watch the same position that the major lens would be pointed at, along with several enchantments and attachments that made it seem like its owner was a professional astronomer by just having one.

“Wow, Twilight, how did you get the bits to buy three telescopes?” Lyra asked without hiding her amazement in each word. She circled around each telescope in amazement, to check every detail she could from them.

Twilight smiled as she made sure that the adjustments on each of them were in order. “I… They are gifts from the astronomy academy, my family and by Princess Celestia. respectively,” she pointed to each of the telescopes as she answered.

“You must be very hard working to get this many things, Twilight. I commend you,” Lyra said with an amused smile.

Twilight felt embarrassed of the praise as she decided to walk to the set of telescopes, doing her best not to show how happy she was from Lyra’s words, not from the praise itself but as to keep in mind that Lyra appreciates hard working ponies.

”Thanks. These are very special to me, so I do my best to keep them in good condition.” She kept her attention in adjusting the focus on the telescopes to aim on any constellation in the sky. “Now, how about we get to enjoy some of the beauties of the night sky?”

The five mares soon joined in pairs to enjoy the stars together, while Twilight, and Moondancer, helped to check on other constellation or planets to enjoy with some nice chat among each other while laughing together.

Twilight kept an eye on her friends and observed how happy they were and the different conversations they had amongst each other until she felt a hoof upon her, pulling her towards a body.

“Twilight, this is the best slumber party I have ever been in! You sure know how to host one!” Minuette complimented, showing her wide grin.

That made Twilight have a little smile in victory from hearing the words of praise and looked up to her friend’s eyes to look at how sincere those words are.

“It was nothing. I just planned a schedule and made sure that everything was in place and in order once all of you girls arrived,” she explained, giving some modesty as it was. “Besides, Spike helped me plenty during the entire time I planned out the evening. Another thing to point out is that this is a fun slumber party because all of you are having so much fun!” Twilight said as she hugged her Minuette in thanks.

“Hey, Twilight!” called Twinkleshine, interrupting the moment. “Can you tell me where I can find the brightest star?” she asked while her eye was still looking through the periscope of the telescope.

“It’s night time, Twinkle. The sun is already resting,” joked Lemon Hearts as the others chuckled along with her.

“Oh, haha… Then, the second most shining star of the night,” she corrected and specified to her friends as she soon giggled along with them, giving Twilight some space to calibrate the device to her specification.

Twilight happily obliged and began to shift the position of one of the telescopes to the star in question. “There it is, Aldebarán,” she said, stepping aside to let Twinkleshine enjoy the view.

“Thanks, Twilight. You’re the best,” praised the marble unicorn as she wooed in admiration at the sight of the celestial body up in the distant night sky.

The mares continued to enjoy the evening as they went admiring the stars that had been displayed in the black veil of the night.

Lemon Hearts was focusing on the moon with her own eyes as she pondered out loud of something that was calling her attention from the moment she focused her eyes on the orbiting rock. “Now that the Mare in the Moon is no longer in the moon, what will happen?”

“The astronomers will have a hard time updating their books and scrolls about the moon, now that it’s gone,” quipped Lyra from her own telescope, giggling at her own joke.

“That much is true… Although, many ponies never expected that it was Princess Luna who was that figure up in the moon,” Twilight said, giving a long sigh at the sky, “Even when I learned about the prophecy, I was really surprised to see it dissapear when the stars aligned to free Nightmare Moon.”

“When I was a filly, I had nightmares all the time, but when my parents told me the story about the guardian of dreams and tat the Mare in the Moon that it would protect me during the night from nightmares, I began have less troubles with sleep, knowing that it would protect me from the dreadful dreams,” Lyra said, looking at Twilight with sad smile, “I once asked them if it was real. I never got the answer to that.”

The group was now silent as they thought of memories of their foalhood, where they had been told the same story of the guardian of the nights that kept an eye on the good fillies and colts during their slumber. Of course, some ‘knew’ that it was a simple bedtime story, an old mare’s tale as they tag it, to assure them that no harm would happen in their dreams, but the fact was now that the moon was plain white, ever since Luna had returned from it.

“But in the end, it wasn’t all a lie. After all, Luna was not only the alicorn that could move the moon, but also the guardian of dreams as well,” Lemon Hearts added.

Moondancer joined them as she gave a small chuckle. “It’s all still a surprise for most of Equestrian population, but I still find it a bit funny how most of us were surprised that Celestia had a sister when it was written in every book,” she commented, smiling at the memory of the revelation for the ponies of Canterlot.

“Yes, but most of Princess Luna is referenced in stories for foals and some tales of old legends and myths. Most ponies don’t take them too seriously when it came to facts of the more historical editions,” Twilight said, looking at her friends with a small smile. “Even when I had been investigating about the return of Nightmare Moon, I never expected the truth about Princess Luna being the younger sister of Princess Celestia.”

The mares nodded along, showing their agreement on the fact as they huddled together under the cold wind of the night sky.

“Guess we should… probably get to sleep now,” Twinkleshine advised in between yawns, pointing back to the stairs to the lower levels of the tower.

“Yeah… This was truly a fun slumber party, but I must have my shut eye,” Lyra agreed as she yawned between words.

“I should go along too, or else I might end up sleeping here and…” Minuette fell on Lemon’s shoulder and began to snore lightly, sleeping humbly on the spot.

Lemon sighed softly as she levitated the prone body of her friend and placed her on her back. “See you downstairs girls,” she said as she carefully walked her way to the living room.

That only left the balcony with Twilight and Moondancer to watch the stars. Even though the silence was there, it wasn’t awkward for them.

“This was… it was a nice party you made here,” Moondancer complimented, her eyes never stopped focusing on the sky.

“Thanks… for coming,” Twilight replied back, the achievement of her first party being a success was a reward in itself.

Moondancer glanced at Twilight and smiled at her. “Your home is really incredible. It has everything that a student would require for their complete education and even far more books than one can hold in their own room,” she praised.

