After I finished setting up the bed and rejoined the girls down in the main area, Pinkie Pie gestured for everyone to spread out and take a seat on the cushions laid out for us. We all did so, I found myself sitting next to Applejack and Twilight Sparkle respectively, while Pinkie was in my direct line of sight.
“Okie dokie, if everypony is ready, we shall begin!” Pinkie said, bouncing on her cushion.
“Slow down Pinkie, please tell us, what game are we going to be playing exactly?” Rarity said.
“Hehehe, weeeeeell...” She said, closing her eyes while smiling.
I sat there contemplating what she was up to, I couldn’t begin to guess what was going on inside that candy floss brain of hers, but then again I doubt anyone around here really could. A few seconds later she opened her eyes up, took a deep breath and then spoke up.
“TRUTH, or, DARE!!” She shouted out, making a few of the ponies jump a little.
“Awww yeah! My favourite game!” Rainbow said with a big grin creeping onto her face.
“Ugh, must we play this here darn game again?” Applejack said with a frown.
“Of course silly!” Pinkie said as she settled down. “It’s a simple enough game for anypony to get into, and since Anon here is a newbie to our sleepovers, I figured it will help out in getting him settled into it.”
“Well, I suppose so.” Said Twilight with a sigh, she then turned her head to look at me. “I take it this game also existed back in your world too?”
“That’s correct, I’ve known it since I was a little tyke. I’ve also had the displeasure of having partaken in a few of them.” I said dryly.
“Ohhh nice! Were they all just as fun to play?” Pinkie said to me with interest.
“Let’s just say, some of them were fun, other times it ended up being super silly, or really gross and disturbing.” I said with a frown, not exactly enthusiastic about recalling those memories from the past.
“Oh I can certainly sympathize with that dear, why some of the dares we had to do in the past were just simply awful!” Rarity said.
“You mean like that one time when we dared you to make a dress out of nothing but a brown sack that we had around for the vegetables?” Rainbow said with a wide grin
“UGH! Don’t remind me of it! That was the WORST dres- no, THING, that I have ever made! I just wanted to burn it all up after it was finished.” Rarity said as she frowned hard at the floor.
“Heh heh, well shucks it ain’t the worst thang I’d ever seen, why ah wouldn’t mind givin’ it a try just once-”
She was interrupted by a loud but deep growl coming from Rarity who was glaring towards Applejack in full force; it’s clear that the less we thought about that ‘thing’ the better it was for the rest of us.
“Anyway, moving on.” Said Pinkie wisely deciding to move on from that moment. “Don’t you worry about anything more ‘extreme’ or ‘borderline’, we all made a pact a long time ago to never cross the line like that, so you’re safe.” Pinkie said with a reassuring smile.
“But, there is no guarantee that the line won’t be skirted on a few times tonight.” Rainbow said with a devilish grin on her face, Applejack looked at her with a stare.
“Ah got my eyes on you tonight, sugarcube.” Said Applejack who moved a hoof up to her eyes before pointing it at Rainbow, who just blew a raspberry at her in mockery.
Signing, I returned my focus to Pinkie. “So tell me, how do we go about playing this game then?”
“Well, we all take turns spinning this little spinaroonie right here.” She said as she pulled said thing out from who knows where. “Next, whoever the arrow on the spinner lands on has to pick either truth or dare. Then once they do whichever they picked, we spin again and then repeat on and on.”
“Wait a minute, who gets the first spin? Do we all take turns doing it?” I said in confusion.
“Oh, well we usually let Twilight go first since this is her home, but, I think for tonight we can let you take the first spin, if that is okay with you Twilight?” Said Pinkie as she looked over at Twilight, she nodded to her in agreement, “Then it’s decided, then we go round in a circle clockwise over a few rounds until we decide to stop.”
“Well alright, I guess I better start things off th-Oww!”
I was just about to give the spinner a whirl when Pinkie suddenly slapped my hand with her hoof.
“Nah ah ah! I haven’t even finished talking yet, naughty naughty, Mister Nonny.”
I shook my hand while giving her a frown. I keep forgetting that pony hoofs aren’t just for show, they also hurt, a lot, when it comes to slaps and punches.
“There are a few things to remember. First, you can’t pick the same thing three times, like ‘dare’ for example. Second, if you pick truth, then you have to tell us the truth for real.” She suddenly leaned in close, her eyes focused into a deep glare, the kind that could make a child cry in fear, “And I mean the truth, with a capital T-R-U-T-H, TRUTH.” She said in an equally scary tone.
“D-duly noted miss.” I said with a bit of a sweat.
Pinkie leaned back away and was back to her normal self, “Goodie goodie! That’s pretty much all there is to it newbie.”
“So, what do you think Anon? You still game? It’s your last chance to chicken out if you still want to, I won’t think any less of you.” Rainbow said, still sporting that devilish grin.
I signed, I know I am going to regret this big time later on tonight, but, I’ve come this far down this rabbit hole that they’ve led me into, so I might as well just take the plunge and see where it takes me next. Rainbow appears to be planning a few traps just for me if that look on her mug is anything to go by, but little does she know that I have my own bag of tricks up my sleeve, that, and I just can’t resist the temptation of taking down someone’s, or someponies in this case’s ego down a peg or two, so, it’s game on as far as I’m concerned. I looked at Rainbow, showed a smirk and spoke up.
“Hah! I ain’t no chicken Rainbow Dash, but you sure like to squawk like one with that ‘beak’ you like to toot all day long.”
Just like that, her previously confident grin morphed into a gasp with widened eyes, like I had just slapped her hard on her cheek.
“W-w-what!? Are you calling me a chicken!?”
The other ponies giggled at the scene.
“Oooh, somepony is already shooting out some sass.” Pinkie said with a grin.
“S-SHUT IT! Nopony calls me a chicken and gets away with it! Anon, you are so going DOWN! It is on now!” Rainbow said as her competitive nature came out in force, her eyes focused on me like a tiger.
“Challenge accepted, Rainbow.” I said with a smug grin.
“Well go on ahead Anon, take the first spin.” Twilight said, pointing at the spinner.
I obliged, I gently spun the arrow and watched it go round and round, waiting to see who it would land on. I was kinda hoping it would land on Rainbow Dash so that I could really start the mind games with her, but Instead it landed on Pinkie Pie who smiled in response.
