Newfound Neighbors

by FrostTheWolf

12- The Morning After

When it comes to celebrations, the pain doesn’t really start until the morning after. You either had too much to drink to the point that you could barely recall what you did the night before or you don’t do that and still end up barely recalling anything happening because so much shit was happening at once that it was hard for you to keep track of. Either way you look at it, you would still have the morning headache, just for different reasons. The reason why I brought this up was because my morning headache was because of a drunken unicorn that just so happened to end up being more unpredictable than she already was.

That and I found Gizmo fast asleep on the roof of her house when I went to get the paper this morning. With no recollection as to how she even got there in the first place.

Luckily, after the first few hours of being awake, things began to settle down a bit… for the most part. My head was still a bit fuzzy, but the headache eventually passed after a couple of hours. It looked like my parents decided to sleep in this morning after last night's craziness, and honestly, who could blame them? After all, the smartest equine in the room ended up having too much to drink last night and then tried to go swimming because she thought the pool in their backyard was the ‘Shark Tank’ that mom mentioned last night.

Did I also mention the fact that Gizmo couldn’t swim?

Fortunately, things were calm enough to the point that I was able to eat breakfast in peace without any interruptions. Which is a bit of a rarity since there were a few times over the last week or so where I had my mornings interrupted by either family members or my neighbors. I can’t honestly remember the last time I was able to have a moment of peace like this. Even if it was only for a brief moment, I didn’t have to worry about my troubles.

Then I heard the sound of my ringtone going off from my phone upstairs and I ended up snapping back to reality. Dammit, it’s seven-thirty in the morning. Who’s trying to get a hold of me this early in the morning-?

One new message- Ryan.

Huh, well this is a bit a surprise. Then again, if it’s him, then who knows what he might want to talk to me about. Ryan’s been a friend of mine since elementary school and most of the time, he means well. Though, he has a rather odd way of showing it. Hell, there was a time where I accidentally left my wallet at his house and he was knocking on my door in the middle of the night to return it. I haven’t had the chance to talk to him recently though, so I’m not sure what he wants right now though.

Hey, Sam. How are you?

After looking at the message again, that was when I realized that the message was sent late last night. Like around the same time Gizmo’s drunken shenanigans were happening. Well, better late than never I suppose.

Hey, sorry if this message is late. Had something come up last night that had me preoccupied. What’s up?

I wasn’t expecting a quick response from him or anything, but mere moments after I sent that to him, I got a reply back.

Would that ‘something’ have to do with the unicorn that’s on your neighbor’s roof?

Oh… that’s right. I didn’t even look at the picture he sent for me to realize that I didn’t really tell anyone else aside from my parents about Gizmo and Brisk yet. Well, guess now’s a better time than ever.

Actually, that is my neighbor Ryan. She moved in around a week ago or so with her colt(boy)friend.

The next reply he sent wasn’t as quick as the first, but he was definitely caught off guard by that. Y-you’re serious? You actually have Equestrians as neighbors? That must be quite a surprise to have an equestrian as your neighbor.

… After everything that’s happened so far, I wouldn’t say that ‘surprised’ was the best way to describe it. If anything, it was more of a feeling of shock mixed with me trying to understand what the hell was happening most of the time. Plus, that was only the first couple of days. Everything after that involved me trying to go with the flow while also trying to remain calm and keeping it together. Though, I wasn’t going to just admit that to him.

You can say that.

Heh. Let me guess, it’s much different here compared to their world?

More like me trying to make sure that Gizmo doesn’t get herself in trouble, if I have to be completely honest. Especially with what happened the last few lines I was out in public with her.

Something along those lines. She’s easily startled by things that we use everyday.

Like how unicorns are portrayed in Onward?

No. Absolutely not. And frankly, I think Gizmo and Brisk would be a bit insulted by that if they managed to see that movie somehow.

Come on, I was kidding. I didn’t mean it. Last thing I would want to do is anger another species that has freaking magic! I mean, for all I know, she can just throw me across the street if I look at her funny.

Let me assure you, Gizmo’s not like that. I tried to ease his worry. Besides, her field of expertise is more of trying to build things. Think of her like a unicorn Artificer who has an… expansive imagination. Doesn’t help that she’s also into TTRPG’s as well.

