Red Pegasus : Chapter 1
The First Sip
The humble town of Ponyville glowed softly under Luna’s moon, and while most residents of Ponyville would be asleep snugly in their beds at this hour, Twilight Sparkle was still wide awake. She had just returned home after her theatrical performance of ‘Hearth’s Warming’ at Canterlot , and was aching to head to bed. Spike snoring away in his basket, snug in the covers, along the base of the stairwell only reinforced the droopy-eyed mare’s want to rest. But something had caught her attention, or at least whatever was available that moment. A rather large cardboard box, wrapped in a velvet red bow, was at the base of the stairs. She read the delivery label aloud softly, “To: Twilight Sparkle. From:-“
Her heart skipped a beat as she squealed with glee. Immediately after, she slapped a hoof over her mouth and reaffirmed that her sudden yelp hadn’t woken her assistant. Slowly re-reading the label, she confirmed it was in fact, from Princess Celestia herself. She unlaced the delicately tied bow and peered inside. A stack of books, all of which were first edition, resided inside. Along with the glorious tomes was an overly ornate ( and lemon scented ) card.
“To my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for your wonderful performance today, you have served the tale well. Please enjoy these gifted books. Your teacher,
~Princess Celestia.”
Despite her occupation requiring her being surrounded by novels and encyclopedias all the time, she was overwhelmed by the fact that her teacher, also the ruler of Equestria, would go out of her way to get first edition books. She levitated out the pile, forming a circular line around her, and read their names to herself. “Advanced Restoration Magic, Spell Tome: Fireball, Equestrian Civil Unrest…” and the list went on and on. Tears welled in her eyes as she tried to contemplate just exactly how much new knowledge she had received, and at the expense of her teacher too. All of these were not only expensive, but massive! Each tome she removed was larger than the previous. It must have cost a pretty bit, though that shouldn’t have been a problem for royalty.
Woah.... I’m definitely not going to just leave this here. I must read at least one of them tonight!
Wiping her happy tears out of her eyes with a gentle hoof, she neatly levitated the books back into the box in the order they had been removed and carried it upstairs with her, carefully minding not to wake up her assistant dozing on the steps. She arrived at her room and laid the box next to her bed. For whatever reason that compelled her to, she sniffed the box. Instead of the pleasant aroma that books carried, a foul scent infiltrated her nose. Her face cringed as she realized that not only was the scent distasteful, but it was also her. She then trotted off to the bathroom.
After a quick, less than five minutes shower and a magic-lifted towel scrubbed thoroughly at her body, she slid into the star patterned covers of her bed, the sheets warmth combined with the showers cool provided an ethereal comfort. A long yawn escaped afterwards, indicating her sleepiness, and she dozed off slightly.
Before she fell into a deep and engrossing sleep, she whipped her eyes open and propped herself on the bed upright. Oh no, body, don’t fail me now! I have some reading to do! Despite her fatigue, she was determined to make at least some use of her mentor’s generous gift on the first night, no matter how much her eyes screamed for relief. She randomly grabbed a slim novel out of the box. Drink Making Spells.
It was rather ironic that she had pulled this out first. She had been trying to master this party trick for some time but could never seem to get it right. Even Pinkie Pie, the master of all things party, couldn’t relay her techniques to the studious mare. Perhaps now that she had a text reference, it would be easier to understand the physics behind it.
I don’t care what it takes, I will at least finish this book by tonight! She assured herself with a stream of determination.
She flipped open the cover, skipped past the table of contents and delved right in to the first chapter. “Safety precautions,” she murmured under her breath. Slowly but surely, she began to digest the words.
A few pages through the book and another yawn warned her that she should try and read as much as she could before she succumbed to her body’s demands.
Two more pages and another yawn escaped her muzzle. The sheets began to feel like soft fluffy clouds, beckoning her to relax. She closed her eyes, letting her body indulge in the comfort of her warm bed, and soon she gave in and dozed off.
She forced her eyes open again as her goal once again flashed through her mind. But she knew that without some outside assistance she’d never last the night.
Maybe a midnight snack would keep me awake for a while.
