Awry

I remember how difficult it was to sit quietly and wait for the class to end. Maybe if it was about magic, I might have had a chance. But whoever put together our timetable, they thought - for whatever reason - that it would be fun to end the week with grammar. On a Friday afternoon, when it would have been an art just to keep our attention in and of itself. We were nearing the end of the semester anyway; not much of our initial enthusiasm was left due to the daily studying, homework and other things to practice. And I couldn't swing my chair intensively enough to make sure I wouldn't die out of boredom. Of course, my checkered notebook was almost full - even though at the beginning of class there were still four blank pages - so I couldn't even continue with the gomoku tournament, which Jasper and I arranged in the cover of the bench. And of course, we were not allowed to talk with each other, even if the teacher overlooked our other activities which were not even close to learning.

If I had a choice, I would much rather be anywhere else. To be honest, I would have preferred to jump forward in time a good four or five hours, but at the moment it would have been enough if instead of editing sentences, I could have listened to Mr. Poltergeist's significantly more interesting - although I must say, much more monotonous as well - presentation about... anything. In fact, I was beginning to feel, I would rather have gone back to Thyme Fresh, the assistant professor of the Department-Of-Dealing-Something-With-Herbs, to pick weeds, just to do something to occupy myself. Not to mention that the mint green mare - unlike our current lecturer - was an earth pony, which was not a small rarity among academics, and I have to admit, it was a pleasant change among so many unicorns. After all this time, I still missed my pegasus and earth pony classmates a bit, even if I didn't have a problem with the current ones. And the mare explaining with youthful vigor and enthusiasm was a real treat, even if the work she gave us involved quite a lot of dirt and was just as boring in itself.

Of course, when Jasper noticed how unreasonably I enjoyed it - which was evident in the fact that I never complained, I just quietly did the assigned tasks - pressing the leaves and removing the mud from the roots, he guessed that I must like the teacher. Consequently, I had to put up with all his nagging about it once a week. Which I didn't have a problem with in itself, only after a while I got bored of his repeated corny jokes. Even if they were about plants, he found them pretty damn reasonable. At first, I even laughed when he suggested that I should go to a tree nursery instead of school. Not for the twentieth time, though...

Anyway, this also reflected quite well how much the grammar could not engage me. I preferred to recall how the dry leaves had to be lined up last time to paying attention in class. I usually had no problems concentrating, but this was a special occasion. I was nervous about the evening, and not just a little, as I had spent quite a bit of time getting ready. So much so that I didn't even notice at the time how much my parents helped. But actually, I gave them much more work than I could have imagined when I announced that I wanted to organize a slumber party for the whole class at our place. I've participated one only once before, with my friends from my old school, and I really enjoyed it. It's true, I was much younger then, I mean smaller, so it could only provide such a good starting point... otherwise I had quite a blurry concept about the whole affair. Back then we stayed at a very nice pegasus girl, and since then I've wanted to organize a party like that one day. I didn’t have many specific memories of it, except that we all had a great time.

And to my immense joy, all my friends received permission from their parents to join me. They also seemed quite enthusiastic, and for some of them - as I found out - this would be their first pajama party, so I felt the weight of the "huge" responsibility. But I had ideas, we shopped all the supplies, cleaned the whole house, so that my classmates wouldn't go home and tell only about the mess, and - shame or not - I questioned my mom thoroughly about what "must" be done, or at least what such a party looks like party. I then combined what I heard with my own ideas, but I was quite excited about the end result. It's no wonder that I was less engaged than usual in such a "traditional" class, and my attention wandered all over the place.

That's why I sometimes looked enviously at Ambrosia sitting in front of me, for whom our language was still magic itself. The pink mare had an intense conversation with our teacher; she asked about every possible detail and took notes as if her life depended on it. From some point of view, I must admit, it had the advantage that it occupied the teacher's attention in its full extent, so she didn't really have the opportunity to pay attention to us, at least while we were silent. On any other day of the week, we could have used this very nicely to prepare for the other classes and write our missing homework, but on Friday nopony wants to bother with such things. Except maybe Wish, who sometimes tended to study in advance to have more time left of the weekend. I didn't even have to look back to know that she was scribbling furiously right then, since the gathering from Friday night to Saturday morning could potentially take up a lot of her preparation time, and I assumed her parents were only willing to let her come and join us on this condition.

However, her diligence was not enough motivation for me to do something useful. It didn't even help that much when I noticed that Jasper had probably been leaning on the bench next to me with his face buried in his hooves for a long time. He didn't snore, but I had a sneaky suspicion, he is already gallopin' merrily on the field of dreams - at least his ears, which sometimes twitched a bit, indicated that. Of course, I wouldn't have imagined waking him up, and it was pointless anyway, since we wouldn't have been allowed to do anything fun. Having nothing better to do, I continued to swing my chair, slowly moving my center of gravity further and further back, and every minute I glanced at the clock hanging above the door. I only had to stop with this last attempt at banishing boredom when Wish gave me a big blow in my ear, indicating that my mane was flowing over her notes.

From then on, I really couldn't occupy myself with anything. The only comforting fact was that there were only ten minutes left of the lesson. As a last resort, I was forced to use the technique I developed here at the Academy back in the first month. In the dead time of the classes, I learned to disassemble and reassemble my ballpoint pen using only magic - my parents had to invest in a couple of these, as I simply couldn't get by with traditional quills - which I considered a serious step forward in the mechanical fine-tuning of my magic powers. It's true, at first, I had to spend several of my breaks searching for the spring that popped out, but now this was no longer a threat. I was almost perfectly able to control all parts at once.

I placed the small object in front of me, then, squinting and concentrating, I carefully unscrewed it, making sure that the stored kinetic energy did not throw the whole thing apart. I pulled it in half, took out the spring and the refill then pulled the latter in front of my eye, as if to check if there was enough ink left. Of course, I knew it was still quite full, but with a satisfied face I put it back together and then screwed it all back to its original state. I clicked its button a couple of times, checking the result, then carefully placed it back on the table.

I was too fast, I thought, looking at the clock. Sighing softly, I lowered my head and slowly started counting forwards to engage my brain on some level. I didn't even get to ninety, when a small ball of paper hit my neck. I looked up at the teacher for a moment, but she was still preoccupied by our foreign classmate, so I picked up the short message from the floor without a bother. "I hope your parents go to bed early, because I'm bringing booze," announced the crumpled-up letter.

What can I say, I was sweating buckets... My parents were never the ones to spoil anything fun, but even without them, I considered this idea far too scandalous. We were all minors in the first place, so it would have been not only illegal, but also dangerous to attempt such a thing. And why would we need it anyway?

