Twilight felt her head pounding as sunlight stung her eyes. With an impatient groan, she forced herself up and rubbed the side of her head.

Ugh, it feels like a chariot ran me over.

She stood up but sat right back down when she felt her head start to pound. With some difficulty, she tried to remember what happened last night. Pinkie was talking to her about needing to get out more, then she gave her a pass to Vinyl's Club Remix. At first, Twilight considered not going, but Pinkie made her Pinkie Promise she would go just this once. She left Spike with the Crusaders at Rarity's house and went to the club. It was as noisy as ever, and the various ponies around her were dancing like crazy. She even saw the local school teacher Cherilee getting cider licked off her belly by Thunderlane, followed by a drunken wet kiss.

It was a revealing experience about her, but it showed her just how little she knew about others' night lives. But she could see Cherilee was having a good time, which was what Pinkie sent her to do. However, there really wasn't anything to do, that she knew of at least. What she ended up doing was standing apart from the crowd, watching them dance to the music DJ-P0n3 was spinning. They all jumped when the beat dropped, and many of them had a hard time getting back up.

"Hey," she heard beside her. A green stallion with green highlights in his white mane stood next to a brown and red one. "Wanna dance?"

"Not really," she shouted over the music. Instead of the three going away, they stayed and the green one started chuckling.

"C'mon, babe, loosen up," he smirked. Twilight wasn't very well affiliated with stallions, but even she could tell what he wanted.

"I'm just fine here," she said sternly.

"Come on babe, gotta be lonely in the library sometimes," the green stallion chuckled.

"I said I'm fine," she said more assertively, starting to glare at them. Before another word could be said, another stallion came over.

"Hey babe! I was looking all over for ya!" he casually laughed. He pulled her so that he was holding her below him and quickly whispered, "Play along."

Without warning, he pulled her into a deep kiss, making her face flush almost immediately. He pulled away and wrapped his foreleg around her, as her mind tried to process what just happened. She zoned out for a second as she tasted cherry and alcohol, and as the stallions left she turned to him and slapped him.

"Why would you do that?! Who are you?!" she yelled. The stallion chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Strong Spirit. Saw those guys giving you a hard time, so I thought I'd help! Sorry!" he laughed. She calmed down a bit, but she was still flustered.

"You didn't have to kiss me," she frowned.

Strong shrugged. "Hey, had to sell it y'know?" he chuckled. Twilight moved back as he looked closer at her. "Wait... you're Twilight Sparkle, right?!"

"Yes," she slowly answered, a bit surprised.

"Um, sorry! Just didn't want things to end up badly!" he chuckled weakly. "So, what are you doing here?"

She told him what Pinkie told her to do, and soon he offered her to dance. Even when she said she didn't know how to, he persisted and she found herself being dragged to the dance floor. She remembered him leaving and coming back with a glass full of liquor, which he made her drink. Twilight giggled as she remembered dancing with him, but not exactly how she was dancing. The rest of the night was a blur in her mind, and she didn't want to think with her hangover. Deciding to just clean herself up, Twilight went to move away from the couch, but she didn't count on the coffee table being in front of it, and hit her foreleg.

"Ow!" she yelped, rubbing her throbbing leg. "When did we get this... table?" She froze and looked around the room.

There was a fireplace across from the couch, and the coffee table her leg greeted. There were pictures of ponies she didn't recognize, and there was a single bookcase beside the entrance to another room. This was definitely not the library.

"Morning, sunshine." She jumped when the voice called from the stairs. "Whoa, didn't know a hangover could get somepony jumpy."

It was the stallion, Strong, from last night. "Where am I?!" she questioned, panicking slightly. "What happened last night?!"

"Keep it down," he groaned, "my head's splitting." Strong reached the bottom of the stairs and sat on the couch. "And we didn't do much, really. You danced, got drunk, and passed out on the dance floor," he chuckled. "I was going to carry you home, but I was messed up too, so here we are," he smiled, gesturing with a hoof to emphasize his house.

Twilight calmed herself, partly because her own shout was hurting her head. "Oh, um, thank you," she smiled. "I guess I'll just-" She was cut off by a low grumbling, and she flushed instantly.

"Wanna stay for breakfast?" he grinned. "I make a mean hay omelet."

"Oh, no, you don't need to," Twilight assured him.

"Don't worry, I need to go to the market today anyway," he smiled. "It'll be done in a sec, okay?"

