Truth or Dare

Truth or Dare
Chapter Seven: Epilogue

A few months later…

“SURPRISE!!!”

A cloud of confetti obscures your vision as the lights in Sugarcube Corner flare to life. Twilight and the others are all wearing party hats and explode party poppers, sending streamers into the air.

“Happy Birthday!” Twilight calls out.

“What in Celestia’s mane…?” You look around. “How did you know it was my birthday?”

Applejack grins. “Caramel’s mouth is looser than a barn door durin’ a hurricane when he’s zonked on sarsaparilla,” she replies. “Went drinkin’ with ‘im and Big Mac a month ago, and he kept on yammerin’ about you helpin ‘im out. He said you mentioned it while workin’ on th’ farm one day.”

“I felt that the little party we had on my birthday wasn’t enough,” Twilight says, “especially with what you’ve done for us. Everypony agreed that we should throw a surprise birthday party for you.”

You shake your head. “It’s really nothing. You guys didn’t have to—”

Pinkie Pie shakes her head quickly. “Nopey-dopey-lopey! For being such a super-ultra-mega-awesome-bestest-best friend, we had no choice but to throw you the most awesomest-awesome party ever!”

“We all agreed that you deserve nothing less, darling,” Rarity says with a bright smile as she walks up to you and hugs you. “You’re special to all of us.”

“Aww, come on, girls!” Rainbow Dash says as she makes a gagging noise. “Come on and let’s party!”

Twilight smiles and looks to the music box in the corner. Her horn glows briefly and the arm magically moves over the spinning record, a familiar drumbeat starting up.

“Benny Goodmane?” you ask. “How did you know?”

Fluttershy shyly lifts her head. “I heard you listening to it when I passed by your house two weeks ago,” she replies timidly.

You raise an eyebrow and cringe. “…You didn’t catch me dancing to it, did you?” you ask, vividly recalling that day. You were just cleaning your house and listening to a CD of mixed music, courtesy of Vinyl Scratch, and ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ by Benny Goodmane was one of the songs you requested.

Fluttershy shakes her head timidly. “No.” She turns away. “…I wish I did.”

Applejack immediately trots up to you. “You listen to swing? Whah’d you never tell me?” She rears up and pushes you back a few feet. “C’mon! Ah love this song!”

You shake your head vehemently. “Applejack, no!”

Your protest falls on deaf ears as the other five start chanting with eager smiles.

“Dance! Dance! Dance!”

*-----*-----*-----*-----*

A few hours pass, with Ponyville residents occasionally popping in, wishing you well and having a snack offered by Pinkie Pie. None of them stay too long, though their company was appreciated. You know as well as anypony that Pinkie Pie’s legendary parties could go long into the night.

It’s just the seven of you in Sugarcube Corner as you finish an oatmeal-chocolate chip muffin, one from a box of eight that was a present from Ditzy Doo.

“Hey! Time for presents!”

Six wrapped gifts are immediately placed in front of you.

You level an exasperated look at each of them. “You guys…”

Applejack grins. “Will you quit yer belly-achin’ and just go with it?” she asks. “Look, you’ve done so much fer all of us, and you’ve almost never asked fer anythin’ in return. You deserve a party and presents, so stop bein’ all humble about it already!”

You sigh with a smile and pick up the present right in front of you. “Hmm…” You put it to your ear and shake it slightly, hearing a gentle thudding and a muted sloshing noise. “I wonder…” You use your magic to lift it into the air and undo the ribbon and wrapping paper, revealing a plain box. Setting the box down in front of you, you take the lid off with your hooves to find a bottle with bright colors swirling about in it.

“It’s liquid rainbow, perfect grade mixture” Rainbow Dash says proudly. “You were such a sport playing Truth or Dare at Twilight Sparkle’s birthday party that I thought you needed something a bit more extreme than tobaschoof sauce.”

