I let out a groan when I woke up, the fucking sun shining on me from a window I forgot to close last night. I glared at the damn thing and forced the curtain shut with Extrasensory. Grumbling to myself, I wrapped the blanket around myself and tried to get back to sleep.
I had no idea what the hell was in those candles and incense, but it really fucked with my head. My head was stuck in a fog for pretty much the whole rest of the day yesterday. It was like being stuck on the tail end of a trip, but I couldn't remember if it was a good one or a bad one. I had a few dizzy spells, too, but those passed pretty quick if I sat down for a bit. Starlight almost made me call in sick, but I somehow managed to talk her into letting me work through the whole thing.
I went straight to bed when I got home, but that didn't really help all that much.
The whole night, I kept waking up out of a dead sleep from....something. You know how sometimes you wake up and can't remember what you were dreaming about, but you know it was weird? Yeah, that happened to me about ten times last night. Thank whatever divine asshole is watching me today was my day off. Fuck, I doubt Starlight would've let me clock in today if she saw me right now. Hell, Sid even told me to skip training today and to just "Let things run their course," or whatever.
My head was still foggy and the room wouldn't stop fucking spinning. It was like being hungover, but without the headache and nausea. Good thing too, cuz all of that was the last thing I needed right now. Food and and to take a piss? An absolute necessity of the highest order!
"Fuck my life," I growled, practically dragging myself out of bed.
In spite of my, condition I guess, I had no problem finding the bathroom and doing my business. Shit was still screwy, but the toilet and everything I had to do there came in with HD clarity. It was really freaky, but considering the alternative was me pissing all over the floor, I'm not going to complain.
"Did Wallflower really have to go through this shit?" I mumbled, stumbling out of the bathroom.
I walked over towards a suddenly clearly visible door, but froze just short of grabbing the handle when I realized what I had just said.
"Wait...I remembered her name? The fuck?"
I sat and tried to get my brain to focus long enough to see what else I could remember.
Lets see...she's a mare. She's....blue? Red? Yellow? No that's fluttershy. Uh...she's....green? Yeah, that's it! Green! Okay, what else? Uh......she's....GOD DAMN IT! Aside from the fact that I shouldn't be able to remember her period, I've got nothing!
"I guess its a start at least," I sighed. "I hope this means she's getting that issue under control."
My stomach chose that moment to remind me why I was out of bed in the first place. With a sigh, I dragged myself to my feet and stepped out of the room.
The walk to the kitchen was quiet, but it didn't stay that way for very long. After a few turns through a handful of hallways, I started to hear some familiar voices. It was just sounds at first, but the closer I got to the kitchen, the more defined they became. When I pushed the door to the kitchen open, everyone there burst out laughing at something I missed. Everyone was sat at a large round table at the center of the kitchen laughing over just about every kind of breakfast food you could think of and mugs of coffee. Vermillion and Zeal sat together sharing a plate of scrambled eggs while Flash Bang and Gangplank sat at their left and right respectively eating pancakes. Spring was happily munching on a couple slices of french toast that looked like it was more sugar and honey than bread while Lunar simply shook her head at her over her fruit salad. There were two people I hadn't seen before there too; an orange dragon and a teal Pegasus with his mane done up in some messy bun.
I quietly groaned and put a paw to my head as a dizzy spell started to hit me again. I guess I wasn't quiet enough because pretty much everyone turned to look at me about a second later. I must've looked as fucked as I felt if all the worried looks I was getting was anything to go by. I forced a smile, nodded in greeting to them, and tried to drag myself over to the oven to put something together to eat. What the hell that was going to be, I had no fucking clue yet, but it was going to be something.
The second I was about to use my paw to turn on the oven, Lunar seemingly appeared at my side and pulled it back with a hoof.
"I think It would be wise if you let somepony else make you something," she frowned. "You do not seem well."
I....th.....I think she has....a.....poi.....I think she has a.....point.
Sighing, I nodded and mumbled, "Banana pancakes," as I made my way towards a random seat at the table. I closed my eyes and rested my head on the table, trying really hard to tune everyone out. God, I wished I had a headache over this stupid bullshit. That I could fix with some coffee and some aspirin.
