//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Purple Haze // by TheGentlemanCreeper //------------------------------// One night will remind you How we touched And went our separate ways I still love you girl I really love you girl And if he ever hurts you True love won't desert you “That was Separate Ways, Worlds Apart by Journey and if you’re just joining us, you’re listening to ninety six nine, your source for all your favorite tunes. This is DJ S-” Reaching a hoof out, you fumble with the radio alarm clock until you finally find the ‘off’ button. You groan aloud as you roll out of bed and onto your hooves, only to stumble as soon as you touch down on solid ground. “Still feels like I came out of surgery…” you mumble aloud. The fact that you still felt horrible bothered you. It was already a few days after the festival and whatever Tokey slipped you still had its grip on you. At least I’m not tripping balls… you think with a shrug. But your current state didn’t’ bother you as much as the fact that Twilight could be feeling the same way. Stopping midstride, you sigh aloud before running a hoof down your face. “Great. Here we go again…” Already, you could feel the hole in your heart growing just a little bit larger at the thought of what you had and lost that night at the festival, besides your memory. “She was amazing, talented, smart, funny, cute, and… and I miss her…” you say glumly “Why didn’t I ask where she lived, or at least her number?!?” Walking into the kitchen, you slump in the chair and grab a hoof full of stale kettle chips. The day was already going bad and your impromptu breakfast wasn’t making things better, so you decide to make the best of it and make your way back to your bedroom. I think it’s time for a wake and bake… you think with a half smile. Opening your nightstand drawer, you fish around for your rolling paper, only to come up with three empty zig-zag containers. You curse under your breath at your luck. “Damn it… Oh well, I’ll just grab one of my-” Stopping midstride, you groan aloud and slap your forehead for being so absentminded. “Great! I’m out of paper and I forgot I decided to wash my pipes last night…” Turning to the kitchen sink, all you can do is frown at the sight: all of your bongs, hookahs, pipes, and other glassware soaking in a bright green brine. Grabbing one of the bongs out of the sink, you empty the cleaner out of it, only to retch at the smell. Why the hell did I wash all of them? You think as you set the pipe back into the sink before pulling the plug. Putting all things aside, you wonder aloud just what to do given the situation. “The glass is going to take at least an hour to air dry, maybe more…. And I could really use a hit…” you reason. With a final shrug, you make your way to the door. “Looks like I’m going to Parchment and Things.” * * * * * * * * * You had hoped the walk to the paper store would help clear your mind, but it did little to help the million questions in your head and the ache in your heart. If anything, it made it worse. Everything, from the book store to the mares passing you by reminded you of Twilight and made you wonder how she was doing or where she was. I don’t think I’ll ever get over her… you think with a heavy sigh as you walk into Parchment and Things. The bell above the door rings aloud, getting the attention of the grey stallion behind the counter who was ringing up a customer. “Oh, hey Smokey!” he says happily as he tosses the bits into the cash register “I just got some new rolling papers in. They’re supposed to make the smoke taste like mint. Want me to grab them for you?” You give Tinder a half smile. “Sure, that’d be great.” “They’re in the back, gimmie a second.” You start to walk towards the counter when you stop dead in your tracks and meet eyes with the mare at the counter. With Twilight. You almost couldn’t believe it. In the wide world of Equestria, you had almost given up hope of ever seeing her again, and yet here she was, standing in front of you, looking just as shocked as you. After a few seconds of silence, you grin from ear to ear and break the silence. “Twi’!” you cry aloud “It’s really you!” Instead of saying anything back, Twilight continues to stand there with a look of utter shock on her face. “I mean, I never thought… It’s just great to see you again!” you say as you take a few steps forward. In response, Twilight takes a few steps back to maintain the distance between you and her. To top at all off, she was shaking so much, the parchment she was carrying on her back was beginning to fall off. “Twi’ baby?” you ask as you take another step forward “What’s wrong?” In all of a sudden, her face contorts into a look of pure hate. “YOU!” she