He went into the kitchen to start breakfast while Twilight waited on the couch. She got curious and looked around his home, which was very well organized. It was a little dusty, which was something she was very picky about. She tried using her magic to bring the duster in the corner to her, but her headache made using magic painful. Instead she bit the handle and dusted as best she could.

Strong flipped the hay omelet onto a plate and smirked. He placed it beside the empty plate and grabbed it, trying to do the same as the first. Instead, the sizzling omelet landed on his head, making him yell as he threw it to the floor. Twilight dropped the duster and ran into the kitchen, running to Strong.

"What's wrong?!" she frantically asked.

He relaxed as the burning began to ebb. "Nothing... ugh, damn it," he grumbled, looking at her with an awkward smile. "Your food's ready." She deadpanned at his attempt to enlighten the situation, then looked at the burn on his face.

"What were you doing?" she asked. Strong chuckled as he pointed to the mess of an omelet on the floor.

"I uh, tried to flip it." Twilight shot him a look of disbelief, and he smiled. "Messed it up, but hey, yours came out fine!"

Twilight cast a small chill spell over the burns before they could get worse. Strong stood up and went to the sink to rub cold water on it while Twilight ate.

"So what exactly happened last night?" Strong laughed as he recalled the many embarrassing things she said about herself and some friends.

"Well, after I gave you that cherry bleedout," Strong began, "you started dancing, and then you wanted another drink, and another, and another, and you started talking about some of your friends."

She swallowed the food in her mouth and tilted her head. "What did I say?"

"Something about Applejack liking mares," he chuckled. "Fluttershy liking Big Mac, Pinkie was in an-" He was cut off as his mouth zipped shut from Twilight's spell.

"You can't say any of this to anypony, okay?" she sternly told him. Strong nodded. "No, you have to Pinkie Promise that you won't say anything."

Strong went through the motions and the zipper vanished. "Alright, so why did your friends send you to the club?" Strong inquired. "If you want to meet somepony you could just go to a coffee shop or something."

"That's exactly what I said!" Twilight exclaimed. "But Pinkie gave me this pass and made me Pinkie Promise to go. The girls say I've been studying too much... and I haven't gotten out of the house much."

Strong could understand why, since she was Princess Celestia's student. Just missing glasses, and with that thought, he thought she would look better with glasses.

"Well, guess you have me now," Strong joked. "You have no idea how hard it is to carry somepony when you're drunk."

"It feels like you dragged me here," Twilight told him with a laugh.

"I might have dropped you on the way in," Strong nervously admitted. "I would've taken you to the library, but like I said I was kinda drunk too."

Twilight giggled as she stood back up. "Well, thanks for giving me a place to sleep," she smiled. "And sorry for making you carry me."

"No problem," he smiled back. "Guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure, my friends would love to meet you," Twilight chirped. They didn't realize they were staring at each other, until Twilight remembered something else she needed to do. She flushed slightly as she walked past him. "So um, I, guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure, see ya," he said.

Twilight navigated her way to Rarity's Boutique, the sun already high in the sky. Her headache had gone away slightly, but she felt she could use some coffee. Magic was not an option right now, since her head would only throb if she tried it. At the very least, the Boutique wasn't far from Strong's house. She had actually passed it many times on the way back from the market. She trotted up the trail to the shop and pushed open the door.

"Rarity?" Twilight called.

"Be down in a minute!" Rarity's voice carried from her room. Twilight took a short glance at the mirror and saw her messy mane.

I've been walking around like that?! And of course Strong didn't say anything.

Her thoughts were voiced when the seamstress came down. "Twilight! You went around Ponyville like that?!" she shouted in horror. Twilight found herself lifted into the air and seated in front of Rarity's mirror. "I cannot believe you let your mane stay so disheveled!"

"Well, I didn't exactly have a normal morning," Twilight grinned.

"Did Spikey burn your brush again?" Rarity questioned as she brushed Twilight's mane into its usual style.

"No," Twilight said. "I just-"

"Does it have something to do with last night?" Rarity cut her off.

"Yep," she giggled.

Rarity's curiosity, and urge to gossip, got the best of her. "Oh, how did it go?" she questioned eagerly.

"It was really fun, actually," Twilight smiled.

"Did you meet anypony?" Rarity asked.

