Twilight began to stir as the sun's rays managed to pierce through the curtains in her room. Moaning as she tried to rise and her head felt ten times heavier than usual.
The door to her room creaked, the sound drove home the nails in her head. She cracked open her eye to see a purple figure walking towards her with a tray.
She opened both her eyes and watched as Spike set the tray next to her. She eyed the red drink suspiciously and mumbled,
"What is that?"
Spike frowned at her and handed over the drink.
"It's a quick relief to hangovers. I wrote to Princess Cadence and asked her opinion on the quickest cure."
"Cadence? Why not Celestia?" Twilight asked as she sniffed the drink and scrunched up her muzzle. Spike raised an eyebrow at her and deadpanned.
"Did you want Celestia to know about this Twi?"
Twilight blushed and giggled, only to grimace at the pounding in her head. Spike lifted the glass towards her again.
"Drink. It will help."
She obliged him and felt the sting in her head ease. It didn't vanish completely, but the concoction did help dull the pain. She looked around her room and gasped.
The room was a complete mess and she tried to remember how that had happened. She turned to Spike as he started picking up thrown items and replacing them where they belonged.
"Um…Spike…what…what happened last night?" She asked, dreading the answer. Spike turned to look back at her and shrugged.
"I'm not completely sure. All I know is that I woke up when you stumbled into the room and began to knock stuff over as you tried to get into bed. I was going to ask you what happened last night after you guys left me here?"
She frowned and tried to remember as she finished the drink. She sighed and shook her head.
"All I remember is Rainbow and AJ challenging Discord to a drinking contest and the rest of us joining in. After that it's a blank."
Spike laughed and she glared at him.
"Sorry Twilight. It's just…imagining you willingly agreeing to such a contest." He continued to laugh and fell over holding his stomach.
Twilight rolled her eyes and muttered,
"It didn't help that I was already a bit tipsy."
She looked at her drink and chuckled, getting Spike's attention.
"I think you should make five…no six, more of these. Who knows how the others are feeling after last night. Do you know what happened to them?"
Spike took her tray and shook his head.
"Nope. I didn't hear anything from the others, just you when you came in here. I'll start making those drinks and go to each of their rooms-"
"Actually, why don't you call their rooms and we can have breakfast in the parlor? That way we can all see what we remember of last night."
Spike nodded and went to do what she suggested. Twilight continued to sip on the drink Spike had made for her and tried to remember what had happened the night before.
"Hopefully the others will have an easier time than me…" Then on an afterthought she grimaced,
"And hopefully we didn't do anything too crazy last night."
Rarity pulled the covers further over her head as the sound continued to assault her pounding head. She hoped that if she ignored the irritating sound long enough the thing would disappear.
She grumbled and winced as the pounding in her head increased.
"A lady should never partake in such horrid activities…and now I know why." She whined softly to herself as the ringing once more filled the room.
She sighed and wiggled out from under her covers and looked about for the source of the ringing. As she spotted the phone another unexpected surprise showed itself.
"Turn off the alarm mom…Saturday…there is no school…"
Rarity's pupils shrank to the size of pins as a foreleg was wrapped around her and a warm body snuggled closer to her back.
Her eye twitched once and then she opened her mouth and screamed.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack both woke up startled at the sound of the sudden scream. Rainbow was laying on the floor and Applejack had been half hanging off her bed.
Both jumped up at the sound and instantly regretted it. Not only were their heads pounding from the drinks they had consumed, but they both noticed several other sore points on their bodies.
Rainbow felt an unusual pain in her side and noticed a large bruise as well as a cut on her lower lip.
Applejack's back felt as if she had spent the whole day bucking the orchard by herself. It was wound so tight and the muscles screamed in agony. She also reached up and flinched as her hoof brushed her cheek.
The two mares met each other's eyes and frowned.
"What happened last night?" They asked at the same time.