yells aloud. Without any warning, her horn begins to glow brightly and you find yourself enveloped in a shimmering, purple aura that lifts you off of the ground. “What’s going on?!? What are you doing?!?” you cry out in panic. It didn’t matter if she didn’t hear or didn’t care; you were out the door and along for the ride, with Twilight hot on your heels. Tumbling through the air, you flail around for anything solid to grab onto, but it was all for not. The only indication that Twilight knew what she was doing was the occasional look of scorn you caught as you somersaulted through the air towards the center of town. After a few minutes of flying, you felt sick to your stomach and wondered what you did to deserve this fate. The only thing you could hope for was answers once this ride was over. Which was coming very soon. Flying towards the closed door of the Ponyville library, you stick your hooves out and frantically cry out in desperation. “Door, door, DOOR!” Instead of stopping, you barrel through the solid oak doors and feel the magic supporting you let go, dropping you onto the library floor in a heap of curses and bruised ribs. A few seconds after you hit the ground, you hear Twilight gallop in behind you. “Twi’, what’s going on?” you ask as you shakily get to your hooves. “Shut up!” she cries aloud. Her horn glows for a second time and you half expect to go for another ride, but instead, all the doors and windows slam shut and all the curtains are closed. Her horn grows a bit brighter as she grits her teeth and you watch as a purple sphere extends out and passes through, you her, and most of the library before disappearing. “Wha-” was about as far as you got before Twilight runs up and glares at you, eye to eye. “The library is soundproofed now, so you listen here, buster! You’re lucky I’m the merciful type or I would have turned you into the police then and there. So this is what you’re gonna do:” she says as she stamps her hoof down “You’re gonna tell me just why you did what you did, sincerely apologize, and I might just drop some of the charges!” You blink a few times in confusion. “A…Apologize? Apologize for what?!? I didn’t do anything!” “Don’t give me that!” Twilight screams “How could you?!? I knew there were bad ponies in the world, but not that bad!” “What are you talking about?!?” Twilight glares daggers at you as she steps forward. “That. Night. After we danced you drugged me with… with something. Then you took me to your hotel room and then you-” “You don’t understand!” you cry out in desperation “Tokey dosed us both! I grabbed a hold of him while you were screaming about snakes and he straight up admitted to drugging us, saying it’d help us ‘loosen up’ or something.” Twilight’s eyes begin to grow wide as you explain. “Wait, you mean you were drugged too?” she asks sounding half skeptical. “Yeah and it sucks. My head feels like it’s full of concrete and I’m still missing parts from that night. Last thing I remember was taking you into the hotel room so we could ride out the effects until we sobered up.” “I… I can’t remember as well… I thought you had dosed me with something like rohypnol or GHB. But I...I don’t know if I can believe you,” she says as her eyes narrow “How do I know you’re not trying to cover your butt?” “What do you want from me, Twi’?! Want me to take a lie detector test?” Twilight opens her mouth to retort, but instead closes it and grins smugly. “Actually… Yes. I do want you to take a polygraph.” * * * * * * * * * Surrounded by all the beakers, test tubes, electrical, and mechanical equipment, all you could do was stand there with your jaw slack. “Whoa… This is… So cool.” Twilight cocks her head slightly at your musings. “Cool? First time anypony has called my lab ‘cool’…” “So, you’ve got a polygraph down here?” you ask as you jingle the test tubes in their rack. “Yes. Well, sort of,” she says as she leads you to large, green paneled machine. “It was originally meant to read brain wave activity, but I can modify it to act as a makeshift polygraph.” “That is so awesome!” you gush “Wow, this feels like something out of a sci-fi book…” Twilight blushes for a second before shaking her head violently. “Yes, well, please. Stand over there until I finish and don’t touch anything.” “You remind me of my old science teacher,” you say with a tease. “Oh? Is that a bad thing?” she asks curtly. “No, she was great. And cute, too.” Out of the corner of your eye you see her blush slightly before shaking it away and readopting her stern expression. “Just don’t touch anything.” She says before ducking her head into the machine. Sitting down on your haunches, you look around the lab, marveling at all the machinery. After