Avoiding being noticed, as if just looking around, I turned to the side, to the direction I guessed the piece of paper had come from. Cavern grinned at me from the adjacent bench, then saluted me with his ruler. I firmly shook my head so that he wouldn't be too surprised when I explained to him in detail after class, how nonsensical his suggestion was. In any case, he could have trusted me, since I have already proven several times that I can indeed come up with meaningful and enjoyable programs...

However, since I was mulling over this, the ringing came almost completely unexpectedly. And I wasn't alone with that. "Oh, is it time already?" the teacher blinked in surprise towards the class. "Aww, I really wanted to let you go earlier today!"

I would have almost believed that... if she hadn't said it every single time during Friday classes. It didn't even elicit a tired snort out of me anymore, I just nudged Jasper's shoulder then I stood up quietly, took a meaningful look at Cavern, and took my bag on my back and headed outside. I stopped on the corridor by the stairs and waited for my friends there. I usually stayed in the hall until Jasper and Wish got ready, but this time I found it more practical to consult with my green-furred friend at a safe distance from our teacher.

Before that, however, there were others who couldn't resist stopping by me. First Dulcimer found me there, then a little later Ambrosia as well.

"Are you sure I shouldn't bring some extra snacks?" the red stallion asked with a worried expression.

"Nah, it's okay!" I smiled reassuringly. "We have enough prepared, but the pantry is stuffed, so we can put something together if we really need it."

By the time I waved goodbye to Dulci, the pink mare was already standing behind him, although to her credit, she patiently waited her turn. I wasn't so happy about her, to be honest, even if it wasn't really her fault. Talking to Ambrosia was quite tiring, since during the few months she spent here, her - otherwise quite tolerable - language skills did not improve at all, and she regularly had problems understanding things or expressing herself. I would have preferred not to invite her to the pajama party at all, but if I left her out - as the last member of the class -, it would at least cause a scandal, and I didn't dare to risk that. I could only hope that maybe we could laugh at the mare's clumsy choosing of her words, as there was not much else to do with her anyway.

"I am very thanks that I can come inside you!" Ambrosia said with grateful looks. "Will I come in at six?"

"Sounds perfect!" I grinned not without any malice into the mare's face.

"You are very good, Thread," she replied with naive cheerfulness, squinting kindly at me. "I am waiting the night." I nodded to her, then turned back to our classroom. Fortunately, the next one approaching was Cavern, so I was able to quickly pull him aside.

"Look, you weren't serious, were you?" I asked, leaning closer to him so that my voice, almost a whisper, could reach him.

"What? The booze? Oh, I was! Can't have a good party without it!"

I struck immediately. "You know what? Let me prove you wrong! No horsin' around, while you're at my place, okay?"

The green foal just waved me off, going his way. "Meh, partypooper... See you in the evening!"

"Promise me, please!" I caught his tail before he got away.

"I'm not insane, dude, chill!" He flashed a mischievous grin towards me.

Everypony else had already left, even our teacher, but there was still no sign of Jasper and Wish. I reluctantly went back to our classroom, after all, I preferred to stick to our usual routine. We walk to the Starswirl Dormitory, then after this small detour we turn back with Wish, and then we part ways in the street in front of the clock tower. Although not the easiest or shortest route, at least it included the daily walk, and we could spend a little more time together, now in an environment free from studying.

By the time I reached the door, my friends were already coming out, Jasper with a yawn so wide that a whole herd of cattle could fit in his mouth. Next to him, Wish rolled her eyes unamused. When she saw me, she did smile a little, although she was clearly not in the best mood. For some reason, I immediately associated this with the fact that she definitely doesn't want to come to my party, she just doesn't dare to say it, but it didn't even cross my mind to tell her. I knew this would also be her first pajama party, and I decided that whether she liked it or not, I would make it memorable for her - of course only in a good way. If I let her back down, I would only take away from her the possibility of another shared experience.

"Are you sure it won't be a problem if so many of us come to you?" she asked, to my surprise, when we were already walking down the stairs.

"No way!" I protested immediately. "Why would it be?"

"There will be many of us, foals, loud, things like that..." she said, not even looking at me, just slowly swinging her head. "We disturb your parents, your neighbors, we need supervision, we make a mess, we take up too much place, we eat your food..." she listed off.

"Oh, come on!" I snickered. "We'll survive somehow! Don't you worry, we wouldn't have invited you if it would be a problem!" I added, seeing her growing confusion.

"Well, okay, if you say so..." she said without much conviction, still avoiding my gaze.

"So, what 'bout the programs?" Jasper interjected, seemingly still in a half-asleep state.

"All surprise," I replied mysteriously.

"Should I bring somethin' with me?" he asked the question that I've already clarified to everypony - to him as well.

"Pyjamas, toothbrush and towel," I sighed. "And a sleeping bag if you're uncomfortable with a mattress, but last time we talked about it, you said you're good. Everything else is on the company.

"What company?" he blinked at me with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Us! What, only you're allowed to tell shitty jokes?"

"Oh, go to heck...!" he said as if I've offended him, but I saw the smile in the corner of his mouth.

Since he was already awake, he suddenly became an order of magnitude better conversational partner, and the few minutes until we got to the dormitory almost flew by. Since I still had some work to do at home, this time I didn't let us stop in front of the building, instead we did a quick turn-tail with Wish. However, as soon as we were alone, it became apparent that the girl was even quieter than usual, and I saw it on her face that she was deep in thought. I tried to gently nudge her to see if there was anything wrong with her, but all I achieved was that she sped up a bit, as if it was bothersome to talk to me.

"Trust me, it'll be fun!" I said in hope that it may brighten her mood a bit. "I'll make sure nopony feels down."

"Okay," she answered, facing forward, and increasing our already uncomfortable pace.

"We'll have a good time, I promise!" I persisted, although I wasn't convinced that she was afraid of the party. But I was like, maybe she'll stop and tell me what's on her mind. "I attended one before, so I know what I'm doing."

"No doubts here," she replied after a short pause, but her voice was still devoid of emotions.

"Then what...?"

"Look, Thread..." The filly suddenly stopped, and as I turned, she finally looked me in the eyes. She even smiled faintly, although I got the feeling that she was just trying to calm me down. "You don't have to always look for the reason for everything. This is one of those days. I'm tired. I'll go home and rest a bit. And you don't have to worry, I promised I'd go. It will be nice for sure. I just have to prepare myself mentally."

"Okay, then," I nodded. "Have a nice rest! We'll be waiting for you!"

"Bye, Thread!" She hugged me for a moment, but then she decisively trotted away as if she just wanted me to know, she needed some time alone.

