Magicka Lager

Twilight Sparkle was throwing up in the toilet.

“Hey,” called Spike, worried. “You okay?” No answer, however, was to be heard, as

the lavender mare was heaving air into the toilet bowl, her immune system attempting to

purge the abnormality from her body. The remains of her apple pancake grew cold on her

plate, and the immense capacity of Twilight’s mind struggled to find a reason for the oddity in

her gag reflex. The first, only, and correct answer came to her mind after she could focus on

something besides vomiting: love. She rushed t o the vial, and took a good look at it. As it turned in the light, she found something that confirmed her fears. Etched in the side of the vial, were six small hash marks. Six doses.

Twilight exited the bathroom after flushing the toilet and scrubbing the chunks of

pancake and bile from the floor, still with a sore throat and weak knees.

“I-I’m fine, Spike. I’m just a little sick is all...”

“Yeah,” said Spike. “You look it. And, no offense, you smell it, too. Like you vomited a

sewer, or something.”

Twilight made no attempt to object against Spike’s choice of words. There was no

need, really, to tell him. She smiled half heartedly, and said “I d-do, huh? Well, maybe I just

need fresh air. After I brush my teeth again, let’s go v-visit the others, kay?”

Spike nodded assent, and climbed up to the bedroom level to get ready. Twilight

entered the bathroom and started brushing. Her mind wandered to what happened that

morning.

‘No. No no no no nonononononono!’ she thought frantically. ‘What did Xrap do to me?

There is definitely something wrong with that vial. Gah! Why did I even drink it anyway?

Because there would be no harm? Wrong. I just did it. Only problem is, I can’t take it back,

not now. The stuff is already in me, my blood. I didn’t vomit it along with the pancakes, or my

bile would be tinted pink, right? But now, I... I need to know. What they did to me. Why me,

one of the greatest threats to the changeling hive? I have done nothing but harm them since

the beginning! But, still, no denying it... I want more. More of whatever it is. Love, some sort of drug, it’s addicting. Not consciously, of course. I know I won’t seek it out, try to get more,

because I won’t allow myself. But my body just needs to calm down for a bit, let withdrawal

take it’s course, and soon enough I will be back to normal, right? Right. Right. I can do this.

How much love was that even? Such a tiny bottle, I can work through it. Just tough it out,

Twilight. You can do this. No need to help out those changelings. They almost ruined my

brother’s wedding!’

Bolstered by the thought of her brother, Twilight finished brushing her teeth and

stepped out to the library. Spike was waiting for her. “Ready to go?”

“R-ready.” she affirmed attempting a brave face.

Even Spike could see how fake it was.

Twilight Sparkle was not prepared for what she saw when she looked up at Ponyville.

Everything looked the same, yes, but different. Everything was exactly right where it was

supposed to be, but it was wrong. She approached Carousel Boutique, and stared for about

thirty seconds and realized the colors were dull. In her mind, she knew the paint job was

exactly the same as it was yesterday, but the normally eye-popping colors were dull and

uninteresting regardless. She entered with a tinkling of a bell that sounded maybe just a tad

flat.

“Oh, hello, Twilight,” said Rarity, looking up from a mannequin that had more pins than

cloth in it. There were several scraps of cloth, spools of thread, assorted materials, and

gemstones strewn across the showroom floor. A large coat of arms hung from a wall.

“Pardon the mess, I’ve gotten a rather large commission from a Noble house asking for several coats and dresses of a particular style with this coat of arms on it, and I’ve been trying to get my embroidery right.” She sounded tired, like she had been up all night, which she probably had, given the probable size of the commission.

“No problem, Rarity. I-I only stopped by t-to clear my head for a minute.”

“Are you alright, darling?” asked Rarity as she approached. “You look pale. And,” Rarity did a quick sweep of her friend’s stature. She confirmed what she thought she

saw as Twilight entered the boutique. “You’re shivering from mane to tail.” She approached

Twilight and rested a foreleg over Twilight’s forehead as a look of concern spread across her

face. “You’re burning up, darling! You’ll need more than fresh air, dear, you need a doctor.”