When I said that though, the response I got back from Ryan was not something I really expected from him. Oh, really? Theirs or ours? Because I saw one of the games from their world at the game shop by the mall last time I went there.

I think both. Kind of did a one shot with her to see if she liked it and Gizmo liked it. Dad’s thinking of possibly inviting her next time we get a D&D campaign set up.

Yeah, Ryan is one of a couple friends that we know that would play Dungeons and Dragons whenever we did a campaign. Though, how he played his characters was sometimes counterproductive. One time, he played a halfling rogue that tried to convince a room full of Duergar that he was a part of their group… only to fail both the performance and deception checks. Leading to the enemies chasing him looney tunes style throughout the dungeon we were in.

That would be rather interesting… Uh, Sam?

What is it, Ryan?

That unicorn is at your window… and just disappeared.

THUD!!

Oh great. Just when I thought that I was going to have a somewhat calm morning, I now have a unicorn in my bedroom. Yeah, I’m going to have to get back to you in a bit.

As soon as I sent that, I placed my phone away and looked back at the unicorn that just face planted in the middle of my bedroom. “Gizmo, why are you in my room?”

“Oh, hi Sam,” she replied kindly, acting as if teleporting through my window and landing inside of my room was totally normal. “H-hey, do you have an Anvil? My h-head started hurting when I woke up this morning”

“An… what now?” I asked, honestly confused.

“Anvil! B-brisk said that t-taking one could help with this headache,” the unicorn groaned. “Of course, w-why would it cure headaches?”

At first, I was honestly having trouble trying to decipher what exactly Gizmo was trying to tell me. It honestly felt like trying to decipher a secret message that you were given. However, that was when I realized something. One of the letters was out of place.

Anvil... Advil.

“I think I have an idea of what Brisk is talking about,” I told her as I walked out of my room, “Follow me downstairs and I can get it for you.”

The unicorn nodded as she followed me downstairs, not using any of her magic this time. First thought came to mind was that perhaps headaches, especially those from a hangover, made it harder for her to really concentrate with spells. Hence why she crashed into my room when she tried to teleport. Yet, I should probably ask her more about that once she’s actually feeling better.

As she took a seat in the kitchen, I went into the medicine cabinet to grab the Advil and a glass of water. “Here we go. Just take this first and then drink all of it.”

“T-that’s an anvil? It’s… so small.”

“Advil,” I corrected her, “It’s just a name. However, the point is that it’s a medicine used to help relieve headaches. Not immediately, but over time.”

The last part felt necessary to mention, because if I’ve learned anything from Gizmo, it’s that she always tends to either rush things or jump to conclusions. It’s as if she was a furry ball of impatience just waiting to bounce off at a moment's notice. Hopefully, this could get her to take things a bit more slowly this time around. Because the last thing I think she would want is to end up crashing into a wall.

“S-sam?”

“What is it, Gizmo?”

“I… I’m sorry… about last night,” Wait, what now? “I just really wanted to have a good time and… made an embarrassment of myself in front of your family. C-can you forgive me?”

Well, that was something I honestly did not expect at all.

“Gizmo, stuff like this just happens at times. There’s no need to get upset over it,” I assured her, “I’m not mad or anything. Just… try to have a little more self control next time, okay?”

I hope that was enough to cheer her up-. Oh god, she’s hugging me!!

“Thank you!!! Thank you! Thank you!!” the unicorn said, not letting up on her hug as it felt like the air out of my lungs was being squeezed out by cuteness. “You’re the best friend that anypony like me can have!”

“Y-you mean better than Brisk?” I asked

“Well, no since he’s my coltfriend but- Y-you know what I mean!” No, I’m not really sure if I do.

Maybe now’s a good time to try and get her home. Last thing I need for her to do is have my parents think that someone broke into our house to steal Advil. Or have a unicorn that's still recovering from a hangover start wandering off everywhere.

---

Author's Note:

There are times where I feel for Gizmo... and there are times where her antics go off the deep end. This is the aftermath of the latter.

Comments

[Xanderfox]

Unicorns be crazy

[FrostTheWolf]

10982392
And cute. Don't forget that

[Morphy]

10982736

It's an evolutionary design so we don't kill them for all the shenanigans they put us through. Heh.

[erictheblue]

somehow this reminded me of an old "Chip and Dale" comic book i have where they met a flying squirrel who had a bad habit of sleep-FLYING.