Anima Mea Tenebre

by Nixus

The Hangover Pt. 2

“So tell me, Moe, how did you meet Rarity?” Fancy asked as the group made their way down the streets of Manehatten. Their group had splintered off into pairs with the exception of Coppa, who was trailing behind as he took in the sights of the city. Moe couldn’t blame him either, Manehatten was one of the largest places either of them had seen, dwarfing even the largest settlements back home. Rarity, on the other hand, was acting as if there was no difference between the large city and Ponyville, and was leading the pack alongside Fleur.

“It’s not really that interesting in all honesty,” Moe spoke as he watched the posh ponies go about their daily lives. Many were simply walking about, feigning interest in the items that lined the store windows or hailing the many carriages that were travelling along the streets. A select few actually stopped and regarded both Coppa and Moe, taking interest in watching the two alien beings simply walk down the street as though it were nothing. Whispers of concern and fear could be heard, emanating from the more conservative looking ponies. The younger generations held no such reserve, simply choosing to gawk and stare in fascination.

“I sincerely doubt that, my friend,” Fancy responded as the group turned the corner. Moe began to wonder just how far into the city they had walked. It seemed as though they were passing the same few buildings every few minutes. Nothing was unique about this place other than the shops; it was simply to conformed for his tastes. Coppa seemed to be on edge as well, grating his teeth as the upper crust voices practically assaulted his ears.

“What makes you say that, Fancy?” Moe asked, perplexed by the stallion’s vague statement.

“The two of you seem like quite the adventuring types. Well traveled and well versed in the ways of the vagabond,” Fancy replied casually as Coppa joined up with them. “A pair of friends, simply seeking out lost treasure and exploring the depths of their world. Now you’ve found yourself in a new land, with new friends and companions. It is quite interesting, almost like something out of a fiction novel. I’d love to hear about some of the challenges you’ve faced.”

“You might be disappointed, Fancy,” Coppa commented as he tried his best to ignore the stares of the surrounding crowd. Fancy, on the other hand, was surprisingly calm, his expression giving no indication that he was paying attention to the gawking citizens.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“We haven’t really gone on any grand adventures, more like small errands.” Coppa gestured to his uniform, prompting a confused glance from Fancy. “Where we’re from, the two of us are just students. We study the basics of adventuring and are tested on it in class. If you get good enough grades, you might get a chance to go into the higher-level labyrinths, but most classes just stick to the testing grounds underneath the campus.” Coppa sighed as he scratched the back of his hea. “Any ‘quests’ we do go on are usually just requests from villages to find something stupid or to get rid of pests. We might have gotten a few more interesting tasks, but that was only because we were selected by the principle to be his personal students.”

“Interesting, a school for the purposes of becoming an adventurer,” Fancy said with a calm enthusiasm. “Yet, it seems as though you both have stumbled upon a far greater adventure than the occasional pest control request.”

“You can say that again,” Coppa added with a grin. “Never thought I’d come across a land of talking horses with a flair for butt tattoos.” He stretched his arms as he regarded the three crowns that comprised the stallions cutie mark. “By the way, what’s yours supposed to be for?”

“Oh, this?” Fancy asked. “It’s a reflection of my delegation skills. I received this after attending a diplomatic mission with my father in Saddle Arabia. I assisted with establishing better trade relations and impressed the Sheik so much that he gave me a token of appreciation. Lo and behold, I returned to Equestria with a royal gift for myself and what destiny had in store for me.”

Moe cocked his eyebrow as he clued in on what the stallions job might be. “So you work as a diplomat?” He asked as they rounded another corner and came to a stop in front of a large mansion. Moe gazed in amazement along with Coppa at the building. Coppa even let out a small whistle, clearly impressed by the magnitude of the building, although Moe could sense a certain bitterness in his friends expression as they stared at the large marble exterior of the estate. . Fleur and Rarity had already gone inside, leaving the three males to their conversation.

Fancy in turn gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. “Yes, I work in the political sector, traveling and ensuring that Equestria is on good terms with all of its neighbours,” he explained while he opened the gate to his summer home. “It is quite the interesting life, but I feel that it is the right time for me to take a small break. I was also planning on taking the next step in my relationship with Fleur while on this sabbatical. I figured it was about time.”

“Marriage is quite different from a break,” Moe said as he stepped into the building and examined the interior. The rooms were richly decorated and covered in all manner of exquisite items -most likely gifts from past trips in Fancy’s line of work- giving the interior a sort of atmosphere befitting a pony of his status. “Though I figure you and Fleur have been together for a while.”