a few minutes, you clear your throat and try your best at small talk. “Big place you have here…” you say idly. Twilight’s tail flicks back and forth as she continues to mess with the machine. “Mhm.” “How did you pay for all of this?” “Grants.” She replies plainly. Sighing heavily, you finally bring yourself to ask the big question. “Twi’… Why are you mad at me? What did I do?” The moment you ask this question, Twilight jerks violently and bangs her head on something inside the machine. “OW! OW! OW!” she yells aloud. “Are you alright?” you ask worriedly as you get to your hooves. “Yeah… Yeah… I’m-I’m fine…” she says before hissing through her teeth. “Oooh… That’s gonna leave a mark…” she mumbles. “Oh. Okay…” “You… You really don’t know?” she asks timidly. “No…” you say grimly “What did I do? D-Did I hurt you or-” “No! No… At least, I don’t think so… I… I think you…” Twilight goes very quiet. “Twi’?” you ask as you take a tentative step forward. “I… I had thought you… Well… Had yo-your way with me.” You cock your head to the side in bewilderment “Had your wa-” Your breath catches in your throat as you piece together what she meant. “No, no, no! No!” you yell “No! I couldn’t! I would never!” “Well something happened that night!” Twilight cries as she pulls her head out of the machine “I’m-” She lowers her voice as her eyes meet yours. “…I’m…not a virgin anymore…” You felt your stomach sink into your hooves. Twilight’s reaction made a little more sense now. “I’m… I’m sorry.” You say above a whisper. Twilight turns away and sticks her head back into the machine and returns to work, leaving you to stew with your own thoughts. After a while of awkward silence, you speak up again. “If it’s any consolation, I’m not either.” “Not what?” Twilight asks idly. “Not a virgin anymore.” Once again, a loud bang rings out of the machine, followed by a string of curses coming from Twilight. “SON OF A-AHHH! I cut my head open this time!” she yells angrily. Looking around the lab, you spot a white box with a red cross on it and go for it. “Hold on, I’ll grab the first-aid kit!” Ripping the box off the wall, you run towards the doubled over mare who was holding her bloody head in her hooves. Opening the first-aid kit, you find a small gauze pad and gingerly place it on Twilight’s forehead, next to her horn. “Hold still, it’s not as bad as it looks.” “Am I going to need stitches?” she asks as you pull out a roll of tape. “No, it’s just a small cut. You’ll be fine.” Setting to work, you do your best to affix the bandage so it won’t slip off, but it wouldn’t be too tight. “Were you telling the truth?” Twilight asks as you affix the last of the tape. “About not being a virgin?” She nods meekly. “Well, yeah. Why does that surprise you?” “I don’t know,” Twilight says with a shrug “You came off as a pretty suave guy. I thought you got that way from…experience…” “Me? Suave? Experienced?” you ask with a bashful laugh “No, no… The girls I was with tried to start something, but I stopped them.” “Why? “Well, I wanted my first time to be special, you know? I wanted it to mean something, not-” Looking to Twilight, you feel your heart sink as she looks at you with an almost hurt expression on her face. It was now just dawning on you were preaching to the choir. Turning away, you could feel your eyes begin to tear up. “Let’s get this test over with, Twi’” you say with a sniffle as you get to your hooves “If it means anything, I’m sorry for whatever-” In one smooth motion, Twilight grabs onto your shoulders and brings you back to the ground. She stares in the eyes intently. Finally, after a few minutes, she sighs heavily. “I believe you.” She finally says “About everything. I panicked when I woke up. I figured I slept with some random guy without remembering and I was so ashamed of myself and didn’t want to face you, so I cleaned myself up and left. But on the way home, I started to get angry.” She says bitterly “At me, at my recklessness, and at you. That’s when I started to focus on you. I started to picture you as this con-artist who picked up mares, showed them the time of their lives, and threw them away without so much a care in the world.” She says as she throws her hooves up in disgust “But then I got down here with you and you threw my misconceptions right out the window.” “What changed your mind?” “No one like that would be so clueless, or caring, or-” “A virgin?” you ask with a snicker. “Well, yeah. That too.” She says with a giggle “Listen, I’m s-” “Twilight, no. You don’t have to apologize. I have to. You didn’t anything wrong. I should have known something was up when I saw Tokey was stoned.” “Yeah, but I made the situation all the more complicated.” She says as she