I arrive at Pinkie's house about 30 minutes after packing my clothes. I'm starting to feel a bit nervous. This is the first sleepover I've ever been to, and it's with seven girls. Hopefully her parents aren't super strict about something like this. I ring the doorbell.

The door opens. "Glad you could make it!" Pinkie says.

"Last time somebody said that, I was tricked into helping an evil trio try to take over the school."

She chuckles. "Don't worry. We're the good guys."

I look at her clothing. Her shirt is light blue with balloons on it, it has a pink bow, and the shoulder straps and hem are purple. She's wearing matching blue shorts, only without balloons, and her slippers are blue with the same pink bows as her shirt.

"Where are the others?"

"Upstairs," she says, "but they're not ready yet." She looks at my clothes. "And unless you sleep in your school clothing, neither are you."

"I have a change of clothes in my bag. Is there somewhere I can change in the meantime?"

"Use this room. Nobody else is coming tonight." She starts to walk upstairs. "Make sure you knock before entering. Second door on the right."

I set my bag down and open it. Nothing fancy for clothes: Dark blue sweatpants, black shirt.

As I'm changing out of my regular pants, I notice something in the corner of my eye. I look in that direction and see somebody looking at me. I leap back in surprise and hide behind part of the couch. Everything about her is grey, aside from her white T-shirt and blue pants. How long has she been standing there?!

"Um... Hello..."

...

"Uh... Do you know Pinkie Pie?"

"I'm her sister. Maud. This is Boulder, my pet rock." I notice she does have a rock in her hand.

"Uh, right..." Pet rock? I thought that fad died out decades ago. "I'm Cloudflare."

...

"I-if you don't mind, can I finish getting changed by myself? I don't feel comfortable with an audience."

Without saying another word, she walks upstairs. She's Pinkie's sister?

I put my pants on, then walk upstairs. Second door on the right...

Ah, here it is. I knock. "Come in!" I open it. Pinkie notices my clothes. "You really seem to like those colors, huh?"

"I've always tried not to stand out, so I stuck with dark clothing.

The girls say hi. This is a sight I could get used to. All of them look stunning. Rarity's wearing what looks like a purple dress with a blue bow and purple slippers. Fluttershy, who's petting Spike, is wearing a green shirt with a purple collar and green pants, both with butterflies on them that match her hair clip. Twilight is wearing a yellow shirt with a pink collar and yellow pants... With pink hearts? I kinda expected something to do with magic, but I guess that works. Applejack is wearing a blue one-piece... Gah, what are those things called? Whatever it is, it has light blue apples on it and yellow buttons, and she's also wearing blue slippers.

"About time you got here," Rainbow says. She's wearing a white T-shirt with red sleeves and a rainbow lightning bolt on the front. Her pants are blue and a bit sparkly, while her slippers are red and yellow. "Think you can control your hormones while in a room with seven girls in their PJs?" she teases.

I nervously chuckle. "I think I can manage." I take another look around. "Where's Sunset?"

"She's still getting dressed," Twilight says.

I look at Pinkie. "So, uh... I met your sister..."

"Maud? She's something, isn't she?"

Well, you got that right. "She walked in on me when I was changing."

"Sorry about that. I forgot to tell her we'd be having someone else over."

I notice Rainbow and Applejack are playing a video game. I check it out. It's a beat-em-up fighting game, and one that I'm pretty good at. "Got a third controller?" Pinkie hands me one.

I've got it! Just a few more attacks...

Suddenly, Rainbow hits the console and shuts it off.

"Seriously?! I had that won!"

"I doubt it."

"I was ahead by one stock!" I look at Applejack. "Is she always a sore loser like this?"

"Pretty much."

"Geez, I'd hate to see how she gets when her soccer team is losing..."

I feel Rainbow grab my arm. "Dude, don't even freakin' joke about that..."

I hear the door open. "Sorry I took so long." I look toward it and see Sunset Shimmer.

Wow... She looks... Wow... Her shirt, pants, and slippers are purple, with a sun on the shirt in the same colors as her hair and two stripes of orange and light yellow at the bottom of her pant legs.

