> The Longest Sleepover
>  by Virydyan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Enter Anon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a beautiful sunny evening in the bustling town of Ponyville, the weather was warm but also a bit nippy, a sure sign that Summer was giving way to Fall slowly but surely, and that the Summer Wrap Up event was just around the corner. Looking around the town you could see everymare and everycolt busily trotting back and forth, getting ready for their evening plans or preparing for another busy day. The stores in the market square were empty yet tidy and organized, the local shops were starting to close up for the night, but behind those closed doors the sounds of scrubbing and dusting were heard, no doubt everypony was getting everything set for another day of customers.

It was at this time that two particular figures emerged from one of the shops, carrying lots of goodies. The first figure was the local Pony Princess of the town named Twilight Sparkle, and the other figure was me, the local human of the town. You might be wondering what on earth is a human doing here in this world of colourful ponies? I don't want to get into too much detail, but let me just say lesson learned, never jump into some random portal that appears in the middle of the woods and expect an easy trip back home.

“Thanks again girls! See you tomorrow!” Called Twilight walking away from the shop, heading straight to home.

“Wait up Sparkle!” I said as I tried to balance all the junk in my hands.

“Come on Anon, we’ve got a sleepover to organize so get those legs pumping!” She said as she stepped up her trotting pace.

“Okay okay, sheesh.” I groaned, walking faster to keep up with her.

My name is Anon, it is a strange name I know but it’s one that I go by. It's been a few months now since I ended up in this strange land called Equestria, at first it was a real scary experience, but after a few hurdles, mishaps and the odd kaboom, I've come to call this place my home, at least until I can somehow find a way to get back to my actual home, but that's a whole other can of worms that I won't get into right now.

Anyway, right now I'm busy helping out my pony friend Twilight Sparkle with her annual monthly sleepover with her best friends. We had just finished shopping at the local shops before they closed for the night, the Princess had her saddlebags filled to the brim with stuff, including bags of snacks, bottles of soda, a big storybook, and extra bottles of ink and quills. Well okay those latter two probably won’t be needed but hey you never know, right? So you are probably wondering, why does she go through all this fuss to host these sleepovers so often?

Well you see, one stormy night about a year or two ago, back when she had just moved into town she held an impromptu sleepover with some of her friends as a way to pass the time from the storm. Ever since then she’s made it a habit to organize at least one every month with her fellow pony friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Sometimes other ponies who live around the town join in on the fun as well, but most of the time it’s just the six of them who mainly take part.

As for myself, I haven’t taken part in one of these sleepovers so far. I always feel like the odd one out of our little group. I mean as a human I already stick out like a real sore thumb, but then there is the fact that I am a “guy”, or stallion as the ponies tend to call males, a sleepover that sounds like it’s going to be all girly and frilly just doesn’t appeal to me at all. Of course that doesn’t mean I ain’t curious though, honestly, deep down I kinda wish I could take part in these sleepovers in some form or another, but I've never had the courage to speak up about it. I mean it’s not like I'm asking for an opportunity to hit me like a lamp post to the face now is it?

*BASH* 

“Owww, son of a-” I just managed to catch myself after, ironically, hitting a lamppost while being stuck in dreamland for too long, almost dropping all the stuff I was carrying in my hands.

“Anon! Would you please stop daydreaming and look where you’re going!?” Twilight said, looking back at me.

“Sorry Twilight, I'll try to be more careful.” I said to her, steadying the heavy load in my hand while trying, and failing, to hide a blush of embarrassment.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and face hoofed.

Twilight Sparkle, the recently crowned Princess of Friendship, is the one who has been helping me adjust to living in this town ever since I first arrived a while ago by providing me with a place to stay at her home in the Golden Oaks Library, in return that I help her out by working part time, helping to organize the all of the books, handle returns and deal with the overdue. We’ve become fairly close since I started working with her, I wouldn’t call her my bestest friend but we’re not far off. That being said, we do sometimes get into arguments about facts and what makes sense and don’t, oh and don’t even try to talk bad about her favourite books around her, she’ll just overwhelm you with her tangents and rants non stop.

Speaking of that, Twilight took a deep breath and started going into such a tangent.

“You know, it’s a pony miracle that you managed to not drop anything there, much less break it at all. If you had done that then we would have wasted time picking all of it up before making our way back home, only to find out that some of the items are ruined and as such we’d have to make another stop at the stores to get more supplies for tonight, and as such the sleepover might end up being delayed due to us making yet another trip back to the store in a hurry just before they all close for the night, all because SOME-pony was daydreaming and not looking where they were going!” She said pointing her hoof up at my face in a huff.

I let out a long groan, then responded in kind.

“Geez louise Twilight Sparkle, for a Princess you sure got one heck of a motormouth to run with.” I said to her in a cheeky tone.

She raised an eyebrow up at me, her face unamused.

“Motormouth? Really Anon? Really? How in Equestria do you even come up with all these words you keep on saying in retort?” She quizzed me.

“It runs in the family Princess, our snark is potent and loaded with plenty of wit.” I said with a little pride in my voice, earning a groan from the princess.

"Well whatever, at least your sense of humour is still sharp compared to your sense of sight. Speaking of which, it is good that you haven't dropped anything now because if you did I would-"

“Alright alright alright, I get it! I promise I won’t be drifting off again, and will keep focused on the task at hand.” I said to her with exasperation, not wanting her to get into another long tangent.

She looked at me with a bit of a glare in her eyes, but she simply nodded at me. She then turned around and started walking again down the street towards her home, with me following right behind her. 

A few onlookers around us seemed curious about what just happened, but they soon shrugged and went back to whatever it was they were doing beforehoof.

“Hurry up Anon! I don’t want to be late because of your slow legs! And if I'm the last one who gets there, then I'll make sure you have to do more chores for me tomorrow.” Twilight said, eager to get to her home in a jiffy.

"I'm hurrying up, I'm hurrying up, your majesty!  I said to her with sarcasm.

Twilight just looked at back me with a frown, then looked away shaking her head.

“Whatever, come on we’re almost home.” She huffed as we approached the front door to her home. 

Ah, the good old Golden Oaks Library, packed with all the books you could ever read, anything you wanted to know about Equestria and other lands, chances are this place has the exact book you need. There is also a not so secret laboratory located underground for experiments in magic and science. I used to sleep down there when I first started living in Ponyville, but after a little accident not so long ago, I now sleep up in the library on the new sofa she had bought recently. I'm not too bothered about it since it's comfortable, and I get to read all the books around me.

“Say, you think the others are already here, waiting for you?” I said to Twilight as she prepared to open the door.

“Oh most certainly.” Twilight said, turning to look at me with a smile on her face. “Applejack is usually the first one to arrive here since she and her family wrap up their work in the late afternoon. Then it rotates between Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash depending on how busy their jobs were during the day. Fluttershy however, tends to show up here last since she has to take care of her animals so they don’t get hungry at night and can sleep okay in her absence. Now more so than ever since she has her roommate to keep an eye on too.”

“Ohhh yeah that’s right, him. Man, that guy can be a right piece of work.” I said with a huff.

“You don’t like him very much do you, Anon?” Twilight said, amused with my expression, I let out a sign.

“Well, yes and no. It’s not that I detest him, it’s just that he can be a right pain in the butt, not only that but he’s also really crafty as well. I still remember the last time I interacted with him, he showed me this ‘animal’ that he claimed was a pink hedgehog he found wandering around the nearby forest, looking for a new home, I was so excited to have it since I have always wanted to have a hedgehog as a pet. So I took it back home to take care of it, giving it a little bowl of food to eat in case it was hungry. But the next morning I got suspicious, so I took a closer look at it and that's when I found out that it wasn't a hedgehog, but a bloody hairbrush! Full of long pink pony hair too! And I don’t think I need to say whose hairbrush it belonged to either. He never stopped laughing about it for a whole week, and Fluttershy was none the wiser.”

Twilight was trying her best not to laugh at my story, holding a hoof up to her face, but I can hear a few giggles escape her lips.

“That sounds like Discord alright, and he got you real good,” she said with a big grin on her face, I just frowned in return.

“Whatever, come on let’s just get inside and start getting everything set up, all this junk in my hands is starting to get real heavy right now.” I said, feeling the strain from carrying all the junk in my hands.

Twilight nodded at me, she turned back to the door and lit her horn up in a purple glow, then with a bit of magic pushed open the front door, she trotted right inside while I followed behind her, closing the door behind me. In my mind I was hoping to get this all over and done with so that I can just retire downstairs for the evening and continue on from that book series I had been reading alot, Daring Do I believe it was called. 
Imagine my surprise when that little plan had to be put on hold, because this sleepover ended up becoming much more involving than I expected it to be.
> Chapter 2 - The Party Gathers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Home sweet home." I said as I glanced around at all of the books arranged on the shelves, something I can never get tired of seeing.

"No time to dawdle Anon, we've got work to do." Called Twilight as she made her way to the stairs.

I nodded and followed her, we both made our way past the library section and headed up the steps towards the bedroom part of Golden Oaks. Just as Twilight was about to use her magic to open it, we heard some voices inside, it sounded like they were arguing loudly, a very familiar kind of arguing that made the two of us frown in response.

“Sounds like you already have some guests over for the sleepover, unfortunately, they seem to have already gotten into an argument about something.” I said to her flatly.

Twilight just shook her head and opened the door, and lo and behold, we did indeed have guests, two of them in fact, Applejack, who almost certainly arrived first, and Rarity, who usually doesn’t get here this early, perhaps it was just a slow day for her today.

“Ahm tellin ya sugarcube, that dress y'all want me to wear is NOT mah style! Anythin’ frilly an frou frou just don’t suit me, ya hear?”

“Nonsense Applejack, you may not notice it but underneath that… rough and rural, yes let’s go with that, rough and rural look you have is a wonderful model just waiting to happen, and with the dress I have recently designed, you would look absolutely darling in it!”

“Look here, I mighty preshate y’all for the thought, but ah ain’t goin’ around wearin’ that in front of anypony, an ah much prefer bein’ rough an rural, thank you.”

“Oh pur-lease dear, a little sprucing up for a small occasion like this wouldn't hurt at all, and it’s not like you would be a laughing stock of the town, on the contrary, I think everypony would be awe struck by your stance, your looks, and the dress to complete it all-”

“Ah, ain't, doin' it! Ah will not wear any dress that's snooty lookin' or fabulous, specially if it makes me feel like a broad!”

“Snooty looking!? Broad!? How dare you! Why if I wasn’t a proper lady, I would’ve slapped you round the cheek for such an uncouth attitude!”

“An if ah weren’t a respectable hard worker without manners, I'd hoof ya right in your fancy smancy snoot too.”

Rarity went wide eyed, gritting her teeth, she was no doubt about to say something real harsh, that's when I decided to intervene before it got any more out of hand, making the two of them jump in surprise.

“AH-HEM! Sorry to interrupt your little bickering girls, but we’re back with the things needed for the sleepover tonight. So, if you are done with your arguing, we’d like to get started setting everything up right now.” I said to them.

Twilight still had the mother of all frowns on her face as she glared at both of them.

Rarity took a deep breath, then spoke up first. “My apologies darlings, me and Applejack didn’t mean for you to hear all of that, we were just talking about a new dress I designed, and well... I got a little too carried away with that conversation and nearly did something I knew we would soon regret, especially if it ruined the sleepover.”

Applejack spoke up next, taking her hat off her head.

“Yeah... ah apologize too folks, ah didn’t mean for thet there conversation to get heated right there… especially since we’re bout’ to have a sleepover too… please forgive our horsing around.”

The two of them leaned their heads forward in apology. Twilight closed her eyes and let out a long sign.

“Alright, apology accepted, but, I'm gonna have a word with the two of you about this later on tonight privately.”

The two ponies nodded to her, with that out of the way, she walked over to the table and undid her saddle bags, placing them onto the ground right next to it.

“Now then, without further ado, let us get started organizing this sleepover! First things off the list, the food and makeover products all organized and laid out.” Twilight said as she picked up her checklist with her magic.

“Ready and waiting, Twilight!” I said as I went over to the table, putting down all the items I had been carrying for the last while, shaking off the strain out of my hands.

I soon got busy organizing the food into a respectable presentation, there was just about everything you could want here, including potato chips, bottles of soda, fresh apples, carrots and even a few cupcakes, courtesy of one Pinkie Pie who we met at the local bakery earlier on in the afternoon, no doubt she’ll be gracing us with her presence very soon.

“Y’know, ah’ never get tired of seein’ y’all just holdin’ all that there heavy load like it was nuthin’ at all sugarcube.” Applejack said, who had come over to the table to help out.

“Well, when you’ve been working in shops for years and years back in my world, you soon get used to holding heavy things all the time. That, and having fingers helps out too.” I said, wiggling them in front of her as a bit of a tease, Applejack chuckled in amusement.

“Heh heh heh, ah’ certainly wouldn’t mind havin’ one of them, it’d make gatherin’ all the apples round’ Sweet Apple Acres much easier than with just these lil ol hooves.” She said, looking down and lightly tapping the table with her front hooves.

“Oh, I don’t know, I think your hooves do their job really well, especially when it comes to bucking trees for apples. Plus I just don’t see myself punching trees over and over just to get apples to fall, I'd probably break my hand more times than that.” I said, Applejack then looked up at me.

“Say, are y’all talkin’ bout that one time ya wanted to help us out back at the farm, and y’all then went an broke yer fingies on that big ol apple tree in the ol orchid?” She said, with a small grin on her face.

I lowered one eyebrow at her, “Yes, just like that one time. Though to be fair, your little sister did kind of egg me on into doing it, mainly because she wanted to see how strong a Human was when it came to punching power, but I guess I kinda overdid it.” I said, rubbing the back of my head, then looking over at the hand in question.

The fingers had long since healed up from that misadventure, but there was still a bit of a faint scar on a few of them, a not so subtle reminder of that episode.

“Yeeeaaaahh… ah’m sorry that happened Anon, Apple Bloom can get real fired up when it comes to seein’ somethin’ impressive like that.” Applejack said with a sign, clearly recalling her sister and friend’s past hi jinks as part of their little group.

“Hey don’t worry about it Applejack, it was all harmless fun. Besides she didn’t mean anything bad from it at all, you can forgive a little filly being so curious about things.” I said, patting her back to ease her worry. She smiled warmly in return.

Applejack is the pony I probably get along with the most out of the mane six. I relate to her quite a bit since we’re both hard workers at heart, she breaks her back trying to keep her family business afloat, keeping the town stocked up with her signature apples, and of course holding the family together, especially if spats break out between them. She has offered me a job to work at Sweet Apple Acres multiple times. but I feel that there is no way I could keep up with her even if I did take it, besides I'm sure her family have got all of that covered anyway, I mean who can compete with her brother in that role?

“Is everything all set with the food yet?” Twilight called out in our direction, ending that little moment.

“Just about! Now, where do you want me to put these makeover products over yonder?” I called back to her.

“Put them on that side table over there, Rarity can help out in setting them up for use later on tonight.” Twilight said, gesturing to where her friend was.

