//------------------------------// // Bonus: SLEEPOVER! Part 1 // Story: Where did you come from? // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Val grinned as her jumped out of bed, racing out of the room, up the stairs, shoved open the door and leaped into his mom's bed. “MOM! MOM!” Cheerilee shrieked and flailed her hooves around wildly, wiggling about before falling out of her bed with a crash. She hit the ground and let out a groan. “What... is it Val?” “Today's the sleep over! Today today today!” She sighed. “Yes, today is. Not now, dear.” “Eeee! It's going to be so awesome! Can we go now?” She took a slow, deep breath and slowly got to her hooves. “No. We still have a while to go, Val. It's not until tonight, that means you have to wait until... at least this afternoon.” “But I wanna go nowwwww!” “Val, honey. You're just going to be out all night with your friends. There's no need to get so excited. You do it most days as it is.” “Yeah, but this is different! I'm with them all day! This time it'll be at night!” “And... that's different how?” He gave her a look of pure confusion. “Mom... how... can you not know? It's NIGHT!” “But, it's...” She shook her head. “Never mind. Let's just go get some breakfast.” Soon enough she had a small bowl of fruit in front of both of them and listened to Val ramble on and on about the exciting night he had planned. “So I'm going to bring a bunch of games and going to slaughter Button in them finally, I've been practicing. Oh, and I'm thinking I should make a patch or something, like the cutie mark crusaders have!” “Oh? Are you joining them now?” “Oh, no, for all the members of my harem!” Val said quickly. Cheerilee choked on an apple slice, forcing herself to pound on her chest as she tried to clear it out. After a few moments she managed to breath again and stared at him. “V-val, dear. We talked about this.” He sighed. “But I don't wanna wait until I'm older to get my harem!” “And I don't want to have the whole town pounding on my door at midnight. Guess which one of us is getting their way?” He made a pouty face. “No harems.” She shook her head. “What if I clean my room?” “No. Besides, you actually keep your room pretty clean as it is. Dirtying it up and then cleaning it won't change my mind!” she yelled quickly as he made a dash to the stairs. He sighed and came back. “How about a little harem?” “No.” “Just Sweetie and... ummmm...” He rubbed his chin. “Diamond? Yeah, she looks like she has political power I could use when I take over this town. Also, she is a good distraction for Claw.” Cheerilee sighed. “You're this close to getting no whipped cream OR jam on your waffles.” He froze, his eyes going wide as saucers. “N-none?” “Not one. Tiny. Dollop.” “N-no harems.” She nodded. “Good. Now, let's go get your dinner,” she said before trotting to the kitchen and beginning to prepare breakfast. She doubted anypony was going to have quite an annoying day as she was. She was so not prepared for this. What could have possibly possessed Rarity to let VAL come for a sleep over? ------ Chad was many things. An expert with a glue gun. A great hoof boxer. A passable wearer of sombreros. A fine dancer. According to that mare who had swiped his bit purse, a pretty good kisser. And just a tiny bit of a coward. But what he was now, most of all, was bucked. He shrieked and flailed his back hooves wildly as he was lowered into the pit, the manticores below snapping precariously at the edge of his cloak. The rope around him kept his front hooves from moving and the sombrero only managed to force him to lean his head forward. “You are quite a brave fool, Chad,” the diamond dog said with a chuckle as she kept lowering the rope. “To come into the den of the great Rowdy Ruff pack! But it will be your final mistake!” “Please! I only wanted a carton of milk, senorita,” Chad said, yiping and pulling his hooves up as one of the manticores jumped and snapped, taking a bit of tail with them. “A likely story!” “No, it's true! You see, the train I was on was stopped by your boys, then-- EEP!” He rolled to the right, barely avoiding the teeth and spinning himself a little. “When we got to town, the mayor was offering tickets to anypony who could get the flock of sheep to move and stop blocking the tracks! They refused to move, not until they got their sheep herder. Now, I went to the sheep herder, but he said he couldn't go because his sheep herding stick was broken. So I took the stick and brought it to the town, but the only stick fixer was YIPE!” He jumped up on the rope, shrieking. “Stick fixer didn't have the right wood! Now, there was a pony on board the train who had some of the needed wood in her luggage, but she refused to give just give it, however, she said if I could get her something that reminded her of her dear old beloved, like his old cigars, she'd let me have it! The conductor had some cigars, but said he needed