“You are more than welcome to visit it whenever you feel like it. There are so many books of the different branches of science and magic that you would be surprised to see subjects you never even heard about… Like the Haycarts magical method to insert oneself into a book,” Twilight looked at the vanilla unicorn and offered the welcome invitation to her tower.

“Really!? Thank you, Twilight!” Moondancer hugged the mulberry unicorn and giggled happily. Twilight joined her in the embrace as she laughed along with her.

“No need to. We are friends after all.” Twilight soon felt something hit her mind once she said those words and soon began to think of the weight behind them.

Twilight was considering that the fastest way to a friendship was through gifts and invitations to parties, but it was a hypothesis for her. Further research was needed on the idea itself, along with the need to test it out with the entire group and individually. After all, she needed to learn all about friendship as it is.

“Twilight, you coming to sleep or what?” called Moondancer, waking Twilight from her thoughts of friendship investigation and future plans on her knowledge of friendship.

Twilight was soon glancing around to find her friend, only to locate her at the stairs, where she was looking back at her waiting for her to walk along with her to the pillow fortress.

“I’m coming!” she announced, rushing to be with her friend to join the rest of the mares in the pillow fort.

The perfect end for the best night and Twilight’s first Slumber Party.
> Intermission four: End of the night.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna’s personal bedroom was now filled with music and laughter as the the group was dancing and prancing around the place, jumping on the bed and singing along with the music. 

“Cause the world is crazy, and we are free to reign as the way we want.
And we ain’t mares being lazy! For that, we just let those stallions rant!”

They all singed together as Luna watched the group sing in enthusiasm and as loud as they could until the song ended and the phonograph stopped moving. Luna clapped her hooves, congratulating the mares for their performance as she laughed along.

“Spectacular singing! We would vouch for another encore, but tis seems thou have sang enough for a private concerto,” she said with a grin as she congratulated to each of them for their singing performance.

The mares nodded in agreement as they let their bodies hit the floor to take a breather from such performance that they made for their princess, while Luna walked to the phonograph that had offered the display of the music to inspect it closer.

“We are impressed of the innovations that our subjects have obtained over the centuries. I had never considered that these plates could have contained the echoes of those ponies who offered their voices for the entertainment of others,” she said, while inspecting the music device from all angles.

“Many things have been invented to improve the life of the ponies in the kingdom, along with many other for the act of entertainment, your high- I mean, Luna,” Midnight Snack said as she offered a mug of cider to the others to freshen up their tired throats.

“Even I have noticed that music these days have been more exclamative and loud, making the ponies not just dance but shake thine bodies, as if a stampede of buffaloes rushed by towards them,” the blue alicorn said as she returned to the group. “I must say that this Sapphire Shores can truly excite the audience very well.”

Midnight Snack perked her ears up and soon lifted her head, looking at the alicorn. “Luna, if you think that she is a good singer, then I might have to introduce you to Countess Coloratura. She is the true singer with passion that has more fame than any other artist out there.”

“That’s not how you pronounce Songbird Serenade,” “She is truly the best singer of them all,” Both twins interjected as they nodded their heads in unison towards Nightlife, smiling with glee. “She’s, by far, the best of them all,” they added in unison.

“Oh, please! Coloratura has won far more awards than her, with how many Golden Hoof trophies she had won compared to Songbird,” complained Nightlife, with a haughty look at the twins, who scowled back as they began to discuss who was a better singer.

The discussion left the three immersed, as the other mares were left seeing them debating about who is the best singer among them.

“Is this common among the ponies when it is about musicians?” Luna asked, somewhat interested in the argument as she focused her eyes on the trio.

North Star chuckled for a bit, watching the bickering from the others, as she looked at Luna. ”It’s been something that most ponies have been doing since an article from a renowned magazine questioned who was the best singer from the three of them, which caused this debate that has been going on for a long time,” she explained to her princess, “Do not fret about it, though. It will cool down… eventually,” she added as she brought another set of moon pies to the others.

Luna took hold of the moon pie and ate it with more enjoyment as they began to grow in delight with them with each of them she ate. “Although, we would be concerned if this debate gets to develop into something far worse than just bickering,” she said, looking once more at the discussing mares, finding eerie similarity with the bickering with her sister before her jealousy led to her banishment. Trying to clear her mind, she turned her look directly to North,

“Do not worry yourself on the matter, Luna. These topics may be in defense of their favorite singer, but I’m sure they will not get out of control into a discussion nor to a fight amongst the ponies.” North said. noticing the brief moment of relief on Luna’s face but decided to continue on. “But I would love to ask: who was your favorite performer? There must be a mention of them in our archives that I might have read about?” she asked with a great curiosity about her princess’s favorite musical genre.

Luna didn’t give it a thought as she shook her head. “I never had a preference among bards, as I was too busy taking care of the dreams of our subjects to stay awake to enjoy any theatrical performance or concerts,” she replied with a strange sense of calmness.

Both mares were surprised about it, not expecting the answer as it was but wanted it to be some mistake. “Not even a night live concert was made? Or something related to the night?” asked the pearl coated unicorn, insisting, or rather yet hoping, that the ponies back then did so in favor of the lunar princess.

“Ponies back in the days had dedicated their sunlight hours on hard work and labor. They would be too tired to be awake before dusk, and as such, so little could be done to organize a festivity of sorts when ponies slept during my time of rule during the night,” Luna explained further as she looked at the moon through the window, “Ponies’ lifestyles have been improved greatly through the years, as it seems they now find time during the night to do more activities and enjoy themselves,” she added while closing her eyes for a moment and opening them once more to enjoy her delicious treat of moonpie.

“It is all in the past now. No need to feel pity for such events that never happened,” the blue alicorn added to her two subjects.

North wanted to say something, anything, to the princess, just to show her that they supported her greatly and that things were different. There were many things to say and possible future plans to schedule to let her know how the night has changed in the lifestyle of ponies these days, but she was abruptly interrupted by Nightlife and the twins, who had finished their discussion moments ago, as the thestral wrapped her hoof around Midnight and pulled her closer.

