"I need a drink..." Luna mumbled to herself as she wandered the streets of Ponyville.
Alcohol was of course illegal in Equestria, and indeed in most of the other countries of the world. Only the Griffons partook, and even then, they were reluctant to share. Something about some kind of religious thing, if she remembered correctly.
She rarely remembered correctly, the whole Nightmare Moon thing had left her brain so scrambled that she wasn't sure what she remembered, and what she'd invented to keep her from going totally nuts during the time she'd been held captive.
Sure, she could ask Celestia, maybe they could compare notes on their pasts. Luna had a feeling that this wasn't a good idea. Celestia most definitely lacked a sense of humor or any other kind of emotion other then vague sense of concern for everyone. She'd mouth some platitudes about this being a journey that Luna had to undertake herself. Celestia would make a great oracle, if she hadn't already been a god.
Sure, there was another side to it too. Celestia loved her. They were sisters. No, it wasn't like that. Celestia didn't treat Luna like a sister. She was treated like a child. Come to think of it, that's how Celestia treated everyone. Oh well, you'd have better luck trying to change Discord then Celestia.
Luna was at a small store front in the main Ponyville market square. "Silver Zephyr-- Importer" The sign proclaimed. Luna made the proper secret knock on the door, and it was answered by Silver Zephyr's daughter, Silver Horizon. Luna entered the shop.
Silver Horizon was a smallish Pegasus, with a light silver coat, and a dark red mane. She was roughly the same age as Twilight Sparkle, and her friends, although her lack of mention of her in any of the friendship reports indicated that they traveled in different circles.
The inside was filled with a wide variety of objects. Furniture imported from the Griffons, and various bric-a-brac and decorative items made by ponies from all over the world competed for attention in the crowded space. Luna eyed a
sofa suspiciously. She didn't like griffon design one bit, but for some crazy reason it was all the rage right now.
"What do you have?" Luna asked.
Maybe they had something strong. She was sick of hard cider. There weren't any speakeasies in Canterlot, so that meant Ponyville. Unfortunately, in Ponyville the main agricultural product was apples. That meant hard cider or applejack. It wasn't safe to drink applejack, so that left one choice.
Silver Horizon was fidgeting with a glass on the counter. Luna ignored her, and dropped four bits on the counter. Silver Horizon took it, and the glass disappeared beneath the counter. There was a tinkling noise, and Silver Horizon restored the glass to the counter.
Luna studied the contents. It was cider, no doubt. She gulped the it greedily. Twilight's spell from yesterday had gotten rid of the details of what she'd seen, but the not the general feeling of horror. She still felt the emotions from the dream, but she couldn't remember the details. Actually, this made it worse. Much worse. There had been something about the dreamer, something that had made the dream seem less threatening.
Alcohol had dimmed the pain of Nightmare Moon during those critical few months. She'd be forever thankful to the particularly vacuous courtier that had introduced it to her. This was small potatoes compared to that pain and fear. She was finished with her glass. She withdrew four more bits from her bag, and placed them on the counter. The glass was refilled without a word. That was good. She didn't feel like talking.
That was part of the problem. There wasn't anypony that she could talk to. How did you talk about something in a dream that scared you, especially when you never could remember the dreamer. What if the dreamer remembered their dream, and you discussed it with them? That would be awkward. Most ponies didn't remember her duties as princess of the night. No, most ponies hadn't even remembered that she even existed, or at least not as something beyond a legend for scaring children.
She finished her second drink, and pulled out the coins for the third. She hadn't drank in a long time. She'd been too absorbed in her weekly modernity lessons with Twilight Sparkle. That had become Luna's outlet. Twilight Sparkle was understanding. She was a lot like Celestia, but more approachable, and less likely to hurl platitudes. Talking to Twilight made her feel like an average pony again. That was a feeling that she hadn't had since the days of Discord.
She was starting to feel buzzed now. It was a good feeling, inviting her to journey further into drunkenness. Tonight, that was an invitation she would have to accept. Four more coins made their way to the counter, and the mug was filled for a fourth time.
"Did you hear about that filly that died?" Luna asked.
Her mind was starting to lag behind her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that. In her experience, alcohol worked best when you weren't thinking about what you wanted to forget. She was starting to slip into true drunkenness now. Her head was swimming, and she felt oddly warm. The warmth had mutated from a pleasant warmth to a thoroughly unpleasant sensation.
"Terrible business that." Replied Silver Horizon. "Stuff happens."
Silver Horizons had never came across as the wisest pony in Equestria.
"No foals have died in ten years." Luna said. "Such things may happen, but not in our realm.
