//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: No More Lost Children 
// Story: Equestria: Awakening 
// by Fighterx345 
//------------------------------//

	Silence and headaches. A fairly expected morning. Oh, and cereal.
'Well... this is awkward- and gods dammit, I've never been this hung over before.'
Last night, after I abruptly shouted at the top of my lungs spotting a certain 'somepony' in the same bed I had slept in, that same 'somepony' immediately jolted awake, flailed about on the bed, and fell onto the floor with a sounding thud and accompanying yelp. After Twilight had risen from the floor and gotten a good bearing of her surroundings and situation, she briefly flashed a bright white light and vanished. I could only guess it was some sort of teleportation spell. I felt it would be very useful in many a tactical situation, but that was completely irrelevant. Either Twilight Sparkle knew something about what happened last night that I didn't, or she was just as clueless as I was. However, tired and discombobulated, I lumbered back into bed without question and assumed Miss Sparkle did the same in another room.
Now, I was sitting in the kitchen Twilight pulled me back into at the start of the party, eating a mixture of some oats and milk I deemed to not be poisonous to the human digestive system. I wasn't exactly sure if I was welcome to helping myself to breakfast, but I assumed that Twilight would offer me something to eat anyway, so I selected the plainest and least expensive looking food I could find: oats and milk. Either way, I'm pretty sure we mutually wished to infinitely delay our next conversation, fearing what dark truths about last night may arise. That next conversation approached far too quickly for the taste of my pounding skull, as I heard shuffling footsteps as Twilight descended from her bedroom on the upper floor. I heard a third pair of limbs and assumed it belonged to Spike, who spoke, sounding well-rested and energetic.
"Wow, that was some party, Twilight! Whew, I think we should get Pinkie to throw these 'Welcome to our World' parties more often."
I leaned a bit towards the doorframe of the kitchen and kept listening. Twilight groaned.
"I know it was fun, Spike, but do you think you could keep it down, just for a little bit? I'm not feeling too well..."
I pretty much felt the look of curiosity on Spike's face.
"Twilight, I know I went to bed earlier than you, but what in Equestria happened after I fell asleep? I know Pinkie's crazier parties are tiring, but you just look-"
"Please Spike, just stop talking for a couple hours at least... Your voice is pounding in my head, ugh."
I inwardly smiled a little bit. 'Looks like she can't handle her drinks too well, either.'
I resumed eating my cereal, pretending I didn't hear them. Twilight came into sight first with Spike in tow. She looked like she has definitely had better days. With her eyes cast down, she didn't notice me until she took a few steps into the kitchen. When she looked up and saw me, it appeared as if the gears in her head instantly hit overdrive, waking her body up. She started blushing immediately.
I just awkwardly smiled and waved at her meekly. 'Oh Robin, ever the politician.'
Twilight's eyes darted around the kitchen as if looking for something to focus on, which happened to be Spike. The mare had an idea, and I caught on quickly enough.
She turned to the little green lizard and blurted, "Spike, can you get me a book from my bed? I think I left one there, and I'd hate for its pages to get wrinkled-- or something."
The assistant looked at her face, noted the blush, and followed her panicked gaze, which happened to be focused on me.
Spike's claws shot up to cover his mouth. "OOOOHHH!! Twilight's got a colt-friend! Twilight's got a colt-friend!" He hopped up and down and pointed between her and me. Twilight looked as if she was going to have a heart attack.
'Oh fucking Naga.'
I spoke up. "Spike, I think Twilight just asked you to fetch a book for her. You're her number-one assistant, right? Maybe you should go search for it. For. A. While." I winked.
Spike put his claws on his hips and got a sly expression. "Oh- okay, Robin. I'll go find this 'book'" - he made air quotation marks - "and make sure to take a loooooong while." He chuckled before leaving the room. After he did, making exaggerated footsteps up the stairs, the unicorn turned towards me.
"I-- I-- Oh dear Celestia, what happened last night!?" 'Well, Twilight's awake now.'
I sighed. "I was hoping to ask you the same thing. The last thing I want to do is piss off Lucina."
She looked momentarily confused. "Who's Lucina?"
I sighed again and looked down at the bowl of cereal in front of me, which was slowly getting soggy. "She's the woman I'm engaged to."
Twilight looked as if she was about to explode. "Oh no, oh no, oh no - no, no-no-no! Robin, I don't know about your culture, but mine is strictly monogamous, proclaimed by the Princess herself! It's been that way for thousands of years; if she finds out I had relations with somepony I'm not married to - and even worse, somepony who's already engaged; this can't be happening...!"
I thought a little bit in silence, and smirked. "She doesn't have to find out."
The look on Twilight's face was priceless. Her blush brightened even more and the dumbfounded expression with it was hilarious.
I burst out laughing.
"Robin, why? Why are you laughing?! How could you even find this amusing?!" Twilight's words grew frantic, though her embarrassed blush didn't fade.
I managed to calm myself down. "Because there's nothing to worry about! I know you're hung-over, but come on. Think Twilight, think! We woke up in the same bed in the guest room. You teleported out, probably before you noticed what I actually looked like."
Twilight looked down at the ground and stuttered, "Y-you... you were naked."
I raised an eyebrow and kept smiling. "Did you forget that humans wear more clothes than just a shirt? I wear pants, too."
She looked up. The gears in her head finally began to click. "Wait... before I left, you were... so you mean-"
"I still had my pants on, belt and buttons fastened, and you can probably guess where my... parts are."
She flushed again. "Oh... r-right." She looked stunned, her face blank. She turned away, and said slowly, "Well... I g-guess I should find Spike, then."
I hardly stopped myself from chuckling like an idiot some more.
"He should be done 'finding that book', by now," I said.
She nodded. Her hooves lumbered out of the kitchen. I was afraid she was going to stumble up the stairs, but I heard no crash, and turned back to my cereal. I wanted to laugh some more until I noticed what my meal had transformed into. It looked as if it had turned into mush. I wrinkled my nose, but sighed, and chokingly drank it as if it were gruel.