//------------------------------// // 14. After Clubbing // Story: Like Fireworks in the Sky // by SpyroForLife //------------------------------// Tempest ended up having more drinks than she should have while at the club. Everything grew fuzzy, and she found herself laughing at everything, and stumbling as she danced with Discord, stepping on his feet a few times. Luckily he was too tough for that to bother him, and he just laughed and teased her for her clumsiness. At no point did Discord even seem slightly buzzed, and Tempest asked him about it when they took a break back at their table. “I haven’t had enough,” Discord replied. “What’d’ya mean?” Tempest asked with wonder, taking a few attempts before managing to grab her margarita. “You’ve been drinking this whole time!” “Yes but I’m much larger than you and have a much higher tolerance. It takes a lot to get me drunk. I’d need to get stronger drinks too. This stuff is pathetic. Better than Equestrian alcohol at least, but still.” Tempest played with her straw. “What kind of drunk are you?” “A silly one. But that’s not a surprise.” Discord amused himself by balancing a spoon on his snout. “I also get really philosophical for some reason. But yes. I get all playful and giggly. Much like you’re behaving right now.” Tempest finished her drink and stood. “Well, I kinda want to head home. I’m tired.” “I figured you would be, it’s nearly midnight.” Discord got up too, and he let her lean on him as they walked over to the bar to pay. The bill was high, but Discord had plenty of money. Then they walked out. Tempest didn’t remember much of the trip. She just walked quietly with him, focused on putting one hoof in front of the other. She was swaying, but she was managing. She barely noticed Discord’s tail going under her stomach to keep her up. Next thing she knew they were back at Capper’s, and she clutched her stomach as she suddenly felt nauseous. “You okay?” Discord asked, having her sit down. “Fine,” she replied, wrapping a foreleg around herself. “Just queasy.” “Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?” She swallowed, shaking her head, but she wasn’t sure. Maybe she shouldn’t have bought those nachos. “Well here, sleep on the side of the bed closest to the bathroom.” Discord helped her into bed, and climbed up with her. She moved to snuggle with him, and he chuckled as she nuzzled under his chin. “You get affectionate when you’re drunk. That’s adorable.” “Ssh.” She batted at his side. “I’m just trying… trying to get comfortable.” “This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” “Shut up.” “Okay, but I’m telling all our friends about this.” Discord wrapped his arms around her, and she smiled against his fur. “Is Capper home?” she asked out of curiosity. “No, he’s out. Probably hanging out like we were.” “Oh, alright. I just wanted to make sure we weren’t keeping him awake.” Tempest yawned and closed her eyes. She was exhausted. Thinking was hard and all her senses seemed dull. “When was the last time you got wasted like this?” “I honestly don’t remember. I used to drink with the storm creatures but I never let myself get too drunk because I wanted to still be uh… aware… no, alert. I wanted to be alert.” “Gotcha. Well, you should go ahead and sleep.” “Okay.” She didn’t think about it, pressing a little kiss to his neck before passing out. Discord stared off into space, surprised for a moment. Then he smiled and stroked her back. “Goodnight.” He reflected on his evening with Tempest. It had been a lot of fun dancing with her. She had gotten pretty good at it, though her skill faltered once she got buzzed. Still, he had a good time. He appreciated her friendship, and thought about how close they’ve grown. He was thankful Twilight sent him on this trip. It was interesting. Discord has grown to care for many ponies in recent years. Twilight, Celestia, Pinkie Pie… and especially Fluttershy. He had fond opinions of them and liked hanging out with them. But he felt something different for Tempest. He liked her of course, but he felt a deeper bond with her than with the others. They were very similar to each other, yet different enough that he never got bored while talking to her. He didn’t know how to fully describe the different feelings he had for her. But what he did know was that he admired her, and wanted to be her friend for as long as possible. He didn’t want anything to come between them and he would always be there to protect her. Not that she needed his protection, he supposed. She was a talented fighter and magic user. It would take an alicorn to do damage to her. Still, if she ever did need him… he would be there. Discord moved a wing