She conjured out a bookmark to mark her page and stealthily escaped from the comforts of her blanket. The frigid midnight air was cruel in comparison to the warmth and compassion her covers offered. But, the bedraggled unicorn would not let her ambitions be altered and made her way, as silently as she could with her hooves clacking against a wooden stair surface, to the kitchen. She spotted her refrigerator, humming softly in the night against the wall. Upon opening her fridge, she saw a wide variety of leftover food, most covered with a plastic wrap resting on a plate or in a bowl, but nothing there that she couldn’t make without having to cook. Twilight was not a chef, and it wouldn’t have been smart or kind to make a ruckus at this time of night. Besides that, Spike did all the cooking anyways. Thankfully, there was a slice of chocolate ice cream cake, and while it wasn’t ideal, the droopy eyed pony decided it was the best option available. She levitated out the slice and was about to walk away when she noticed something was behind the cake.
Six cans, silver and blue in color with a logo of a red pegasus silhouette zooming across the clouds, had apparently been stashed behind the ornate chocolate pastry. ''Red... Pegasus? How did this thing end up in my fridge?’’ she mumbled, inspecting the six cans. “Maybe Pinkie left it here during the last surprise party?”
Intrigued, the mare read the description on the mystery drink. ''Red Pegasus gives wings to ponies who want to be mentally and physically active and have a zest for life.”
Wait! She mentally stopped herself. How long has it been there? A quick check on the expiry date assured her it was still safe to drink.
A small smirk crept up on the unicorn’s face. Bingo! It’s just what I need. She hastily removed two cans from the pack, grabbed the cake, and went back to her room. Thankfully, Spike hadn’t woken up and she was able to trot back upstairs without incident.
As she got under her covers again, she had to think about what she was doing. She had never eaten in her bed before; it was an uncivil and unhygienic thing to do. Not to mention the chocolate from the cake or the products in the drink could stain the covers. Despite all this, she decided to go through with the deed. It was a special occasion, wasn’t it? Realizing that she had forgotten a fork, she had to eat the cake by levitating the entire slice to her face. While there wasn’t that much of a difference between floating the cake and floating the fork to eat the cake, there was a missing sense of formality. As it turned out, Twilight didn’t really care. She took a small bite of the cake, savoring its smooth, near perfect consistency and its incredible sweetness. She didn’t know if it was her sleep deprivation talking, but it was perhaps the best slice of cake she had ever eaten.
Next on the list was the Red Pegasus. After that, Twilight She clicked open the can with the tab, which emitted a loud ‘pop’. She shrieked a little, fearing Spike would wake up. Looking downstairs, a sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she saw that Spike was still snoring, deep in his slumber. The lavender raised the concoction to her lips, and letting just a small trickle of the liquid into her mouth. A sudden shiver coursed through her body, starting at her spine and quickly shot through the rest of her body like a wave of energy. It was so sweet that the cake seemed inferior in sugar levels. The re-energized mare had to shake her head to stop the sugary sensation. She held her hoof to her head and rubbed her temple.
''Oh Celestia, this thing is so sweet.''
Twilight knew that with this amount of energy from such a small sip, it would be best to ration the liquid until she absolutely needed it. Or, if she was thirsty… it was overly sweet, but it did taste pretty good after all. Refocusing on her task, she grabbed the technical drink making guide and continued reading.
“Haha...” She laughed to herself.
Unlike most guides, this one was quite humorous in revealing the practical art of party drinks. Each word came off more hilarious that the last. The laughing made her thirsty, so she drank more of the drink, each sip larger than the first. The cycle perpetuated in a downward spiral for some time as the lavender mare continued.
She hadn’t realized it, but by the first chapter she had finished off both cans of Red Pegasus and the cake! Her focus drifted away from the novel, nothing she had read had retained in her head anyways, and she began laughing at anything in the room. Everything just seemed so funny. Her star speckled bed, the various tomes in her room, even the moon, which was halfway to the horizon, were all comedy movies to the energy infused mare. But even laughing took its toll. Her body started to jitter and her hooves were getting light spasms. Her system was filled with sugar and caffeine, the insulin release making her heart palpitate at rapid speeds. Twilight just wanted to run around the library, but praise Celestia, she didn’t. She shivered there in her bed, too hyper to continue any reading. Time slowed down as the effects began to fade away. The strain in her lungs slowly became noticeable after the countless hours of laughing non-stop.
Wheew. That was fun.