I picked up the products and carried them over to what I assumed was going to be the sleepover salon, complete with hair rollers, mud mask kits, and of course filers for hooves and horns.

“Just put those items next to me darling, you can help me with setting up the salon for use tonight.” Rarity said while her attention was focused on the task at hand.

So I started to help her in organizing the impromptu salon. Rarity is another pony I get along with fairly well, not as much as Applejack but still we’re on good terms. Sure her voice, attitude and tone are a little too upper class for my taste, but this girl has a heart of gold, always willing to help out when it comes to fashion, clothes, or even more mundane tasks around town. That being said, she is a bit of a sucker when it comes to being the centre of attention, and she has a real flair for the dramatic.

“Anon my dear, tell me just how long are you going to be wearing that drab attire you currently wear?” Rarity said, looking at me with an eye.

“Rarity, I've told you before, these are the only pair of clothes I have on me, I didn’t exactly come with another matching pair when I ended up stuck here.”

“Well then, if that’s the case don’t you think it’s about time I helped make some more for you to wear? Wearing the same clothes everyday will wear them out fast you know.” She said as she turned her attention towards me.

I looked over to her. “Well that thought has been on my mind for a while now, but I don’t think I can afford to pay for new sets of clothes just yet.”

“Nonsense darling! You absolutely must pay a visit to my boutique as soon as you can, that way I can help make you new sets of clothing and suits to wear everyday. Oh and don’t worry about paying for any of it, since this will be new territory for me in terms of tailoring items to your size, I'll do this all for free, just for you.” She said as a bright smile appeared on her face.

I felt a warm blush creep onto my cheeks, this was such a generous offer, again as I said, this mare has a heart of solid gold.

“Well gosh, that is really generous of you Rarity, but I wouldn’t mind giving you a small tip for that since I know you would do such a fabulous job.”

Rarity closed her eyes and giggled heartily.

“Oh no no no, nothing at all my dear, but thank you for the offer. Now however, I will need to take some measurements of your body in order to get an idea of what size I need to work with.”

And now that warm blush has been replaced by an embarrassed one.

“Umm well… I'm sure I've said it before, but I'm not exactly comfortable with being out of my clothes publicly, especially when in front of females.”

Rarity just tilted her head in confusion.

“Is there any problem with that? I mean I know from what you have told me that you don’t have any natural fur, just bare skin, but surely you can’t be hiding anything awful, right? Besides, the measurements would only take about five minutes at most, and then we wouldn’t need to bother with it anymore since I'll know it all by heart.”

She then got a spark in her eyes, you could almost hear the word “ideeeeaa!” screaming out from her ears.

“In fact, why don’t we do all of that right here tonight? I brought my measuring tape with me as I was gathering my things for the sleepover. We can take this to another room if you wish to have more privacy and not be disturbed, what do you say Anon?” She said as she took a step forward.

I backed away at little bit, blushing more now. "Ummm well... I-I think it could work b-but-"

Then there came a loud reply from behind her. Rarity turned round to see Twilight staring at her.

“Rarity, I'm sure Anon appreciates your generous offer, but don’t you think you should wait until he says he is ready to do this first?”

Twilight threw me a wink, I nodded back in kind, she was throwing me a little save here.

“Oh no, I understand that dear, it’s just that… well I feel that it wouldn’t hurt for him to have more options to wear if you know what I mean?”

Twilight signed. “I know I know, but-

Rarity started raising her voice, it seemed she was really determined with this idea of hers.

“Twilight please! As I said it will only take five minutes to do this then I won’t have to bother him again about it. Besides, I am rather eager to learn what fashion his kind the 'hu-mans' are into. And the dresses, my goodness, what sort of dresses do the females of their kind wear on a day to day basis? Or better yet what do they showcase on the stage! I have to know this, I must!”

She turned to look at me again with that look in her eyes. Now I'm starting to feel pretty uncomfortable about this, I mean surely there is a much better time and place for all of this then right here? I was just about to say something, when Twilight spoke up again.

“Listen, Anon and I will have a chat about this later on tonight, then when we have finished I'll let you know right away if he’ll agree to it or not.”

Rarity looked at Twilight with an eyebrow raised up.

“Don’t tell me, is there something about him that you’re hiding from us?” Rarity asked, sounding suspicious.

Twilight’s eyes widened, but she shook it off.

“No no no no no, nothing like that! It’s just, well he’s very different from us ponies biologically and physically. Trust me, he’s not being rude, he’s just very sensitive about his appearance without clothes. Also don’t forget that we are ‘mare’s’ Rarity, he isn’t used to a female being that… ‘involved’ with him.

I looked at Twilight with a frown and raised eyebrow, I mean she is correct in what she’s saying, but still, she isn’t my mum!

“So please, don’t bother him about this for now, instead let us get back to setting everything up for tonight, the others are probably on their way here right now so we'd better hurry.”

Rarity signed in defeat. “Alright darling, I'll abide, but remember that my offer is still on table Anon, just give the word when you are ready and I'll be there in a flash.”

She looked back at me again briefly before going back to working on the table, I could see that determination was still in her eyes. I think I'll need to keep an eye out for her tonight in case she tries any funny business when I ain’t looking.

In any case I went back to work on organizing the table with her, and soon it was all set, it sure smelled like a salon alright with all the products on there, including one fine arrangement of sliced cucumbers on a plate. Why they use them at all for this, I'll never understand.

“Perfect! All set and ready for tonight!” Exclaimed Rarity, hopping up and down on her hooves.

It was at that moment we heard a loud knock on the open window up above, everyone looked up to see who it was. Before we knew it, a familiar rainbow streak dashed right into the room from the open frame, followed by an equally familiar Pegasus pony hovering right above us, then came a raspy tomboyish voice I knew all too well.

“Everypony look out, the V-I-P has arrived in the building!”

The pony in question landed down onto the floor and folded up her wings, her rainbow mane and tail shining in the fading sunlight, contrasting to her baby blue coat and bright magenta eyes, yep, it was the one and only Rainbow Dash, aspiring Wonderbolts Trainee and the local Weather Patrol for Ponyville.

“What’s up everypony? Tonight’s sleepover is gonna rock and roll with awesomeness!

Applejack chuckled at the Rainbow mare. “Well well, howdy there Rainbow, sounds like somepony has had a good day today.”

“Good!? It was an AWE-some day!” She said, jumping in front of Applejack with a wide grin, then she began telling about how her day went.

“First thing that happened was when I was out clearing the clouds, one of the Wonderbolts came flying around in the skies doing a little practice, and wouldn’t you know it, it was Soarin’ himself! I caught up to him and managed to get him to autograph my own Wonderbolts Forever fanbook! I'm one step closer to finally completing it with every single signature from them! He even gave me a free noogie before he dashed off back to practising. Let me tell you, I don’t want to ever brush this mane of mine today after that!” She said, adorably hopping on her hooves from the excitement.

“Then on my break, I heard a noise coming from the nearby river. I took a look over the side of the cloud I was on, and I saw that one of the school fillies had fallen in and was in danger of drowning. So I jumped right off the cloud and dived down towards the river, I followed her and managed to pull her out just in time. Next I ran I check on her to make sure was okay and hadn't swallowed any water, then I helped her back to the school group she was with. The teachers were thankful that I saved her since they were looking around for her and were worried she had wondered off somewhere.

“It was a good thing you did save that poor filly as quickly as you did Rainbow, Celestia knows what could’ve happened to the poor girl if you didn’t save her in time.” Twilight said, smiling at her proudly.

Rainbow Dash blushed a little, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof.

“Yeah I know, just doing my job as the local hero, but, that’s not even the best part from today! Around an hour before I was supposed to meet everypony here, I happened to catch A.K Yearling herself sneaking about town, and in her saddle bags I saw her holding a couple of copies of the new Daring Do book that’s not even out yet! I caught up to her and asked her all about it. Apparently they weren’t supposed to go on sale until next week, but she let me have one as an advanced copy since I was such a big fan of her work, and in return I wouldn’t leak the word out about it to everypon-”

She suddenly stopped talking, her eyes went wide as she realized what she had just said, then she looked over to everyone else in the room in a panic.

“Ooooops! Erm… P-promise me that you won’t leak this out to anypony else, okay? Pretty please?” She said, looking at everyone with big pleading puppy dog eyes.

Everyone else in the room nodded in agreement, Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief, then in a split second she was back to her happy energetic tone from before.

“But yeah, today has been SOOOOOO AWESOME!! One of the best days ever!"

I watched Rainbow pumping her hoof up in the air, she’s clearly in such high spirits right now. I couldn’t help but be happy for her.

She’s another pony I get along with fairly well, mainly because she has a great sense of humour, and we both have had our fair share of laughs when it comes to jokes and snark. However, believe me when I say, never ever challenge her in any activities unless you can back it up with more than just words, she has a competitive streak so wide that it would impress the horizon itself.

“Oh hey Anon! I see you’re here too huh? Heh heh heh, so then, are you finally gonna have the courage to be a part of our sleepovers?” She said, turning towards me with that familiar cocky grin on her face.

I smiled in return.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, good to see you too! But to answer your question, no I won't be taking part in the sleepover tonight. I know I hate to disappoint you, but I'm only here to help organize it."

No sooner did I say that, she looked dead at me with shrunken pupils like I had just upset her in the worst possible way. Then suddenly she jumped up and dashed in my direction, hovering right in front of me face to face, personal space much Rainbow?

“OH COME ON!! Seriously!? What is your excuse this time huh!?” She said, sounding super annoyed.

I signed, then tried to defuse this situation fast. “Look it's um, it’s just not for me alright? I'm sure you and everyone else will have lots of fun and enjoyment without me taking part, I'd only be taking up space. Besides I can always find something else to do downstairs in the library like reading and sorting.”

“Uh huh, that’s what you said last time, and the time before that too. So just what do you mean it’s not for you, huh?” She said, crossing her hooves while narrowing her eyes.

“Well lets see, I just think that I wouldn't fit in with the group. I mean between all this salon stuff right here, the usual giggling and gossip I sometimes hear from downstairs, and then there are times when all I hear is just shouting and crashing about, like you guys are having a fight. Last time at the sleepover it got REALLY loud with all the fighting, I mean what the heck were you girls up to?”

Rainbow looked at me wide eyed for a moment, then lightly chuckled while rubbing a hoof over her head.

“He he he heh, well you see... Last time we all had an epic pillow war going on in this very room, it just got a tinnie bit out of hand. I mean there were feathers all over the place, poor Fluttershy was hiding away in that closet, Pinkie was a giggling mess on the floor and Rarity was just in complete shock over her poor sleeping bed being messed up. It was just me and AJ left standing, but before we could finish it, we were both conked out cold for the rest of the night, all thanks to Twilight over there.” Rainbow said, looking at said pony with a frown.

“Well yeah, because I had to stop both you and Applejack from throwing anything else that could’ve gotten broken, or worse! You two ponies I swear, you just never give up when it comes to competitions, fights, or a combination of both! You both really need to tone it down with your rivalry a little bit, because last thing we want is for both of you to end up at the hospital with broken legs.” Twilight said to them rather pointedly.

Both Rainbow and Applejack laughed awkwardly, but still glanced at each other with that competitive look in their eyes.

“And if I may add in too darlings, we all ended up being forced to share beds with each other for that night, all because we lost most of our precious pillows to that silly little war. You all have no idea how cold of a shower I had to take that morning after just to wash that 'feeling' off my coat.” Rarity interjected, but all she got was dirty looks from the others in the room, so she huffed and held her head up high.

“Ohhh nooo, well anyway.” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, shifting her focus back to me, itching herself a little closer to my face. “As well as all that, we were also talking about you alot during the last sleepover, we spent like an hour discussing why you don’t join in on the fun. Pinkie believed it was because you didn't know what fun was, but I called horse apples on that since I know you have a good head when it comes to funny stuff. Then Fluttershy said that she believe that it was because you was all shy about having to be apart of a party like this, that and you never really interacted with girls of your kind in that sort of way before so you have little experience from it."

I went a little wide eyed from hearing that, I wanted to frown and say something, but it all made too much sense. Rainbow Dash seemed to sense it as a grin began to grow across her face.

"Hah! Looks like I hit the nail on the head huh? Or should I say, Fluttershy hit it on the head!"

“Well I… I guess so?” I was drawing a blank, come on brain get working!

Everyone else in the room just giggled, Rainbow included, she then put a hoof on my shoulder and looked at me with a look of pity.

“Oh man, Anon my friend you are missing out! I know, we do often engage in such frilly and frou frou things like makeovers, gossip and… manicures. But! We also do lots of fun stuff as well, like toasting s'mores, ghost stories, the aforementioned pillow fights, my personal favourite truth or dare and more! Honestly dude, you are missing out on some good honest fun!”

“Rainbow’s right sugarcube, ah think it wouldn’t hurt for ya to take part in it just once, yawl might end up enjoyin’ it just as much as we do!” Applejack said, giving a warm smile to me.

“I agree darling, you simply must take part in these sleepovers more often, I certainly wouldn't mind helping to make you feel more comfortable by providing extra pillows and blankets if needed." Rarity said.

The three of them were now giving me that pleading look on their faces. I felt my mouth twisting about, deep in thought about it. I didn’t think they would be 'that' interested in having me take part in this at all, but now that they put me on the spot, I knew I had to make a choice. I looked to Twilight for guidance, but she just nodded to me, making it clear that I had to decide on this one alone, I was about to speak up, when suddenly.

*BOOOM*

Everyone jumped as random confetti rained around the room, we looked around and I soon eyed a familiar looking cannon at the now open bedroom door that was closed only a minute ago. Then when I looked back some balloons appeared around the central table as if from nowhere, along with a random cake that actually looked really delicious. I began to put two and two together and as soon as I came up with the answer in my head, that was when it happened, a familiar pink pony popped out of the cake

“Wheeeee! Hahahaha! The party has arrived! Everypony better get ready for a long night of FUN!”

Yup, the pink apocalypse has arrived, Pinkie Pie aka Pinkius Pieicus, good thing there was only one of 'em. She’s another one who I get along with very well, she sure knows how to make a party happen and put a smile on everyone’s faces, not to mention just like Rainbow, she has a talent for pranking and humour, and she sure appreciates my sense of humour, I mean you have no idea how much of a giggle fit she has from some of my snark. That being said, she can sometimes wear out her welcome with her quirky antics, and her Pinkie sense, my god, I don’t I'll ever figure it out.

“Oh hey Anon, good to see you! Said Pinkie, bouncing out of the cake and stopping in front of me. “Have you had a good day today? Have you been helping out with the sleepover again? Are you thinking about taking part in it this time? Are you? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

I had to chuckle, this pink menace never ceases to amaze me with her energy.

“Hey Pinkie, good to see you in high spirits as per usual. Well to answer your questions, yes I am helping out once again, it seems my extra help comes in ‘handy’ for them.” I said to her, earning a loud giggle from her. “And as for taking part? Well, it’s funny you should say that, everypony here just now was asking if I would like to do so tonight.”

