That was… something. Something weird, Steve thought as he watched the three young fillies quickly disappearing behind the counter near the door. And I tried so hard to not scare them. He let out a long sigh and continued staring after them for a few more moments. Well, at least I tried. He saw Cheerilee gently snuggling up against Big Mac’s side again, so he didn’t want to disturb them, he shrugged and made his way back to the other ponies.
“So, you’ve met mah sister?” Applejack asked him as he sat down next to her. When he looked over to her, he saw a mixture of confusion and worry on her face. A quick peek around the table showed equal expressions on the other ponies except for Rainbow, who looked like she was holding in laughter, and Derpy, who calmly looked at him with one eye and at the ceiling with the other.
Oh crap. They saw that, he thought and scratched the back of his neck while trying to put on a smile. “Yeaaah, I just… Well, I don’t really know what happened there.” He shrugged and looked around, a touch bewildered. “I just said my name and asked them why they were hiding under the table, and they just ran off. I really didn’t try to scare them, I promise.”
Applejack sighed in relief. “I know; they can just act weird sometimes. Probably got one of their crusadin’ things stuck in their heads again. I’ll talk to them about that later,” she assured him.
“Good, I was afraid it was because of something I did,” he said, sounding relieved. Wouldn’t have been the first time that happened, he noted to himself. “I don’t really want to end up being the bogeyman here.”
“The what now?” Applejack asked and raised a brow. The other ponies didn’t seem to understand what he meant either, judging by their faces.
“Just a term where I come from, don’t mind that,” he explained and shook his head. “Anyway! What’s the plan now?” he asked, trying to change the topic.
“Well, we are kinda waiting for Twilight and Pinkie to return; she had some games planned and—” Rainbow began but was interrupted by a flash of light, causing them all to turn around. “Aaand there you are,” Rainbow said to Twilight and Pinkie Pie who had reappeared in front of the group.
“Again! Again!” Pinkie cheered wildly and bounced excitedly in front of Twilight.
“No, Pinkie. For the last time, teleportation is not something to play with,” Twilight stated patiently to the giggling pink pony in front of her. “Can’t believe you convinced me to do it in the first place,” she quietly muttered.
“Awww,” Pinkie wailed and put on a sad face. “Pretty pleaseeeee,” she dragged out, trying to convince Twilight.
“Ugh, fine,” Twilight reluctantly agreed, and before Pinkie could cheer again, they both disappeared in a flash of light only to reappear in the same spot not even a second later.
“Wheeeee,” Pinkie giggled. Confused, Steve looked at her, but the other ponies didn’t even seem to mind.
Steve cleared his throat before addressing Twilight, “Everything went well?” Pinkie’s good mood was promising, considering two certain ponies hadn’t returned.
“Oh yes,” Twilight quickly replied. “I managed to convince her that the party would still be fun, but that it required her to be there too. I think you noticed what reason she had for coming back so easily. Did we miss anything?”
He scratched his neck again before replying, “Nothing important.” Twilight nodded. “So, Pinkie,” he turned towards the other mare, “I heard you have som… AHH!” His sentence got cut short as he was grabbed by a strong hoof and pulled away from his seat.
“You bet I have,” she answered his unfinished question. “And you even get to be the first to play my favourite game,” she continued before starting to spin the still wildly confused human in her hooves around on the floor. Steve was too baffled to open his mouth for more than some incomprehensible babbling. Before he even knew what was going on, his vision turned black.
“What the…” he stammered after he came to a sudden halt from his spinning movement. Quickly, he tried to feel what was blocking his eyesight and felt some smooth cloth lying over his eyes. “Pinkie! Why did you blindfold me?!” he shouted out and tried to pull the blindfold over his head but was quickly stopped by her surprisingly strong hooves.
“Silly, pin the tail on the pony doesn’t work if you can see,” she laughed and pulled her hooves away again.
“Pin the what on the what now?” he asked, now a bit more calm and resisted taking off the blindfold this time.
“The tail on the pony,” she repeated. Even though he couldn’t see, he could almost sense that she wore that big innocent-looking smile of hers right now. “Here’s the tail,” she said and put something in his hand which he firmly grasped, “and the pony’s over there… Oh silly me, you haven’t actually seen it. It’s, umm, over there, halfway to your right and then a bit leftish.”
“Pin the tail on the pony?” he repeated questioningly to which Pinkie quickly agreed. Oh, like the children’s game, he finally concluded. But isn’t that with a donkey? And why are we playing this here?
“Uhh, Pinkie?” he heard Applejack’s doubtful voice from the side. “Don’t ya suppose it would be better to at least ask him beforehoof?”
“Lighten up, AJ,” Rainbow’s voice sounded. “It’s all just in good fun, right?”
“Of course it is,” Pinkie Pie agreed eagerly and grabbed him by his shoulders. “Righty-o, Steverino?” she yelled into his ears. Maybe it was just because he couldn’t see and was focusing more on his other senses, but that sounded louder to him than it should have.
“I guess one little game can’t hurt,” he carefully replied and shrugged. Unless I run at a wall or something. I can’t see anything through this thing, he thought and resisted pulling off the blindfold once again.
“I knew you were gonna say that!” Pinkie chirped next to his ear, causing him to flinch a bit. “Then off you go!” she ordered and pushed him forward slightly so he would get moving.
“Uhm, Pinkie?” he asked, a bit confused.
“Yes?”
“I have no idea where I have to go.”
“Oh yes. Turn right,” she ordered and he quietly complied, slowly turning to his right.
“Stop, that’s too far,” Rainbow’s voice appeared. “A bit back to the left.”
“Now that’s too far left,” Applejack piped up after he turned into the new direction Rainbow gave him.
“I think that was just fine,” he heard the faint voice of Fluttershy in the background.
“Stop confusing me!” he said loudly, cutting off the various different directions that they proceeded to give him even though he had stopped moving.
“Now just one at a time,” he told them after a moment of silence, hoping that they would get this over with quickly.
