The morning came with little movement within the castle. A long night of partying too hard for the ponies and a night of catchup for the humans had left them all exhausted. Some much-needed sleep was in line for the weary bunch.

One of which was Twilight, who woke with the midday sun rousing her from her sleep. She was groggy and slow to come to her senses.

"Mmm," She groaned, coming to feel her tired muscles catching up to her and a little dehydration giving her cottonmouth. "Peter, do you know what time it is?"

Her question went unanswered, so she turned over to wake her surprise caretaker of the night.

"Peter, we should—"

Sniffs' spot was empty, save the soft scent of clover left behind. He had left her, and she hadn't even noticed. Perhaps she was more exhausted than she realized.

Seeing how she wasn't going to get anything accomplished in bed, she took a little time to make herself presentable and ventured down to see what all she had missed since last night's fiasco.

Nearly all the party-goers were gathered in the dining hall. Spread out over the tables, enjoying a brunch Spike and Sniff had been putting on.

"Good Morning, Twilight," Spike greeted with a chipper attitude. "Have a seat. We made pancakes again."

Twilight, feeling a bit off from the lingering effects of alcohol, but comforted by the overall somber feel of the room and, all things considered, replied, "Thank you, Spike. How is everypony feeling this morning?"

"Seems like everyone's good," Becky answered. "A little more thirsty than usual, I guess. But that's to be expected."

Twilight drug her tongue over the roof of her cottonmouth, verifying how in need of fluids she was.

"Is that a side effect of the alcohol?" She asked with a curious mind.

Luna spoke up from farther down the table.

"It appears to be that way. We have yet to sleep ourselves but have been nursing these side effects with water since you retired for the night. So, we are not feeling as poorly as the others might."

Twilight struggled to swallow down her fear of what conversation would be started after the events of last night.

"That's good to hear, Princess."

"Twilight," Luna pulled back a chair next to her at the table. "Please, come sit with us. We wish to speak candidly with you."

Twilight slowly made her way over to the empty seat, still wary of how Luna was going to scold her for her ineptitude. No sooner after being seated, Sniff stepped in between them, handing Twilight a plate of pancakes and Luna a bowl of mixed fruit.

With the dishes set, Sniff gingerly greeted the newly woken princess.

"Morning, Twigs. I'll get ya a cup of coffee and some juice. Gotta hydrate if you want to avoid a headache." He turned to Luna with the same smile. "Anything else I can get you, Lulu?"

Luna looked up to Sniff with a pleasant smile and laid a hoof on his forearm.

"No, and thank you so much for everything you've done. We shall be fine for now."

Twilight watched Sniff head out to the hall towards the kitchen. This whole morning felt like Cerb's nightmare debacle had to have been a dream. There was no way all of last night's chaos had been forgotten about... and did Sniff just call her—

"Lulu?" Twilight asked, utterly confused. "I thought only Celestia called you that?"

"Hm?" Luna queried, having watched Sniff depart as well. "Oh, yes. Sniff was one of the first to wake after I lowered the moon and assisted Kelly to her bed. We've all been getting to know each other. Chris had brought up the nickname Tia uses for me in a conversation, and he's been using it ever since."

Twilight spoke blankly as she looked down at her plate.

"I feel like I must have missed out on a lot this morning,"

Luna took a piece of melon, taking a dainty bite from it.

"Indeed you have. We had a long and pleasant, not to mention eye-opening, conversation with Kelly after our confrontation last night. And some rather amusing ones with the others this morning. From which, we must offer our most sincere of apologies."

Twilight dropped her fork.

"You're apologizing to me?"

"Yes," Luna suddenly looked guilt-ridden as she admitted to her faults. "We were... overly emotional when we first discovered Cerb's sad state. Kelly informed us of much from his past, as well as the others. Things that we still find difficult to understand. The cruelty and neglect they've suffered. As well as their resilience to dealing with such hardships, even if when supporting each other."

It was a relief to hear Luna had a better understanding of what kind of issues Twilight had been dealing with.

"On our first day of meeting each other, I was given a brief summary of their struggles, but—" Twilight twirled a bite-sized piece of pancake as she thought. "—I'm finding there's so much more they still don't want to talk about."

Luna sipped from a tall glass of water while listening and readied her reply.

"We didn't have a proper understanding of how ill-prepared you were left to handle this task until Sniff inquired about our... psychic powers."

"Psychic powers?" Twilight repeated those words, wondering what kind of conversation they must have had, only to remember her own with him the night before.

Fortunately, Luna was oblivious to how Sniff had tailored his question to put her in Twilight's position. Thankfully, it was made all the more clear with her continued explanation.

"He seemed interested in our ability to see into the dreams of others and asked if all alicorns could see into the minds of those they desired to know the secrets of. At first, we thought it only a question of curiosity, but we soon were concerned he thought you would perhaps use such a power to search their minds." She drew a look of pride on her face. "Thankfully, he was receptive to our explanation on the limits of spells and when we can even use them. But the way he asked it, made me think about how we had no reason to expect you to uncover so many unknowables."

Twilight couldn't believe how surprised she was that Sniff had already gone out of his way to help her out with this.

"I see what you mean... Not sure why he would have thought to ask if we could read minds, though."

Luna seemed more at ease now.

"Well, Twilight. We all have much to learn about each other."

Sniff came in behind them with the drinks for Twilight.

"You ladies talking 'bout little old me? Nothing bad, I hope."

"Not at all," Twilight was quick to answer. “And thank you, Peter.”

Sniff grinned at Twilight, apparently understanding that she wasn't only thanking him for the drinks.

"Not a problem, Twiggels. That's what I'm here for." He placed the drinks down and moved his hands over to Luna's shoulders, working his fingers gently into her muscles. "And you, Lulu. I could have sworn you said you were going to bed, like, half an hour ago."

Luna relaxed her shoulders as Sniff went to work and gave a slight giggle at the sudden attention she was given but submitted to the gratifying attrition.