them, the only thing that toned down his cravings was a nice jug of ice cold milk, so I went to the town and they had ice, but it turned out you guys had been swiping all their milk so I came to get some and that's all!” “Ha, a likely story! Also, great 'Chad',” she said mockingly. “You keep forgetting your accent.” “Ah! Si, senorita! EEP! No! Bad manticore! Bad! Malo! Malo malo!” The dog laughed. “Now, Chad. You die.” She pulled the lever and the rope went loose, sending Chad into the pit as he shrieked. ------ Cheerilee took a slow, deep breath before reaching out to knock on the door. After a few moments it opened and Rarity appeared. She smiled at first. Then her eyes lowered to Val and she gave a soft little sigh. “Ah. Right. We've been... expecting you,” she muttered. “Ha! I do hope you have created a great feast for this party of slaying!” “Slumbering.” “That too!” he said before trotting inside. Cheerilee gave a sigh. “Rarity, you don't need to do this. He really can be a bit of a hoofful and--” “ACK! NO! BAD CLAW! BAD! GET OFF! STOOOOOOOP! UGH NOPONY HAS EVER BEEN AS UNCOMFORTABLE AS I AM RIGHT NOW!” Rarity snickered and both mares shared a knowing grin. “No, it's fine. There will be a lot of... well, my sister and her friends are really quite mature for their age. Especially now that they have their cutie marks and aren't causing as much havoc. Besides, Claw is quite fond of him.” She then frowned. “I am a little concerned about Silverbelle, though. She has been quite quiet about all this, ever since this... harem talk. He... has given up on it, hasn't he?” “Yes!” Cheerilee said quickly, giving a weak, fake grin. “We talked it out. He's got it all out of his system and there will be no more talks of harems or herds, I assure you. If there is... just tell me and I'll take care of it.” Rarity nodded and gave a sigh. “It is a bit concerning. I can't imagine what pony would tell him about such things. I planned to ask Twilight but... well, she has so much on her plate as it is, I can't imagine she'd have any idea where he learned it, anyway.” “Oh, has there been any news about that missing guard?” “No. Dear heavens, I do hope this wasn't some kind of stallion napping. Could you imagine somepony kidnapping grown guards?” Cheerilee chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, I'm sure he's just taking care of some work and lost track of time. I mean, anything that could be a threat to a guard would be kind of hard to miss. Now, are you sure you're okay with Val being here?” “Of course. I can hardly exclude him from everything when Claw is so fond of him. Besides, maybe the other ponies will rub off on him. I... have noticed his behavior has improved dramatically from the first time we met.” Cheerilee nodded and gave a soft sigh. “Yeah. Now if we can avoid any more incidents with killer ponies, everything will be great.” Rarity chuckled and shook her head. “Now, the princesses AND Discord have worked to fix that issue. I can't imagine it happening ever again.” Cheerilee nodded. “Well... I guess I'll head home. Remember, if you need anything, just send me a letter or something. Or I'll follow the smoke.” “Of course. But I wouldn't fret. I'll be here, as will my aunt and uncle. If we can't handle them, nopony can. Just enjoy yourself, take a long bath, read a nice book. Take that vacation I imagine you rightfully deserve by now.” Cheerilee nodded. “Thanks, Rarity. I... can't deny, a night off would be delightful.” “Good, then go and enjoy yourself. Val will be fine.” Rarity gave a little nod and then turned around, trotting into the room. She then face hoofed. Val was yelling at Claw, who had taken to laying on his face and hugging him into his chest. At least it was keeping him quiet. She considered just leaving him like that, before sighing. “Sweetie! Silverbelle! Val's here!” “Oh, we know,” Sweetie said from the couch, making Rarity jump. “What? Don't you want to help him?” “... Not particularly,” Sweetie said with a shrug. Silverbelle just had her face buried in her hooves, cheeks bright red. Rarity sighed and shook her head. “Claw, get off him.” “But mooooooom. We're wrestling!” He paused. “And hugging!” “Dear, you've already won.” “Fiiiiine,” he whined before jumping off. Val glowered from the ground, wiping fur off his face. “.... RAWR!” he snapped, shaking his head. “You... you... you peasant!” he shrieked loudly. “What's wrong with being a peasant? We're all peasants!” Sweetie called back to him. “Well... it... peasants and... gahhhh! He jumped on me!” “We saw, it was funny! Besides, I thought a pony was supposed to like being jumped by their harem?” Sweetie offered. Silverbelle squeaked in distress, covering more of her face. “Sweetie! We do NOT use the H-word around here,” Rarity said, her face bright red. “What? But Val--” “Is not going to be using it either or he's getting in trouble.” Sweetie sighed, but grudgingly