A Lesson in Laughter

Things had gotten rather interesting since Twilight raised the moon; Luna was in much higher spirits than she expected, and Pinkie Pie was working at her full potential. The two were laughing up a storm as they exchanged stories of all manners. Luna offered her stories of unruly royals and clumsy politicians, whereas Pinkie Pie had tales of mischievous pranks and adventures gone silly.

Somewhere along the way, Pinkie Pie had set up a game that looked rather unique. The board was colorful, decorated with all manners of baubles and trinkets. She had referred to the game as "Dragon's Hoard", and the objective of the game was to collect as many of the strewn-about decorations that one could manage. One would draw a card, Pinkie Pie explained, and perform the action indicated by the card.

This, of course, had led to more than a few interesting feats of dexterity and luck. One such card had Luna standing on one hoof and counting to fifteen whilst rubbing her nose, and another had caused Pinkie Pie to hop from hoof-to-hoof while simultaneously singing a children's rhyme.

Currently, Luna was balancing a small, pink stick on her left forehoof while also balancing a similar stick atop her head. If she balanced for ten seconds, she would get five crystals - and she was determined to do so. It was going well so far; she was up to six. It seemed, however, that her nose had other ideas. It began to itch uncontrollably, and Luna could only wrinkle it so much.

To her relief, Pinkie called out in a giddy voice, ".. nine, TEN! You did it!" She accompanied the words with a jump straight upwards that was both impressive and relieving. It meant Luna could finally concede to her nose's demands.

She immediately shook her head and brought both hooves to her face, the sticks falling away as she rubbed her nose furiously in order to relieve herself of the infernal itch that was plaguing her. She heard Pinkie Pie giggling - no doubt at the expression that was on her face - and gave a lighthearted laugh of her own.

"Five crystals," Luna announced proudly as she scraped together the appropriate amount of her prizes into her own circle -  her "hoard". From the look of the board, it seemed that Luna was in the lead, but only just. Pinkie Pie was rapidly catching up, and neither could afford to back down from a challenge.

"For a second there, I thought your nose was gonna fall off," Pinkie Pie commented with a giggle, reaching for another card. Luna let out a giggle of her own, taking pleasure in the game.

"I'm not so sure it still won't," Luna replied, giving her nose another wriggle in order to shoo away the lingering itch. This elicited a laugh from Pinkie Pie that made even the Princess of the Night feel brighter. She had such a nice laugh, Luna believed. It was warm, and carefree. It was a lot like the laugh Celestia carried with her at all times, seemingly ready to pull it out at the mere thought of something nice.

"Oooo!" Pinkie chimed out as she read the card in her hand. Luna's ears reflexively perked up along with her eyebrows; her interest was piqued with this game. She did not quite know why, but it was more entertaining to her than anything she had done as of late.

"What does it say?" Luna asked curiously, trying to read Pinkie Pie's expression as the mare's eyes scanned over the card. Whatever it was, it seemed complex because Pinkie had taken extra care in reading over it a second time, mumbling along with it.

"Oh! Okay, okay. This is a good one!" Pinkie said with a wide grin, nodding along the way. "The card says that this is a 'Trust Card'. It says that," from here, she raised the card up to read from it directly.

Her voice changed from a chipper, melodious tone to that of a mixture of concentration and giddiness. "Both players must perform this action. If both players perform the act, then both get three bits. If one player backs down, the other gets six. In order to play, a coin must be flipped and called. Whichever player goes first must shut their eyes for thirty seconds while giving the other player their trust - they may not open their eyes to check if the other player is cheating. After thirty seconds, the next player goes."

A game of trust. The very idea of such a thing made Luna's heart skip a beat; she had never been the most trusting of ponies. She had been hurt by such a thing in the past - though not in such a carefree setting - and was a little wary of the whole idea.

But that was then, and this was now. And the mare across from her was no sneaky politician with a kingdom to gain. It was a lovely, kind friend that was engaged in a game of Dragon's Hoard, and seemed just as eager to have fun as Luna was.

Luna took a deep breath, calming her nerves and slowing her thoughts before they raced into more negative territory. "Okay. I choose night," she said, picking her side of the coin. The icon of the coin they used to flip featured Celestia  and Luna's cutie mark. When one was calling a coin, they called "night" or "day" respectively.

"Okay!" Pinkie approved, placing the coin on the back of her right forehoof. She pulled it upwards in a smooth motion, flicking the coin with the tip of her hoof as it sailed upwards. When it came to a halt upon the floor beside the board, the two ponies leaned over to see the result. "Looks like I'm it! Okay, so you count and I'll count. Ready?"

When Luna nodded her confirmation, Pinkie closed her eyes and nodded her head slightly in rhythm as she counted, and Luna mentally counted. It wasn't until she reached five that Luna looked down onto the board and saw there were only a few pieces left. If one were to desire victory, they could easily steal away the rest of the trinkets and be done with the game right here. It truly was a game of trust.

She dismissed the thought, however, and turned her attention to the mare across from her. What she saw, however, was rather different from before. Pinkie Pie was serenely calm in this moment, and Luna felt that all she could do was admire her stature. For such a carefree pony, she held herself in a very royal posture. Her arms were straight, as was her back, and she had the most tranquil of expressions.

Every time she bobbed her head to count, the little curl of her bangs would bounce down into and then up out of her visage, and Luna couldn't help but grin at how cute it seemed. She took in all of Pinkie Pie's image, and found only one thought returning to her.

She was absolutely beautiful.