“So, Snacks… I know that you said you were Luna’s right hoof, but what that entails you to be...? I mean, no offense, but you’re a quite a simple maid to have such a title,” she said bluntly.

keeping her control in check the maid felt easy to make her answer. “My duty is to always be at her highness’ side and to be at alert for whenever she requires my services or my aid whenever she encounters something that she inquires about and needs an explanation about it,” Midnight explained with professionalism as she felt proud on each word she gave.

“So, you’re a chaperone,”

The sole simplification of Midnight’s explanation was enough to make her gawk in confusion as she looked at her brethren Thestral with disbelief, unable to make a retort as the other mares laughed at the reply and the look on her face.

“I think you drank too much mango juice, Nightlife,” North scolded as she tugged the ear of the guard pony with her magic. “I think you should lay off from them.”

“No fun!” Nightlife complained as she pouted, taking a little distance from Midnight.

Luna could only chuckle at the acting these two mares did as she soon let out a burst of laughter, enjoying it far more than she could admit. “We most apologize, but thy interactions have been the most amusing thing that We have witnessed. Watching the two of you interact in such manner is not common during the old days, and this Slumber party is granted to be more entertaining than We had imagined.”

The mares smiled at how happy the princess was and felt that they had fulfilled their task satisfactorily, feeling more confident that they were truly suited to service the princess to their best abilities.

“We are pleased that you are enjoying your evening,” Midnight Snack said while a murmur of agreements joined along with her statement.

Soon enough, Waning Moon and her sister perked up at the same time as an idea came for them both with a simple glance they gave at each other, something they enjoyed.

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?”

“Always, sister of mine,”

Soon, both sisters stood up in perfect shyncrony, and as one, they rushed to their saddlebags, searching for a particular object. “Found it!” Waxing proclaimed as she held a camera in her hoofs.

They soon turned back, showing the object to the others. “We would like to take a photo of us all.” “It would be a good thing to remember this with all of us together.”

“That sounds like a perfect way to celebrate Luna’s first slumber party,” North Star said as she smiled excitedly to the others.

Quickly enough, the other mares were now choosing where to position themselves for the shot and decided to take it on the bed, with Luna sat in the middle and the others around her.

“Okay, we just need to set the timer and...” “Smile for the photo!”

The two of them said as the white chambermaid prepared the camera and set the timer for the two of them take their respective places in the group.

Luna had learned what the device was and how it was supposed to work, but to see it in action was something that caught her interest as she was soon dazed by the quick flash of light that blinded her for a second, and the after effect of white spots in her eyes was something that was soon to be considered the most annoying thing that it could offer to the princess as she tried to rub off the light in her eyes.

Once her focus was back, she noticed how the mares returned to talking amicably among each other with joy and happiness, making her feel an uneasy thought from her, not so, distant past and great misdeed. She smiled weakly as she walked out to the balcony of her room.

North Star noticed this and followed her out into the cool night air as she saw the blue alicorn sit on her haunches and stare at the city. “Luna?” she asked, daring herself to sit down near her.

“The land looks beautiful under the mantle of the night. In the ancient times, the moon and the stars would shine above the land and guide the brave wanderers that render themselves to go by in the darkness. Thine little number of ponies used fireflies to bring light into their cottages when they forced themselves to remain woken during the late hours,” she said softly as her eyes lingered into the bright lights of the city. “Times have truly changed if ponies can tame the lightning to illuminate the once empty streets and that this mentioned light can help ponies can sleep safe and sound without any fear of the ravenous creatures that lingered in the darkness and could dare bring harm to thyselves. But... can they now rest calm knowing that the most dangerous monster now resides among them?”

North Star could tell what her princess meant and looked at her with apprehension. “Luna, I do not believe that you are such thing.” Worry began to take form in her face as she watched the alicorn. “What happened to you was in the past, and you have already paid penance for it. No pony can punish you for what has already been done,” she said, watching her closely.

Luna remained focused on the city below them. “We cannot fathom why the ponies would be eager to forgive us without repercussions, nor that they would be willing to forget about our past sins,” each word insisting on the matter as Luna closed her eyes.

“If I may be blunt with the matter, then I would say that nopony would never mind about what you have done in the past, and if they did, they would never dare to say it without proclaiming such things to your own sister, unless you fear that she is the one that hasn’t forgiven you?” North asked, watching Luna’s eyes narrow for a moment but then readjusted themselves back to normal.

“Neigh, Our sister has done more than just forgive us. She also seeks to be forgiven for our banishment that she was responsible of doing, something that had truly surprised me.” Her eyes soon drifted from the city back to the pony who sat next to her. “We… I never imagined that she would feel such way for my mistakes, but I sensed the guilt upon me only grew,” 

“I may not know what happened one thousand years ago, nor will I be able to understand that feeling any of you held. However, you can’t blame everything on you for something that no one could’ve possibly foreseen,” North said, doing her best to make her see some sense. “Also, ponies around the nation have been nothing but happy when they learned about your return, even if they had never known about you outside of books or legends of old times,” she added in order to give the alicorn the opportunity to start anew with equine society.

Luna took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill her lungs, letting her mind cool down from their debate they had. “Mayhaps thou are correct. Thy words speak only the truth,” she conceded with a faint smile.

“You will get over the events of the past, princess, and you will notice that most of the ponies here will enjoy your company,” North added, returning her smile back at Luna.

Luna didn’t say anything and just enjoyed the silence while her eyes once more turned to the city that was before her. It was so strange for her to see it in a different light, but it still remained the same city that Princess Platinum had lived during the distant past. Even the ponies of today have changed in several ways that she could have never foreseen.

But doubt lingered in her mind, and fear was still pounding in her heart. Both sensations made her uneasy as she felt the urge to run away from the city and hide herself from the shame she had once provoked.

She mentally groaned out in defeat, as she knew that no matter how far she could run nor how deep she would bury herself. Her sister would never allow her to submit to a proper punishment if she knew about it. Unless.

“It will be sunrise soon, miss Star. You should get ready to sleep, if you wish to adjust yourself to the night service,” Luna spoke softly as she maintained her expression, unchanged.