“Oooh oooh it landed on me, it landed on me!” She said, bouncing in excitement.
“Well then Pinkie Pie, truth, or dare?” I said to her,
“Hmmm, I’m gonna start this game off with a dare!”
I glanced around the room, thinking what dare to give her. That’s when I saw it, a tall cupcake with pink buttercream frosting, chocolate chips mixed in and what looks like caramel sauce over it. A grin grew on my face, Pinkie loves these particular cupcakes more than any other, what a shame that she won’t be able to eat it now.
“Pinkie Pie, I dare you to NOT eat that delicious looking cupcake over there on the table.” I said while pointing to it.
Pinkie glanced over to the item in question, then her eyes went wider than her head should allow.
“W-what!? B-but... That is my super special cupcake! I was going to eat later on tonight...” She said as she kept on looking back at it in despair.
“Well too bad, now you cannot eat it, not until I say so.” I said, crossing my arms.
Pinkie sighed and nodded in agreement, the other ponies were a little taken back.
“Wow Anon, we’ve only just started, and you’ve already set the bar.” Twilight said.
“Heh, as I said I have played these games before, so...” I unfolded my arms and looked over at the girls. “Don’t hold back against me alright? Because I certainly won’t hold back at all.”
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning to, if anything, I’m going to go hard on you from the start!” Rainbow said, still focused on me.
“Alright y’all keep yer hooves at bay, it’s mah turn now.” Applejack said as she spun the spinner.
She gave it a bit of a heft since it was going round pretty fast, it soon landed on Rarity. She gave a frown while Applejack gave her a healthy smirk in return.
“Well Rarity, truth or dare?”
“Hmph, truth if you please.” Rarity said with a huff.
“Well then, tell us, did y’all really keep Tom the boulder round’ as a good luck charm?” Applejack said with a wide grin.
“W-what!?!” Rarity sputtered, her pupils shrunken like pin pricks, “NO! That thing is as far away from me as possible! If anything that rock is nothing but bad-, no HORRIBLE luck! I thought we all agreed to never ever bring that back up again.” She said, staring daggers at Applejack, who was just chuckling to herself.
“Well we would, except that it’s funny to think about now, after you took it so seriously!” Rainbow said, joining in on the laughter.
Rarity could only groan loudly, no doubt she is going to get back at Applejack for that one.
“Alright, it’s my turn now.” Said Rainbow as she took a spin.
Round and round the arrow went, as it slowed down it looked like it was going to land on me to her delight, but at the last second it landed on Applejack instead.
“Aww ponyfeathers, here we go.” She said in displeasure.
“Okay cowgirl, truth or dare?” Rainbow said to her.
“Truth, and nothing but the truth.”
“Okay then, tell us, is it true that you hate seeing apples going to waste, so you reuse them in your baked treats?” She said, pointing a hoof at her.
Everyone stared at Applejack who looked like she just had a stroke. It was clear that Rainbow had struck somewhere deep since Applejack looked like she was about to tackle her down, but she took a deep breath and calmed down enough to talk.
“Well, yes an’ no, ah do hate seein’ apples, especially’ the really good ones goin’ to waste.” Rainbow was about to interrupt to say something, but Applejack shoved a hoof in her mouth to silence her, “But! Ah don’t ever, and ah mean ever, use em’ in mah baking, last thing ah want happenin’ is for other ponies to get unwell from mah baked treats, if that were to happen our business would dry up faster than the wells on ah hot summers day.”
“Yeah... I don’t think I could even stomach that happening ever again.” Pinkie said glumly, probably recalling one such time when something like that did happen, Applejack could only nod her head in silence.
“Well if that wasn’t the lamest and safest truth I’ve ever heard.” Rainbow said with a grump as she watched Pinkie take her go.
“Wheeee! Round and round it goes! Where it lands? Nopony knows!” She said as the arrow spun round, she watched it over and over, until it landed on Twilight. “Okay Twilight, truth or dare?”
Twilight thought to herself for a moment, then decided. “I’m feeling like having a dare right now.”
“Oooh! That’s funny, I was hoping you would do just that! I dare you to read through this without laughing.” She said, presenting Twilight with a suspicious piece of paper with writing on it.
Twilight proceeded to take it in her magic, then started to read. “Ahem, my son is under a doctor’s care and should not take PE today. Please execute him- whoa whoa wait a minute here!”
“The hay is that about?” Applejack said with a raised eyebrow.
I let out a little chuckle, Pinkie winked over at me, I have a feeling that this is going to be a treat to hear.
“Eh he he he heh, I probably just misread it.” Twilight said as she carried on, “Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing hoofball. He was hurt in the growing part. Huh.”
A few giggles escaped from Pinkie and Rainbow as Twilight read on, a frown forming on her face.
“Chris will not be in school cuz he has an acre in his side. What acre?”
This got Applejack chuckling a little bit. “Ain’t not mah Sweet Apple Acres that’s for sure.”
Twilight shook her head as she kept on reading. “Please excuse Ray Friday from school, he has very loose vowels. I bet he does if he wrote all this. Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father’s fault- wait what!?”
Welp, that did it, I burst out laughing when she read that out loud, so hard in fact that I had to hold my abdomen as I leaned over laughing. It looks like I wasn’t the only one, Rainbow was in stitches on the floor, having fallen off her cushion, Pinkie was laughing loudly like hyena, while Applejack and Rarity were just holding their hooves up to their muzzles, either trying hard not to laugh, or just in shock over hearing that.
“Ohhh ho ho ho ho, oh wow that is so wrong!” I said as my belly laugh continued.
“Well I never, this certainly went very dark, very fast.” Rarity said, still covering her muzzle.
Twilight kept on reading, but it was clear she was losing her patience with this paper.
“I’m just going to finish this off quickly. Sally won’t be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her funeral. Ha ha ha, very funny. Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday, he had a cold and could not breed well. Sounds like he’s a lost cause for a marriage. Finally, please excuse Mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gram- NO! No no no no no, NO! I’m not even gonna finish reading that!” Twilight said in anger as she crumpled up the paper and tossed it away into the wastebasket with force.
The rest of us had all carried on laughing, Rainbow and Pinkie both had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard, I was still having belly laughs, Applejack seemed to have given up holding back and joined in the laughing too, while Rarity was still holding her hoofs up to her mouth, her eyes wide as a kite.
