Chapter 3: Sleepover

Luna was occupied in unpacking her belongings and organizing the guest room to her liking for her extended stay in Ponyville. Once again, a million thoughts were entering the blue haired princess's mind, attempting to rationalize the night's future events. She didn't know why she was so apprehensive about the whole situation. In truth, she felt that some of her rationalizations and reasons were gross overreactions to something that ultimately would benefit her in the grand scheme of things. Still... Luna had a set of ideals, morals, and a code of ethics that dictated who she was, and consequently, those projected her image as to how she ruled and socialized. After all, she did have a royal and business like image to keep up. Changing those would feel absolutely weird to her. Then again, Celestia had been able to do it flawlessly, and her subjects, common and royal, simply adored her as a result. If Celestia was able to do it, why couldn't Luna? Granted, Celestia was naturally a more social person, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she had to become more formal when the situation warranted it. With that being said, surely Luna could accomplish this.

"There is surely nothing to be afraid of," Luna said to herself in a reassuring tone.

Luna opened the window to let in some fresh air. She marveled at the quaint scenery and sheer aura of contentedness that surrounded the town's inhabitants, even the wildlife. She witnessed a few children playing in a nearby park, as well as normal people going about their daily lives, seemingly without a problem on their minds. Luna took a deep breath and exhaled, allowing a smile to slowly etch itself on her ever stern face. Seeing her subjects content with their lot in life always brought her a sense of satisfaction. It meant she was at least doing something right as one of their leaders.

"I believe I could just possibly get used to this," Luna said to herself once more before she turned around to find Twilight peeking into the room at that instant.

"Tea and snacks are ready, Luna." Twilight said with a soft smile. Snacks. Luna felt she could use some nourishment before dinner.

"Excellent. Thank you, Twilight." Luna softly stated as she began to walk out the door with Twilight.

"Forgive me for prying, but is something troubling you?" Twilight inquired, looking back over at the night princess as they made their way to the kitchen.

"Worry not, Twilight. And to be honest, I'm just being irrationally paranoid about this whole 'loosening up' ordeal. I know that I have nothing to worry about, but even so..." Luna began to respond before she got caught up in her thoughts again.

"I completely understand. I believe an apprehensive reaction is completely merited at first. After all, you are making a few changes to your personality. It was almost exactly like when I first came to Ponyville. I had no interest in making friends or even having a life outside of being Celestia's student. Over these last couple of years, I realized that doing so, albeit reluctantly, was one of the best things to have ever happened to me." Twilight explained as the two sat down in the kitchen, Twilight wearing a proud smile.

"It certainly shows. I'm sure things will work themselves out wonderfully. Celestia has never steered me wrong... Other than for her own personal amusement," Luna responded in earnest, adding sarcastic inflection at the end.

"You would know better. After all, you have to live with her," Twilight said, jokingly.

"Oh ho ho you have NO idea..." Luna replied, the two of them sharing a hearty chuckle.

"You know that I can hear the both of you, right?" a voice entered both their minds, eliciting an even harder laugh from the two girls. After they calmed down, the two continued engaging in casual conversation:

"When can we expect the rest of your friends to arrive for our evening plans?" Luna asked.

"In about two hours, actually. Pinkie Pie likes to set things up a bit early, so we can at least expect her around seven." Twilight responded casually. Luna nodded in acceptance before stuffing another cookie into her mouth.

"In that case, I believe I'm going to go freshen up in preparation for their arrival." Luna said, finishing her snack and tea as she got up to walk out of the kitchen.

"Bathroom is next to your room. Don't over-exert yourself." Twilight pointed out in a half informative and half sarcastic manner, attempting lighthearted humor with the Princess. Luna stopped in her tracks and turned to face her sister's pupil, eyebrow raised.

"Dost thou imply that we are not competent in taking care of ourselves?" Luna asked with no inflection in her voice, using the royal/archaic first person plural pronoun. The blood from Twilight's face drained instantly and her eyes widened.