forward to drape over Tempest, curling his neck around hers as he decided to go to sleep too. Casually his hand slipped down to hold her hoof, and he slowly drifted off to sleep. “My, are you lovebirds still asleep?” Discord and Tempest both jolted upright, and the first thing they saw as they opened their eyes was the bright Abyssinian sunlight. “Aah, Celestia please turn off the Sun every once in a while,” Discord hissed, shielding his eyes. But they soon adjusted, and he saw Capper leaning against the bookshelves nearby, drinking coffee. He smirked at them. “Have a fun night, you two?” They looked down and saw that at some point the covers had slipped off them, and Discord had practically wrapped himself around Tempest as they slept. Tempest’s face grew hot at the implications, and she quickly waved her front hooves at Capper as she tried to explain. “No, we just went to the club and came back, we cuddle when we sleep, that’s all it was, we didn’t actually sleep together!” Then she thought back to the blurriness of last night, and quickly looked at Discord. “Right? We didn’t?” He laughed. “No, we didn’t. Funny that your mind would go to that though.” “Alcohol can make a pony do crazy things,” she replied, pulling away from him. He unwound himself and let her go. “Oh, so sleeping with me would be crazy?” Discord asked, pretending to be insulted. Tempest hopped down and rubbed her head. “Well, yeah. You’re Discord, doing anything with you is crazy by default.” He snorted. “Well what’s the fun in being sane all the time?” He noticed Tempest looked pained, and said, “You okay?” “Fine. I just have a bit of a headache.” Capper gestured for her to come over to the kitchen. “Here, drink some water.” “Oh, thank you.” She accepted the cup he gave her, and went to sit at the table. Discord joined her. “For the record, I would never take advantage of you while you’re drunk,” he said bluntly. Tempest blinked. “Er… what?” “You seemed to panic a bit when Capper implied we slept together, like you thought we might have actually done it. I just wanted to say no, I would never do anything like that with you while you’re drunk. I’m not that kind of person.” She blushed. “O-oh. Okay.” “You don’t find a gentleman like that everyday,” Capper commented as he sat with them. “It’s simple politeness,” Discord replied. “Sad how few people actually have simple politeness around here,” Capper said. Tempest looked into her cup for a bit, then back at Discord. “So um. D-did I flirt with you much last night? It’s hard to remember.” “You kinda did. But it didn’t go anywhere. I know ponies get silly while drunk so I didn’t think too much about anything you told me.” “I mean, it’s not like I completely lost my mind,” Tempest pointed out. “Everything I would have said were things I truly believed. Anything I did were things I wanted to do. Being drunk just made me less shy about it.” She reached over to touch his hand. “I liked dancing with you. And talking about random stuff. It was nice, just hanging out together.” Discord smiled, petting her hoof gently. “It was. And I suppose you’re right. The alcohol only seemed to make you confident. I liked it.” Tempest considered her feelings for him again. She liked him so much more than anyone else she knew. Looking at him gave her weird flutters in her stomach, a sort of clenching in her chest. As she gazed at him, she knew she would be utterly happy to spend time with him for the rest of her life, no matter what they were doing. But she wasn’t going to rush into a more intimate relationship. She was going to spend more time getting to know him. Making sure that she really felt what she thought she did. He seemed like he was trying to figure things out still too. Tempest slowly pulled her hoof back, drinking more of her water. “We should go there again,” she said. Discord used his magic to bring over a bunch of bananas from the counter, picking one off and offering it to her. “We should. And drink in moderation so you don’t get hungover like this again.” “Heh, it’s not so bad.” She took the banana though. She was nauseous but she knew she needed to eat. She was just glad she didn’t throw up. “Cloud Nine is a great place, isn’t it?” Capper asked. They agreed. “I haven’t been too many times, I’m actually not big on clubbing, but it’s definitely popular. Just be careful there. Being the only nightclub, it also sometimes attracts a more… sketchy crowd.” “We’ll be careful,” Tempest promised. “Sketchy crowd, huh?” Discord asked. “Like who?” “The local gang, mostly,” Capper replied. “Gang?” “Ah, yeah… the Tiger Sharks, they call themselves. Rough group. They like to lurk in dark alleyways, beating up lost citizens