"We are enjoying the company far too much to let our wearing eyes take us from it."

Twilight flicked Sniff's wrist with her wing and chuckled.

"Stop that, Peter. Stop messing with Luna and let her eat. We don't need to keep her up any longer than she's used to."

Luna rolled her eyes as she feigned a begrudging tone.

"Oh, Twilight, you worry too much. But, if you are to be so insistent, I believe we have had our fill and shall retire again until duty calls." She floated her half-eaten bowl up to Sniff. "Could you take this for us? We would most appreciate it."

Sniff pulled his hands away and took the dish.

"Not a problem. I guess we'll see you later tonight if Twilight hasn't kicked us out already."

Luna beamed as she watched him walk off to exit again.

"Well, we would most certainly hope not." She turned to Twilight and spoke under a hushed voice. "We still have much to discuss tonight, Twilight. We are not mad at thee, but clarity is greatly lacking, and we believe you not to be at fault."

Luna stood up and pushed her chair in before making one last declaration.

"And be sure to let Fluttershy, Rarity, and Mr. Cerberus know that we wish to speak with them before we depart. We have some gratitude to share for the help given to Mr. Cerberus, and we would also wish to offer our services to him if he is willing... if we are even able to do so, that is."

Twilight answered as she bowed.

"Of course, Princess. Sleep well."

The rest of the group bid Luna a good night as she departed, and the dining hall went quiet with only idle chatter. At least until Pinkie came up next to Twilight and whispered, "Hey, Twi. I think I need your help."

Twilight made a gesture of confusion with a mouth full of food.

“Hmm?"

"Act, natural," Pinkie ordered in a whisper.

Knowing Pinkie's odd behavior, and Twilight's own weariness from the long night and near heart attack with Luna, she decided to roll with it. Might as well see what madness was going to unfurl.

Pinkie reached below her chair and pulled out an oversized glass of juiced, and brought it to her lips to take a drink.

"Watch Benny," she uttered quietly as she noisily tried to drink from a tall glass of juice. "Don't let him see you watching."

Twilight chewed inconspicuously and watched Benny eat and chat with Becky and Chris. They were joking about something. Something about Kelly wearing out Big Mac and keeping Luna up all night. They seemed to be having a good run of jokes, but she couldn't follow along. Just as they were finishing up and Becky and Chris were gathering their dishes, Pinkie pulled out an entire watermelon.

She stuck her whole muzzle in it and began eating its interior to mask her talking.

"Watch him after they go," Pinkie discreetly whispered.

Carefully, from across the other table, Twilight watched him, waiting for any unusual behavior or for anything to stand out.

Benny handed them his plate and silverware, thanked them with a smile, and turned his attention back to his cup of coffee. Nothing seemed odd or out of place at first, but then she saw it happen.

He held a smile while looking at his cup of coffee, then slowly, without reason or warning, his smile faded to a look of sorrow. All the joy he had on display was a lie. When left on his own, his mask was removed, and another side could be seen.

"He's like that all the time," Pinkie whispered from the inside of the watermelon.

Twilight raised her cup of coffee to her lips to cover them.

"Is he sad?"

"Miserable," Pinkie confirmed. "It doesn't matter what I do, Twilight. As soon as he's by himself. He's always like this. I've never seen a fake smile so convincing as his. It's terrible."

Twilight took a sip of her coffee and lowered it, ready to address Pinkie directly.

"How long have you known about this?"

"Since movie night," Pinkie answered. "He told me—" She leaned in to whisper "—what happened to Kelly happened to another human he knew, but—" Her ears drooped and her hair deflated. "—he wasn't able to save her."

"Oh, no," Twilight felt a pit grow in her stomach. "That's terrible. If—" She stopped herself from continuing, fearing he could overhear them if either of them spoke too loudly. "I'll look into it, Pinkie. Thank you for letting me know."

"What are we going to do?" Pinkie asked, concerned for her new friend. "We had probably the best Welc—"

Twilight clapped her hooves around Pinkie's muzzle to stop her from continuing on, having only muffled grumbles come out from her muzzle.

"Not right now, Pinkie." Twilight tried to prevent her from going on and creating a scene. "We'll figure it out. But for now..."

She looked over to Benny again just in time to see him look up from his coffee and put on that same fake happy face again. She, of course, returned the smile and hoped he wasn't catching on to their conversation before turning back to Pinkie.

"Just be a good friend to him for now. We'll figure this all out when he's ready. We don't know how bad it would be if you push him too hard. If he has problems like Cerb, we have to be careful on how..."

Twilight looked around the dining room again. She remembered that not everyone was there when she came down. Cerb, Fluttershy, and Rarity were not there. Neither was Lumberman or Applejack.

"Excuse me, Benny," Twilight asked across the tables as she let go of Pinkie. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, uh..." Benny put his coffee cup down and looked to the doors leading out. "Cerb went for a run to clear his head. He felt really bad about what happened last night. I think he's avoiding Luna because of it, actually. His clothes are still here, so he'll be back. And, of course, Flutters and Rarity went along with him. And Lumberman took Applejack and Big Mac back to take care of the chores over at their place. Not sure how long that'll take 'em."

"Oh," The news about Cerb didn't sit well with Twilight. She didn't want this to create a problem with him being around any of them. "Is he..."

"He's fine," Benny reassured her. "He's more embarrassed than anything else. We should have known something like this could of happened."

Cadance overheard the conversation and wanted to offer her help in the matter.

"I spoke with Cerb about some of the issues he has yesterday. Fluttershy and Rarity have been helping him, and I did what I could with one small part of his issues... but I had no idea he had it this bad." She turned to Benny. "Shining and I talked about it, and we would like to offer any and all of our services to both Cerb and Becky back in the Crystal Empire. Do you think he would be willing to accept our help?"

