Dusty looked in the mirror and groaned, no matter how masculine he got his hair to look it just didn’t look right, so instead of trying to style it, he let it flop to one side in a spiky mess, it looked pretty good. It was how he wore his hair all the time, a pony named Vinyl Scratch kept calling him a copycat until he explained why he wore his hair this way to her, and then she just laughed and went back into her home.

That day he found out where that annoying dubstep music was coming from.

He heard the grandfather clock in the corner begin chiming, “8:00?!” Dusty panicked, “I’m late!” by about five minutes, but that didn’t stop Dusty from throwing a tantrum, so he threw on a tie and stormed out the door full gallop.

Dusty caught the attention of a few ponies as he stormed down the streets of Ponyville, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late I—

“Dusty?” he heard someone say, there was something odd about that voice, he turned to see Twilight Sparkle standing in front of her tree house, “What’s the rush?” she asked.

“I have to get to Fluttershy’s cottage, but it’s such a long way, I don’t know if I’ll get there in ti—"

“Say no more, allow me.” With a spark of her horn, Twilight teleported Dusty to Fluttershy’s cottage.

Dusty gave a sigh of relief but remembered, Flowers! He looked around frantically and realized he had a bouquet of orchids in his saddlebags, Where did… Dusty smiled, Good call, Twilight. He walked confidently towards the cottage, when he heard crying coming from inside, and he couldn’t help but listen, he pressed his ear against the door.

“I knew it was too good to be true, Angel…” Fluttershy sobbed, “I knew it would end up just like it did with Big Macintosh.” She continued to ramble on, then, not wanting to delay any further, knocked on the door, and then he heard “He’s here!” Was she expecting him? Someone must’ve talked, then Dusty remembered Pinkie Pie, when he told her. Dusty’s thinking was cut short when the door swung open, and Fluttershy pretended to act surprised, “Oh, Dusty! I didn’t expect any visitors.” She mused.

Dusty chuckled, and pulled out the bouquet of orchids from his saddlebags, “I brought you some flowers.” He held out the bouquet, that obviously caught Fluttershy by surprise because he saw her face turn bright red.

“Oh thank you, Dusty!” she chirped, politely taking the bouquet and setting it aside, “Would you like to come in?” she offered.

“That would be wonderful, it is getting awfully cold out here, he said as he stepped inside her cottage, he looked at Angel Bunny who was giving him a disappointed look, “I should probably explain why I’m late.” Dusty began, then Angel Bunny’s face changed from disappointment to a pleased expression, “I got stumped while getting ready, I lost track of time.” He explained.

Fluttershy giggled, “Well it seems you finally made your decision, and a good one at that.” She smiled; Dusty’s face grew hot after she said that, “So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked.

Dusty attempted to find the words, “Well, I…” he started to stutter, he began twiddling at his tie looking for words.

“I think I know what you wanted to tell me.” Fluttershy concluded with a shy smile, though she seemed very open around him, he knew she struggled to speak her mind, the fact that she decided to chime in was very impressive, she kept walking until she was inches away from his face, he stared into her eyes.

“You are so beautiful.” He heard himself say, Dusty flinched when he said that, “Oh, uh…” he began to stutter, “I mean…your eyes…” he caught himself before he said something stupid again, “I am great at this kind of stuff.” He said sarcastically, Fluttershy smiled and as gentle as a butterfly, pecked him on the lips, Dusty noticed that she wasn’t blushing anymore; “Getting a bit confident are we?” Dusty joked.

Fluttershy drew back slightly, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was offending anyone…” her face began to grow red again, swiftly, Dusty took the opportunity to give her a little peck on the lips as well, and for a while, they just stood there, marveling at each other until…

“Dusty, wake up!” he heard someone shout; he looked up and saw it was Spike.

“Spike?” he began, “What are you doing here?” he asked, he realized he was lying on his couch in the most uncomfortable way possible.

“Well I was going to knock, but I heard you muttering about some pretty weird stuff.” Spike made a gross face, and Dusty turned bright red, Oh great, why can’t I give my libido a rest for one day? He begged to himself, “So I came in and found you crashed on the couch, I’ve been standing here for about five minutes shaking you, but you wouldn’t wake up.”