"Oh... N-n-no, princess. I didn't mean it as a personal attack whatsoever! I-it was a poor attempt at humor, a-and I sincerely apologize. It shall not happen again!" Twilight frantically explained as she gave a polite curtsy as well. Luna still gazed at her with her eyebrow raised with no emotion in her face. She then relaxed her expression and consequently, began snickering... Then giggling, ultimately leading to a hearty laugh and a very confused Twilight.

"I merely jest, Twilight. Do relax yourself. That was my attempt at humor." Luna explained, giving a rather mischievous giggle. Twilight had calmed down and couldn't help but laugh at the situation as well, realizing that she had just been played.

"Haha, you got me, Luna. Maybe both of us have a bit of lightening up to do." Twilight stated with a pensive smile.

"Indeed... Just perhaps. Well, I'll be freshening up. Holler for me if you require assistance with anything." Luna replied with a soft grin before she started off towards the bathroom. Twilight nodded as she left the kitchen, putting dishes away. Twilight then smiled amusingly and shook her head, softly giggling to herself.

"Well, she's definitely Celestia's sister. Can't imagine what she'll be like when she's loosened up." Twilight thought out loud, entertaining herself with the idea.

Seven eventually rolled around and Luna was finishing unwinding and freshening up. She was able to hear a knock at the front door and Twilight answering it. Unsure of who it was, she decided to find out for herself. Adjusting her now casual night-wear, she made for the door between her room and the common area. Upon exiting the sanctuary of the guest bedroom, the unexpectant Princess was immediately assaulted and tackled to the floor by a curly pink-haired girl. Luna didn't stand a chance. Twilight couldn't stifle her laughter and was waiting for the scene to unfold.

"Hi I'm Pinkie Pie and I haven't seen you here before and if I haven't seen you here before that means you're new and... wait a minute..." The sight and realization hit Pinkie like a freight train.

"Greetings... Pinkie... Please get... Off me... Cannot breathe!" a struggling Luna attempted to say under the weight of the epitome of caffeine high.

"P-princess Luna? Oh dear... I'm so sorry-" Pinkie began to say as she released the Princess, who calmly halted her speech as she normalized her breathing and dusted off her clothing. Pinkie's hair deflated slightly in shame.

“It's quite alright, Pinkie. After all, I'm sure you will be most invaluable in helping me loosen up." Luna said with a soothing smile. This helped a bit, but Pinkie was still feeling a bit shameful for not exercising self control. This was apparent to Luna. She thought for a bit, and an idea struck her. She then moved forward and embraced Pinkie, much to the shock of everyone in the room. Pinkie gasped a bit, and Luna shuddered a bit. However, Luna soon felt a warmness and closeness much like with Twilight. Maybe physical contact was not something to be feared after all. A small, genuine smile forced itself on Luna's face and Pinkie beamed, returning the embrace. Yeah, Luna could most certainly get used to this. A suitable starting point.

"Wow, Luna. I have to say, I didn't entirely expect that." Twilight pointed out as she walked over to join the other two.

"Neither did I, but I think it did the trick." Luna replied, peering over at the curvy, pink-haired girl, who had her signature smile on.

"Thanks, Princess. It meant a lot, and sorry if it made you uncomfortable." Pinkie chimed in.

"Think nothing of it, Pinkie, for it was well worth it. And please, just call me Luna." the princess replied earnestly, earning an enthusiastic nod from the hyperactive girl.

"I'm impressed, Luna. You're off to a good start. Keep it up!" a voice sounded off in her mind. Luna didn't respond, but smiled a bit in satisfaction. This time, the moment wasn't ruined by a lewd comment, letting her turn her attention to the two girls.

"When do your other friends arrive?" Luna inquired to Twilight while Pinkie went to set up a few things. Just then, there was a knock on the door, followed by said door being slammed open.