“Indeed we have, almost eight years to be exact,” Fancy said as he gazed at some of the pictures hanging from the wall. All of them depicted the two ponies next to some monument or palace of some sort, both bearing smiles of satisfaction and content happiness in the company of each other. One had them dancing on a leaning tower; another of them depicted them eating dinner with ponies which had bat like wings rather than regular avian wings; and a final one had them sailing on what was most likely their personal yacht. Fancy let out a content sigh as he examined each of them. “The best eight years of my life. However, there are still more memories we have yet to make.”

“I’m sure you’ll both be very happy,” Moe assured him before noticing something peculiar hanging on the opposite wall, covered by a white sheet. Curiosity overcame him as he made his way over to it. “Fancy? What is this?”

“Oh, that? That is the gift I mentioned when I got my mark. The sheet is so that the colours do not fade. It is a rather exquisite piece.” He gripped the sheet with his magic and gently pulled it off. “It is one of the few Saddle Arabian horseshoes still in existence."

The item in question was a single piece of thin black wood, curled inwards in the shape of an elongated C. It was wrapped in the centre, covered in a small amount of deep rose coloured fabric. Two small eyes were painted on the carved diamond shaped pieces of wood on both sides, located on the inside of the circle. The actual nature of the item was revealed to him as he noticed the small thin cord tied to one of the ends of the wood.

“Looks like a bent piece of wood to me,” Coppa stated, uninterested in the particular piece. “What’s it supposed to be anyway? Some sort of instrument?”

“It’s a reflex bow,” Moe answered as he stared at the piece. He attempted to imagine the weapon in his head, bending the wood in his mind and shaping it into its strung form. Both Fancy and Coppa watched with piqued curiosity as Moe examined the artisanship. He pointed at the small, almost invisible notches in the ends of the piece. “It’s made with curled arms which turn away from the archer throughout the length of the bow. When you unstring it, the entire length of the bow curves forward, away form the archer, so and that’s how you get the ‘C’ shape.”

“You must have quite the interest in archery if you could recognise that, Moe,” Fancy commented as he placed the sheet back over the case. “I, myself, never realised what it was until a few years ago, even though I still do not know much about it. The Saddle Arabians were very secretive about why they chose this shape,” he added as he regarded Moe with hopeful enthusiasm. “Does your homeland use these sorts of designs?"

“Not really I’m afraid, I’ve only ever used recurve or longbow bows,” he said, wishing that he had brought his weapon with him to show Fancy. Unfortunately, he had left it back in Ponyville, stashed in his room away from the designer’s curious sister who was thankfully staying at her parents’ house for the next few days. Still, he didn’t really have a reason to pack it. In reality, he had not brought much along on this trip. After all, they were staying in a densely populated city for one night; why would he need a weapon and a full suitcase of clothes? Still, he could at least offer Fancy some of his knowledge about this particular kind of bow. “Reflex are great since they have high draw weight and a long draw length. But they aren’t very popular because the bows have a tendency to unstring themselves, and I’d rather not have to deal with that when I need a weapon. Still, the quality of these pieces is always astounding.”

“Indeed they are! The Saddle Arabians made these as ceremonial pieces, for rituals in ancient times,” Fancy said as Moe stepped away from the artifact. “But that’s as much as I know about this item. Is there anything else you’d like to know about any of the others? I may be a tad rusty, but I still can tell you a few things about each of these pieces.”

“What’s this thing?” Coppa asked as he pressed his face to the glass of another case. “It looks like it’s some sort of carpet.”

“Ah, that is one of my favorite pieces!” Fancy exclaimed as he trotted towards the display case. Moe followed the stallion, taking interest in what had drawn his friend’s attention. As he came close to the display case, he cocked his head slightly as he regarded the piece. “Care to take a guess at what this is?” Fancy asked Moe, eyes full of exuberance.

Moe took a few more seconds as he examined the artefact, taking in every minor detail of the piece. It was a piece of torn fabric, only slightly longer than Moe’s extended arm. All sides, save for the bottom of the fabric, were torn, as though the piece had been hastily cut from the main body. What wasn’t destroyed was covered in careful stitch work swirled and parted in a combination of colour and detail, forming a rather detailed picture. It depicted a number of strange looking ponies standing around what looked to be a large mountain. Each was dressed in a primitive looking set of armour and carried a spear and shield. What interested Moe was the fact that while they were obviously ponies, they possessed wings not unlike those of bats rather than regular pegasi wings.

“I have no Idea. What is this thing?” Moe asked as he turned to Fancy. “Better yet, what are those? I’ve never seen a pony like that yet.”