“Pinkie, you did this writing on purpose, didn’t you!?” Twilight said, glaring hard at her.
“Hehehe, well that is how it was originally written when I found it Twilight, I just did all the spelling corrections while keeping the humour intact.” Pinkie said while trying to calm her giggles.
That got me a little curious, those were all human names right there in that paper, how on earth did Pinkie manage to get a hold of this list at all? Perhaps that’s another unexplained mystery that won’t be explored anytime soon.
“Oh my gosh, that was gold right there Pinkie Pie, solid gold!” Rainbow said, calming down from her laughing fits and wiping away her tears.
Twilight let out a loud groan in frustration, no doubt she too is aiming to get back at Pinkie for that. Meanwhile Rarity decided to move things along by taking her turn spinning the spinner, round and round it went, until it slowed down and stopped... In front of Applejack again.
“Ugh, again?” Applejack said, not happy being picked twice in one round.
“Well well darling, I do believe some payback is on the menu for tonight.” Rarity said as she flashed a cocky grin, not something I see from her very often. “Will you be ordering a truth, or dare?”
“Hah! Do yer worst Rar, I pick dare!” Applejack said as she crossed her hooves in confidence.
“Very well then, I dare you to... Dress up like a princess!”
Applejack’s eyes nearly popped out from her skull from hearing that, “W-w-w-what?” NO! N-no way am ah doing that!” She said as she backed away a little from her cushion, but she was stopped by Twilight.
“You have to Applejack, it’s the rules I’m afraid.” Twilight said as she used her magic to float over her own royal dress from the nearby wardrobe to her.
Applejack grumbled, but complied as she took off her Stetson and began putting on the dress.
“Oh my Twilight, I didn’t think you’d want her to wear your own royal dress. You aren’t worried about it getting all creased up are you?” Rarity said to her in concern.
“Oh I don’t mind it at all, besides I don’t like wearing it very much anyway.” She said as she placed her tiara on Applejack’s head.
Everyone in the room looked at Applejack wearing Twilight’s royal attire, it seemed to fit her rather snugly, but Applejack felt that she looked really silly in it, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but start laughing from the sight.
“Oh my stars, I think you look absolutely fabulous dear!” Rarity said while giggling politely.
“Yeah, it suits you sooo well, Applejane!” Rainbow Dash said as she continued laughing her head off.
Applejack just sighed to herself, she hated looking all fancy and frou frou for no reason, especially in formal princess wear. I felt bad for her and decided to help cheer her spirits up a little bit as I put my hand on her shoulder for comfort.
“Hey, don’t let it get you down AJ, just think of yourself as the Royal Princess of all the Apples, no one or anypony can claim that title, except you.” I said to her with my fist held out for a hoof bump.
Applejack looked up at me, she seemed to think about what I had said for a minute. Then, with a smile returning to her face, she returned the bump in kind. I smiled back, that little pep talk worked out.
“Alright, it’s my turn now everypony.” Twilight said as she took a spin.
Round and round it went, until it finally landed on Pinkie Pie. Twilight looked up at her, a devilish smile appearing on her face, “Well Pinkie Pie, will it be truth or dare?”
“Hmm, I’ll go with truth this time around, just to mix things up.” Pinkie said.
“Perfect.” Twilight said with a low purr, narrowing her eyes towards Pinkie, “Tell us, did you once ate something that you shouldn’t have eaten and it made you feel ill? And no, we won’t talk about the baked bad’s from last year.”
Pinkie put a hoof up to her muzzle and started thinking. “Hmm, that’s a real toughie to answer, there have been some pretty bad treats and meals I’ve had in the past. Like that one time I accidentally ate an expired muffin that was supposed to have been thrown away but I had to eat it because I don’t like seeing food going to waste, I ended up being sick and stuck in my room for a week. Or that one time when I was hosting a party for a couple who had a colt that was allergic to chocolate and I was like, ‘What? Are you crazy?’, so I had to whip up something different for him, but it ended up making all the ponies at the party ill, me included. Or perhaps that other time when my sisters tired-”
“Pinkie! I meant something that you shouldn’t have eaten at all, something very VERY bad!” Twilight said in exasperation.
“Ohhh, well there that one time when I ate something they called a ‘steek’ while I was away on holiday from Ponyville about a year ago, It tasted really weird, like a really chewy and thready pastry with a strange spongy feel, it had a kinda coppery aftertaste too. I didn’t really like it after the first bite so I just skipped it and went straight to the greens on the side instead!”
Pinkie then noticed the other ponies having a rather grim look on their faces, like they just saw a ghost.
“What’s up? Why are you all looking at me like that for?”
“Erm... Pinkie darling, I umm, I have to ask, but... Are you aware of w-what this ‘s-steek’ was, perchance?” Rarity said hesitantly.
“Umm... No I never got to ask them, why do you know what it is?”
Rarity sighed, “Who wants to break the news to the poor dear?”
There was a long silence in the room, enough to make things more awkward, eventually Rainbow became impatient and decided to speak up.
“Pinkie Pie, that ‘steek’ is actually called a ‘steak’, and it’s a kind of cooked ‘meat’, what you had there was MEAT!”
Everyone in the room went deathly silent, Pinkie Pie’s mane deflated, her pink coat losing some saturation and her eyes wide as she just realized the implications of what she had done.
“Oooh, IMGONNAHEADTOTHEFILLYSROOMSEEYA!” she said as she dashed out of the room in a hurry to the downstairs bathroom.
“I think I’m gonna follow her, won’t be long.” Rarity said as she trotted after Pinkie.
The rest of the ponies looked around the room awkwardly, I decided to speak up in order to break the silence.
“Ahem, Twilight, don’t you think you went a little bit too far with that one?” I said to her.
“W-what, why!?” She said looking at me with a glare, “H-how was I supposed to know it would lead to THAT reveal happening? I maybe an Alicorn, but I’m no psychic Anon!”
“Say now, how in the hay did y’all know what that ‘steek’ really was Rainbow?” Applejack asked her.
“I had a Griffin as a friend, don’t you remember? Griffins are known to eat meat since they’re predators, so I’m used to seeing food like that.” Rainbow said with a bit of a huff.