***
“Phew, that was close,” Scootaloo pressed out between two gasps after she came to a halt next to the oven in the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner.
“Ah know,” Apple Bloom agreed as she stood behind the pegasus and quickly wiped a single drop of sweat from her forehead. “Is he following us?” she turned around and asked.
Sweetie Belle, the last of the trio, still stood at the door to the kitchen peeking out. “No,” she replied, eliciting a relieved sigh from her friends. “He’s still standing there… Wait! He’s moving,” she told them and gasped. “Oh no, he’s just going back to the others.” After one final look to check if that observation was true, Sweetie Belle headed back to her friends. “Now what will we do?” she asked them.
They all exchanged clueless looks. “Ah have no idea,” Apple Bloom replied.
“Me neither,” Scootaloo chimed in. A sigh went through the round again.
“And what shall we make of this situation then?” She was met again by clueless faces. “It didn’t really look like he wanted to attack us, did it?”
“Nah, not really if ya ask me,” Apple Bloom agreed. “But we couldn’t stay there like that. The plan was to secretly watch him. We need a new plan.”
“Any ideas on that?” Scootaloo asked. “He found us really quickly, and there aren’t exactly many other hiding spots out there.” The three young ponies sat down, each of them trying to come up with an idea.
“Aha!” Sweetie Belle said after a few moments. Immediately, her friends turned around to her, expectantly waiting for her idea. “So we can’t hide anywhere where he won’t see us, right?” They nodded. “Then we hide in the open.” Her triumphant gin was only met by the confused looks of her friends.
***
“Now just a teeny tiny bit forward aaaaaand you got it!” Pinkie Pie cheered happily.
About time, he thought, relieved that this game was finally over and he was able to take off his blindfold. The last five minutes he had spent trying to follow her directions that were more confusing than explanatory. Although he had to admit it was quite fun, it was not an experience he wanted to repeat. Now with his eyesight slowly returning, he finally got a look at his surroundings. His arm was still reaching out, holding a strip of cloth that reassembled a pony’s tail with a pin at its base, which he had just pinned near the flank of a picture of a blue earth pony with a yellow mane that was missing its tail. Letting go of the fake tail, he turned around to the wide grin of the pink mare next to him.
“That was fun, wasn’t it? Huh?” she asked expectantly, leaning in close to his face. He leaned back slightly to get a bit of distance from her and nodded. “Sooooo, what do you want to do next?” she asked and waved a hoof around. Following her hoof, he looked around the room. Only now did he notice that the gramophone he had seen earlier was now playing music. A soft melody that he had not noticed while he was focusing on his direction came out of the machine, causing Fluttershy, Derpy, and Twilight to move rhythmically to the music while Rarity stood next to them, levitating a cup of punch in her magic and having a chat with the mayor.
One thing he was sure wasn’t there before was a big wooden tub situated in the middle of the room. He was baffled how they moved it there so quickly. It was bigger than a bathtub and almost completely filled with water with some apples floating on the top. Applejack leaned against it, a grin on her face while she seemed to be discussing something with Rainbow Dash. “Hmm?” Pinkie Pie hummed. “How about bobbing for apples? That’s always pretty funny,” she proposed and pointed over at the tub.
Well, not what I had in mind about this party, but I guess I’ll take it. At the very least, it would make Pinkie happy, he thought while staring into her bright blue eyes. Don’t want to let her down by not playing a few of her games. I was also promised cider, so it shouldn’t go on like this for the rest of the night. The thought brought a little smile to his lips. “Sounds like a plan,” he agreed and nodded.
“Heya again, Dashie and Applejack!” Pinkie greeted the two ponies standing next to the tub.
“Howdy there,” Applejack greeted them back and tipped her hat. “Up for bobbing some apples?” She pointed towards the shiny red fruits floating in the water behind her.
“Maybe you’re gonna be better at this than at pin the tail on the pony.” Rainbow laughed and looked at them from the side.
“Rainbow!” Applejack chided her and shot her a stern look. Unfortunately though, Steve had to admit that she was right. Judging by the amount of directions he needed shouted at him and the light giggles he heard in the background from time to time, he must have been horribly bad.
“Just sayin’.” Rainbow waved her off. “Wanna try it? Just grab an apple with your mouth, no hooves… err, hands allowed.” She turned towards him and shot him a challenging look.
“It is on, Dashie,” he replied with a sly grin, using the same nickname Pinkie Pie had used as he stepped forward.
“Don’t!” came her harsh reply. He stopped in his movements and looked back at her, raising a brow at her sudden reaction. “Only Pinkie can call me that.”
He looked at her for a few moments, but her face told him she was dead serious. “Fine, sorry,” he said bitingly, rolling his eyes and raising his hands.
“It’s okay; you couldn’t have known. It’s just… I don’t like to be called that,” she replied and looked at the ground. He decided to leave it at that. Instead, he moved over to the tub and looked around for an apple he could easily reach with his mouth. Since the tub was made for the much smaller ponies, he had to kneel down in front of it first, his waist resting against the top of the tub.
Alright, this one looks about right, he thought after spotting an apple that seemed to be somewhere where his mouth was soon to be and leaned forwards. The distance was estimated correctly, but he just couldn’t get a grip on the apple. His teeth tried to cut through the skin and into the juicy flesh, but the apple just submerged a few centimeters more before popping out of the water next to his head shortly after. He could feel the ponies’, especially Rainbow’s, expectant looks on his back, so he didn’t want to give up now. In one final attempt, he opened his mouth as far as he could and tried to get a hold on the apple, but it was in vain. Instead of an apple, he ended up with a large amount of water in his mouth which caused him to cough it out and abort his attempt.
“Ha!” He heard Rainbow laughing next to him and felt her hoof firmly tapping on his back while he was still coughing out the water. “Stand back and look how an expert does it,” she declared, and in one quick movement, her head shot down into the water and up again with a big red apple in her teeth. “See?” she boasted, her voice muffled by the fruit, tossed it into the air with a quick swing of her head, and caught it mid-air while it was coming down again, gulping it down in one single bite, a triumphant smile on her face.