You stare wide-eyed at Rainbow Dash, then the bottle. Even though pegasi make rainbows, you recall reading that the rainbow mixture is something not easily obtainable, even from a pegasus weather facility, and a perfect grade mixture takes at least a month to create.

“How did you…?”

She shrugs. “My uncle is a forepony in the weather facility in Cloudsdale. I told him I wanted a supply of perfect grade rainbow, and he said I could have it if I brought my own materials and made it myself.”

“You went through all that for me?” you ask incredulously. “I read that the written recipe for it isn’t supposed to leave a weather facility…”

She snorts and shrugs. “My uncles works there, remember? I’ve got another fifty bottles of the stuff, and I can always bug him if I want to make more.”

You put down the bottle of rainbow and walk around the table, crushing her in a hug, “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. It means a lot.”

“No worries,” she says with a smile. “I got some perfect grade rainbow out of it, too, ya know?”

You let her go and walk back to the table and levitate a slim, flat box wrapped in purple paper with white ribbon.

“That one’s from me, darling,” Rarity says. “I do hope you’ll enjoy it.”

Once more, you neatly unravel the ribbon and unwrap the paper from around the box. You take the lid off and see a necklace with a simple leather cord. The pendant is a twinkling gem shaped like a six-pointed starburst. As you lift it with your magic, you notice that its color changes depending on the angle you view it.

“That’s beautiful,” you say in awe, your voice barely above a whisper.

The necklace suddenly lurches in the air then gently floats over your head. It lowers and settles around your neck. “It’s Prismatic Crystal,” Rarity replied. “I went to look for gems outside Ponyville…”

“Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time, Rarity?” Rainbow Dash interrupts.

Rarity shoots her an annoyed look before turning back to you. “As I was saying, I went to look for gems outside Ponyville, and managed to find three Prismatic Crystals. This one was the best of the three.” She blushes. “…For making my first kiss one of those rare ones that fillies dream about, I thought I should also give you a rare gem, as it were.”

You bow your head, holding it for a moment. “Thank you, Rarity.”

She scoffs. “Oh, come now, darling! I may be a lady, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get a hug.” She walks up to you and gives you a tight embrace, which you return wholeheartedly. As she lowers back down to all four legs, she levitates a thin, wide bottle with a bow on it. The circular bottle is filled with a blue liquid and is about as wide as your hoof.

“Who’s this from?” you ask, using your own magic to hold on to the bottle.

Fluttershy steps up. “It…It’s from me,” she replies timidly, turning her head away and hiding her face behind her pink hair. “It’s…It’s cologne,” she says. You use your magic to unwrap the ribbon and unscrew the lid. As you float it close to your muzzle, the haunting scent of faint vanilla and lavender tickles your nose, and you feel the hairs at the back of your mane stand on end.

“Ze-Zecora helped me with it,” she continues shyly. “I…I thought it smelled like you.”

“To me, it smells like you,” you reply.

“Then…” Her voice falls to barely above a whisper. “…Then it worked…”

You set the bottle down and walk up to Fluttershy. “Thank you.” You raise your forelegs and catch her in a hug before she manages to completely back away, and the scent of vanilla and lavender once again teases your sense of smell. The very faint trace of sweat from dancing mixes in, but images in your head slowly start to suggest other instances where the smells of lavender, vanilla and sweat could mingle…

You immediately release your hold on her and hold her at forelegs’ length, shaking your head and clearing the naughty images from your mind. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” you say again.

“You should open mahn next, sugarcube,” Applejack says, a ghost of a grin tugging at one corner of her mouth. You raise an eyebrow and look to the flat box with only a ribbon on it that’s half the length of Rarity’s. You lift it up with your magic and shake it, but you don’t hear anything.

“Jus’ open it!” she says impatiently, though you can tell she’s just excited. You playfully stick your tongue out at her and make a big show of grabbing one end of the ribbon and tugging it, letting the green ribbon fall to your hooves. You use your magic to lift the lid open, and you find a single key sitting in black velvet.