Just at that moment her eyes lit up like fireworks, you could almost see the sparks flying out of them, almost.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Oh please please please say yes! You will, won’t you? Huh? Won’t you?” She said to me with those big blue puppy dog eyes she was giving me.

Great, as if three pleading eyes at me weren’t enough, four all at once? You could melt an adult's heart to a puddle of mush with that alone. I was about to speak up when Twilight interrupted.

“Ahem! Well Pinkie now that you are here we only now need to wait for Fluttershy to arrive, then we’re all ready to get started on tonight.” She said, levitating her nearby clipboard with her magic, followed by her trusty quill.

“Ah yeah, about that...” Pinkie said, looking a little down about something.

“Somethin’ the matter, Pinkie?” Applejack said to her curiously.

Pinkie closed her eyes and signed, then spoke in a more downbeat tone. “Fluttershy.... She won’t be able to join us for the sleepover tonight.”

Everyone in the room went wide eyed, Twilight almost dropped her clipboard in shock.

“W-what? What has happened to her Pinkie?” Twilight asked her.

“I went to get her just before coming here so that the two of us could arrive together, but, she said she couldn’t come tonight because a few of her animals have come down with a nasty flu, and she fears she’s also caught it due to being in close contact with them all day. So, to avoid the risk of spreading the flu to us too, she’s decided to isolate in her home for the next few days, that way she can know for sure if she ends up ill or not, while also help treat the sick animals.

A sombre mood fell in the room, each of the ponies looking real downbeat about the news. Fluttershy has never missed these sleepovers once as far as I know, but I know that her health is important and that she was thinking about our safety ahead of time. I only hope that she will be okay, isolation can be pretty lonely, and frankly, claustrophobic too. I know that experience all too well in my own world with a certain plague raging around currently.

“That’s such a shame, I was looking forward to trying out my brand new curler for her mane tonight.” Said Rarity as her hoof nudged said device on the salon table.

“Ah sure hope she’s takin’ care of herself okay, ah reckon we should let the Ponyville Hospital know bout’ this so thet they’ll send a nurse to check up on her first thang tomorrow, and the sooner the better.” Applejack said, thinking thoughtfully about Fluttershy's situation.

“Don’t worry Applejack, I’ll send a letter to them first thing in the morning. But until then we have a problem on our hooves, we’re down one pony for this sleepover, and it’s too late now to ask around for another to take Fluttershy’s place. If Spike was here he would certainly be fine with taking part, but he’s away at Canterlot on royal business until tomorrow.” Twilight said, rubbing a hoof under her chin thinking what to do.

“Well it’s not like we’re cancelling the sleepover or anything, right? We can still host it even in her absence.” Said Rainbow Dash trying to brighten the mood.

“Well duh, but it’s still going to feel pretty empty in here without the whole crew present, not to mention all the food and drinks we brought with us, they’re all going to be going to waste if we don’t eat them all tonight…” Pinkie said with a sad tone at the end, she hated seeing food go to waste.

“If only there was somepony round’ right ere' now who could take her place…” Applejack said, her eyes staring at the ground.

As all the other ponies including me started thinking about what to do in this situation, Pinkie pie suddenly shot up into the air like a cannonball.

“Wait!! Wait a second there everypony, there is a somepony who can take her place!”

“What are you talking about Pinkie? I already told you that it’s too late now to find somepony else” Twilight said to her dismissively.

“No no no silly, I already knew that, but, there really is somepony, or should I say ‘somebody’ who can take part tonight, in faaaaaaccccttt, they are here right now, right in this very room with us!” She said to the others, who just looked at her with a confused look.

“Pinkie Pie, have you been on that sugar high again? There isn’t anypony else here! Except you, me, Twilight, AJ, Rarity and… and-” Rainbow Dash trailed off, starting to connect the dots in her head.

“And… of course how could we forget, you Anon!” Pinkie Pie finished for her, pointing her straight hoof at me.

The rest of the ponies looked at me as well, I backed up a little bit with my hands up.

“W-w-whoa hold on now!”

“He is our ‘somebody’ for the sleepover! And what an opportunity this is too, he gets to experience it for the first time ever!” Pinkie said with excitement in her voice.

“H-hey now! This is all a bit sudden isn’t it!?”

“Well well well, no excuses this time right, Anon? You gotta take part in this sleepover now!” Rainbow said with a big wide grin on her mug.

Well shucks, how bout’ it sugarcube?” Applejack said, her big green eyes shining at me.

“Please please say you will? For Fluttershy’s sake? Pretty please with a cherry on top!” Pinkie said, getting on her knees and begging towards me.

“Now now, everypony. It’s Anon’s choice whether or not he wants to take part. So, what do you think Anon, will you take part in tonight?” Twilight said to me.

I’ve really been put on the spot this time, I'll admit I was very, very tempted to just say no right then and there. But they were all giving me that pleading puppy dog look in their eyes that I find too hard to resist, even Twilight was giving it to me now. Despite what she just said a moment ago, I think she had wanted me to take part in this all along.

I closed my eyes for a moment as I thought about my decision, that’s when it started to click in my head, why did I always think that these sleepovers were nothing but girly fun and activities? From what Rainbow Dash just told me, it was anything but that, plus the idea of games was just too much for me to resist, after all, I do like a good game for fun.

I opened my eyes back up and looked at the ponies.

“Alright, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give this sleepover a shot, I'm game.” I said with a smile.

Immediately after I said that, I found myself tackled to the ground hard by multiple colours at once, Pinkie pie giving me probably the strongest bear hug a pony could ever give, Rainbow Dash was busy giving me a noogie on the head, Rarity was joining in on the hugging along with Applejack though nowhere near as forceful as Pinkie, while Twilight just hopped up and down with a smile across her face.

“THANK YOU ANON! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!” Pinkie yelled out right in front of my face.

“Now our sleepover shall be complete without any issues at all!” Twilight said in the background.

“Ah hope y'all enjoy yourself tonight sugarcube.” Applejack said with a warm smile.

“It’s good to see you joining in tonight darling, feel free to try out the salon at some point tonight, I'm sure I could do something to help freshen you up.” Rarity said, her eyes shimmering with delight.

“Awww yeah, it’s about time you finally decided to join in. Honestly I've always been kinda curious about what you human’s get up to during sleepovers, I mean what kind of games and fun stuff do you do? Is it any different from us?” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered over to join the hug pile.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at this sight. I've been hugged by the ponies before, but never this hard or this passionately. They must take these sorts of social events really seriously, I hope I do not disappoint them by me taking part in one.

“Well I'm glad you are all happy about it, I look forward to seeing what you have in store for tonight.” I said to them with a smile.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ve got a few ideas already.” Rainbow said with a mischievous grin.

“Hehehe heh, trust me when I say this will be a real ‘riot’ of a sleepover.” Pinkie said as she eased off from the bear hug.

“That’s all well and good girls, but aren’t we forgetting something?”

All of the ponies looked towards Twilight who had her checklist floating in front of her.

“We still haven’t even set up our sleeping bags yet, the last thing on the checklist.”

“OH! Horsesh-, I mean apples, I completely forgot to bring it! One minute!” Rainbow said as she dashed back out of the open window towards her home at her usual high speed.

“Ponyfeathers, we got so caught up in gettin’ Anon here to join on in, we plain forgot to set em’ up.” Applejack said as she got up and went to her rather large bag.

“If you don’t mind dear, would you be kind enough to help us tidy up the place so that we have ample room to set our sleeping bags?” Rarity said as she got off from me and started tidying up the room.

“Sure no problem, it’ll all be done in a jiffy.” I said as I grabbed the nearby broom and got to work quickly.

We were soon busy tidying up the room, any stray balls of paper and wrappers dumped into the bin, the odd bit of clothing left around put away into the wardrobe, and of course in Twilight's case, any stray pile of books properly filed away.

“Hey Twi, where do y’all want these here weird lookin’ books to go again?” Applejack called out.

“Just put them over by the telescope, I'll sort them out later.” Twilight called out.

Weird looking? I wonder what that egghead gets up to in her private time when I'm not here. Anyway, in just a few short minutes we finished cleaning up the room, as I put away the broom Rainbow Dash came back in, this time carrying her sleeping bag, all rolled up and ready to be laid out.

“Heh, looks like I came back just in time for us to set up shop." She as she landed down on the floor.

"Right then, everypony should pick a spot somewhere around the room that's comfortable but also quiet enough to sleep in, be sure to spread out so that we all have plenty of breathing space."

“Already ahead of ya partner.” Called Applejack as she pulled out her sleeping bag from her large saddle bag, it had a bright orange cover with red rims along the side.

“Is that a brand new sleeping bag you got there, AJ?” I called to her as I began to gather a few items for my own bed.

“Sure is Anon, I got this here lil ol thing by delivery last weekend, Granny had it custom ordered for me since she wanted to treat me for a good summers work done." Said Applejack as she looked at me with a proud smile. "It just suits me well, don’t it?”

“Like a brand new hat.” I said, this made her chuckle in agreement.

I then looked over at all the other ponies bringing out their own sleeping bags. Pinkie's bag really stood out, for one, it was really, really pink, different shades of pink of course, but still pink all over, no surprise there honestly. Twilight’s sleeping bag was an interesting one, a deep navy blue cover with constellation patterns dotted all over it, deep purple edges along the sides, it most likely custom made just like Applejack, and of course it just reeks of her egg-headed love for the starry sky. Rainbow Dash was a curious sight, instead of the Wonderbolts sleeping bag she brought last time, she instead brought a different one, the cover had a bright rainbow thunderbolt on it, with swirling patterns like clouds in the background, but the sides and top were what stood out to me, they were white and fluffy, kinda like a soft cloud, very fitting for an airborne pony. There is no doubt that she paid top bits for this bed, and I reckon it's also super comfy too.

Now Rarity, well, you could say she went a little further than the others did. She didn't bring a sleeping bag with her, oh no, it was a full on inflatable bed mattress with what looked like a memory foam cover on top, also with her was a sapphire blue blanket that sparkled rather brightly at a glance, now that is something she likely made herself using her skills in crafting and sewing, even so I think the sparking is a bit much for me.

“Y'all always do go for comfort ,style, and poise at these sleepovers don’t ya Rarity?” Said Applejack as she eyed her bed setup.

“Why of course Applejack, a lady should always make the most of a social event and sleep in luxury when possible. That's why I like to sleep comfortably without any bother at all.” She said as she laid out the blanket over the mattress.

"Well, it sure darn beats sleeping on the hard floor any day. Ah remember doing that once long ago, mah poor ol' back, it took nearly a week for it to get better."

"Oh heaven's no! I couldn't imagine spending even a minute doing that! Why just the thought of doing something so uncouth, dirty and earthy is-"

She stopped when she saw Applejack glaring at her with a raised eyebrow. Coughing into her hoof, she wisely said something else.

“Is, it’s just not for me, darling.” She said with a sheepish smile, before going back to work on her mattress.

Applejack just rolled her eyes while she finished setting up on her end. soon all the ponies had finished setting up for the night. Twilight was just about check it off her list when Rainbow spoke up.

“Hey wait one second! Where in the hay is Anon going to sleep?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I already thought about that Rainbow." Twilight said, she hadn't really, but she quickly did. "My bed is big enough for two ponies to sleep in, if Anon doesn’t mind he can use my bed to sleep in tonight." She said, pointing her hoof up to her bed sitting next to the upper window.

“Oh well, sure I don’t mind, I'm just gonna get out another pillow to use for the bed.” I said as I went to the cupboard.

“Knock yourself out Anon, and with that, that checks off the last item on the list, finally.” Said Twilight as she did just that.

I took said pillow out from the cupboard, then I made my way up the small steps to the bed. This isn't the first time I've used this bed actually, I’ve slept in it beforehand, whenever Twilight was away from home dealing with some crises somewhere, she gave me permission to sleep in it if she didn’t get back home on time. Having done so a few times, I got to admit it was pretty comfortable, and much sturdier than it looked, considering my own size compared to the average pony.

“Well then, now thet we’re all set an’ ready for the night, what’s the first thang we’re gonna do to get things started?” Applejack asked.

“Ohh ohh I've got an idea, I've got an idea!” Pinkie shouted, bouncing off her sleeping bed.

“Knowing you Pinkie, it’s going to be something party related, am I right?” Twilight said with a smug.

“Hehe, no silly, as much as I like to party, I actually have a different idea in mind. My idea is that we should all start with a little game to get this sleepover started, and help Anon over here get integrated into our usual regime.” Pinkie said with a smile.

“And just what sort of game are you thinking of, may I ask?” Rarity inquired.

“Oh, you’ll see." Pinkie said as she flashed a slightly devious smile. "Hey Anon! If you are ready, would you mind coming down here for a minute please?” Pinkie called out.

“Sure Pinkie, I'll be down there in just a bit.” I called to her as I finished setting up the bed for the night.

I honestly don't know what I'm getting myself into by taking part in this sleepover, but I feel that it's important to keep an open mind about this so that I can take in all the new experiences without thinking of anything else. As I made my way down the steps to join the rest of the girls, one thing will soon become clear, this was going to be a very long night.
> Chapter 3 - Truth or Dare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> Chapter 4 - Scary tales and Hat tricks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the break as we sat around the snack table helping ourselves to the food and drinks, Rarity and Applejack got around to taking off their tacky costumes from the truth or dare game, Applejack was polite in putting the princess clothes back in the wardrobe where it belonged since it was Twilight's own, Rarity however wasn't as delicate with her prince costume, she threw it into a pile next to the bin, showing no subtly at all regarding it. As for me, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had enjoyed ourselves to the bottles of cider that the Apple pony had brought with her to the sleepover as a treat. 

However, I had underestimated the strength of the Apple families special batch, not long after I had finished the bottle I began to feel a little light-headed, Applejack didn’t seem to be all that phased by it, she must drink this stuff fairly regularly and is used to it, Rainbow Dash however was clearly feeling it more than I was, she was blushing a little around her cheeks and was acting a little more feisty than normal, not that she was ever not feisty. When the three of us started talking about what feats we had accomplished beforehand, it started to get pretty heated between Applejack and Rainbow, which isn't surprising considering how competitive the two are together. I luckily was able to stop them before it came to blows, but not before Rainbow got up into my face, closer than usual and told me flat out that she'll be challenging me to a race in the week to see if I can run fast on just two legs as I had mentioned during the chat. I agreed to it straight away, if only to avoid getting a hoof smack in the face from her, or worse be victim to one of her pranks since I caught a hint of mischief in her eyes. Once that little incident was over with and the break was finished, we all sat back down in their usual spots in the room, ready to begin a new activity for the sleepover. 

“Okay everypony, so what activity shall we do next for the sleepover tonight everypony?” Twilight asked the rest of the ponies.

“Well I’m not in the mood for games right at this moment, perhaps we can do something a little different instead?” Rarity said thoughtfully.

“Hmm.. we could tell some stories instead.” I said out loud.