He took a deep breath and sat down on a chair, “That still doesn’t explain why you came.” Dusty said, then Spike looked like he was about to vomit, “Spike?” Dusty said, Spike then burped, releasing a jet of green flame that formed into a letter.

“Here it is!” Spike said, he held out the letter towards Dusty, who reluctantly grabbed it opened it.
“Dear Dusty,

I am so sorry for bothering you, but I would like to know if you would want to join me and the girls for a slumber party at the library.”
A slumber party? Dusty thought, This could only end terribly… Dusty kept reading.
“I know this may sound a bit strange but you are our friend after all, I hope to see you there.

From, Twilight Sparkle.”
“A slumber party?” Dusty inquired, “Yikes.” he flinched a bit.

“Well you should probably get going, it’s almost time for the slumber party.” Spike pointed at the clock.

“Oh, you’re right, thanks Spike.” Dusty turned to leave.

“Hey, Dusty?” Spike began, “Can I ask you something?” he asked.

“Sure thing, ask away.” Dusty replied.

“Can I stay here for the night while you are at the slumber party?” he asked.

“Don’t like being in a room all night with mares, eh?” Dusty chuckled, “Don’t worry, I feel the same way.” Spike looked a bit red when Dusty said that, Dusty patted Spike on the back, “You’re welcome here as long as you like,” he began, “Oh, Spike, after the slumber party, when you go back to the library, could you tell the girls that I’m uncomfortable around mares?” he asked.

“Why can’t you do it?” Spike inquired.

“Girls.” Was all that Dusty said.

“Right.” Spike responded, “You better hurry, wouldn’t want to keep the girls waiting.” Spike motioned for Dusty to go.

“Actually, I would love to miss it but I don’t want to offend any pony“ Dusty replied.

“Just go, Dusty.” Spike waved him off.

“Thanks Spike, sleep tight, will ya?” Dusty stepped out the door, took a breath of fresh air and made his way toward the library.

Dusty was just about to knock when the door swung open slamming him on the ground, “Dusty’s here!” Pinkie shouted and dragged him inside and anything between that he could not remember, Dusty laid on the ground, his eyes spinning in all directions.

“Uhh, are his eyes supposed to do that?” Applejack asked.

“It kind of reminds me of Derpy.” Rainbow snickered.

“Oh quiet, Rainbow, Dusty’s waking up.” Rarity said.

Dusty got up and groaned, “I feel like Pinkie slammed a door against my head…” Dusty muttered.

“That’s funny, because that’s exactly what happened!” Pinkie cheered.

“Glad you could make it Dusty.” Twilight said as she approached him, Dusty waved at Twilight and the rest of the gang.

Pinkie immediately began to shout, “Let’s share personal stories!” she bounced up and down, “After all, we’re all friends, right?” she continued shouting.

Dusty sighed and he felt someone patting him on the back, “This is why I invited you over.” Twilight said, and gave him a wink as she trotted towards the circle the ponies were making.

“Let’s start with Dusty!” Pinkie immediately declared.

“Me?” Dusty’s eyes widened, “Oh no, ladies first.” He immediately retaliated.

“Wow, such a gentleman!” Pinkie giggled, “Okay! I’ll go first!” Pinkie cheered, she began to talk about how she had her way with almost all the Stallions in Ponyville except Big Mac, and Dusty, and said how she would get them eventually, which made Dusty slide back a little, no pony noticed.

Next came Applejack, who shared a story about drinking a bit too much and getting into a fight with a fire hydrant. Which made Dusty chuckle a little bit, the thought of Applejack screaming at a fire hydrant was hilarious.

Next came Rainbow Dash who shared a story about having fantasies about the Wonderbolts, the greatest fliers in Equestria, the story was a bit awkward for Dusty as Rainbow was a bit too detailed in some parts of the story.

Next was Rarity who had shared a story about…well, fashion. How she got a thread out of place on a gala gown and nearly woke up all of Ponyville. Sadly, Dusty was there.

Behind Rarity was Fluttershy who had volunteered to share one of her stories, her story was a more foal-friendly story, about how a bear stepped on one of her roses and got a thorn in his foot, so she vowed never to have roses in her garden again.

“I’ll go next.” Twilight said.

Dusty mouthed “Thank you.” at Twilight, she shared a story about how she found a book called “Pony Sutra” and after reading it, never felt so scarred in her life, what the “Pony Sutra” was, Dusty might never know, Twilight didn’t really explain what it was.