Twilight began to feel the consequences of her caffeinated confections. Her head felt light, her vision became hazy, and soon it was too much to bear as she collapsed in her bed, forcibly taken by slumber.
~~~~
''TWILIGHT!'' Spike screamed.
“W-what...?” Twilight asked, her eyes opening up to see the face of a dragon staring down on her.
''Twilight, you’re already an hour late from your usual wake-up time. Are you okay?’’ The concerned assistant presses his claw against Twilight’s forehead, checking the temperature. Unsatisfied with the result, he plopped a thermometer in the unicorn’s mouth. Despite his suspicions, there wasn’t a fever. He wiped his forehead in relief.
''I’m fine. I won’t be going out today. You can have an extra off-day too, thanks Spike.’’ She answered in an extremely fatigued tone. Her brain felt like it had split into two, her mouth was dry, and her bladder was about to explode. Dragging her lifeless body out of the bed and into the toilet, she stayed there for what seemed like hours. It was such a tremendous relief. The unicorn then forced herself downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water. The echo the steps provided with each step, as each hoof met wood, was not helping in soothing her headache. She levitated out a cup, approached the sink and filled it with lukewarm water. She Chugged it all down in one gulp, and it soothed her throat like never before. She then went up to her bed and slumped herself on it, her dragon assistant beside following her all the while, watching her with genuine concern.
“Twilight, I think I’ll stay at home today.”
Twilight sighed to herself. Honestly, she needed some time alone. She needed to make an excuse to get the adamant assistant out-and-about.
“Don’t you wanna hang out with your friends?”
He shrugged. “The other foals have school today.”
“Don’t you want to do anything?”
“Nah.” Spike replied with a stream of determination, as if to mock the mare. He only wanted to spend this day taking care of Twilight, who was a big sister to him. And what kind of little brother would abandon a big sister in need?
“Why don’t you help Rarity out today? I heard she received a huge demand of dresses recently. Who knows, something dangerous might happen while she’s too caught up in her work.”
“Really? Oh no! That means she’ll be needing a dragon to help her!” Spike began to panic, forgetting his motive of not using the extra-off day.
“Yea, you should probably go now.” encouraged the crafty mare.
“Oh no! Thanks for the off-day Twi, but I must help my Rarity right now!”
He departed from the house immediately, leaving the library all to Twilight.
Twilight chuckled to herself. She found the way the Spike would do anything for Rarity really adorable. Like the overused cliche goes, love is blind. The purple mare felt kind of bad exaggerating to her little brother, though. She shrugged to herself, at least she wouldn’t have an over concerned baby dragon looking after her, and she had some time alone for now.
That drink, what had it done to me? I was so different last night... I’ve never felt such euphoria in my life. But Celestia, the headache, dry throat, full bladder, is all that for a momentary rush of pleasure really worth it?
Twilight stretched out her hoof, taking an empty can of Red Pegasus that had been discarded on the floor. She felt a little guilty leaving the cans and plate there, but was a little glad Spike hadn’t noticed them. The last thing she needed was an over protective dragon looking out for her on the assumption she had a caffeine problem. Also, there were luckily no ants, she would not forgive herself if ants invaded her bedroom, or worse, her brand new set of books. She took a squint at the ingredients.
Taurine ( 2000 mg ), Glucuronolactone ( 200 mg ), Caffeine ( 140 mg ), B vitamins ( 20 mg ), sucrose and glucose ( 60g ).
Sucrose and glucose means sugars. No wonder it was so sweet. B vitamins doesn't really look like much of a problem... How ‘bout the others? They sound like drugs to me.
“I should probably stop drinking this.” She mumbled to herself. The next rational thing to do would be to clean up her mess. Twilight was an orderly pony; maybe not so much as Rarity, but a discarded pile of leftovers was unacceptable. She levitated the cans into the trash downstairs and the plate into the sink, a small miracle on her part, and added researching Red Pegasus to her mental to do list.
The humble town of Ponyville shone brightly under the reflection of Celestia’s sun. While most of the townsponies would be awake and working, or perhaps taking the day off like Spike, there was one exception: Twilight Sparkle, who was sleeping snugly for the first time that day. The library remained closed, late books were excused, and the lavender mare took the afternoon off for an elongated snooze.