“Oh! How about scary stories? That’ll be different!” Pinkie Pie said with excitement.

“Ah’m not sure Pinkie, we’d need the atmosphere to be perfect for such thangs, and at the moment it’s quite peaceful round here, no rain or thunder-”

*CRACKLE*

That train of thought was interrupted by a loud clap of thunder outside the window, me and everyone else took a look, we saw it was now pouring with rain outside, the wind was howling and lightning streaking across the sky.

“Ohhh yeah, I forgot that the weather team had scheduled a thunderstorm for tonight." Rainbow said with a sheepish smile.

"Well ain't that just very convenient." Applejack said with a raised eyebrow at Rainbows direction.

"Well either way, I say we do it, this thunderstorm makes the atmosphere perfect for scary stories." Twilight said.

"Me too! I've got some spooky wooky tall tales to tell!" Pinkie said in eagerness.

"What about you Anon, you in on the scary stories, big guy?" Rainbow Dash asked me.

"Heh, sure. I like a good scary story" I replied with a smile.

"Then it's settled!" Pinkie shouted out.

"Well, I suppose I can take part too, even if I don't have anything good to tell." Rarity said a sigh.

"So... who should go first?" I asked everyone in the room.

"Ohh ohh! Let me, let me, let me!" Pinkie said eagerly, putting her hoof up.

"Okay okay, go ahead Pinkie Pie." Twilight said.

"Alrighty! My story is about a nightmare I had the other night, about a cake monster that eats ponies.

"Oh this ought to be good." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically.

"Now this ah gotta hear." Applejack said.

Pinkie Pie cleared her throat, and then she began telling her story, speaking in a low subdued tone.

"One spooky night, in a lonely house on a hill, there lived a mare who baked delicious cakes and treats for all to enjoy in the nearby town, in fact the cakes she baked were so deliciously tasty and scrumptiously yummy that everypony who lived in the town loved eating them. However, the ponies who lived in that town were very mean, greedy and selfish, they treated the poor mare like a slave, shouting, yelling, ordering her to bake bake bake, all throughout the day, all seven days in fact. The poor mare was left so exhausted, so broken by it all, that she would try to cry herself to sleep in order to escape from-"

"Pinkie, this is sounding less like a horror story and more like sappy sad story." Rainbow interrupted rudely.

"Shhh! Let her finish for pete's sake." Applejack in annoyance.

Rainbow Dash just blew a raspberry at Applejack before letting Pinkie Pie continue, who was looking rather deadpan.

"As I was saying. She would often cry herself to sleep in order to escape from the torment. But, one fateful night, after another day of non-stop baking for the town, the mare finally broke down, she finally let out her anger and rage, cursing the town for being so mean and greedy. Then she looked up to the moon, and made a wish to herself. Since the ponies in the town like eating cakes so much, she wished that a cake would come to life and eat them instead, and with that she drifted off to sleep. Little did she know that her wish had come true, a wishing star that streaked across the sky heard her wish, and so it wished for one of her cakes to come to life for that purpose. The cake chosen was a big chocolate fudge cake, with cream stuffing and flaky chips on top. The cake stormed out of the house in a rage, craving the little ponies who had stuffed themselves silly with cake. With a roar of a bear, and a lick of its chops, the monstrous cake began it's feast of the town, breaking down doors, smashing windows, or even crashing through the walls to snack on the greedy and selfish ponies. When the mare woke up upon hearing the carnage, she was shocked to see what had happened, her wish had come true, now the town was in flames and a wreck, the greedy ponies running away in fear of the monster cake. When the mare ran towards the monster cake, she scolded it for doing such a horrible thing, but the monster that is a cake roared loudly at her, then bared it's razor sharp teeth, and with a wide open gape, it lunged forward towards her and then..."

*CRUNCH*

"The end." Pinkie said, having taken a bite out of a cupcake just to make the sound effect more believable.

"Well umm... that story was sure something." Twilight said, unsure what to make of it.

"It was certainly dramatic at the end." Rarity added, also unsure.

"Meh, I've heard scarier stories." Rainbow said, waving her hoof dismissively.

"Hmm, it's just what I came up with after having a nightmare about a cake that came to life and tried to eat me." Pinkie said with a sigh.

"Maybe it's a sign that you should probably cut down on eating cakes all the time, less they come back to bite you." I said to her.

"Cut down on eating cakes? Never!" Pinkie gasped loudly.

"Well then if she's finished, may I have a turn now? Ah got me a little tale that'll make yer back fur stand up high like a scaredy-cat." Applejack confidently.

"I'll believe it when I hear it darling." Rarity said, focusing on her

"Alright y'all, here we go. This is a story mah Granny told me once on a Nightmare Night when I was just a lil filly, it's a story called 'The Mare of the Woods'." Applejack said in a gloomy tone.

Rainbow Dash piped up, "Hey, that rings a bell, I think I've heard of this tale before when I was a filly."

"Well then that makes two of us, anyway, they say that deep within the thicket of the Everfree Forest, there lived a mysterious being known to ponies as the Mare of the Woods. Folks say she's a monster that masquerades as a pony, and that it lives in the deep lakes in that there forest, silently watching anypony foolishly passing by, waiting for the chance to lure them into her grasp."

"And how, pray tell, does this 'Mare of the Woods' do this?" Rarity asked curiously.

"Well... My Granny told me that the monster in question takes on the shape of a beautiful mare when she comes out of the water. She may look normal on the outside, but her mane and tail remain damp and her coat slimy to touch, a dead give away that she isn't who she looks, as one unlucky young pony who got lost in the forest found out on that night."

"Oooh, what happened to him?" Pinkie Pie asked, eating another random bag of popcorn.

"The Mare of the Woods appeared to him in disguise, promising to lead the lost younging to safety, all he needed to do was to hitch a ride onto it's back. The colt did as he was told, then all of a sudden the mare ran, it ran as fast as the wind, straight towards the lake. The colt tried to tell it to stop, but it was too late, the mare dived right into the water, and in a blink of an eye she was gone, along with the poor colt, never to be seen again." Applejack said with a scary tone.

"I thought it was familiar, my mother told me this story too when I was a filly, I always thought it was a bunch of hokey smoke." Rainbow Dash said.

"This is very familiar to me too, but I can't think of what I'm thinking of." Twilight said, scratching her chin with her hoof while deep in thought.

"You know, the Mare of the Woods reminds me of a similar kind of monster in my world, only they were called 'Kelpies' and that they could shape-shift into humans." I said while thinking as well.

"That's what I was thinking of, Kelpies!" Twilight said loudly, "I read about them once in a book about monsters, nopony has ever seen one physically, but I think this 'Mare of the Woods' Applejack talked about might be that very creature." Twilight said excitedly.

"Could be, I know one thing, i'd be ready to stop such a monster from doing that to any poor little pony." Applejack said sternly.

"Say Anon, this 'Kelpie' you mentioned, are they just like this Mare of the Woods?" Rarity asked.

"Yes indeed, even down to luring in children towards a body of deep water, where it dives in with them and drowns them alive, some tales even say they actually eat them too, like a shark finding it's next meal." I said to them.

All the other ponies in the room looked at me wide eyed like I just grown a second head, Pinkie Pie made a noticeable gulp in her throat, and then put the popcorn over to the side out of the way.

"Yeeaaaaah, I think I've lost my appetite from hearing that." She said sombrely.

"Well, in any case Applejack definitely has the lead when it comes to scary stories." Rainbow Dash said as Applejack stood up all proud.

"I'll be the judge of that, since I also have a story to share tonight." Twilight said with a smirk.

Everyone in the room listened to Twilight beginning to tell her scary story.

"It was a dark and stormy night, just like this one, and a group of ponies were having a slumber party, a little like this one-"

"It's not the Headless Horse story again, is it darling?" Rarity interrupted with a frown.

Twilight's face went blank, then a sheepish smile creeped up upon it. The other ponies around the room looked rather unamused.

"Eh he he he heh, umm, maybe?" She said, her eyes darting around the room.

"Twilight, we've all heard that story about three times now, and it stopped being scary to us the second time round." Rainbow Dash said to her flatly.

"Yeah, ah feel that yarn has been spun one time too many." Applejack added.

"I've heard of the Headless Horseman, but never a Headless Horse." I also added.

"Okay okay fine! I'll tell you another story that I heard about from my old friends at Canterlot, it's called; 'The Knight of Darkness"

"This had better be good." Rainbow Dash said with a grump.

Twilight cleared her throat, then she used her magic to dim the lights of the room, all the while speaking in a low deep tone.

"There is an old tale, that tells of a figure that lived in an old castle far to the north in the lands of snow and ice, the figure was a knight, but he wasn't a pony, oh no, this knight walked on two legs, dressed head to hoof in black armour, with a cape as red as blood. In his left hoof he carried his weapon, a worn down broken sword, stained and dirty from  years of wear. Every night when the moon is up, he would stalk the castle hallways, always searching, always looking, for his master and liege, the ruler of the castle. But no matter how long he tried, he couldn't find anyone, not even a soul."

"Twilight, I hate to butt in, but this is starting to sound like a sad story." Rarity said.

"Well, it IS actually." Twilight said, raising her voice up in a huff.

"But we're supposed to be hearing scary stories silly, not saddy sad stories." Pinkie replied.

"Yeah Twilight, this is something you'd read about in a gothic novel by Egghead A Poe." Rainbow Dash added.

All the other ponies looked at her with surprise, they didn't think Rainbow would know about such books considering what she was into.

"What? I like reading other books beside Daring Do you know." She said with a shrug.

"As I was saying." Twilight said in annoyance, "Then, one night a lonely pony came wondering into the castle, he was lost and searching for shelter from the snow. He knew nothing about the place, but explored it anyway out of curiosity. He was soon lost in the castle, and the moon had risen up, and that meant the knight was active. The pony heard him  approaching from down the hall, forcing him to pick up the pace and find a place to hide. But no matter how hard the pony tried, the knight was always there searching, for you see, this knight could melt away into the shadows, disappearing in a blink of an eye, only to reappear out of nowhere like a ghost. Eventually the pony was trapped, stuck in the corner of the room with nowhere to go, and as the knight reappeared once again, he shouted out in fright and horror, for the knight as the pony had found, was also in fact, headless. With the poor victim cornered, the knight raised it's sword up and...-"

*CRASH*

Most of us jumped upon hearing the crashing noise, we all looked around and saw that Pinkie Pie had unintentionally broken one of juice bottles she had knocked over.

"Oppsie, sorry girls and guy, hehe, I was just getting another drink, but I think the cider is making me a little tipsy topsy." Pinkie said as she held another bottle in her teeth while making her way back to her seat.

"It's okay Pinkie, the story is pretty much finished anyway." Twilight said.

"Ugh, I can't believe it was another story about a headless monster, I mean really Twilight?" Rainbow Dash said with a hard frown.

"What!? It was just a coincidence, that's all!" Twilight said in protest.

"No offence sugarcube, but uh, you really need to read actual scary stories instead of those old pony tales." Applejack said.

"UGH, whatever!" Twilight said as she crossed her hooves in a grump.

"I don't mean to brag dearies, but so far, I haven't felt scared once, not even a tiny bit. You really should all step up your game if you want to get under my skin." Rarity said with a rather ladylike smug.

"Well then, I guess I'm gonna have to amp up the ante myself aren't I??" Rainbow Dash said as she stretched herself.

"You mean you know a scary story Rainbow?" Applejack asked with suspicion.

"Hay yeah! This one though is real scary, and I mean REAL SCARY!" Rainbow said boastfully.

"Is it a real doozy of a scary story?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"It's a super duper doozy of a scary story Pinkie Pie, and this one doesn't have any lameflank headless ponies either!"

"Hey! I resent that!" Twilight said, still sitting there all grumpy.

"Well I'll be the judge of that Rainbow, because so far I haven't even been scared either." I said with confidence.

"That makes two of us then darling." Rarity added.

"Oh yeah? Well you two better get comfortable, because I ain't holding back for this one!" Rainbow said as she flashed a wicked grin on her face.

"Fire away Rainbow." I said to her.

"Alrighty everypony, tell me, have you ever heard of a place called 'Sapphire Lake'?" Rainbow Dash asked the room.

"Ah've never heard of it." Applejack replied.

"Me neither, but the name makes it sound like it's quite the relaxing getaway." Rarity said.

"Heh heh heh, well it was, but there is also an urban legend about that place, one that's pretty hairy and spooky."

"Whoa nelly, you ain't saying it's going to be one of 'those' sorts of stories sugercube?" Applejack said with a raised eyebrow.

"You guessed right cowgirl. Now then, this story begins on one dark moonless night at the lakeside..."

I tuned out to what Rainbow Dash was saying as I was deep in thought. Something about her story was very familiar to me, I knew something like this before, but where? Urban legend, a lake, and it's a scary story, where does it all connect? Then I vaguely heard her say something about a masked pony who lurked in the area with a chainsaw, that's when it all came to me at once, and I soon went wide eyed, and a bit of a frown, hoo boy this story was really going to go there wasn't it?

"The pony group all went to their beds, hoping to catch a good night's sleep. But, little did they know that the masked pony was lurking in the woods, waiting for the right moment to strike them. As the last light went off in the huts, the pony made it's move, silently yet strongly making it's way towards them." Rainbow said in a low voice.

"This is sounding like some cheesy horror tale instead of a scary one to me Rainbow." Twilight said with an eyebrow raised.

Rainbow shot her a glare, then carried on.

"Then lifting up it's chainsaw, it revved it right up and cut right through the door of one of the huts. All the ponies were woken up by the sudden noise being made, just as the figure burst right inside, smashing down the door. The poor ponies jumped out of their beds as the psycho lunged at them, carving up their beds into pieces, smash, chop, buzz, leaving a mess all over the place!"

"Goodness, what happened next?" Rarity asked, holding her hooves up to her muzzle.

"The ponies ran out of the hut in fright, alerting the others who were also in bed at that time, but the psycho was hot on their trail as it carved it's way out of the hut wall. Some of the ponies tried to fight back by using dropped obstacles and debris to slow it down, but it either cut right through them like it was nothing or just smashed them aside. Eventually the ponies found themselves corned by the cliff edge, with no where to run or hide now, the psycho closed in on them!"

"T-they managed to escape somehow, right?" Applejack said nervously.

"Heh, well... they tried, but THEN, the psycho lunged straight at them, chainsaw held up high, it swung down towards them, and then...!"

*BZZZZZZZZZ*

At that moment a loud buzzing sound ripped through the room making us all jump in surprise, it sounded just like a chainsaw... wait.

"HEYYOUGIRLSWANNASEEMYPARTYCHAINSAWANDHAPPYMASK!?" Pinkie yelled out as she wielded said chainsaw, which had a suspicious "red" stained bar and chain above her, whilst wearing a scary looking smiling clown mask.

"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEIEEEEEE!!!" Rarity, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle cried out in fright, the three of them hugging each other tightly in the middle of the room.