nodded. “Okay...” “Now, kids, why don't you all go enjoy a movie and wait for the others to get here, okay?” Her horn glowed and she hovered over one of the Daring Do movies and popped it in. Val quickly galloped to the couch and jumped up. He tried to squeeze in between Sweetie and Silverbelle, but Sweetie refused to move, instead making him sit on her opposite side. Claw sat on his opposite side and nuzzled up. “Ughhhh. Why can't I sit between you two?” Val asked with a whine. “You're still in trouble for what you said.” “It was a compliment!” “Silverbelle is still really shaken up by it,” Sweetie said with a shake of her head. “Even though we told her she doesn't have to if the rest of us do it.” “What? No! She has to be a part of it, too! You will all be mine! I will be the greatest ruler in all of Equestria, ruler of the city of Ponyville and--” “Town.” “What?” “Ponyville is a town. We're too small to be a city.” “... I will MAKE it a city even if I have to summon a bunch of ponies to fill it up and--” He blinked. “I wonder if that spell would actually do anything. Can I summon other horses like you ponies? Could I eventually summon the princesses? I really wish I knew that spell now. Ugh, almost enough to make me wish I was one of those nerds with their scrolls and wands and robes and 'get out of my library or I will turn your skin inside out and light you on fire, while keeping you alive through it all' and snobby attitudes.” Sweetie blinked a few times. Then looked to the television. “Shush, it's starting.” ------ Rarity sighed as she heard the door being knocked on. It was the third time and none of the ponies in the living room seemed the least bit interested in getting it. She swore they really were all turning into Val. “I'll be right back to help in a moment, okay Spike?” “Okay,” he said, happily dicing up the onions. Rarity trotted into the room and froze. She put a hoof to her heart and stepped back, gaping slightly. It was too much. The cute. The adorable. So much. Overloading. The fillies and colts had created a kind of domino effect while watching the movie, before apparently conking out. Silverbelle was against the hoofrest, Sweetie was laying against her side, Val against Sweetie's side and Claw was nestled against Val. While normally she would have wanted to throttle Val... it was oddly quite cute and the fact Claw was drooling a little bit she imagined would be vengeance enough. She lightly tip hoofed towards the door, opening it a crack. “Sorry I'm late,” Button said with a nervous grin. “I uhhh... kinda...” “Darling, what is that on your back?” The poor colt's back was weighted down with at least five suit cases and the poor colt was quivering under their weight. She lifted them up in her magic with ease and he let out a sigh of relief. “He was giving me a hoof,” Diamond said with a nod, Silver standing besides her. “I couldn't very well carry them all the way here myself, could I? Besides, one of those ARE his.” “What are all these?” Rarity asked, staring at the cases in shock. She opened one up and stared at the dozens of containers of make up. “It is a slumber party, is it not? We're doing make overs!” Rarity frowned. “I'm... not sure that's such a good idea.” “We're giving Val a make over too!” The elder unicorn stared at the vials, then closed it up and gave a nod. “Very well, I suppose it couldn't hurt.” Diamond grinned and trotted inside. She blinked and stared at the sleeping ponies, then the movie. “How do they sleep through Daring Do?” She moved up and leaned against the couch. “I imagine they were all so excited they didn't sleep well last night,” Rarity said with a shake of her head. “I know Claw, Sweetie and Silverbelle were up almost all night, gossiping. They really must be more--” “GAH NO BRANDING!” Val shrieked, waving his hooves around before falling off the couch with a shriek. The other three shot up, looking around with confused, drowsy looks. “Val. Would you kindly get off?” Diamond asked from under him. “I... errrr... I meant to do that!” he said quickly. “Oh, good. Giddof!” ------ Val sniffed at the strange food before him. “Are you sure it's not a type of worm?” Rarity sighed and shook her head, hoof against her forehead. “It's not, Val.” “And this... red stuff, isn't the blood of your enemies?” “I don't have any real enemies, and it's not.” “But it has such a strange name. Spagger ready.” “Spaghetti,” Rarity corrected. “And it's just noodles and tomato sauce.” “But why try to hide the noodles under the red stuff? You could fit all kinds of poisons in here. Or bugs. What's this? Ah hah! A--” “It's a slice of onion.” “Oh,” Val said. “Jus' eat it, yah doof!” Applebloom snapped, her face red. She nibbled on her own. “Thank yah kindly for dinner.” “Oh, it's no trouble. Spike did most of the work,” Rarity said before glancing over towards Spike. “Really, all I did was help fetch him things and set up the