“Well maybe for y’all, but that still makes me feel all sick to mah stomach.” Applejack said, making a gag gesture.
“Wait a minute, Anon, don’t humans eat meat as well?” Twilight asked me with curiosity.
“Yes, yes we do, but we also eat greens as well, fruit, and fish as well. Although, I haven’t eaten any meat since I ended up stuck in Equestria.” I said, looking at myself, noticing how skinny my arms have gotten.
Twilight seemed to get even more curious, but also really nervous about something. I already had an idea of what she was going to say, and I’m already dreading seeing her try to ask, she was visibly nervous, her eyes darting back and forth as she gulped, then spoke up.
“Umm... This is probably a dumb question but... Umm... D-do your kind also, ehhh... Umm, d-do they-”
“Eat ponies?” I said, interrupting her. “No, no we do not eat ponies, and even if we did, I’d never do that, never ever, and that is a promise I intend on keeping.” I said to her, she took a breath and visibly relaxed from hearing that.
“You want to make that a Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie said, reappearing in the room next to me out of nowhere.
“You got it Pinkie.” I said to her as we went about reciting the Pinkie Promise chant to her in full, of course pinkie went the extra mile and actually stuffed a cupcake in her eye, before long she made her way back to her seat looking brighter than she was a few minutes ago.
“Well, I don’t know about you girls and Anon, but I think my mood to play this game has been ruined by that little ‘revelation’ we just had a few minutes ago.” Rarity said as she entered the room, still looking a little groggy.
“You want us to stop? Awww! Anon didn’t even get to have a truth or dare yet!” Rainbow said frowning at me, I smirked back in kind.
“Girls, don’t let what just happened get you all downies in the dumpsies. Let’s all go one more round to wash all that bad taste out of our minds.” Pinkie said, showing a bright smile again.
“Don’t y’all mean wash it out of our mouths?” Applejack said in thought.
“I know what I said.”
The girls spent a minute giving it a thought, they all agreed to continue with one more round, so I gave the spinner another spin. I watched it go round and round, who was it going to land on? I had hoped last time that it would land on Rainbow Dash, but this time, ho ho ho yes this time, it finally landed on her.
“Well it’s about time I got picked, bring it on human!” Rainbow said as she put on her determined face.
“You seem eager to go, so truth or dare?” I said.
“Hah! You should know me well enough by now Anon, I pick dare!”
“Very well, I dare you too...” Then a big grin grew on my face as I just thought of the perfect dare for her. “I dare you to get a manicure right here right now, and Rarity will help you out with it!”
Rainbow’s face was priceless, one moment it was a look of pure horror, the next it was of burning anger aimed right at me. The other ponies giggled as Rarity stood up, and trotted over to the salon table in an elegant fashion.
“Rainbow Daaaaassh, your appointment awaits!”
“N-n-no! I d-don’t like anypony touching my hooves, or my wings!” Rainbow said in a panic, she was about to fly away to escape but Applejack stopped her, grabbing her trusty rope.
“Rules are rules sugarcube, now come on over an get yer manicure done and dusted.” Applejack said, tying a rope around her wings and mid section, then lifting her up towards the table.
“NO! I won’t do it! No no no no, nooooooooo!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Rainbow’s predicament as she was lifted onto the improvised seat while Rarity got to work right away. I’ll spare you the details on what happened, but let’s just say there was a lot of yelling, plenty of horseplay from Rarity with those filers and hoof polish, and Rainbow shouting out as many obscenities as possible, some I didn’t even know were real words over here. Twilight and Pinkie meanwhile were just giggling away at the scene unfolding in front of them.
“There we are, now that wasn’t so bad now was it Dash?” Rarity said as she put on a satisfied smile.
Rainbow said nothing, she had the mother of all frowns on her face, and she was consciously rubbing her hoofs together, likely trying to get rid of the ‘feeling’ she had just endured a few moments ago.
“Well shucks, ah’d say she looks half dang impressive now with those freshly tended hooves.” Applejack said as she took the rope off of Rainbow who silently flew over back to her seat, not uttering a single word.
“Well Anon, you sure surprised us again, that was a real doozy of a dare right there.” Pinkie said, smiling at me in approval.
“Heh, well like I said earlier, I ain’t going easy on you all tonight.” I said with a smug. I suddenly felt the heat from Rainbow Dash’s eyes aiming in my direction, there is no doubt now she is determined to get back at me the first chance she gets.
“Well we don’t plan to either, so don’t worry. So, can I have my cupcake now?” She said with puppy dog eyes.
“Nope, not yet.”
“Awww!”
“Alright nough’ waitin’, mah go now.” Applejack said as she spun the arrow, it landed on Pinkie Pie again. “Okay Pinkie, truth or dare?”
“I’m gonna dare like Daring Do! Haha, I’ve wanted to say that for a while.” She said with a giggle.
“Well then, ah dare yer to drink a whole bottle of mah family’s brand of cider!” Applejack said.
“Really? That’ll be a cinch.” Pinkie said with confidence.
“Hah hah, ah didn’t mean those bottles over yonder Pinkie, ah meant this one ah have right ere!” Applejack said as she went over to her saddle bags and opened them up, taking out a different cider bottle, one which had a darker coloured glass, with an older looking label pasted on the front.
All the other ponies looked at the bottle, I was curious what it was, Pinkie stared at it, then seemed to get even more excited.
“Oooh, you want me to give your family’s super special brand a try? I heard it’s a lot stronger than what you normally sell, Applejack.”
“Sure is sugarcube, that’s why ah’m daring ya to drink it down whole!” Applejack said as she gave Pinkie the bottle, who wasted no time in popping off the cork seal at the top with her mouth before guzzling it down like she was thirsty in the desert.
“Oh heavens, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rarity said with wide eyes.
“This is Pinkie we’re talking bout’ Rar, she lives for the parties, drinks like this ain’t new to her.”
It wasn’t long before Pinkie finished off the bottle, looking like she was in pure bliss from it.
“Ahhh... Whooooaaaa, this stuff is like super duper amazing! The taste, the texture, the flavour, and the-”
*BUUUURRRRPP*
Everyone in the room including me laughed at that burp, except Rarity who looked horrified at it being directed at her.
“Low tide everypony!” Applejack said as she continued laughed.