Benny was still out of the loop on what all was going on with Cerb since arriving and opening up to Fluttershy and Rarity. He didn't feel confident speaking on his behalf.

"Uhh... I... don't know, to be honest, Princess. He used to do a lot of... uhh... He used to get help a while ago, but we kinda hit a wall with it and stopped."

"We?" Cadence asked, wondering if he misspoke. "Did you use to go with him?"

Sure enough, Benny did say something he didn't mean to, and he let out an embarrassed groan.

"Yeah... we both used to go to this group together. It helped for a while, but... we kinda just stopped going. Kinda hit a point where we heard everything we had to and stopped seeing any reason to keep going if all we had to do was actually do what they had already taught us."

"I see," Cadence said with a heavy heart after listening to what sounded like them giving up.

"Well, we gladly would like to extend our offer for you to join us as well."

Doing his best to keep eye contact with her, Benny answered, "They both need the most help, if I'm being honest." He turned his attention back to his coffee. "But you'll have to talk to them to see what they want to do."

If Benny took away anything from his time in the Navy, it was how, and when, to turn down a generous offer from a superior. Now, as an ambassador for Earth, he had to mind his bearing and not insult her offering without a valid explanation.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think right now my responsibilities have me tied down here." He forced a chuckle or two, thinking about how he hadn't done much since getting there. "I pretty much fell into a leadership position when I landed here with my house. So there's a lot of things I need to get on top of to make sure everyone here with me is taken care of. I also need to get a better hold on the responsibilities and obligations I have with the Status of Forces Agreement I signed."

All three royals knew that was a weak answer, but it also carried a lot of validity that couldn't be denounced. At the same time, they couldn't tell if he was avoiding the help being offered or if he was taking his role that seriously. Either way, they couldn't call him out on it and knew better than to push.

Cadence replied, taking his words as honestly as she could.

"Perfectly understandable. Just know that our offer has no expiration for as long as you're here."

Twilight jumped in with an offer to hopefully help appease him.

"I'd be happy to go over any questions you may still have. I know you had questions about employment. So there's still plenty for us to go over."

Sniff reentered the room; Spike, Chris, and Becky were close behind.

"Dishes are done, and the kitchen is clean," He proudly declared.

Twilight groaned after hearing Sniff’s proud declaration.

"Spike. You didn't pawn your chores off to them, did you?"

Spike quickly answered, fearful he would be punished for it.

"No, Twilight. I kept trying to tell them that it was my job to do, but they wouldn't listen."

Sniff stood with a smirk and looked down at his dragon protege, and instructed him, "Tell her why, Spike," and flicked one of the spines on Spike’s head.

Spike tried to bat Sniff’s hand away before rubbing his spine and answering like a child being forced to apologize for something they didn’t want to.

"Real men aren't freeloaders and pull their weight.”

Twilight giggled.

"Well, I certainly do appreciate you at least teaching him a valuable lesson about helping where you can."

Helix Ray was struggling to keep pace with the small herd he was formed up with. But at least now that he was out of his armor, they could all get a much better look at him. Without his helmet on, they could see that his mane was shorter than most and colored silver with some streaks of neon blue, just like his tail. His cutie mark was two magic bolts, matching the colors in his mane and tail, projecting from a unicorn's horn that split from the base.

Above all else, Helix looked exhausted, which was made all the more clear as he spoke.

"And you *pant* used to do this *heavy breathing* with body armor on?"

Cerb led the pack with Helix Ray, Rarity, and Fluttershy trailing behind him.

"Short runs with the body armor and long humps with full gear and a field bag."

Fluttershy was running with less success than her first attempt.

"Can't I just fly?" She panted heavily. "Please?"

"Yes," Rarity wheezed. "Or maybe you have to vomit again? We don't mind waiting for you *pant* if you feel the need to empty your stomach."

Even Cerb wasn’t feeling the best before puking behind the castle, so he started to slow down and apologized to the group.

"Sorry. Yeah... we can take a break."

The three ponies stumbled to a halt. Each one struggled to catch their breath.

Fluttershy was facing a dilemma with her stamina; she didn't have any.

"As much as I want to—" She hated having to ask this. "Maybe we can finish our training later?"

"Training?" Helix Ray questioned with great curiosity.

He wasn't in the kind of shape one would have expected and was panting just as hard as the other two.

"What kind of training are you *pant* doing?"

Cerb looked down at the tired stallion, still trying to understand how he could be this worn out.

"Self-defense, submissions, joint manipulation, and takedowns."

Helix Ray was finally catching his breath.

"How much *pant* does that cost?"

There was a question Cerb never expected to hear.

"Uh... I wasn't charging. You want in? Err, no. Wait." Cerb had to wonder if there was any type of regulations preventing a member of their armed forces from training with a foreign national unless authorized. "I guess if your chain of command is okay with it, I wouldn't be against evening out our numbers. Plus, if you're already trained up, you'd only be helping."

Helix Ray sat down, needing the rest.

"Helping with what?"

"Teaching."

"Teaching what?"

There was no way this guard wasn't getting it, or at least Cerb didn't know how he couldn't.

"Don't you have any combat training?"

Helix Ray gave an uneasy laugh.

"I'm a unicorn. My combat is with magic. I'd use weapons like some of the other guards, but my telekinesis wasn't good enough to be put in a weapons unit. But I've sat through the training for all of them. There isn't much to teach."

It was looking all the more like this royal army was ripe with issues that Cerb didn't know how to feel about.

"Okay, then. But yeah, so long as your chain of command is okay with it, I don't mind."

Such a simple task shouldn't take too long for Helix Ray to complete, and he was happy to have the chance to see what he could learn.

"Sounds great. I'll put in a request to see if they're okay with it, but I should probably head back and get ready for my turnover. Catch you around later, Big Guy."

The three watched the Royal Guard trot back out towards the castle, but the mares were not overly excited about having another join their ranks, even if he was a stallion.