Rainbow Dash seemed to be just as surprised as the other girls, but it was hard to gauge if she was scared or not. As for me, I just sat there frozen, too stiff to move or scream. Pinkie turned her chainsaw off and lifted up her mask.

"Hehehe, sorry about that, but I always keep this party chainsaw around just for emergencies."

The three ponies in the middle were too stiff to move or talk, their eyes wider than dinner plates, Rainbow Dash however seemed angry as she got up and went up towards Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, as awesome as it was that you had that chainsaw around just for the right moment in my story, please tell us WHY in the love of Celestia would you even need such a thing for an emergency!?" Rainbow Dash said in a raised voice.

"Easy-peasy, if a cake is too big to cut through with a knife and needs a little extra heft, I turn to my chainsaw for that situation, cuts through them like hot butter." Pinkie said while lifting said weapon up for show.

"You mean that red stain on the bar is just cherry sauce after all?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

I watched the ponies expressions sink further from what I just said, Rarity seemed to look like she was gonna faint, Twilight had a hoof on her mouth while looking queasy, while Rainbow Dash looked at me thoroughly unamused.

"You just had to lower the tone, didn't you Anon?" Rainbow said.

"Hey, someone was gonna say something about it regardless, I figured I'd be the one to do it." I said with a shrug.

"Well in any case, ah think we all know how that story ends..." Applejack said with a sigh.

"A sticky bloody mess with meaty chunks?" I said bluntly.

"Oh my, ooaaahhh..." Rarity said as she fainted onto the ground.

"Anon! Don't you know how to be subtle when it's necessary!?" Twilight shouted at me.

"That was subtle! I could've said worse and still got the point across." I said, sticking my tongue out.

"That maybe so, but y'all know how faint Rarity gets when it comes to the more... 'harsh' parts of horror." Applejack said, fanning Rarity to try to wake her up.

"Yeah, she would faint if anypony were to mistake some ketchup on the floor for something else." Rainbow added.

"That's not helping, Rainbow." Twilight said to her with a frown.

"Whatever."

"Hey umm, can I put this chainsaw away now? It's starting to get a little heavy" Pinkie asked as she struggled to hold it up.

"Yes please Pinkie, I think this scary storytelling has gone off track enough." Twilight said as she trotted back to her seat.

"Wait, you saying we should stop?" Rainbow asked intently.

"Ohhh, I think so dears, I feel like I'm gonna be sick." Rarity said queasily, having regained conciseness.

"Awww filly! But we haven't even got to hear Anon's story yet. You did have one in mind didn't ya?" Rainbow asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"It's okay Rainbow, I didn't have a story in mind to tell anyway."

"Laaaaaammme!" Rainbow cried out in frustration.

"Do you girls think we should take another break for a bit?" Twilight asked the room.

"Oh heaven's yes! I need a little refresher after that story!" Rarity said as she headed on downstairs to the bathroom, no doubt to settle her stomach down.

"Ohhh yes, I could use another cupcake." Pinkie said as she bounced on over to the table.

"Ah thought y'all lost yer appetite earlier on?" Applejack asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I did lose it earlier, but now it's come back to me after a little vacation." Pinkie said as she munched a cupcake down whole.

Applejack looked dumbfounded, but Rainbow just shrugged it off as she joined her friends over by the snack table, "That's Pinkie for you." 

"Well I suppose I can help myself to something." I said as I went on over to join the others for the break.







After the break had finished, we decided that we would engage in various activities of our own choosing before winding down for bedtime. Rarity and Twilight were both at the makeshift salon doing makeovers, Pinkie Pie was busy engaging in a cake eating contest with Rainbow Dash, leaving me and Applejack on our own. We sat down next to each other near the middle table eating our share of food, not sure how to pass the time. I decided to start up a conversation by asking about something that I've been curious about for a while now, the Zap Apple harvest season.

"Is it true that the Zap Apple Harvest is coming up?"

"Sure is partner, the first sign will start any day now, the howl of the Timber wolves from the Everfree Forest."

"But most apples are already ripe and bucked by now aren't they? What makes these ones different?"

"Ah not all apples sugarcube, some varieties are only ripe in Fall, the Zap Apples are one of them, and these aren't like any other apples out there, they only last for a single day, if we don't pick them, they all disappear for another year."

"And the howls of the Timber wolves are the first sign of them coming?"

"That's right Anon.

"I remember when I first met those wooden freaks, they were anything but friendly."

"Eheheh... it's a good thang we found yer before you became their lunch."

"Only because I screamed so loud that you could hear it for over a mile away."

"Like a filly as well, might ah add?" 

I frowned at her while Applejack started laughing.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Apples, those things ruined my trousers, I felt so silly walking to your home after that."

"It could've been worse partner, you could've lost yer arms and legs, or even yer head."

"Yeah, and my butt hanging out the rear end of my torn trousers wasn't?"

"What's wrong with that? Y'all see our butts out all the time yet you never complain about it."

"Well, for you ponies it's about as normal as not wearing clothes, but for my kind, it's seen as humiliating and silly."

"Yeah, what with that polished rear end and all." Rainbow Dash called out, snickering loudly.

"Oh stuff yourself Rainbow." I said while crossing my arms.

"Oh I'll do plenty of that, and laugh at your expense!" She retorted with a smug expression, then going back to stuffing herself in the competition.

"Hmph!" I said grumpily.

"Don't take what she said to heart sugarcube, tell ya what, as soon as the Zap apples are ready, you may have the first batch on me." Applejack said.

I looked over at her with a surprise, "Wow really? Do you mean it? I mean I don't mind paying for it at all."

Applejack shook her head, "Neigh partner, you've been a big help to everypony ever since yer got here, ah feel you deserved it as a reward for the hard work you been putting into the orchid."

"She's right you know darling, why thanks to you I was able to get my advance orders of dresses up to Canterlot, ready just in time for the upcoming Gala, I was expecting to make multiple trips there, but you were able to carry all of them in just one trip." Rarity said under the heavy amount of mud mask.

"I'll add in as well that you've been a big help here at the library, I'd say your organizational skills are just as sharp as mine." Twilight said with a smile.

I was left stunned, I didn't know what to say at all, I mean I knew the ponies were often fairly generous when it came to giving away goods, but I didn't think they would go as far as to give away something as valuable as Zap Apples, such things only come about once a year.

"Well umm, gosh AJ, I'm grateful that you are willing to do that just for me."

"It's nothing partner, ah figured for yer first time seeing Zap Apples, you should be treated to an exclusive batch all to yourself." She said, smiling warmly.

"I don't know about you ponies, but I feel like having one more game before we go beddy-byes for the night." Pinkie said, clutching a small trophy in her hooves from beating Rainbow Dash in the eating contest, who was looking like she had just lost a fight.

"Another game? Well I don't feel up to doing anything physical, like pillow fights." Twilight said with a frown.

"Oh no no no no, I am not letting you ruin my pillows this time!" Rarity shouted, instinctively jumping over and covering the pillows on her bed.

"Yeahhhhh I'm not feeling up to such a thing tonight either Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said with a groan.

"No no no silly, I never said we'd do a pillow fight. I'm saying we should do a different game, one that'll leave us satisfied for tonight, especially after the last activity we just had didn't end on a good note." Pinkie said.

"If that's the case then I'm fine with that, but what sort of game would fit that description?" Twilight said, pondering.

"Hang on one second, Anon, you said you knew a few games from yer world right?" Applejack said looking up at me.

"Well yeah, I do know a few of them, but I don't know if any of them exist here in this world." I said.

"Would y'all mind sharing one of them with us? Ah figured since this is your first sleepover you should get to pick the last activity for tonight."

"Hey that's not a bad idea at all." Twilight said in agreement.

"Well I'm game if you both are, so tell us Anon, what game shall we play from your world?" Rainbow Dash said sitting up.

That was a tough question to answer, I did know a few games that I wanted to introduce them to to see if they heard of it, or at least understood how it worked. I racked through my head on what game to try, which one to try out. Then it hit me, I grew a smile on my face as I thought up the perfect game to try out, it was the only one they would get easily.

"I think I know just the game for us to try out." I said at last.

"Oh oh oh oh! What game is it? What game is it?" Pinkie said bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Tell me girls, have you ever heard of something called 'Scenes from a hat' before?" I asked them.

They all looked at me rather confused, except Pinkie who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Never heard of it, is it any good?" Rainbow Dash asked bluntly.

"Oh it's pretty good, and it can get funny too with some of the topics that we choose and have to describe."

"Topics? Is this game like charades?" Rarity asked curiously, still busy with her makeover.

"It is kinda like it yes, but I'll explain it more if we're all on board with this." I said to them.

"Well ah'm on board, it sounds different from our usual fare." Applejack said.

"Me too, I like trying out new games, especially if they're fun!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"So then, how does this game work?" Twilight asked.

"Well as the name implies, it involves a hat, and inside the hat are pieces of paper that all describe scenes, and we have to do our best to act them out anyway we can, we can either try to be accurate, or try to be as funny and out of context as possible. We're free to take as many turns as we want for each topic, ideally three turns to keep it fair, then the host of the scene decides which of the acts was the best one to them, and we get awarded a point for it, then whoever got the point in that round picks the next scene from the hat and the rest of us have to act it out and it goes on like that." I explained to them.

"Well colour me interested darling, this is an excuse for me to practice my refined acting skills" Rarity said as she finished cleaning off her makeup.

"Hah, I can certainly do some comedy with my bad acting." Rainbow said, proudly admitting as such.

"And if anypony needs anything out of context, I'm the perfect pony for the job." Pinkie said, again admitting to it.

"Whoa whoa everypony, hang on a minute, wouldn't you need to prepare all of this in advance beforehand, Anon?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Funny you should say that Twiggie, I actually did prepare ahead of time, I got a bunch of scenes that I wrote up on paper in my drawer, I did it all a while ago for fun." I said as I went on over to a drawer with my name on it, 

"Anon! What have I told you about using that nickname publicly!?" Twilight said angrily, while Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack snickered behind her.

"What do you mean by publicly, Twilight dear?" Rarity asked with ladylike intrigue, looking over at her.

"N-n-nothing, nothing at all!" Twilight said with a nervous smile, shifting her eyes back and forth, but the others just looked on with smirks.

"Sorry Twilight, slip of the tongue." I said, sticking said tongue out, opening up the drawer and taking out a whole stack of papers with writing on it, "But yes, I actually already prepared for this beforehand since I have been wanting to do this for a good while, now we just need a hat to use and we're ready to go."

"Hey, we can use Rarity's prince hat, that'll do the job." Pinkie said as she took the hat in question and laid on the small table in the middle.

"Well, at least that tacky old thing can be put to good use at last." Rarity said with disgust.

"We'll also need a little stage area for everyone to act out the topics." I said.

"We'll set up an improve one over here, while you go and get the hat ready." Rainbow Dash gestured.

I nodded at her, then proceeded to put the papers with all the topics on them into the hat, shuffling them about, after that was done I stood up and ready. Meanwhile Rainbow and Applejack cleared away a part of the room, adjusting the lights on the ceiling to shine on it, and have a few props out ready for use if necessary. It wasn't long before we were all ready to start the game.

"You know what, ah say we let Anon pick the first topic since this is his game." Applejack said.

"That's a good idea, you okay with that Anon?" Twilight said.

"Sure I'm fine with it, are you girls all ready?"

"Ready!" They all said in unison.

"Okay then, our first topic from the hat is... Weird things to see on a sign post." I said, picking the first card from the hat.

"Ohhh, that could be a lot of things." Pinkie said aloud.

"Well, I've got one in mind." Rainbow said with a grin.

"If any of you think of a response to this topic, you can just get up to the stage and act it out, no need to wait for a signal." I said with a smile.

"Oh, right!" Rainbow said as she trotted up to the stage, cleared her throat and then made a gesture as if she was reading a sign, "Caution, this sign has sharp edges."

There was a snicker from Pinkie pie, but everyone else seemed to be neutral.

"That'd be weird, but not weird enough for me." I said bluntly.

Rainbow Dash just blew a raspberry at me and walked off, while Pinkie Pie got up on the stage next.

"Help me, I'm trapped in a cake making factory!" Pinkie said as she acted like a prisoner making cakes.

This got a few decent giggles from the others, but Rarity still remained stoic as Applejack got up next.

"Stop, hammer time!" She said while gesturing.

"Bwahahaha, yes!" I said bursting out laughing, clapping to her performance.

"Whoa, that got him that time." Rainbow said watching on.

"Heh heh, ah actually saw that written once on a sign post a while back, ah wondered if it would come in handy someday." Applejack said as she walked off the stage while Rainbow made her way back up.

"You are entering Cloudsdale, no solid surface for 200 miles!" She said while hovering up, then acting as if she saw somepony else falling.

That got a few more laughs from the girls, though Twilight looked confused.

"But that's true, right?" She said, looking at everyone in confusion.

"Yeah, but think of the funny side of it, it's a bit of humour amongst us Pegasus ponies." Rainbow said as she walked off.

It took a few seconds for it all to sink in, then Twilight went wide eyed, while everyone else continued laughing.

"Ugh, typical pegasi humour." Twilight said crossing her arms.

"Lighten up booksmarts, it's just a joke." I said as Pinkie went up on the stage next.

"When the red light is flashing, get on down with the groove." Pinkie said next on stage, doing a little dance as Applejack and Rainbow Dash snickered.

"You know, I'm sure you can get arrested for that in Manehatton." Rarity said out loud, she then decided to trot up on the stage to have a go.

"Fire away madame, let's hear it." I called out to her.

"There is a sandwich up ahead, too bad you can't have it." She said while pretending to be eating it.

"HEY, that's really mean! I wanted that sandwich!" Pinkie Pie said, pouting hard.

"Too bad darling, the sign says no." Rarity said with a smirk as she walked off.

"Awww, first the cupcake and now this, I can never catch a break." Pinkie sighed as Twilight went on stage finally.

"If you are reading this, then you are lost in the Everfree Forest." Twilight said while acting scared.

"Yeeeaaah I would not want to be lost in there ever, how Zecora doesn't get lost I'll never know." Rainbow said in thought.

"If y'all can read this, then you've already crashed into this here sign." Applejack said as she clumsily imitated said gesture.

"Hah, I can think of one pony who would fall for that." I said clapping more.

"Yeah... that's no mystery at all." Rainbow said as she thought of a certain bubble headed pony.

"I think that's all for this round, now then which one was the best." I said while deep in thought.

I wasn't gonna lie that this round was rather tame, there was one or two funny ones in there, but yeah this was pretty much just a warm up for what was coming up next, and I was hoping they would start digging into each other as well since that was always one of the highlights from that show, at least in my view.

"You know, as funny as Applejack's hammer time was, I think Rarity's is the winner, because that would be the weirdest thing I'd ever see on a sign, not to mention mean as well."

"Yay! Anon is sticking up for me!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I don't know if you are saying that in an ironic way or not, but either way thank you Anon, first point to Rarity!" She said as she hopped up an down a little.

"Ahh ponyfeathers, ah thought ah had it in the bag." Applejack said, looking disappointed.