The both jumped as they heard a ring fill the room. It was Applejack who went to answer.
"Hello? Oh Spike…I'm in her room…I don't know but…I'll explain later…Breakfast? Sounds heavenly right now, we'll be right over." She hung up the phone and turned to Rainbow who was wincing as she rubbed her side.
"Come on partner. Breakfast in Twilight's room. Maybe we can clear up some of the blanks between all of us."
Rainbow nodded and looked about the room and groaned.
"Probably best if we're not here when housekeeping shows up."
Applejack then took inventory of the overturned furniture and the mess the two of them had clearly made. She covered her face with her hat and muttered,
"Yeah, probably right 'bout that."
Twilight waited for her friends to show up. Thanks to Spike's drink, her headache had almost disappeared and he assured her that the food would help even more.
Spike had ordered room service and the bell pony had brought over a feast fit for any Canterlot party. Twilight drank some warm tea as she waited for the group to show up.
There was a quick knock on the door and then it opened to show Rarity, looking rather worse for wear and Pinkie. Both had stoic faces, which on Rarity didn't look that strange, but on Pinkie…
"Hi girls…um…is everything…"
The two walked to the other couch and sat next to each other. Neither moved for a while and neither chose to speak. Twilight stared at the two and wondered what was going on. She was about to ask when Spike called her over.
As she walked over to the dragon Rarity glanced at Pinkie and whispered,
"Let us never speak of this again…agreed?"
Pinkie blushed and made the Pinkie Promise motions.
"Agreed."
Twilight went up to Spike, who looked rather worried.
"What's wrong Spike?"
"I can't get through to either Discord or Fluttershy. Neither are picking up…Normally I wouldn't think too much of it, but…well with the way you're all-"
"So where's the grub? I could eat all of Sugar Cube Corner right now!"
The two turned as Rainbow and Applejack came through the door. Twilight gasped and momentarily forgot what Spike had been telling her.
"Oh sweet Celestia! What happened to you two?" She asked as she took in both her friends' bruised up bodies.
Applejack shrugged as she winced her way onto a couch.
"Not sure…we were hoping one of you could remember how this happened?"
Rainbow took a seat next to AJ, a plate of food already in her hooves. Spike sighed and left briefly to fetch the drinks he had made for the group.
Each mare took one of the glasses as he passed by with the tray, leaving just two of the drinks. This reminded Twilight of what she and Spike had been discussing.
"Did any of you pass by Fluttershy or Discord on your way here?"
The others shook their heads and Twilight frowned. She turned to Spike,
"Try their rooms one more time. If they don't respond we'll go over and check on them personally."
Spike nodded and left to make the calls as Twilight joined her friends.
None spoke at first, each taking the time to drink their cures first. Finally Rainbow broke the silence.
"So any ideas on what happened last night?"
They all looked at one another and hung their heads. Twilight sighed,
"So none of us remember what happened? Well, then maybe we can find clues based off of this morning. All I know from Spike is that I stumbled into my room and made a small mess before passing out in bed."
Applejack swallowed the last of her drink and glanced at Rainbow,
"If I had to fathom a guess about us…I'd say in our drunk stupor we got into some kind of fight. Since we're the only ones bruised up and were in the same room this mornin' it makes sense."
Rainbow nodded as she thought of it and grinned. She punched Applejack in the arm and then quickly apologized when AJ flinched in pain.
"Sorry…yeah if I had to guess that sounds right. It's not like that would be the first time one of our wrestling matches got out of hand." Rainbow winked at AJ who blushed to the surprise of the others. However AJ quickly diverted the conversation before the others could ask.
"What about you Rarity, Pinkie? Did either of you notice something strange when you woke up?"
Rarity's white coat turned a charming shade of red as she choked on her drink. She quickly shook her head and stammered,
"N-no! I mean…O-other than a sl-slight mess…w-what about you P-Pinkie?"
