//------------------------------// // Ponyville - Hangover // Story: Comfort // by HermitKlam //------------------------------// -0-0- Twilight groaned in pain as her eyes cracked open only to slam shut immediately after, the harsh light from the sun overhead searing into her sensitive orbs. The sun was devious, she knew, its sneak attack having done more damage to her than simply hurting her eyes; the pounding in her head she was all too aware of had also tripled in intensity. Rolling to the side to hide from the fiery ball seemingly out to get her, Twilight groaned again, this time from the roiling sensation in her stomach. “Somepony… Anypony… Please…” Muzzle scrunched up and ears pinned back in extreme discomfort, the purple unicorn moaned croakily as she attempted to contort into a ball without further aggravating her pain. “Turn off the sun and make the world stop spinning.” “I’m terribly sorry, my faithful student,” Twilight’s ear twitched faintly as an altogether familiar and comforting voice spoke almost teasingly from behind her. “But those are two things that I can’t in good conscience do, even for you.” “Princess…?” Twilight whimpered pitifully, not willing to risk moving to only visually confirm her suspicions. “Is that you?” Celestia stood up and stretched her limbs. Glancing down at the moaning unicorn in sympathy, the white alicorn couldn’t help but frown, the desire to obliterate her student’s pain – even if it was self-inflicted – too great to completely ignore. Searching the sky intently for a moment, she found a cloud large enough for her needs and used her magic to anchor it directly over Twilight, fabricating a large ring of shade for the downed pony. “Oh thank you,” Twilight mumbled in relief as she felt the incessant light cease its torturous drilling against her closed eyelids. Slowly, she uncurled, finding a slightly less uncomfortable position now that she didn’t have to worry about the sun. “It is you; only you’d be able to turn the blasted thing off.” Celestia all but snorted in amusement at her student’s cranky mutterings, though she silently bemoaned the fact that the unicorn was only being so glib due to her current state of mind. Though she cared for the purple unicorn dearly, it would have been nice for the younger pony to be more assertive and self-confident in their interactions. “While I am in fact myself, I do regret to inform you that I did not ‘turn off the sun’, as you seem to think,” Celestia’s small amused smirk could be heard in her lilting voice, the light teasing successfully covering up the uncomfortable undercurrent of truth held within. “I will admit, however, that if I ever were to shirk my duties to such an extent, you are one of the only ponies I would even consider doing it for.” “Ughh…” Twilight groaned as her mind tried to follow her mentor’s words only to short-circuit. Instead, the purple pony simply focused on her tone of voice, a feat which was much less impossible at the moment for her aching head. “I kind of feel like you’re getting way too much amusement out of this painful situation.” “And normally I would be,” Celestia confirmed steadily, the teasing tone falling from her voice. “Ponies do bring it upon themselves by overindulging in alcohol, after all. I’ve found that a little teasing the morning after acts as a wonderful incentive to learn moderation whilst imbibing. You, however, are not just anypony.” “I love all of my little ponies, Twilight,” Celestia’s voice softened into the familiar comforting lilt that Twilight had coveted since she was a small filly, the sound unconsciously aiding the purple unicorn in her quest to relax and unclench her muscles even more. “But you are particularly special to me. It truly does twist my heart to see you in any kind of pain.” Twilight blushed slightly even through the pain at her mentor’s confession, her own heart feeling three times lighter in direct opposition to the rest of her lethargically heavy body. Feeling the brush of a feathery wing against the bangs that had fallen over her closed eyes, Twilight’s grimace flickered for a few brief moments into a genuine smile before contorting once more as her pain reasserted itself. “Ooooh,” Twilight scrunched her eyes shut even tighter in some vain attempt at vanquishing her pain with pure willpower – not that she even had much of that at the moment, mind you. “I feel like I’m dying.” “And that feeling, right there, is the second incentive for practicing moderation,” Celestia commented wryly as she nudged her student gently. “And on that high note, I do believe it is about time you got up. I brought you a jug of water; a good portion of your misery at the moment is due to your dehydration.” Twilight thought about it and then cautiously attempted to move only to wince and gasp as she returned to her former curled up position. “No! B-bad idea! Moving is a terrible idea.” “I know it hurts, Twilight,” Celestia soothed the whimpering pony with her words and voice as best she could. “But the longer you wait, the longer you’ll be in pain; you’re simply postponing the inevitable.” Twilight breathed deeply in and out of her mouth as she chewed on her princess’s words; despite her obvious misgivings, the advice did seem to make sense. She slowly and painstakingly cracked first one eye, and then the other open. Peering up at her mentor’s sincere features, Twilight slowly nodded. “Good. If you want, I can lend you my aid…?” Another small nod from the prone purple unicorn had Celestia reflexively smile in response. “Alright then, on