“Ugh! Disgusting! My mane and fur now smell like fermented apple mash, please excuse me!” Rarity said as she went over to the salon quickly in order to freshen herself up.
“Hehehe, excuse me, but wow Applejack, this stuff is amazing, I need to try out more sometime!” Pinkie said as she tried to get the last drops out of the bottle.
“Whoa easy there Pinkie, y’all don’t wanna end up getting all tipsy from his stuff.” Applejack said as she took the empty bottle away and put it in the wastebasket, “Ah brought more long’ if anypony want’s to ave’ a try later on tonight.”
“I just might take you up on that offer AJ, I do have a soft spot for good quality cider.” I said to her with a smile.
“Heh, well y’all ain’t the only one, Rainbow over ere’ loves drinking it down, more than anypony else that ah’ve ever seen. Speaking of which, it’s her turn right now.”
Rainbow had been quiet this whole time since my dare to her, she looked up at the spinner, than with a sneer on her face, she grabbed it and gave it a hard spin, almost making it tip over.
“Whoa whoa whoa, easy there Rainbow Dash! We don’t want it broken!” Twilight called out as the arrow went round in a dash.
It went round so fast that it was hard for me to gauge where it was going to be pointing at. Eventually the arrow began to slow down, Rainbow however didn’t seem to be paying attention at all. She just stared at the ground with a frown, waiting for the arrow to stop so that she could get her turn over and done with in a hurry. Soon the arrow did stop at someone, and she heard voices all around her that slowly made her mood change.
“Well now, this should be interesting.”
“Ohhh boy, looks like your luck has run out Anon.”
“Well well darling, I hope you are prepared for the worst to happen.”
“Ah’ll say, after that dare you did to Rainbow, y’all know she is gonna wanna get you back full force.”
Rainbow perked up upon hearing that, she looked up at the arrow, then slowly looked at where it was pointing at, and lo and behold it was pointing right at me. They were correct alright, my luck had run out now, and I couldn’t have had it coming at a worse time. I saw her eyes grow wide from the realization of it happening, then in a flash, her devilish grin came back full force, letting out a deep raspy laugh.
“Heh heh heh heh, well now, looks like the tables have turned haven’t they?”
“It was bound to happen at some point Dash, I just didn’t think you’d get that chance to do so.” I said to her with a small grin as I tried to keep up my confidence, but this only made her raise her temper even more.
“Maybe so but payback is a birch, and you’re gonna get it HARD now! So, pick your poison as they used to say, dare or truth!?”
I squinted my eyes in thought as I pondered which option to go for, either one is bound to be a trap that she is waiting to spring on me.
“What’s the matter Anon? Scared? Who is being a chicken now huh!?” Rainbow shouted.
“Fine then, just to keep it even between us, I’ll go with... DARE!” I said with my finger pointing at her in determination.
It was then that Rainbow grew the biggest shit eating grin that I’ve ever seen on a pony, lord knows what I have just walked into.
“You’ve chosen.... Poorly!” She said as she smacked her hooves together in satisfaction, “I hope you are ready for this one!”
“Fire away Dash, do your worst!” I said.
“Alright, but you asked for it! I dare you to...” Suddenly she jumped up and got right up in my face, “Face me in hoof wrestling!” She shouted out, making me grimace a little.
“Whoa nelly, that’s a hay of a dare right there! Are y’all sure ya wanna do this Rainbow?” Applejack said with concern.
“As sure as I am awesome! He made me feel all frilly with that manicure, now, I’m gonna bring down his pride by beating him with strength alone!” She said as she subtly flexed her hind legs out.
“My Celestia, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rainbow this intense for a long while.” Rarity said as she fanned herself with her hoof.
“Me either, it’s kinda scary, in a good way.” Pinkie said as she munched on some popcorn that she conveniently had on her person at this moment.”
I won’t lie that I did feel a little nervous, even though Rainbow Dash is only about as tall as my upper thigh, she is a legitimate athlete and one of the fastest flyers in Equestria. There is no doubt that physically, she is stronger than me, but I do have a size and weight advantage over her so that could be of assist to me. I watched as Pinkie helped set up a small table in the middle of the circle of friends, Rainbow then took her position on one side, and placed her right foreleg up on the table with a noticeable thud to show her aggression.
“Whenever you are ready human!”
Taking a deep breath, I knelt down, placing my own right arm onto the table with my palm open. “Ready.”
Smirking with a determined look, Rainbow moved her hoof into my palm, gripping it, how ponies manage to do this I’ll never figure out, I responded in kind by gripping her hoof with my fingers, there is no going back now.
“Well now, is everypony is ready?” Pinkie said while wearing a referee uniform she pulled out from who knows where. “Let the match begin!”
Immediately I felt Dash trying to force my arm down to the right, but I managed to brace myself to stop it just in time, then the real battle began.
“Nice try, but no win comes that easily Dash!”
“Hah! You watch, this will be over in just a minute!” She boasted as she kept on the pressure.
I have to admit I was amazed at her strength, I could tell she wasn’t holding back that much, she was putting a lot of power into her hind leg as she kept on trying to push my arm down hard. I knew I had no chance of beating her outright considering I don’t really work out that much, but I knew one thing I could do to try to last as long as possible, and that’s by being as stubborn as a mule.
“I’m impressed at your leg strength Rainbow, but I ain’t going down that fast...!” I said as I gripped her hoof harder in my palm.
“Heh, thanks, but you’re sweating drops already, this will be over in a flash!”
“Oh yeah? Well your hoof is so soft, like it just got a manicure...!” I said to her in a tease.
Her face then contorted into a harsh glare, her teeth bared out in full as she proceeded to put more pressure onto my arm, clearly I had pressed the wrong button on her.
“Thirty seconds have passed, and Anon is still holding on!” Pinkie called out with a convenient stopwatch.
Everyone else in the room was silent from what I could tell, watching the action unfold before their eyes, I could just see Rarity having an open gasp on her face, no doubt she is probably thinking how “barbaric” this all must be to her.
I started to feel my arm beginning to strain from trying to hold back Rainbows relentless attempts to push it down, and she wasn’t wrong about me sweating either, I could feel it dripping down my neck and building up around my arm pits. Still I had to hold on as long as I could just to prove I don’t quit that easy.
“That’s fifty seconds gone!” Pinkie called out.
“You ready to give up yet!?” Rainbow shouted out in front of me with force.