Pinkie looked at Rarity and her ears fell back and her pretty pink coat turned a bright shade of red. She glanced at Rarity and the two quickly looked away, now both were bright red.
When the two continued to fidget in awkward silence, the others began to wonder at their expressions. However it didn't take long for one of the others to put two and two together.
"Oh…" Applejack whispered.
"My…" Rainbow said as her mouth fell open in shock.
"Sweet Celestia!" Twilight finished as the two mares turned a mortified shade of red.
Spike returned just at that moment and glanced around at all their shocked faces.
"Uh…did I miss something?" He whispered.
Rarity shook herself out of her embarrassment and said,
"W-we can't know for sure that…that Pinkie…that she and I…I mean…just because…oh Pinkie help me out!"
Pinkie thought about it as she scratched her head.
"Yeah…I mean just because we woke up in bed together and got all snuggly…well that doesn't mean that we…Although…we were really not ourselves last night. Rarity had more to drink than ever before…and I was so into the party that I didn't pay-"
"Pinkie, how is this helping?" Rarity shrieked which stopped Pinkie's ramble and she giggled.
"Ooppsie…Well, I guess there's really no way of knowing what happened between us last night."
Rarity covered her face and groaned again. Twilight gave a nervous laugh and waved her hoof,
"Maybe it was just a sleep over, like we've had in the past. I mean…It's not like Pinkie or Rarity like mares…not like there's a problem with that it's just that we know you two don't right. So nothing could have happened!"
Rarity brightened at that and regained some of her composure.
"That's right! I mean I'm only attracted to stallions so there's no way I would go after a mare. No matter that I wasn't thinking clearly last night."
She turned and smiled brightly at Pinkie, who in turn was blushing again. Rarity noticed the blush and her smile fell a bit.
"Pinkie darling…what's wrong? We figured out that there's no way you and I-"
"I never said I didn't like…mares…" Pinkie muttered as she blushed more. Once more the others' mouths fell open in shock. They all looked at Pinkie waiting for their friend to explain further.
Pinkie giggled nervously, as was her habit.
"Well, I was planning on telling you girls eventually. The topic just never came up. You see, I'm attracted to both stallions and mares. To me, love is love…no matter who it's between. Right girls?"
Twilight smiled,
"That's true…but now we really don't know what happened last night."
Pinkie's hair deflated once more and she turned tear stained eyes to Rarity.
"I'm sorry Rarity…I think…I think I may have…taken advantage of you last night. I-I…I've had a small crush on you ever since we were fillies. You were always the prettiest mare in town…but I didn't want to ruin our friendship…looks like I went and did that anyways…after last night how can…how can you ever forgive…" Pinkie covered her eyes with her hooves as she began to sob.
Her tears were full of such sorrow and pain that it pierced through her friends. Pinkie cried and knew that she would lose a friend after today. Her hair deflated completely at the thought.
She gasped when her hooves were pulled away from her tearful eyes. She was even more surprised when she saw it was Rarity smiling at her and holding her hooves.
"Pinkie Pie. You and I have been friends for almost seven years now. Although I am flattered that you thought so highly from me over all these years, I'm afraid that I just don't feel the same."
"I know…and I understand if now you don't-"
"Pinkie…Even though I don't feel that way…doesn't mean that our friendship has changed."
Pinkie brightened slightly, she sniffled and slowly smiled.
"You mean…you still want to be my friend?"
Rarity wrapped Pinkie in a hug and nodded.
"Friends forever. Cross my heart and hope to fly…stick a cupcake in my eye." Rarity whispered and Pinkie's hair returned to its bouncy self. The others sighed in relief that the awkward moment between the two had passed.
Pinkie pulled out of the hug and wiped her eyes clear of tears. She frowned,
"But…what about last night?"
Rarity held up her hoof.
"A momentary lapse of judgment on both our parts. Let us never speak of it again and go back to the way things were before. Agreed?"