“Not fair,” he said sourly after spitting out the last drops of water. “Your mouth is way bigger than mine,” he pointed out, “I can’t fit it in there as easily as you can.”
“All I hear are excuses,” she replied and smirked. “Wasn’t too bad for a beginner though, but looks like ponykind wins once again.”
Oh, now it is so on, he thought determinedly and quickly threw his head into the water again. His teeth tried to bury in the apple, but the apple just slipped out of his grip before his teeth could cut through the skin every time. He almost wanted to give up, but then he finally managed to get a hold of one. He buried his teeth deep into the fruity flesh before pulling out his head, showing off his prize. Satisfied, he grabbed the apple in one hand and took a large bite out of it. “Ahh, the sweet taste of victory,” he said triumphantly and looked over to Rainbow Dash.
Much to his surprise, however, he found the little orange pegasus filly he had seen hiding under the table with her two friends earlier standing next to Rainbow Dash. “Hey there, Scoots,” Rainbow said to the filly who stood close at her side. Noticing Steve’s look, Rainbow leaned down to the little filly and whispered something in her ear.
The filly nodded and a shortly after she said in a slightly trembling tomboyish voice, “I’m S-Scootaloo.”
Surprised, Steve raised a brow. This is a bit different from our last meeting, he thought, wondering what had caused the filly to change her mind about clearly showing herself to him, and why she was alone. “Well, hello there Scootaloo, I’m Steve.” He greeted the filly again, still on his knees from the apple bobbing, however he was still a little taller than the mares around him, so he believed the young pony wouldn’t be too intimidated by his size right now. “Sorry if I scared you earlier,” he added and smiled, trying to dissolve any troubling thoughts she might have.
“Oh no, we weren’t scared.” She was quick to dismiss him and shook her little head. “It’s… uh…” she stammered, obviously trying to come up with an excuse. “Just playing a game… yeah,” she finally said and nodded her head quickly, causing her short magenta mane to bounce up and down.
Likely story, Steve thought but decided not to pressure her into saying more about it. He was content with how things were now, and putting her in an awkward situation wouldn’t help him. “Good, good,” he replied and smiled again. “But speaking of which, where are your other friends? There was three of you when I saw you earlier,” he pointed out.
“They’re over there,” came her quick reply and she pointed behind him. He turned around to see the yellow earth pony filly with the bright red hair with a bow tied into it standing next to Applejack, who had been chatting with Pinkie Pie while he was bobbing for apples. The white unicorn with the two colored mane was standing next to Rarity and both were looking over to him.
He was certainly no expert on pony genetics, but two white unicorns, both a color and a race he had observed relatively few of here in Ponyville so far, was a good indication that they were related somehow. Then again, it could also be due to the fact that he had seen very few ponies here so far.
If this Apple Bloom is standing next to her sister it is only logical that, umm…. He struggled a bit, trying to remember their names, Sweetie Belle would also go to someone she is related to. Question is, mother or sister? I have no idea how old these ponies are and at what age ponies usually give birth. Hmm, how can I ask them without it being completely awkward? he drifted off in his thoughts again. Ah, of course. A straight up question to Twilight, he decided was the best way to approach pretty much any question about a pony’s physiology. Or any question in general. That pony doesn’t seem to think anything is awkward, he thought while looking at the purple mare dancing to the music with moves that would have even shamed Commander Shepard. Suddenly, he realized that he had started to zone off again and quickly focused on his surroundings. As he turned around again, he could see that Applejack and Apple Bloom stood next to Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash already.
“Steve, I’d like ya to introduce ya to mah little sister, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said and pushed the little filly next to her forward a bit, much to her dismay. “The one that was so rude to run away,” she hissed into the filly’s ear and glared at her, but her voice was still loud enough that Steve could hear it.
Before either Steve or the filly got a chance to speak, Rarity cleared her throat as she entered his field of view and said, “It appears my sister has not yet introduced herself so I have to do that for her. Steve, this is Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle, say hello to Steve.”
The three fillies exchanged a quick look then grinned slightly before all three chanted in unison, “Hello, Steve.”
So that answers the question about their relation, Steve thought, mildly confused about what they were doing. I’m just going out on a limb here and I’ll say that Scootaloo is Rainbow’s sister, he concluded and looked at the three ponies and fillies in front of him. So, was their plan to stick with their sisters? Steve wondered. It’s kinda logical that they feel safe around their family, but it’s worrying at the same time that they think this would be necessary. He held back a sigh. “It’s nice to meet you all,” he said and put on a smile again. “Are you enjoying the party so far?”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo was the first to reply, “Pinkie’s parties are always awesome.” Her two friends nodded in agreement.
That seems to be a very common opinion here, Steve thought and chuckled.
“It’ll get even better when mah sister brings her cider along,” Apple Bloom added, earning her a surprised look from the grown-ups.
“Apple Bloom! Were ya drinking the cider? I told ya that it wasn’t for little ponies,” Applejack asked angrily and shot her little sister a stern look.
“Nah, of course not Sis,” she replied quickly and shook her head. “But it’s funny to watch.”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed. “Especially when Rainbow tries to fly while drunk and crashes into the nearest shelf.” The three fillies laughed while the adult ponies looked at each other uneasily. Steve had to admit that the thought was pretty hilarious.
“And stop right there, Squirt,” Rainbow ordered harshly after she had caught herself again. “Not everypony should know about that.”
“I have to agree with Rainbow Dash there, Scootaloo” Rarity joined in indignantly. “A lady does not tell stories of her friends when they had a drink too much,” she chided the young filly.
“So why do you tell these stories so often to me when I can’t go to the party myself?” Sweetie Belle asked and looked innocently up at her sister whose white coat had turned red around her cheeks by now. Rainbow glared angrily over at Rarity, who was trying to hide her nervousness under an awkward chuckle.