Fluttershy was the first to ask a question about Cerb's hesitation.

"Why would he have to get permission to train with you? We didn't need any."

"Sorry," Cerb apologized before he reviewed his thoughts, knowing that he left so much of that open for an explanation. "I don't know what their rules are for letting foreign nationals be exposed to their combat capabilities, or lack thereof in his case... Don't want others knowing how they operate."

On that note of training, and hoping they wouldn't, Rarity asked, "Are we going to do anything else today?"

"Nah," Cerb could tell they were both worn out from the lack of sleep and booze drying them out.

"Maybe tomorrow... We should head back, though. See what's all going on today."

Lumberman followed Applejack with his eyes as she walked over with a bucket of slop.

"Swear ta god, Apple Hat. If you start slamming that pigpen door—"

"Cool yer applesauce, Woody," Applejack grunted as she dumped the bucket into the feed trough. "Not that I'm against the wise advice from a well-seasoned farmer like yerself, but I remember what ya dun told me last time."

A couple of hens bawked and pecked at Lumberman's boots.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya, ya hungry fuckers," Lumberman spat out as he went back to spreading out the corn for them.

Granny Smith called out down the wagon path leading up to the house, Flurry Heart riding on her back.

"Well, howdy there, Mr. Lumberman."

"Woah!" Lumberman was actually glad to see her. "Granny, where ya been?"

He tossed the rest of the corn feed over his shoulder, exciting the hens but earning a scowl from Applejack behind him.

"We missed you at the dance party last night, or that not your scene these days?"

"Well, ah he-heh," That brought a big smile to Granny's face. "I might have a few good swings in my steps still, but I was busy taking care of this here, little filly."

"Granny," Applejack trotted up in a huff. "What in the world you thinking? Wondering off with Flurry Heart like that? Does Cadence or Shining know where she's at?"

"Quit yer fussing. I told them, guards, we was going for a walk," Granny explained with a calm smile. "Sides. She gets to fussing something fierce if she isn't being entertained. She's about 'uh troublesome as you at that age."

Flurry Heart noticed the hens pecking away at the feed and teleported off from Granny with an audible pop. She reappeared in the center of the feeding frenzy, scaring away all the hens.

Granny sulked.

"Only, unlike you, she's a lot better at her disappearing act."

All three turned to watch Flurry Heart flying in circles, trying to catch any one of the chickens. Her giggles and gibberish spewing out nonstop.

"Welp," Granny groaned as she took a seat in the grass. "Guess it's best just to let her tire herself out."

Lumberman asked blankly, "She's not gonna like... eat it if she catches it?"

Both mares slowly turned their heads to stare down the man who asked such a ridiculous question.

Lumberman shrugged and spoke up in a defensive voice.

"What? I'm new here. I don't know what's going on."

Twilight was having her first proper face-to-face discussion with Benny and Chris.

"So," Twilight started off with some simple topics to go over. "We have the Status of Forces Agreement, but there are other topics that can be negotiated. Items such as trade, taxation of goods or tariffs, establishing currency values, extradition, or even establishing allotments of goods and services to help support you while you're here."

Benny scratched his head for a moment, thinking on all that.

"Well, I don't think we have much to trade at the moment. I'd think we'd want to avoid imposing taxes, because they suck... That and we'd have nothing to take anyway. Our currency is pretty much useless here, so we might as well use yours since the compensation from Celestia is pretty much our treasury at the moment. Uhh... what else was there?"

"Extradition and allotments," Chris answered.

"Yeah," Benny felt a little uneasy about those last two. "I kinda doubt we'd need to set up any extradition agreements... I just don't see us doing anything to get us arrested in the first place. And we don't have a way to jail anyone, anyway."

Chris interjected."I'd like to make a recommendation."

A little curious to see what Chris could have thought up so quickly, Twilight asked, "What did you have in mind?"

Chris sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"As an agreement not to imprison any pony, or other Equestrian, for crimes less than aggravated assault, we would like to establish that our Embassy be allowed to retain custody of any prisoners of, or in direct connection to, the Human Embassy, and be returned to the Embassy where they will be held under house arrest."

Twilight blinked.

"That's... rather specific."

Chris added to the request.

"In addition, The human Embassy will only be able to hold a prisoner for no more than ninety-six hours, at which point, any Equestrian enforcement agency will be allowed to take over custody upon their request. The Human Embassy, will, of course, in all likelihood be willing to turn over custody sooner than that."

Benny had no idea where this was coming from and had to understand this whole thought process.

"Uh, Chris? Why are you asking for this?"

Chris answered with ease.

"Potential future plotlines."

Twilight drew in closer.

"Plotlines?"

Chris readjusted himself in his seat to better address the two.

"The way I see it; eventually, one of us will be framed for a crime. More than likely, to sow distrust between the locals and us or to have us isolated from each other and your protection. Probably some villain will have one or more of us framed for a crime. In this way, we'll be in a location where we can protect each other, still be under watch by any law enforcement, and be in easy access to you and the rest of the Mane Six."

Twilight shook her head.

"Why would anypony want to frame you for a crime?"

Benny started to see where Chris's mind was at.

"Because we're a scary unknown, and easily subject to prejudice and fear-mongering. Plus, since so many of us are close to you and your friends, as well as some of the other royalty here, we'd be a powerful asset to work as leverage. Not to mention, we'd be extremely vulnerable if we were outside our Embassy or not under your direct observation or protection from the others. So it would be easy for anyone with enough power and connections to coerce you or the others into compromising your safety."

"You really think some pony would be—" Twilight stopped her question as soon as she started to hear herself say it. "Yeah... I could see that happening, too. I can start penning that agreement tonight."

"Anything else, Chris?" Benny asked, hoping there wasn't anything else he might not have considered.

Chris shook his head.

"Nothing else I can think of at the moment."

Twilight raised her pen to her notepad.