North Star wondered what was going through her princess’s mind, hoping that her words reached into the alicorn to ease her fears. “I shall be waiting for you inside, Luna. It was fun to be a guest in your slumber party,” she with a respectful bow as she walked back inside, leaving Luna alone for the moment.

Luna watched the white unicorn leave and rejoin with the others, observing each mare sleep in their sleeping bags that were next to each other and on the royal bed. “Forgot to ask for a sleeping bag to myself,” she grumbled to herself before she noticed that each of the mares had turned off the light and began to sleep soundly.

Once the room was devoid of noise, aside from the soft breathings and snoring from the mares, Luna returned her eyes to the horizon, where the first rays of the morning sun could be barely seen. She knew it was almost time for her to proceed with her part of the daily task, but before all that could take place, she needed to do something.

With a concentration of her magic, and an incantation of her own words, a small sphere of nebula appeared before her, flowing in circles as it floated in place.

Luna stared at it for a few seconds until she closed her eyes. “Do your worst, Tantabus,” she whispered as the dark miasma merged into her body, causing a chilling sensation to run through Luna’s coat.

Once it was done, Luna glanced at the horizon once more and closed her eyes. “It is for the best that my crimes shan’t be left unpunished,” she whispered, using her magic to lower the moon and allow the sun rise to bring forth a new day.
> Morning rise.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was still dark when Lemon Hearts snorted lightly and woke up from her sleep. She felt a small grumble in her stomach, alerting her the need for an early snack and silently walked outside of the fort, without disturbing any of her friends on her way out. Even if she managed to stifle a chuckle at how cute Spike was sleeping while snuggling a blanket or Twinkle Shine’s left rearhoof twitches while sleeping, she still continued further on.

“Hmm~,” Lemon suddenly stopped to a complete halt, hearing the noise of Lyra as she stirred in her place. Lemon felt like a statue as she wondered if Lyra was awake because of her need of a early snack. “Bon Bon, you dropped the pudding,” the mint green mare mumbled as she resumed snoring, making Lemon breathe a sigh in relief and resumed her way to the kitchen.

With a soft humming tune while searching in the fridge, Lemon held a glass of cold chocolate milk and a donut as she walked to the small table and ate the tasty treat in delight.

The sweet flavor made her remember how fun the sleepover was, marvelling at how enjoyable it was when everypony was involved in the fun and wondered when she could host the next slumber party in her home. The idea fascinated her as she trembled in glee from it.

Once she was done and satisfied, she walked back into the fort to sleep the rest of the night with a belly full and a fond smile in her face. She soon heard something. It was faint. Swiveling her ears to point where the location the noise was coming from, she discovered it wasn’t originated directly from the pillow fort.

Walking around, she followed the noise directly to the second floor, and the closer she got the more the noise resembled of the scribbling noise of a quill on paper. She wondered who would be still up so late, only to discover that it was clearly Twilight Sparkle herself, writing on a desk with a single candle that provided just enough light for her to continue her task.

“Chronicle of Friendship, first entry. This book will be for the sole purpose of my investigation of the subject of my Friendship with Lyra, Lemon Hearts, Moondancer Twinkleshine and Minuette. These five mares have been my friends from the very beginning, and today will be my first report on my findings of this new matter of subject to enforce my learning of the Magic of Friendship,” Twilight muttered to herself as the quill was levitated on the air, taking notes of what she had been dictating.

Lemon Hearts walked slowly as she noticed the hushed voice of Twilight, who continued to write down on the book she had on the desk.

Twilight continued on her report, unaware of the presence of the yellow unicorn as she continued on in her report. “I managed to learn a lot about each individual and took note on their behaviour during the party, which will be useful to learn further about the Friendship I have created with each of them.” Twilight smiled as she continued on. She was certain that her investigation would soon bring positive results, and it would all go into practice one day to prove how much of a good, dedicated friend she can be thanks to the report with all the data of her friends she would obtain.

Lemon was soon close enough that she peered over her shoulder to see Twilight, but she could tell that the scholar was too focused on her writing to notice her in any way. “What are you doing?” Lemon asked, finally deciding to make herself known.

“Gah!” Twilight jumped as she turned around to see her friend right behind her. “Lemon, you scared me!” she exclaimed as she breathed steadily to ease her jumping heart, scooting aside to allow some space for the yellow unicorn to allow her to see what she had been writing. “I was making a report on my findings about Friendship and about how to use it to strengthen our bonds with it,” Twilight explained, feeling proud to show the final part of her project.

Lemon looked at Twilight with doubt and shook her head in disapproval to her scholar friend, “Twilight, I do not think that investigating about others is a way to know about your friends.” Lemon sat next to her and looked at Twilight directly.

“But it’s the perfect way. By taking in all the information about the pony in question, you can easily make activities based on their preferences, and that will certainly bring out a healthy relationship of friendship thanks to the reports of each of them.” Twilight was certain on her decision and was convinced that her plan would work out flawlessly.

“But friendship is not about investigation nor science or anything like that. It’s not a project where you take notes and investigate anyone just to come to a certain conclusion… It sounds weird.” Lemon pointed out, pressing on the paper for emphasis.

Twilight let her ears fell down and looked dejected on how Lemon stated her project and how bad it would look if she began stalking each of the mares around the town to make an investigation about Friendship for her own personal gain.

“W-well, if you put it like that, then I guess it really sounds bad,” Twilight admitted, looking at Lemon with a smile, happy to know that she was there to let her know the errors of her plan. “You really know about friendship more than I do,” she then admitted, hoping that her friends could help her to become a better friend herself.

Lemon smiled and shook her head in negation. “Sorry, but I am not that knowledgeable about friendship either, Twilight,” she admitted, placing her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “If I was better at friendship, I would have insisted on bringing you to join us to all those parties we went instead of letting you be alone all the time.”

Twilight pondered on that thought, and it was somewhat true to some degree. She nodded, “Perhaps we can learn together,” she half joked, giving a big smile.

“Sure we can,” Lemon extended her hoof to her friend and returned the smile with more eagerness, which surprised Twilight on how serious she was, but she didn’t held back to give a hoof bump in response.