Before any of the fillies could tell another private detail about their sisters, Applejack stepped in. “Well would you look at the time? I’d say it’s time for young fillies to hit the hay now,” she said loudly.
“Quite so; you should be in bed by now. It is getting too late for you.” Rarity had managed to get a hold of herself as well, the red that had crawled on her cheeks vanishing quickly.
“But we’re not even tired,” Apple Bloom complained and looked at her sister with large eyes, just like her other two friends.
“Nope. No arguing about that,” Applejack remained firm. “Somepony has to bring y’all home.” She looked at the three fillies with a look that brooked no dissent. “Big Mac!” she called out to her brother.
“Eeyup?” his deep voice resounded after a moment of silence.
“Can ya take Apple Bloom and her friends home? I think it’s time for them to go to bed.”
After another moment of silence, the red stallion appeared at their side, Cheerilee trotting behind him. He looked over the three fillies shortly, then back at Cheerilee briefly who nodded, then replied, “Eeyup.”
“Ah, thank ya Big Mac,” Applejack said firmly, interrupting the flow of protests that began to come out of the fillies’ mouths.
“A fine gentlecolt indeed,” Rarity agreed in a smooth voice and slowly walked towards Big Mac.
Cheerilee, who was waiting in the background, coughed slightly and stepped forward to Big Macintosh’s side. “I think I should leave now as well. It is getting quite late already, and I have a few things to do tomorrow.” She put a hoof on Big Mac’s shoulder and gave him a long look. “If you’re already at it, would you bring me home as well?”
The stallion gulped at first, before pressing out a nervous, “Eeyup.” Without further ado, he grabbed the three protesting fillies, threw them on his wide back, and signalled that he was ready to go. “See ya,” he said to the other party guests.
“Thanks for the invitation. I hope you enjoy the rest of the party,” Cheerilee bade them goodbye as well.
Pinkie Pie, who had overheard their conversation, suddenly appeared next to Steve, she seemed to be a little saddened by their departure but made no attempts to stop them. Instead, she thanked them for coming and hoped they could do this again soon.
“I think I will be leaving now as well,” Mayor Mare’s voice appeared behind them as she, and the other ponies joined them. “The office doesn’t close at weekends, so I still have plenty of work to do.”
“So am I,” Derpy joined in. “Mail has to be delivered too, and I don’t want to be late again.” She shot an apologetic smile over to Pinkie Pie. “But thanks for inviting me. I had a great night. You’re such a good friend, Pinkie,” the grey pegasus continued and gave Pinkie a quick hug.
An exchange of goodbyes later, a group of seven ponies left Sugarcube Corner dispersing in different directions, leaving a group of six ponies and one human behind. “So, what’s planned next?” Steve turned towards Pinkie Pie and asked eagerly with a clap of his hands.
“Weeeell,” Pinkie began and looked over to Applejack and quickly raised her eyebrows like she wanted to tell her something.
“Huh?” the farm mare asked, confused. “Ahh, sure,” she said a few moments later after she seemed to understand what Pinkie was telling her to do and quickly left the room, heading into the kitchen.
Confused, Steve looked around between the other ponies. “What is it?” he wanted to know. Rainbow’s eager grin told him that it would be something good, but he preferred a clear answer.
“Oh, you’ll see,” Rainbow replied with a smirk and looked back at the door to the kitchen from where a rumbling sound caught his ears.
He perked up his head to see what was causing the noise but could only spot Applejack slowly walking behind the counter which was blocking the view of the lower part of her body. As she turned around the corner and entered the main room, he could finally see what their next plan was. “Who’s up for some cider?” Applejack asked loudly and stopped the barrel that she was rolling with her forehooves.
***
“Here ya go, partner,” Applejack said affably and held a tall mug of cider in front of Steve’s face.
"Thanks,” Steve said eagerly, taking the mug out of her hoof and looking at the golden liquid inside. It looked so inviting that he wanted to take a large sip right away, but he patiently waited for the other ponies to get their mugs filled as well.
“Thanks, but none for me.” Twilight declined the cider Applejack offered her, waving it off with one hoof.
“Lighten up, egghead,” Rainbow said and waved her own mug in front of the eyes of the purple unicorn, causing a few drops to spill over. “It’s a party. One drink won’t kill you.”
“I guess you’re right…” Twilight said slowly, looking alternatively between Rainbow’s and Applejack’s reassuring faces and the mug of cider the latter still held in her hoof. “But just one drink!” she declared as she grabbed the mug with her magic.
Shortly after, all the ponies were well supplied with drinks. “Wonderful!” Steve said aloud and raised his mug in the air, causing the ponies to look at him. “I don’t know how you usually handle things here, but for me, this is pretty nice. A party just for me to welcome me here,” he aimed his mug towards Pinkie Pie, “nice company,” he looked at each of the ponies individually for a few moments, “and now some fine drinks,” he finished and held his mug in the middle of the group. “So cheers, prost, skål, or whatever it is you say around here. To a great time together!”
“To a great time together,” the ponies joined in and clinked their mugs against his.
Wow, was his first thought as the cold cider ran down his throat. It was again a bit too sweet for his taste, but that would be something he would have to get used to here. Nevertheless, it was absolutely delicious. It tasted fresh, with a clear note of apple, was chilled perfectly, and surprisingly strong as well. Or maybe it was just too long since I drank anything with alcohol, he thought and took another large gulp of the drink. I should probably go easy on this. A hangover is the last thing I need right now.
“See?” Rainbow, who had by now almost emptied her drink already, prodded him in the side. “Told ya it was amazing, right?”
“Yes, you were right,” he agreed. “This tastes amazing.” He took another sip.
“Thank ya’ kindly,” Applejack joined in and tipped her hat. “It’s one of our most popular products, and we’re very proud of it. For some ponies, cider season is the best time of the year, eh?” She smirked at Rainbow Dash who only shrugged it off and took another sip of her drink. “Do ya have cider on Earth?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t much of a fan of it back there,” he admitted and thought back a bit. “I was more into whisky, but my roommate while I was still in university absolutely loved cider. I had no idea where he got the money from to buy so much, but I’m not complaining. He gave me some for free from time to time.” He smiled at the thought as he took another sip, allowing the warmth to settle him.
