You walk around under the night sky in the town of Ponyville, taking in sights of the city in a different look as an end-of-day activity before you call it a day and head home for bedtime.
It is a beautiful portrait; the black sky decorated with distant stars and the moon of none other than Princess Luna herself placed over a sea of many lights; those of the windows, those of the streetlights, and those of some late-night businesses trying to make themselves stand out. You feel calm and content under this environment, not a worry to be found.
After a short chat with some ponies about to attend a nighttime movie screening, and another short chat with ponies shopping for their groceries at a less-busy time, you decide to declare your day over and head on the path to your house.
You make it to where your house is visible... but then, an off-screen call-out stalls your movement. "Hey! Is that you, human friend?", a female voice calls.
You look around for the source of this voice, and the correct direction is to your left, where Bon Bon, a pony you've been in the early stages of friendship with along with her BFF Lyra Heartstrings, is looking at you.
"Hi! Hope I didn't startle.", Bon Bon says. "I'm out here to let you know that me and a group of other ponies, including Lyra, are having a really cool sleepover, and we wanted to have you in it."
Hmm?, you think in your head. A really cool sleepover, and they want me?
Bon Bon explains the event. "We're having a 'background pony sleepover', which is exactly what it sounds. We figured that us secondary ponies should come and share our status together."
Wow, that does sound like a good idea!, you think to yourself. In your history of being a pony fan, you had always wondered about those other recurring ponies who pop up all the time, but hardly speak any words or play any plot-affecting role. A background pony sleepover would give you a chance to learn more! Get to know these ponies better!
Oh yeah, and what was that other thing she said?
"And... you said you were inviting me?", you ask Bon Bon.
"Yes!", she exclaims. "You're an amazing human to have in this town, and we know you like to cuddle. We will absolutely be cuddling in this sleepover; we love it too!"
"Plus, it's a sleepover. We have plenty of pre-bedtime activities!"
That's true; you had a knack for cuddling ponies if there ever was one. You had become notorious in town as the "serial cuddler"; a position you giggled along with as it was accurate. If anypony was in need of cradling arms, you were the first to offer.
You had also become known for your expertise in cuddling, particularly with your practice of helping ponies who have never done it before ease into it. Nothing but great success so far, including with ponies who do already have experience! Every single pony who has gone into a (free) session with you left a positive review.
In fact, your skills in the field were what earned you your Equestrian nickname! A while after ponies had been calling you the "human cuddler", one pony, during a session with you, shortened it to "H.C." She then insisted that was a good-sounding nickname, to your agreement, and later on, became further entrenched in it after she called you Ponyville's "head coach" of cuddling.
"Head coach" abbreviates to "H.C.", so... there it was! Ponies settled on referring to you by that nickname, and you had grown quite fond of it, if you do say so. It is really fitting.
Back to Bon Bon's invitation: Well, there's cuddling, and a sleepover is a sleepover, so here's a no-brainer decision. You were going to go.
"Thanks so much, Bon Bon. Let me tell you that I am going.", you say, walking up to her.
"You are? Sweet!", she says. "Thanks a lot, just follow me!"
Forget about going to your empty home and sleeping solo. You were going to be in company tonight!
You follow Bon Bon over to a building you don't recognize, but that's neither here nor there. What matters is the sight to behold as she opens the door.
A wide, spaced-out room coated in brown paint with a candy-like mixture of colors sprinkled in it, in the form of sleeping bags, games, and ponies. The ponies who all shout to you in unison, "Hi, H.C.!"
You place your hand on your chest, in sweetness that you could be paid that much close attention to by these creatures you love so much.
"Hey everyone!", you say. "Bon Bon here invited me to this 'background pony sleepover' that she said you're having."
"That is exactly what we are having, a white pony with a puffy blue mane says, coming into your view. "I'm White Lightning, your host of this party. We may be calling it a background pony sleepover, but we knew from the start that it would be more fun with you."
Man, you can't even compose words at their sweetness. You just want to move on.
"Uh, thanks.", you say. "So, what kinds of things are we going to do tonight?"
"Well, as it turns out, I decided to get that as neatly organized as possible.", White Lightning says, pulling out a white sheet of paper. All these girls and I worked together on a schedule of activities, to avoid a jumbled mess of ponies arguing about what to do next."
"Good idea.", you say quickly. "Arguments are a killer of good times."
White Lightning nods in response. "Alright, what's up first is roasting s'mores in the fireplace. Good thing this place has one.", she announces.
You're all in on that first activity, as is everypony else. Beforehand, though, you turn your head around the room to check who all was here. In addition to Bon Bon and White Lightning, you see Berry Punch, Golden Harvest, Derpy Hooves, Rose, and Bon Bon's friend Lyra. But those were just the ones you recognized by name.
In addition, there's a lilac pony with a blue mane and two dolphins as her cutie mark, a forest-green pony with a raining cloud as her cutie mark, and a pale yellow pony with a purple mane, and her cutie mark... is that an umbrella?
Huh, so there were even ponies here who are almost complete strangers to you. You know you've seen them before and recall their appearances, but that's as far as it goes.
Should be an interesting sleepover!
The roasting of s'mores, activity number 1, begins, and in addition to the deliciousness of those treats, the mostly-sitting endeavor enabled you to, first, gather the new names. You find that the lilac pony with dolphins is named Sea Swirl, the forest-green pony with the rain is Sprinkle Medley, and the pale-yellow pony with the umbrella-like object is Parasol. And that thing is a parasol, as you guessed after hearing her name.
The s'more roasting plus the other sleepover activities you did, got you acquainted with these three pretty well. During the bedtime story portion, Sea Swirl talked about a dolphin exhibit she led the speaking of, revealing her occupation.
And there was plenty of further acquainting with the ponies you did already know more. Not in short supply at all.
After the list of activities runs dry, White Lightning declares the sleepover to have reached bedtime, which brings you back to remembrance of what was to come with that. You hold a wide smile as your signature activity approaches.
Your signature activity that the host knows about and has a plan for. "Alright, so since H.C. is the special guest here, I'm thinking we should give them the first choice on who to share a bed with.", White Lightning says.
"I know, we all want to cuddle with them. But we can't all fit one one bed, and cuddling is more intimate when done with one or two ponies."
"So H.C., you get to pick your cuddle buddy for tonight."
All the ponies in the sleepover follow the calm, choice-giving pattern, lining up in front of you for the selection screen. Here comes your moment.
"Hmm... who do I cuddle with?", you say out loud.
"I'll cuddle with..."