The two of them remained silent for a moment when Lemon wrapped her left foreleg around Twilight and pulled her closer, “Now, how about we go back to bed to enjoy the morning all together with the others?” 

“Sounds good,” Twilight agreed, standing up and walking along with Lemon to the pillow fort. looking back at her chronicle and re-thinking about making a better use for it. “Perhaps a journal should be better for my purposes,” she mumbled to herself as they walked together.

“What was that, Twi?” Lemon asked, curious to know what she had said.

“Maybe I can invite the girls to Joe’s for lunch? That could be a good way to start the day,” the lavender unicorn suggested once they reached the stairs.

“That sounds like a great idea, Twilight,” the yellow unicorn agreed as they walked down the stairs, and soon, an idea came to her. “Oh, and just to let you know, Twinkleshine loves the strawberry doughnut with white chocolate sprinkles,” she passed the information as if it was a well hidden secret that no other should hear, whether they are near or not.

“Thanks, Lemon, I will do my best to be a better friend from now on,” Twilight promised, walking inside the Fort and carefully and laying out a clear part, near Minuette and Lyra.

“Anytime you need help or good advice, you can always count on me, or the others. Rest well,” Lemon said, taking place in her spot of the fort and adjusted her pillow for her to rest upon.

Soon, Twilight rested her head and slowly began to drift away into slumber with a smile in her face thanks  to how much she had enjoyed tonight’s party, glad that the majority of it was a huge success, including the minor setbacks.

She dreamed of the endless possibilities on the many enjoyments and fun moments she and her friends will be having, plenty of activities that they could all do together or individually, the adventures they could have. Oh, the new schedules she would plan to maximize the time she would be spending to obtain more bonding moments with her friends.


***


The morning sun arrived, and with it, the chiming bell of a grandfather clock that echoed through the living room, waking the mares and a sleeping dragon from their sleep. Each mare woke up with murmurs and groans, even with them stretching their limbs and popping up some of their bones to get the numb feeling out of their wake.

“That was some good sleep,” Twinkleshine groaned happily as she got on her hooves and smiled at the others, “Slept well, girls?”

Minuette beamed a smile as she was practically bouncing on her place. “You bet I did. That was certainly the best slumber party I have ever had!” she cheered excitedly, bouncing on the spot.

“I can definitely agree,” chimed in Lyra as she sported a big smile once she was on her hooves. “But I guess it was because we all went together and had more fun than ever,” she smiled while hugging Moondancer and Lemon with a vice grip.

The mares soon laughed as they walked out of the fortress and faced each other.

Spike soon walked out of the kitchen, wearing an apron, and smiled at his friends. “Breakfast is ready!” he announced happily as he made way for the mares to walk directly to the kitchen. The unicorn mares smiled as they walked together to the kitchen, and thanked Spike on the way.

“Whoa, just look at all this food, Twilight. Is this what you have for breakfast everyday?” Lyra wondered, taking a seat and getting her plate. The table was completely filled with several dishes that only a noble family could eat during the day.

“Actually, Twilight made it last night for the slumber party, but we gave it a second thought and decided to choose something more simple for last night,” Spike explained while the other mares joined at the table holding their own plates to eat.

Twilight raised her hoof and ruffled Spike’s head gently. “Spike helped me on the cooking though. He’s a good cook,” she praised to her little assistant, who in response swelled his chest in pride.

“Well, I must say this really looks appetizing,” Moondancer agreed as she took a bite of the food and hummed in approval, enjoying the food even further.

The others followed suit as they silently enjoyed their breakfast in eagerness, humming in delight at how well it tasted and offering compliments about each others’ dishes to enjoy the breakfast to the fullest until they were satisfied from the delicacy of the food.

“That was so good. Way to end a good slumber party,” Twinkleshine praised as she rested her back.

“Truly something delightful and fun. Congrats to you, Twilight,” Lemon Hearts complimented before finishing her drink.

“Yeah, even I had fun,” Moondancer joined in, giving a warm smile to Twilight, showing how much she enjoyed the evening with their friends.

The praises she obtained from the girls made Twilight rejoice in her heart, and she demonstrated it with a smile. “I’m glad all of you had fun. Hope this makes amends for my past mistakes of neglecting each of you,” she said, her eyes gleaming in happiness.

Soon enough, before anypony could utter any word, Spike soon felt something coming from inside his belly and let out a loud belch, which caused him to erupt out a green flame that materialized a scroll right on top of the table.

Twilight quickly grasped the parchment with her magic before it fell onto the food and unscrolled it quickly to read it. The others waited patiently for Twilight until she lowered the parchment and addressed them.

Twilight’s expression soon was serious as she looked at the others, “Princess Celestia wishes to meet me at her study,” she declared, her expression serious but still a bit disappointed that they soon had to depart ways.

“It can’t be helped, I guess,” Minuette said, shrugging as she smiled at Twilight. “I should be heading home, too, since I have some things to tend to before noon.”

“Yeah. I have a meeting at noon as well and can’t be late for it,” Twinkleshine added, giving a sympathetic smile to her friends.

“Yeah. I also have an excuse,” Lyra shrugged, joining in with the others in their ominous reasons to be absent for the day.

Both Lemon Hearts and Moondancer stared at each other and sighed, “Guess we are the only ones without any plans for today.”

“We can manage to find ourselves something to entertain ourselves while they handle whatever they have to do,” Moondancer suggested as they shared a smile.

With all that being said, they picked up the dishes, cleaned the table and recollected their belongings. They gathered together at the door, sharing a smile with one another and even a few giggles from Minuette. “I call dibs for next slumber party in my house!” Minuette exclaimed with glee, followed by a defeated groan from Lemon Hearts, which caused everyone to laugh. They gave each other a group hug and soon walked together down the stairs to the paved pathway to the castle, in which Twilight had to walk a different path that led inside the royal residence while the group of friends took the one leading outside.

Soon enough, Twilight and Spike started making their way to where Celestia had written where she will be meeting with them, passing by some guards that were stationed in specific locations while maids that bowed in respect as they soon passed near them through the castle’s hallways.