shakes her head “If I had just stayed with you, we could have gotten this all sorted out.” “I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.” You and Twilight stare at each other for a few seconds before laughing aloud. “Oh wow, déjà vu…” you say with a chuckle. “Yeah…” Twilight says with a sigh “So… Where do we go from here?” Thinking it over for a second, you realize there was still one matter left that needed to be attended to. “I think we have to go to the doctor…” you say glumly. “Why?” Twilight asks as she pokes her bandage “I thought you said I didn’t need stitches.” You do your best to guide her to the issue at hoof without being so blunt. “No Twi’, the bigger problem.” “You mean our memory and the effects of the drug on our system?” “No. I mean that too, but…” Sighing aloud, you run a hoof down your face with frustration. “Twi’, are you telling me you didn’t think about this? At all?” “About what?” Taking a deep breath you try to hint at the problem. “What do mares your age go through around this time?” “Well, the estrus cycle,” she says plainly “But I don’t see-” Twilight’s breath catches in her throat as she suddenly understands what you were getting at. “No, no, no!” she cries “This is bad! This is real bad! I can’t be pregnant!” She got it… “I’m not ready to be a mother yet! I have trouble taking care of myself! I forget to eat sometimes, how am I supposed to take care of a baby?!?” she screams. “Twilight! Calm down!” “What about the scandal?!? I’m not even married! How am I going to tell my parent’s I’m knocked u-” Grabbing a hold of the panicking mare, you shake her firmly. “TWILIGHT! CALM. DOWN.” By this point, she was hyperventilating and borderline in tears. “But but but but-” “Listen. You may feel in over your head, but you’re not alone. I’m in this mess with you, for better or for worse. I’m not going to leave you, I promise. I’m pretty confident that you’re not pregnant, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. ” Taking a deep breath, Twilight does the best to calm herself. “But what if I do have a baby? I don’t know the first thing about child care!” Taking her hoof in yours, you look her square in the eyes. “If it comes to that, you’ll learn, and then you’ll teach me. I told I’m not going to leave you. I’m here for you because I… I love you.” Leaning in slowly, you give her a quick kiss on the cheek before smiling at her. “T-Thanks,” Twilight says with a bashful smile “I needed that.” “Anytime.” “So, should we go?” Twilight asks as she helps you up. “Yeah. Let’s.” * * * * * * * * * “The doctor will see you now,” Nurse Redheart says as she opens the door for you. Twilight gives the nurse a little nod. “Thanks.” You say before shutting the door behind you. The white stallion smiles as he sees Twilight walk in and extends a hoof. “Ms. Sparkle, great to see you again! Oh! That’s right. Dash wanted me to pass on a message if I saw you…” he said as he levitated a notebook up in front of him “Ah, here we are! Applejack is coming home from vacation in a few days and Pinkie is helping Granny Smith get a welcome home dinner planned. You’ll be attending, right?” he asked as he looked away from the book. Twilight nods happily. “Of course, that’d be great.” She says as she takes a seat. The doctor eyes Twilight’s bandage curiously as she sits down. “How’d you get that?” “Oh, you know, just clumsy me.” She says as she waves it off. “Ah... Well, what brings you by? Come to keep me company?” he asks with a chuckle. “This isn’t a social visit. We kinda need your help.” “Oh?” he asks curiously “What seems to be the problem?” Sitting next to Twilight, you watch her squirm bashfully under the doctor’s scrutiny. “Umm… It’s kinda embarrassing, actually.” With a small chuckle, the doctor takes off his glasses and places them on the table. “Twilight dear, I saw everything under the sun when I was doing my residency. There is nothing you can say to me that will surprise me.” Even with his reassurance, she still looks away bashfully. “I… I don’t…” With a heavy sigh, you speak up. “We were both drugged with something at the Harvest Moon Festival by an ex-associate of mine. We have no idea what he gave us and to make matters worse, we kinda… did things while under the influence.” “And now I… I think I might be pregnant.” Twilight says with glowing blush. For almost a minute, the doctor stares at you with a blank expression on his face. “Well now,” he finally says “First time for everything… Well… Let’s start with the effects of this drug. What happened?” Twilight opens her mouth to say something, but you cut her off. “Really bad trip. Like, visual and auditory hallucinations. I think I saw my dead grandmother crawling up my leg