Blinding light bored into Crepúsculo's skull through his eyelids. Shutting them tight didn't help; the fiery conflagration blazed just as bright as he lay under the infernal burning ball, throat dry and head near exploding. Desperate to ease his pain, he attempted to bring a hoof over his eyes to block the light from burning his retinas. Lifting his foreleg took considerably more effort than he remembered, and at the top of its arc he found himself losing control over its descent as it plummeted towards him, striking him roughly on his muzzle. He released a little whimper from the back of his arid throat as he attempted to roll onto his side. However, he succeeded only in falling from his resting place, arriving all too quickly at the ground next to his bed on the observatory with the sun warming his back.
With considerable effort he hauled himself to his feet, his head screaming at him due to the sudden change in altitude. He gingerly took a few steps in no particular direction, swaying side to side. Stopping to regain what little balance he had before, he inhaled a deep breath of fresh, morning air through his nose.
The stench was so foul he gagged, covering his mouth with the back of his hoof. The powerful scent was familiar, not a smell he smelled a lot, but one he recognised. Unfortunately for him, before he could put his hoof on what it was, he put his hoof in it.
His foreleg made a quiet squelching noise as it plunged into a bright red bucket lying next to his bed. Crepúsculo clenched his heavy eyelids shut, hoping against hope he hadn't just done what he thought he had. Tentatively opening an eye he looked down to his now wet hoof. His fears were confirmed; somepony had been sick and now he had just put his hoof in it.
Withdrawing his hoof from the offending bucket, he decided to try and get to the door leading down into the library to find the bathroom again. Hobbling on his three hooves not covered with bodily fluids, he made heavy work of arriving at the door, yet another obstacle in his morning from hell. Still having enough dignity not to smear somepony else's vomit on somepony else's door, he needed to find a way of opening it using his available appendages. Balance had already proved to be against him this morning.
***
Twilight was disturbed from her alchemy by a loud crash coming from above her. Racing from her assorted potions and lotions, she galloped towards the sound to find an extremely rough-looking pegasus descending the stairs from her broken door using a clumsy amalgamation of three hooves and a wing or two where necessary.
"Señorita," the dishevelled stallion mumbled, "somepony has vomited outside, I do not know of who, but..." He stopped short as his mouth seemed to fill. With panic in his eyes he set off to the bathroom as fast as a hung-over, three-legged pony could move, which in this case was fast enough to send Twilight's mane flying backwards as he raced past her, locking the bathroom door.
The surprised mare turned to face the bathroom door with a lone eyebrow raised. Wow, I guess Shiny wasn't kidding about his state last night. Twilight had been drunk a few times before, to study the social implications and opportunities related with alcohol, of course. But never before had she had the experience it sounded like Crepúsculo was having from the groans, running water and multiple toilet flushes coming from the other side of the locked door. A good few minutes passed before the decrepit stallion stumbled back out of the washroom. Twilight took a single look at his dishevelled mane and tail, the bags under his eyes, infirm posture and wincing expressions and put on a face she usually reserved for when Spike was feeling ill from eating too much ice cream, concerned yet a little disappointed.
"Are you okay?"
He flinched noticeably, "Ay por favor, not so loud." He grumbled, clutching his pounding head.
Twilight deadpanned, "Come on, now I'm not doing anything anymore," she whispered, glancing back at her alchemy table and her experiment that had evaporated while her back had been turned, "maybe we could head over to Sugarcube Corner, get you something for lunch to perk you up a little."
"Lunch? What happened to breakfast?"
"We're well past breakfast." The despairing mare facehoofed. "Just trust me, you'll feel better. Now let's go."
The two ponies departed from the library at a decidedly slower pace Twilight was used to. Idiot, she thought, yet with a smile on her face.
***
A pink blur darted from corner to corner of the bakery, collecting ingredients, checking oven temperature, scribbling in a cookbook, cracking eggs and constantly chattering to whoever was around to listen. This left her talking to herself a lot until a pony hobbled through her doorway holding one hoof lamely in the air, carrying a large container on their back.
"Well hey there, AJ! Is that my apple order? Gonna need those for the big party tonight, you'll be there right? Oh of course you'll be there, the whole village will be! Hey what happened to your hoof?" Pinkie suddenly stopped racing from here to there, stopping in front of Applejack with a concerned expression.