“What does the princess want to talk about, Twilight?” asked Spike, glancing at Twilight, curious to know what plans were prepared from Twilight’s mentor.

“The letter said that it was regarding my next lessons for the future and some other details about them,” she explained, walking closer to the meeting room.

Spike soon continued forward, wondering what new magic Twilight will be learning and how awesome he would look helping her in her progress. He quickened his pacing to knock on the door, but a sudden shout from inside surprised them.

“Princess Celestia, I must insist on this matter!” called a stallion from inside.

Twilight and Spike perked up at the voice of the stallion, a stallion that they knew very well as they glanced at each other in surprise.

“Is that-?” Spike was about to make his question, but Twilight suddenly pressed her ear next to the door, her curiosity always winning over her while she listened to the conversation.

Soon, the gentle voice of Celestia traveled through the door and was as calm as it usually was, “Shining Armor, my loyal guard, I know that your worries and concerns are valid, but I truly am sorry to decline your request.” Her voice was still as passive as ever, even with the tone of rejection it held.

Both Twilight and Spike looked at each other, wondering the same question. “What do you think they are talking about, Spike?” Twilight was the first to ask, expecting that her assistant could offer some possible theories for the meeting that Shining and Celestia were having.

“I don’t have any idea what could it be, but we could knock on the door and ask.” Spike soon gave three knocks to the door and waited.

Twilight decided to follow his lead and stepped back from the door to wait for the reply, but it was all silent from the moment the door was knocked on. An uncomfortable feeling began to creep upon the two as they waited more.

“Come in,” was the reply of the princess, finally breaking the silence, who waited patiently on the other side of the door. Twilight decided not to waste a second as she took a deep breath and began to walk forward into the private chamber.

The lavender unicorn could see Celestia sitting on a lounge sofa, sipping her tea in a small porcelain teacup. Near her was Shining Armor, standing with his golden armor on his body. His helmet was on the floor at his hooves, and his expression was of surprise when he saw her enter.

“Twily? What are you doing here?” Shining Armor asked out loud and soon shifted his gaze to Celestia, wondering if she had anything to do with her arrival.

“I had summoned her here for a different matter than you believe, Shining Armor,” Celestia replied first and smiled at Twilight in a familiar manner, “Good morning, Twilight.”

“Good morning, Princess Celestia,” Twilight replied, glancing back at her brother and trying to formulate her question regarding his presence. “Princess, I-”

“In a moment, Twilight. Shining, could you mind wait outside for the time being? There is something I wish to discuss with Twilight first,” Celestia said, interrupting Twilight’s questioning, showing a calm smile to the white stallion.

Shining Armor hesitated for a moment but decided to oblige her request and walked away with the discipline of a soldier, with a final glance at Twilight. She noticed a hint of concern in his expression moments before he closed the door.

“Princess, what was all of that? Why was my brother here?” Twilight finally asked as she walked closer to Celestia and sat on a couch near the princess. Spike walked behind her, only stopping at the table to pick from some of the biscuits it offered.

Celestia was focusing on serving tea to Twilight while she answered. “Your brother was concerned about the security of the castle, as he requested to increase the number of guards,” she explained calmly, offering a cup of chamomile tea to Twilight.

“Why? Has there been a threat that would cause Shining to be prepared? Should I gather my friends and the elements for this? Would Luna join us on such short notice?” Twilight asked in panic, looking at Celestia for any answers she could give.

“Twilight, calm yourself. There is no threat to Equestria nor to the castle,” Celestia began, chuckling gently on how quickly her personal student can go from calm to panic in a second. ”Drink your tea and let us focus on the main topic: your studies.”

Twilight obliged, taking a good sniff of the tea, letting its aroma travel through her nostrils to ease her mind before taking a sip from it. The effect was quick, as her mind was soon at ease, “What will we be studying now, princess?”

Twilight watched how Celestia sipped from her cup and sighed in delight as she lowered it towards the saucer and smiled, “You will still receive your usual lesson program, along with the designated books that you will learn from, but there is something more important that you will be offered for your advanced studies.” Celestia was serious as she soon summoned forward a golden key with her horn that held the symbol of the sun and moon decorated at the end of it and levitated it for Twilight to take. “This key will also grant you access to the restricted section of the Royal Library. Use it your heart's content, but never forget to be responsible with them.”

Twilight observed the key as if it was the most valuable item she had ever possessed and soon gazed at Celestia with a huge smile. “There is a restricted section in the library!?” Twilight’s enthusiasm was clear for everyone to see as she jumped from the couch and began bouncing around the room in her ritual of victory, which amused Celestia, giggling while watching her pupil celebrate. Spike merely rolled his eyes at her antiques.

Twilight soon stopped in front of Celestia and gave her her biggest smile in appreciation, “Thank you so much, Princess Celestia. It means a lot to me that you can offer me this key.” She looked back at the key and felt how her progress was greatly rewarded by the gift she obtained.

“You have earned it, Twilight. Your loyalty and faithfulness have granted it for you,” the alabaster alicorn said, giving a fond smile herself to her student. “But there is another thing that I wish to give to you,” Celestia added, gaining the confusion from her about what other thing she would receive for her training.

A new scroll was revealed to Twilight, levitating from a distance away from her, “In here will be a schedule for a training session that I wish for you partake, as it will benefit you during your growth in magic,” Celestia maneuvered the scroll to Spike, who received it in his claws. “This won’t be obligatory, but I will recommend you to follow it thoroughly, because a healthy body can withstand your improvement with magic considerably,” she informed her student, allowing her to take in everything she had told her and smiled once more to Twilight.

“Thank you Princess, I will certainly be eager to do it once I have the chance and to also study hard to meet up to your expectations,” Twilight promised, giving that look filled with determination that she always had for when she was ready for a challenge.

Celestia shook her head, which confused Twilight for a moment, before she explained, “Many things have happened in a short time, for you as well as your friends, and it shall be for the best for you and Spike to take a moment to relax and enjoy a little bit of vacation.” Celestia stood up from her seat and hugged the lavender unicorn with her wing, smiling proudly at her pupil.