I stared at her receding form for a while. She was sometimes hidden from me by passers-by, but she caught my eye again and again. Like a log floating against the tide in the river. Like so many times, it occurred to me that I could maybe follow her without her knowing, because even though we had known each other for months and always came home from school together, she never once allowed me to accompany her home. I didn't even know exactly where she lived, and since she didn't talk about it much, it always was somewhat of a mystery to me. However, she pointedly asked us earlier not to go with her, and we respected her wishes. I figured she must have had a good reason to be "secretive", so I didn't ask, and neither did Jasper. It certainly wasn’t worth it to make her angry with us - that is, knowing her more precisely, the correct term would have been to hurt her feelings. Even now, I just tried to push the thought away from me, so as not to fall for the temptation. I still had enough on my plate before the party.

* * *

One can never prepare thoroughly enough for this kind of party, but it made me a bit uncomfortable when my first classmate showed up a good half an hour before the scheduled time. When the bell rang, at first, I thought it was a postpony or something like that, and it only occurred to me afterwards that it would have been too late for them anyway. And it was even more suspicious when my father opened the door and immediately called me over.

As it turned out, Stella was the early bird. I almost asked her if she knew the clock, but the girl was so enchanted as she looked around our little garden, I immediately aborted the idea. She certainly didn't mean to be impolite, she could simply have been lost in her thoughts, and it wouldn't have helped any of us if I received her in such a jerk way. I can only imagine how nicely I would have set the mood... Instead, I invited her in with a big smile. Actually, I was just trying, as she was unperturbed looking at the side of our house from behind her glasses, not even noticing that I was waving at her.

"Hi, Stella!" I greeted her, looking for a bit of progression. "Is it only you?"

"Ivy is a very useful plant," said the mare to the wall, not moving from our doormat. "It likes light and shade at the same time."

"Yeah, and it looks nice as well," I shrugged. "It was no accident that we let it run up the side of the house. Would you like to come in, maybe?"

"I would," the girl answered, finally meeting my eyes, though she still didn't move an inch.

"Come on in, then!" I invited her, when it was beginning to become annoying that she was staring at my face. She started so suddenly, I rather jumped out of her way, but then she stopped just as unexpectedly after a few steps, in the middle of the hall, and I almost bumped into her rump.

"Hi!" Stella greeted my mom as she came across.

"Why, hello there!" she smiled, waving a hoof towards the living room. "You must be Stella! Please, feel yourself at home! Thread will show you around."

For the time being, I did not consider it expedient, since I concluded that then I would have to show everything to everypony one by one. Stella, on the other hoof, looked at me expectantly, so I was forced to meet the demands. I sighed imperceptibly, then began our tour around the room.

"So, since there will be many of us, we will primarily be here," I pointed around. "We wouldn't fit that many in my room anyway, and here if we pull the table aside, we can even sleep. Of course, you don't have to be confined to such a small place, and I don't know how sleepy we'll get, because I have a lot of..."

"Next to the fish?" the filly asked from somewhere behind my back.

I didn't notice when I left her behind, although I didn't even try to pay attention to such a thing for such a fleeting time. I only had time to take a few steps, but Stella was already hanging around on the other side of the room, waving her saddlebag with her horn next to our aquarium.

"Well... okay, sure, it'll do, but then again you'd better put it in front of their table so it doesn't knock it over, or whatever. So, we will be here for the most part, and if the evening is not too cold, we can also go up to the attic. We could light a candle, it will be so cozy! The bathroom is here on the ground floor, my room is upstairs if you want to visit it too..."

I sent her an uncertain look, but she was calmly examining one of our floor lamps, and even though her neck was fully stretched, this time she kept up with me. "So, this is the bathroom," I opened the door to the small room before we passed it.

Without hesitation, Stella stepped onto the previously polished marble, with her head tilted to the side, she examined herself carefully in the mirror above the faucet, then without any transition she knelt down on her front legs and sniffed into the drain. I had the unpleasant feeling that she was inspecting us, although she had never shown that she was so whimsical about stuff like this - at least not at school.

"What are you using?" she asked before I could collect my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I asked a bit stunned.

"Ours always gets moldy," she answered, plastering her ear to the metal. "It's doesn't smell, but that would be still better."

"Uhm... you should really ask my mother instead..."

"You have neat toothbrushes," she stated as she gets back to all fours.

"Thanks?" It was more of a question as I was not sure I could take something like this as a compliment. "I suppose, there's nothing special about them."

"Exactly," she said looking dead into my eyes.

Now I'm wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or if she's just saying out loud whatever comes to mind, as was her habit. Of course, I have been with her this way many times, so I tried not to ponder too much on it.

"Okay, I'll show you my room if you're interested..."

We got upstairs, then I let her in through the very first door. I was just a little embarrassed, even though other than close relatives rarely paid any attention to my little private nook. The usual mess had to be removed, so the place was looking quite acceptable, otherwise I had nothing to hide, we simply rarely invited ponies, especially in this part of the house. The last time I had somepony here was maybe my cousin from Baltimare, but that was about two years ago...

"You like pegasi?" Stella asked me the next unexpected question, barely a few seconds after we entered. Luckily, I didn't have to work hard to figure out what she meant, as she climbed onto my bed without any hesitation and almost pressed her nose against the Wonderbolts poster above it. "Original autograph?" she added a little louder, which was basically the definition of shouting by her book.

"That's right!" I was grinning like I was going crazy: she immediately found the one thing I was the proudest of. "I got it signed with all of them myself, at the Grand Galloping Gala last year! Most ponies only got one after their grand performance, but I won this beauty in a raffle! I don't even know if anypony else has one like this... Typhoon Wing invited me into their lounge and they all gave me autographs. Mare, what a day it was!"

"You were at their competitions as well?" Stella reared up on my bed so that she could look at the pictures higher up.

I would never have guessed that she would be so interested in sports, after all, such a thing had never come up before. Her enthusiasm also surprised me, since aerobatics had significantly fewer fans among the earth-bound ponies. Although that wouldn't have been the strangest thing I learned about Stella.

"Not as much as I'd prefer." I levitated a heavy album from my bookshelf, in which I stored photos, postcards and the like related to Wonderbolts. "But if you want, I will gladly show you my little collection."

She immediately flopped to her belly and patted my pillow to make me lie my stuff there. I was extremely happy that I managed to find something to do to pass the time until everypony else arrives. I lay down comfortably next to her, and we took turns, assessing each other's knowledge about the famous team, and of course about a few others we knew as well.

