//------------------------------//
// Education and Experimentation 
// Story: My Little Stoner 
// by darkstar64 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight Sparkle gently placed the sample on her slide, carefully using her magic to push it underneath a microscope. After making a few adjustments, she was able to obtain a clear image of the bud.

The bud itself was a vibrant green, with fuzzy, orange strands resembling hair covering the surface. Twilight also noticed a large presence of tiny white crystals standing upright from the bud, and gave off a strange scent she found to be somewhat unpleasant. 

The human creature that had appeared in Equestria a few weeks back had discovered the plant in the Everfree Forest, while visiting Zecora with Twilight. The strong scent apparently attracted the human to it, and despite Twilight's protests about safety, he ran into the bush following the smell. When the unicorn was able to catch up to him, she found him standing in awe at a natural field of the crop, and proceeded to watch the human smell the plants in an almost orgasmic way. Twilight had been confused at the human's sudden excitement as he stuffed his backpack with as much crop as he could carry.

"Just wait," Shawn, the human, would say. "You'll see when it's ready."

Twilight had been told that there had to be some sort of trimming and drying process before the herb could be used, and she didn't even know what for. After weeks of patiently waiting (much to her annoyance), Shawn finally returned with a bag filled with trimmed buds.

"So...," Twilight began as she studied the bud under her microscope. "Are you going to tell me why this plant had you so excited?"

"It's called marijuana," Shawn replied. "Also known as cannabis, weed, pot, ganja, you get the idea. Anyways, you're supposed to smoke it once it's been dried and it gets you high."

"Gets you high?" Twilight responded, tilting her head. "It makes you fly?"

"No, not literally high," Shawn corrected. "You see those little crystals on the nug? There's a little chemical in the plant called THC and when you inhale the smoke from it, it just makes you feel great!"

"So... you're basically inhaling a chemical in a gas state to achieve a state of euphoria?"

"Well, yeah, if you put like that."

"Interesting..." Twilight mumbled, continuing to study the weed. "I can't believe this hasn't been discovered before! I guess everypony was just too scared of the Everfree to study all the plant life."

"It also has some medicinal effects as well," Shawn continued. "It makes you feel relaxed, it can help you sleep, and it can give you a bad case of the munchies."

"Munchies?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, uh, it makes you really hungry," Shawn answered. "It also makes it so that food tastes better, makes music sound better, makes sex fee-"

"I get it," Twilight cut him off. "Euphoric state. Any other side-effects?"

"Well, there's dry mouth," Shawn listed. "Let's see, your eyes can go red and your ability to think might be impaired, but more in a relaxing way than a bad way. And if you smoke too much of the stuff at one time, your body might be overwhelmed and make you throw up. That's called greening out. It's not a bad thing, it's just your body not being able to handle so much at once. Might also make you a little paranoid, but it all passes and after a few hours it wears off."

"Doesn't seem like something you'd want to put in your body if your system rejects it." Twilight stated. "However, there's a lot of medicine ponies use that behave the same way, although they don't cause a euphoric reaction. All I can think of that does that is morphine, but that's controlled by the Equestrian Health Board and used strictly for patients in pain."

"This is safer," Shawn responded. "You control how much you take and your body adapts to it after a while, depending on how often you smoke it."

"How often did you smoke it back home?"

"Almost everyday."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah!" Shawn exclaimed. "I mean, I don't spend the entire day getting stoned off my ass. It's a nice way to treat myself after a long day at work, or something to share when hanging out with friends."

"Ah, so it's used for socializing and friendship as well?" Twilight questioned. 

"Of course!" Shawn replied. "We just turn on some music, then take turns smoking bowls and just chill. Everyone is so relaxed and we just enjoy ourselves like we would at any other hangout or party."

"Well, I'm glad it's used for positive reasons such as friendship!" stated Twilight. "I'd like to observe how this, 'high', effects you, if you wouldn't mind."