Twilight hummed in the embrace and let it last as long as she could allow before stepping back. “I will, Princess Celestia, and thank you once more, for all of this,” she bowed, as was customary, and Celestia nodded in acceptance.

“Enjoy your time, Twilight, and do please call for Shining Armor here before you leave,” Celestia said while she waited.

Twilight nodded and stepped to the door, opening it with her magic and called for his brother to the other side. Shining took her sister’s place and walked back into the presence of the alicorn.

The atmosphere changed once more from the jovial feeling to the serious matters the two individuals had before.

“Regarding your request of the guards, Shining Armor, why do you believe that something would happen to Twilight that requires her to have a personal escort around her all the time?” Celestia asked, not wanting this discussion take as much time as she fears.

The white unicorn eyed Celestia directly to keep his composure unwavering and soon made clear his point. “Princess Celestia, Twilight needs to be protected due to her being a wielder of an ancient and powerful artifact and because she has gained more fame than anypony in Equestria, due to her recent achievement during the events of the Summer Sun Celebration. It is clear that she needs it,” he stated keeping his composure stoic.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Is that truly the only reason?” she wondered out loud.

Shining could feel something snap inside his mind, as he seemed baffled at the simple question. “Of course! Does one need more reasons to send a bodyguard!?” he questioned with a tone of anger inside his words.

Celestia took a calming breath and soon sat down on her forelegs. “I do believe that you are being overprotective of Twilight, Corporal Shining Armor,” Celestia deduced, giving a serious look towards the stallion.

Shining Armor stomped the floor, and with a snarl, he glared at his princess, “Her being my sister or not doesn’t change a thing. She could be in possible danger as she is!”

Celestia nodded in understanding. His point was valid, as it was clear that Twilight has gained fame through all of Equestria in a single day and night, and that it was most likely that the ponies will still talk about it for days to come. But Celestia would not be granting his request without making her opinion clear to the stallion.

“Twilight Sparkle has been known through the entire kingdom due to her position as my personal student for years. She was prized and recognized in several festivities of magic and science in each town, village and city for her knowledge and achievements. She is also the seventh generation of your lineage, the inheritor of one of the oldest clans of Equestria, only rivaled with the Shimmer clan and the Apples clan,” Celestia listed out and stood up on her four legs to tower over Shining. “Would it be arrogant of me to also say that no pony in their right mind would dare to touch her, not only because her magical prowess can reach to Alpha levels to take care of herself, but that they wouldn’t even dare to cough near her without responding to me?” her voice firm and stern as the atmosphere felt heavy and the air felt dry and hot all of the sudden.

Shining Armor stepped back and looked aside, feeling how Celestia was pressing him on, “I- I-, no, I don’t believe so… And yeah, I guess you have a point there with how Twilight was already famous and well known through the entirety of Equestria… But still...”

Celestia nodded, knowing well that he would be stubborn in the subject and thought until an idea came to her. With her horn, she invoked a scroll and levitated it towards Shining Armor. The scroll’s seal held the symbol of the royal guard. “What’s this?” he asked, unscrolling the parchment and gasping once he began to read the content.

“It is a recommendation act for a position of Captain, here in Canterlot,” she explained while looking at a small window. “Captain Banner Fall will soon retire, and he will be personally choosing his replacement. You will be recommended not only by my word, but for your spotless service and dedication you have demonstrated. You have proven to your kingdom that you are an excellent candidate.”

Shining Armor knew about the news of the position of Captain and that there are, at least, other four nominated stallions along with him. The position would grant him the total disposal of the royal guard, but he can arrange them in any way he required, which was in hindsight for him the liberty to choose which guards would be suited to protect his little sister. It was going to be difficult to succeed, but what other option did he have?

“Then, I will accept this recommendation note and prove to be worthy of being promoted to captain,” he declared with all the conviction he could muster, standing as tall as he could.

“I have total faith that you will, but… you must know that you will not be insisting on the matter if you fail to be promoted, corporal,” Celestia warned, narrowing her eyes to show how serious it was all going to be.

The stallion faltered at the condition as he gulped nervously before looking directly once more at the princess. “The more reason I can not fail then.” His reply was just about as serious and filled with all the confidence he could muster.

Celestia nodded and opened the doors behind him. “You know what to do then. Good luck,” she finished with a nod.

Shining saluted and made a firm trot out of the room, keeping his stride until he left the room. Celestia sighed and decided to finish her tea. “What things will await for me in the morning after?” she asked to herself while watching the day of Canterlot go by.


***


In the early hours of the night, Luna walked down the hall of the throne room with a satisfied smile, noticing  that her sister was just finishing talking to some nobles ponies after exchanging some words among each other and laughing about some joke that Celestia had mentioned.

The lunar princess was not familiar with the ponies, who just bowed to Celestia and walked back from the royal throne, but she still nodded to them when they stopped to bow in response before resuming their path out of the room.

“Luna, my beloved sister, did you have a good sleep?” Celestia greeted her sister as she walked down the dias to hug Luna once she reached to the bottom of the stairs, excited to know how well the party she prepared for her sister was, also curious to know the opinion she had for the personal staff she had arranged to be under her service.

Displaying a warm smile and returning the embrace with her wing to her older sister, the lunar alicorn looked directly at Celestia. “We had a good rest, dear sister of mine, due to the magnificence of the party that was conveyed by thy hoof. For that, we are grateful,” Luna said with a pang of guilt at the lie she had given, considering the nightmare she suffered due to self imposed punishment. She had to lie and dissuade her sister from being worried.

“I’m happy to know that you enjoyed it and that your staff was to your liking.” The alabaster alicorn was happy to know how much Luna had enjoyed her party and that she would able to socialize with ponies soon enough.

“Certainly, they were truly a rambunctious group of mares and were very enjoyable to be with. We would not have chosen a better group of ponies to be with.” Luna felt more at ease talking about the mares who she spent the night with and remembered how much fun she had with them.

Celestia smiled and soon laughed as Luna began recounting the fun they had together and how some of them were so easy going around her little sister.

