Chapter 4
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sound pierced her ears, and her eyelids fluttered while remaining closed, like some kind of half-asleep blink.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
A groan emanated from the purple mare. Had she really set an alarm clock? It was a Sunday, after all. The library didn’t open.
Cursing her assistant under her breath for pulling such a stunt, she pulled the covers up over her head and tried to fall asleep again. She had a wicked headache, and she just wanted to curl up and sleep it off. Her books could wait.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Twilight cursed again, audibly this time. Why can’t that alarm leave me alone? She swung a hoof over at the alarm to shut if off.
It was certainly a surprise for Twilight when her hoof met nothing but air, and her momentum carried her out of the bed and onto the floor.
The impact snapped Twilight’s eyelids to attention. The sight she was expecting was not the sight that she was greeted by. She sat in a simple room with painted white walls. There was a dresser across the room from the ornately done bed that she had just taken a tumble from. The table with the alarm clock that she was expecting was on the other side of the bed. A window hid behind cyan curtains.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
In her shock, the only thing that Twilight could think to do was jump back on the bed and use her hoof to hit the snooze button. After the irritating beeps were gone, Twilight buried herself under the covers and did the only thing that she thought logical: think.
“Think, Twilight, think!” Twilight said to herself angrily. “I’ve only read books on this, but if I’ve been ponynapped, why am I not tied up in a basement, or with a–“
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by rap at the doorframe to the open room. She pulled the covers off of her head quickly, wanting to see what new shock awaited her, while keeping as much of the blankets on her for comfort, as little as they could provide if Twilight really were attacked. Her eyes were greeted not by the sight of some horribly twisted old stallion like she expected, but rather an attractive light brown pegasus pony with a jet black mane falling to his shoulders. In her shocked silence, he spoke.
“Good morning. I see you’re awake. Do you want anything to eat or drink?”
Twilight, with some coherent thought returning to her head, finally spoke. “What… what am I doing here? Who are you?” Her words clearly shocked the pegasus.
“What do you mean, ‘who am I?’ Don’t you remember anything that happened last night? You know, last night last night…” His speech trailed off into an incoherent mutter and he blushed slightly.
“What do you mean, last night–“ Twilight’s eyes widened as some scenes rom the previous evening came flashing back to her. The club. The obnoxious music. The drinks. How much else have I forgotten? Twilight wondered to herself with horror.
The pegasus looked down. He obviously knew where Twilight’s thoughts were. “Well, uh, sorry to have, you know, bothered you…” his words trailed off. He was clearly disappointed. “Um, like I said, do you want any food or drink?”
Twilight fumbled for an answer. “No, I’m still feeling a little strange.” A knowing smile, despite how much he wanted to remain somber, crept onto the pegasus’s face. “Ah, yes. Sometimes that’ll happen.”
Twilight, all too eager to make a beeline for the door, quietly stepped out of the bed and trotted over to the door, nodding to the pegasus as she passed. He flashed her a genuine smile that filled Twilight with a jolt of warmth that passed from her head to her toes. Realizing what she had forgotten, Twilight turned back as she reached the door.
“You know, I never got a name.”
The pegasus smiled charmingly. “Daerion.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle raced back to the library. Her brain was quite foggy, and her head was pounding, but she forced herself to think. What could have happened? All I can remember is that club we went to… The very thought of the previous night’s events brought a fresh wave of pain to Twilight’s head, so she eventually gave up trying. She figured that someone would fill her in eventually. Only now did she regret not questioning Daerion further than pleasantries.
Time passing much faster with her thoughts preoccupied, Twilight reached the library in what couldn’t have been more than a minute. For a second, Twilight debated whether that was really the amount of time it took, but she deemed the question irrelevant as she gently swung the library door inwards.
For a brief second, Twilight Sparkle saw her friends’ eyes trained on her. Then, as soon as the purple mare registered in their minds, they jumped up from their sitting position on the floor and knocked Twilight over in embrace.
Of course, it was Pinkie Pie who spoke first. “Oh goodness Twilight we were so worried about you after Applejack filled us in on what happened and so we all came here and decided to wait for you until you got back because we figured you would eventually and–“
Pinkie’s mindless jabbering was cut short by a clawed purple hand. “Whoa whoa whoa everypony, give Twilight some room to breath,” came the voice of the small purple dragon. “Let’s let her explain what happened first."
Getting comfortable, Twilight led the ponies to the table and began to explain everything that she could remember. The club, the DJ incident (of which Rainbow Dash seemed strangely vague about), and that was about as far as she could remember. She cut to the morning’s events, and ended her tale at the present. When the ponies listening noted the cadence signifying the end of her story, they stood up and stretched, allowing their minds to wrap up any thoughts they had before they told Twilight what they thought. After their final reflections, Twilight’s friends spoke.
“Well, listen dear, we’re afraid we don’t remember much either, so we’re afraid we can’t help you much.” Rarity offered, but her lack of confidence showed through, and her rambling statement did little to calm Twilight’s nerves.
“Look man, it kinda sucks, right? But, you’ll get over it. Heck, we do every coupla’ days.” Rainbow Dash added, chuckling to herself under her breath.
“Um, if it helps, I don’t remember much, either…” Fluttershy’s words trailed off as she realized that she wasn’t helping much. She recoiled and let out a tiny “eep.”
Pinkie cut in, sensing the need to cheer up her friend was important at that moment. “Twilight, I know that we can’t do much right now for you but we all know that you’re a good pony and that you didn’t do this on purpose, right? Let’s just hope that nopony spiked your drink with–“
Pinkie’s rambling thoughts were cut off as the color drained from Applejack’s face. Everypony could sense that something was horribly wrong, and they all turned to face her, the concern shining through their worried eyes. Applejack tried to speak, but words failed her as the levity of the situation only known to her dug its heels into her mind.
“Applejack, surely you’re not blowing this out of proportion, right?” Rarity gave a nervous laugh. Applejack opened her mouth once more, and her friends leaned in, eager.
“The… the…” She began, but the final word was inaudible.
“The what?!” The girls cried in unison.
“Twilight, she… she must have had alcohol!”