"Right now, actually." Twilight answered with a pseudo-annoyed tone of voice, indicating to Luna that this was rather commonplace. She simply gave an amused chuckle and followed Twilight to her friends. As the new arrivals filtered in one by one, Luna observed them ahead of time before formal introductions.

"Rainbow Dash is in the HOUSE!" a rainbow-haired, tall and athletic girl proclaimed with great confidence as she entered into the common room. She sported a cyan colored top with beige short shorts which fit her tall and agile figure quite well.

"Loudly introducin' yourself when ya enter a giant treehouse. Keep an eye out everybody, I reckon we're dealin' with a badass over here." the blonde-haired farm girl named Applejack walked in immediately after and exclaimed sarcastically in her iconic southern drawl. She donned a standard white top and an orange jacket, both of which stopped a bit short, exposing her abdomen, followed by jean short shorts. She wore her long hair in somewhat of a ponytail, bounding it at the end with a red ribbon of sorts.

"Oh tonight will simply be marvelous!" the fashionista named Rarity stated rather excitedly. She was a bit overdressed for the occasion, but it seemed that she tended to do that. She wore a long but still somewhat informal white dress that covered down to her ankles; simple, yet elegant.

"Y-yes, I'm sure. I just hope nothing goes wrong." Fluttershy announced, albeit rather softly and almost inaudibly. She definitely lived up to her name, as the timid and humble girl was almost hiding behind her very long and straight pink hair. She wore a very simple yellow long sleeved shirt as well as long beige pants which hugged her body quite nicely. For such a timid girl, she was certainly blessed and well endowed in the department of physique.

The girls had all filed in, greeting each other and having conversation amongst themselves. Luna watched with contentedness. She then took her crown off of her head and teleported it back to her room. Twilight beckoned for her and motioned her towards the cluster of girls. Time to make some friends.

"Everyone, it has been a couple years and she hasn't had the privilege to get out much so you may not remember her. Princess Luna, would you like to take it from here?"Twilight began to say. There were a couple of gasps from the other girls as they just realized that they were in the presence of one of the royal sisters. Luna chuckled a bit at this reaction.

"Yes, it is I, Princess Luna, but you may just refer to me as Luna. There is no need for formalities between us, so please, feel free to treat me as one of your friends." At that moment, the look in their eyes was one of pure shock. After all, it is not every day that you get to address a princess in a rather informal manner. Rainbow Dash was the first to step up.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest runner in all off Equestria!" Dash said as she struck a fierce pose. Luna took her hand and greeted her with a sincere smile.

"If my memory serves more well, you were the one performing pranks on other attendees at the festival during Nightmare Night about two years ago, correct?" Luna inquired.

"YEAH! That was most definitely me!" Dash exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as the princess was able to still recall her, even though they didn't get much contact. Luna nodded with a smile as the farm girl stepped forward.

"Ah'm Applejack. Me an mah family tend to Sweet Apple Acres farm. Best apples in all of Equestria!" Applejack said with great pride.

"So it is you who oversees Sweet Apple Acres. I shall have you know that I personally request apples and other produce from your farm. It simply is the best and it’s a pleasure to meet you." Luna replied sincerely. The look of gratefulness and sheer joy that came over the farm girl's face was ever so gratifying to her. The nicely dressed one came forward:

"I'm Rarity, and I own and operate the Carousel Boutique making clothes for men and women alike. It is an honor to meet you more personally and I would be honored if you would allow me to make you casual clothes for our future outings.” the fashionista said with great eagerness.

“And if I remember correctly, it was you who made the dresses for my sister and me for last year’s Grand Galloping Gala, correct?” Luna asked. Rarity nodded vehemently, eliciting a chuckle from Luna.

“I thought so. I would trust no other in making extra clothes for me.” Luna proclaimed. Rarity emitted what sounded akin to a fan-girl squeal at the remark. The remaining girl stepped forward, and Luna remembered her instantly. If her memory served her right, this next introduction was going to be quite… interesting.

“I-I-I’m Fluttershhh-” the pink-haired girl began to say before she trailed off into an abyss of her own shyness.