"Well since Rarity won, she gets to pick the next topic from the hat." I said gesturing to the hat in question.

Rarity went on over to the hat, sneering at it a little before using her magic to pick out a topic, "Ahem, this next topic is... Unlikely things to read in a greetings card."

"Ohhh this is gonna be fun." I said with a wide grin on my face.

"And ah think this is gonna be trouble" Applejack said in return as she watched Twilight go up on stage.

"Congratulations on passing your grade, or you would've if you actually finished your homework." She said, to a few chuckles.

"Hah, good one, but how about this?" Rainbow said as she flew onto the stage, "Congratulations, you won nothing."

Rarity snickered loudly, "Simple and blunt, I find that rather amusing!"

"My turn! You are invited to a party, a farewell party, yes, it's your funeral!" Pinkie said next as she pretended to do a sad violin pose.

That got plenty of laughs going round, poor Rainbow was keeled over in laughter, Applejack was hiding her face in her hoofs while visibly belly laughing, while Twilight and Rarity were in fits in their seats, even Pinkie couldn't hold back her giggles and was laughing too.

"Pffft hahahaha, that's a late greetings card if I ever saw one!" I said while leaning back in absolute laughter. 

Saying that made all the ponies laugh even harder, to the point where they were visibly tearing up in their eyes. After we let things calmed down after a minute of laughter, Applejack went up on stage next, I was curious what sort of hitters she could pull out for this one. 

"Ahem, Congratulations on getting hitched, hitched to a post that is, y'all are under arrest." She said while making a typical policemare's gesture.

"Hahahaha, if I was a cop I'd so do something like that!" Rainbow said while laughing hard.

"It ain't too late to change careers now sugarcube." Applejack said with a smirk.

"Maybe in my next life I'll do that, anyhoo." Rainbow said as he went up on stage next, "Sorry for your loss, but at least we'll be getting something out of it."

"Ahahaha, ohhh no!" I yelled out as I burst out laughing again.

"Wow, that's pretty dark RD." Pinkie said with a surprised look.

"Is that a bad thing?" Rainbow asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at all!" Pinkie said with a smile.

"Well in any case I do appreciate some darker humour, it helps get things off our chests." Rarity said.

"I think I'll take a turn now." I said as I made my way up on the stage.

"Ohhh I wonder what he'll say." Pinkie said with enthusiasm. 

I acted like I was ill and reading a card, "Get well soon, yes we know it's terminal, but they didn't have one for that."

"Ooooooohhh" All the ponies went, while Applejack looked a little uncomfortable.

"Umm Anon? That's a little too close to home for me." She said, looking at me with a sad expression, silently pawing her front hoof on the ground.

"Ohhh umm, sorry AJ, I know that subject is a little too touchy for you." I said, trying to defuse the awkwardness.

"Hey hey, it's all in good fun, I mean he didn't meant that at all, right?" Pinkie asked with a hopeful expression.

"Not at all, I said it in good fun, not in a mean spirited way at all." I replied.

"See? He is a good egg after all Applejack." Pinkie said as she patted her Apple friend.

"Well, ah suppose ah can see the funny side of that joke, even with the implications." Applejack said, smiling a little again as Twilight took her turn next.

"Roses are red, Violets are blue, I'm locked up in Tartarus, and thinking of you." She said as she pretended to write a letter with a wicked grin on her face.

"Ohhh I'd HATE to get a card like that." Rarity said, shifting her eyes around.

"I think we all can agree with that." Twilight said as she left the stage and I took her place.

"Sorry that you are leaving, just kidding we're celebrating!" I said while pretending to pop a bottle of champagne.

"Bwaahahaha!" Rainbow said as she feel to the ground in stitches, "Ohhh filly, that is so bad!"

"Pffftt, I have to a-admit that as bad as that one is, I can't h-help but find it rather amusing-hahaha." Rarity said, trying very hard not to burst out laughing herself.

"Shucks Anon you sure have some pretty heavy hitters up your sleeve don'tcha?" Applejack said, sounding impressed.

"Just you wait, I got plenty left to dish out." I said with a smirk.

"Well I think that's enough from this round, now then let's see..." Rarity said as she went deep in thought

This round had some pretty good ones out the gate now that everyone had gotten warmed up over it, I was confident that I was going to win this round, or so I thought.

"Hmmm... I'm going to go for Pinkie's funeral party, it's just such an unlikely card to receive, that and it got top marks for comedy." Rarity said.

"Weeee! I won a round!" Pinkie said as she leaped up into the air.

"Shoot, I really thought I had it that time." I said, surprised that I didn't get a point.

"Well it's still open season everypony, pick the next topic Pinkie." Rainbow said.

"Gladly!" She shouted as he bounced over to the hat and picked out the next topic, "Okie dokie, the next topic is, The worst thing to read about in the newspaper."

"Hoo boy, this is gonna be harsh, ah just know it." Applejack said thoughtfully as the others snickered around her.

"Oh I'll go first this time." Rainbow said as she trotted onto the stage, "Fashion disaster at the Grand Galloping Gala, Suri's dresses fall apart at the flanks."

That got plenty of laughs, but surprisingly, Rarity laughed much harder than normal, almost as if she liked it too much.

"Well I wouldn't call that the worst thing I'd ever read, considering how I feel about that particular fashionista." She said with a hint of disgust as she went up on stage next.

"You and me both, sister." The others ponies said in unison as Applejack went up next.

"Freak weather accident in Baltimare, yellow coloured snow falls around streets as locals express disgust." She said as she looked around in disgust at the imagined sight.

"Hah!" I said as I chuckled at the amusing image, it seemed my humour was starting to rub off on her.

"Yuck! Ugh I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen once considering how filthy that city can get!" Rainbow said with a harsh frown, she seemed to know exactly what the joke was about.

"Umm, about the snow, it's not frozen apple cider is it?" Twilight asked naively to everyone, but this made us all look at her with an expression that can be read as "seriously?", Rainbow in particular was glaring hard at her.

"Seriously Twilight? Seriously!? You don't get it at all?!"

"What!? No I don't get it at all, what is it?" Twilight asked, looking very confused.

"Ugghh... let's just say, the less said about it the better." Rainbow said, crossing her hooves while looking away disgusted.

Unfortunately for her, I couldn't pass up this chance to "rain" on her parade as they say, and so with a cheeky grin on my face, I got up next to take my turn.

"And in other news today a rain depraved village was blessed with a miracle, a 'golden shower' if you will." I said as I gestured reading a paper.

"AAUUUGGGH! Seriously Anon, what the buck is wrong with you!?" Rainbow said, staring intense daggers right at me.

"Ohhh no no no no, that's just so gross!" Pinkie said as she tried to look grossed out, but was also visibly giggling too.

"Whoa nelly, and ah thought my joke was bad, that's just so much worse!" Applejack said, trying to control her belly laugh.

"Sorry Rainbow, but I couldn't resist 'raining' on your day as they say" I said to her, still sporting that cheeky grin.

"Oh ha ha ha ha, laugh it up human, you won't be laughing later on." Rainbow said with huff.

"I still don't get what's going on about all this 'yellow' stuff, I mean what's so bad about it?" Twilight said, so naive about what I was implying.

"I'll tell you later, now let's get on with the show." I said as I took my seat.

"Gladly darling, we should get off from this vile topic right away." Rarity said in disgust as she walked up next to take her turn, "Big news, Apple stocks fell rapidly as ponies prefer Strawberries instead!" She said while gesturing.

"Ohhh, that is harsh!" Rainbow said while laughing.

"HEY! That's a load of bull spit and you know it!" Applejack shouted, looking really riled up.

"I know darling, that's why the topic is the worst thing to read about in the papers, I'd be shocked to see that in there." Rarity said with an innocent smile, but it did nothing to soothe Applejack.

"Me too, I don't know what I'd do without your tasty apples." Pinkie said as she munched on said apple.

"Well it is true that not everypony is going to like them, heck one of my old friends is not a fan of them at all, she prefers oranges instead." Twilight said as Applejack glared at her.

"Yeah, it's just a fact that not everything is apples." Rainbow said nonchalantly.

"Grrrr, ah swear y'all are just trying to soil my mood hard right now." Applejack said angrily while bearing her teeth.

"Relax Applejack, it's all in good fun, but... if you really want to, you should try to one up on her." I said to her with a smile.

"Uh, what now?" Applejack said, looking at me confused.

"What he's saying is, you need to up your game Applejack if you want to get even with Rarity." Rainbow said bluntly.

"Ohh! Well then, ah'll take my turn next if y'all don't mind." Applejack said in a huff, walking to the stage, "Ahem, latest trend! Ponies prefer brown and green for their dresses instead of pink!" Applejack said as she acted out like she was wearing said dress.

"AUGH! Such an awful, terrible, worst possible combination ever! I dread to even imagine it!" Rarity said in disgust, while Rainbow just snickered.

"Heheheh, how do you like them apples Rar?" Applejack with with a smug smile.

"Touche, Applejack" Rarity said in return as she watched Rainbow take her turn next.

"Terror in the skies! Pegasi attempts to put out a fire accidentally spread Parasprites all over the place!" She said as she looked around in panic.

All of the ponies groaned hard in disgust, Pinkie in particular.

"Hehehe, that's what you get for the yellow weather jokes, you're welcome." She said as she went back to her seat.

"Ummm, what is a Parasprite may I ask?" I said with an open mind.

"You don't wanna know, trust me, it caused all of us a real headache back when it happened." Pinkie Pie said with a frown.

"Ah right, that bad I see." I said, watching Twilight take her turn next.

"News report about a hairless animal in the area, turned out to be just Anon in the woods." Twilight said with a giggle.

A few ponies laughed at that, but I was just smirking, so she wanted to play that game huh, well she's asked for it.

"So you wanna play that game huh, Twiggie? Well you asked for it now." I said as I stood up to take my turn.

"Hoo boy, you've done it now Twi." Applejack said.

"Come on, what's the worst thing he could possibly say short of offending me?" Twilight said with a confident pose.

"Ahem, awful tragedy strikes as firemen carry out nationwide burning of all books!" I said as I imitated setting a pile on fire with a match.

"Ooooohhhh." Everypony said as they all had wide eyes, Twilight however looked like she had just witnessed a murder happen right in front of her.

"You were saying, princess?" Rainbow said to her.

"T-t-that's t-terrible! W-why would anypony even do such a... blasphemous thing!?" She said in a half shouting half shocked tone.

"Yes I know it is terrible, but you know what's funny though? That's from a real story in my world, a story about people burning stories." I said, smiling at the irony of that statement.

It took less than a minute for that to sink in, then as soon they made the connection in their heads, they all started chuckling.

"Hey you're right, that is pretty funny." Twilight said as she laughed, seeing the irony of that statement.

"Hehehe I mean why make a story about burning stories, that's so silly." Pinkie said as she tried to control her belly laugh, "I think just for that Anon, you win this round."

"Wow really? Woohoo!" I said, fist pumping in the air.

"Aww come on! No fair!" Rainbow said angrily.

"Relax Rainbow, we still have plenty of time to get a point." Twilight said, still itching to score one for herself.

"Well then, I'll just go and pick a new topic for us to do." I said as I made my way to the hat to pick the next topic.

I lost track of time from how much fun we were having with the topics, the jokes, and the gags that we were acting out as part of the game. Of course we did end up doing plenty of ribs at each others expense, but we kept things under control and never let it get out of hand. That being said, it wasn't long before we started to feel sleepy and tired, the moon was now shining into the bedroom from outside, the storm having cleared up while we were playing. As we finished what we decided to be the last round of the night, I glanced up at the clock on the wall, my heavy eyes widening in surprise.

"Holy shoot everyone, it's nearly 11 o'clock!" I said.

"Whoa really? Dang, we really lost track of time this time..." Applejack said sleepily.

"I know, this has been the most fun game that I... have ever played." Pinkie said as she yawned.

"Yeah... I need to hit the hay to recharge my awesome tanks for tomorrow." Rainbow said as she made her way over to her sleeping bag.

"Ah still can't believe that you won in the end Rarity, ah mean, ah didn't take you to have such muddy mind." Applejack said to Rarity.

"Ahahaha, well Applejack my dear, I maybe a lady in appearance, but even I have my impulses and dark mindsets, especially after hanging out with certain circles in Manehatton, oh and Anon of course." Rarity said as she skipped over to her inflatable mattress bed.

"Well I think it's been a very exciting and enjoyable game, thank you for introducing it to us Anon, we should do it again one day." Twilight said as she trotted over to her sleeping bag.

"I agree, I should spread the news about this when I next host a party, I bet it'll catch on fast." Pinkie said as she put on her nightcap.

"Well I know one thing, next time I'm gonna win." Rainbow said as she let out a long yawn.

"I'm sure we'll be playing again at some point, but until then, we should all get some well deserved sleep for the night." I said as I made my way up to Twilight Sparkles bed next to the window.

"Ah agree, ah'm pooped and ready to dream right now." Applejack said as she yawned a proper drawl, prepping her sleeping bag.

We all took our time to set up the beds for the night, then we all took turns going to the bathroom to take care of any last minute things such as brushing teeth, tying up hair, or having a last minute glass of water. Rarity ended up taking the longest out of anyone since she insisted on doing up her hair properly and more so, while Rainbow didn't bother to do any of that at all, instead she went straight to sleep before the rest of us. As for me, I took the second longest out of us since I had to get changed into my pyjamas, one of the few things that survived my accidental trip to Equestria, I kept the door locked so as to prevent the girls from peeking on me while I change, but I could swear that I heard a voice or two behind the door, not to mention the uncanny feeling of being spied on through the keyhole, I have a pretty good idea on who it was too. Anyway before long we had all finished preparing for the night, then we all made our ways to our beds, climbing into the sheets, ready for a good night's sleep.

"Well everypony, it;s been a fun and enjoyable night, sleep well and have good night's sleep, good night!" Twilight said as she tucked herself in.

"Good night!" Everypony said to her as they all tucked in for the night, I followed suit and tucked myself in too.

I silently listened to all of the ponies going to sleep one by one, as for me, I laid there on the pillow in Twilight's bed, thinking about the events that happened at the sleepover tonight. At the beginning when they first invited me to attend, I didn't know how this sleepover was going to turn out considering my previous stance towards it, but now, after taking part in it and experiencing it first hand, I can honestly say that... I had really been missing out, it turns out they do way more at these sleepovers than I originally believed, I mean heck they even allowed me to host a game from my own world too, not something I had thought about ever. Looking back on it all right now, tonight was a heck of lot of fun, I had fun messing with the ponies during Truth or Dare or the recent Scene's from a Hat, we gorged on all the food and drink we had, I even kinda enjoyed the scary stories, even if it didn't all go as they had planned. I suppose the highlight of the evening for me personally was my epic showdown with Rainbow Dash, even if I did end up losing in the end I won her respect, and that's something I can be proud of no matter what.