"Okay. That just leaves your request for allotments, unless you have anything else you would like to bring to the table."

Benny fidgeted with his hands briefly.

"Let's put that one on hold. I know most of us aren't going to want to be asking for handouts. That being said, I have no doubt we are going to need help getting situated and be more self-sufficient... Oh! That's right. Work Visas... Or whatever you call them here. Some kind of documentation or proclamation stating that we can hold employment in your kingdom."

"Right," Twilight penned that into her notepad. "That last one will be easy. And if that is everything we needed to go over for the legal side, I'd like to spend some time getting a better understanding of this show that you've used to learn so much about us, Chris. And you're more than welcome to stay as well, Benny. You said you knew about us as well?"

While familiar with the show, Benny was by no means an expert.

"Uh... I know only a little bit. I'll stick around for a while, but I won't have much to offer."

Chris brought out his phone, ready to use it if need be.

"I don't have everything about you on my phone. Most of it is on my laptop back at the house. But there's a lot I can remember off the top of my head."

"Great," Twilight beamed as she brought out another notepad. "I guess the first thing I'd like to ask is if there are any dangers you've seen in this show of yours that you think we don't know about."

Lumberman checked the straps over Granny Smith in the back seat one last time.

"Alright, don't get too spooked when the engine starts. It's loud but harmless."

Granny chuckled as she took in the sights of the truck's interior. "Oou, I'm so excited. This feels just like one of them amusement park rides. Are you excited there, little one?"

Granny leaned forward to check in on Flurry Heart sitting on her lap. Flurry Heart seemed to be content with holding onto the chicken she captured and refused to let go of.

Applejack reached around and patted the confused hen on the head.

"Don't you worry none, Henrietta. We'll have ya back to the farm in time for supper."

Lumberman closed the backdoor for Granny and moved to the bed of the truck where Big Mac was sitting.

"You good to go, Mac?"

"Eeyup," he said with a confident smile. "So, long as you ain't gonna try to prank Granny Smith like ya did to me while I'm back here."

Lumberman just smiled and nodded.

"Yer good, man. Ain't nothing about that would be funny. I'll take it nice and easy for ya."

Derpy was busy sorting the last few pieces of mail before opening the office. Another clerk flipped the sign to open to the public and unlocked the door, allowing a small crowd that was eagerly awaiting to enter.

Derpy cheerfully greeted them.

"Good morning, everypony." She filed away the last few letters of outgoing mail and returned upright to the counter. "What can I help you with today?"

"Good Morning, Derpy," Miss Cheerilee greeted the mail mare. "Me and some of our friends here actually came to have a little chat with you."

This felt like a familiar start to a bad morning for Derpy.

"Oh, dear. I didn't get your mail switched up with Cranky Doodle again, did I?"

Cheerilee laughed playfully.

"Oh, no. That's not why we're here."

Prim Posy poked her head out from behind Cheerilee.

"Actually, that was my mail you got mixed up with Cranky."

Berry Punch had a complaint to voice as well.

"I keep getting Prim's mail. It's not a big deal since we live so close to—"

"Ladies!" Cheerilee reigned them back to the topic at hand. "We're actually here to talk to you about our new mutual human friend, Chris."

Starlight was tidying up her room while waiting for Chris to get done. In the process, she was thinking a lot more about how she felt about him and everything that has happened since making up and getting drunk together.

She prided herself on the accomplishments she had made since befriending him as well. She learned a few valuable friendship lessons, managed to impress Twilight as well as Cadence, improved her relationship with Rainbow Dash to make her a stronger ally, and even managed to introduce Chris to a slew of potential someponies.

"I should probably write a letter to Celestia about all of this," She said to herself as she finished her cleaning. "I'm sure she'll appreciate the kind of progress I've made."

She sat down and started penning a letter.

She thought about how to write out the other items of progress she made but then had to stop and really give it some reconsideration. Remembering the warning they were all given, she couldn't help but acknowledge how much she had grown attached to him already. Or was she just focusing on how much she valued her friendship with him?

Was that the same thing? She couldn't be too attached if she was trying to get him hooked up with some of the locals. It wasn't like she had an interest in him. That was a thought that hadn't even crossed her mind before.

She started to reason with herself out loud.

"No, I couldn't… I burned that bridge on movie night.“

She may have said that, but she’d never been so close or felt so protective over anypony like she was with him.

“Then again, he did forgive me about all of that. We even danced, and he trusted me to save him from having to get all handsy with Twilight or the other… Wait… He only trusted me to get close to do any of that. Even when surrounded by all the other mares, I don't think he had as much fun with them as he did with me."

This new train of thought was only complicating what was supposed to be a simple friendship lesson letter to the Princess. Now she was trying to figure out who liked who. Wait… Was she trying to figure out if she liked him like that? She was still just learning how to make regular friends. She couldn't be so bold as to attempt making a coltfriend… Humanfriend? Manfriend?

Then again, out of all those she's met since turning her life around, she somehow managed to connect to Chris more than the rest. Maybe even more than Trixie. Plus, there were those hands of his. It was no wonder Twilight lost that bet to Rainbow Dash. Having easy access to those would be a very welcomed bonus.

Starlight sunk her head down to her desk and clasped her hooves over her eyes.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this," She whined to herself. "But no... I don't think I actually like him like that."

She perked up from her slouch.

"I'm just thinking too much about how he wants to find somepony for himself. And just because he rubbed his hands up and down my sides like he wanted to do with his special some... Wait... When did he?"

It suddenly occurred to Starlight that she remembered something Chris had told her, but couldn't remember all of it. She couldn't even remember when or where he could have brought it up. As a matter of fact, the same thing happened the night before when playing Kings. How was she able to remember things she couldn’t remember learning from him? Not unless—

She gasped in shock.

"The blackouts." She looked at herself in the mirror and tried to think back through the haze of her drunken adventure. "We played Kings together. That was the card game we played at Applejack's."

