A few apples drop to the ground on a typical quiet summer afternoon in Sweet Apple Acres. The gentle laughter of a few playful fillies breaks the silence as they chase one another through the orchard. These carefree friends are simply enjoying the weekend away from school, and they couldn't be happier to be spending all day together. Sadly though, once the night comes, they'll be forced to say goodbye til the next morning...
***
"Wow, look at that sunset. I can't believe it's gettin' dark already." Applebloom put on a wide eyed frown and looked to her friends.
"Dumb sun, why can't you just stay put for a little while longer?" Sweetie Belle rhetorically asked, feeling equally saddened by the day's approaching end.
"Well at least we have tomorrow, and the next day. The weekend's just starting guys, don't be too bummed out." Scootaloo attempted to cheer her sulking friends up.
"Wait! I have an idea, how 'bout we all have a slumber party here at the farm!" The cheery earth pony suggested with a smile.
The other two spoke in unison. "That's a great idea!"
The three then made their way back to the Apple Family Farm to share their plan with Applejack, but unfortunately the stern orange earth pony didn't seem quite so enthused by their little idea.
"Now y'all know ya can't just bunker down here without lettin' me know ahead of time. Granny Smith'll have a heart attack with you three makin' racket all night, and Big Mac's in one of his moods again. I'm sorry girls but ya just can't, you'll have to stay the night some other time." Applejack felt her normally solid willpower caving under the weight of three pairs of wide teary eyes staring up at her.
She felt like she had to come up with an alternative to satisfy the three fillies. "Come on now, don't look at me like that. There's nothin' I can do. Here, how about y'all go ask Fluttershy, I'm sure she'd love the company. Now go on and git, yer losin daylight."
"Okay, thanks sis!" Applebloom led her friends back outside and down the road to town.
The sun was dangerously low, and a dimly lit orange sky illuminated their darkening path. Luckily it didn't take long to reach the sweet yellow mare's home. They knocked on the door and wore their brightest smiles.
"Oh, hello there girls. Can I do something for you?" Fluttershy asked, not really expecting to be put on the spot.
"You sure can!" Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Can we have a slumber party at your house again? It was so much fun the last time."
The shy pegasus backed up a bit and looked them over. She realized it was getting dark and they'd need a place to take shelter soon, but knew it couldn't be in her home. "Girls, I'm terribly sorry but Angel Bunny's very sick and I can't take care of him and all of you through the night. You'll have to wait til he's better, then you're all welcome to come back anytime."
"Awe, really?! Fine, thanks anyway..." Scootaloo didn't try to conceal her disappointment.
"I'm sorry, I think I hear him coughing again, I have to go. Good luck girls, please get home before it gets too dark to see, okay?" With that she shut the door and and returned to tending to her ill pet.
"Darn it. I guess that's it then..." Applebloom pouted and looked at her friends with her eyebrows lowered.
"I guess so... Come on girls, let's just get home. We can try again tomorrow." Sweetie Belle wrapped her arms around the sulking fillies' necks and tried to cheer them up.
They then trotted down the road towards the center of town where they'd all go their separate ways. As they reached the four way intersection that contained the paths to their homes, a passing purple unicorn happened to spot them.
"It's a bit late for you three to be wandering the streets, isn't it?" Twilight Sparkle pointed out.
"Sorry, we're on our way home now..." Scootaloo said with her head hanging low.
Twilight quickly detected the the apathy in her words. "What's got you girls so down?"
"Well, we were having a great day and didn't want to have to say goodbye, but Applejack and Fluttershy said we couldn't sleep over at their houses, now we have nowhere left to go." Sweetie stated with tears nearly escaping her wide eyes.
Twilight cringed at the nearly overwhelming cuteness being thrown in her face, and with a sigh, she caved. "Well, you're all welcome to stay the night in the library if you'd like. I'll even let you read some of my favorite books."
"Really?! You're the best Twilight!" The three jumped up and yelled together.
They followed the generous purple pony back to her library home and began to plot the night ahead. If they wanted to maximise playtime they were going to have to stay up as late as possible. Upon entering the library, Twilight was quick to grab a specific book on slumber parties and levitate it over to the three curious fillies.
"'Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted To Know About Slumber Parties But Were Too Afraid To Ask'... This sounds lame." Scootaloo sat the book down on the floor and trotted the bookshelf to find something more exciting.
"I assure you it's not lame at all - there's plenty of useful information in there that helped me through my first slumber party, and I'm sure it can help you three have the best one yet. Look, do what you will, but I'm trusting you not to trash the library while I sleep, alright? I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow and need my rest. So have fun girls, and if you'd like you can play in the basement, but just don't touch my equipment." The lavender unicorn smiled at the fillies before yawning and trotting upstairs, wishing them a goodnight as she closed the door behind herself.
Applebloom's curiosity was piqued. "Ooh, the basement, that sounds fun!"
"Hold on, let's take a look at this book first. Maybe it'll give us some fun ideas." Sweetie opened the book and skimmed through the table of contents.
Her friends joined her, hoping to find something interesting that they could do. "Makeovers, pillow fights, truth or dare... this is all boring little kid stuff." Scootaloo held to her previous opinion.
As the other two ponies continued looking over the book, the orange pegasus made her way back to the bookshelf. She skimmed over titles near the one the other book came from and spotted something interesting. "'Slumber 202: Taking Your Overnight Sleepover To The Next Level Of Fun - The Mature Mare's Guide To A Good Time'. Guys, did you hear that? This sounds good!"
The two quickly shut the other book and joined the pegasus in browsing through these more promising contents. Their eyes widened as they read things they didn't fully understand. "Spin the Bottle? Seven Minutes in Heaven? Experimentation? Guys, I can already tell this is gonna be great." Sweetie Belle said looking up at her friends with a wide grin.
"Yeah! I remember AJ sayin' she played Seven Minutes in Heaven with Rainbow Dash back in the day and they became closer friends then ever. Surely that means this'll make us better friends too!" Applebloom excitedly deduced.
Scootaloo rapidly nodded. "You're totally right, so what should we do first?"
The three quickly went back to the book, first on the list after all the boring sounding ones was Spin the Bottle.
"So, you spin a bottle and then what? Well, first we need a bottle anyway. Let's go do this in the basement, I'm sure we'll find everything we need down there." The white unicorn led her filly friends towards the dark stairway.
They flipped a light on to reveal a nicely furnished basement filled with oddly colored furniture and an assortment of scientific equipment. "Perfect!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she jumped over to the nearest countertop and grabbed a small bottle of iodine.
Scootaloo agreed and opened the book back up to the appropriate page to explain the rules. She looked them over and read out loud as she skimmed through. "This game is meant for three or more ponies. First take the bottle and place it on a hard surface, preferably on the floor, then sit in a circle around it. Easy enough right?"
The three did as instructed then the pegasus continued reading. "Next, ensure that everyone in the group are close friends and open minded. Okay? Check. Now that you're all set up, each pony will take turns spinning the bottle across the surface. After you spin the bottle, you must then kiss on the lips, whichever pony the bottle is pointing at. This game is meant to open the door to new relationships."
The three looked at one another while sitting in the circle. Scootaloo scratched the back of her mane and smiled. "Um, maybe we should play something else."
"What's the matter? Chicken?" Applebloom teased and Sweetie giggled.
"No I am not a chicken! Fine, let's just do this, who's going first?" Once again the three fell silent as each nervously glanced at the other.
Rolling her eyes the brave pegasus decided she'd go first. "Looks like you two are the chickens. Here, give me that bottle."
