Space Ponies
By Boss Hoss
Chapter 9, The Morning After
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"Yoo-hoo! Yo! You alive in there?"
There was a strange sensation of someone tapping on something solid and alive attached to his head. 'Oh...yeah.. I got a horn...'
Slowly, Scott opened one bleary eye to see a large green eye with a slit pupil filling his view.
Too dazed to rear back, Scott just blinked his eye and smacked his lips. "Yughhh! My mouth... tastes like old socks... Whurrr aam I..."
Suddenly, the gruff, child-like voice giggled as the baby dragon sat back on the table "In the Library. More to the point, your head is in the punchbowl on the buffet table. -And you have a purple pin-the-tail taped on your flank."
Surprised, Scott raised his head from the empty bowl to look around the room and regretted it when his head twinged with an audible sound.
Upwards of ten ponies were in the same shape around the room where they had collapsed in exhaustion, or considering Berry Punch had lingered at the punch bowl with several empty bottles, perhaps they had also collapsed in inebriation.
Maybe that explains the grotty taste in his mouth and why the light was hurting his eyes. Ironic! He really was experiencing his first true hangover, and he had to come to Equestria to get it. He got blitzed in a place that was a girl’s dream come true, and he didn’t even mean to… Weird. ‘I guess Equestria is living up to its’ High School/College comprehension level after all…’
He blearily looked around the room again from his higher vantage point of the table and spotted a sleeping baby alligator in one corner, a party hat leaning to one side on his scaily head. "Spike? Where's th' girls?"
After a moment, Spike cocked his head thoughtfully as he counted with his fingers. "Um, lets see... Twilight's outside on the upper balcony with coffee. Applejack went home early to get rested up for orchard chores, Rarity left an hour later to design some outfits for you for your birthday and Cuteceañeara gifts, Fluttershy just left to take care of her animal friends after spending the night in the guest bed, And Rainbow Dash?..." He looked up and pointed at the chandelier, where a rainbow tail hung over the side and soft snores sounded.
Right at that moment, Pinkie Pie poked her head from the kitchen "Heyyy sleepyheads! Who wants Pancakes and Waffles?! The muffins will be a liiiitle while longer!"
Sleepily, Vinyl Scratch yawned and poked her head up from behind her turntables by the stairs "Waffles? Groovy! I'll take a stack. Got any Blueberry?
Slowly, Scott waved a hoof to get Pinkie’s attention. "Pancakes for me, please."
Meanwhile, Spike hopped off the table to help get the remaining party ponies up.
The stallion yawned and groaned as he held his head in his hooves. "Bleah! I wish my backpack wasn’t over in Sugarcube Corner... I really need aspirin."
He stood up on his hind legs on the table and cracked his stiff back. Seeing he was close enough now, he took the end of Rainbow Dash's tail in his mouth and tugged "Wakey, Wakey!”
The chandelier swung a bit and a sleepy voice sounded "Mmph...Jus' 5 minutes mom... zzZZzz..."
The unicorn tugged again "Guess again. Want breakfast? ...Aspirin maybe?..."
Suddenly, Dash stuck her head up in panic "Wait, Wha?! Where am... OH ROADAPPLES! THE TIME! SorryPinksKeepTheMuffinsHOT!BeRIIIGHTback!!"
There was a sound like a cartoon gunshot and a rainbow streak going out the window, sending Scott tumbling off the table and suddenly getting his horn stuck in the floor.
Pinkie pranced into the room with a tray of steaming mugs held by both forehooves. She set it down on the table and turned to Scott.
"Ohh silly, that’s a strange place to put your horn. Let me help."
With that, she grabbed his hips and spun him to unscrew his head from the floor.
As he fell in a dizzy heap, she pressed a steaming mug into his hooves "Here you go, instant party-head fixer! Willowbark tea and lemon drops! (and a few teeny-tiny extra things) Drink up!"
Pinkie pranced around passing the mugs to the others as Scott drank it down in a quick slug, using both hooves. Not as bitter as he expected thanks to the lemon candy melted in. Quite good in fact.
His head stopped hurting faster than he would have believed too.
Pinkie bounced around counting up the ponies that had been left after the party. "...Fourteen, and Dashie just left, that makes... *GASP* FIFTEEN! YAY!"
She clopped her hooves together "Fifteen ponies who partied 'till they dropped! A new Record!"
Scott chuckled and wobbled his way to the first floor’s Public Restroom.
It took him a moment to realize he wasn’t alone when he opened the door, finding Lilly curled up against the toilet.
After staring for a moment, Scott blearily looked over his shoulder "Make that sixteen, Pinkie. I just found... Ummm, Lilly, I think..."
Groaning, Lilly sat up holding her throbbing head "Ohhh my head! The horror, the horror!"