and taking anything of value from them, and the police force we have here, as small as it is, is actually pretty scared of them. Most businesses elect to just pay them money to keep them from breaking in and taking what they want. Verko keeps saying he’ll do something about them, but he won’t.” Capper sighed. “Probably because they pay him some of their earnings from their secret but not so secret drug market.” “Drug market?” Tempest demanded. “Oh yes. They sell something they call fog. Apparently it’s made using the air from the Sea of Clouds and other ingredients, but the whole process is a secret. It’s supposed to give you a fun, hallucinogenic high.” Discord stroked his beard. “Interesting. Is it dangerous? I don’t mind drugs that aren’t dangerous, I mean look at how many people are addicted to caffeine.” “Mm, well…” Capper considered. “Occasional use ain’t so bad. The problem comes when people get so addicted to it that nothing else is fun for them anymore. They just go through the day desperate for the next hit. People can get nasty if for whatever reason their dealer cuts them off. The drug is illegal here. But people sell and buy it anyway. But the illegal status means they can charge more money, and who lines their pockets?” Capper sat back. “Verko.” Tempest let out a whistle. “Man. I hope the storm creatures don’t get mixed up in all that.” “Me too. Honestly I’d love to just see fog legalized. Remove the forbidden fruit aspect, but more importantly, you then make it possible for people to seek treatment for addiction without getting into legal trouble. But that’s just not a fight I’m willing to lead. Maybe one day, but I have too much going on to get involved with it now.” Tempest nodded in understanding, and Discord said, “This place just got a little more interesting.” “Indeed. Klugetown is full of secrets,” Capper said. “Tempest, how is your headache?” She touched her temple. “It’s getting better. It’s okay though, I can tolerate headaches. I’ve been getting them ever since that Ursa Minor knocked my horn off. I think it permanently hurt my skull. But I can’t really do anything about that.” “Have you seen a doctor?” Discord asked. “No,” she replied. “Not since I first lost my horn. They said there were hairline fractures spreading from the root of the horn. I was supposed to rest and let them heal. But well, I ended up running away. So they probably healed incorrectly or something.” “They could have. You should get it looked at again. You shouldn’t have to deal with headaches if you don’t have to.” “It’s not so bad,” she tried to insist. “Not now, but why wait until it hurts really bad?” Discord gripped her shoulder. “Promise me you’ll get it looked at when we return to Equestria?” “Okay,” she replied, unable to say no when he looked so concerned. “Thank you.” He let go of her. “I’ll get you some aspirin,” Capper said, heading over to the bathroom. Tempest still found it strange, having people who cared so much about her. Among the storm creatures, if she was able to move and fight, her pain was irrelevant. But Discord and Capper didn’t want her to feel any pain. Her chest glowed with affection for them. When Capper returned with the medicine, she took it and ate the rest of her banana. Her thoughts turned toward the storm creatures, and what else she would need to do for them. She’ll need to make sure Curly was aware of the fog market and kept the storm creatures away. Then she’ll keep overseeing work on the quarry, help them start selling the sand and stone… and it won’t be much longer before she’ll be able to head north to help Sunny Oasis. Discord began talking about their O&O campaign with Capper, and after listening for a bit, Tempest joined in with her own ideas. She may be eager to move on with her mission, but she had to admit, she’ll miss playing with Capper. He’s been so kind to her, shown her forgiveness when he didn’t need to. She’ll definitely have to visit again. “No, I’m telling you, archery is the way to go for a trap like that,” Capper said. “Are you kidding?” Tempest replied. “Long-ranged magic would be much better. More accurate.” “Oh, so you don’t think I’m accurate?” “I mean you did miss a bugbear that was twenty feet in front of you.” “I rolled a one! And Discord was a dick!” Discord roared with laughter. Tempest laughed too. “Okay, okay. You could use an arrow to hit the switch but magic can do the job without alerting the captor, since an arrow would make a ding and all.” “Hm, true. I suppose my arrows should be saved anyway for fighting the bad guy.” Discord chuckled. “This is fun and you’ve given me plenty of ideas for our next quest.” “Oh no,” both Tempest and Capper said.