There is more that I could think off, but I could feel my eyes getting heavier and my yawns getting more common, so with a turn of my head towards the window, I took a last gaze up at the moon, shining brightly among the stars as usual, the Princess of the night does a stellar job raising it up every night, I wish that I could witness it just once myself. The last thing I remember is a smile on my face as I started drifting off to sleep, well it would've been right away if Rainbow Dash wasn't such a loud snorer, seriously does that pony not know how to pipe it down? Anyway, after a bit I was able to finally drift off into a deep sleep, who would've thought sleepovers would be so much fun.
> Chapter 5 - A New Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seemed to have been ages since I had a good nights sleep, I pretty much slept like a log throughout the night, it probably had something to do with the fact that since I first ended up in Equestria, I have mainly been sleeping on a sofa that also doubles as a bed when needed. However when it comes to comfort, it left plenty to be desired, the sofa seats were not soft at all, and the the hard back of the sofa made it difficult to spread out the legs. Twilight's bed on the other hand was super comfortable, I have no idea why but it just felt so relaxing and soothing to sleep in, must be the quality of the mattress and the pillows she had bought when she decided to move into here a few years ago. Sure it did feel a little worn out, and there that smell to it, must be lavender mixed with daffodils or something, but even so it was a comfortable bed to sleep the night in.

I could feel the sunlight hitting me on the face by this point, it was most likely the early morning by now. The time when all the ponies started to get ready for work after having a filling breakfast, I could hear the sounds of the little ones walking nearby as they trotted off to school for the day, along with the flap of wings from the Pegasi as they flew around to do their morning weather duties. Smiling to myself at the thought of how nice today will be, I turned around to my right to try and get a few more minutes of slumber, only to feel something, or someone next to me. Whatever it was, it was warm to feel, soft to touch, and there was a smell too, different from what I could tell from the bed, it was a sweet cake like smell, with a hint of sugar. I was puzzled about what was going on as I moved my right arm to investigate, that's when I felt a hoof, soft and tender, along with a slight giggle, a very familiar giggle. At this point I opened up my eyes and that's when I saw her, the pink apocalypse herself, laying in the bed with me.

"Uuahhh, Pinkie Pie? What are you doing in my bed?"

She seemed to have been waiting for me to wake up since her eyes opened up right away to look at me, with that signature smile of hers.

"Hey Nonny, you just looked a little lonely sleeping up here all by yourself, so I figured I'd sneak into your bed and help keep you company during the night as your sleeping buddy."

"How the heck did you manage to do that? I would've noticed if you... wait that's a rhetorical question."

"Silly, nopony notices when I sneak in and out of places, I'm an expert at stealth after all."

"Somehow, I find that easy to believe."

"Hehehe, well anyway, I helped to keep you company, although, it looks like I wasn't the only pony who had that idea."

"Why? What do you mean by that?"

Pinkie used her hoof to point to the front of the bed, I sat up and took a look, and saw Twilight's sleeping bag, with the princess herself still sound asleep in it, she must've moved it up here during the night.

"How did she get up here? I thought she would be sleeping down there with the others" I said, now more confused.

"Isn't it obvious Nonny? Twilight also thought you were looking a little lonely up here by yourself, so she moved her sleeping bag up here to keep you company, she probably did it after I had sneaked in with you." Pinkie said, now sounding more awake and sitting up a little.

I looked at Pinkie and Twilight back and forth again and again, I didn't know what to think, they really thought I looked lonely up here by myself next to the window? That feeling didn't really come to me at all during my sleep, although, I guess when looking at it from their point of view, it does look pretty lonely. Still, I couldn't help but smile at her for being such a friend and thinking about me.

"Well, to tell the truth Pinkie, I wasn't really feeling lonely up here by myself, but, I do appreciate you thinking about me and wanting to keep me company regardless." I said to her, sitting up and patting her mane.

"Hehehe, that's what best friends are for, and all that you've done for us at this sleepover, and taking Fluttershy's place when she wasn't able to come, I feel like you have earned yourself a little reward." Pinkie said, sitting up and stretching her hoofs up.

"What kind of reward?"

"Oh you'll see later on, looks like everypony else is already getting up."

True to word, all the girls were starting to wake up, Applejack got up first, giving out a hearty yawn as she stretched out her hoofs, seems like she too also slept like a log during the night. Rarity got up next, gently sitting up on her mattress bed, giving out a lady like yawn while looking into a nearby mirror and going wide eyed over her mane looking messy, even though from what I can tell it looks pristine still. Rainbow Dash however was still fast asleep and snoring like a hyena, I guess she must be heavy sleeper, or that she was more worn out than she let on. Finally Twilight herself sat up, stretching both her legs and her wings out in full form, she then looked on other towards me, seeing that I had noticed her moving her sleeping bag up to the window next to the bed, giving me a sheepish smile while doing so.

"Eh heh heh heh, umm I can explain this Anon, you see-"

"Oh don't worry Twilight, I already told him all about it." Pinkie said as she leaned over on the bed.

"Wait Pinkie? What are you doing in his bed? I thought you were sleeping down there?"

"I am, or at least I was." Pinkie said, sticking her tongue out.

Twilight looked on down at Pinkies sleeping bag, it did look like there was something sleeping in it, Applejack and Rarity having heard the conversation moved on over to check it, opening it up they found a pillow, and some balloons, along with the expected confetti bursting in their faces.

"I should've known Pinkie would stuff her bed full of party tricks." Applejack said, wiping the confetti off her face.

"Hehehe, it makes a good security system when I'm elsewhere." Pinkie said, giggling at the scene.

"Still, I have to give credit to her, being so bold as to sneak into the gentlecolts bed at night time, why Pinkie I never knew you had it in you." Rarity said, looking at her with ladylike intritgue.

Twilight just rolled her eyes, but Pinkie, who took a few seconds to process what Rarity just said, simply laughed it off.

"Hehehe, oh no no no Rarity, he just looked like he needed a sleeping pony for the night, so I volunteered myself to do so while everypony else slept."

"Oh please darling, I know something is going on here that you won't spill the beans on, and I want to know it." Rarity said with a smug look.

Applejack started chuckling behind her, "Shucks Rar, y'all sound like yer jealous of Pinkie managing to sneak her way into his bed."

Rarity went wide eyed and started blushing, Twilight was starting to feel a little awkward about all this, while I just sat there just confused about what the heck was even going on.

"W-w-what? What makes you say that Applejack? I was only asking Pinkie a question."

"Yeah you were asking a question, but you were also eager to gobble up anything juicy she could spit out too, I know whatcha like when it comes to romance and crushes Rar."

"Hehe, no silly, I could never spit out anything juicy, especially if I can just gobble it all down." Pinkie said as she randomly did so to one of the leftover apples from last night.

Rarity and Applejack looked on with a dead expression, until she cleared her throat and spoke up, "Umm, back to the script, just because I have a weakness for such things doesn't mean that isn't my craving darling, maybe it's you who is jealous of not being able to snuggle up to Anon at night."

Applejack's eyes nearly popped out, "W-w-whut? T-that's got nothing to do with this! Ah mean... yes ah wouldn't mind it one bit, but ah would ask for it first instead of just sneaking into the sack like a weasel in the hen house."

"Who are you calling a weasel!? Why I never, at least I would be comfortable to sleep with unlike you, you'd probably just bruise him with all your tossing and turning."

"Hey now! Ah ain't that rough sleeping in bed, I respect anypony's personal space and let them sleep till the run rises."

"That maybe so, but I'd be the better sleeping pony anyway."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are too darling!"

The argument went on and on, me and Pinkie just looked on with amusement, but Twilight just face hoofed, she was not in the mood for another one of these arguments here in her house today. She was about to speak up when Rainbow Dash stood up and shut both Rarity and Applejack up, shoving her hooves into their mouths.

"Yeeesh, someponies are trying to get a little early morning shut-eye, and you both decide to start yapping loudly!"

Both Applejack and Rarity tried to talk, but their words came out all mumbled with hooves on their mouths. Rainbow Dash just signed and then let them speak again, "Alright, so what do you both have to say for yourselves?"

"Sorry Rainbow, ah didn't mean for that to get heated."

"I'm sorry too Rainbow Dash, I didn't mean for you to hear that."

"Apology accepted, well since I won't be getting any more napping done, I'd say it's time to wake up and have breakfast." She said as she let out a loud yawn.

"Ohhh breakfast! I'm game for that." Pinkie said, bouncing out of the bed and down to the lower floor."

"Well I need to have a good wash first before breakfast, I haven't forgotten to take that cold shower after all. "Rarity said as looked over and sneered at the prince outfit that was still laying in the corner all crumpled up."

"Me too, I need a good shower to get washed and clean before sitting down to eat." I said as I finally sat up to get out of bed.

"I think we all need to have a wash before we eat breakfast, and then clean up after ourselves before starting our day, it's a good thing the Library is shut for today." Twilight said as she got up.

"Well I call dibs on being first in the shower!" Rainbow shouted as she got up and flew past the door, down the stairs.

"Rainbow wait! Aww pony feathers!" Applejack said as she galloped off after her.

"Oooh a race! Wait for me!" Pinkie shouted as she rocketed off after the both of them.

Rarity groaned as she gently went to the door and trotted off down the steps, leaving me and Twilight behind.

"Something tells me it's going to be a long line to the bathroom today." I said, climbing down the steps and heading for the doorway.

"I second that." Twilight said with a sigh as she followed on behind me.





The bathroom order for today in contrast to yesterday was a complete mess, Rainbow Dash went in first, she took no time at all to get washed, but she didn't clean up after herself so I decided to help out in giving it a good scrub, getting rid of those feathers on the ground. Next Applejack went in, she took longer than Rainbow did, but she did clean up after herself to save me the trouble. Next went Twilight, she took a little longer than the others, but then again she has more to clean than the others having both horns and wings. Next was Rarity, hoo boy where do I begin? Not only did she take a shower, she also had a bath with makeup applied to help with her "morning beauty" as she said. Either way I had to go in and scrub up some of the mess for a second time, but unfortunately for me, Pinkie Pie couldn't wait any longer and barged right inside to start showering while I was still cleaning the tub. I'll spare you the details of what happened but let's just say I ended up having to help out in scrubbing her clean, and after that there was so much confetti to clean up, sooo much confetti...

After all was said and done and I had my turn to washed and get dressed, then I joined the five of them downstairs in the kitchen, where they had just started to eat their breakfast. Unfortunately it seems Pinkie pie had told them about the mishap that went on in the bathroom just a short while ago, and now they were all looking at me with different expressions on their faces.

"Bwahahaha! Oh filly, it sucks to be you Anon, Pinkie sure let you have it!" Rainbow said trying but failing to hide her laughter.

"Land's sakes Pinkie Pie, couldn't y'all have waited until he was done cleaning up?" Applejack said crossly.

"I couldn't wait any longer! I had to have a wash now or i'd miss out on breakfast, and I hate missing out on breakfast!" Pinkie said innocently.

"Even so, that was very rude of you to do so, and leaving him to clean up all that mess on the floor you left behind too." Rarity said.

"Says the mare who took forever to get washed." Applejack said with a jab.

"Excuse me darling, but some of us actually like to look good in the morning." Rarity said as she swished her mane about graciously.

"Okay that's enough everypony! Anon I saved some of this for you, your usual eggs and toast." Twilight said floating said plate of food over to me.

"Thanks Twilight." I said, taking my seat at the end of the table to start eating.

"Anyway, wasn't last nights sleepover the best ever!?" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I wouldn't say it was the best Pinkie, but yeah it was pretty awesome." Rainbow said with a smile.

"Ah enjoyed myself a lot too, hoo wee am ah gonna have a heck of a story to tell the family when ah get back home." Applejack said.

"You mean telling them how you had to dress up as a princess and had Rarity kiss you on the hoof?" Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

Applejack looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Yes ah will, actually. At the time ah thought it was pretty humiliating for me to do that, but now looking back on it all, ah have to admit it was pretty funny."

"Funny, funny!? It was outrageously silly! I felt so tacky and dumb wearing that horrendous outfit." Rarity said with a huff, clearly wanting to forget that she ever wore that thing.

"Hey look on the bright side Rarity, at least you got to kiss a member of 'royalty' at last." I said to her cheekily.

Applejack seemed to catch on what I was implying, she couldn't help but add in afterwards, "Mah handsome prince", flicking her hoof at her.

Most of us at the table burst out laughing, even Twilight couldn't help it, nearly dropping the slice of toast she had in her magic from her belly laugh, Rarity on the other hand just groaned hard, putting her head in her hooves and lowered her head onto the table.

"I hate all of you right now, you know that right?"

"We all love you too Rar." Rainbow said as she calmed down from her laughing fit.

"You're not gonna let me live this down at all, are you?"

"Nope, it's too funny to forget!"

"Lighten up Rarity, it was just a funny joke that was part of the game." Twilight said with a smile.

Rarity just gave her a dirty look, then went back to finishing off her breakfast.

I just chuckled at her misfortune, then went back to eating too. Ever since I ended up here in this land I've been mainly having the same breakfast most of the days, since meat wasn't exactly going to be found anywhere around here on account of the ponies being vegetarians by nature, so I had to substitute on having eggs to fulfill my protein needs in most of my meals. Twilight does a great job cooking these for me, but man, do I miss a good steak dinner, a nice meaty burger with fries on the side, oh and how can I forget the king of all foods, bacon, glorious delicious fried bacon! Oh what would I give to have a taste of that just once more...

"Hey uh you alright there Anon? You've been staring into space for the last few minutes." Rainbow said to me.

"Oh uh sorry, I was just deep in thought about something." I said.

"Uh huh." She said, going back to gorging on her breakfast.

I signed, then went back to finishing off the breakfast in front of me, just as I had finished Twilight tapped the glass tumbler in front of her to make an announcement.

"Ahem, I just wanted to say that I think this sleepover owes it's success to Anon over here." Twilight said proudly.

"Ah agree, Anon if you hadn't have said yes and joined in with us, things might've turned out mighty different for us last night." Applejack said with a smile.

"Yeah, you helped make it twenty per- no, a hundred percent cooler than what it would've been otherwise." Rainbow said, holding her hoof out for a hoof bump, which I returned in kind.

"I agree as well, thanks to you we avoided having to resort to other violent games, like pillow fighting again, my wonderful pillows are safe for another sleepover." Rarity said gleefully.

"Y'all still sore over that happening?" Applejack said to Rarity.

"Yes, yes I am, and I am not going to forget about that for a good while yet Applejack, Rainbow Dash."

"Hey!" Rainbow said.

"Not only that, but he gave us some new ideas for future sleepovers too, including new games for fun! I cannot wait to start using them at future parties!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"But most importantly, he did this for Fluttershy, who couldn't make it due to her illness, he has done her proud." Twilight said holding her tumbler up in her magic, "So I propose a toast in her honour, Anon if you please?"

I understood right away what she wanted, so I picked up my glass and held it up for her to toast. 

"To Fluttershy, and you Anon." Twilight said, banging her glass onto mine as she floated it over back to her.

"Cheers Twilight." I said as we both drank down the contents whole.