Applejack set her bushel of produce on the floor and leaned against the doorframe, "T'ain't nothin', Pinkie," she stated, holding her bandaged hoof close to her chest while she regained her breath from limping all the way from the acres with a full order of red delicious apples.
"Well it sure looks like something." The party pony temporarily lost her smile as she leaned in close to Applejack. "Was it a farm accident?"
"Ah don't wanna talk about it, ah'm fine," the farmpony stated stubbornly. "Ah just gotta let Mac take care of the buckin' fer a day or two."
Pinkie's smile returned once more. "Well in that case, you've got time for a drink or a cupcake or something else delicious while you're here! It's the least I can do to thank you for the apples... on top of paying for them obviously."
"Sounds good. Ah'd take a fritter if ya got one?"
"An apple fritter?"
"Is there any other kind?" The orange mare chuckled, a smile slowly returning to her face, replacing her pained expression.
Pinkie giggled and snorted at her friend, happy she was being cheered up. "Comin' right up!"
While her apple treat was being prepared, AJ took a seat at one of Sugarcube Corner's tables and carefully unwound her bandaging. Underneath the clean white cloth were more layers of bandage, each one a deeper red than the last until the final layer was peeled back, giving out a sickeningly sticky sound and revealing the deep gouges from last night. Might be longer than a day or two that Mac'll have ta do the harvest alone, she thought morosely. Wrapping her hoof back up, she heard the chime of the bakery's door as a customer entered. AJ swivelled in her seat to see Twilight and somepony behind her.
"Howdy, Twi," she offered, still lacking most of her usual happiness of meeting a friend.
"Good morning, Applejack." Twilight smiled. "This is Crepúsculo, he's new to Ponyville as of yesterday." She gestured behind her at the vacant looking stallion.
Applejack narrowed her eyes at the careless pegasus. "We've met," she icily stated.
"Oh, well uh... okay then! Is Pinkie about?" The unicorn grinned nervously.
"Over here, Twilight!" Pinkie shouted from halfway into the oven, retrieving a fresh fritter.
Twilight trotted over to the pink pony with a smile, just in time to avoid a multicoloured streak as it burst through the entrance in a stunning flip before crashing straight into a certain hung-over pegasus who was hurled across the room by the force of Ponyville’s fastest flier’s landing. Not even noticing the small nick in her leg caused from her collision with the razor wings of the now floor-bound and dazed stallion, she burst straight into her excited questioning.
"Hey, Pinks, I hear there's a surprise party at Twilight's tonight, who's it for?"
She was met with shocked eyes from Twilight and Pinkie and a sly chuckle from Applejack. "That'd be the fella down there." The orange mare pointed at the heap of dark blue pegasus with her injured hoof.
"Woah, AJ, what's with the hospital bandage-y stuff?" Dash so eloquently enquired.
"Nothin' at all." Applejack said a little too loudly, eyes darting from here to there. "Now if'n y'all will excuse me, ah got a few things to do back on the farm." She limped quickly from the bakery, returning momentarily only to take her fritter from Pinkie in silence.
"Right..." Dash paused, a little confused, "So who's the new guy?"
"Oh, that's señor Sombrero!" Pinkie began, "He got here the day before yesterday, but that night I was busy, then last night was Club Appl3, but tonight is his surprise party!"
"That reminds me," Twilight interjected, "Were either of you at Club Appl3 last night? My brother stopped by this morning saying something about what went on there was better not brought up, and this one can't remember a thing." She motioned at Crepúsculo, who was starting to stir back to life, the ringing in his ears becoming ever more distant.
"Well of course I was there! But I was helping Vinyl behind the scenes, you know, keeping stock of supplies, ensuring the decorations were always tip top, going over the books, counting the bits from the night, the usual." Pinkie smiled nonchalantly, met with surprised looks from Dash and Twilight. "What? Being a party pony isn't all parties you know. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a party tonight that needs planning."
"Wait, Pinkie!" Twilight called. "Can we get two lunches please?"
"Oh sure! Here, there are a couple of sandwiches and drinks in here, along with two slices of experimental cake." The pink mare motioned toward a decent sized lunchbox behind Sugarcube Corner's counter.