We didn't even notice when the next guest knocked. Mom had to shout for us to come down, but from then on, for the sake of simplicity, we stayed downstairs and gathered there. Jasper ran in after Stella, followed by Wish at exactly six o'clock. The rest were all late, but the four of us had such an engaging conversation, I didn't even bother to look at the time.

It only became apparent that we were all together when Stella was kind enough to draw my attention to this fact. I didn't want to make too much of a fuss about it, but I had to start somehow, so I got up and cleared my throat. It felt so nice when they all turned to me.

"Well, my friends! Thank you all for coming! I see that everypony is sufficiently equipped. We shall be mostly here; the whole living room is ours until morning. First of all, I have a special little board game that can be played by many ponies. I hope nopony had dinner because somepony has to destroy all this delicious goodness we prepared! I think we should change our clothes before we get down to business, so we don't need to waste time with it later!"

They obeyed without any objection. We boys marched up to my room while the girls used the bathroom as they could fit in there too. We were done soon, but before we could even start heading back, I simply had to ask Jasper about his outfit.

"Listen, won't you get cold in just a pair of boxers?" I asked cautiously. "I know it was enough at the freshpony camp, but it's almost winter... We don't like to heat the house too much."

"He just wants to impress the girls" Cavern snickered.

Jasper just waved us off with a hoof. "Nah, Thread, never fear! Even in the dorm, I lie by the window and I don't let them turn up the heat!"

"Okay, then! Just saying."

I checked each of their outfits once more, but found nothing else to complain about. I wasn't even surprised that Scorch was wearing thick, jet-black pajamas with some stupid writing on them - I expected something like that from him. Cavern wore a fluffy knitted hoodie, Dulci and Lotus wore socks made of similar material, so we were also prepared for the "raging frost" outside. With this, at least, we evoked a pleasant, warm atmosphere, which will be finalized by the crackling fire in the fireplace and the cookies.

The girls were already waiting for us downstairs. When I saw Stella, I almost laughed. It wasn't just that she put on a disproportionately large nightcap, but she even managed to pull it on her horn... Wish and Ambrosia were sitting on the two sides of the couch, but the former was holding her posture so tightly, as if she had been ordered not to move. Let's just say I was a bit surprised that they were both wearing nightgowns - I would have thought it was too loose, even if it wasn't cool in here. My father took a seat between them with a large tray of pretzels so that he could present it to them more effectively, although I did catch him sneaking a good portion into his own mouth.

"I mean it, feel free to take some!" he tried to encourage Wish with his mouth full, but he only gets a gently shake of her head.

"Not yet, thank you very much..." she said, her voice surprisingly thin even from her.

"Daddy, would you bring out your game?" I asked him.

"Of course, Thread!" he replied with a broad grin.

He pushed the tray into Wish's hooves, not noticing that she had to use her magic to balance the metal, and was already jumping towards their own bedroom. He soon returned with a large roll of paper and a neat wooden box containing other accessories for the game. While my dad rolled out the track, Jasper peeked into the box curiously.

"Hey, I think I know this one!" he shouted, levitating out a few pony-shaped, colored pieces.

"Not this specific one, I'm sure," my dad smiled mischievously. "Maybe something alike, but this one is made by little old me! The pieces are not my best work, though... I'm not particularly good with shaping metals..."

"Did you really make this?" Jasper marveled when he saw the detailed hoof-drawn map.

"Nice, huh?" I stood next to my father. "It took him almost a whole year!"

"But only because you helped," he caught me with his hooves and ruffled my mane while using his magic to prevent the track from rolling up. "Without you I'd be still in the planning phase."

"He's lying, I didn't do anything!"

I tried my best to escape from the bear hug. In return, my father tickled my side, as a result of which I soon fell to the ground, and I kicked, giggling and whimpering, trying to get rid of the insidious and no less embarrassing attack... alas, it was in vain. It would have been impossible for me to keep up the poker face I was using at school here, back at home. In the company of my parents, I was a completely different pony than usual, I couldn't do anything about it.

Probably, my dad could also see that it can be quite cheesy to harass me in front of my friends, because he let me go and petted my head. "What's the point of designing a game if you don't have anypony to enjoy it? It was you who kept pestering me to get this over with, you little scoundrel!"

"Okay, okay, it was all me!" I grinned. "Let's just tell them at least the basic rules, because there are quite a few! I'll deal with the other stuff."

None of the tasks were easy, but I deliberately left the more difficult one to him. If he invented it all, let him present the rules he created himself - nopony could know better than him anyway. Not to mention that even though the "board" looked somewhat like a traditional board game, there was more to it than meets the eye. The most striking difference was that there was not only one walkable path in it, but it branched almost like a labyrinth, and there were many ways to reach the goal. The fun part was not just the fact that shorter routes were always riskier, or downright more dangerous than long ones, but that it wasn't enough to just cross the finish line, you had to pick up a lot of things on the way there. Magic items, weapons, and crystals could be collected in different ways, which were needed to defeat dragons and other monsters. Then, if the player managed to obtain a sufficient number and value of treasure from the beasts, they could set off for the enchanted forest and the swamp, in order to finally free the princess from the heavily guarded castle prison - or, optionally for the mares, the imprisoned prince.

Yes, it was quite complicated already, and it didn't end quickly even with only a few players and there was no strict limitation regarding the number of ponies playing. You could easily spend an entire evening with it, and needless to say, we used to have a great time with it when all three of us were at home, and we felt like it. I definitely wanted to try it once with a bigger team, but it seemed that I miscalculated it a bit, because just while listening to the rules, a few ponies already waved the white flag. I did expect our foreign classmate that she wouldn't understand the whole affair, and the mare actually refused the opportunity with this exact reason. Dulci and Wish surprised me a bit more. Even though they both claimed that there were simply too many of us already, it became apparent that the stallion had been eyeing our small piano since his arrival, which was placed in the corner of the living room, covered with a white fabric. Not long after we started the game he carefully asked if he could try it, and then he provided us with some pleasant background music with a couple of easy-to-play songs. However, it wasn't that easy to see what was going on in Wish's mind. Together with Ambrosia, they inserted themselves among us and quietly but enthusiastically spectated the match.

All in all, everypony had a really great time - even those who were just watching, as there were a lot of extra surprises and fun tasks hidden on the board - in the end, we didn't even wait for somepony to reach the finish line. It would have taken too much time, and I didn't want it to be at the expense of other programs, nor did I feel that my companions really had the patience to play with so many ponies. So, we made a shorter version of the game by mutual agreement. It was a bit of a last minute decision, but we agreed that the pony who defeats the last monster will be the winner. So suddenly Scorch won the whole thing and got all the princesses as a reward...