“I’m sorry, love, but I couldn’t quite hear you.” Luna stated, taking a few steps closer to her, which only made Fluttershy retreat her face behind her hair. Apparently the memories of the rather unpleasant introductions on Nightmare Night were still fairly present. Luna then took the initiative.

“You’re Fluttershy, correct?” Luna asked. Fluttershy did not change her position, but merely nodded behind her hair. Luna figured it would be easier to just be direct and clear the air. Luna then reached out and gently eased Fluttershy’s face up to face her own.

“You need not fear, Fluttershy. Our circumstances of introduction are much different this time around, and I most enjoyed your company then as I do now. Please feel free to treat me like one of your friends.” Luna said in a very gentle manner, which got Fluttershy to become much less tense. She mustered a small but very sincere smile and nodded in response. Luna nodded back with her own smile and withdrew her hand. At that point, Twilight stepped in.

“Well, that takes care of introductions, so it seems we can get this little slumber party started!” she said with great inflection at the end of her sentence. The rest of the girls began to smile and get excited.

“Before we do anything drastic, I propose we have something to eat first.” Rarity proclaimed and the others nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I’m starving. Let’s have some chow.” Rainbow Dash said, to which they all made their way into the kitchen and began making random assortments of food and whatever else they were craving at the time. As they all sat down in the common room with their potluck of food, Twilight explained the entire situation with Luna and what they would be tasked with.

“So, what exactly is going on in your eyes, Luna?” Rarity asked.

“The general version of the story is that I’m too uptight for my own good and Celestia has ordered me to lighten up with your girls’ help.” Luna replied as she took a bite of her food. The rest all seemed delighted to be able to.

“Ah believe we can be of some help.” Applejack said with a cheery inflection.

“You bet, Luna! But you’ll have to have an open mind. You might be afraid to try a few things with us but it will be good for you. We’ll take care of you, and within a month, you’ll be carefree when it counts!” Rainbow Dash stated with conviction. Luna nodded with a nice smile.

“I’ll do what it takes. I’ll get over my apprehensions in due time.” Luna replied. With that, they finished their food and continued onto their little party. They talked about random things, braided/did each other’s hair (which Luna was actually quite pleased with the outcome of Pinkie’s work), and toyed around with magic, especially when Luna put on a show and let the rest of the girls personally see her raise the moon. Soon the nightly activities turned into telling jokes… rather lewd ones at that. Luna, at first, was hesitant to find many of these jokes humorous rather than repulsive, but soon her defenses were whittled away and she began to slowly start giggling and snickering at them.

“Okay, I got one!” Twilight spoke up.

“Lay it on me!” Dash stated, lying down with her arms folded behind her head.

“That’s what she said.” Pinkie interrupted, causing Dash to amusingly glare at her and eliciting snickers from the other girls. Luna blushed deeply and buried her face in her hand, still not entirely used to the open sexual humor. The other girls picked up on this and found it quite amusing. Twilight then continued:

“So, there’s this guy who is traveling on business. He had been away from home for a while and was having… ‘urges’ that needed to be satisfied.” Twilight began. Everyone picked up on this part and nodded. Luna was attempting to figure out where this was going.

“So he goes into a brothel and asks for a girl for the night.” Luna began to understand now but still forced herself to listen attentively.

“So, the girl leads him upstairs and begins to strip down for him. Soon, she’s completely nude and upon removing her underwear, the man just stops and stares… mouth completely agape. The girl sees this and says amusingly: ‘What’s wrong, hun? You’re acting like you’ve never seen a vagina before since you came out of one.’” Twilight continued. Luna continued to blush for a bit, wondering where this joke was headed. Once again, she assured herself that she’d eventually get used to dirtier jokes.