“Dusty’s turn! Dusty’s turn!” Pinkie began repeatedly shouting.

“All right, I guess I can share at least one.” Dusty began to think, What story should I share, I could share that dream I had—no wait, that’s plain stupid, I think I would get murdered by Fluttershy later. I could tell them about when I was in a talent show…that’ll work.
He began to talk about how when he was little, he was in a talent show and sang a song about toothpaste, the girls were polite, all except for Pinkie who nearly died of laughter after Applejack asked him to sing the song, which he did. At the end of his story, everybody was paying close attention, “Then one of my saddlebags got caught on a flagpole while I had a trumpet in my mouth, so as it pulled me up, I nearly blew everyone’s ears out, it was so high pitched.” He chuckled at his little joke he put in, most of the ponies burst out in laughter, all except Fluttershy who was quiet and polite, “It took them half an hour to get me down, when that rope tangled against my saddlebags everyone had their doubts, but I was so little, I just sat there flapping my arms shouting ‘I can fly!’ every few seconds.” he demonstrated by flapping his arms and shouting “I can fly!” in a little kid voice, which got the ponies laughing profusely, even Fluttershy let out a little giggle, “And after they got me down, everyone called me Superpony for the rest of the week.” He finished, all the ponies laughter slowly died out.

“Wow! That was so funny!” Pinkie cheered.

“Yes, it was very funny, Mr. Dusty” he heard another pony say, everyone turned toward Fluttershy who started blushing.

“Mr. Dusty?” Rainbow asked, Fluttershy began stammering, looking for words.

“I don’t mean to be rude, sugar cube, but I think Fluttershy here has a little crush on ya!” Applejack joked; Fluttershy started blushing.

“Do not! Mr. Dusty is my friend.” Fluttershy probably meant to say, but instead, she let out a little squeak.

“Oh come on, leave Flutters alone.” Dusty grinned, then everyone went silent.

“Flutters??” Rainbow asked, that was the response Dusty wanted.

“I happen to think it may be mutual.” Rarity chimed in, and every pony started laughing, Dusty kept his grin, while he held out a hoof to help Fluttershy up, she blushed as she took it then Dusty helped her up.

“Alright,” Dusty began, every pony went silent, “Which one of you snuck a drink in here?” he joked, “Ya’ll are acting a bit on the tipsy side if you ask me.” He said sarcastically, every pony laughed some more.

“Ooh, ooh!” Pinkie began, “Let’s play ‘Pin the tail on the Dusty!’ and Dusty is the most important part of the game!” Pinkie cheered, Dusty went pale and every pony started laughing again.

“You should see the look on your face!” Applejack managed to say after laughing so hard.

Finally after a while, Pinkie decided that they played another game, “I know this one game, called ‘Spin the Bottle’ and I heard its super-duper fun!”

Oh no… Dusty thought to himself, he knew that game, it never ended well for him.

“What’s spin the bottle?” Twilight asked.

“Uhh, I don’t know.” Pinkie gave a goofy grin.

“I do.” Dusty forcefully said, after Dusty explained the rules, Pinkie could hardly wait; the same thing couldn’t be said about the others.

“I guess I’ll go get a bottle.” Twilight sauntered upstairs and came back down with a bottle. Every pony sat in a circle and placed the bottle in the middle.

“Does anyone want to go first?” Dusty asked, no one said anything, “I guess I’ll go first then…” he reluctantly said.

“Oh, lighten up, Dusty!” Pinkie said, “It’s just a kissing game!” That didn’t help.

Dusty spun the bottle and watching it spin round and round and round again, Dusty was surprised when it landed on himself, he wiped his forehead and praised Celestia for whatever happened, Twilight winked at him for some reason, Wait, did she enchant the bottle? He thought to himself, watching as Applejack—Who was next to him—went second, spin the bottle, and it landed on her, Applejack gave a sigh of relief, and as the game soon went on, it always seemed to land on the person spinning it.

“Oh come on!” Pinkie shouted when it landed on her when she spun it, “I say we keep going until we land on some pony else!” Pinkie declared.

“What now?” Dusty mouthed to Twilight.

“We have to do something.” She mouthed back.