All too soon, however, Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and announced, "Done!" This snapped Luna out of her admiring state, and a warm blush came to her face as she realized just what she was doing.

She let out a quick cough in a vain attempt to hide her nervousness, and then said, "It is my turn, yes?" At Pinkie's nod and "Mhm!" of confirmation, Luna took yet another deep breath and steadied herself. She shut her eyes and did her best to keep her mind clear.

She just had to count to thirty, open her eyes, and everything would be fi- wait. That sound.. What was it? Could it really be that that was happening? No, that isn't possible. Pinkie wouldn't do that. The scraping of a hoof on a cardboard playing field must be all in her mind. Surely her new friend wouldn't cheat her way to victory, especially not over such a small game.

She just had to count a few more numbers off, then she could open her eyes and confirm that yes, that sound of gems plinking together was indeed just her imagination. She would open her eyes and find out that everything was alright, and the game could go on as normal.

And she did so. She burst open her eyes as soon as she reached thirty seconds in her countdown, and she looked down to discover.. Something changed.

But it wasn't what she thought. Her jaw hung open as she realized just what had happened. There was a considerable lack of gems in the middle of the board, but she could not for the life of her fathom where they had gone.

"Oh," Luna said simply, quietly, and in slight disbelief. Her pile of gems had grown. It was not a huge addition - five or so gems at most - but it was still there. Pinkie Pie had actually played the Trust Game, and allowed Luna to come out on top.

"You seem surprised!" Pinkie Pie said with a short laugh and a huge grin. She was absolutely proud of what she did, even as Luna sat stunned beside the board.

"But.. Why?" Luna asked shortly, only finding those words to express just what she was thinking. It was such an insignificantly small gesture to most ponies, but to her it was unfathomably important. She had put her trust in somepony else, and had actually come out even better than previously. Such a thing was almost unheard of to her.

"Because it seems like you were kinda worried. I figured you might be happy to know that you can sometimes count on other ponies without getting all worked up about it!" Pinkie explained gently, her wide grin coming down to form a small, innocent smile.

Soon, Luna joined in the expression, and formed a smile of her own. It seemed that Pinkie Pie was simply full of surprises. And it didn't stop there. "Aaaannnd.. That's that," Pinkie Pie said as she slid three gems into her own pile and pushed three more into Luna's.

"I won?" Luna asked, her eyes wide. Her smile was slowly growing, and she could feel a giggle waiting to escape from her throat. "I won!" she exclaimed, hopping to her hooves and doing a quick spin-around. Pinkie jumped to her own hooves, and began doing a little jig of her own.

"That was fun!" Luna said, and noticed she was being possibly a bit too loud but oh - for some reason it didn't matter! She won the game, and Pinkie didn't let her win like Tia sometimes did. Sure she helped her, but Luna had a feeling she might have won without it. But she would make sure to thank her new friend for the assistance nonetheless.

"And you helped me!" Luna said, turning her attention towards Pinkie Pie. She didn't know how to properly thank the mare, but she had a sudden urge and believed it would work appropriately.

"Oh, no pro-" Pinkie Pie began as she waved a hoof, but was interrupted when a pair of hooves found themselves locked around her. For a moment, she sat stunned and surprised, but after that moment of hesitation, she settled into the hug rather nicely. She wrapped her own forehooves around Luna and nuzzled her warmly.

"Thank you, Pinkie Pie," Luna said with complete sincerity. She probably seemed incredibly silly, getting so worked up over a cardboard game with silly cards and even sillier gestures. But to her, it was much, much more. Pinkie Pie had done something nice for her, and did not expect any sort of payment in return. To Luna, that was worth more than any amount of gems or trinkets.

"You're welcome, Princess Luna," Pinkie Pie whispered gently into Luna's shoulder. Unbeknownst to Luna, the pink mare that was now holding her was wearing a faint blush - though one would never know it due to Pinkie Pie's color of coat. Tonight was shaping up to be absolutely wonderful for both of them - in more ways than one.

Eventually, though, the hug was broken; the smiles, however, stayed upon both faces. Luna brushed a stray lock of hair from her face and took a moment to calm herself. "Now what?" she asked eagerly, her voice quiet but filled with subtle excitement.

"Actually, I was wondering if you had something in mind," Pinkie Pie admitted. "I've been picking all of the activities, and I thought it might be neat for you to have a chance."

In all honesty, Luna wouldn't mind another hug. But when she felt another blush arising, she figured that might be out of the question - she did not wish to impose upon her new friend's personal boundaries. She would play it safe. And if she could now trust Pinkie Pie, Luna believed she did have an idea.

"Would you, perhaps, mind telling me a bit about yourself? We could exchange stories, if you'd like," she requested sheepishly. On second thought, such a request might be pushing even farther than a hug. It was appropriate, Luna felt, to back her own reasoning up by saying, "We don't have to if you don't want to - we can find something else to do."

"Hmm.." Pinkie Pie said, rubbing her chin with a hoof. After a moment, her eyes lit up and she nodded happily. "Okay! That sounds like fun to me. You want me to go first?"

"If you don't mind," Luna said, kicking softly at the ground. She had observed Fluttershy do so once, and had quickly picked up on the habit.

"Sure!" came the reply. Pinkie Pie looked genuinely interested in the idea, even if she was being a bit quiet. Perhaps her story was not as happy as Luna was previously led to assume? In any case, she would soon find out.

"Perfect! Follow me, please," she said with a mixture of relief and happiness. The pink mare bounced after Luna as she trotted towards the door leading to the hallway, then out into it. If they were going to tell stories, they would need the proper setting.

And Luna had just the spot!