A small smirk crossed Twilight's muzzle. "I did actually," she said. "We had a lot of fun, from what I heard."

Rarity was taking out the final knots from Twilight's mane. "Oh, and what was her name?"

"His name was Strong Spirit," Twilight smiled.

Rarity nearly tore a piece of Twilight's hair off when she heard that. "You met a stallion?! Oh, what was his... I mean, what did he look like?!"

"He was tan with a black mane," Twilight recalled. "He was very handsome, actually."

"And what was he like?!" Rarity was sitting beside the lavender mare as she spoke about Strong.

"He was really fun, he danced well, he was... strong," she giggled. "And he was really kind. I was having some trouble with a couple of stallions. But he took care of it."

"Did he fight them?" Rarity asked.

Twilight blushed slightly as she recalled his 'plan'. "He... he, um... kissed me," she said, whispering the last part softly. Rarity leaned in to show she didn't hear. "He kissed me so they could think I was his marefriend!"

Rarity's jaw dropped, then she began to giddily squee. "He sounds like such a charmer!" she giggled like a school filly. "A kiss on the first night... will you see him again?"

"I don't know," Twilight laughed. "Maybe. He was kind enough to let me sleep in his house."

Rarity's jaw dropped again, until she pulled it back up. "You slept with him?!" Rarity shouted, practically bouncing in place. Twilight immediately regretted her wording.

"No! Of course not!" Twilight exclaimed, her cheeks flaming red. "I passed out and he let me sleep on his couch!"

Rarity sighed in disappointment. It would have been exciting to hear her bookworm of a friend had actually had a fling. "He could have at least let you have his bed," she commented.

"We were both intoxicated, Rarity," Twilight laughed with a roll of her eyes. "I don't think I would have even taken him home if he fell asleep. And he at least made me breakfast."

"Twilight?" The ponies turned to the doorway and saw Spike in front of the Crusaders.

"Aww, is Spike leaving already?" Sweetie Belle whined.

"Can 'e stay Twilight? We were jus' about t' go Crusading!" Applebloom added.

"Yeah! We need Spike to be the dragon for number 56!" Scootaloo pushed through. "We can't let this chance slip!"

Twilight was about to tell them they needed to go clean the library, but Rarity smacked her hoof over her mouth. "Yes, yes, run along now! Twilight and I have much to discuss!" she quickly shooed them away. "Have fun!"

She slammed the door behind them and turned back to Twilight. "Why did you do that?" she asked.

"Well, you have met a fine stallion, you've kissed him before properly knowing him, and he carried you to his house," Rarity smiled. "I'm sure a proper date could be set up."

Twilight reared her head back. "What?! No! We're not, I mean, sure he's good looking but, I don't even know him!" she exclaimed, her cheeks flushing a bit. "We're... friends, I guess."

Rarity frowned and looked at Twilight. "Just friends then?" she asked. Twilight nodded her head quickly. "Are you sure?"

"Rarity, I barely know him. Besides, none of you have even met him yet," Twilight smiled. "Maybe he can join us at the picnic on Saturday."

The frown quickly disappeared and a small grin grew on her face. "Oh, that would be a nice way to meet him!" Rarity smiled. "We'll have him with us on Saturday, don't forget to tell him!"

Twilight stood up and nodded as she made her way to the door. "I won't, Rarity. Bye."

Rarity waved as Twilight left her shop, but only one thought crossed her mind.

I must tell the others. Pinkie could help me find out more about this stallion.

Strong walked out with his saddlebag as he headed for the market. First on his list was coffee; Celestia how he needed it. Next: eggs, because he was hungry, and then some carrots, some lettuce, maybe some hay, and some non-alcoholic drinks. As he walked down the road going over what he needed, a bush with two sets of eyes rustled. He paid it no mind as he went into the market district. A black suited figure rolled behind a tree, and then climbed into the branches.

"Pinkie," Rainbow whispered. "Do ya see him?"

Pinkie Pie popped out of the leaves and pulled down her mask. "Yup!" she said louder than intended. "I mean, yup!" she whispered, "See him!"

Rainbow looked to where Pinkie was pointing, who was apparently Caramel. "You sure? Rarity said he was, I don't know, bigger?"

"No not him!" she harshly whispered. "Him!"

Caramel dropped his bag and fumbled to pick the groceries up. The pony he bumped into helped him also. "Sorry about that," the stallion chuckled. "Guess I gotta look where I'm going."