colt table.” “Colt table?” Val asked. His ears twitched. “Wait, is sitting at the smaller table some kind of dishonor? Is this--” “Val, I will sick Claw on you,” Diamond warned. Val squeaked, and went back to nibbling his dinner. Rarity sighed and nibbled her own meal. This whole ordeal was only just beginning. What could have possibly possessed her to allow NINE children to spend the night here? It was just supposed to be a small, tiny little thing. But then there had been the eyes. The adorable little filly eyes of doom. Weaponized. She sighed and nibbled a small little veggie ball. At least, if nothing else, nopony else was going through a night like this. She couldn't imagine anypony having a night as frantic as hers would be. ------ Chad screamed as the mine cart raced down the tracks, the four members of the Rowdy Ruff Pack in the cart behind him, still tied up and swirly eyed. He didn't dare look back as he heard the cavern caving in behind him, just barely out pacing the destruction. He gulped and gripped his sombrero in both hooves. He'd only have one chance at this. He leaned forward and struck out ahead, holding his breath. ------ “Okay!” Diamond said with a grin, pulling over her biggest suitcase. “The very first thing we must do, are make overs!” “Ugh, no,” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. “Ewwww, nooooo!” Button said with a whine. “Ehhhh, what's the worst that could happen?” Applebloom said with a shrug. “I-I think it could be fun!” Sweetie objected. “We have a bunch of eye liner,” Silver said. “S-squeak,” Silverbelle squeaked in Val's general direction. “Yayyyy!” Claw added. “A make over is like roughing up, right? So who are we beating up, Button? He looks beat up able,” Val said with a nod. “What? No!” Diamond said with a shake of her head. “A make over is putting on make up and stuff.” She opened the suitcase, revealing the vials. “Ohhhhh! Make up? I'm good with that!” Val said quickly, before trotting over towards the suitcase. “I used to do it all the time back home!” Silence reigned in the room and everypony stared at him. He didn't seem to notice as he went through the vials, pulling out some black and blues. Rarity finally coughed and then slowly spoke up. “Val, you're... familiar with these things?” “Oh yeah. We had to wear this kind of stuff all the time. Whenever we went to battle or had some kind of ceremony. I was actually kind of good at doing it. No, I was BLEEPing awesome! I--” He then blinked and looked down at his hooves. “But I had hands then. I... I don't think hooves will work for it... though...” A little twinge of sadness filled his voice. “But I'd always do my younger sister's, too. At least until she became old enough to do her own.” “I wanna see!” Claw said excitedly. “You know... I... kinda wanna see, too,” Scootaloo muttered. “How exactly you ponies wore make up back home.” Val hmphed, before nodding. “It's easy enough. Here, I'll show you.” He looked between them before finally grinning to Diamond. “Actually, you should be first.” The filly squeaked. “I-I don't think I want to--” “This was YOUR idea,” Scootaloo said with a smirk. The earth pony blinked, before sighing. “Very well. It's all water solvable, so it should be fine. Do your worst.” Val grinned and got to work. ------ Chad gasped and wheezed, his chest rising and lowering with every weak breath. Behind him, dust filled the air as the mine shaft collapsed. The members of the Rowdy Ruff Pack groaned from the cart, but they were all alive. He couldn't believe he'd done it. “Well well well,” a voice said, making Chad blink and look over. “Ah, Sheriff Straight Arrow! The Rowdy Ruff, they've been caught!” Chad said proudly as he slowly got up and crawled out from the cart. He shrieked when he toppled over the side. He laid there a moment, before getting up and freezing when he saw the pie being aimed at himself. “Ah never thought yah'd really succeed, Chad,” the sheriff said with a shake of his head. “But I suppose I always knew those Rowdy Ruff boys and girls jus' weren't up to being in the big leagues. Ah knew ah had tah get rid of them eventually.” Chad gasped. “It... it was you! You were the reason they were getting through the patrols so well.” “Mmmm hmm.” “But why? What reason could you have to stop milk from getting to the town?” “Treats, my dear lad. Crispy gold. It starts with the milk, you see. All the ponies here need it. Can't make a good pastry without it. But what happens when there's no more milk? No ice cream. No cakes. No cup cakes. No pies.” “W-what about the one you have?” “Mud pie. Not a drop of milk in it. Ain't for eating though, is it?” “W-why would you want to stop ponies from having pastries and desserts?” “Easy! Ponies can't get their sweets, ponies ain't gonna be happy. You know what happens to ponies who ain't happy? They decide that maybe it ain't worth living on this stupid, barren wasteland. They decide