“What…”

“That’s the key to mah apple cellar,” she says. “Ah’m the only other pony with a key.”

You snap your head up to level your gaze at her, only to find her waggling her eyebrows. You swallow the lump in your throat.

“Th-thank you,” you manage to stammer, feeling sweat beading on your forehead.

She chuckles as she approaches you. “Aww, no need ta get all nervous-like,” she says, emphasizing her accent and fluttering her eyebrows. “It’s jus’ little ol’ me.” She reaches up and gives you a brief but tight hug, kissing you on the nose before she steps back. You clear your throat and look at the two presents left on the table. One is thin and flat, and the other is shaped similar to Fluttershy’s gift, thin, circular and wide.

“Pick mine! Pick mine! Pick mine!” Pinkie Pie says suddenly, hopping up and down.

“Yours is this one?” you ask, pointing at the round one.

Pinkie Pie nods her head like a jackhammer. “Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!”

You use your magic to undo the ribbon and unwrap the paper neatly, the gift still sitting on the table. As the paper settles on the tabletop, you realize what her present is. Your throat closes and you can tell your eyes are going wide as you look up to see the other five looking at you curiously. You catch Pinkie Pie winking at you and licking her lips playfully.

“What is it?”

“It’s…chocolate…” you manage.

“Well, what’s so bad about that?” Applejack asks.

“It’s chocolate body paint,” Twilight corrects you, “imported from Neighpon.”

Five pairs of surprised eyes stare at you, the bottle and then to Pinkie Pie, who’s grinning like the foal who managed to steal the last cookie in the jar.

“What? I like chocolate,” she says innocently. “It’s so sweet and yummy…” Her crafty grin dissolves into a serenely happy smile, but the intent behind the words is unmistakable. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both bite their lower lip, trying hard not to burst out laughing as they see your evident discomfort.

“Thanks, Pinkie…”

Without warning, a blur of pink knocks you over and pins you to the floor.

“You like it?” she asks.

You nod slowly. “Of course.”

“Okay,” she replies simply, kissing you on the mouth and hopping off you like nothing happened. You get back on all four feet.

“Ah take it yers is the only present left, Twah?” Applejack asks.

Twilight nods, and you can tell she’s starting to feel a little nervous. “Yeah…”

“It looks like it’s just a book,” Rainbow Dash says offhandedly. “He already works with you in the library every other day, Twilight. You gotta give him something more exciting!”

Twilight looks offended. “I put a lot of thought into this present, Rainbow Dash! I got it when I had to go to Canterlot. They didn’t have this book here in Ponyville.”

You unwrap the book as the two of them continue to argue. Rarity shakes her head at the two of them and stands beside you. “Let those two argue. Now what did she—”

You feel your jaw drop, and you glance at Rarity to see hers drop as well. You force yourself to blink once, twice, then three times to make sure you’re not dreaming.

“Twilight?”

Everypony stops arguing, and Twilight is taken aback when she realizes that you’ve finished unwrapping her present.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asks as she and everyone else except Twilight walks towards the table and stare at her gift.

In large, gold letters, the title of the hardcover book reads:

The Kama Hooftra for 2nd Millennium Lovers

All eyes turn to Twilight, and she paws at the floor shyly. Rainbow Dash whistles.

“Twilight, I never pegged you to be such a minx!” she says with a wink.

“Neither did Ah,” Applejack agrees. “Seems yer fahnally comin’ outta yer shell, Twah.”

“I think it’s a present that would benefit all of us,” Rarity says.

“Umm…I agree,” Fluttershy says.

“I wanna try this one sometime!” Pinkie Pie says. As you turn to her, you realize that she’s taken the book and is looking through it. “This one looks fun, too!”

“Pinkie Pie!” the other girls cry out. She looks up casually.

“What? Rarity’s right,” she replies.

For Celestia’s sake, what did I get myself into? you think with a grin.

*-----*-----[ Fin ]-----*-----*