The girls were just making their way up Pinkie's driveway. They could smell the sweet scent of baked cupcakes, cookies and cakes from Pinkie's oven. As the four girls walked up to the front door, Pinkie opened it for them, greeting them warmly while each of her friends walked into the house.

“Welcome to Party Central!” Pinkie squealed happily.

“Darling, what is that wonderful fragrance?” Rarity asked with a warm smile.

“Oh, it's the cookies that Sunset is baking in the kitchen.”

Getting into the kitchen after dropping each of their bags off by the front door, Applejack looked around at all the cakes, cookies and cupcakes that Pinkie and Sunset had made. Tipping her hat back a bit, she grinned widely to Pinkie, saying to her with a slight twinkle in her forest-green eyes, “Y'all bought out the entire store, Pinkie. Ah mean, wow, you two must've made at least six hundred cupcakes, cookies and cakes.”

Sunset was in the kitchen, sitting at the table. A timer was sitting in front of her. She looked up from her journal and smiled warmly to the girls as they all filed into the kitchen. Setting her pen down, she nodded to Pinkie, walked over to the oven just as the timer dinged, signaling that the next batch of cookies was ready. Fluttershy smiled when she saw the bunny-shaped cookies being brought out of the hot oven. Sunset noticed this and smiled back warmly.

“Would you care to try one of these cookies, Fluttershy? I made them myself.”

“Oh, yes. Why thank you, Sunset.”

Fluttershy ate her cookie happily, while Rainbow and the others headed into the living room. Once Rainbow got there, she raced forward, yelling out, “Dibs on the games!” Looking at her friends as Sunset and Fluttershy joined them, she continued, “Someone wanna play me in Magic Drive Four Deluxe?”

Sunset sat down on the couch behind Rainbow, who sat on the living room floor holding a game controller in her hand and handing off the other one to Fluttershy.

“Here, Fluttershy. Try a round.”

Fluttershy looked at the controller now in her hands, then at the game on the TV screen, replying to her softly, “Um, thanks, but I don’t think--”

“C’mon, it’ll help you relax!” Rainbow interrupted.

Sitting down next to her friend, Fluttershy again looked from the TV screen to Rainbow with a slightly worried look on her face.

“Thank you, but--”

“Look! You can play as a fuzzy bunny! With a monster truck!” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide when she saw on the TV screen a white rabbit with a large red monster truck and a blue hat. Her peaceful demeanor suddenly shifted to an aggressive one as she picked up the controller. Her eyes shifted to a cold, calculating glare. She almost snarled out, “I will destroy all my enemies.”

Pinkie was busy pouring Rarity and Sunset cups of soda while Rainbow fully engaged Fluttershy in a one-on-one match of Magic Drive Four Deluxe. Much to Rainbow’s shock, Fluttershy was actually a challenge to her, as she found her own character to be in second place throughout most of the match. Sunset watched the two play the video game. She had a slight look of confusion on her face as she said aloud, “So is this what you do at slumber parties?” She looked around as everyone was enjoying their time together and Pinkie handed over the cups of soda to her and Rarity. “Just hang out?”

Applejack and Pinkie laughed. Both girls looked to Sunset, who looked back to them slightly more confusedly than she was before. Applejack tipped her hat back, a slight grin on her face.

“Pretty much, Sunset. Y'all mean ta tell us this is yer first time at a sleepover?”

Sunset looked down at her cup of soda, took a sip from it, cleared her throat, then looked back up at Applejack. Her face showing slight embarrassment as she blushed lightly.

“Uh, yes, this is my first time at a actual slumber party, AJ.”

Applejack smiled to Sunset, who returned the smile in kind.

“Well, you do more than just play video games, Sunset.” She started listing on her fingers, “You also eat, gossip, watch movies, tell scary stories,” Applejack grinned widely, “and oh, let's not forget the most important part of slumber parties: the pillow fights.”

“Pillow fights, huh?” Sunset replied with a raised eyebrow.

“AAACK!” Rainbow exclaimed as she mashed the buttons on her controller.

All eyes fell to Rainbow and Fluttershy, who were playing the video game until Rainbow lost to Fluttershy.