“This, my friends, is a piece of Thestral history which I managed to purchase at an auction for quite a small price. In all honesty, I think I was the only one who had an inkling of what it was,” Fancy explained as he drew closer. “This piece, also known as The Crimareian Tapestry is one of the first instances of recorded storytelling. It was created in the ancient Thestral kingdom of Crimareia, almost a full eighty years before Nightmare Moon’s attempted coup.”

“What’s a Thestral?” Both Moe and Coppa asked at the same time.

“It’s the actual term for what we now call a Bat Pony,” Fancy answered. “They are exclusive protectors of Princess Luna and form the entirety of her Night Guard. Their land is quite marvelous really, built within the mountainous range of Tramplemania. Crimareia used to spread throughout the entire area around those mountains, but became part of Equestria through a strategic alliance brought about by one of Luna’s personal guards.”

“So what’s the story on this part supposed to be?” Coppa asked quizzically. While he may have been the curious sort, Moe knew Coppa had no real interest in the background information Fancy had just provided. He was always disinterested in history and Moe doubted that he really cared all that much about any of the ancient relics Fancy had on display. Dante, however, would have loved to hear about this, and would have spent days examining any records had he not been so busy trying to find their way home.

“Well it may not be the complete tapestry, but this particular scene detailed the slaying of a dragon which had plagued the kingdom. Apparently, Luna had sent one of her guards to negotiate a treaty with the Thestrals. When the stallion arrived, the king was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed on one condition: the guard would have to slay the dragon.”

“Well I’m guessing he did? Luna wouldn’t have her guards if he had been eaten.”

“Correct. He did indeed slay the dragon,” Fancy said, prompting a look of smug satisfaction from Coppa. “He was able to scale the mountain and fought the dragon to a standstill. According to Nightshade the younger, who was the Thestral who accompanied him to the summit of the mountain. The guard fought so ferociously, that a storm thundered every time he landed a blow. Eventually, he managed to defeat the dragon, and in doing so gain the respect of the Thestrals. They even gave him the title of Dragonslayer for his valour and bravery.”

“Impressive,” Moe said in awe, “But what happened to the rest of the Tapestry?”

“There isn’t a definite answer to that,” Fancy replied. “As far as any historian can tell, it simply disappeared after Princess Luna was banished. Even the Thestrals have no idea where it went. All that remains is this small fragment. A real pity, they said that the complete tapestry was over fifty hooves long.”

“Knowledge and art is usually the next thing to suffer after the people in times of conflict,” Moe uttered sadly. It was the bitter truth, even in their own world; much of the past was still unknown, lost to time and conflict between the races. While they did have some information regarding recent events, ancient history had suffered the greatest damage. Even more depressing was the fact they had so little information left that wasn’t oral, that no scholar could manage to write a decent history book. Much of the knowledge they did have - if there was any, Moe wasn’t sure- was either incomplete or offered only a small glimpse of the past.

Fancy nodded solemnly in agreement. “It certainly seems that way.” A stuffy silence filled the room as none of the occupants realised they had anything left to say. Slowly, the awkwardness of the situation rose, prompting Coppa to cough into his arm in an attempt to start a different conversation.

“Well I think that’s enough history for now,” Coppa said loudly. “Maybe we should change the topic?” He added as he stared directly at Fancy Pants. “I think it’s time we discussed why we are here. Fancy, you are getting married soon, right?”

“You are indeed correct, but it’s going to be a small ceremony between Fleur’s family as well as my own. This engagement party is simply a formal event to catch up with our friends.”

“Rriiiight...” Coppa said unimpressed, while Moe waited to hear his friend’s idea. Something about the tone of Coppa’s voice made Moe wary. He was well acquainted with the dwarf’s penchant for stupid ideas, but something about this particular situation made Moe extremely worried.

“So when’s your stag party?”

There it was.

“What, may I ask, is a stag party?”

“Coppa, can you not do this? There’s a reason you’re banned from having parties in the dorm houses,” Moe said in a menacing tone. “You remember what happened the last time you tried to do something like this. The common room on the second floor still has the scorch marks.”

“You know, a stag party! It’s a different way of saying a bachelor party!” Coppa said as he ignored Moe’s warning. He was dead set on this, Moe could see it in his eye. Once Coppa got the idea in his head for a party of this sort, he was always dead set on it. In his mind, this wasn’t going to be a Pinkiesque party. There weren’t going to be any streamers or games that the bouncy pony had brought to their welcome party. No, this was going to be a full blown smorgasbord of Coppa style binge drinking and would end up with them dealing with a few bruises the next day. Moe had to stop this before it started, or else Fancy Pants would be in for a world of hurt.