A memory came back to her. She was sitting at the table in the orchard with Chris. The cards were largely out of focus in her mind, but she remembered leaning forward close enough to see a card she had flipped was an Ace.

There suddenly grew an uneasy feeling in the pit of Starlight's stomach. She hadn't put much thought into what must have happened during her blackout. Being so focused on Chris and herself recovering, then the party popping up and the madness that took place after that. Perhaps she needed to know this now.

She looked down at her half-written letter.

"I'll finish this later."

Downstairs, Starlight entered a hallway to the library where Spike was heading down towards her.

Spike gave his usual greeting.

"Hey ya, Starlight. What you up to?"

Starlight tried to hide her nervousness behind a smile.

"Oh, nothing. Just gonna grab a book and head out to Applejack's for a minute. I think I dropped something out in her orchard. Figured I'd go take a look instead of just waiting around to see what the others have planned for the day."

That sounded like a lady in distress, so Spike offered his assistance.

"Need any help?"

"No," Starlight gracefully turned him down. "I just need to copy a locator spell. I shouldn't be long."

She opened the door quietly, knowing she'd be interrupting, but she had to get a peek into one particular book in Twilight’s library.

As she stepped inside, Chris was still deep into conversation and informed Twilight, "—Chrysalis is most likely the next threat I'd think you'd be facing. But that doesn't rule out a plot twist of some type of insurrection or coup."

Twilight continued to take down more notes.

"Why would you... Oh, hi, Starlight. Did you need something?"

Benny and Chris both turned back to see the meek unicorn.

It wasn’t Starlight’s intention to disrupt them, and yet, here she was.

"Sorry for interrupting. I just had to look up something before I step out for a moment. Don't mind me."

Of course, Chris didn't mind her being there.

"No worries, and I don't know how much longer we'll be. But there's a lot to go through."

Starlight was already flipping through the pages of the book she needed and answered back, "Take your time.”

Getting back on track, Chris turned to Twilight again.

"But yeah. Given how long it's been since Chrysalis has shown herself, they could easily pull her back in. But that might be too easy to see coming. So there could just as easily be a new villain somehow related to Flurry Heart being born, Sunburst being attached to her, or even maybe some pony seeking revenge or looking to exploit Starlight."

"What?!" Starlight yelped, overhearing her name being used like that.

Benny facepalmed at Chris's lack of tact.

Chris turned his head to Starlight again and rather nonchalantly apologized, "Sorry. I'm not trying to single you out. Twilight asked me about potential threats that could exist I might know about."

Starlight reluctantly asked, "You think I might be in danger?"

Chris shook his head and tried to downplay the threat. "Not really. Tension with the Yaks or Dragons are just as likely, if not more so. Considering they both seem to be more aggressive and war-ready. But I'm still thinking it's gonna be Chrysalis. That or some completely unknown newbie... or any of the old villains from the previous versions of the show."

Twilight groaned.

"I still don't believe we’re made from the show. That just doesn't make any sense that we would have been here and existed for thousands of years before the show was created in your world. Isn't it more likely a human saw our world and made a show about us because of it?"

Chris brought his attention back to Twilight.

"Look," Chris shook his head, trying to think how to best explain their situation. "—the very same day that the episode with Trixie meeting Starlight came out, I watched it. The next day, we showed up here. These episodes I've been showing you, they take weeks, if not months, to complete. There's no way our worlds could be in sync with each other and have the people that make the show put it out for us to watch it in real-time."

Benny finally butted into the conversation.

"I still think we're looking at a string-theory situation."

Twilight was more willing to take that as a possibility than her world being the product for entertainment and asked, "Of infinite universes?"

"Or we all live in the Matrix," Chris joked.

"Jesus Christ, Chris," Benny rocked his head back at how painful that attempt at a joke answer was. "Maybe we need Peter for this one. He knows more about the science behind it than we do."

If they were going to get Sniff, then at least that do also go for some food.

"Snack break?"

Benny had a better idea.

"Irish coffee break?"

"We have Griffon coffee," Twilight offered. "If you'd rather not have coffee from any of the ponies—"

Benny cut her off from another lengthy side conversation and told her, "It's just whiskey and coffee mixed together, Twilight. All this back and forth between the fantasy show, your reality we're all living in, and trying to make sense of it all with science when magic already blows any logic out of the water... Sorry, I need a drink to keep up with this."

Chris was about to sit up but had another thought.

"Oh, yeah. Twilight, you gotta take all of this with a grain of salt though, too."

Twilight closed her notepad and hopped out of her seat.

"Why is that?"

After all of Chris’s observations, he had reasoned a couple of things.

"Two reasons. First, if this is a case of string theory, and we're just in a universe that only appears to mimic the show based on what was written in the scripts, then us being here screws everything up for whatever the show was supposed to be. Pretty much, we would have messed up the continuity."

Twilight moved around the desk to leave.

"So just like if A. K. Yearling started a new series of books, but then the world those books were based on became real, and we were transported there, the events of the book she wrote would all be different!"

Chris praised her with a pleasant smile.

"Exactly, Purple Smart."

Twilight didn't return the gesture.

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry," Chris apologized with a guilty grin.

Twilight didn't want to focus on the misnaming when she could now only tolerate Sniff.

"And what's the second thing?"

Chris cryptically started to answer, "Well, it's not so much a what, as much as it is a 'who' that's here. Because last night, I danced with Cream Heart."

Twilight waited for the big reveal.

"And?"

This was going to be the first Chris had spoken aloud what he knew about this particular mare.

"Cream Heart is a fan-made character. She's never been part of the show... Not that fan-made characters can't be part of the show." He remembered Starlight was still off to herself in the study and stopped to invite her along. "Hey, Starlight. We're taking a break for a bit. Wanna join us?"

Starlight had just finished going over the spell she needed and closed her book.