“Uh, I think Fluttershy needs to lie down for a while,” Rainbow stated while leading Fluttershy away from the TV towards a recliner.

“Use your limit break, Mr. Fuzzles,” Fluttershy muttered as she sat down in the chair. Her eyes were as wide as possible.

Just as Rainbow got Fluttershy into the chair, everyone heard a loud knocking on the front door to Pinkie's home.

“Ooh! I got it~" she sang out as she bounced up and down excitedly, moving towards the door, a happy smile on her face.

Opening the door, her sister Maud walked in, carrying sixteen pizza boxes. She looked to Pinkie, who wrapped her arms around her sister's neck, squealing out, “MAUD, YOU CAME! Now we can really get this party started!”

“Hello, Pinkie,” Maud replied in her monotone voice. “The sixteen pizzas you ordered from Pony Hut Pizza and Delivery are here.”

“Oh, Maud! You’re the best sister EVER!” Pinkie replied happily as she kissed her sister on the cheek.

“They're dripping grease on my shoes,” Maud said.

Everyone laughed as they each walked out of the living room into the kitchen to help Pinkie take the pizzas and set them onto the kitchen table. Fluttershy, still in shock at beating Rainbow, remained where she was. Rainbow looked over to her, giggling slightly to herself. Twenty minutes later, the group found themselves upstairs in Pinkie's bedroom, each of them with a box of pizza in front of them. Applejack was holding out her hand to Rarity while the latter applied nail polish to Applejack’s fingernails.

“Aaaand done!” Rarity said to Applejack as she applied the last of the nail polish. "There! Now, dear, don’t touch anything until they dry. You don’t want to get any of this on your clothing. If you do, it will never come out.”

Applejack looked at the nail polish on her hands, then at Rarity, while Rainbow could be heard growling slightly to Fluttershy. All eyes fell to both girls, as Fluttershy could be heard saying to Rainbow, “Hold still, Rainbow. I'm almost done.”

“Fluttershy, do you really have to fuss over me like this? I mean, come on, I like the way I look!”

Fluttershy was busy brushing Rainbow’s hair and tying it into a braid, while Rainbow was fussing about letting Fluttershy tie up her hair. Both girls, though, had pleasant smiles on their faces. Sunset giggled while she took out her phone and snapped a photo of the two. No sooner did she press the capture button on her phone did she hear Rainbow yell out to her, “THAT BETTER NOT HAVE BEEN A SNAP I JUST HEARD!”

Before Sunset could reply, she and her friends all heard Applejack say to Rarity, “Ah dunno how y’all can use this stuff all the time, Rarity. I mean, I like to get all dolled up for fancy stuff myself and all, but to wear this stuff all the time would drive me nuts.”

Rarity said nothing, only replying with a slight chuckle. Pinkie was too busy scarfing down her pizza to say anything. Sunset smiled happily to herself while she sat down on Pinkie's bed, laying back into the soft pillows.

“Thank you, girls. I haven’t done anything like this in so long.” She let out a soft, contented sigh. “It’s good to have friends.”

Fluttershy finished with Rainbow's hair, smiling to her warmly as Rainbow got up and plopped down on the bed next to Sunset, resting her chin on her elbows.

“Hey, Sunset, I feel the same!” Rainbow grinned. “I don’t know what I’d be like without you gals!”

“Same here, Sunset,” Applejack chimed in. “It means a lot ta me, having friends to support me makes--”

Applejack’s phone rang out while she lay on her back at Sunset's feet.

“Oh, golddurn it! That’s my phone! Can somebody get that for me? Y’all know Ah can’t touch anything while this here nail polish is still dryin'.”

Sunset rolled over to her side, picked up Applejack's backpack, opened it up, and took out her phone. Looking at the phone in her hand, she was about to say something when the farmer said, “Three, two, six, then press enter, Sunset. After that, put it on speaker, will ya?”

“Right, sure thing, Applejack,” Sunset replied, punching in the numbers and setting the phone to speaker.

Sunset laid the phone down next to Applejack.

“Whoever this is, y’all just ruined a real heartwarmin' moment!”