Pinkie smiled and nodded with her returned energy.
"Okie dokie lokie!"
Spike cleared his throat and the five mares turned to look at him. He was standing with his arms crossed and an impatient look on his face.
"Oh sorry Spike, we-uh-got distracted." Twilight said and the others chuckled. Twilight was so grateful that her friends were all back to normal. Then her eyes widened as she realized one of her friends was still missing.
"Did you get through to Fluttershy or Discord?" She asked and Spike frowned.
"That's what I've been waiting to tell you. I couldn't get through either of their rooms, so I called the front desk to ask if they saw them at all last night. They did and they told me where they were. Twilight we've got big trouble!"
Rainbow swallowed the food she had been shoveling into her mouth and groaned.
"Oh don't tell me. Discord went on some chaotic rampage through the town and now there's a mob outside with pitchforks and torches?"
The others looked at her and she shrugged,
"It could happen."
Spike smacked his face and waved his arms to get their attentions.
"This is worse than that! Discord and-"
"What could possibly be worse than Discord causing trouble in the city that we have to clean up?" Twilight asked.
"He and-"
"Oh! Oh! That would be just like the time Rarity went all crazy and turned Ponyville into this shiny Utopia in her eyes, but we were all like AH!" Pinkie said and Rarity pouted at her. Pinkie laughed and hugged her around her neck.
"Oh, but you were a very cute psycho pony! Probably the cutest there ever was." She added and Rarity laughed.
"Why thank you…I think…was that a compliment?"
"In Pinkie's universe, yes." Applejack laughed.
Spike lost all his patience and shouted.
"Spike calm down. I'm sure it can't be that bad if it has nothing to do with Discord causing trouble."
"He's caused trouble alright…like I said…Big trouble." He muttered.
He growled as he finally started to come to. He instantly wished that he would fall back into the peaceful blackness he had just risen from. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with the repercussions of how much he'd had to drink.
"I should have known better…even the Lord of Chaos has his limits." Discord growled again as the inside of his head seemed to turn into bongos. He wished he could just snap away the headache.
He didn't dare try and use magic right now, not in his condition. Who knew what mayhem would occur when he wasn't in full control of his power. Even when he was, his magic was unpredictable.
So instead he slowly forced himself to sit up in bed and raised his eagle claw to his head.
It was then that he looked around his room and realized it was not the same as before. This one was much larger and had a different feel to it. This one was more…more…
Romantic? Now what kind of prank did those mares pull on me in my inebriation?
He thought to himself as he continued to survey the room. His ear twitched as a soft sigh to his left drifted through the air.
All the remaining color in his fur vanished. He slowly turned his head over to the side the sound had come from.
There, peeking out from under the black coverlet was a strand of very familiar rose hair. He swallowed and reached out a shaky claw to gently pull back the blanket.
No…there's no way I…Not even as drunk as I was…please Celestia, grant me this one wish…tell me I didn't…
The cover fell from his cold claws as a sleeping Fluttershy was revealed. Discord stumbled back and fell out of the bed. He groaned and crawled up so he was leaning against the bed, staring open jawed at the still sleeping mare. She had her back to him, but he could tell from her even breathing that he hadn't woken her.
"Okay…okay…calm down… there's no reason to believe that just because she's here…that the two of you…" He whispered and had to covered his mouth as she stretched in her sleep. He sat there waiting for her to awaken.
She didn't, but she did roll over so that she was facing him now. His eyes fell to the object hanging around her neck.
His breathing became very ragged as he looked at the shining ring that was hanging from the chain around the mare's neck.
Oh sweet heavens…I couldn't have…we didn't get…
He glanced down at his own claws, afraid of what he would see. Sure enough, sitting on his talon, taunting him with how much trouble he had caused, was a gold wedding band.
"When they find out what I did…" He whispered as he fell back onto the floor, slowly saying his goodbyes to the world.
"I'm dead."