to move off. Land sells for reallllll cheap. Then I and a few of my lads can move in, take it all. Easy as well... pie.” “You... want the land? Why? What could possibly--” “There's a whole reserve of magical crystals hidden under there. Me and my boys found it a few months back. It's going to make me plum rich.” Chad dug his hooves into the ground and narrowed his eyes. Slowly he raised his head, peering out under the sombrero. “I see.” “You should have kept on goin' through, Chad. This was no concern of yours.” “I'm afraid now it is, sheriff. Ponies like you... give us all a bad name.” The sheriff laughed. “Oh? And what do you think you can do about it, Chad?” Chad reached up and adjusted his sombrero. “I'm going to take care of you, senior.” He lunged forward at the same time the sheriff tossed the pie. ------ “There, all finished!” Val said happily. “It's not my best work, stupid hooves and all. But it's still pretty close.” Diamond sighed. “Anypony got a mirror?” Best to get it over with, she supposed. She wondered what horrifying atrocity he put on her face. Perhaps a dagger or some bloody heart. Rarity was watching, so she figured it must not be too bad. Or, at least, the elder mare was too shocked to say. Sweetie brought down a mirror and Diamond stared into it. She then gaped, staring at herself. “That's... it... what? That's... it's beautiful. You used to do things like this?” “Mmm hmm! For all our rituals and celebrations and everything,” Val said proudly. Diamond looked from side to side. The makeup he'd chosen was black and blue. He'd drawn all kinds of tiny little symbols across her face and shaded her eyes. The designs, however, were incredibly intricate, in fact the one that spread from her mouth to her forehead on the right side seemed to be some kind of strange, exotic spoon that ended in a flower. It looked more like some kind of tattoo, than anything else. Even she had to admit it wasn't tacky, though. Instead, it looked more... ritualistic. Ceremonial. Almost something that could be worn to the gala by a foreign representative. Perhaps the zebras. She glanced up to Rarity, who was taking notes. “Really, Val?” Rarity asked softly. “And... your culture does this kind of thing often?” “Yup! We all have our own kind of symbols and stuff. Hers was a spoon, so I figured I'd do something like that.” “You seem to be quite talented at it. They're beautiful,” Rarity said softly. “How ever did you learn to do them so beautifully?” “Well, you learn quick. Mom used to have me beaten whenever I messed up on my make up,” he said with a shrug. Rarity blinked a few times before sighing. “Of course. I suppose even things of beauty would be tainted by... those creatures, would they not?” “Do me next! Do me do me do me!” Claw said excitedly. Val grinned and lifted up his hoof, before dipping it into the black eye liner. “Ha! Of course. For you, Claw, I know exactly what to do. Mwa ha ha ha ha!” ------ “And done,” Val said with a proud nod as he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked sooooo cool, he knew. He wore the traditional face paint of his clan, the webbing across his cheek and the spider over his forehead. He glanced over to the others who, even for ponies, he had to admit looked kind of cool. Even Spike had gotten in on it and was currently admiring the make up on Rarity's face. “So, I look pretty awesome, don't I?” Val asked with a smirk. Scootaloo blinked a few times and opened her mouth. She then quickly closed it. Finally, she coughed. “Val, errr, that kind of make up... yah wore it back home?” “What? No! These symbols are the symbols of our leaders and chieftans, why?” Sweetie cringed. “And they were all women, right?” “Yeah? What of it?” “Well... it's just... for all of us, you did more the symbols. For you...” Val blinked and then blushed, shuffling his hooves a little. “I-I wanted t-to go a little extra. D-does it look bad on me?” “No! It looks really... pretty,” Diamond said with a nervous cough. Button stared for a moment. “I think my mom wears her make up like that. Are those eye lash extenders?” “Yeah, what of it?” Val asked angrily, his hooves starting to shake. “I think he looks really good,” Sweetie said quickly. “Very tough and strong.” Val perked up, a grin forming on his lips. “Really?” “Uh huh! Isn't that right?” she asked, nudging her friends. She then blinked. “Wait, where's Silverbelle?” “She's been hiding behind the couch ever since I finished,” Val said with a shrug. “Wish her face wouldn't get so red, it makes it really hard to get the proper toning. So, what's next?” “Well... I brought some movies we could watch,” Button offered. Rarity nodded. “I think that sounds delightful, a nice, calm movie and--” “Then we can do truth or dare!” Scootaloo interrupted. “Ohhhh, that's the torture game, right? We have burning pokers, right?” Val asked, grinning wide. The sound of face hoofing filled the room.