“So ya had a good time there back then?” Applejack asked after a few moments. He was drifting off in his thoughts again, and her voice made his head perk up.
“Pretty much. It was so easy back then, when the thing that worried me the most was the score I got on a test. Sometimes it just seems like yesterday, but it has been over two years since I’ve been home. And now I-I…” He started to stutter, and then his voice dropped off. It’s okay. You got this, he said to himself and tried to focus again. “It’s just a bit of homesickness I guess,” he dismissed their worried looks, hiding his own worries behind a quick laugh.
“I can promise you that the princess and I are doing everything we can to help you get home again,” Twilight joined in their conversation.
“I have no doubts about that,” he replied honestly, and a genuine smile appeared on his lips this time. “I just always felt so ready to go on this journey, but now… I don’t know. It appears that planning one’s life can only work up to a certain point.” He sighed. “Great, now I almost sound like my mother,” he admitted and laughed. “Always telling me that I was spending too much time thinking about the future instead of living in the present.”
“I can tell you that you’ve got nothing much to worry about when you’re living here,” Rainbow said and gulped down the rest of her drink in one go.
“Sounds like a welcome change to me,” he agreed and took another large sip of cider.
“Still not done, eh?” Rainbow asked as she peeked into his mug. “Thought you could hold your drink better with your size.”
“Haste makes waste. Also, I haven’t drank alcohol for a long time. These crazy party nights at uni were way too long ago,” he told her but still took another sip of his drink.
“Got a good story ‘bout that? How do you humans party anyway?” she asked curiously.
“Well, there might be a story or two. I wasn’t that big of a fan of parties as I told you, but even I couldn’t say no forever,” he admitted.
“Go on, tell!” she demanded. “I bet you were completely wasted.” She grinned.
“Not really, I wasn’t drinking that much. Mostly.” He added the last word quietly but she still picked it up.
“Mostly?” she repeated, her grin growing wider.
“Well…” he began but stopped again.
“Come on, tell me,” she demanded.
“N-No, it’s just…” he tried to fend her off but she remained persistent. “Ugh, fine,” he eventually agreed and sat down on the floor to be more comfortable, and so he could look the ponies in their eyes. “It was… I think at the end of my second year. My roommate, Victor, this crazy Danish guy who loved cider so much, was dragging me to some party in the student dorm. Exams were over, and I was running out of excuses at that point, so I eventually had to agree.” Rainbow nodded quickly. “So before we actually went to the party, we were doing some drinking in our room. I can’t even remember how, but he managed to make me drink an entire bottle of Malibu on my own.” The thought of that drink made him shiver. Seeing the ponies’ confused faces, he explained, “That’s a type of rum with a coconut flavour. Tastes pretty good with cherry or passion fruit.
“But anyways, there we were, drinking a bit, chatting about… I don’t even know anymore, but he somehow made me drink glass after glass until I emptied the entire bottle by myself. I was so pissed, I felt like falling asleep right there, but of course he made me go this party instead. I don’t think I resisted much, all I know is that we were going out of the door and then nothing!” He stopped for a moment in his speech and emptied his drink, looking down at the now empty mug, somewhat saddened.
“The next thing I remember was waking up in my bed. I had completely forgotten what happened the night before, so of course the first thing I did was sleep for a couple more hours. My head felt like someone had beaten it with a hammer over and over again. My rest was short as Victor bumped into my room, wildly laughing. In that moment, I knew I should have never agreed to his plan. I was still not in the best position to do anything, so he just went on telling me everything that had happened the previous night.” He stopped again for a bit.
“So what happened?” Rainbow asked eagerly.
An awkward chuckle left his mouth as he looked down to the ground. “It turned out that the party we were going to had a karaoke set. Do you know what that is?” he quickly asked around to which the ponies nodded. “Good, I think you can figure out the result of a combination of a microphone and a guy with no singing talent and way too much alcohol.” From the grins of the ponies, he suspected they could. “And now praise the wonders of technology as I got recorded during all that.” His cheeks turned almost as red as on the day when he had listened to one of the recordings for the first time.
“At least that resulted in a few positive things too. Firstly, I got complimented a lot on my very dramatic interpretation of My Heart Will Go On, and I could use it as an excuse against Victor for not having to go to parties I don’t like,” he added and chuckled. “Also, I ended up hiding in my room for most parts of my holidays after that evening. I finished some papers I had to write for my next semester so early that I could actually do something besides studying during the semester.”
“Just some drunken singing? That’s not too bad,” Rainbow said and laughed. “You’d have to prove it if you were really singing so poorly.”
“You really wouldn’t want that. I swore to never get that drunk again.”
“Oh look, you’ve got nothing to drink,” she said with a sly grin on her face and grabbed the mug out of his hand. “I’ll get you another one.”
“But, I—” he began, but she was already gone.
“Don’t ya worry none, partner; we’re not gonna let ya sing if ya don’t wanna.” Applejack snickered and slapped him on his back.
He looked at Rainbow Dash for a short while before turning to Applejack and nodded. “At least you don’t have video cameras, so I’ve got that going for me if I ever get too drunk.” He chuckled.
“Actually we do,” Twilight threw in. At his shocked expression, she quickly added, “But they are so bulky and expensive that we don’t actually have one here with us.”
“Don’t have what here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she joined their conversation while handing Steve back his mug, this time filled with cider.
“Nothing.” Steve cut off that topic before it headed down a dangerous route and took a small sip of his drink.
“If you say so.” She shrugged and took a sip of her cider too. “So, got any more stories to tell?” She shot him the same sly grin from before.
“I think that one should be enough for now,” he denied her request, much to her dismay.
“Aww, come on. Don’t be so boring. It doesn’t have to about drinking, just anything,” she pressured him, only stopping to drink some cider. “You never talk about yourself. Lighten up; it’s a party.”