And her hips... How did I never notice those before?

"Hormones still in check?"

"Huh?" Rainbow snaps me out of my gaze. "Uh, y-yeah, of course."

"Uh... Are you okay?"

I look at Sunset. "Me? Never better!" I give a nervous chuckle. "You look great, by the way."

"Oh, thanks. You look pretty good yourself, too." I feel myself start to blush.

"You might wanna be a bit more subtle," Applejack whispers to me.

I close my eyes and try to clear my mind. "Right, then..." I pick up the controller that I think I dropped when I saw Sunset. "So Rainbow, you up for a rematch? Or are you too scared of losing?"

"I'm not scared! You are so on!"

For this game, I decide to go with a character I don't normally use. As the match begins, I'm having a bit of trouble focusing. My thoughts keep going back to Sunset. I still can't believe she looks like... that! Before I know it, the game is over, and Rainbow's easily kicked my butt.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Twilight asks. "You seem distracted."

"Yeah, I'm fine. One more time."

I use my best character this time. Hopefully I can avoid thinking about you-know-who. It's a lot closer this time around, but I still lose.

I might need to talk with someone. Just to get it off my chest. I walk over to the other side of the room.

"Rarity, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course, dear. What's on your mind?"

"Well... It's about Sunset."

"You're smitten with her, aren't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"Dropping the controller when she enters the room doesn't exactly count as subtle."

I sigh. "I'm not sure. Every time I've seen her, she's looked like a tough girl because of the jacket. When I saw her tonight... I apologize if this doesn't sound very gentleman-like, but... Her hips are just... I didn't know they looked like that."

She looks a bit annoyed. "Oh. I see how it is..."

"Sorry, Rarity. I'm a guy. We can't help but notice things like that."

"Well, you should start by having a conversation with her. Just be yourself, and try not to think about her, erm... figure."

"Right..." I look at Sunset, who's sitting on the bed and doing something on her phone. I stand up, walk to the other side, and lie down.

She looks behind her. "Tired already?"

"A little. It's been a long day. Being evil really takes a lot out of you."

"Tell me about it..."

I sit up and cross my legs. "So what happened? You ruled CHS for 3 years, then all of a sudden, you changed your ways."

She sighs, then turns around. "I might as well, especially after what I did to you." She pauses. "Several years ago, I was living in Equestria. I was one of Princess Celestia's top students. One day, she showed me a mirror, where I saw myself as a powerful alicorn that could rule Equestria. I saw something else as well, but I wasn't able to get a good look at it because she got me away from it. She wouldn't tell me more about the mirror, so I started researching it behind her back, but she and her guards caught me. She refused to make me a princess, and didn't want to be my teacher anymore. While her guards were escorting me out of the castle, I was able to get away from them and escaped through the mirror, which happened to be a portal to this world."

"So when you came here, you wanted to rule this place?"

"Not quite. I remembered reading about the Elements of Harmony, which were used by the princesses to protect Equestria. The most powerful of the Elements, the one that controls the other five, was never found. I figured if I waited long enough, somepony was bound to find it and I could use it for myself to take over Equestria. In the meantime, I pretty much took over the entire school, including ruining the friendships of these girls. Then after a couple years of checking the portal, I was able to go through it. Luckily, not only had Twilight found the sixth Element, she was staying in the castle that night. I swapped her crown with the one being given to the Princess of the Fall Formal, which happened to look exactly like it. I almost got away scot-free, but I tripped over Spike's tail and woke her up. I tried running back to the mirror, but she managed to catch up. She tackled me and the crown went through the portal. When I came back, Fluttershy had found it first and turned it into the principal. Twilight followed me here, reunited the girls, and tried to stop me from using the crown to take over this world, which was never my plan. The night of the Fall Formal, I wore the crown and transformed into a raging she-demon. For a couple minutes, I was able to hypnotize the students, and I was gonna use them to help me invade. Twilight drew the power from it and used that to defeat me. When she went back, her new friends taught me everything they know about friendship, and since then, I've regretted those past actions."

...

Gonna be honest. I wasn't expecting that. "So... You were on track to become a princess like Twilight was, but things weren't going how you wanted, so you ran away and plotted your revenge?"