with a knife in her teeth.” Just thinking of that hallucination made you visibly shudder. “And memory loss. It’s like there’s a wall between me and my memories of what transpired.” Twilight adds. The doctor nods as he scribbles something in a notepad. “Were you under the effects of anything else while subjected to this ‘mystery drug’?” Twilight looks to you for guidance, so once again, you step forward. “We had a little hard cider, screwdrivers, and clover.” Once again, the doctor gives you both a blank look. “Second time for everything, I guess. It’s possible that you had some bad clover. The growers in the area are known to use all sorts of growth chemicals and it’s possible-” “It wasn’t bad clover,” you say assertively “I should know, I grew it myself.” “You grew it?” the doctor asks with some level surprise “And you live here locally?” You simply nod. “Huh. Third time today…” he says under his breath. Reaching into his desk, the doctor pulls out a small white card with a telephone number on it. “Get a hold of me later; I think we might be able to work out a business deal, as long as it’s completely organic. I have a couple patients whose medicine is ruining their appetite and could use it.” “Really? Uh, okay.” You say as you tuck the card underneath the arm of your glasses. “Anyway, back to the matter before us… If it wasn’t the alcohol or clover, then everything you experienced was because of this unknown substance. Have you had any lingering side-effects?” “Lapses in concentration, really.” Twilight says plainly. “I’ve had this really bad headache for the last few days now, since the festival.” The doctor simply nods again. “Okay… Well, it isn’t sounding like something I’ve heard of before. The only way a hallucinogen could cause memory lapse was if it was in a high dosage. Speaking of which, how did you receive it?” “A drink we shared was spiked with it.” Twilight says. “Definitely nothing I’ve heard of…” The doctor says as he shakes his head “I’m going to run a drug screening for both of you, but I have a feeling it’s going to come up negative so I’ll order some blood work, just to be safe.” “What happens if the drug test comes back with nothing?” “Then we’ll have to rely on the blood test, but that will take longer. We don’t have the proper equipment here, so we have to send it to Manehattan for testing and that takes weeks.” The doctor explains as he pulls out a stack of papers. “And um… What about the other problem?” Twilight asks sheepishly. With a heavy sigh, the doctor looks to the both of you. “To be honest, there’s really not much I can do at this point. If they all turn up negative during the next week, you’re most likely in the clear.” “And what happens if one of the tests comes back positive?” “Then… We’re going to have to start talking about prenatal care.” Getting to your hooves, you reach across the table and grab the doctor’s hoof. “Thanks for everything, doc. You’re one of the better ones.” “Anytime.” “So, uh, do we have to pee in a cup today?” you ask with a chuckle “Or…” “I’ll schedule your work up for tomorrow, how does that sound?” he asks as he takes out another note book “Does three o’clock work for you? We can get the sample and I might have something with to help with that memory problem.” Looking to Twilight, you give her a shrug. “Yes, that will work” she says with a nod “I can have Spike watch the library while I step out.” “Speaking of, how is the little trouble maker?” The doc asks with a laugh. “Oh, just fine. He spent the night over at the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse for a sleepover.” “Well that’s good to hear. Tell the little rascal I said hi.” “I will,” she says as she gets out of the chair “If that’s everything, then I guess we’ll be on our way.” “Alright then, just stop by and see Nurse Redheart and ask for tests, she’ll know.” Walking out of the office with Twilight, you wait until you’re out of earshot to start talking. “So, uh… What now? Do I have to follow you home and help you take the test?" you ask with a tease "Or do I go home or…” Twilight looks at you quizzically. “Why would I need your help with a simple test?” “Uh… Twi’? You do know how a pregnancy test works, right?” “Of course. You just swab the inside of your mouth and-” “No, Twilight, you pee on a stick. Didn’t they teach this stuff in biology?” “Not the class I attended!” she says with growing blush “But… No, I don’t need your help right now. If you want, you can head home.” “Are you sure?” “Yeah, I’ll see you,” she says as steps a few inches closer. You watch as she blushes heavily before planting a quick kiss on your cheek before walking away. “Good night.” She says as she turns down the hall. “Good night…”