“I guess so.” He sighed. “But I don’t know what to talk about. I could talk about my home, sure, but it would all be just empty names to you, places you would never see or hear of again.” He stopped to take a quick sip of his drink. “I’m sorry, I just don’t want to think about it too much at the moment.”
While Steve switched his attention to his cider for the moment, the three ponies exchanged some worried looks. “Sorry for pressuring you into telling these stories,” Rainbow said and stepped over to him and softly patted his back.
“I’m sorry as well,” Twilight joined in. “I didn’t know you didn’t want to talk about it, and I kept on asking you about your world.” She shot him an apologetic look and scratched the floor with her right foreleg.
“It’s okay. I have no problems with talking about Earth in general, but I would prefer to keep my personal life to myself for now. There are just too many memories,” he told them and forced a smile on his face. “Now stop worrying about that,” he ordered. “I spent way too much time the last couple of days thinking about my sorry ass already; there’s no need for that now!” He downed a good part of his drink.
“That’s good, but ya might wanna go easy on ya drink, partner. It’s stronger than ya might think,” Applejack said, relieved and a bit concerned at the same time.
“I think I-I… I can handle it,” he assured her and tried to alter her doubtful look with a smile. “Like you said, it’s a party and all just in good fun, right?” he turned to Rainbow Dash who still sat next to him.
“Yeah, right,” she agreed and clinked her mug against his. “Come on, you two,” she ordered her two friends who had joined in with their drinks shortly after. “Really, Twilight? You haven’t drank anything so far?” Rainbow said, doubtful as she looked into Twilight’s mug.
“I have!” she retorted quickly. “I told you I’m just having this one drink.”
“Yeah, but the cider is going to waste if you wait too long,” Rainbow persisted.
“I’m pretty sure that is not how it wor—”
“Whatever,” Rainbow scoffed, waving a lazy wing in the unicorn’s direction. “If you don’t wanna have some fun with us…”
“I also don’t see the benefits I would gain from drinking this. Why would I want to intoxicate myself and lower my cognitive abilities?” she wondered and raised a brow. “I mean, it does not taste bad, but I just can’t see a long term benefit from it, and I certainly don’t need it to have fun.”
“But it helps you loosen up a bit,” Rainbow returned and slapped Steve on his back again, causing him to almost spit out the cider he was just drinking. “See how well it works?”
“I don’t think I would need that,” Twilight replied and shook her head.
“Well, how about a little deal then?” Steve asked after putting down his mug of cider. Twilight shot him a questioning look. “If you drink, I’ll agree to those tests you wanted to do. You know, about me and magic.”
“Really?” Twilight asked surprised and he nodded. “Oh, that would be perfect. I guess then I ca… wait! Are you sure about that? You seem a bit drunk, and I don’t want to use that to my advantage.” She eyed him carefully.
“Like I would get drunk from one cider,” he laughed, and Rainbow joined in.
“This is your second one,” Twilight pointed out bluntly.
“Exactly!” he agreed cheerfully. “So, do we have a deal?” he asked again and reached out his hand.
Twilight looked a few times between him and her mug before eventually shaking his hand. “Fine,” she agreed. “But don’t you think you can convince me to do this again so easily.” With that, the unicorn set the mug to her lips and took a large gulp. She stumbled backwards a little, but Applejack reacted quickly and held her before she could fall over. “Wow, this really tastes much better than I thought.”
"Ha! I knew you would like it!” Rainbow cheered and raised her mug to Twilight.
“Rainbow, dear. What is it that is making you talk so loud?” Rarity inquired, walking over to them from the side and giving Rainbow a sceptical look. “Some of us would prefer a sound level where you can actually hold a conversation.”
“Rares, look! Twilight is actually drinking!” Rainbow pointed out, ignoring her friend’s complaint.
“Don’t be silly now, Twilight never drinks. It interferes with your magic too much as you always put it, right, darling?” Rarity asked and looked over to Twilight. “Oh my,” she said, surprised as she saw that actually a good amount of Twilight’s drink was missing. “And how did you manage to achieve this if I may ask?” she turned back to Rainbow.
“Steve did it. He told her if she drank and had some fun, he would let her do some tests in return, right?” she laughed and slapped him on the back again. He nodded with a sly grin.
“I see. This does seem like a cheap way to trick a lady into drinking,” Rarity harrumphed and gave them a reproving look. “But I have to say that I have never seen Twilight drunk, so I would be willing to let that slip past,” she replied, her face softened again and a grin appeared on her lips.
“Hey!” Twilight called out. “Stop talking ‘bout me like imma not even here,” she complained loudly but seemed to have some trouble figuring out who to talk to, as she was looking neither at Rainbow nor Rarity, but inbetween them. Shrugging, she proceeded to take another large sip from her drink. “I can h-h-hicks…” She was interrupted by a small hiccup but acted like it didn’t happen. “Hear you,” she murmured her sentence, causing Rainbow Dash to burst out into laughter. She was joined by Steve and the other ponies who still managed not to sound as boisterous as Rainbow.
“Oh Twily,” Pinkie chirped into her ear. During Twilight’s muttering, she and Fluttershy had joined them as well. Fluttershy was balancing her mug of cider on her wings while Pinkie’s was balanced atop her head. The former gave Twilight a worried look first and then gave her other friends a quick deprecating stare. “You sound so funny when you’re drunk,” the pink mare squealed, oblivious to the look Fluttershy was giving.
“I’m n-not dru… drunk,” the unicorn mare stammered. “I just… urgh!” she groaned loudly. “Hold on, I just have to concentrate real quick.” Twilight laid down on the floor and closed her eyes, her mouth silently forming some words.
The other ponies looked at her confusedly until her horn began to glow. “Twilight, I don’t think it’s a good idea to use magic now,” Rarity quickly said in an attempt to stop her friend.
“Is it dangerous?” Steve asked, worried.