three; one, two, three!” Celestia lit up her horn and gently surrounded her little pony in her golden glow. Slowly she levitated the unicorn into a standing position and gradually released her from her grasp so that Twilight could become used to standing under her own power once more. Walking closer to the wobbly unicorn, Celestia used one of her large wings to steady her. “How do you feel?” Celestia grasped the water jug in her magic and uncorked it. “Like I’m dying,” Twilight quipped weakly as she leaned heavily against her mentor. “And sucking on sandpaper.” “Here, this should help,” Celestia murmured as she held the jug up for Twilight so the younger pony wouldn’t have to strain herself using her own magic to keep it aloft while guzzling down the cool liquid inside. “Just remember to-” Twilight jerked forward and towards the ground right in the middle of the sentence, her protesting stomach finally giving up and deciding to implement a mass ejection. Heaving uncontrollably, a day and a half’s worth of chunky half-digested food and unidentifiable liquids painfully traveled backwards up her throat and sloshed messily onto the grass at her hooves. Twilight would, admittedly, compare her current situation to being in Tartarus if it weren’t for the small fact that her experiences with the place were much more pleasant than this. “-drink slowly.” Celestia sighed and adjusted her grip on the now uncontrollably heaving pony, her muzzle wrinkling in disgust as the scent of bile assaulted her senses. Despite this, the regal alicorn gamely held the unicorn’s mane out of the way with her magic and comfortingly nuzzled the back of her neck until her heaving slowed and finally turned into tired panting. “Are you finished?” Celestia murmured to the pony who was leaning weakly against her, the purple legs wobbly and mere moments from giving out. Receiving a faint sound in affirmation, Celestia herded the unicorn using her as a crutch to a clear patch of grass upwind from the pile of bile. Lying down, the alicorn allowed her student to collapse boneless at her side. Bringing forth the jug once more – as well as a pair of tablets – Celestia tried to convince the unicorn to take another drink. “Take small sips – and these tablets; the water should help soothe your now empty stomach, and the tablets will help with your headache.” Twilight blinked wearily at the aforementioned items before taking a moment to seemingly scrutinize the alicorn’s expression. Apparently coming to the conclusion that her mentor could be trusted, Twilight gingerly did as she was instructed. She had to admit, though only to herself, that taking small sips of the water did somewhat aid in settling her stomach. Finally nudging the jug away once she had consumed nearly half of the water inside, Twilight leaned her head against her mentor’s shoulder, nuzzling her weakly in thanks. Squinting slightly as her eyes were still somewhat sensitive, Twilight finally took a good look at her surroundings only to come up short. “Er… Princess?” “Yes, Twilight?” Celestia hummed lightly. “Where… Where exactly are we?” Twilight blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings in confusion. “And, now that I think about it, why are we a we? You weren’t with me last night… were you?” “Hmm…” Celestia peered around them in thought for a moment. “Just outside of Whitetail Woods, I do believe.” “O…kay…” Twilight said slowly, her face a mask of confusion as she attempted to figure out just how she went from celebrating her twenty-first birthday party in her library, to waking up in a field just outside of Whitetail Woods. Thinking back to the night before – at least she hoped it was the night before – she began to wince as she vaguely started to remember certain events that had transpired. What caused her to cringe in abject horror, however, were the events she couldn’t recall but had no problem imagining. She was never, in her life, ever going to let herself get roped into a drinking contest with Pinkie, Dash, and Applejack ever again. Ever. “As for why I’m here, well, dear Spike sent me a letter this morning explaining what all you had gotten up to last night. He was understandably worried when he went to wake you up this morning and found out that the Twilight Sparkle lying in your bed was actually just a purple balloon with a smiley face drawn on it.” Celestia continued amusedly as she watched her student’s face quickly go from being rather pale to sporting a healthy red glow. “As for my methods of actually finding you, well, let’s just call that a trick of the trade.” Twilight nodded mechanically, her mind still stuck on the fact that her little brother knew more of how she embarrassed herself last night than she herself did – and he had no doubt told the princess everything he knew in his letter. Which meant that both princesses knew everything, seeing as Luna was in the habit of also reading the letters she and Spike sent to Celestia. Groaning at the sudden realization, Twilight gently buried her head in her forelegs before speaking, her voice understandably muffled. “…Princess?” “Yes Twilight?” Celestia’s voice was light and airy, but Twilight could practically hear the amused smile in her voice. “Can we… Can we just forget today ever happened?” Twilight pleaded into her hooves pitifully. “And… And while we’re at it, yesterday as well?” “Hmm…” Celestia hummed, her amusement now coming through strong and clear as her eyes flashed in mirth. “…Perhaps.” “Perhaps?” “…Perhaps.” Twilight stared blankly at her hooves and sighed; that’s what she thought. -0-0-