"Experimental?" Twilight looked dubious.
"Party to plan gotta go bye!" Pinkie spoke, seemingly all in one word, before zipping back into the kitchen.
Twilight exchanged a puzzled glance with Dash before tentatively picking up the lunchbox in her telekinetic aura and trotting over to Crepúsculo, prodding him with a hoof to his ribs as he made vague signs of being among the living.
"Well, fun as this looks, I've got a cloud or two to push. I'll see you at the library tonight, Twilight." Rainbow flew out of an opened window, leaving behind a solitary speck of blood from her cut as she took off.
Crepúsculo took a shaky stance on his hooves once more. "Which way went that manticore?" he managed to drawl from behind unfocused eyes.
"Let's just get you sat down outside okay?" Twilight said, getting a little worried for her new friend.
Just as the last of the last of the lunch crowd were leaving, the pair took a table outside the bakery and opened bright blue lunchbox. Twilight took out the drinks and sandwiches, placing one of each before the slumped stallion. Crepúsculo's stomach gave a loud growl at the sight before he tore into the sandwich's packaging, devouring the contents in seconds, displaying more energy in that short time than the entirety of the rest of the morning.
"Hungry?" Twilight asked, taking a solitary bite of her own sandwich.
The greedy pegasus nodded slowly, returning back to his previous, sedentary state. Twilight finished her mouthful and giggled slightly, turning the box towards him which now contained only Pinkie's 'experimental' cake. As in science, it would be best to see the effects of whatever is in it on a test subject before I sample it myself, she reasoned.
Crepúsculo brought the slice of cake out of the box and placed it in front of him. For the moment it was within Twilight's vision before it was gobbled up while she could have sworn she saw a faint glow around the slice's edge, and maybe it was just her imagination but, is it fizzing?
But before she could clarify her observations it was gone in a single bite, leaving behind only a few crumbs and a huge smile on the face of its devourer. A smile quickly replaced by a wide open mouth and panicked eyes as super concentrated popping candy bounced about his tongue, the gooey filling adhered to the roof of his mouth and the icing seemed to find a path straight to his skull, sucker punching his brain. Leaping up, the pegasus began running on the spot, darting his head frantically from side to side before looking down at the drink before him, wrenching the lid off the bottle and guzzling the entire thing. Thankfully there was no alcohol involved this time around.
Once he was sure he had survived the ordeal, the dark stallion took a seat once more, eyes wide open, mouth salivating and not a trace of the debilitating headache from only moments ago. Pinkie had watched the whole thing from a window on the top floor of Sugarcube Corner, very satisfied with her handiwork. I knew that was what he needed! Maybe next time I'll try it with bubblegum! Or marzipan! Or just twice the sugar!
Twilight sat calmly, considered her observations on the test subject, and came to the logical conclusion that she would not eat Pinkie's cake.
"Well, now it would seem you're a little more awake, anyway," she began. "I think you left something with Rarity yesterday? Why don't we go and sort that out shall we?" She smiled.
Crepúsculo let out a pant or two. "Sí... saddlebags... vamos." He rose from his seat, sure he hadn't blinked since finishing the drink. Why does everything I eat or drink try to kill me in this village?
***
Rarity had scarcely been home for five minutes after her weekly shop when her door chimed open, accompanied by a cheerful call of her name. She would recognise Twilight's voice anywhere. After putting the last of her grocery purchases on their respective shelves, she trotted through to the main reception of her boutique.
"Oh good afternoon, Twilight, and señor Crepúsculo, was it?" she queried in an upbeat manner, knowing full well that was his name.
"Sí, señorita," he smiled back, enjoying his full return to sobriety. "We come to enquire about my saddlebags, if it is not too much trouble?"
"Oh but of course, darling! Let me just fetch them."
The pure white mare strode to the corner of the boutique where her shelves were situated, levitating the repaired bags from the bottom shelf. As Rarity turned back towards the pair of ponies in her reception area, Twilight couldn't help but notice a small blemish on the fashionista's coat, just a single, slightly darker line. Well that's unlike Rarity, she mused.
"I used the toughest fabric I could lay my hooves on, remade the clasps to resemble your cutie mark and added a smooth but durable lining within the bags. So what do you think?" She laid the saddlebags on the pegasus' lower back, fine tuning their position by hoof, lingering around his flank slightly longer than a regular acquaintance might. "Magnifique, non?"