“Usually not. Most unicorns will just shoot some sparks from their horns if they try to cast a spell while they are drunk as they can’t concentrate well enough,” she explained to him. “But Twilight isn’t like most unicorns, and she has never been drunk before. I have no idea what is going to happen,” she added, clearly concerned, before looking down at the purple unicorn, still lying on the ground.
“Can’t we stop her?” Steve wondered.
Rarity quickly shook her head. “Only with words. If we break what little concentration she has now, the spell could backfire even more. We just have to…” A flash of light interrupted her. “… wait,” she finished her sentence.
Twilight seemed to have completed the spell and stood up from the floor again, her eyes still closed.
“Twilight, are you alright?” Fluttershy whispered through the silence that had followed.
The unicorn rapidly shook her head a few times and then opened her eyes again. “Yes,” she replied in a clear voice. “Now I am.”
“What happened?” Steve asked, confused. The other ponies nodded encouragingly, obviously not knowing what had happened either.
“Just a simple mental rejuvenation spell,” Twilight replied. She saw the looks on her friends’ faces and explained, “It clears your mind so that you can think again. Princess Celestia taught it to me a long time ago. Back when I was still studying in Canterlot, I needed it to pull off all these all-nighters in a row and still be able to learn something. I thought that if it would work when I’m tired then it would work if I’m drunk as well.”
“So you can just skip over hangovers and tiredness?” Steve asked in surprise. That would be amazing. If she can do that to me I don’t even regret offering myself for the tests.
“Only to a degree,” she replied and shook her head. “It only postpones the effect. I have to go to sleep at some point, and then it’s going to be a long sleep. I don’t know how it will work with alcohol, but I guess can have a clear head for the rest of the night and maybe sleep it out tomorrow.” She raised her mug that had fallen to the ground in the meantime, now completely empty. “Looks like I have held my promise. One mug of cider, check!”
“Hey, that’s cheating!” Rainbow said loudly and pointed at her.
“I drank it; you never said I would have to be drunk,” Twilight countered and grinned. “At least not now,” she added quietly.
“Pfff, so ya don’t want to play fair. Fine by me,” Rainbow replied and emptied her mug of cider again. “There is still one more we have never seen drunk before.” She grinned at Steve.
“What? No!” he quickly denied and raised both his arms defensively. “I told you I wouldn’t let myself get that drunk again.”
“And what if I drink with you? Just until one of us has enough?” she offered and grinned slyly.
“A drinking competition?” he wondered and she quickly nodded. “I don’t know… those usually don’t end well.”
“Come on, I’ll even go easy on you. The others will watch out for you. Fluttershy, you would stop him if he would get too drunk right?” she said to her friend who flinched at the sudden mention of her name.
“S-Sure…” she stammered out from behind her mane. Seeing the focus of her friends was on her, she quickly turned to her cider, taking a large gulp before coughing delicately, her cheeks beginning to look slightly reddened.
“See?” Rainbow asked again. “It’s completely fine.”
Fluttershy’s behaviour was not very convincing, but when he looked around the group of ponies, they gave him an encouraging nod. Well, as long as we have one reasonable person or pony left here, he thought as he looked at Twilight. They would surely stop this before it gets out of hand, and I could get back at her for my failure earlier. “Okay then,” he agreed.
“Awesome. AJ, you’re the judge,” Rainbow ordered her friend and dragged them both over to the barrel. “Rules are simple. The first one who can’t empty their drink loses.”
“Or it’s a tie when you both have had enough but can’t see it, right?” Twilight raised her voice and gave Rainbow a long look.
“Sure, sure,” Rainbow replied absently while AJ was filling their mugs. “Any last questions?” she turned towards Steve who shook his head. “Great. Then may the best pony win!” she cheered as she grabbed her mug and held it to her lips, waiting for him to do the same.
Oh God, what have I gotten myself into? he asked himself after taking his filled mug from Applejack, also holding it to his lips. “For Earth!” he declared determinedly, throwing his head back and allowing the sweet golden liquid to run down his throat. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Rainbow Dash doing the same.
He gulped quickly, not only because of the cider but also because he saw that Rainbow Dash had no problems in keeping up with him so far as they both put their mugs down at the same time.
“Well? Feeling something already?” she asked cockily and grinned towards him while waiting for Applejack to refill their mugs.
“Should I?” he shot back in return and raised a brow. I’m not going to be beaten by a pony. Wings or no wings, magical or not, he thought as he took back his mug and downed it again in one go. This time he struggled a bit more than before, and he had to force himself to swallow down the last bits of the chilled drink. Such a shame for such a good drink, he thought, a bit disappointed as he took the empty mug away from his lips again and looked at the last few drops that were still inside.
“Not bad,” Rainbow commented from his side. He looked over at her and saw with fear that he had gained no advantage. “For a beginner,” she added with a sly grin as she took back her refilled mug.
“Ya’ll might wanna go easy this time,” Applejack advised from the side, a faint hint of disapproval on her face. “Or this thing will be over before the next five minutes is gone.”
“Aww, don’t be a poor sport now, AJ.” Rainbow Dash snorted, flapping her wings energetically a few times. “Everyone goes at the speed they like, eh?” she nodded to Steve, who did not respond.
“No,” Twilight interjected firmly and gave the brash pegasus a stern look. “We promised to not let this get out of hoof, so I can’t allow you to drink too irresponsibly.”
“Ugh, fine. I’m sure you’ll probably put the Party Pooper award you’ll get one of these days on one of your bookshelves,” Rainbow agreed, glaring at the unicorn before huffing in annoyance. “Have it your way then,” she grumbled.
Today really is my lucky day, Steve thought, relieved at Twilight’s responsible attitude, agreeing with her wholeheartedly. “If it has to be that be that way, sure.” He shrugged and took his refilled mug from the orange earth pony.