"That's the short version, yes."

"Sounds like you were really selfish."

"Yeah, I was a real jerk..."

I wouldn't say "jerk". More like -

"So what about you? What happened after I... exposed your secret?" I sigh. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want."

"No, I want to. It's just the first time I've actually tried to remember everything." I take a deep breath. "I still don't know how it came to that. We were so careful to avoid PDAs when others might've been around..."

"I saw you two holding hands when you left Sugarcube Corner the day before."

I put my head in my hands. "Ah, damn it. I knew it was some stupid mistake..." Stupid, stupid, stupid... "Now I hate myself. How could I have been so careless..."

She puts a hand on my shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I look up. "After that, almost every student would laugh at me. On a good day, I'd get teased just a couple times. A few times, I was physically abused. The worst part... Me and my girlfriend were forced to break up. The teasing got worse for her, and she eventually had to move to another school..."

"So that's why I stopped seeing her in the hall..."

"I lost my friends as well. Instead of standing behind me, they just stopped talking with me. After the Fall Formal, I heard rumors that you had changed. Of course, I thought those were false. Then the Dazzlings showed up yesterday, and... Well, you know the rest."

"I'm really sorry for all that."

"I know you are. I think what made things worse was I didn't have any friends when I needed them the most."

"You probably need them even more now," Applejack says. "The students are gonna be much more brutal." I notice that all of the girls have been listening to what we were saying.

I smile. "You're right. I'm glad I actually have some again."

As everyone returns to what they were doing, I head over to Fluttershy and Spike.

"So, uh, Spike..."

"What's up?"

Still not used to that. "Twilight's a pony from Equestria. What are you over there?"

"I'm a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon!"

A ferocious dragon becoming a cute puppy? "Pretty sure you're exaggerating just a little."

"Well, maybe a little..."

"He's a baby dragon in Twilight's world," Fluttershy says.

"I see. That makes more sense."

I can't get to sleep. My mind keeps racing. I keep worrying about how badly the other students are gonna hate me, as well as trying to sort out what I think of Sunset. Maybe a glass of water will help me sleep. Or maybe I just want an excuse to distract myself from those thoughts. Either way, I can't just lie here. I get out of the sleeping bag Pinkie let me use and quietly step over the others. On one step, I hear the floor creek slightly. I hope that didn't wake anybody. I head downstairs and into the kitchen.

After turning on the light, I check the cabinets until I find the one with glasses in it. I get one out, then fill it with water. As I turn around, I see someone else entering the kitchen.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing still awake?"

"Um... I heard a noise, and I saw you weren't in your sleeping bag... I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"I can't sleep. I'm worried about what'll happen at school. I mean, I know I have you girls now, but I don't know exactly what the other students are gonna do. Are they gonna just glare angrily? Are they gonna keep up the name calling? Am I gonna get in more fights?" I sit down at the counter.

"Just try to stay positive." She sits down as well. "Besides, you and Sunset told everybody tonight that it's not your fault."

"Yeah, but not everybody believed that Sunset changed until she helped defeat the Dazzlings."

"Sometimes, having friends can help you get through a tough time. You could keep to yourself, but that'll just make things worse. Which... I guess you already know..."

I smile. "As long as I have you girls as my friends, I think I'll be just fine." Fluttershy smiles back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot another person. It's Maud. She's really good at sneaking around.

"Hey, Maud. Can't sleep, either?"

...

"Boulder is thirsty."

I'm... not sure why a rock would need anything to drink, but... "Here." I had her my glass of water. "I'm done with it, anyway." She takes it, then leaves the kitchen. "I've never seen two siblings who are more opposites than those two..." I hear Fluttershy giggle. "I'm gonna see if I can get to sleep now. Thanks for talking with me."

"No problem. That's what friends are for."

We walk upstairs and into Pinkie's room. Everyone else is still sleeping. As Fluttershy gets into her sleeping bag, I spot Sunset. She looks cute when she's asleep. I get into my bag and close my eyes. After talking with Fluttershy, I'm not as worried about what the other students are gonna say.