"That reminds me, after we finish here I'm gonna go have a check on her to see if she is doing okay, hopefully by now she's had a visit from the Ponyville Hospital staff and that she's getting the medicine she needs to get better." Rainbow Dash said, stretching her limbs.

"Ah'll come along too, goodness knows how much she must've missed being here tonight." Applejack said, she had been worried about Fluttershy all night.

"I know, I'll visit her too later on today with a present, to show that I'm worried for her too, and we should all tell her what happened here tonight." I said thoughtfully.

"Awww such a gentlecolt, I'm sure she'll appreciate your kindness very well, I know I would." Rarity said with smile.

"You'll have to up your game then Rarity, Pinkie has the lead on you after getting that back scrub from Anon." Rainbow said with a grin.

"And what a good back scrub it was, his hands work wonders with that brush, much better than that old beat up one I use everyday. I think that is a good enough reward you Anon." Pinkie said dreamily.

"Yeah after you burst right in while I was cleaning, and then drag me into washing you." I said with a sigh.

"It was an accident I promise!"

I could've sworn that I heard Rarity mutter something under her breath, it sounded a little like "lucky mare", no idea what she was implying with that honestly.

"Anyway back on topic, with this being a success, I can check this off the list." Twilight said, floating her checklist over to check it off.

"You mean you had that on there as the last thing to check off?" I asked.

"Well yeah, I had to add in a new option after Fluttershy couldn't make it, and I really don't like having to redo checklists." Twilight said as she put the checklist on the side out of the way.

Applejack leaned back to stretch again, "Well, ah think it's time for me to start packing up and get on going back home to Sweet Apple Acres, I got some Apple bucking to take care of, and to get everything prepared for the upcoming Zap Apple harvest, it was mighty nice of you to treat us to breakfast Twilight."

"My pleasure Applejack, I'd say we all go and start packing up, I have a feeling today is going to be a busy day for us all." Twilight said.

"You tell me! I got parties to plan out, cakes to bake, oh and a Fluttershy to cheer up too." Pinkie said bouncing off her chair.

"Yeah I got weather duty to do, and some practising to do to impress the Wonderbolts, but not before I check up on Fluttershy first." Rainbow said as she got up from her chair.

"And I have a backlog of orders to get through back at my shop, especially with my new branch that has opened up in Manehattan, I may have to work double time just to get it all done." Rarity said with a sigh.

"Do you want me to lend you a hand and help you out?" I said to her.

"Why I'd be delighted Anon! Pop round to my boutique later on and I'll show you what you need to do, and I may require some heavy lifting too." She said with a big smile.

I smiled in return, "I'd be happy to do so, but not before we get everything here packed away first."

"That's the spirit Anon, alright girls let's get to it!" Twilight exclaimed.

After we cleaned up the breakfast we all went back upstairs to start tidying up the living quarters, putting all the rubbish in the bin, rolling up the sleeping bags into bundles, and putting all the furniture back into it's proper place. It took a little longer than I expected as Rarity was insistent that her set up salon be properly put away and not just chucked into the bags like that, Rainbow Dash didn't wish to help us out with it, no doubt she was still feeling a little sore about that dare from last night that I put on her. Finally after a half hour of busy working, we finally got everything cleaned up and put away, all the girls had gathered up their belongings and were preparing to leave for the day. I have to admit it was kind of sad to see them go since I had enjoyed the sleepover a great deal, far more than I had thought possible and wanted it to go longer, but I know that they all have busy lives and such need to get back to it. As we all walked down the steps down to the library itself to see them off, I reflected upon my attitude the day prior, and how I am now after last night, amazing how fast ones view on things can change just like that.

"Well everypony, it's been a wonderful sleepover, I can't wait for our next one in a months time!" Twilight said excitedly as she opened the door for them with her magic.

"I enjoyed it too Twilight, I hope the next one will prove to be just as fun as this one, don't forget to pop round for work later on Anon." Rarity said as she trotted her way out of the door.

"I won't forget." I said.

"It was a real rodeo of a slumber party Twi, ah very much enjoyed it, oh and I almost forgot, thank you for cheering me up last night Anon." Applejack said with a warm smile.

"It's no problem Applejack, I'm glad to have done so." I said.

"Yeah it was a blast, next time is gonna be just as awesome, I just know it! Oh and you better be there next time Anon, you still have to get even with me remember?" Rainbow Dash said as she flew out of the door.

"Yeah... I can't wait." I said rolling my eyes.

"It was the best one yet! Especially because Nonny here finally took part, thank you again for taking Fluttershy's place!" Pinkie said as she gave me another hug on her way out.

"Hey it's no problem Pinkie, I just hope she's doing okay." I said, patting Pinkies mane.

"Hehe, oh she'll be fine, she may act meek and small, but she's tougher than she looks, I'm sure once she hears about this she'll give you a present for your kindness too." Pinkie said as she let go and bounced out through the doorway.

"Goodbye everypony, see you all later!" Twilight called out, waving away to them from the doorway.

"Goodbye Twilight, goodbye Anon!" The girls all called, waving back at them.

"Goodbye girls, see you all later!" I called as I waved back to them.

"Oh and please look after Twiggie, won't you Nonny?" Called Pinkie, causing the girls to laugh as they walked off into the distance.

I laughed as well from that, but Twilight looked back at me with an unamused glare, I had almost forgotten that last night I let out my personal nickname for her in front of her friends, and it seems to have caught on with them, much to her chagrin.

"What did I say before about using that name mister?" Twilight said in a low tone.

"Hey hey hey, I didn't say it publicly just now, they did!" I said in protest.

"Yeah, but you told them it last night at the sleepover! Now they're gonna start calling me that too, it's bad enough with you saying it." Twilight said looking rather annoyed.

"Oh come on Twi, it ain't that bad of a nickname really. I mean it could be worse, you could be referred to as "Twiggles, the Princess of Friendshippin- OWWW!" I said after Twilight zapped me with a spell.

"Say that ONE more time human, and I'll use you in my next science experiment." Twilight said, giving me a death glare.

"Jeez Princess chill out, you already use me enough in your crazy experiments...!"

"Oh yeah? Well I've been thinking of giving Cephalanalectomy a try using magic, would you like to be my guinea pig for it, involuntarily?" Twilight said with an evil smirk on her face.

I felt my face fall, and I gulped, I didn't know what that word meant exactly, but one part of it I did know, and the last thing I wanted was for anything to happen to my head of all things.

"I-I'll be good, I promise!" I said with a nervous grin on my face.

Twilight kept the same look for a few moments, but then went back to her normal smiling self again.

"That's great to hear. Anyway, last night sure turned out different than we had expected, didn't it Anon?" Twilight said.

"It certainly did Twilight, I'd hate to think how it would've turned out if I hadn't accepted you and everyone's offer to join in at the sleepover." I said.

Twilight smiled, "It's a good thing you did accept our invitation in the end. So Anon, now you know that there is much more to our sleepovers than just frilly frou frou stuff and gossip isn't there?"

"Oh for sure Twilight, I have to admit that I've been missing out all this time, I could've been taking part in these all along and having way more fun than beforehand, when I just crashed downstairs on my own doing nothing but reading the same books over and over all night long. After the fun I had last night, I don't see myself going back to that ever again."

Twilight's smile grew bigger, "Sooo, would you say that it's an important lesson you've learned, to never judge something based on what you think you know if you've never taken part in it?

"Yes Twilight, and that it's worth giving such things a try to see if you will end up liking it or not, that's a lesson I can take to heart."

Twilight's smile grew so wide it stretched her cheeks, her eyes gleaming with stars, she then took a step closer, "Well in that case, I think that'll be something good to write about in my Journal of Friendship, the new book that me and my friends are working on right now, what do you say Anon, want to do that?"

I smiled, I kneeled down and petted her mane, "I would be honoured to, Princess of Friendship."

Upon hearing that, Twilight squee'd loudly, she then leapt up and embraced me in a surprise hug with force, "That is so great to hear! Let's go back inside and get to writing right away!"

I nearly fell over backwards onto the ground from her surprise hug, but I smiled and returned the hug in kind to her. I stood back up holding onto her, before turning round and heading back inside, closing the door behind me.

"Now then, where did I last put it?" Twilight said as she let go of me and went to look for the journal around the library.

"Isn't it in that messy pile of books over there?" I said pointing to said pile on the right.

"Nope, that's my to be read next pile, maybe it's over here in my to do next pile." Twilight murmured as she went to search it.

I went on over to help her out with finding it, sorting through all the piles of books she has laid out across the library for different reasons, but as we went through them it was soon becoming obvious that we couldn't find the journal.

"It must be here somewhere, It can't just up and disappear into thin air for no reason!" Twilight shouted, her eye twitching a little.

"You sure you didn't misplace it in a magic related accident like what you did to my device?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"NO! That only happened that one time! I didn't mean to make your whatchamacalling thing disappear into thin air, I was just trying to master a new spell!" Twilight said with a glare.

"It's called a smartphone Twilight, and I'm still waiting for you to magic it back for me." I said crossing my arms.

"I know I know! As soon as I find the right spell to make it reappear again I'll let you know ahead of time, okay!?" She said breathing heavily.

I sighed, I couldn't really be that cross with her since it was an accident, but boy do I wish I had that back in my possession right now. "Alright Twilight I'll hold you to that, now let's get back to finding that Journal."

We resumed our search for the Journal, we looked in every place it could be including the hidden panels that hide old books, but no sign of it.

"UGH, where could that Luna forsaken book be!? If it's been stolen I swear am gonna blow somepony to bemu-"

Then came a voice from behind us, a familiar little dragons voice, "Umm Twilight, if you were looking for the journal, it's right here."

Twilight turned around in a hurry, then upon seeing the book, lept over and embraced the book in her hooves, "YES! You found the book! Thank you, thank you thank you thank you!"

"Umm, thanks I guess Twilight?" Said the little dragon, unamused about being ignored in favour of a book.

"Oh hey there Spike, glad to see you home, how you doing little man?" I said to the young dragon.

"Hey there Anon, I'm going great, just got back from Canterlot, I even got some souvenirs with me too." Spike said, showing a full bag he was carrying in his arm, it was packed full of stuff.

"How did it go up in Canterlot?" Twilight asked him while holding the Journal in her hoofs.

"It went better than expected, I delivered your latest reports to the Princesses in the royal castle as you had asked, then I got invited to sit down with them for a luxurious meal which I couldn't say no too, especially with all the delicious gemstones they had to offer! During the discussions we had about all the latest news and happenings going on in Equestria, one topic that came up was that they were curious to know how you were doing so far Anon."

"Oh they were? What did you tell them?" I asked.

"I told them that you were fitting in here very nicely, that you haven't had any issues so far, oh and that you were helping Twilight out with sorting the library, they both seemed to be happy to hear that, though Princess Luna still doesn't seem to trust you too much yet." Spike said.

"I see, I don't blame her honestly, I mean I did show up out of nowhere randomly without warning, it'd be natural for people to be wary of a stranger, especially one as strange as me." I said with a sign.

"Hey now don't worry about it Anon, I'm sure she'll come around to you eventually, just give her some time." Twilight said.

"Yeah, she'll see that you aren't a threat at all, but a cool guy instead." Said Spike giving me a thumbs up.

I smiled and gave one in return, "Well I'm glad to hear that Spike."

"Oh yeah, how did last night go anyway Twilight?" Spike asked her.

Twilight stopped reading and looked up with a smile, "Oh it went great Spike, it was the best sleepover we've had in ages, all thanks to Anon over here."

"What do you mean by that? He's never taken part in one, he just sleeps downstairs, sometimes with me by his side when we're reading comics." Spike asked with curiosity.

"Until now yes, but last night I decided to finally take part in it, since Fluttershy who was meant to come had come down ill with a flu." I said with a smile.

Spike's jaw dropped, dropping the bag of souvenirs he was carrying, "W-what!? You joined them!?"

"Sure did, and it was a blast, they all had a blast when I joined in."

"Well uhhh... I didn't expect that happening, I'll have to tell the Princesses about this at the next opportunity."

"You should, because I plan on taking part in these sleepovers from here on out, I don't plan on missing them out for the world!"

Twilight put her book down and looked up with him with big eyes. "Really!? You'll do that!?"

"You can count me in Twilight." I said to her with a nod.

"Yes! This is perfect! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!" Twilight yelled out as she hopped around me in a circle.

Spike just sighed as he picked up the bag from the floor, I could've sworn that he made a gag gesture as he went to his table.

"Anyway, did you find a page for me to write in Princess?"

Twilight stopped in her tracks, then blushed as she picked up the Journal in her magic, "Ah heh heh heh, yep it's right here, let's go on over to the desk and start writing in an entry right away."

I went to join her over at the writing desk, Twilight handed me a quill and ink and I began to start writing a new entry into the Journal. Not gonna lie I was more used to writing using a good old ink pen, and using this quill was a little weird at first, not to mention old fashioned, but I've gotten used to using it and now can write pretty well using it now, though I often end up having a mess on my fingers from all the ink dripping from it. As to what I actually wrote into the Journal itself, well, I'll save that for another time, but it was something I felt good about writing, Twilight herself seemed to agree to it.

"That was a good entry Anon, I can't wait to show it to the girls when I visit them next." She said as she put the Journal on the side.

"Thank you Twilight, I'm glad to have done so." I said with a smile, putting the quill back on the side.

Then Spike called out to me from upstairs, "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot to say, Anon."

"Yes Spike, what's up?" I asked, looking back at him.

"Princess Luna was curious to know about something that I brought up yesterday at dinner, she want's to know what exactly a 'Twiggie' was, Celestia seemed to just laugh when I said it, but Luna didn't seem to get it at all, I didn't get it either but I thought it was something funny to mention to them. Just thought I'd give a heads up in case she comes knocking sometime tonight." Spike said as he went upstairs to put his stuff away.

As Spike left my eyes were wide and my jaw hung open, I couldn't believe that he actually said that to the Princesses, I didn't even know he had even learned about that nickname at all. I dreaded to look beside me at that moment since I knew that Twilight hated having people know about that nickname. But as I saw a bright purple light glowing beside me, I gulped, and turned to look at her with my hands up beside me, only to see her face of pure glowing rage. The last thing I could remember before everything went blank was what I had said, and then heard Twilight screaming.

"Ohhh shi-"

"AAAAAAAANNNOOOOOOOOONNN!!!"





*Ding ding ding*

"I'm coming! Welcome to Carousal Boutique! Every garment here is chic, unique, and magnifiqu-EEEEEEEK! Oh my stars Anon! What in the world happened to you!?"

"Twilight happened, that's what. It looks like I'll be your first customer for today after all.

"You mean..."

"Yes, I accept the offer you presented to me from last night."

"YES! I mean, of course daring, and not a moment too soon, we need to get you cleaned up and looking presentable fast."

"Thank you Rarity, I'll owe you one."

"Nothing at all dear, but what's with the-"

"The neck-brace? Well, I learned the full meaning behind the procedure 'Cephalanalectomy', not fun at all."

"Oh... ohhh dear."


THE END