"I thought you'd never ask," Shawn complied, happily grabbing his bag and started picking out a couple big buds. "You're welcome to participate if you want a different approach to study it."

"Um, what?!" Twilight exclaimed, surprised by the invitation to smoke pot. "But I need to properly observe the effects on somepony else! And how can I study when I'm impaired by the same effects?"

"Alright, that's fine," Shawn informed. "I should have everything here..."

The human began to fiddle around in his backpack, mumbling to himself as he searched every compartment. Eventually, he smiled and began to pull out various objects.

"Still got my rolling papers! And enough lighters to last me forever!" Shawn stated as held up the various objects in his hand. "Good thing I had stocked up. And yes! Still have my grinder!"

"How much are you going to smoke?" Twilight asked, concerned about the amount of buds he had placed on the table. "Are you doing that all at once?"

"HA!" Shawn laughed. "I'd probably pass out. No, I'm just going to grind a couple buds up in my grinder here then roll it into a joint."

"A joint?"

"Yeah, just a thin paper you use to roll up the weed in. A joint. You can also smoke it out of a pipe or a bong, but you can't go wrong with a fat joint."

Twilight took notes as she watched Shawn twist the grinder several times, dumping the shredded herb onto the counter.   She then payed attention as the human carefully placed the herb onto the paper, which he quickly rolled up and sealed it shut like somepony would lick an envelope closed. He used his fingers to tap the joint a couple times, making sure the weed was evenly distributed in the paper. 

"It's not too bad," Shawn commented as he admired his work. "Not the best joint I ever rolled, but after weeks and weeks of being sober, I'm way too happy to care."

"So what happens now?" Twilight asked.

"Now, it's time to light this bad boy up." Shawn answered. "C'mon, let's go outside on the deck upstairs. I don't want to stink up the library when I smoke this."

"Good idea."

Seconds later, Shawn and Twilight were outside in the afternoon sun. Birds happily chirped as they flew around the branches of the library, and the sound of busy ponies in town could be heard. They both sat down in the deck chairs, and Twilight had her scroll laid out on the table, ready to take notes.

"Wait... what time is it?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, hold on," Shawn said, looking at watch, now adjusted for Equestrian time. "Almost three-thirty. Why?"

"Wait for it." Twilight stated.

"Wait for what?"

"Any second now."

"AAAAHHH! LOOK OUT!"

"There she is."

There was a loud scream, followed by the sound of a pegasus pony smashing into the branches above the deck. Rainbow Dash fell down from the canopy, attempting to regain control of her flight with no success. She smashed down on the floor.

"...Ow..."

"Woah, that was awesome!" Shawn exclaimed, helping Rainbow Dash up. "Hey Twilight, does she really crash like that almost every day?"

"Yes."

"I DO NOT!" Rainbow defended, immediately standing upright. "The wind shifted, that's all!"

Shawn couldn't help but chuckle at the scene. "Rough landing though, didn't that hurt?"

"No!" Rainbow quickly replied. "Well, a little. Maybe," she admitted, using her forelegs to rub her sore spots. "Been feeling sore for a couple days now..."

"I see," Shawn responded, coming up with an idea. "I might have something to help with the pain Rainbow Dash."

"Really?"

Shawn held up the joint in his fingers, Rainbow Dash glaring at it curiously as if it were some ugly creature. 

"What's a little thing like that gonna do to make me feel better?" Rainbow questioned.

"Just smoke it with me and find out. It's the plant I found in the Everfree a few weeks back." Shawn answered.

"Um, is that really a good idea Shawn?" Twilight interjected. "I mean, shouldn't it be properly studied before we let another pony test it out?"

"Oh, it'll be fine Twilight, it's only a joint." Shawn stated. "And technically she'd only be smoking half of it, since we're sharing it."

"If it can make this aching stop, I'll try anything!" Rainbow declared. "I'm not afraid of some silly plant."

"Ugh, fine," said Twilight. "But I at least want her to stick around so I can take notes on how it effects a pony."

