//------------------------------// // 20- The Morning After // Story: Newfound Neighbors // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// I had only been awake for about a minute and right now, my head felt like a rubber ball bouncing rapidly off the walls. Originally, I thought that mom and I went back home after we were done with the Halloween festivities for the night. Yet, instead, I found myself waking up in the middle of Gizmo’s living room with a raging headache. At first, that seemed to be the only issue that I had. Then, I realized that I woke up next to Luna… and basically had a princess as a head pillow. Which left me with only one question.  How the fuck did I get here? “Are you alright, Sam?” she asked, “You seem to be bothered by something. Did you not sleep well?” I slowly rose up from the floor, blinking a couple of times as I rubbed my eyes. It took a bit for me to actually feel as if I was somehow awake, but personally, I had one question on my mind that I didn’t want to wait for an answer for. “L-Luna, what… happened last night?” “You don’t remember?” “My memory is very hazy right now,” I told her and let out a low sigh. With how my mind was, I decided not to try and stand up right now. I need to come back to my senses and feel somewhat normal first, “I remember us handing out candy and then deciding to go back inside with you guys so we didn’t have to finish Nightmare Night too early. Mom was okay with it and went back home. But, it becomes a bit of a blur after that.” “Well, the rest of the evening was rather entertaining. We shared stories, had what was left of the candy, played some games, watched some of those… I think they’re called ‘movies’. Yes, that. Oh, and since Gizmo had saved a lot of leftover Apple Cider, we decided to partake in it and asked if you wanted to try it as well.” Wait, hold on a second. Apple Cider? Isn’t that supposed to be some kind of alcohol back in Equestria? Did Gizmo somehow get me drunk last night!? Oh god, please don’t tell me I did something embarrassing! “After about an hour or so, you just fell asleep and rested your head on my wing,” the alicorn continued, her words not doing much to really have me be ‘at ease’, “I didn’t want to be rude and wake you up, so I had Brisk talk with your mother and she was okay with letting you stay over for the night. I haven’t moved from this spot since.” At that, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of warmth run through my cheeks as I tried to not pay attention too much. Everything she said sounded rather… tame. If I was being honest, I expected something rather different and more embarrassing. Oh, who am I kidding? If I say those kinds of things now, I’m going to end up jinxing myself sooner or later. “Really? That’s… all that happened?” I hesitantly asked. “Well, yes. Why? Were you expecting something else to have happened? It was just the two of us by ourselves. I don’t see how that could be a problem.” Honestly, I had no idea how to respond to that. I mean, there are a number of stories out there of someone doing something incredibly stupid while intoxicated. So, when I first heard that I got drunk, I thought that I fell in the same category. To make matters even more problematic, I had not even had alcohol before until this point. Perhaps it was better not to say anything right now. The last thing I want to do is make things more complicated than they should be. I mean, crime drama TV does that already, “Hey, Luna? I-” “Oh, good morning Sam! Morning Luna!” Oh great, even more loud voices. Just exactly what I needed this morning. “Good morning to yourself, Gizmo,” I heard the alicorn say, “Can you bring us a glass of water? Sam’s having a bit of a headache this morning after last night.” “Sure thing!” As the unicorn trotted into the kitchen, it felt like each hoof step she took echoed throughout the house. Like if you heard music from a concert at full blast without earplugs. If this is what a hangover feels like, then I am not a fan of it. No less than ten seconds later did she bring out the cup of water Luna asked for and levitated it to me. “Here you go. Just don’t try to spill it all over your costume.” Oh right, I was still wearing that. Crap, it’s one thing to feel like a mess, but looking like one just makes everything feel worse. God, it would be more embarrassing if my parents saw me now-. Knock knock. “I’ll go get the door. Hang on,” Gizmo said, trotting to the door as I slowly began to drink some water. The feeling of dizziness from before was beginning to subside now, so that was a start at least. Though, I was really hoping that I didn’t have to feel the lingering effects of this throughout the rest of the day-. “Oh hi, Mrs. Axle!” Oh no, that’s bad. Out of anyone that could be knocking on the door right now, it had to be mom!? What did I do to jinx myself? “Good morning, Gizmo. You’re up bright and early this morning,” I heard her voice as the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up on end. Any sense of calm I had was thrown out the window and replaced with panic as I looked at Luna. “Is Sam still here? I was coming by to check on her.” Gizmo, I swear to the alicorn right next to me, don’t you-! “She’s just waking up now. We’re gonna make breakfast soon, so she’ll be helping us in the kitchen. Did you want to join us?” “Oh uh, thank you for the offer. But I’m afraid I can’t. My husband and I were going to see some people for brunch. I was wanting to know if she wanted to join us, but I didn’t know that Sam had other plans this morning.” “Well, after we had so much fun with her last night, I think it would be best for Brisk and I to do something to return the favor. Take it easy after the fun we had last night.” The silence that came afterwards felt like the longest ten seconds of my life. I was expecting for mom to follow up on that and ask about what she meant. Instead, all I heard was just a brief chuckle, “Well, I guess I can just ask her about the fun you guys had later. Have a good day, Gizmo. Tell Sam I said hi, alright?” Shortly afterwards, the door closed as Gizmo trotted away and back towards us. However, Luna had a few choice words for the unicorn afterwards, “While I am not one to encourage dishonesty among others, I do believe that was for the best.” “I just thought that Sam needed a little bit more time to perk up first,” Gizmo smiled, “I wasn’t lying about breakfast though. I remember Swift saying once that getting some carbs in your system can help a bit, so let’s give it a go and see.” If I’ve learned anything over the past few months from Gizmo is that if there’s anything in particular that stood out, it was her optimism. While the unicorn was looking out for me, I’m taking any health recommendations from her with a grain of salt. Besides, from what I was told, she was the one that got me unknowingly drunk in the first place! Still, at least she’s trying to be helpful, I’ll give her that much. Though, with everything that’s on my mind, I had to ask her something. “So, uh… Gizmo? I know I asked Luna about this already, but do you remember what happened last night?” “Not all of it, but I do remember a few things,” I heard her reply. “I think Brisk might be the right pony to ask about that since he didn’t have any cider like we did.” “Somepony called me?” Much to my surprise, or probably my lack of awareness, the earth pony that Gizmo was talking about had just trotted down the stairs and entered the kitchen. “Good morning Brisky. Sam was just asking about last night, that’s all.” “Really?” he raised an eyebrow, “What did you tell her, if I may ask?” “That we were just having fun, drinking some cider, playing games and what not,” Gizmo shrugged, “Why, did I miss something?” Oh no. The look on Brisk’s face was not quite filling me with renewed confidence. He was giving us the same expression that Ryan would have if there was something that he wanted to tell us, but was unsure how to react. “Not really, except for… how can I put this delicately,” he paused, before looking back at Luna and I, “Aw, buck it. At one point in your drunken charades, you two kissed each other.” Immediately, both of us had the exact same response. “We WHAT!?!”