“N-never...!” I said, even though I slowly felt my arm being dragged down towards the table.
Rainbow’s face then shifted into full competitive mode, “Alright! Enough horse play! Time to finish this NOW!”
Now she wasn’t holding back at all, she was pushing me down hard full force. I gritted my teeth hard as I struggled to keep her from winning, but I knew that I was only gonna hold out for a few more seconds at best. So with one last burst of strength I managed to somehow push her arm back up a little bit, her eyes went a wide for a second upon seeing that, but she immediately was was back on the attack full force.
“I said, time to, finish THIS!” She hollowed out as she finally succeeded in slamming my arm down onto the table with a hard thump.”
“Annnnnnnd, that’s game everypony!” Pinkie announced, ringing a bell she again conveniently had on her.
“Aww yeah! Who’s the champ, uh huh, who is the champ!?” Rainbow gloated, making mock congratulations poses.
“Whoa darlin’, that was some mighty fine hoof wasslin’ right there, but did you have to go hard on poor Anon here?” Applejack said as she went on over to check on me.
“I agree dear, wouldn’t it have been too much trouble to make it a more even match instead of one sided?” Rarity said as she went on over to me as well.
Rainbow held a hoof up to her head and showed a sheepish smile, “Heh heh heh, yeeeeeaaah I guess I did kinda go a little hard on him, but I knew that he was going to be fighting until the very end anyway, so I wanted to bring out the best in him in that match.” Rainbow said as she trotted on over towards me.
I was holding my arm trying to deal with all the strain that resulted from that march, I could barely move it much without being in pain. Luckily Applejack and Rarity were helping out by massaging the area on my arm that hurt the most to ease the pain away. I looked on at Rainbow expecting her to be all gloating and arrogant, but instead she looked at me seriously like she was actually impressed.
“And I mean that Anon, you lasted longer than a minute with me, anypony that does that I consider to be a decent sport in my book, most usually last only about twenty or rarely thirty seconds.”
“Specifically, he lasted about one minute and fifteen seconds.” Pinkie said with the stopwatch showing it.
“Ah right, well anyhoof, my point still stands, and that makes us even now.” Rainbow said as she held out her hoof for me to shake.
It did kinda sting to lose that hoof wrestling match, but the fact that I impressed her is worth it’s weight all on it’s own. I couldn’t help but smile at that and shake her hoof in kindness.
“Yup, we’re even now. But remember, I intend on challenging you again someday.”
“And I welcome it, you know where to find me, I’m game anytime anyplace.” She said as she trotted over to her seat proudly.
You know, as much as I enjoyed seeing her squirm during that dare I did to her earlier, it was good to see her in high spirits again after being so down earlier on. Soon the table in the middle had been put away and everyone was back in their proper seats.
“Well then, I don’t think anypony is going to be topping that dare from Rainbow Dash anytime soon, your up now Pinkie Pie.” Twilight said.
“Hehe, oh don’t worry about that Twilight.” Pinkie said, her face then shifted to one that just reeked of mischief, “Because I can do the DOOZIEST of all dooziest DARES!” She said as she took her turn spinning the arrow around.
This time it landed on Rarity, she looked at Pinkie who still had that look on her face, leaning towards her.
“Since I know what you want Pinkie, I’m going to go with dare.” She said in a slight nervous tone.
“Good choice, I dare you to...” Then the most wicked grin ever appeared on her face. “KISS Applejack!”
Everyone in the room spluttered in shock over what she just said, Rarity and Applejack had the most horrified look on her face.
“W-W-W-W-WHAT!? Pinkie, have you g-gone mad!? I m-m-m-must refuse!” Rarity said as she backed away in freight.
“Oh and you’ve got to wear a prince outfit while doing it since Applejack is dressed as a princess right now, good thing I keep one around for such ‘emergencies’.” She said as she pulled said outfit out from her saddle bag.
It was just a simple prince’s outfit, but it still looked pretty fancy none the less, but probably a little too tacky for Rarity.
“UGH, no! I can’t be seen wearing that, it’s way too tacky! Do you have any idea how much damage it’ll do to my image if anypony sees me wearing that!? I’ll be the laughing stock of Equestria!” She said as she cowered to the ground in fear.
“Hey come on now, you ever heard of the phrase what happens in the room stays in the room? Nopony is gonna know what happens outside of our sleepover, it’ll be our little secret.” Pinkie said trying to ease Rarity’s nerves.
“She’s right, we can all Pinkie Promise to never speak of this again, except between ourselves.” Rainbow Dash spoke up in support.
“I can agree to that.” Twilight said in agreement.
“Me as well.” I said as well.
Rarity and Applejack looked at each other, then at Pinkie, then to each other again. Eventually the both of them sighed and nodded in agreement, and so we all did the Pinkie Promise routine once more, minus the cupcakes in our eye since I didn’t want to get any eye injuries.
“Well now that’s all settled, put the costume on now, Rarity!” Pinkie yelled out as she handed it to her.
“Fiiiiiiiine.” Rarity grumbled as she put it on, including the hat on top of her head.
I have to admit despite how tacky the outfit looked, she did look rather dapper in it, must be due to Rarity’s natural fabulousity in making any fashion work on her. Rainbow Dash however couldn’t help but laugh at her appearance.
“Bwahahaha! You look so tacky and silly in that costume Rarity, a true prince charming!”
Rarity groaned as she began making her way to Applejack, trotting in a princely fashion, Applejack meanwhile was rubbing her shoulder with her forehoof, clearly nervous about all of this. As soon as Rarity reached her and began to pucker up her lips in preparation, she suddenly got an idea, one that’ll help defuse the situation before it got anymore awkward.
“W-well... darling, let’s just get this over with shall we-”
“Ahem” Applejack called out, holding out her hoof in front of her.
Rarity seemed a little confused at first, but she soon caught on, she then leaned her head down and kissed Applejack’s forehoof as softly as possible. This caused Applejack to blush a little bit, but soon she was struggling to hold back her laughter at the absurd situation in front of her.
“Thank you, mah handsome ‘prince’.” Applejack said, in probably the most feminine accent i’ve ever heard her talk in.
All the others in the room including me soon burst out laughing at that scene, except Pinkie who seemed disappointed, and Rarity for obvious reasons.