Of course, they went neck and neck with Jasper all the way, and often even jumped at the dragons with less preparation, and I just smiled at them, knowing that my collecting strategy would show its true strength when we have to fight our way through the more difficult areas. I thought we'd see how many times they would be forced to pass a turn when they got stuck in the swamp, but in the end, we didn't get there. It was also somewhat worrying though that Stella, who was trotting a few steps ahead of me, for some reason had accumulated a significant amount of traps, which, although it would not help her in getting ahead, could have put Cavern and me in a rather unfavorable position...

Anyway, in the end, we had a winner and we had fun. My father, as a good game master, was with us from the beginning and patiently explained the more uncertain rules, and of course helped everypony. However, as soon as we finished, he neatly packed up by himself, then left us to ourselves with a cryptic smile. My mom kept around us a bit more: she replaced the snacks and cookies that were devoured during the game, she quickly arranged everything in the room, and then she also left for their bedroom on the ground floor, saying that we should let them know if we needed anything.

We didn't even set a separate time for dinner, instead we just kept nibbling on the delicacies on display. This made my job a bit more difficult as I wanted to treat the company to something very special, which needed to be freshly prepared, but I needed more time for that than I could have asked for within the bounds of politeness. However, as a couple of them insisted that the next game should be "pin the tail on the pony" - after all, there is no good party without it, even if I personally disliked it - I quickly excused myself and headed for the kitchen.

My parents helped me with my little "stunt" as much as they could, which mainly consisted of preparing everything I could possibly need. Just to be safe, I examined all the syrups, fruits and soft drinks lined up on the table, then, satisfied with what I saw, I levitated from the cupboard the stemmed glasses. But before I could even begin, I felt an irresistible urge to look behind me.

My intuition was right, Wish was standing at the door, watching me. I couldn't tell from her expression what she might want, but she didn't exactly look overjoyed. "And you...?" she preceded me with the question, smiling slightly as our eyes met.

"I'm just putting together a few cocktails."

"Can I help?" Without waiting for an answer, she already came closer to me going around the table where I planned to collect my equipment.

"You don't enjoy the party?" I answered with a question of my own, so that she couldn't dodge it.

"I do."

She said like it could have easily been a straight up "no". She stood next to me, grabbed the edge of the table with her front hooves, and curiously sniffed one of the syrup bottles. Her face twitched for a moment from the intense scent, then when she slowly inhaled the air with her eyes closed, as she apparently got used to it.

"Would you show me please, how it's done?" she asked quietly.

I winked at her and pulled one of the empty glasses in front of me. I magically lifted a bottle of syrup and poured just enough of it into the bottom of the glass to cover it. I grabbed a nice, ripe orange, vigorously squeezed the juice out of it with a juicer then very carefully poured it over the thin, viscous liquid layer. With a low hiss, I opened a bottle of carbonated soft drink, and even more carefully than the previous one, I poured a portion of this as well. Resting my chin on the table, I was pleased to note that I had done well: the three layers were perfectly separated from each other. Only the bubbles popped occasionally at the top.

It was time to use my spell that I had learned just for this purpose. It wasn't easy; I had to practice a lot, but the end result spoke for itself. I concentrated hard and my horn glowed as I reached inside the liquids with my magic. The line between the three juices of different colors and properties became more and more blurred, and as soon as I twisted them, they penetrated each other, arranged in long, colorful bands, perfectly visible even through the glass.

"Oh, wow!" she whispered, completely stunned. "How did you do that?"

I wanted to answer, but I was still too distracted by the spell. It had to be stabilized with a few small internal bindings and a liquid bridge that also appeared on a physical level, otherwise the system would have disintegrated by itself, but that was the simpler part of the operation.

"I'm just fooling around with surface tension a bit," I said with a smirk as I felt safe to let go of my creation.

Although I was far from finished, from here it was an easy task. I took the whipped cream out of the fridge and pressed a snug little crown on top of the finished cocktail. I sprinkled it with a little cocoa powder, stuck two rolettis in it, and placed a frozen cherry on top. As a final touch, I used my horn to cool it down to a temperature that wouldn't quite freeze - which also helped a bit keeping it from mixing, by the way - and then proudly showed off my work to Wish.

"You can have the first one," I added, curiously watching her reaction.

"Thank you, Thread!" she blinked in embarrassment, as she gingerly lifted the glass with her magic, as if she was afraid she might break it. "I see you don't actually need my help, after all.

She floated the cocktail closer to herself and stuck her tongue out a little and licked the foam. She rolled her tongue around her mouth softly, savoring the small sample - although in my opinion the visual experience might have dominated in this way - and then she looked at me with a puzzled expression, clearly wondering why I was laughing at her. I couldn't help it, she was simply indescribably cute with a tiny bit of foam on her snout... And the little "incident" definitely was slightly useful that after I wiped the little mare's nose, it occurred to me that maybe it wouldn't hurt to add a couple of straws to the drinks. Wish, however, didn't look like she would give it another shot, even though I wouldn't have minded if somepony tested it before I presented it to the "general public".

"Just a single gulp?" I offered, while I was already working on the second cocktail.

"It looks amazing, but I'd rather do it with the others," she apologized with a blush. "I really don't mean to be pushy."

"Whatever floats you boat..." I murmured as I was momentarily paying more attention to making the layers just right. "So, then, if I ask you nicely, would you please tell me what's the problem? I don't want anypony feeling bad on my party..."

She took her sweet time answering, I almost finished another drink, but I tried to be patient. I didn't want her to think I was trying to force her. However, she did not give in so easily.

"I'm fine, thanks," she said, though not with remotely enough confidence to convince me.

"You're showing it in a very particular way, you know?"

She remained quiet this time. I don't know if she was planning to say anything, but I didn't wait it out.

"Any problems at home?" I tried to sound casual as I mixed some shredded coconut into the cocktail's components. We needed some of these as well, it would have been a mistake not to try it out.

"No," she answered firmly. Maybe a little too firmly as I thought in hindsight. "Why do you assume?"

She crossed her front legs on the table in front of her and rested her chin on them. She floated a large apple in front of her, and using only her magic, she began to peel the skin. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shoulders slowly rise under her nightgown and then sink back, but no matter how hard I tried, I didn't hear her sigh, although it was probably because of the noises coming from the living room.

"I was just thinking, and you're not used to be like this and I don't see the reason," I answered, choosing my words carefully.

"Then you can relax: back home, everything is exactly the same as it was at any given time in the last few years," she said in an emotionless voice. "Maybe the only thing that frustrates me is that I don't like being a burden on others."

"But we already talked about it!" I looked at her in surprise. "I'm glad that you came!"