Twilight stuttered something under her breath that Rarity couldn’t catch. “I’ll be fine. I g-gotta go, bye.”

And Twilight Sparkle walked out the door. Spike, trailing behind, mouthed ‘sorry’ to

Rarity as they made their exit.

They didn’t see Pinkie Pie until she almost collided with them, a silver tray of cookies

in tow.

“Oops, sorry guys,” said Pinkie. “I was looking for some of my friends, anyhow.

Wanna cookie?” She held out the platter filled with sugar cookies with chocolate chips and

strawberry slices. “I need somepony to try them before the Corner can put them up for sale.

They’re called Fondue Cake Cookies, and they’re really soft and sweet. Try one!”

Twilight stared at the cookies, thinking of what happened earlier this morning. If she vomited that cookie in front of Pinkie... but she couldn’t exactly just say no, either. Pinkie Pie is persistent, no doubt.

“Sure, Pinkie. I’ll try one.”

 Twilight quickly popped a cookie into her mouth. She chewed slowly, savoring the

flavor, and trying to judge if it was safe to swallow. The cookie was remarkable, really. And

delicious. But could she actually avoid vomiting? She made the attempt. As it slid down toward her stomach, she begged Celestia silently to keep the food down. A losing battle, perhaps, but a battle nonetheless. She managed “Wow, Pinkie, that was really-” before vomiting all over the tray of cookies and Pinkie’s left forehoof. Twilight collapsed on the ground, heaving and retching, and finally began coughing and picking herself up. “Horseapples,” she muttered to herself. “I really thought I could keep it down.” As Twilight looked up, Pinkie was gone, leaving the discarded tray of cookies and a small puddle of tears.

“Well, that could have gone better.” Twilight resolved to stay inside with a book the rest of the day. She entered the library and picked up the book she was reading, ‘Study of Non-Pony Species From Pony Perspective’, and noted to herself it seemed not quite as enthralling as it was earlier in the morning.

Twilight lay on her back in her bed, playing around with a small, multi colored rubber ball. A dull game, and not productive in any way, shape or form, she was content to lay there and play with her rubber ball. A knock on the door made her lose her concentration, and the ball bopped her on the nose. She rubbed muzzle with a hoof and trudged over to the door, annoyed that somepony interrupted her game. The door came open, and outside stood five concerned looking ponies and a worried dragon. One of them, Applejack, looked at Twilight for a good ten seconds before nodding. Rarity had her worried face on, and Pinkie was crying.Twilight and the others made no move towards each other for a good minute. Twilight’s mind was frantic, even as her face was calm. “They can’t come in, not now. Not like this...’

 And, finally, a move was made. The door slammed shut between them. Twilight

uttered an epithet that has become all too common in her vocabulary these days:

“Horseapples.”

        The glow near the exit of the Everfree was unmistakable. As Twilight checked once more to ensure she was not followed, she cautiously approached the rocks, where a small wolf was lying in the sun. He looked up wearily from his sunbathe, and nodded once. He leapt over the rock, and Twilight followed, to find a small cave on the other side. Glowing green, blue, red, and all sorts of other colors and hues, she entered with only a fool’s moment of hesitation. The tunnel was lined with small mushrooms that sent of a blue ethereal glow, and the walls were coated in a thin, waxy substance. She followed the tunnel to a huge, open cavern with many large niches on the inside, all of them still glowing.

        “Hello, Twilight.” Twilight quickly looked to her left and saw Xrap looking at her with an amused expression.

        “Xrap?”

        “Please. That’s not my real name. Call me Emily.”

        “Emily? What kind of a ridiculous name is that?”

        “It’s my name, thank you, and if you are here, that means the deal is sealed. Right?”

        Twilight was surprised, shocked, and appalled at the answer that came out of her mouth. “Yes.”

        Emily smiled. Then we need a name for you, then. A real name, not a noun or an adjective or something gay. I’m gonna call you Victoria. Or Tori. Fine? Good. Noww, let’s show you the family.”