"I'll join you as soon as I get back, as long as I don't take too long."

"Where ya—" Chris spoke up too late as he watched Starlight teleport out of sight. "—going?"

Starlight teleported deep into the apple trees, looking for where Chris and her got drunk together.

"We must have been over here if I remember right." She looked up to see a few of the leaves on one of the apple trees that the tiki torch had damaged. "Yes, this is the place."

An hourglass was pulled from Starlight's satchel and placed on the ground. Then a wind-up pocket watch was dropped on top, and Starlight brought out a thin book with her writings and started to review her work.

"Okay. Let's see. Peering through the sands of time and guided by its hands... Wait? Why do we call those..." She shook her head, not wanting to travel down that rabbit hole right now. "Focus... Let's see. Just a regular spell with this; add a little bit of Star Swirl's time magic without the teleportation."

She looked at the last part of her collection of spells, hoping that it would allow her to cheat a little.

"And a drop of poison to blind thee... It's no wonder these spells are banned." She brought out a bottle of Vodka and removed the cap, and steadied herself to attempt a spell not thought to be possible or to walk away from unscathed. "Please let blackouts be the same as a poison that blinds."

Starlight closed her book and took a mouthful of Vodka, thinking she'd have to overcompensate with the alcohol. She swallowed hard and then started her spell.

The top of the hourglass lifted off from the glass, freeing the sands that swirled violently in a dome shape. The dome started small, first only covering a single tree, but then expanded farther out the more Starlight focused until it passed over her, and she was deep inside.

Slowly she opened her eyes and was relieved to discover she did, in fact, retain her vision.

"Whoo. Okay, now for a little trip back in time."

Starlight levitated up the pocket watch and used her magic to wind back the hours. Inside the dome, the light inside dimmed to night, then back to day, to night again, and as the daylight shined again, she started to slow it down. Patiently waiting, the vision of a very drunk Starlight and Chris being carried away by Lumberman and Applejack played itself in reverse.

She sped up the rewind of time, losing track of where both she and Chris were at for a moment. Guessing she had gone back far enough, she released the hands of the watch and listened to what would hopefully sound familiar.

"Starlight!" Chris's voice shouted from behind.

Starlight turned back to see a faded vision of Chris sitting under a tree with her past self that was just as faded. Perhaps this was a compromise for using vodka instead of an actual poison made to blind ponies. Then again, the spell itself was designed to blind any pony who attempted to see into the past. That would have made this spell completely pointless if not for the fact she could still hear what was happening with near-perfect clarity. Actually, being able to see what equated to a slightly out-of-focus portrayal of her past self was nothing to complain about.

Watching closely, the past version of Starlight was using her magic to fill the air with little drops of Vodka.

"Come on, Chris. Itz like a gahm. Les’z see who can get the most."

"Come on, we've had enough," Chris's vision of the past playfully requested.

"Oh..." Starlight remembered trying to make a game of following the trail of Vodka. But, being how this wasn't what she blacked out with, she speed up the time and watched the events at a faster pace. "I didn't start losing my memory until... here."

Starlight suddenly had a perfect view of what she looked like when totally drunk.

"Waht's Soveeyet Eq... Eqwestee—"

"Soviet Equestria," Chris managed to speak clearly to her as he wavered slightly, holding onto a tree.

"It's justs a joke about a place that... does everything we would do backward."

"Oah kay, hey!" The drunken Starlight wobbled with a smile she couldn't pull off sober if she tried. "I think I know.. I know a cow plash. Place. A cow... just wait here."

The vision of Starlight teleported out, leaving Chris behind, and present Starlight was left with the past vision of Chris. She watched him while trying to remember just where it was she had teleported off to that day.

Then Chris started to speak to himself.

"Gawd damn it," He leaned his chest against a tree and started to pour some of the Vodka out. "Starlight... please just stop drinking so much."

Starlight sulked, not realizing how much trouble she must have been causing him. He was even trying to dump more of the alcohol to stop them from getting even more drunk.

The vision of Chris mumbled to himself and knocked his fist against his head.

"She's just being nize. She izn't flirting with you. Yer never that lucky, Chris. Just friends. Just friends. Don't fuck this up."

This was unbelievable. Chris did have a thing for her, after all. Or at least the disappointment in his voice seemed to indicate as much. Starlight felt a little extra warmth around her heart start to heat up, and a smile began to grow.

A flash and a pop revealed the vision of Starlight teleporting back in with a cowboy outfit that was far too small to fit Chris properly.

"Here, Cres. Cowboyb [something inaudible] an it hat."

Starlight continued to watch the events of her drunken escapades escalate with great displeasure. It was painful to sit back and watch the quality of her speech and motor functions degrade so rapidly. Not to mention how hesitant Chris seemed to be with her when she continued to force drinks onto him. That, as well as all the things he did to distract her from either drinking more or dumping out a shots worth here and there when she wasn't looking.

That thankfully seemed to work for a while, and she could see herself coming down from the drunken high, even if only slightly. At least enough to where she was able to maintain some level of control over her magic and make the ice sculpture of Sniff.

"No," Chris was laughing hysterically. "Sniff is toad-elly gunnuh hookup width Celestia. Hez so thirsty. Oh! Give'mm a weiner bottle."

This was all interesting but didn't really seem to reveal anything important. Just as much as the rest of their drunken stupidness that went on.

A conversation clumsily followed about how much fun they were having and how they should throw a party for everyone in the orchard. Decorations of lights and Rarity's mannequins were to be the party props, as well as a portrait of Celestia since it was assumed she wouldn't be able to make it.

The vision of Chris emptied his pockets of bits as he requested, "Get... party food."

Starlight face hoofed.

"I can't believe I made Chris pay for all the Sugar Cube Corner desserts."

More stupidity followed as she watched herself, and Chris fumble around between tasks they would start, undo, restart, and then ended up leaving most of them unfinished.

