//------------------------------//
// Hungover And Hung Out To Dry 
// Story: You And Me Against The World 
// by Slippin_Sweetie 
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The following day Oleander shot out of her bed and nearly toppled onto the floor as she scrambled to get into the bathroom. Throwing Fred aside during the commotion, causing the large book to be flung unto the floor.

"Hey!" grunted Fred. "That hurt-" The demon was interrupted by the unholy sound of retching coming from the bathroom.

Fred hissed as he dragged himself toward the backroom, attentively watching Oleander evacuating her insides. The demon awkwardly patted the mare's back.

"Yup….just….let it all out," He tsked, clicking his 'tongue.' "Well, I knew you would feel something in the morning."

Oleander heaved as she slowly forced herself up to her hooves, lamely reaching over to flush the toilet before groaning, "Why does it hurt so bad?...."

"That would be the excessive amount of alcohol....or me accidentally slamming your body into the floors and walls. Funny how that works." chuckled Fred.

The unicorn glared at Fred as she bucked the book several feet away from the bathroom before slamming the door shut.

Fred grunted as he smacked against the hardwood floor. "Next time, don't try to out-drink the guy that doesn't have a liver!"

A few minutes later, the pair quietly sat on the bed as they stared motionless toward the floor. Oleander rubbed her temple with her front right hoof. "Everything, and I mean everything, is just pure agony…."

Fred shifted his pages as they folded themselves into something resembling a sympathetic expression. "Ah well, it can't be so bad. I mean, you're still conscious."

He playfully jabbed his fingers at her chest. "Maybe you need me to keep you nice and warm in bed again; maybe I could tuck you in, read you a few chapters from the Unicornomicon," Fred suggested.

Oleander rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Fred…." she said as she resisted the urge to dry heave.

Fred rubbed his pages like they were the bridge of a nose. "Heh…..so how does getting out of bed sound on a scale of one to ten?"

"Zero, I think I'm going to go back to bed…." Oleander grumbled before she slowly lay back down on the soft, welcoming bed.

Fred flopped over on his spine, his shadowy arm resting beside him as it drummed rhythmically against the bedsheets. "That'd be a sound strategy if it were your room, Ollie. But I think you might have a few people who might object to such a request."

Oleander slowly turned over, burying her face into the soft feather pillow as she groaned. "I don't know, pay them off or eat them…."

"I'm not going to let you loaf around all day, c'mon." The book continuously nudged Oleander, much to her dismay. "Let's see if they sell breakfast…."

Oleander let out a deflated sigh before peeling herself off the covers and forcing herself to her hooves. "I hate you…."

Fred scratched his pages as he tapped his fingers against his hardcover. "Uh huh, you totally hate me and didn't cuddle with me last night."

Oleander's face burned a bright pink; her voice tightened. "I was drunk, and it was cold, no, freezing! There's no need to complicate this, “she said firmly.

Fred tsked. "Alright, alright; I was only having a little fun, don't get your tail in a twist."

"Well, your definition of fun always ends where my suffering begins." Oleander brooded.

"You are so melodramatic." Fred nudged Oleander again with his cover. "C'mon, let's get out of this stuffy room."

The pair sat in silence at the empty bar, the once bustling and busy barkeep now lazily cleaning his glasses as Oleander and Fred awkwardly stared at the empty tables and chairs.

Fred let out a dry cough. "....Well, it's awfully lively this morning isn't it?" He’d forgotten about his essential silence in front of other creatures.

Oleander quickly swatted the book, smashing it against the counter as a loud thwap echoed through the empty tables, masking Fred's quip.

The barkeep lazily looked over to Oleander, puzzled as to why the mare decided to create such a loud noise. "Listen, I don't mind you being here, but I'd prefer if you'd keep quiet…."

Oleander nervously chuckled. "S-sorry." The mare peered down at the book, glaring at it intently.

Oleander then picked up Fred with a spark from her horn and promptly made her way toward the tavern exit, swinging the door open to be greeted by a blast of freezing cold air.

"Does this mean more cuddles?" teased Fred.

"Open your pages one more time, and I will use you as kindling," threatened the mare.

"Oh, relax, Ollie; no one is around to hear you talking to your magical book. Lighten up, will you?"

Oleander groaned before trotting toward the main gate, staring at its massive stone walls and wooden doors as a few deer peered down from above at the pair.

Fred clicked and shuffled his pages together as he replicated something akin to clicking and snapping. "So how do you plan to get us inside without anything to trade?"

"I do have something to trade….knowledge," Oleander smugly stated as a smirk curled on her lips.

"No offense, but if I hear you go on about the significance of balancing light and dark magic again, I think I'll unleash Hell on Fœnum….or complain enough to make you reconsider," replied Fred.

Oleander sighed, rolling her eyes. "Just teleport us inside Reine…."

"Now you're thinking. Just put us close to the wall where they can't see us."

Oleander trotted toward the wall; moments later, a dark inky smoke began to encompass the two. The mare felt light-headed as her eyes rolled to the back of her skull. Her body fragmented and splintered apart, before dissipating into thin air.