And so it was settled. Rainbow pulled herself a chair over and made herself comfortable as Shawn got ready to light the joint.

"So... how does this work anyways?" Rainbow asked.

"It's simple," Shawn replied. "You just a couple puffs like this..." he made a puffing action with the joint. "...and then after you pull it away from your mouth, quickly inhale so the smoke in your mouth enters your lungs. If possible, try not to get the end of the joint too wet. Also, it might taste bad and the heat can be unpleasant sometimes, so try and take it slow."

"No problem!"

Shawn held the joint in his mouth, bringing up the device he called a lighter and with a quick flick of his thumb, a small flame erupted from the top of the lighter and the heat began to burn the joint. Shawn puffed away to get the herb burning, and put the lighter away as he enjoyed a couple slow puffs before inhaling.

"Fuck," Shawn said as he coughed up smoke. "Man, this *cough*, is some pretty good shit! Okay Rainbow, you're up."

Rainbow didn't admit it, but she was a little nervous. Shawn had to hold the joint for her since she lacked fingers, and coached her as she puffed on the joint. It was quickly followed by a small coughing fit from the pegasus pony, who quickly started spitting off the deck.

"Agh, you were right about the taste..." Rainbow stated. "But the smoke itself wasn't bad, I guess. Feels a little weird. When does this stuff kick in?"

"Takes about five to ten minutes," Shawn informed. "And we gotta smoke the whole joint for the best effect."

The two continued to smoke the joint as Twilight watched, taking notes on the scent and how the herb was being used. Eventually, the joint became nothing more than a small roach and soon enough the last puff was taken.

"My body is starting to feel weird..." Rainbow pointed out. "Is this normal?"

"Yeah..." Shawn replied. "Just try to relax Rainbow and enjoy the sensation."

"What's it like Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight. "Anything else feel abnormal?"

"I... I don't know Twilight. I'm starting to feel... good."

"Good? Like how?"

"I don't know, my skin just feels weird, all over my body. And I can see it too."

"You can see it?" said Twilight. "What does that mean?"

"My vision," Rainbow replied. "Everything just looks completely different, but it's the same as it was before. It looks really pretty."

Rainbow moved, leaving her chair to walk around and look at the hills in the distance outside of Ponyville.

"Wow... it's just some boring hills, but it looks pretty... I've seen this all my life, but not like this..."

Shawn burst out laughing, unable to contain it anymore.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh my god, she's so stoned right now!" he yelled in between his bursts of laughter. This somehow made Rainbow Dash chuckle, and she too began to laugh.

"Haha, yeah, I'm stoned..." Rainbow mumbled. "Haha, why am I laughing? Hahahaha!"

Poor Twilight was stuck in the middle of two laughing, stoned friends while she jotted down more notes, filling up another page. 

"Hehehe hows the pain Rainbow?" Shawn asked.

"Huh?" Rainbow looked up, completely lost. Her eyes had started to fade into a pink shade.	"What pain? I feel awesome!"

"So it worked then? No more pain?"

Rainbow suddenly realized this, the look appearing in her bloodshot eyes. "Yeah! The pain is gone! I mean, for the most part, but it doesn't ache and sore anymore! And.. muragjhhllfff hahaha, my mouth feels funny when I move it!"

"I don't know about you Rainbow," Shawn started. "But I could use something to eat."

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "In fact, I'm STARVING! Twilight!"

Twilight was suddenly grasped by Rainbow's hooves, pulled right outside of her comfort zone.

"Twilight, please tell me you have snacks!"

"Ack! Rainbow Dash!" Twilight protested "Yes, in the fridge, but-"

Before Twilight could finish, Shawn and Rainbow had already run inside to the kitchen, where the sacred munchies lay hidden.

"Ugh, I guess this stuff also makes them stupid..." Twilight assumed as she checked the time. "Almost 4:20, better make sure they don't spoil their dinner..."