“Coppa I’m not going to...” he trailed off as he realised both Coppa and Fancy were gone, probably sneaking out while he was suffering through the shellshock of past incidents. “Dammit! Every single time!” He let out a breath of frustration knowing that by now it would be too late to reverse Coppa’s decision. If his best friend was anything, it was that he was the most stubborn, bull-headed, thick skulled person he knew.

Then again...

Moe could probably control the damage Coppa might cause. If he could act as a babysitter, then perhaps he could steer Coppa’s rambunctious actions away from any sort of possible problem. This was his best course of action, a true win-win situation. Coppa would get his party, and Moe would be able to make sure they could at least avoid a night in a Manehatten jail cell.

The thought left him with a bit of hope and allowed him to relax. Now all he could do was to wait for the coming storm.

“Moe, wait here, I’ve gotta go find Fleur!” Coppa shouted as he ran past him. “Also, get your wallet ready!”

“Cue the countdown...”

*****

“What did we do after that?” Moe asked himself as he struggled to recall the night’s events. Everything seemed to be in a haze, a disordered mishmash of partial memories. It was curious, he hadn’t intended to get intoxicated that night, yet here he was with a terrible hangover and almost no memories of what he did or where he was. “What the hell happened last night?”

Perhaps it was fate, or simply bad luck, but a knocking at the door drew his attention. He struggled to make it to the doorway, his mind and body still reeling from whatever he had done the previous night. Every limb felt heavy and uncoordinated, causing him to stumble toward the door. Pressing himself against it, he peered in through the spy hole and sighed in relief as the worried face of Coppa appeared on the other side.

“Moe? You in here?” Coppa asked, about to knock another time before Moe opened the door slightly. “Dude you look like hell,” he added as he walked in and looked at the destruction.

“Apparently that also applies to our room. We are so not getting that security deposit back.” He turned around, but stopped dead in his tracks as he cocked an eyebrow. “Freeballing it are we?”

“What did we do last night?” Moe asked, apparently not hearing the snide remark. His mind was racing a mile a minute again and wasn’t allowing him to focus on much else. “I can’t remember anything...”

“That’s great dude, but could you put on some pants?” Coppa asked with little enthusiasm as he pointed to Moe’s lower half. “I’d be more than happy to discuss the best night of our lives without having to get an eyeful of your junk.” A tiny smirk played on his lips as Moe began to catch onto what he was saying. “Aww, it’s hiding now.”

Moe blushed as he realised he was standing in front of his best friend completely naked. Flushed with embarrassment, he somehow managed to stumble towards the other room and only fell twice on his way there. His mood soured even more as he passed through the bedroom and heard Coppa shout to him again between bouts of laughter. “It’s a good thing you have so many other talents to attract women with!”

“Shut up!” Moe shouted back as he searched frantically for some clothes. The tips of his ears burned red as he searched for his pants, but only came upon a few candy wrappers and his other sock, which was extremely crusty and smelled terrible for some odd reason. Forsaking the notion that he’d find any of his clothes in the partially destroyed bedroom, he ripped a blanket off the bed.

“What the?” he asked to himself as a white hoof became partially exposed by his action. Hesitantly, he poked the hoof with a finger as he tried to recall any of the ponies he had met that had a white coat. “Rarity?” he asked quietly, hoping to god that the mare was in fact underneath those blankets.

“Mmm...” A soft feminine voice cooed back, which prompted Moe to let out another sigh of relief, grateful he hadn’t accidentally brought some strange mare into his bed. For now he just wanted to assume that they had merely passed out on the bed, nothing more.

“Sorry, just go back to sleep,” Moe whispered as he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders in a mock cloak that covered him from neck to toe. Carefully, he stepped away from the sleeping mare and back into the main room. There he was greeted by Coppa who was busy eating what looked like an old piece of cardboard covered in cheese that he had just pulled from the rooms mini fridge. The smell coming from the fridge in the corner of the room was somewhere between rotten eggs and rancid meat and was making it hard for Moe not to start throwing up. “What the hell is that?”

“Cold pizza, found it in the fridge -mmmph, man this is good- over there. It looked like it was edible. Smells like crap though, but I’m past that,” Coppa said between chews of whatever substance was in the bag. He paused in mid chew as he looked at the disgusted elf who sat down in one of the few unbroken chairs. “You okay, buddy?”

“No, I am in so much pain right now,” Moe groaned as he pressed himself deeper into the chair. “How about you?”

“Meh, I’ve been through worse,” He pointed to spot on the floor which Moe had overlooked. A few blankets and what looked to be a pile of bowling pins surrounded a clear area in the shape of a body. “Last time we’re playing dwarf toss though.” He chuckled as he crushed the paper bag and tossed it over his shoulder.