Crepúsculo took a moment to admire the mare's work in a conveniently placed floor to ceiling mirror. The bags practically shone under the lights of the boutique. He deftly reached a hoof to the bags, overly conscious his wings may ruin the fashionista's hard work. Opening the left bag he felt the smooth lining within, but something was amiss. His diary! Panicking, he hurriedly turned to the other pouch, delving desperately within it in search of the book. Yes, there it was. Letting out a sigh of relief he turned nervously to the confused white unicorn before him.
"Señorita," His voice was cold, and deadly serious. "Have you looked in my journal?"
"Moi? Oh no no no no! I would never!" Rarity chuckled nervously, "I couldn't understand most of it anyway." She stated, before realising her slip up and cramming a hoof in her mouth.
The stallion clutched the journal to his chest, shooting a worried glare at the unicorn currently eating her hoof. "What do you mean by this?" he demanded, wide-eyed.
Twilight quickly interjected a stammering Rarity, "I'm sure she was just referring to the title, it's kind of hard to miss." she offered with a nervous ear to ear grin.
"Of course!" Rarity jumped at the opportunity, "Such bold calligraphy! How could I miss it?"
The jumpy pegasus seemed to relax a little at this, slipping the journal back into its holding place, safe from prying eyes.
"Bueno, if you say so..." He trailed off.
Twilight was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "Well I'm glad that's cleared up! We should probably get back to the library, a few experiments to conclude, hypotheses to test, you know how it is..." she smiled to Rarity, "and a bit of a mess to clear up." She glanced at Crepúsculo.
"Oh don't let me keep you two," Rarity began. "Besides, I'll be seeing you later." She smiled delicately at the stallion as he exited her boutique, winking as he disappeared.
"Rarity! It's supposed to be a surprise!" Twilight whispered out of Crepúsculo's earshot.
"Oh calm yourself, Twilight. There's nothing quite like hinting at something you know which somepony else does not." She replied in a joking manner.
"Okay but, next time don't make it too obvious," the purple mare fretted. "I'll see you later."
***
Crepúsculo was busy on the library's observatory scrubbing away his shame that had landed outside of his bucket throughout the night when he began to notice the throng of ponies assembling in the streets below him. From his vantage point he could see the crowd drifting slowly to the library. Every now and then, one of the crowd would look up and meet his gaze before looking away, sometimes nudging somepony else and quickening their pace towards the library entrance, out of his line of sight.
Growing a little suspicious, he wiped up the last of his vomit and paced towards the door to the tree's top floor, only to find there was no light shining through from within. In fact the interior of the arboreal dwelling was pitch black. His wings started to slightly unfurl on impulse before he tucked them tight to his sides once more, painfully aware of the trouble they had gotten him into recently.
"Señorita Twilight?" he tentatively spoke to the dark abyss.
All of a sudden, the door to the observatory slammed behind him, blinding lights assaulted his eyes, and many small, papery objects thrust themselves into his face with a bang.
"Surprise!" Pinkie practically screamed, dropping the party popper from her mouth and putting on her famous ear to ear grin. "I remember you said you don't really like surprises but I'm so sorry, I just couldn't resist! Actually I'm not that sorry, I regret nothing! Welcome to your welcome party!"
Crepúsculo slowly descended from his tight clutch on the library's rafters down to the ground floor, landing with a clop from his hooves that was lost in the bustle of the ponies around him, all of them smiling amiably and having a good time. Dumbfounded, the large stallion cast his eye across the room to see a few familiar faces and many more new ones.
So many friendly smiles were aimed in his direction, never before had he been met with such a happy wave of multicoloured peers. Looking at the eyes which were looking back at him, he noticed a white pony with her eyes behind reflective purple lenses. Something about the unicorn mare seemed familiar, and it was only when a grey earth pony stepped forward beside her wearing a pink bow tie that he remembered the two from his first visit to Sugarcube Corner; at least the two seemed to be getting along now as opposed to chasing and threatening each other. Glancing further around, another pair of eyes met his own, or rather one eye did from under a blonde mane accompanied by a bubbly, infectious smile he couldn't help but share.