Fucking Sid and his stupid fucking skull-fuck training.
Wanna....bar.....get drunk.....beer?
Can't. Sid said that would make things worse. Should be able to tomorrow though.
Him...buying...
Definitely.
A tapping on my right shoulder snapped my out of my thoughts. I reluctantly peeked open my right eye to see who's head I was going to bite off. Yeah, I know, not fair to whoever was stupid enough to bug me, but it was really hard for me to care at the moment. When my cloudy vision finally managed to clear up, I managed to identify my poker as the orange dragon I saw earlier. I was going to give her some snark, but the worried look on her face killed the urge.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You seem really out of it."
I closed my eye and groaned.
"Head feels like its full of cotton, everything's cloudy, and if I stay still with my eyes open for too long everything feels like its spinning."
I went back to my own little world after that, doing everything I could to tune out the group. There was some worried-sounding muttering, but I was so far into my own head that I could barely make anything out. That was fine by me. I just wanted some food and maybe some coffee, then head back to my room to wallow in my own misery for however long it would take to shake this shit off.
I came back to reality again when I felt a felt something lightly clatter onto the table in front of my muzzle. My nose told me what it was before my eyes did, a double stack of banana pancakes with some cinnamon sauce on top. Didn't ask for the sauce, but I sure as hell wasn't going to complain.
I managed a weak smile, thanked Lunar, and then tore into my food like I hadn't eaten in months. Normally, I would've used my Extrasensory to cut it up with a fork and knife, but with the way I was feeling, I'm pretty sure I would've cut up the table a few times before I managed to find my fucking plate. As I was ripping into my food, I noticed a large mug of coffee set itself down onto the table to the right of my plate. Once I finished off the pancakes, I gleefully chugged the steaming hot elixir of life, keeping a firm grip on the mug with both my paws.
Fun fact: turns out the whole "fire-types can't be burned" rule applies to all kinds of burns. Plus, we have a much higher heat tolerance than humans. In other words, even though I could feel how hot the coffee I was downing was, it didn't bother me all that much and I wasn't burning a hole through my throat. Unless some ten-year-old smuck with the power of plot-armor and an over-gimmicked electric rat shows up, I don't think I'm ever going to stop loving this new body of mine.
With a satisfied belch, I set the now empty mug down onto the table, thanked Lunar, and got up from the table. I still felt crappy, but at least I wasn't starving. When I started heading for the door, a sudden dizzy spell almost knocked me over. A pair of claws caught me at the last second, giving me just enough time to steady myself again. I mumbled a thanks to the dragon as I staggered past her.
I barely noticed it when Lunar opened the kitchen door for me. All I cared about was getting back to bed for...however long it took for me to shake this shit off. Seriously, what is it with me and getting drugged lately? Is this something that happens to everyone that ends up in Equestria? God, I could see the billboards now. Wanna get stoned? Come to Equestria; the land of freaky mind-fuck fog and lavender-scented LSD candles!
Fuck my life with a sandpaper dildo.
...Kinky...
Go back to sleep brain.
FINLAND!!!
I groaned, wondering when the hell my life became so weird. When I finally made it to my room I threw the door open, staggered over to the bed, and dumped myself onto it. With a relieved sigh, I let my eyes slide close, relishing the silence that surrounded me. The less my overworked mind had to take in, the better. After...I have no idea how long, I finally nodded off.
***
I slowly started to come back to the world, woken up by another weird dream that I couldn't remember. While I was still groggy, I picked up on a few things pretty quick. First, my head didn't feel quite as foggy as it did the last time I woke up. Second, I could hear some soft music nearby, something from some kind of string instrument if I had to guess. Finally, I felt some extra weight set in the bed around me and something being gently ran across my head. Three other people where in bed with me, one on each of my sides and the third near my head. I knew that the weight at my right was Autumn. I don't know how I knew, I just ...did. The other two were a mystery, one that I was ready to find the fuck out about.
I peeked open an eye and looked around.