It took a few seconds for the merchandise to stop shaking, and it was almost a minute before the last wind chime faded away. She hadn't meant to use the voice, but being drunk reduced her ability to control it. Being drunk and angry made the voice uncontrollable. Silver Horizon's ears twitched, and Luna could tell that she was fairly close to getting kicked out. To reduce that possibility, she threw another four bits to the counter, and Silver Horizon refilled her glass.
Twilight awoke to a noise outside on her balcony. Rainbow Dash was the only one who preferred that method of entry, but it was still dark out, and if there was one thing Dash loved, it was sleep. She wasn't normally active at three am, which is what the clock was claiming to be the correct time.
At first, the balcony appeared to be empty. It was definitely devoid of Dash. Twilight kicked herself for using another alliteration. Hadn't she sworn off them yesterday? No matter. It must have been the wind. That was one of the problems with living in a tree. You almost always had branches brush against windows.
There was a slight blue glow coming from the railing. At first Twilight thought it was some kind of monster, but as she got closer, she realized that it was Princess Luna. What Luna was doing crashed into her balcony railing was another story, one that was going to need a fair bit of explanation.
"Twilight... Sparkle?" Luna asked.
"Is something wrong princess?" Twilight replied.
"Uhm... You're like my best friend... I like... Hold that thought." Luna said.
Twilight watched in horror as Luna vomited onto the balcony.
"Spike!" Twilight shouted, retreating from the disgusting bit of disorder that had invaded her private space.
Twilight had just had Spike clean up here yesterday. She had to get the princess somewhere else before she made an even bigger mess. Why wasn't Spike here yet? The vomit was mocking her now. She had to clean it fast.
"Spike! Get up here now!" Twilight said.
She wasn't sure what else to do. Spike always cleaned her messes. She wasn't touching vomit. It would get in her coat, and her mane, and she'd have to spend hours getting the smell of sick out of her. That wouldn't work, she had way too much studying to do the next day to have time to spend the required number of hours. Spike came through the door, and onto the balcony. He looked like he was half asleep.
"What's wrong Twilight?" He asked.
"It's a disaster Spike!" Twilight shouted
Spike had noticed the Princess, and this was probably the only reason that he hadn't immediately gone back to bed. He didn't take things seriously enough. Being a dragon, his sense of priorities was way out of whack. To Spike, a major disaster such as her not having enough time in her current schedule to make her next schedule was only a minor annoyance, not the kind of thing that required a full on panic at four am. She'd always planned to give Spike an introduction to pony life lesson, but she could never fit it into her schedule.
Twilight pointed at the vomit. Spike stared at her, he wasn't sure what she wanted him to do.
"The Princess is sick Spike. Would you please clean up after her?" Twilight said.
"Can't it wait till... morning?" Spike said with a yawn.
"No Spike, it can't wait. I'll never be able to go back to sleep knowing it's out there." Twilight replied.
The Princess had managed to squeeze herself through the bars of the balcony now, and she was sitting on the balcony, eyeing Spike with extreme confusion.
"It's a dragon, why is there a dragon in Equestria? I'd better call the palace guard..." She mumbled, before dropping down onto her belly.
Twilight studied the Princess. There was definitely something wrong with the her. She'd fallen over, and she was't able to able to stand on her own hooves. Maybe there was something possessing her. That would make sense. Or did it? Twilight didn't know.
"Princess Luna? Are you okay?" Twilight said.
Luna was giggling madly now. It was unclear if the source of the giggles was her inability to get back to her feet, or to some internal joke. Twilight moved closer, trying to help the Princess to her hooves. Luna vomited again, causing Twilight to jump back. Spike was going to have to be the one that helped the Princess. Vomit would come off of scales so much easy then hair.
Sweetie Belle couldn't sleep. The images of the fire, and especially the remains of Babs' body were keeping her up. The fire had completely consumed the shed, and yet the majority of Babs' body had survived, it had just been badly burned. Applejack and Twilight Sparkle had done their best to keep the Crusaders away from the remains once the fire had ended.
But, it had all been unnecessary. Twilight had said that it had all been an accident. They'd gotten away with murder. The word murder was starting to feel natural now, like she'd always knew it. This probably wasn't a good thing. She couldn't wait for things to return to normal.
Things would soon be back to normal, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders would soon be crusading again. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure if this was a good thing. The ricin had brought out a side of Apple Bloom that she didn't like. Apple Bloom had always been very family oriented, and yet she was perfectly willing to poison her own cousin.
No! They hadn't meant to poison Babs. They'd intended to make her sick for a few days, just long enough for her to make it back to Manehattan leaving them in peace. It wasn't their fault that ricin had been so stupidly powerful. Sure, the monkeys had talked about how powerful the stuff was, but everyone knew that Ponies were stronger then monkeys. It wasn't their fault.