"No problem," Caramel smiled. "Thanks, Strong."

"Whoa... he is pretty... big," Rainbow murmured, staring at the stallion. Pinkie glared at the mare and pulled her into the tree.

"We're here for Twilight!" Pinkie reminded her. "He may be super cute, but you have to remember why we're here! Got it?!"

"Fine!" Rainbow silently shouted. "I still thinks he's cute."

Pinkie rolled her eyes and took out a pair of binoculars from her hair. "Now, let's see," Pinkie said as she stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth. "Strong Spirit, tan and black, tall, muscles, blue eyes, saddlebags, coffee beans-"

"What are you talking about Pinkie?" Rainbiw asked.

"I'm taking notes!" she hushed. "Obviously! How else are we gonna find out about Strong?"

Rainbow thought about something else besides taking notes on Strong, but both included him. "Whatever," she chuckled.

Strong got the coffee beans and thanked Caffeine Bean for them. He trotted off to the other stands to get the food and drinks he needed for the week. Just as he got to the stand for eggs, he noticed a commotion going on, and he hurried to see what was up. The mares noticed as well, so they took another position on top of a building to see what was going.

"What do you mean you're closed?!" a stallion shouted. "You were open five seconds ago!"

"Look, buddy, the sign says closed," the vendor said as he began to load the carton of eggs onto his cart. "Just wait for the afternoon."

"So you can't bucking open it for another five seconds?!" the stallion slammed his hooves onto the counter.

"Buddy," Strong said from behind him. "The guy says it's closed then it's closed. I'm sure it isn't that important."

"And who the buck are you?" the stallion said as he walked closer to Strong. Strong stood his ground as the stallion made his way over to him.

"First, relax the language," Strong warned, "and second, I'm Strong Spirit. Remember that if you want to keep things nice."

"Oh, big stallion over here," the stallion sarcastically laughed, shaking his hooves. "Look, idiot, buck off and mind your own business."

Strong pulled the stallion back by his shoulder. "My friends are my business," Strong said sternly.

The stallion punched Strong across the muzzle and wiped his shoulder. "Don't touch me," he sneered.

"Hey!" the vendor shouted. "I'm getting the guards!"

Strong spat off to the side and turned back to him. "Y'know, my name isn't just for show," Strong chuckled.

He copied the stallion and brought his hoof across his face. The stallion fell to the floor and Strong came closer, locking him into submission. The stallion bucked around like mad to get out as the unicorn guards galloped over. They separated the two and held them on the ground.

"Wait, sirs, it was just-"

"We'll take it from here," the first guard said. "You're both under arrest for fighting in public and disturbing the peace."

Rainbow and Pinkie got down from the building and galloped over to the scene. "Wait! Strong didn't do anything! He started it!" Pinkie pointed to the other stallion.

"Yeah, that guy was making a big problem about the stand being closed!" Rainbow added. Strong was confused as to how they knew him, but he was forced away by one of the guards.

"He still fought in public, and caused quite a swollen cheek on this stallion," the second guard said.

Strong and the stallion glared at each other as the guards pulled them away. "Sorry, Greens," Strong said to the vendor. "I'll pay for the damage when I get out."

"Damn it, son," Greens sighed. "There has to be some way to get him outta there."

Pinkie hopped into the air as a lightbulb appeared over her head. "I know!" she exclaimed. While Rainbow tried to find out why the lightbulb appeared, Pinkie pulled her down the road.

Twilight was busy dusting books while Spike reshelved them. That was, until Pinkie knocked down the door, using Rainbow as a battering ram. "Ow!" she shouted.

"Twilight! Twilight!" Pinkie cried as she shook the mare. "You have to help!"

"What?! What is it?!" Twilight asked. "Is somepony hurt?!"

"Yes! Well, sort of. Strong's being sent to jail!" she said. "The other guy hit him first and he was just trying to help Mean Greens get rid of him but he-"

"Wait wait wait," Twilight shoved a hoof in Pinkie's mouth. "How did you girls know about Strong?"

"We were spying on him for Rarity," Rainbow admitted without a second thought. "But that's not the point! The guards dragged him off when he wasn't supposed to be! You have to get him out! You're the princess' student!"

Twilight had never used her status as protegé of the princess like this. "I don't think that'd help," Twilight said.