“At least it went better than some of our previous parties.” He grinned as he stared off into space. “Do you remember that one time when I drank too much and I showed up at our room’s front door, trying to unlock it with a trout?” Moe nodded as he recalled the night as well. Hell, he was the one who had to clean the fish guts off the door. “What the hell was I doing with a trout?” Coppa added, still reminiscing about that one night.

He then breathed in, his face turning giddy as he stretched his arms. “Man, I haven’t done anything like that in a while. At least I didn’t break any of my teeth this time.”

“Sure, great for you. But that doesn’t answer my question. What did we do last night?” Moe asked, dreading any possible answer that had his rough dwarf friend this excited. “Better question, where are we and how did I end up like this?”

“How much do you remember?”

“We got to Manehatten and met Fancy Pants and Fleur. We were going off to their summer home to meet some other ponies.” Moe groaned as he looked at the loose tie sitting around his neck. “Why is it that I look like I was forced to be a male stripper?”

“Funny story about that,” Coppa said through a chuckle before he was silenced by Moe’s glare. “Sorry, I’ll get back to telling you what happened.”

“Please do... Every minute just makes me think I’ve screwed myself over more and more.”

“Yea I guess that’s a good way to put it...”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Moe asked with venom dripping from his voice.

“Well... trust me when I say it was pretty memorable. You pretty much brought the house down there at the club,” Coppa said as he leaned back on his arms. “Fancy was completely tanked about an hour in. We sent him home, and then you got really wasted.” He took a second and watched as Moe struggled to put it all together. “You don’t remember any of that?”

Moe gave a weary sigh while he tried to piece together whatever he had done. He groaned as some of the earlier memories filled his head, giving him a slightly clear picture. “Not really, I only get flashes here and there...”

“Well, first of all, Fleur was totally on board with the idea,” Coppa commented as though the fact somehow made Moe’s situation any better. “So I guess we should start with when I came back.”

*****

“I said no.”

“C’mon Moe, Why not?” Coppa pleaded as he got on his knees and shook his open palms. “You don’t expect Fancy to pay for all of this by himself. That would be a terrible thing to do...”

“Why don’t you pay for it then?” Moe shot back, his arms crossed in defiance. They had been going at this for nearly ten minutes while Fleur, Rarity, and two other ponies Moe had yet to greet had just been content with watching them argue. “This was your idea, so maybe you should front the money for it.”

“I would if I could, but unfortunately, I blew it all saving a friend’s farm!” Coppa retorted. He smiled as Moe faltered, realising that if anything, the elf would lose a lot more face in front of this crowd if he didn’t agree to finance this party expedition. “So, it looks like you’re the patron of this night. So let’s not bitch about it and just have fun!”

“Props to that!” one of the two guests shouted, much to the chagrin of her companion. Coppa grinned and bumped his fist with her outstretched hoof. “C’mon man, it’ll be awesome!”

“Right, who are you again?” Moe asked as he looked at the two mares quizzically. The pair was the epitome of opposites. One the one side was a white unicorn mare with a musical note for a cutie mark and a ridiculously spiked two toned blue mane and tail. A pair of purple sunglasses sat on her head, blocking Moe from ascertaining the actual colour of her eyes. Opposite to her was a greyish mare sporting a well kempt black mane, a light pink bowtie, and a purple treble clef for her own cutie mark.

“Dude, they were at our welcome party. Do you seriously not recognise them?” Coppa asked, not taking Moe’s confusion seriously. Moe shook his head, still not entirely sure who the two were. “Well the white one is Vinyl Scratch, also known as DJ Pon-3.” He gestured to the white unicorn mare before turning to her friend. “This is her marefriend Octavia, a cellist for the Canterlot Orchestra.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance once again,” Octavia said as she gave a small curtsy to Moe. He returned the gesture with a small bow.

“Likewise. I apologise for not remembering you two.”

“Now that we all know each other, why don’t we head to my gig? It’s not far from here either!” Vinyl said, obviously excited at the prospect. Moe chuckled as he began to compare Vinyl’s attitude with that of his own best friend. The white mare noticed his gaze linger on her a little too long and smirked. “Like what you see?” she asked with a sultry tone before giving his face a little whip with her tail. He heard a notable gasp come from Rarity as he stood there, taken aback from the gesture.

“Vinyl!” Octavia said as she stood in front of a rather offended looking Rarity. “You’ve known him for less than ten minutes and you're already playing games?”

“Oh come on, it was just a joke.” The DJ smirked at the flustered elf. “No harm done right?”

“S-sure...”

“See, it’s all good! Now come on, let’s get to the club!”

I am so going to regret this...