“I’m happy to know that you can trust in them and that you opened up to them,” Celestia gave one last comforting squeeze before breaking the hug as she looked at her directly. “I hope that you will enjoy their company and learn to associate with them during your recovery.”

Luna frowned for a moment. She could tell that there was something under the line of those words and gazed at Celestia’s eyes. “Sister, what is it that you are planning?” her voice was cautious and serious, looking for any signs of expression on her sister’s face.

“Luna, I would never dare to hide things from you anymore, but I would love that you could trust me in some things,” Celestia said as she watched the now empty halls of the throne room. “I am going to request for you to be appearing more in public in any possible event that will come, from a night ball or to a contest that you will be as a guest judge and even to opening ceremonies.” Celestia was soon counting the several types of formal events and festivities that she wanted Luna to participate in and soon smiled widely to await for Luna’s reaction of approval.

Luna blinked three times, in a quick succession, taking all the information in and blinked two times more. “No.” was the flat simple answer that she gave, shaking her head slightly in  negation.

It was Celestia’s turn to blink now as she gazed at her sister. “Excuse me, what did you say?” she asked, trying to make sense of the flat answer. “Why not?”

Luna felt a pang of guilt, watching the hurt face of her sister, but she had to give a proper reason. “We are sorry, dear sister, but We do not feel delighted to the idea of ponies wanting to see Us in our current state,” Luna stated as she waved her azure mane to the side to prove her point.

“I see… Well, I suppose you do have a fair reason for your denial,” Celestia conceded, nodding, understanding her little sister’s reasons. “I would still expect you to make some public appearances in the near future,” she insisted politely.

Luna could feel an uncomfortable sensation on her back and resisted showing it through her facial expression, not wanting to let her sister know about how much she disliked the idea of ponies seeing her after all what she had done during her madness.

“We- I will try, sister,” she said, barely above a whisper, letting out a small sigh from her lips before looking back at Celestia’s eyes. “Is there anything else to be discussed before our lesson plans?”

Celestia nodded, glancing to the main entrance and then back to Luna. “Indeed. There is one matter to cover before we go. I know that you already met your personal staff, but there are two more that will be taking care of your needs during the day.”

The Lunar princess was a bit surprised to the idea and tilted her head. “Sister, thou must know that We think that we have enough ponies to attend us as it is. Who more could you be assigning to our personal care?” Luna wondered, looking at where her sister was glancing at.

“You will soon see, sister,” Celestia said and kept herself from uttering another word.

As if in cue, the doors burst open, and two ponies in golden armor arrived through them. One was a pegasus stallion who walked with a firm step on his way. His posture was stoic, as expected from a royal guard as something to show how serious he was and that he was the type of pony that takes no nonsense from others.

The other was an Earth Pony mare, who was quite opposite from her companion. It was obvious by her prancing steps while bobbing her head to the rhythm of an unheard song in her head.

“We march fearless under the dark night.
The moon bathing us with its silver light~!”

The mare soon began to sing once they walked closer to the throne, where the two alicorns watched her in uncertainty but didn’t stop her from her singing.

“We shall serve our ruler with all our might;
we shall contribute in everything that is right!” she sang, while she began dancing around the place.

Once they arrived to a close distance, the two guards stopped and saluted in unison, both looking at attention towards the two taller mares before them.

“Lieutenant first class of the Stern Canterlot Marshalls, Stella Sunsinger!” the earth pony exclaimed. Her sweet voice was soon of a more serious tone that made her previous song almost non-existent.

“Private first class of the Stern Canterlot Marshalls, Maelstrom!” the pegasus intoned, giving his voice of a serious, strong stallion that seemed to be in his young years.

“We pledge our loyalty and service to your highness, Princess Luna,” both ponies vowed as they bowed before Luna with a swift movement, one low enough that one could have thought they hit the floor.

Luna was a bit surprised, as she soon could see that their golden armor was different from the ones she had seen from the typical type of the royal guard. They had silver details, and their armor held the mark of the sun, replacing the blue star on their breastplate.

Celestia walked forward and nodded for them to lift their heads. “These are Stern Canterlot Marshalls, the elite members of the royal guard, and soon to be your personal guards during the daylight hours,” she explained, “I would’ve prepared them to be at your slumber party, but unfortunately as it was, they couldn’t arrive in time.”

Luna watched the two guards closer and nodded to her sister. “Please, remove thy helmets. We wish to know our protectors from up close,” she instructed, lifting her hoof to each of her new guards.

Both guards obeyed with a nod as they removed their enchanted armor and revealed their faces before the princess of the night.

Maelstrom had a blond mane and a navy blue coat. His eyes were mulberry, and his stoic expression showed a scar that crossed by his right cheek. His cutie mark was a whirlpool. 

Stella was far more bigger than the normal pony, having a long orange mane, that reached to her mid body, and ended in curls. Her coat was in a maroon color, and her face had an ever present smile drawn on her lips. Her cutie mark was a ray of light that had three musical keys of Do, Re and Mi in a crescendo.

Luna eyed the two guards and nodded in approval. “We will accept thy finest soldiers to my care,” she said in solemn sincerity to her sister. “Will there be anything else that thou wish to convey to us, sister?”

Celestia shook her head. “No, sister, that will be all for me to say for this meeting,” Celestia said, giving a small wink to her sister and chuckling lightly. “Shall we then resume our studies in my studio?” she invited, always giving her best smile towards her sister, taking the lead on her walk.

Luna nodded and walked behind her sister. She glanced at her guards, who set their helmets back in place as they marched near the Lunar Princess. “We must inquire, dear Stella, why does a Sunsinger wish to be under the services of the night?” she asked, turning to face her guard. “Truly, We would like to know about your reasons, as well for yours, Maelstrom.”

“I am here because Stella and I are partners, and where she goes, I will to be at her side and be to her aid,” he explained briefly, keeping a serious expression as he marched forward.

Stella nodded, smiling at the princess, “Well, it’s quite a long story that implies my family and I, and it all started with my decision in joining the Royal Guard…” she kept talking as they walked forward and out of the throne room.