“Awww, I was hoping she’d do a real kisser on you princess.” Pinkie said to Applejack.
“Heh heh, Pinkie, ah know y’all said for her to kiss me, but ah don’t recall you sayin’ ‘where’ to kiss me.” Applejack said waving her hoof in mock fashion.
“Pooie! I thought my doozy of a dare would work!” Pinkie said as she pouted hard.
It sounds like the cider from earlier was starting to have it’s effect on her.
“I still can’t believe she went through with it!” Rainbow yelled as she continued her giggle fit.
“I think I’m going to need another cold shower after having done this dare.” She said in a sour tone, before turning around and heading back to her seat.
We all waited for everyone to calm down from their laughing fits before continuing with the game. At this point having had two big dares happen back to back along with all the laughter, everyone seemed to be satisfied with how the game has gone. Unfortunately this meant that whatever comes next isn’t going to be anywhere near as entertaining as what we just witnessed, or at least that is what I thought at the time.
“Well Rarity it’s your turn now, we’re waiting.” Rainbow Dash called in impatience.
“Whatever.” Rarity said as she gave the spinner a rather weak spin. Upon seeing it land on Rainbow, she asked her non-nonchalantly, “Truth or Dare Rainbow?”
“You know my response, dare.”
“Very well, how about you do one hundred laps around the room, while flying upside down.” Rarity said as deadpan as possible.
“Well, at least that’s somewhat interesting.” Rainbow said with sarcasm as she took off to do just that.
“While she’s doing that, we can move onto Twilight’s turn, then we can finally be done with this silly game.” Rarity said with rare impatience.
“Actually, I think I’m gonna let Anon do the final spin for this game.” Twilight said, looking towards me.
“Whoa really? Are you sure about that?” I asked her.
“I’m sure, I want this to close out on a good note.” She said, with a serious expression.
I thought about it for a moment, then accepted her decision. “Alright I’ll do it.”
“Excellent” Twilight said, clapping her hooves together rather slowly.
It was about that moment that Rainbow Dash flew back down onto her cushion from her dare, she looked a little woozy from flying upside down.
“Yeah I think I’m gonna give upside down flying a rest for a little while.” She said, shaking her head to get the dizziness out of her.
“Well then, here we go, the last spin of the game.” I said as I took the turn, spinning it with a good throw.
I watched it go round and round, until it slowed down and... uh oh, it landed on me, that can’t be good, right?
“Umm, so what happens when it lands on me, do I spin it again or wh-”
I stopped when I noticed all the ponies in the room looking at me with a rather subtle grin on their faces, Pinkie and Rainbows being the most prominent.
“Heh heh heh, we haven’t had this happen for a good while.” Applejack said with a smug.
“Yeah, this is gonna be sweet.” Rainbow said, giving me that familiar devilish grin.
“Well can anyone explain why I should be nervous right now?” I said with confusion written on my face.
“Oh I didn’t tell you did I Anon? If the spinner happens to land on somepony whose turn it is, then that means they have to do the truth or dare instead!” Pinkie explained to me in a teasing manner.
“And we get to decide together what exactly you will be doing darling.” Rarity said with a ladylike smirk.
“So now that you know Anon, what will it be? Truth or dare? Choose wisely now.” Twilight said to me with an adorkably evil grin.
Welp, this was one trap that I walked into without thinking twice about it, it feels like Twilight set me up for this on purpose, or maybe not and it was just coincidence, either way it looks like I’m gonna have to bite the bullet on this one.
“Alright, I’ll bite, I’m gonna pick truth this time.”
“A fine choice Anon.” Twilight said, as she grinned along with the other ponies.
I watched as they all started talking amongst themselves, plenty of giggles were heard as they kept on discussing. Then all of a sudden one of them made a suggestion that caused the rest of them to stall and put them deep in thought, like they hadn’t thought about it before. They all soon turned towards me straight faced, they clearly made their mind up on what I was going to be asked.
“Ahem, Anon after a discussion we’ve come to a conclusion on what truth we want to hear from you.” Twilight stated.
“And what truth do you want me to talk about?” I asked her nervously.
“Oh it’s simple, which pony is your bestest of best friends?” Pinkie said.
I looked at them with a bit of confusion, then breathed a sign of relief.
“Oh, well if you wanted to know it’s-”
“Hah, it’s me obviously, I mean who wouldn’t want to be best friends with the one and only Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow said proudly, and unintentionally firing the first shot.
“Now hang on one second ere, ah know y’all hang out with him a lot, but ah’d say that me and him hang out more often than that.” Applejack said with annoyance towards Rainbow.
“So, you’re saying that you’re his best friend, huh?” Rainbow said, getting up in Applejack’s face aggressively.
“Ah didn’t say that, ah’m just saying that if he should pick anyone, it’d be me.” Applejack with a smug.
“No way! It’s me who is his best friend Applesnack!” Rainbow said as she and Applejack began to stare with each other with aggression like a fight is about to break out.
“Now hold on, I was about to say-”
“If I may interrupt dears, I do believe that if we’re talking about who is his best friend, I dare say I’m in contention for that, after all I did make him that wonderful new hat for his birthday last month.” Rarity said, throwing her hat into the ring, pun intended.
Now that she mentions it, why haven’t I worn that new hat yet? I should get around to it.
“Bwahahaha! Good one Rarity, but you hardly interact with the guy, not to mention you don’t find any of his jokes funny at all.” Rainbow said.
“Not only that, but y’all don’t even hang out with em as much as me.” Applejack added.
“Hey! I hang out with him way more than you!”
“Yer do not!”
Now this is getting stupid, the three of them were now arguing about all of this and I haven’t got a word in yet.
“Oooh if we’re playing a game of who is Anon’s best pony friend, I should be in contention too, I mean everypony is my best friend and I could never have enough best friends but one more couldn’t hurt at all, well maybe if it’s too many but I mean hay who doesn’t want enough best friends? Plus he’d be my first human best friend and that makes it extra special and-”
Make that four of them arguing, Pinkie just droned on and on while the other three argued louder and louder, it looked like Rainbow Dash was about to sock Applejack in the kisser, so I gestured to Twilight to put a stop to all of this fast. So with a loud whistle, she got their attention.
“That’s enough everypony! I think this matter has gotten way out of hoof, after all it’s Anon’s decision to decide who is his best pony friend, that was why we asked him to do the truth after all.”