She didn't return my gaze. She gingerly peeled the fruit she had chosen, then gently placed it on a tray. She looked into my eyes for a second, but then lowered them and shook her head a little.

"I was afraid that this would happen," she sighed.

"What, Wish?"

She looked more and more anxious: she flapped her ears, pulled her tail under herself, and absent-mindedly poked at the wooden board in front of her with one hoof. I had to do something, so I stepped next to her and hugged her shoulder gently. I thought she was going to cry or something, but when she spoke again, her voice sounded much more demanding.

"I knew they would be loud and wouldn't be able to behave normally," she muttered sullenly. "I could have guessed that they have no idea how to act like cultured guests. I can just hope your parents aren't too angry..."

"Aw, come on!" I let her go and patted her hoof on the table. "They know what foals are like. They've got me, after all!"

"That's why they moved away, huh?" she snorted in irritation. "I'm not surprised they got fed up with us."

"No way!" I protested. "It's not about that! They just let us play in peace."

"Yeah, it looked like that, alright..." By the sound of it, she was thinking the exact opposite.

I gave one more shot convincing her. "They both like a little bustle every now and then. The whole place gets a little livelier. And, as you saw, my father loves to play."

"Well... that's not very... mature..." she remarked.

"Why, you never used to play with your parents?"

She leaned back on the table and floated another apple in front of her with her horn, and peeled it slowly, keeping her eyes fixed on it the whole time. When she was done, she gently placed it next to the other, and only then did she answer.

"I do."

She looked over the cocktails and empty glasses, then turned to me questioningly, as if she didn't understand why I was just standing next to her instead of doing my job. I thought it better not to push the issue any further, so I continued making the drinks in silence, sometimes using the fruits that the filly had peeled.

* * *

We worked much quicker without talking, but just before I finished the last one, we were interrupted. At first, only the laughter increased noticeably, then as I looked up, I saw Ambrosia stumbling towards us blindfolded. The rest of our class followed not too closely behind, openly laughing at the mare. Grinning wide, Jasper raised his hoof to his own mouth, motioning for us to be quiet - not that we were making much noise anyway.

"Are you sure this is the way?" Ambrosia asked, uncertainly waving around with the ponytail held in her hoof.

"Of course!" Cavern snickered. "Just go straight on!"

The filly listened to him and continued towards us. There was a good chance that she would have knocked the table off, if Wish and I didn't pull it away from her at the last moment - of course, making sure that it didn't scratch the floor while we lifted it up with our magic. Ambrosia walked between us, then felt the kitchen wall and pushed the nail into it with a firm movement.

She was rewarded with a raucous laughter, and curiously she lifted the cloth off herself, perking up her ears. She even took a step back, so surprised at what she had gotten herself into, but then she too joined the laughing.

"What a sucker!" Scorch snorted. "She even swallowed! It didn't even occur to her how much she had to walk..."

"What is a sucker?" Ambrosia asked innocently.

Dulci, who stopped poking our piano in the meantime, tried to soften the blow. "Only that you believed us easily."

"It is right," she agreed immediately. "This cover was covering good, I didn't see nothing."

"And why were y'all out here hidin'?" The point-blank question came from none other than Jasper.

"Smooching for sure," Lotus replied, before we even had the chance to think.

I didn't get it how he came to such a conclusion, but it is certain that in the blink of an eye we became the center of attention. Even though we didn't do anything like that, the blood immediately rushed to my ears, and although I was careful not to show my confusion on my face - that would have only made me more suspicious - I didn't look at Wish to be safe.

"We were making a surprise for you, you just came early," I said, forcing myself to calm down. "It's right here on the table. You can choose plain, coconut or cinnamon. So, here you go, I'll make one more for myself while you try them out."

"Cool!" Lotus exclaimed, choosing a random glass.

"Yeah, it is, you can even see the steam condensing," Jasper piped in. "Which ones are with coconut?"

"Those," I pointed out.

Scorch on the other hoof was examining the drinks with utter repugnance. "Sweet Celestia! Look how they look like! There's no way I'm putting this into my mouth...!"

"Why, what do you think a cocktail should be like?" I inquired kindly, although it felt terrible that he treated my little thoughtfulness like that out of the blue, especially since I was doing it all for them.

"C'mon, it's hip!" Cavern came to my rescue. "Hey, you've got... you know... a little something-something in it?" he added almost whispering.

"What?"

I raised an eyebrow, but then I had a sneaking suspicion that he might have been referring some kind of alcohol. And this also reminded me that the foal had only half-heartedly promised not to bring such things to my party, and I forgot to check him on the way inside...

"No, there's nothing illegal in them, but they are quite tasty," I grumbled. "If somepony doesn't like it... there's the sink..."

I would have expected more enthusiasm from my friends, but I stopped trying. If they decide without tasting it, that's their loss. I don't care. I did my best...

But my little comment did the trick. They probably didn't want to hurt my feelings, so suddenly everypony got one of the drinks in their hooves or magic. I wasn't so interested in whether they were doing it out of politeness, I was confident enough that I managed to create something that would at least be liked by the majority. Their trust will come once they have tried it. Wish might have given them some encouragement too, as she took a sip of her cocktail with a low slurp as soon as she felt she had the permission, and the satisfied look on her face afterwards spoke for itself. Soon everypony - including Scorch - was enjoying their drinks.

"That was cool, alright!" Jasper clicked his tongue. "My throat is burnin'. But from now on, no skulkin' ya two! Especially ya, Thread, playin' the host and all!

"Sorry, it was necessary," I said with exaggerated remorse. "If for no other reason, then because we need a bottle for this next game. Come on, ponies!"

I used my magic to pick up one of the empty syrup bottles, rinsed it with water a little so we wouldn't make the whole house sticky, and then we went back to the other room. I stood in the middle and decidedly placed the bottle I had brought with me on the carpet, then instructed the others to form a circle.

"I wonder how many of you know this game," I started. "I know it by the name "Truth or Dare" and I think it can be very entertaining. It is also said to be excellent for getting to know each other from a different perspective. The point is, you have to spin the bottle, and whoever the end turns to, has to choose whether to answer a question or complete a task. You can ask anything, you have to answer it truthfully, and no matter how embarrassing or funny the task is, you have to do it. I spin it first, and anypony can ask from the "victim".

"Shouldn't the one spinning ask?" Jasper piped in.

"Yeah, otherwise it is so, it's only for the first turn to make things smoother. Last time I played this, we did it like this, anyway. So, you ready? Here I go!"