*****

“I can’t believe we are doing this,” Moe grumbled as he sat in one of the many booths of the nightclub. Vinyl hadn’t joked when she said that the club would be completely packed by the time they got there. There was barely enough standing room on the floors, and anypony who wanted to walk somewhere had to force their way through the massive crowd just to move a few feet. Moe had resigned himself to the booth early on and was simply content with watching as the ponies in the crowd danced intimately to the beat of the music.

From his perch in the booth, he could see the rest of the group next to the stage, near the speakers that blasted music with such intensity that it felt like his head was being hit repeatedly with a hammer. Apparently, he was the only one who found this sensation uncomfortable as every patron in the club was currently dancing as if their lives depended on it. He could even see Coppa down both drinks in his hands before tossing the plastic cups aside before getting passed around as a dance partner for a few tipsy mares.

Looking upwards, beyond the plight of his friend, he caught sight of the DJ and Rarity dancing on the stage. Vinyl Scratch was doing more headbanging than dancing, but Rarity was swaying her hips side to side as the music played. With the strobe lights flashing, the entire scene before him was turned into more of a frame-by-frame sort of effect. He smiled inwardly as he found that even Fancy Pants and his Fiancée were dancing and losing themselves to the beat.

“It’s quite something, isn’t it?” he heard Octavia say over the deafening noise of the club. He turned his head to see that Octavia had appeared on the other side of the booth. Her own appearance was slightly messier than when she had started out, and Moe could see the sheen of sweat that was reflected by the waving lights up above. “I admit, I’m not a fan of these events, but I can’t help but find myself dancing away. How about you? I haven’t seen you out there yet.”

“I’ve had bad experiences that resulted from being in places like this,” Moe muttered as he played with the empty glass in front of him. He watched as the ice in the bottom of the cup swirled and clinked together as he debated whether he should just leave at that point. “I think I might go, this isn’t really my sort of place.”

“I was like that once, but Vinyl eventually got me to let loose and I found I actually enjoyed these places on occasion,” she explained as she put a hoof on Moe’s shoulder. “I say that you should at least give it a shot.”

“You think?” Moe asked as he watched the mare give him an encouraging nod. He thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons before he rolled up his sleeves and put on a confident smile. “You know what? Yeah, I think I will enjoy myself for once. It’s not like I have her to worry about anymore.” He felt his heart race as he stood up. Though it seemed fate had other plans as the music faded to a halt before he could do anything. “Or I can simply continue sitting here and wait this whole thing out.”

“Don’t worry, it’s only the intermission, they’ll be playing again soon enough,” Octavia said as she sipped from her own drink. Moe nodded, sitting back down as he watched the DJ hop down from the stage and push her way through the throng of adoring fans, Coppa and Fancy following close behind her. “How are you feeling Fancy? Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I must say, this has possibly been one of the most entertaining nights of my life,” Fancy said before he nearly fell over. “Though I think I may have overdrank a slight amount. I feel rather woozy.”

“If you want, I can escort you home,” Moe offered, but Fancy merely waved him off. “Are you sure Fancy?”

“I am absolutely sure; I don’t want to ruin the fun for my friends just because I had one too many drinks. You stay here and enjoy yourself; I can walk myself home. It shouldn’t be a problem for me.”

“Fancy, I don’t think you’re in any shape to walk home,” Moe said trying to stand up, only to be pushed back into his chair by Fancy’s hoof. “At least get a carriage home!”

“Fine, but I have one request. Moe, as one stallion to another, stay here. I want you to make sure that Fleur has the best night of her life and that everypony else has fun.” Fancy’s voice was firm and Moe nodded silently as he stepped back. “Good, Rarity and Fleur have gone to the restroom to freshen up, I in the meantime hope to see you all tomorrow. Hopefully we shall all be in one piece by then,” the stallion said before he trotted off and left the group to their booth.

Coppa shouted as he sat down, almost knocking the table over while doing so. “Man that was some awesome stuff, Vinyl! Never heard anything like it ever in my life!” Vinyl laughed at his comment and gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder. In his inebriated state, that simple punch caused Coppa to fall over onto Moe’s lap. “Heeeeeyyy buddy, s-how are you doin?” He said as he gave Moe a goofy smile.

“What have you been drinking, and how much is it going to cost me?” Moe asked as Coppa burped loudly. Moe nearly gagged as the smell of alcohol and bad breath was launched directly into his face. “Oh my god Coppa, what crawled down there and died. It smells like dead fish!”

“Just like between your mom’s legs,” Coppa slurred as he sat up unsteadily. He looked at Moe with an intended expression of distaste, but only managed to give him a blank stare. “Whys ain’t you out there? You shuld be out rippin’ ‘er!”