“The man only replies ‘Not one big enough to crawl back into!’” Twilight finished. Rainbow Dash completely lost it and began laughing hysterically along with Pinkie and Applejack. Rarity was attempting to be more ladylike and suppress her giggles but soon gave into complete laughter as well. Fluttershy was blushing completely but couldn’t help but muster heavy giggling. To everyone surprise, however, Luna’s defenses were completely shattered and she began to laugh heartily. Luna also heard another voice in her head laughing hard as well. Yes, it appeared that Luna was indeed having a great time. Dash then wore a mischievous smirk and spoke up as everyone quieted down:

“Alright girls, I say we all tell each other our nastiest sex stories…” she said with a sultry tone. Luna, who was drinking at the time, instantly seized up and choked and Fluttershy almost fainted.

“Rainbow DASH!” Twilight exclaimed in a shocked manner. Gazing at Luna, she was blushing furiously and coughing up a storm. Dash was now laughing even harder. The other girls were blushing as well, albeit not as much as they expected this behavior from her.

“Relax, everyone. I was just trying to screw around with Luna.” Dash said as she began laughing again. Luna only shook her head as her face was still very red and still settling down from the coughing fit.

“We’re supposed’ta help Luna here lighten up, not kill her from embarrassment!” Applejack playfully scolded. “Besides, not like you have anything to brag about, Dashie!” AJ continued, earning a bunch of laughing and ‘ooooooh’s’ from the other girls. Rainbow only chuckled at the comment, not really dignifying it with an answer.

“Well… I’m not so sure I’d be too suited for this conversation, even if you weren’t taking it seriously.” Luna chimed in, regaining her composure and adjusting her shirt.

“Aww come on, I’m sure all the men are clamoring after you, Luna! I mean, look at you!” Twilight pointed out, not helping Luna’s blush at all.

“I agree, I’m sure you attract all sorts of gentlemen, and maybe even some of the more… undesirable type.” Rarity spoke. Luna shook her head softly as she yawned.

“Don’t be too sure of yourselves, my friends.” Luna said with an interesting inflection that only Rarity seemed to pick up on. She then yawned again, stretched, and laid herself down comfortably in her little makeshift slumber party bed. She hadn’t slept all day or the previous night and she was completely beat.

“I’ve had a wonderful night, girls, but I’m afraid if I’m to be any fun tomorrow, that I’ll have to get a decent night’s sleep. Thank you for the most marvelous time and I look forward to tomorrow.” Luna said as she bade the girls their respective goodnights. She then cast a spell on herself which put her in a deep sleep almost instantaneously. Her deep and rhythmic breathing was an indicator of that to the other girls.

“She’s never had a boyfriend or girlfriend.” Rarity proclaimed randomly. The other girls looked at her in disbelief.

“I-I’m a bit hesitant to believe that. I mean… s-she’s absolutely gorgeous and so kindhearted.” Fluttershy offered her input.

“Come to think of it, I never recalled hearing about any guy or girl in Luna’s life when speaking with Celestia. I’m not entirely sure she plays for only one team.” Twilight said, thinking deeply.

“Well, with the constant pokerface that she puts on for royal affairs and even in her own personal life, it’s as if she put up a wall. She wouldn't even allow herself time to see someone, believing her only duty was a princess. It makes sense.” Rarity explained.

“So she hasn't had a proper significant other. What does that have to do with us? What do you want to do… hook her up with someone? I don't really deal in that department.” Rainbow Dash pointed out. Applejack nodded in agreement. Rarity thought on everyone’s words for a few moments before her eyes twinkled and a large grin etched itself on her face. She moved one of her curls out of her face before she pulled Pinkie aside and asked her something. Pinkie then nodded vehemently and they both turned back to the rest of the girls. Rarity then addressed them all:

“I know exactly what we’re going to do tomorrow!” She proclaimed before motioning the others closer, the sleeping Princess of the Night unaware of the next day’s ventures. However, another entity was listening in on them, not in their presence of course. The Solar Princess listened to the plans with a hand over her mouth to attempt to suppress her giggles.

“Oh Luna, you’re going to have fun tomorrow!”