Carefully, he let a large amount of the drink run down his throat, feeling the searing effect it had on his throat as it went down. I really hope she’ll give up soon. This stuff is really strong, he thought as he felt the effects of the alcohol kicking in. His vision began to blur slightly as he felt his face heating up, feeling the sweat already beginning to bead. A quick glance over to Rainbow Dash was not promising. So far, he couldn’t see any real effect of the alcohol on her, but that could also have been due to his less than perfect sight. What he could see was that she had raised her mug again, ready to take the next sip, and so he followed suit. Steve knew that he had reached the point where he would usually have called it quits. He would have stopped, but defeat was not an option that his stubborn mind would have allowed him at that moment.
Drop for drop, the cider disappeared into their throats, only to be refilled as soon as they finished. Steve had no idea how long this had been going on for now; his feeling for time had been completely destroyed, but it couldn’t have been that many rounds. The more he drank, the longer the next round seemed to drag on as his speed decreased. The only positive thing was that Rainbow was now struggling just like him. Their mugs were being refilled at the same time, so she couldn’t be far ahead of him. This was the only thing he really noticed from here on. The surrounding ponies were completely blocked out. From time to time, he thought he heard them cheering or maybe just calling their names, but he couldn’t tell for sure, even less if they were cheering for him or Rainbow.
After what seemed like an eternity after they both started and finished just another round, Twilight raised her voice, causing the two drinkers to look at her while they were waiting for their mugs to be refilled. Or maybe her general direction, he wasn’t quite sure anymore. All he knew was that all four Twilights were glaring at them and shaking their heads disapprovingly. “Alright! This has to come to an end now. Your alcohol level will reach a critical point soon, and in good conscience, I can’t let you go on with this.” She stamped a hoof on the floor, causing him to shake slightly.
“Tw… Twisl…” A hiccup interrupted Rainbow’s attempt at conversation. Just like him, she had preferred to stay silent a while ago, and he could see that they both were better off not talking. “Twi,” she stammered out, deciding that any other name would be too long right now. “Don’t ya s-shee that he… he… he’sh gonna loosh.” Uncontrollable laughter erupted from her throat as she pounded a hoof against her chest in a pre-emptive celebration, her wings buzzing sporadically at her sides.
“Now lishen here, you little horshie!” Steve said as clearly as he could and pointed at Rainbow with a raised finger. He then had to struggle to keep it upright as gravity wanted to pull the digit down.
“We are not horses!” Twilight angrily retorted, glaring at the inebriated human.
“Shush!” he ordered her and turned back where he suspected Rainbow Dash to be. “I haven’t travelled… uh… one, two…” He started counting with his fingers and remained silent for few seconds. “Dozens! Dozens of light yearsh and entered a para… parallel universh to lose in a drinking game!” he shouted out and grabbed his mug that had been refilled while Twilight told them to stop. Fortune seemed to smile on him as Twilight switched her glare to Applejack, the farm pony smiling sheepishly and quickly avoiding her gaze. “Down the hatch! Lash man shtanding wins!”
“It ish on!” Rainbow replied as determinedly as a drunk pony could sound, grabbing her mug in her shaking hooves.
With his common sense screaming doubts about the effectiveness of his plan, he decided to remove them by drowning it with the wave of sweet cider that ran down his throat. In his state he wasn’t even able to struggle with downing it in one go anymore, let alone care about the drops that went awry and soaked his skin and parts of his clothes wet with alcohol. All he cared about now was winning, even only if it was just to prove the point that he could show her he was better than her in this one thing.
He belched loudly as he set down his mug, ignoring the complaint about his rude manners that Rarity threw at him as he stared at Rainbow Dash. “Feeling it? The dizziness, the blurred view, the heat that’s rishing in your body?” He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, while trying to make Rainbow realize how drunk she was, hoping that if she would concentrate on it, it would make her fall over first.
“Stop it,” she snarled back and shook her head quickly, swaying slightly.
He grinned. Now was the time. “Can’t you feel the world shpinning around you? Like you’re sitting in a car… caruas… roundabout. Going around and around and around.” His plan was working. He could see her starting to stagger. Unfortunately, his plan was working too well as his view began to spin around as well. He wanted to reach out for a table to stabilize himself but quickly called that off. No! She’s just gonna think I cheated!
It was just a question of time now. Which one of them would go down first? With all his remaining concentration, he focused on his breathing. A slow steady flow of oxygen in and out of his lungs. Just something that would distract him from the terrible dizziness that he felt and his urge to just lie down and sleep. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. If he weren’t so drunk already he would have noticed the distinct smell of alcohol in the air. He briefly wonder just how much cider Applejack’s barrel could hold. Just a bit longer… he thought to himself, trying to stay focused.
Finally the sound he was waiting for came. A thud broke through the silence that had built up, followed by Applejack’s voice declaring, “And we got a winner!” He opened his eyes again to see the rainbow-maned mare lying on the ground in front of him. A satisfied grin appeared on his face. He reached for a table next to him and carefully stood up, looking down at his defeated opponent. She looked like she was asleep already: her eyes were closed, her chest rose and fell steadily, and her mouth opened and closed slightly. If he would have listened close enough he would have even heard her snoring as some drool escaped the confines of her mouth. If he had turned his attention to the crowd, he would have noticed Rarity wrinkling her nose in disgust and turning the slightest shade of green.
Now to declare my victory, he thought with a sudden breeze of clarity that had followed his win. Carefully, he began to climb on shaky legs up onto the table where he was still stabilizing himself, ignoring the warning shouts of the other ponies that quickly rose as they saw what he was up to. Unable to make out any clear words of their shouting, he just climbed further up until he was completely standing in the middle of the table.
“Now then!” he said loudly and raised his arms, looking towards the heavens which closely resembled the roof. “Mankind has once again emerged victorious over nature!” he shouted out, grinned dopily, formed a fist with his hand, and raised it even higher in the air. “It was an honor,” he added with a grin and bowed before the ponies, an act that proved to be a great mistake. His unstable balance before the bow was now completely thrown over, and he quickly waving his arms around to avoid falling over. The only thing he achieved by this, however, was to cause the table underneath him to shake as well as he tipped over the edge. The last thing he saw was the rapidly approaching floor before unconsciousness enveloped him.