"Just try!" Rainbow huffed as she dragged Twilight out of the house.

Spike stood on the sidelines, oblivious to what they were talking about. "Maybe my bed's still warm," he murmured.

Twilight galloped alongside the other mares as they headed for the Ponyville Jailhouse. The guards in front stopped the mares. "What do you need?" one asked.

Rainbow nudged Twilight in the ribs and nodded to the guard. "Ahem, I am the princess' personal student," she said as formally as possible. "I'm asking you to release a stallion by the name of Strong Spirit."

They gave each other unsure looks, but nodded for them to follow. With a sigh of relief from the mares, they followed the guards into the building and into the cell blocks. There wasn't much crime in Ponyville, as could be told by the many empty cells. There were only two that were occupied, one being the stallion from the market, and the other being Strong. He was throwing a rock against the wall of his cell as he waited for his three day sentence to be over. When he heard several hoofsteps he turned around. He recognized the two mares from the market, and smiled when he saw his new friend.

"Hey, Twilight," he grinned. "What brings you to Paradise?"

"Quiet inmate," one of the guards said. "This the one you needed?"

"Yes," Twilight nodded. "What is he charged for?"

"Fighting in the streets and damage to property," the guard said.

"I said I'd pay for it," Strong sighed.

"And he didn't even start the fight!" Rainbow said. "He was just waiting for you guys to get there!"

The guard ignored Rainbow's protests and floated the keys into the lock. "You're released under the princess' student's authority," the guard told Strong. "Don't do it again, ya hear?"

"Yes, sir," Strong saluted, turning to the mares. "Nice seein' you again, Twilight. They brought you here?"

"Yup!" Pinkie smiled. "I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"Rainbow Dash," the mare told him, flipping her mane to the side.

"They're my friends," Twilight said. "They came to get me when you got arrested. Why did you anyways? I left not three hours ago and you're already looking for trouble?"

Strong chuckled as he shook his head. "Nah, but that other guy was apparently," Strong smirked. "He was making a scene so I tried to stop him before he hurt somepony, and he tried to."

It was only now that Twilight saw the swollen cheek. "Oh my gosh! Does it hurt?!" she asked as she looked closer.

"I'm fine, mom," Strong laughed. "But seriously, I'm fine. Just gotta..." he face-hoofed at the realization. "...get my bag from the market. If it's still there."

"Don't worry!" Pinkie smiled. "I got it!" Pinkie pulled out his saddlebag from her hair and handed it to him.

"Um, thanks," Strong said as he looked for any stray hairs. "Well, guess I better be going now."

"Yeah, me and Pinks got a day o' pranking ahead of us," Rainbow sighed. "Come on! Let's see if Applejack's doing anything."

The pair zoomed off, leaving Twilight and Strong alone. "You're sure you're okay?" Twilight asked. "It looks like it hurts."

Strong rubbed it a little, chuckling the whole time. "Don't worry about it," he smiled. "I've had worse." He showed her the scar on his foreleg. "Me an' a friend of mine tried juggling knives."

"Please tell me you were drunk," Twilight deadpanned.

"That's what I told, Lightning," Strong laughed. "Yeah, and one more thing. We're even."

Twilight raised a brow in curiosity. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I carried you home, and gave you a place to stay, and you got me out of the slammer," Strong said. "That would be really bad for me at my job."

"Well, try not to get sent there again," Twilight giggled. "I don't think being Celestia's student really lets me do things like this."

"Alright," he smiled. "So, I'll see you some other day?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, then snapped them to attention when she remembered something. "Actually, me and the girls were going to have a picnic on Saturday. Wanna come?" she asked.

Strong rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm, sure. Just uh, make sure it isn't early. Friday's reserved for Vinyl's club," Strong said.

"Of course," Twilight giggled with a roll of her eyes. "See you next week then."

They waved each other off, and Strong glanced back to Twilight. He had to say it again, she was a really pretty looking mare. Some glasses would do the trick though. He chuckled as he turned back around, and no sooner did he turn back did Twilight look behind to see him. She told Rarity, but he was really handsome. And kind of funny too, but he was still nice. She could feel something else inside, like a weird rush in her chest. Whatever it was vanished when she turned forward again.

They were both looking forward to Saturday.

Author's Note

Just revising for you guys! Hope you're enjoying it so far! If you are, remember to like, fav, comment, and have an awesome day or night! Peaces!