Giggling, Pinkie danced on over and gave her a mug of party-head fixer as she led the pony out "Here you are Lilly! I'll make you a super-duper surprise for being the record breaking pony to party until she dropped!"
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Above, the smell of breakfast drew Twilight from the balcony and down the stairs.
She stopped on a landing and looked out at the ponies stirring themselves and the stallion at the center of it.
‘Strange, other than his color, he would be an average specimen of Unicorn stallion in Canterlot, even in size like Shiny. I guess it’s easier to stand out in a small place like Ponyville…’
She was puzzling over why he seemed to be so instantly accepting of being a pony. Overjoyed even!
Twilight was sure if she had been turned into another species and unlikely to ever turn back, she would be a quivering wreck for days.
Was this one of the clues Princess Celestia wanted her to find? She definitely had to question him about this today.
Turning back to the scroll she just received, Twilight yawned a bit as she re-read Celestia’s reply.
It was a curious mixture of relief and disappointment that teaching Scott would be mostly out of her hooves if he was indeed a magic talent as her senses seemed to indicate.
It stung that she might be missing out on seeing his look of joy that had been on her own face with each milestone reached, large and small, as he reaches them as well.
-On the other hoof, the thought of being so close to him as teaching magic dictates, day after day, terrified her after that dream.
While she was thinking, Pinkie suddenly appeared at her shoulder “Ohhh Twiiiliiight! What kinda’ waffles do you want?”
After teleporting back to the floor from her sudden perch clinging on the ceiling like a cat, Twilight looked like she was about to scream.
She suddenly thought better of it and visibly deflated in defeat. “*Ugh*, fine! Mixed berries in mine, and double the waffles for that scare!”
Pinkie giggled and saluted “Okie! Dokie! Lokie!” before vanishing again.
Now that it was cleared off from being a buffet table, the remaining ponies gathered around the large reading table to eat like Parasprites. Twilight had to admit Pinkie’s pancakes and waffles were almost as legendary as her cupcakes.
Speaking of which, her plate of waffles suddenly slid across the table into place as Pinkie dropped off another load of plates, and an improbable number of glasses full of milk or orange juice balanced on her head.
She watched in fascinated horror as her drinking glasses were now being juggled in Pinkie’s hooves and slid from the catching hoof across the table to each pony without losing a drop. -Bringing a round of applause from the morning guests.
She ate hers thoughtfully and casually, still working through her double stack by the time the muffins arrived on the table. A bowl of them suddenly plopped down next to the wooden horse bust, covered in a towel with a note reading “For Dashie”.
Yes, Pinkie was being very thorough this morning. Did she even drink anything last night?
Soon, the ponies were making their way out in drips and drabs after doing their part to help clean up the mess. An unfamiliar sensation of jealousy jabbed her as she watched Scott following Vinyl Scratch to the door, eagerly asking questions about her turntable and mixer setup.
‘No, stop it. He’s a grown pony who can make his own decisions. Its not like he’s declared undying love for you, has he?’
Pinkie was the last to go, where Scott gave her a tearful hug in thanks “I… have never been so… happy before as at that party! Thank you Pinkie!”
She blushed and had an “Aw Shucks” look on her face “Awww it was nothing. Making ponies smile is my specialty. Nopony should ever go without parties!”
Gasping, she suddenly hopped up and hung in the air, looking at her wristwatch. “Oooh! I gotta’ go! I’m late for the breakfast rush at Sugarcube Corner! I’ll bring your stuff later during my deliveries, okay? Okay! Byeeeee!~”
With that, she was gone in a pink streak of light heading out the door.
Giggling at Pinkie’s antics, Spike put on an apron and walked over to Scott with a broom. “Sooo, wanna’ help me clean up since Twilight says you are gonna’ be here a while? I could use the help…”
Scott blushed and looked down sheepishly “I…I don’t know what I can do to help, Spike…”
Rolling his eyes, Spike held out the broom “Fire up that horn and sweep for one thing. Sheesh! You aren’t Blueblood’s secret brother are ya?”
A quick hoof smack to the back of his head got Spikes attention, where Twilight whispered to his ear fin. “Alien, remember!? He can’t use it yet…” and jerked her head toward the new unicorn who was hanging his head sadly.
Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head “Y-yeah, Sorry. My bad…”
For a moment, Scott was thinking hard on how to use his horn or his hooves, or (yuck!) his mouth to clean up with.
Suddenly, his eyes went wide “Oh! I saw Sweetie Bell do this once! We know how well her horn works, right?” Quickly, he turned his rump around and began swinging his long black tail, batting the dust and confetti in one direction after a few tries.
Twilight giggled in surprise. “Very good Scott!”
Soon, the trash is whipped into shape and books put back on the shelves.
Scott takes a long pause after the last dustpan of party trash is dumped, and stands with his eyes closed, sniffing the air. The way he sighed, he was definitely in his comfort zone.