Sure enough, Autumn was tucked into my right side snoozing. Spring was at my left, humming a small lullaby with her eyes closed with her legs tucked under herself in a bread-roll. The one sitting near my head brushing me was the Pegasus guy I saw at breakfast.
I opened both of my eyes fully and locked them with his.
"What...are you doing?" I asked flatly.
"Brushing ya," he shrugged, going back to doing that. "Helps my sister relax when she's sick and I thought it'd do the same to you."
I glowered at him for a bit, then sighed and said, "I'm way to tired for this shit, so I'm not going to fight this. Stick with my head and do not touch my tails."
"Fair enough," he shrugged. "I mostly work with manes anyway."
Spring let a giggle slip into her humming while just I snorted at that. I scanned what I could of the room with my eyes to see if I could find the source of the music. It didn't take long for me to spot Lunar sitting in a corner with her eyes closed playing a harp with her magic.
"How long was I out?" I asked, closing my eyes.
"About five hours," the Pegasus said, casually. "Smolder wanted to keep an eye on ya after you left the kitchen. Said your temperature was low."
"Oh," I yawned. "That doesn't sound so bad."
I felt Spring flinch against me a little less then a second before her humming abruptly stopped.
"'Not so bad'?" I heard her gasp. "Alex, you were five degrees colder than a fire creature should be before we got here!"
I really didn't like the way she said that.
"H-How bad is that?" I asked, trying to keep my nerves out of my voice.
"Very," Spring gulped. "Did you eat something funny recently?"
"No," I sighed. "My friend told all of this was a side-effect of my training."
"Training? What kind of training?" Spring asked, worry heavy in her tone.
"Some kind of special mind training to help me unlock my...um...magic. Said I'd feel kind of out of it for a little while."
Didn't say anything about my body freezing over, though! Fucking asshole!
"Well, tell him that Autumn want's to have a word with him the next time you see him," she huffed. "It took Smolder lighting you on fire to get her to calm down."
My eyes popped open when I heard that.
I forced myself to raise my head and level a flat glare at the Kirin.
"First, who in the nine fucking circles of hell is Smolder and two, why the hell did they light me on fire?"
"Smolder's the dragon you met at breakfast," the Pegasus stated, picking fur out of his brush. "Name's Zephyr by the way."
"So that's what her name is," I mused, then flatly asked, "So, why did she try to cook me?"
Spring jumped in this time.
"To warm you up!"
"And you guys couldn't just throw a couple extra blankets on me or something?"
"That is what I said," Lunar tiredly added, still playing.
"We, kinda panicked when we checked your temperature," Spring sheepishly smiled.
"And the reason why the bed is still intact?"
"Boss lady has all of her furniture enchanted with wards to make them fireproof," Zephyr smirked. "Heard it ain't cheep, but it's probably less expensive than replacing them every other week."
"You have no idea," Autumn mumbled.
A weak smile spread across my muzzle as I turned my head towards my girlfriend. She let out a cute squeaky yawn and blinked groggily at Zephyr. Chuckling, I draped a foreleg across her shoulders and pulled her further into my side.
"Have a good nap?" I asked.
She groggily nodded, eyes half open as she looked around. She woke up real quick when our eyes met. I think I had about three seconds to brace myself before she tried to hug the life out of me. I felt some tears soak into my chest as she nuzzled into it. I smiled weakly at that and hugged her back, not really sure how I was supposed to take this.
Look, I'm not against Autumn being all lovey-dovey with me. I really like it, but a part of me just can't wrap my head around it. It just felt...weird to have someone care that much about me outside of my friend circle.
"Y-You're warm again," she sniffled.
"'Course I am," I smirked. "Full of fire, remember?"
"Full of something," she snorted, pulling back enough to give me a teary smile, then frowned as she added, "Don't scare me like that again."
"I'll try," I sighed, wiping her tears way with a paw.
"You better," she glared, poking a hoof into my chest.
I just smiled and kissed her just below her horn.
A happy cry to my left broke the moment.
"Sooooooooooooooooooooooo LUCKY!!!!!" Spring cried, little bits of blue and pink flames popping up all over her mane. "I want a super hot mate too!"