“Yea, Moe, come on, come ‘an shake it with us!” Vinyl shouted before she called out for a mare with a tray of empty glasses. The DJ leaned in close and whispered something into the mare’s ears. The server nodded and grinned as she left the four and headed straight for the bar. Vinyl giggled as she watched Moe stare at her. “You’re going to love these, and no, you can’t back out from them.”

Before Moe could ask what she meant, the server returned with four small glasses of neon multi-coloured shots that glowed with surprising intensity. Vinyl levitated them to each of the four shots and placed them in front of each of them. Moe hesitantly picked up the glass, gave it a sniff, and nearly recoiled as even the air around the glass became saturated with alcohol.

“The hell is this?” Moe asked as his heart began to beat faster. Vinyl chuckled as she held up her shot and watched as the drink shifted colours in the light.

“Liquid happiness, it’ll get you in the partying mood, I guarantee it!” Vinyl boasted as she held out her glass. “Don’t be a filly. Just let it happen and drink it!”

“Cheers!” Coppa shouted as he gripped his glass in his mouth and tilted his head back. Moe watched the dwarf’s face turn red, then yellow, then green as the shot travelled down his gullet. Moe watched as the dwarf’s fur turned the other colours of the rainbow before returning to its regular shade of brown. He spat the glass out before slamming his hands on the table. “Woaaaahhhh! Damn that’s good!”

“Bottoms up!” Vinyl said as she and Octavia both followed suit and downed their drinks. Moe watched as their coats changed shades before settling back to their regular shades. Octavia looked as though she were barely holding on after that while Vinyl was bouncing up and down in her seat. “Come on! Drink it! Drink it! Drink it! She clamoured before turning to the crowd and placing her hooves to her mouth. “HEY EVERYPONY COME AND GIVE HIM A HOOF! YOU ALL KNOW THE WORDS!”

Nearly four hundred stallions and mares all cheered before they began to chant.

“DRINK IT! DRINK IT! DRINK IT!”

Moe swallowed nervously as the voices grew louder and louder. His hands shook as he raised the shot to his lips. With a quick flick he brought his head back and grimaced as the liquid flowed through his mouth and down the back of his throat. He gagged a little, surprised by the fact that despite all odds, there was something he could actually feel as it hit his tongue. It actually burned when it travelled down his gullet.

He could actually taste the alcohol.

“TASTE THE RAINBOW, MOTHERBUCKER!” Vinyl and the crowd shouted as Moe watched his skin alternate colours. It felt as though his skin were covered in tiny little ants, just creeping and crawling as his body processed what was happening. Not hesitating, now in the face of the crowd, he flipped the shot glass over and slammed in on the table. He stood up proud and raised a fist, causing the crowd to go wild as they shouted praise to him. When the revelry was over, he took his seat again and leaned back in his chair. He turned his head and gave Vinyl a weak smile before he suddenly let out a loud belch.

“So spicy...” he managed to say as Coppa clapped him on the back. He barely suppressed an ‘ulp’ before he clapped his hand over his mouth.

“Oh yea, it’s one of those things you can only get here in Manehatten.” Vinyl chuckled as she tipped her glass back in hopes of seeing if there was anything she had missed. “You good now? Think you can finally handle the crowd?”

“I can handle anything you throw at me,” Moe boasted as the alcohol began to addle his mind. A nice little warm feeling had begun to burn in the pit of his chest, calming his hesitation and making him feel a little more open minded. ”The real question is...” He trailed off as he leaned over the table and closed in so that his mouth was hovering just a few inches from her ear. He could see her ear twitch as his breath tickled her fur while he whispered into it. He grinned evilly as he put on an erotic tone to his words. “Do you think you can handle me?”

“Well, we can certainly find out when I get back on stage,” Vinyl said with a sultry tone as she lifted her sunglasses and gave him a half-lidded stare. “Although, I was wondering something myself. How good are you at dancing?”

******

“Wait, so I was drunk off of that one shot?” Moe asked in disbelief. Coppa only chuckled as he pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Moe. Moe took and, carefully holding it in his shaking hands, glanced at it. From the hasty scribbling, it was obvious that it was Coppa’s drunk writing, but besides the fact it was still entirely legible. Moe’s stomach churned as he read off the list of ingredients. “Half ounce of both cranberry and orange juice, half ounce of premium Stalliongrad vodka, half ounce of Clear Feather Liquor from Cloudsdale, two ounces of Applejack Daniels. Mix with a diluted Rainbow juice and then serve. Total alcohol content: More than a human liver can handle... ”

“Yup, that Rainbow juice pretty much enhances the stopping power. Going to have to get some of that later,” Coppa said as he took the list out of Moe’s hands. “That shot plus the straight vodkas you kept ordering at the club pretty much wrecked you.”