Oh no… Dusty thought, Fluttershy finally decided to play, no doubt thinking that it will land on herself, but when she spun it…it landed right on Dusty, Dusty looked at Twilight who looked just as surprised as he did, So it wasn’t her… Dusty looked at Rarity who had an impish grin on her face, Now that’s just rude. He thought, he turned to Fluttershy who looked like she was going to Stare someone down.

Dusty sighed, “Today is not my day…” he said to himself, Dusty vowed never to have sleepovers with Pinkie Pie ever again.

“Well, hurry up!” Pinkie giggled.

Fluttershy pecked him on the side of his head near his ear, and after that she was bright red for the entire duration of Pinkie laughing, which was a long time.

“Are you done?” Dusty finally asked after what seemed like an hour.

“Yep, I’m done!” Pinkie replied cheerfully.

Dusty yawned, as did most of the other ponies and everything was silent for a second, so Twilight went upstairs to fetch sleeping bags, and handed one out to each pony, except for Dusty, he had the choice either to share since the sleeping bags were big enough for two or to sleep without one, he decided to go without one, as every pony went to sleep Dusty tried to stay awake as long as he could until, Thump! He hit the floor, waking up Rainbow Dash, who was apparently a light sleeper.

“You okay, Dusty?” he heard Rainbow whisper,

Dusty couldn’t talk, all he could do was make noise, “Mm…” which he meant for yes,

“Are you sure?” she pressed on,

“Ya…” he managed to murmur,

Rainbow Dash looked annoyed, “Come here.” She commanded,

“Why?” he breathed out,

“Just do it!” she commanded.

Dusty was so tired, he obeyed and did as he was told, he was dead tired so he didn’t know what in Celestia was going on, “That’s it, now get comfortable, no, not like that!” she kept giving him instructions on how to lay down in a sleeping bag, apparently you have to sleep on one side, he heard Rainbow groan, then felt the rest of the space in the sleeping bag be taken up by something lean and…muscly, it wasn’t long before he fell asleep, but it wasn’t before he realized, I’m sharing a sleeping bag… he realized in his mind, but was too tired to even comprehend it then.

Dusty listened attentively as Twilight explained scientific mumbo-jumbo, but it was all interesting, he was enjoying his time that he could spend with her, from time to time, Twilight would ask him a question about something they talked about and he would sometimes get flunked and would have to think, but other than that, it was easy, it was all fascinating the things he could do with magic, but he was especially interested in spending time with Twilight, they sat talking for a good while before he heard a voice say, “I think Dusty got a bit too tempted!” followed by a giggle.

What? He questioned what he just heard,

“Ain’t that just like a boy, can’t keep it private for a single second.” He heard another voice, his eyes shot open when he realized that he was in another dream, Twilight was standing there wide eyed,

“Did you know you talk in your sleep?” Rainbow asked, standing over him, holding back a laugh, “Heard you all night going on about…” she twisted her head in Twilight’s direction,

“Oh sweet Celestia…” Dusty stuck his head inside a sleeping bag hoping it would all get better by the time he pulled his head out, he peeked out again and saw Fluttershy in the far end of the room, her face red as if she got sunburnt, Oh Celestia, I screwed up big time. He thought to himself,

“You’re very charming in your sleep,” Rarity commented with a laugh.

Her too?! He screamed in his mind, but he was more concerned about Twilight and Fluttershy, why were they so freaked out? But then he felt like someone was shaking him, and his eyes shot open.

“Dusty, wake up!” Rainbow shouted, “I can’t move my hind legs the way you’re laying down!” it didn’t take long for Dusty to figure out he was curled up in a ball taking up most of the space in the sleeping bag.

“Oh sorry,” Dusty muttered as he straightened himself out, Rainbow slipped out and began to stretch her legs and wings, Dusty stretched and yawned, “Did I…you know…talk in my sleep?” he blurted out.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Pinkie replied, the rest of the ponies shook their head.

That was a close one… he sighed, then he realized that everyone saw he shared a sleeping bag, but no pony seemed to care, with a sigh of relief, Dusty climbed out of the sleeping bag and the ponies started giggling.

“Look at your mane!” Pinkie laughed holding up a mirror, Dusty noticed it was sticking out in all directions, all he had to do was shake it and it flopped back to normal.