Curious, Twilight looked at him oddly “What are you doing, Scott?”
Opening his eyes, Scott sat down to relax with an obvious case of the warm fuzzies. “Whenever I feel bad, I try to go to a book store or library and read or look for new books. It’s kinda’ my “happy place” to shut out the bad times.
Well, now that this library doesn’t smell like a bakery. I can smell the books. I can smell the ink. Between my new nose and how old these books are, it’s like all my favorite bookstores distilled into one place!”
Stunned, Spike looked from Scott to Twilight and back again, getting an ominous feeling. “A bookworm stallion? Oh that’s all we need around here…”
Fuming, he stalked off toward the stairs to the bedroom, only turning to give Scott the “I am watching you!” hand signal.
Twilight giggled “Oh Spike! Be nice now!”
She turned to Scott “Don’t mind Spike, he’s just being like a jealous little brother right now…”
After a long moment of awkward silence, she continued “Admittedly, your visits to book stores sound like how I was before I came to Ponyville.
Don’t worry, I’ll cast that reading translation spell after we check your potential so we don’t mess up the test. You’ll be reading my favorites, such as Daring Do, in no time!”
Stepping closer, she glanced left and right as if for unwanted listeners, then gazed into his blue eyes to read the truth in them. “Sooo… How many books do you have?”
On reflex, Scott leaned back a little at the sudden scrutiny before relaxing. “Um, I’ve never actually counted them, but I left several hundreds behind at my place. A very eclectic bunch really. Mostly Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, graphic novels, and Furry comics… However, a good portion are on Science and History and other subjects. I also have as many movies and music recordings.”
He thought for a moment about the possibility of going back for those at least. –Preferably that, than the likelihood the farm owner’s old farmhand will simply burn them to make room for the next tenant before his parents could come for them.
Could he face the possibility of getting stuck on Earth again while wearing the shape of a pony just to tie up loose ends?
He gave a little shudder of fear and shook his head as he spoke in a hushed tone. “I’ll probably never see them or my parents again anyway…”
Twilight’s starry-eyed look at the thought of a mountain of alien books and entertainment media vanished at seeing him shudder and hearing his sad voice.
She gasped and put a hoof to her mouth, her heart going out to him. “Oh my! I’m sorry, maybe we can hel…”
*CRASH*
On reflex, the two unicorns stepped apart as a sky blue blur came through the window, bounced off the floor right where they had been standing, and right onto the reading table. Rainbow Dash giggled sheepishly and tipped the upside-down muffin bowl off her head. “E-he-hee! Sorry Twilight! Wanted to get back while these were still hot…” She picked one up from her fuzzy chest, took a bite, and winked. “And they still are too.”
Scott suddenly found the nearest bookshelf very interesting, as Rainbow Dash was sprawled out on her back as usual for a crash, with her wide-splayed legs facing him and Twilight, leaving nothing to the imagination.
A moment later, Rainbow Dash belatedly realized the stallion was blushing and why, and moved one of her hind legs to cover herself as she sat back up on the table. Her cheeks were now a bright red too “Eh-heh! Sorry Big Guy, usually it’s just us mares so we don’t notice…”
The wayward former human finally stopped looking at the shelf and tried to act casual as he waved a hoof dismissively “Um, no problem, right?”
Meanwhile, Scott’s mind was busy screaming at him ‘Aghhhh!! Stupid Sexy Ponies! I don’t know how I’m going to survive all this! At least Lyra’s parts are probably covered by whatever she sits on when she does that.
I’m gonna’ start shooting blood out of my nose like a Luna-damned hentai video if this don’t stop!’
Sheepishly, Twilight giggled at Scott’s blush after realizing the reason, thinking. ‘Another clue? Is it normal for human stallions to react like a normal stallion and blush to a mare’s accidental display?’
The magical mare nodded to the basement door. “Well, no harm done. Rainbow, you are welcome to come to the basement with us while I run tests.”
Maybe Dash would jar more clues out of Scott while she ran the Thaumic Potential Evaluator on him. At least with Scott, there should be something to read, unlike whatever bizarre Earth pony magic ran through Pinkie.
Giggling, the sky blue pegasus looked at the stallion “Wait, so you are gonna’ hook him up to some freaky machines? This I gotta’ see!” She winked “I also got some awesome questions for him.”
Needing an excuse to cool off his frustrations, Scott raised a foreleg high and wrinkled his nose. “Um go on ahead and get everything set up. I really need a quick shower first. BeRiiiiightBack...!”
Both mares managed to keep a straight face as he scampered up the stairs, then burst into laughter as they went down into the basement.
Rainbow’s laugher floated up the stairs “Oh, he’s a laugh riot, Twilight! We gotta’ hang out with him!”
Twilight’s voice had a giggle to it even as she replied “Oh, Dash. Be nice now!...”