“Hey, big sis.”

Applejack rolled her eyes playfully as she shook her head.

“Granny wanted me to call you and, uh, make sure you're doin’ alright.”

“'Course I’m alright, Apple Bloom! I’m with all my friends, so tell Granny Smith to quit her worrying!”

Sunset grinned. Placing a hand next to her mouth, she called while the phone was still on speaker, “AJ’s fine! She’s wearing nail polish!”

“Alright, alright, Ah'm just the messenger. Sheesh!” Apple Bloom said.

Applejack again rolled her eyes this time in slight annoyance.

“Have a good night…Piggly Wiggly.”

“What Apple--”

‘Click’

All eyes fell to Applejack, who suddenly looked very embarrassed by her little sister's antics. Sunset had a look of pure confusion etched on her face.

“Uh, did your sister just call you ‘Piggly Wiggly’, AJ?” Sunset said still looking confused.

Sitting up and pulling her hat down to the bridge of her nose, Applejack grunted grimly. “Yeah, Sunset, she did. Ah was hopin' not ta hafta tell this story again.”

“Hey, it's okay. If you don’t want to talk about it, it's perfectly fine with me. I mean, if you feel it's too embarrassing and all,” Sunset replied kindly.

“No, no, it’s alright, Sunset. Besides, it’s better that ya hear it from me rather than someone else.” Applejack lifted up her hat, letting out soft sigh. “Anyways, when Ah was really little, Ah used ta follow Granny Smith around while she did her chores at Sweet Apple Acres. Ah ‘specially loved it when she fed the pigs. So one day, while she was feeding 'em, Ah sorta climbed into the pigpen and started playin' in the mud with 'em. Granny said she laughed herself sick when she saw me in there with 'em. She told me that I stayed in there for hours, just playing with the pigs and oinking like them, too. Well, she starting calling me ‘Piggly Wiggly’, and it sort of stuck as the family nickname. Apple Bloom likes to use it when she thinks Ah'm getting to big for m' britches.” Letting out another sigh, Applejack looked at Sunset, holding up her hand. “Well, that's family for ya. Y’all gotta take the good with the bad.”

Sunset nodded, letting out a tired but contented yawn.

“Uh...” Applejack looked around, seeing that everyone had fallen asleep. She smiled to herself. “Maybe we should get some sleep. Ah mean, Ah know we don’t have school tomorrow and all, but still, we should at least get some shuteye.”

Sunset also looked around at her sleeping friends, letting out another yawn and nodding to Applejack, who soon fell asleep next to Rarity on Pinkie's bedroom floor. Not able to sleep herself while she thought of what Applejack said to her, Sunset looked over to her bag, took out her journal, and tiptoed out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen. Setting the book down in front of her, she began to write to Twilight.

Dear Princess Twilight,

I just wanted to let you know that everything here at CHS is going very well for me. I thought you should know I'm having my first sleepover. It's a blast, and I'm having so much fun! I wanted to take this time to wish you a happy and warm Hearth's Warming Eve. I also wanted to simply say ‘Thank you.’ If it weren’t for you and your kindness, I wouldn’t be the pony--or person--that I am today, so again, thank you.

Your student and friend,

Sunset Shimmer

With that, Sunset closed her book and headed back upstairs to bed. She soon fell into a deep, restful sleep, dreaming of all the fun times she would have with her friends.

The sun rose the next day, warming Pinkie's room. each of her friends woke up groggy but otherwise well-rested. All but Sunset, who was tired from all the partying she did with her five friends the previous night. Applejack called her brother, who came and picked her up. Rarity also called her mother and was picked up a half-hour after Applejack left. Fluttershy and Rainbow left shortly after Rarity, and Sunset stayed with Pinkie, helping to clean up the mess she and her friends made of Pinkie's home. She left shortly after getting the house cleaned up, happily knowing it felt good to have friends that she could call family.

As Sunset walked out the door, Pinkie couldn’t help but wonder if what Miss Cheerilee said to her was true or not. Unbeknownst to her, each of her friends wondered the same thing as they all headed home as well.

Next Chapter: Shopping (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 22 Hours