I reached out with one hoof and kicked the glass. I watched curiously to see who it would pick, and I smiled when Stella became the first lucky one - I was quite sure that it would not be easy. On the other hoof, I strongly hoped that somepony else would take the burden of asking questions or assigning tasks off my shoulders, since nothing interesting came to mind about her right then. Or maybe, if she chooses dare, maybe I could make her recreate my favorite choreography from the Wonderbolts... I mean, I'd watch her try to do it on the ground...

"Truth," she declared with unwavering tranquility.

"Does anypony has a good question to Stella?" I tried to prevent that this noble quest sticks to me.

"Have you ever seen a comb?" Cavern asked a bit spitefully.

"I have, but I look silly with a straight mane because I have two bold spots on my head here and here," the mare showed us with her hoof.

It was a bit surprising that she shared such unpleasant information with us so easily, even though she could have gotten away with it easily, had she taken the question literally. The green stallion also stared at her in shock, but Stella impassively leaned forward and tapped the bottle. Soon the new candidate was chosen: Jasper, who, seeing that the mouth of the bottle was pointing at him, jumped energetically on his hind legs in his boxers and flailing his hooves back and forth in a mock-martial arts style.

"Yeehaw! Just say it, milady, I can do anythin'! Nothing is impossible! Only findin' an impossible thing is impossible!"

"Lick one of your hind hooves!" Stella said, still perfectly peacefully.

"This was supposed to be a challenge?" my friend snorted. "Sure, ya don't want me to do somethin' actually hard?"

"Just do it!"

Jasper dropped back to all fours, then craned his neck back and raised his hind hoof. He stretched and strained, but he just couldn't connect one to another. Also, once he got to the point of biting his own leg just a tad higher up, when he managed to bend it properly, thus momentarily stabilizing himself, he stuck out his tongue sideways, but in the next moment he lost his balance and simply fell over like a piece of wood. After that, however, he tried to pull his hind hoof to himself with his front legs, in a terribly clumsy twisted position, in which his tongue was still sticking out. It was such a bizarre sight that we wouldn't have been able to stop laughing even if Princess Celestia had charged it with tax. In the end, the foal's efforts paid off, and he could revel in the well-deserved applause.

"Ya made me work for it, that's for sure!" Jasper panted while he reached for the bottle. "But now's the time for my revenge!"

He spun it a bit too forcefully so we had to wait a relatively long time, but then it stopped at Wish. The mare's smile became forced in a single moment, and she flashed her eyes at me. "Dare!" she blurted out with remarkable confidence compared to her usual self.

"Hah! I was hopin' ya'd say that!" Jasper grinned. "Let's get down to business, and kiss Thread on the mouth!"

The stallion's unexpected move was followed by loud hooting. Wish turned pale first, then she lowered her head, now turning beet-red up to the ears and stared at the glass in front of her as if she wanted to erase its mere existence from the universe. My heart rate doubled as well, but - perhaps thanks to the sudden panic that hit me - I immediately found an assailable point in the task.

"Hey, that's cheating!" I tried to save ourselves. "It is not within the rules that you can make me do anything!"

"Nah, ya don't need to do anythin'," Jasper shrugged. "Come on, just show us, how ya'all were doin' it!"

"We didn't do anything!" I protested... in vain.

"Rules are rules, let's get smoochin'!"

"You're an ass, Jasper..."

"I know!" he grinned.

Devastated, Wish got up from the ground and, bypassing our classmates, slowly came to me. She sat down on the carpet across from me, looked deeply into my eyes with her ears folding back, and then moved even closer. She was breathing so heavily, I could feel the air ruffling my hair even from a relatively decent distance, but she didn't back down. She leaned towards me a little, then immediately pulled back, as if she didn't dare to touch me. I wanted to help her, but I couldn't even stretch my neck - I was completely paralyzed by the knowledge that she was actually planning to do it. My dear classmates obviously tried to do everything they could to "make it easier" for us, and now they were hooting with a volume that would put a flock of owls to shame.

I could already sense the sweet smell of the cocktail I made from Wish's breath. I couldn't bear watching as she slowly, sometimes backing away a bit, but still unstoppably approached me, so I closed my eyes instead. As strange as it may sound, I was afraid. Not from her, from this sweet, innocent little mare, who, to my complete astonishment, accepted her task without any real objection. In fact, I can't even say exactly what I was afraid of. Maybe from the unknown. Maybe because that's not how I imagined my first kiss. I wanted it to be an intimate experience with my future love in private place, hidden from the whole world. This was forced upon both of us, and we had to consciously bridge the distance between two ponies of a few steps, yet seemingly miles, in the crossfire of our classmates’ stares.

I felt a strange, soft, wet, cool touch on my lips. I clamped my jaw shut just to be safe. I forced myself not to open my eyes. It only lasted a second, and then she moved away from me. I heard the whistling and laughing, but now I looked up anyway. Wish backed down to her previous place with her ears down, then, completely avoiding my gaze, spun the bottle.

"That was it?" Cavern grumbled indignantly. "That wasn't even a real kiss!"

"Chill, dude, that was OK!" Jasper waved him off. "Right, Wish? Did you enjoy it?"

The little mare didn't answer, just stared straight ahead. She only looked up when we got our next applicant. "Well, Cavern?" she asked in a noticeably wavering voice.

I was beginning to seriously worry that the girl doesn't like the party at all anymore and is only here out of necessity. I was sure she wouldn't say anything even if she was suffering, that's why I promised to myself, that I will make sure that she returns home with pleasant memories and this whole affair won't leave a bad taste in her mouth - what a stupid thought after a kiss.

"Ask away, filly!" the stallion pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"Have you ever got a fillyfriend?" she obeyed, successfully surprising me again. I thought she was going to be actively avoiding anything related to this topic.

"Of course, I have!" Cavern replied without thinking. "In my previous school there was a filly and we were together for two months, but it didn't work out between us."

"You don't seem to be dejected..."

"Eh, we didn't fit together," he waved dismissingly. "It was anything but serious. She was too immature for my taste."

"So, she didn't want to hold hooves with you?" Lotus asked, raising an eyebrow.

I was happy that the company was finally hooting because of somepony else, and I gladly joined them in laughing at the joke - that was until Cavern's reaction.

"You hit the nail on the head, bro!" he said, and they performed such a flawless hoofbump, it was joy to watch. And I was just wondering if these ponies were for real... Scandalous!

The bottle spun again, and this time it stopped at Lotus.

"Choose 'dare', big guy!" Cavern rubbed his hooves together.

"Dare!" Lotus shrugged.

Cavern got up with a sly smile and reached into his own pack. Soon he returned with a suspicious-looking metal flask and handed it to the stallion. "Take a sip of this!"