"Aren't you dating Gangplank?" Zephyr asked, putting his stuff into what looked like some kind of doctor's bag.
"Ugh, no! We broke up three weeks ago," she huffed, looking away from everyone.
"How come?" Autumn asked, peeking around me at her cousin.
"It.....just didn't work out, okay?" she grumbled, her flames extinguishing themselves.
I cringed at that.
So either they just didn't mesh well, he did something stupid, or trouble in the sack. Brain, thoughts?
Avoid topic at all costs! We've already cheated death once and I don't like the idea of trying again.
Agreed.
Luckily, my stomach decided now was an excellent time to remind me that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. That got a bit of a giggle out of Autumn and I think I saw Spring smile out of the corner of my eye. Zephyr just rolled his eyes while Lunar smiled before she turned off her magic.
"Guess It's time for dinner, huh?" I sighed. "And I'm guessing none of you are going to let me make it myself."
"Nope!" everyone said with a smile.
I sighed, propped my head up on the bed with a paw and asked, "So, what's on the menu then?"
"I believe we will know in a few minutes," Lunar smiled. "Last I checked, the others were down in the kitchen preparing tonight's meal."
"Alright," I shrugged. "Any guesses what it might be?"
"Something hot," Autumn smiled.
Before I could ask anything else, a sudden rush of awesome scents came to me. Seafood, broth, spices, pork, and dozens of other things I couldn't properly identify, but smelled fucking amazing! I swallowed back some drool as I stared at the bedroom door. Eventually, it opened and the rest of Autumn's troupe came in, each carrying a steaming pot of something awesome and some bowls.
"I'm telling you, that's not what Autumn meant when she said hot food," Smolder frowned, glaring at Flash Bang.
"Psh! Whatever," he laughed, pointing a hoof at the pot on his back. "My Seven-Alarm Chilly is more than hot enough to get the job done. One spoonful and he'll be back on his feet in no time."
"Yeah, straight the bathroom," Gangplank snorted, rolling his eyes. "My Shark Fin Stew should do the trick and not make the poor guy have to get a new lower-intestine."
"Whatever," Smolder deadpanned. "He's a carnivore, so my Pork Belly Stew is what he really needs to get better. Nothing better than a dragon sear after all."
"You all do know that he's not going to eat all of this, right?" Zeal deadpanned, a stack of empty bowls and several sets of silver-wear floating next to him.
"And I am not eating that pipe-cleaner you call food, Flash Bang," Vermillion frowned, what looked like a fresh baked blueberry pie floating next to her.
"Wimps!" he laughed.
"Foooooooood," I groaned, my brain starting to tune out everything else.
I barely noticed the nervous looks they were giving me as I floated some bowls in front of them.
"Fill. Feed," I grunted.
***
"I'm alive again!" I sighed, laying on my back in the bed with a big smile. "God, all of that really hit the spot!"
"Glad to hear it," Autumn giggled, nuzzling into my side.
I chuckled as I wrapped a foreleg around her.
The big potluck ended a little less then an hour ago, everyone already way past ready to call it all a night. I mean, if even Spring was starting to use a pot as a pillow, you know it's getting late. So, here I was, finally feeling alive again with a shivering girlfriend at my side. Everything was...wait.
"Autumn? You okay?" I asked, looking down at her.
She suddenly wrapped her forelegs around my chest in a damn near death-grip.
"No."
I nodded, then curled my body around her and hugged her back.
"How about now?" I whispered.
Her shivering slowed, but she still shook her head.
I sighed.
I guess me getting sick hit her harder than I thought.
I kissed the top of her head and asked, "Will you be later?"
"M-Maybe?" she squeaked.
"Anything we can do to get there?"
"Just, stay like this, okay?" she said, smiling up at me.
"No problem," I smiled, kissing her on the cheek.
She kissed me back then laid her head on my chest and closed her eyes. I rested my head on her shoulder and started to nod off. Again, I felt the urge to give her something, but I just couldn't figure out what it was. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as I fell asleep.
That was Future Alex's headache to deal with.