“Vodka? All I had was water,” Moe said quietly. “That shot was the only alcohol I had that night.”

“You realise they use ‘water’ as a slang term for Vodka sometimes right?” Coppa explained, much to Moe’s chagrin. “From the receipts I found in my pants, what you actually ordered was at least four straight cups of vodka. All of which you drank in under an hour. I’m pretty sure that’d put a dent in anybody.”

“Did Rarity see me like that?” Moe asked as he clutched his head in anguish. “Please tell me I didn’t do anything incredibly stupid!”

“Ok, then I won’t tell you,” Coppa explained before he saw Moe’s disheartened expression. “But yeah, you did something kind of ridiculous. Rarity was there to experience it firsthand too...”

“Oh god, I can’t deal with this right now,” Moe groaned as he stood up unsteadily. “Out of anything that could have happened, this is possibly the worst possible thing I can imagine!”

“Well, why don’t you get dressed first and then we can deal with this,” Coppa hesitated as his nose picked up a scent which made his skin crawl. He pinched his nose almost immediately as his eyes began to water. “On second thought, maybe you should shower first.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Moe said as he left Coppa and carefully made his way to the bathroom. As he closed the door behind him, he let the blanket fall from his shoulders, exposing himself to the drafty room. Before he stepped into the shower, he cleared the floor of the tub free from any empty containers. “Colt light, banana rum... Irn Bru? Wow, we went all out last night...” he murmured as he tossed the cans and bottles aside and stepped into the shower.

With a twist of the shower knob, a jet of warm water erupted from the shower tap. Moe sighed in relief as the refreshing feeling of water splashed across his skin. He let his head rest against the wall as he hummed to himself and let the stream wash over his head. “This day couldn’t get any worse...” he mumbled as he banged his head against the shower wall, only to immediately regret it a few seconds later as his headache increased twofold.

The next few minutes after that fateful comment sought to prove him wrong, as the door to the bathroom opened without him hearing, and a sudden feeling of arms wrapped around his waist caused him to peer down. Sure enough, two white hooves were currently wrapped around his midriff and he could hear the heavy pants coming from the mare behind him as she clung to him tightly. He could even feel the distinctive prod of a horn pressing lightly into his back.

“Hey there, I see you’re finally up. Did you have a good sleep?” Moe chuckled nervously as he felt the hooves cling to his body a little tighter while the mare gave him a satisfied ‘mmhmm.’ He shivered as the pair of hooves moved slightly down towards his groin, inching down bit by bit. “Woah, Umm Rarity… what are you doing?”

“Oh I know what I am doing,” the voice said as Moe’s heart almost stopped in its tracks. He felt the mystery mare’s breath tickle his ear as she whispered into it. “Now that I’ve got you to myself right now, why don’t we finish off where we left last night?”

“You’re not Rarity are you?”

“Baby, after last night’s fun, and boy, let me tell you, it was amazing...” The mare giggled as her hoofs found their mark and caused Moe to tense up in shock. “Rarity is going to wish she was me~”

Oh GODam-

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note:

Alternate name is The Hangover Pt.2 Onwards to the Electric Boogaloo

LONGEST CHAPTER YET PEOPLE! I don't usually like to go outside of 5-6 thousand words but I actually didn't mind the extra two thousand. This is also the reason I took about a month to finish this chapter. On that note, you guys have probably noticed its taking me longer to write each consecutive chapter. This is due to the normal factor of schoolwork and the fact that I now have a Co-op opportunity to deal with. For example, my course load within the next 2 weeks will have me juggling a few essays, each ranging from 4-12 pages long.

On a different note, we finally get to see most of what happened last night! I'm not gonna spoil anything but let's just say that the world just loves to hate on Moe. I wonder who the mystery mare is?

If there are any grammatical or spelling errors, please let me know so that I can fix them asap. I read all my comments, even if I don't respond to some of them (though I try to reply anyways). So if it's criticism, what you liked, didn't like, praise or anything in between, just let me know! I look forward to what you guys have to say.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[XL-Zero]

1 Muffin that is Fleur the mysterious mare.

[Nixus]

3896536
Derpy shall take that muffin and raise you 2 muffins.

[Alchemo Arrow]

3897481
3896536
I'll bet 1 banana muffin, 2 blood muffins, and 1 cinnamon muffin that It's Vinyl.

[JohnIsOffline]

um...the way she talk...Yup, let bet Vinyl. if i am not wrong then...Let click...Next chapter.