The unicorn sighed, shook his head, and closed the cupboard. "I can't poison my source of income, Lightning. It would be quite counterproductive."
"I'm not your source of income. The Princess is your source of income. You can keep making money even after I'm dead," Lightning Dust replied. She chewed on nothing, trying to get rid of the viscous sensation filling her mouth.
"Not if she finds out," the stallion replied. He opened another cupboard, this time above the sink, pulled out a glass and filled it with water. "And I'm pretty sure she will find out as soon as she asks you to make a new delivery. Kind of hard to pretend at that point, when you're no longer moving and all."
"Just act like I'm blackout drunk. Then run. You should make it across the border fast enough." The unicorn held out the glass for her, and she stared at it. "Please tell me that's vodka."
He looked at the glass, then at her. "Yeah, it's vodka."
Lightning snatched the glass with a wing and downed it in one sip. "You lied to me."
"You asked me to."
Lightning would have thrown the glass at him, but her wing was a little too sore for that. And her legs were out of the question, as long as she wanted to still be standing afterwards at least.
"I can't serve you alcohol this early, Lightning." The stallion took the glass from her and placed it on the table. "Like I said, I'd rather keep you safe."
The fact that her mouth was less dry and overall more normal after the drink made Lightning hold back most of her complaints. Not all of them, though. "It's not early. It's the middle of the afternoon, ponies are already starting to get drunk about now."
"It's early for you, you just woke up after all." The unicorn had meanwhile begun to search around the kitchen for something to eat. "What's up with that, anyway? Usually you manage to get out of bed before noon. Rough day yesterday?"
"Have you ever tried to outfly a storm?"
"Can't say I have."
"Good for you." Lightning chose to end that particular conversation there. She spent what felt like a moment looking at the ground, then a smell hit her nose and she looked up to see the unicorn cooking a couple of eggs in a pan. "What if I don't want them?"
"Then I'll eat them myself. Try to stop me."
Lightning sighed, then slowly made her way to the table in the middle of the kitchen. The world was finally stable enough for her to walk mostly straight, which she was quietly thankful for.
The unicorn looked back at her. "Don't you have any coffee around here?"
"My dad used to pour himself a shot of liquor inside his coffee, and another one in the cup afterwards to clean it. I live alone. I don't need to pretend I'm drinking coffee when I want to start my day on a double shot." Lightning sat down.
"You shouldn't drink so much with how important your job is."
"I'm not working today." The stallion served her the eggs, and she eyed them suspiciously. "And you aren't either right now, so you shouldn't be here."
"And pass up a chance to watch over your ass?" The stallion sat down in front of Lightning. "There are stallions and mares who'd pay for that, you know?"
That actually got a snicker out of Lightning. She began to eat her eggs. "Maybe I should charge you for it, then."
The stallion smiled. "Nah. At that point I'd probably go back to Soarin' instead, that's an ass I like looking over."
Lightning looked halfway up at him, lifting an eyebrow.
The unicorn looked back at her with a smirk. "Did you know he's a screamer?"
Lightning's laughing fit almost made her choke on the eggs she was eating. As the stallion promptly refilled her glass with water and passed it to her, she cleaned her mouth with a wing. "What's your name, anyway?" she asked, grabbing the glass as he passed it to her.
"Silver Spear," the stallion said. "Took you long enough to ask."