With a happy grin on his face, he walked slowly to a table in the corner piled high with sugary confections. Recognising Pinkie's extra special rainbow cupcakes, he moved to the exact opposite end of the table; he didn't want anything that had even been near those things. Extending his foreleg out to grab a far tamer-looking cinnamon roll, he bumped a dark pink hoof heading for the very same treat.
"Oh! Excuse me, after you!" The stranger chirped. "You must be Crepúsculo then? It's so nice to have you here! My name is Cheerilee, I teach at the local school. I've heard you speak a different language to everypony else here. Perhaps you could come down and give the little ones a lesson or two on how to speak the basics? I just think it would be a fun exercise!" The teacher smiled.
"Pues, quizás... I have never really dealt with foals before." The pegasus took a bite of his cinnamon roll.
"Well yes, a few in particular can cause a little trouble, asking awkward questions, using too much paint in art classes, unleashing gods of chaos on field trips and so on," she giggled. "But don't worry, I'd be there to help you out!"
"I shall give the idea some thought, señorita." The stallion smiled, finishing off his pastry.
"Great! Well, I look forward to hearing from you again!" Cheerilee waved as she returned to the crowd in the centre of the room.
Crepúsculo smiled to himself and turned around to find Twilight and all of her friends surrounding her. Pinkie had a foreleg over the lilac unicorn while Rarity stood with one hoof on her flowing mane, and a multi-hued pegasus hovered just above the group. Applejack stood with them, only without the same good natured smile, instead a mistrusting glare at the stallion that had cut her hoof open as she stood with one foreleg just off the floor. Behind them all he was distracted by a butter yellow hoof waving in the air coupled with a quiet squeaking barely audible among the crowd.
"Girls? Oh dear, girls? I have a problem, a big one. Girls?" the mare whimpered behind the group, starting to raise herself upward with her wings. The airborne cyan pegasus was the first to notice the timid mare among the crowd that had now returned to enjoying each other's company and chatting jovially.
"Oh, hey Fluttershy!" She began before turning and noticing tears streaming from the yellow mare's bright blue eyes. "Woah, what's up? Are you okay? Did Angel hit you again?"
"No! Well, not today, but this is just terrible! I've just never seen anything so... so..."
"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out, pulling her distraught friend closer to the party's guest of honour to make friendly introductions. "It would appear that you two haven't met! Fluttershy, this is Crepúsculo, from a far-away land, and Crepúsculo, this is Fluttershy, distraught and crying." Twilight's eyes widened. "Goodness! Fluttershy, what's wrong? Has Angel been causing you trouble again?"
"No, Twilight! This is just awful! I need you to use your magic to protect my cottage!"
"Protect it? But what from? Fluttershy, what's happened?"
"K-k-k-kidnap!" She managed to blurt out between her sobs, "I woke up this morning and the goat I was taking care of, Charon, he was gone! Taken!"
"You're sure? He might just have gone for a walk?"
"No! See, th-that's what I thought, but there were more than one pair of tracks leading from his shelter! I started to follow them, but they went so deep into the Everfree Forest and I just thought, if it isn't too much trouble, m-maybe you could come with me? I know you'd probably like to stay here but, well, I could r-really use a friend, especially one with some powerful magic." Fluttershy looked up at Twilight, eyes pleading for help. Not even Iron Will would be able to resist those eyes.
"Oh, Fluttershy, of course I'll help you," Twilight smiled before turning to face her other friends. "Girls, I just have to go and sort something out with Fluttershy real quick, and Crepúsculo, you'll be fine for just a while here right?"
The pegasus stallion had been close enough to hear the entire ordeal between the two mares and didn't like it one bit. But all these ponies here, for me! For the first time, companionship! I thought this was behind me, the stallion debated with himself. But this goat, Charon, what if he is being led to... No! I must find out. "Actually, señorita, I could perhaps use some fresh air. Might I accompany you?"
"Oh, sure!" Twilight blushed a little. "Lead the way, Fluttershy."
"Hey!" Pinkie shouted after them, "just be back in time for the cake! Oh who am I kidding? There's always time for cake!" Smiling contentedly she bounced back to the party she had prepared.
Surely it cannot be, I mean what could the likelihood be that this village has its own little path to the gates themselves? Crepúsculo thought. But I need to know for sure.