“I guess I’d better get ready to leave, I got chores to do back at home…and I have to check on Spike.” He added.

“Spike?” Twilight looked confused.

“Yeah, Spike stayed at my house because he didn’t want to be stuck in a room with nothing but mares…or ponies that look like mares.” He explained, Dusty walked toward the front door.

“Wait, Dusty!” Twilight approached Dusty and whispered in his ear, “I don’t think I would have survived last night if it weren’t for you, thanks Dusty.” She whispered and ended it off with a peck on the cheek.

“Anything for a friend.” He smiled, and as soon as the door closed, he let out a sigh of relief and ran toward his house hoping to not have to deal with any more hyperactive mares.

After a few minutes Twilight heard a knock on the door, she went up to answer it and noticed a stallion in a pest control outfit, "Are you Twilight Sparkle?" he asked, his voice carried a thick Manehattan accent, "Yes?" Twilight questioned him with a puzzled look, "We regret to inform you that we've discovered a termite infestation in your home, so we will have to take care of it for the next few days." He gave her an apologetic smile, "Do you have a place to stay?" he asked, "If not, we can schedule--" Twilight interrupted, "Yes, I do." she said, "Well, in that case, we apologize again for the inconvenience." He gave her the same apologetic smile. Twilight stepped out of the library, and took a deep breath, Who am I going to stay with? she asked himself, her mind slowly wandered toward Dusty, she blushed slightly, Now's my chance... She thought to herself as she trotted toward Dusty's home.

Dusty opened the door to his house expecting it to be a cluttered mess of food. But it was the exact same as he had left it, except a sleeping dragon curled up on the couch asleep, “Hey Spike!” Dusty shouted, “Wake up!” Spike jumped so high he fell off the couch.

“Oh, you’re back.” His eyes darted past Dusty, “And you brought Twilight?” he asked,

“What?” Dusty looked behind him and he saw Twilight standing behind him, “Oh, hey Twi, if it’s another sleepover with Pinkie Pie involved, I’ll pass.” He assumed that’s what she was going to ask.

“Actually, I was wondering if I could stay with you for a while.” She explained, which caught Dusty by surprise.

“Why? What happened?” he asked, suddenly worried.

“Oh it’s nothing really.” Twilight seemed like she was nervous about something but Dusty didn’t know what it was, “I just wanted to know if I could stick around for a while, we just found out that there was a termite infestation back at the library, and they have to take care of it.” She explained, “So I thought I’d come here.” She finished.

“Oh, well in that case you’re more than welcome to stay as long as you like.” Dusty said.

“Oh thank you!” Twilight chirped as she threw her forearms around him, Twilight stopped, her face bright red, cleared her throat and dusted herself off, she just stood there padding the dirt.

“Well are you going to come in or not?” he grinned, Twilight didn’t say anything just walked in trying to act like a professional.

Dusty thought it was cute, What am I thinking? he shouted at himself, I should just usher her to her friends, but... Dusty sighed, That would make me a poor excuse for a friend.

“It’s a nice place you got here, very roomy.” She commented.

Roomy was right, there was barely any furniture since he lived by himself, “I only got one bed so you can take it,” Dusty paused and took a breath, “If you want.” He added, even though it was a queen sized bed, he didn't want to be caught sleeping in the same bed as Twilight, when news gets around it hits violently.

Twilight nodded, “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.” She replied.

“Well if you need anything don’t be afraid to let me know.” Dusty saluted.

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh, “Thanks for your hospitality, but I’ll be fine.” She surmised.

“Whatever you say.” Dusty replied, Dusty went into the kitchen to make lunch for his guests, When was the last time I had guests in my home?
Yesterday.
That’s right, talking about you Spike.

Author's Note

Marked Teen for not possessing anything..."weird."
But there are some questionable sections.
And for drinking puns.
And the word "Libido."
I'm gonna shut up now.

This is my first story and I am only a teenager, so I am not that good, a friend suggested I upload it so I did, and here it is. Criticism is welcome, but please be nice about it.

I should also mention the "Or ponies that look like mares." sentence, you see, I do not like the look of male snouts thus giving Dusty a mare's snout and just blamed it on a physical illness that I found in another story, so I should give thanks to the wonderful author who had presumably made it up.
Credit to AugieDog for the inspiration for the "physical illness" idea.