“But Twilight!” All the other ponies in the room said.
“No buts, and that is an order from me as a Princess. Now Anon if you may, tell us who is your best pony friend.” Twilight said looking at me with a serious look.
I took a deep breath and began. “Well you see, my best pony friend is...”
I immediately took note of their expressions around the room, they all seemed to be eager to hear what I was about to say, even Twilight despite her earlier statement seemed to be just as curious about what I was going to say next.
“Who is it? Who is it?” Pinkie asked eagerly.
“...my bestest of best pony friends isn’t one of you.”
Upon hearing that, their expressions all changed instantly, they all looked sad and deflated, like all the excitement just got let out of the room.
“Ohhh... I understand.” Twilight said in disappointment, looking down at the floor.
That’s when I smiled and spoke up, “That’s because you are all my best friends. I couldn’t pick just one of you to be that, I’d rather have all of you be my best pony friends instead!”
They all looked up with surprise, then excitement, and finally joy.
“Even Fluttershy!?” Pinkie asked in a hopeful tone.
“Especially Fluttershy.” I said, giving her a nod.
They all squee’d loudly with happiness as they leaped over and did a hug pile on me again, this time even Twilight joined in on the fun. Pinkie was stuck in the middle of them, but she didn’t mind it since she was again giving me the mother of all bear hugs, I seriously wonder sometimes how strong Earth Ponies must be in terms of muscle strength.
“Well I’m happy about accepting that, everypony else cool with it too?” Rainbow asked among the heap of ponies.
The other ponies all nodded in agreement, they all then resumed giving me hugs in turn in the pile, I gave up resisting it and just hugged them all in return, dammit all it’s impossible to resist the temptation to do it when their acting so adorable. We sat there in the hug pile for about a minute before I sat up.
“So I guess this means the game is finished now right?” I asked Twilight.
“That’s right, and none too soon, I’d say we take a break, I’m feeling thirsty after all that.” Twilight said as she went to get herself a drink.
“Ah was starting to get mighty hungry mahself, I fancy me some cupcakes if y’all don’t mind.” Applejack said as she trotted over to the food table.
“And I got an aching flank just from sitting here on this cushion for the last hour, I need to stretch my legs a little bit.” Rainbow Dash said as she stood up and started doing a light run around the room.
“I think I’ll help myself to a little refreshment as well.” Rarity said as she went to join Twilight.
“Oooh that reminds me, Anon... can I have that cupcake now, please?” Pinkie asked me as she held onto me in a bear hug.
“Well...”
Pinkie then lifted herself up and placed her forelegs around my shoulders tightly, she was now looking at me directly at face level.
“Pretty please, with sugarcube’s and caramel on top?” She said, giving me the full force of her puppy dog eyes.
“Well... alright, the game is finished anyway Pinkie, so yes, you can eat your cupcake-”
I was interrupted by Pinkie squeezing my neck in a tight hug, almost making me choke.
“OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! You’re the best Nonny!” Pinkie said as she suddenly gave me a small peck on the cheek, then jumped off and trotted towards her prize cupcake with a smile.
I sat there stunned, that was the first peck I ever got from one of the ponies, I felt all warm and fuzzy inside from it, perhaps drinking all that cider from earlier is making her a little looser than she normally is, if that was ever a thing. The other ponies in the room however all looked on wide eyed from what just took place.
“Pinkie, did you just...”
“What? Nothing wrong with a little peck on the cheek is there?” Pinkie said to Twilight as she proceeded to gobble down her cupcake.
“But you just... you gave the human a kiss, a peck yes, but still!” Rarity said in excitement.
“Nothing to it at all.” Pinkie said with a mouthful of cupcake, then turning towards me, “Hey you gonna sit there all night? Come on Nonny you must be craving something to eat too.”
The others just signed before giggling and chatting away together in their group. I stood up and walked on over to join them, Pinkie was right this game worked me an appetite, and I was growing thirsty too.
“Hey sugarcube, ah remember y’all sayin’ you wanted to give mah families special brand a try right?” Applejack asked me with a smile.
“I did say I would take you up on that offer, how many bottles do you still have?” I asked her in return.
Applejack raised an eyebrow and smirked, “Ah like the way you talk. Ah have about 3 more bottles left over, if y’all don’t mind, ah’ll take one for mahself to enjoy.” She said as she opened up her saddle bag to show the bottles in view.
“In that case, I’ll be taking the third one if you please.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked up next to the two of us with excitement.
“Heh heh, ah knew you couldn’t resist trying it RD. Ah should warn yer though, this stuff is proper fermented for years in selected casks down in our cider cellar, so expect a real hard kick from this brew.” Applejack said as she brought the bottles out for us to open.
“Oh I’m used to that aplenty, like I said before I do enjoy a good cider.” I said as I took one bottle in my hand.
“Oh yeah? Well I won the cider guzzler award at the annual Ponyville anniversary fair three years in a row. I drink this all down like it’s just water.” Rainbow Dash said as she grabbed her bottle in her hooves.
“Now now y’all this ain’t a drinking contest, but, ah think we all should pop these bottles open at the same time just to get things movin’.”
“Hey that’s not a bad idea, well Anon you game?” Rainbow said.
“I’m good with that.” I replied.
“Then let’s get this started y’all, yee-haw!” Applejack yelled out.
All three of us popped the corks off the bottles and before long we were drinking away. I had to admit this cider tasted, well, pretty damn good if I’m being honest, the flavour was rich but not too sour, the alcoholic content was manageable and not overpowering to the flavour. Overall this was a really good drink, and it was a mystery to me why the Apple family didn’t even sell this kind of cider openly, they could be making a fortune from the sales, but I guess they like to keep the good stuff to themselves and close friends just to keep it sacred, or something to that effect.
Anyway the three of us soon joined Twilight and Rarity in conversation, we even offered them both a taste of the cider. Rarity declined the offer after that incident from earlier, but Twilight happily accepted, and she proceeded to take a sizable gulp from Applejacks bottle, then letting out a burp afterwords to her embarrassment and our amusement. I knew that as soon as the break was over that we’d be back to playing more games or even starting a new activity. But little did I know at the time, that this was where the real chaos of tonight would start, and things ended up getting a little bit over the top.