"It isn't...?" I tried to ask, but before I could finish, Lotus unscrewed the cap and vigorously sipped the flask.

"Uhh!" he added, then he gave the rest back.

"Darn it, you drank almost half of it!" Cavern shake it unbelievingly.

"Yeah, that water was a tad spicy," Lotus said innocently.

"You idiot, it was the hardest...!"

"Cavern, didn't I ask you not to bring any... alcohol?" I only dared to whisper the last word, and I also cautiously glanced towards my parents' bedroom. Fortunately, there was no sign of that they had heard anything, but I didn't dare to risk it.

Nopony else seemed to be bothered much. The green stallion just shrugged carelessly, then on the basis of "it doesn't matter anyway" he took a big gulp out of the flask and then put the thing back in his bag. By the time he got back, the spinning glass had already chosen its next victim: Stella... again.

"Truth," she said with her usual calmness.

"Actually, it doesn't matter which you'd choose," Lotus stated. "The question is, would you let me kiss you?"

"Why?" the mare asked with a slightly tilted head.

"That's not the point," the stallion said, matching her nonchalance. "Yes, or no? I would like to try it."

"You'd put your tongue into my mouth?" she asked with almost indecent openness.

"Yeah, it would mainly consist of that."

"Fine by me," the filly nodded, then she sat up to her hind hooves and waited him with closed eyes and partially opened mouth.

Strange, I didn't exactly remember like this of this game. The last time I participated in something alike, it wasn't so much about kissing and stuff, but we still had a lot of fun. In this form, the whole thing was rather confusing, although I must add that my companions clearly enjoyed the program and - as it clearly showed - they were quite willing to participate. Even after one or two tasks that seemed cheesier, their enthusiasm did not wane, even though I was a little afraid of what they would want to make me do.

However, I must say, it was fun to watch how Lotus delicately lifted Stella's glasses, then hugged her head and pulled her close and made a spectacle of kissing her. Especially since she was game and just let herself go. And when the stallion finished, she licked her mouth with her eyes still shut, and then she reached for the bottle as if nothing happened.

"Your turn, Thread," she said plainly.

Yeah, I was a bit out of it... I didn't even notice that the bottle was pointing at me.

"Truth."

"Is there a filly in the class, who hits your fancy?"

And there was I, thinking I could get away with a simple, silly question... It made me actually think about it. As it was, I have never payed attention to my classmates in this sense. Wish was weapon-grade cute, especially when she was wearing one of her little bows, but somehow her personality always got me better. She was shy and reserved among strangers, and at the same time informal but secretive among her friends... Why would I have paid attention to her appearance? She dressed, well... decently, but she didn't attract attention - in that respect she was just like me.

Then there was Ambrosia, the stranger, the mystical, the exotic... The first thing I thought about her was not what she looked like, but rather how annoying it was to talk to her, and how much every teacher took exception to her. It's true, as I looked at her now, I did see her noble elegance and the purity in her eyes. And of course, the questioner herself, Stella, also fell into the "filly" category, so I was forced to include her as well. She was always a bit odd, from the outside as well as from the inside, and even though I couldn't have gotten over it, if I had to imagine, like, dating her, I could say that I liked her appearance as a mare.

"The buck are ya thinkin' so much?" Jasper apparently got bored first. "Fire away!"

"Yes," I answered finally.

"And who?" came the next question from Cavern, as he was sending sly glances towards Wish.

"One question, one answer..." I folded my hooves in front of my chest.

"And ya said, I'm the ass!" Jasper snorted in mock offense. "Yer the one stubborn like a donkey!"

"There aren't many rules, but I follow them to the letter," I answered, flicking the bottle with my magic. And with that I decided that they wouldn't get anything out of me, I'd rather do any nonsense they might throw at me. If for no other reason, then because I wouldn't have been able to give an honest answer anyway...

I was somewhat disappointed to learn that I managed to roll out Ambrosia. I always followed Mr. Poltergeist's instructions and was always discreet towards the girl, but this game was all about violating such standards of politeness, so I managed to put myself in quite a pickle. And of course, looking into the mare's big, shiny eyes, I could only think of lewd things... If I ask for something very simple, which is not the least bit fun, the others would just see me as a coward.

"Truth," came her choice.

"Alright, then," I said, mostly to myself. "Have you ever cribbed before?"

The smile disappeared from Ambrosia's face, frightening me quite a bit, but luckily there seemed to be more contemplation than anger on her face. "I don't understand," she said finally.

I should have thought she was just being as tiring as ever. This is the eternal language barrier, which I somehow managed to stumble into all the time. I won't get away without an explanation now...

"So... what I meant was, like, have you ever cheated at a test, an exam, or anything like this."

"I don't do cheat!" she shook her long, flame-colored mane. "Cheat is big no-no!"

"Yeah, I know, but..." I tried to calm her down, but then I thought, there's not much I can do about it. "Eh, whatever. It's your turn..."

* * *

We entertained each other with this game for a longest time, until late at night. So much so that some of us actually fell asleep during it, and after that we suspended the questioning and retired to take a bath and brush our teeth. I have to add that for some it was an experience in itself, even though I didn't expect it at all. However, Wish was completely swooning over the corner tub and asked everypony to let her use the bathroom last, thus gaining some extra time during which she could take advantage of this little luxury. She said she loves to take bubble baths, but back home they only have such a big tub that she can't comfortably stretch her legs in it.

Of course, I was happy to say yes to her request, but it meant much more to me that she seemed to be in a better mood as the game progressed. I was seriously afraid that it would not be like this, since no matter how many times she was picked by the glass, she always immediately chose "dare", and our classmates weren't going easy on her. Luckily, we managed to agree that we wouldn't give the same task to the same pony twice, so she was exempted from further kissing, but I couldn't help her with the other inconveniences. I don't know what was the most embarrassing thing she had to do, but there was a good chance that it was when she had to carry Dulci around the room on her back - the stallion must have been at least twice her weight -, when she had to pull up her nightgown to show off her blank flank, or maybe when she had to thoroughly chew and consume a dead bug found in our garden - thanks to Scorch, by the way. By far, the roughest thing for me was that I had to climb onto our fence and shout into the night from there that "I am Princess of the Night!"

And all this silliness was definitely useful because we really got to know each other from a slightly different perspective. And not only on the basis of what we were forced to admit to each other with honest answers, but what tasks the other gave or what they were curious about also revealed a lot. And I won't even mention how good it was to finally lie down after the party and get a good night's sleep. And since everypony was settled so well in our living room, I didn't feel like spending the night alone either, so for the sake of a nice little camping atmosphere, I also brought down my pillow and blanket and snuggled in between Jasper and Wish.