For a moment, the vision of the two stumbled around their poorly decorated venue, gawking at the fruit of their efforts comically in action.

Starlight lazily watched her past self fumble about.

The vision of Starlight looked to be amazed at their efforts.

"Whut we gun do til evbre-pony is readee to party weth us?"

Starlight suddenly perked up, she had to be getting closer to what she was looking for.

Answering her own question, the vision of Starlight had a brilliant idea.

"Oh! Yu can fly kite and me... wit.. width me. Lemme go en get um."

"Bring a deck of cards to play too," Chris's vision requested with minimal slurring.

Starlight's past self had teleported out, and Chris fumbled his way to a table they had set up for their impromptu party. He lifted a large cake and moved it to a clearing on the ground, falling over to his side as he set it down.

"Shit!" He groaned before rolling over to his side again. "Emmost crushed the cake."

He noticed the cowboy outfit he left on the ground and started to crawl towards it.

"I can be cowboy fer Starlight. Maybe she wunts me ta be her cowboy."

Starlight felt a little dirty watching the vision of Chris stripping down to his boxers. Outside of seeing him in the dark on the rooftop, she hadn't seen this much of a human's body. Even on the rooftop, it was mostly vague features with no clarity. Not that this vision was much better, but his body wasn't as out of shape as she first thought if this vision of him wasn’t playing tricks on her.

His whole body was big and soft, but it almost look like he carried some muscle under all that body fat. Then again, this vision left a lot to the imagination… Sort of… Maybe the fuzziness was a drunk vision for casting the spell with vodka in the first place.

In the vision, Starlight teleported back with a box that she immediately fell into and crumpled over.

The past vision of Chris stumbled closer to her.

"Stary... ewe okay?"

"Yeah," The past vision of Starlight laughed out loud as she rolled off of the box, setting her eyes on Chris and started laughing even harder. "What er you wearn thatph for?"

"I'm a cowboy now," Chris answered while making finger guns.

Starlight's vision put her hoof over a corner of the box and ripped the side of it off from leaning on it too hard. "Ho-kay cowboy, grab ah kite. Fly withph me."

With the aid of some magic, the two managed to get their kites into the air, of which both almost immediately came crashing down into the trees. The process was repeated, each time with them laughing at the crashing kites or Starlight's failed attempts to keep them airborne with her magic.

Eventually, they were down to the last kite. Chris was holding the string while Starlight focused her magic to keep it from plummeting to the trees like the rest had.

"Awe," Starlight watched the vision of herself leaning up against Chris as they flew their last kite together.

"I should ask him if we can do this again. Without being so drunk, I mean... And not around so many trees."

The vision of the Starlight looked so content and at peace.

"I love fly'n kites... do you?"

The vision of Chris looked down to Starlight, looking rather happy himself.

"I like to fly kites wif you."

The vision of Starlight lifted her bottle and took another sip. As she placed the bottle down, she must have lost her concentration on the kite, as what was likely a strong lack of wind caused it to drop like a stone.

"No!" Chris laughed as the kite fell out of view. "No more kites... Unless I can do fly ewe like and kite? You jist need wings like Twilight."

The vision of Starlight looked over to the box she brought and grinned.

"I can make Twi wings."

"Oh, my gosh," Starlight facehoofed. "I am never drinking this much again for this reason alone."

"Hey," The vision of Starlight called over to Chris. "Cards. I getten them you wan'ed."

The vision of Chris held out his hands but failed to catch the pack of cards. He bent down to pick them up and ended up tipping over and had to brace himself with his hands in the dirt to stop from landing face first.

"Hey. You make yer wings. Imma show you how to play kings."

Starlight's attention was divided between watching her former self craft a pair of wings from the cardboard box while Chris set up the cards on the table.

Eventually, the vision of Starlight finished her wings and attached them around herself with extra kite string lying around. She made her way over to the table and fell out of her seat the first time she attempted to sit down.

"What we doing?"

"Kings," The vision of Chris answered. "We play is... My friends and we play this is Kings. Easy ta play."

Just like the last time they played, Chris recited the rules. Even drunk, he managed to get them all.

"Okay," The vision of Chris reached for a card. "Seven... Fuck... That'd bad card. Dunest count."

He flipped another.

"Queen! We both drink."

They both took a sip from their shared bottle, and then it was her turn.

"I want thes two," Starlight's drunk vision requested.

The drunk vision of Chris started to retell the rules, or at least the part that she only gets one, and proceeded to help Starlight with her next few turns. A Jack, a ten, another queen, a nine, a King where Chris just said he'd make a rule, but then Starlight flipped an Ace before he could think of one.

"Fuck topics," The vision of Chris whined. "Okay... Topics cun be any topics."

The vision of Starlight leaned in close and examined the card as she asked, "Like wut?"

"Leds do... umm... nicknames fer ponies we know," Chirs suggested before giggling. "Like, Twilight wud be... Toilet Sparkle."

Both Starlight and her past vision blew raspberries before laughing so hard it hurt.

The vision of Chris continued.

"Luna is MoonButt. Fuddershy... Banana Quiet. You would be... Yurs is, umm... Twilight Two Point Oh."

The past vision of Starlight continued to laugh while the present Starlight scoffed and tried not to laugh.

"Oh. Yer so funny," The vision of Starlight cackled. "Oh. Arlight... I got topic."

She sat up and leaned flirtatiously on the table.

"Topic iz... what you want to do width yer special somepony."

The vision of Chris grinned and started to laugh.

"No! I em not... You dunt... No, I'm not saying."

"I'd want to fly my kites with me," The drunken vision of Starlight replied with comically incorrect grammar.

The drunken vision of Chris grew silent, and Starlight walked closer to the vision of him. Even with the limited view of what was happening from that morning, she could see him holding back his excitement.

It took him a moment, but he bashfully answered, "Spend time to... geth... er?"

"Oh, Chris," Starlight sat down to admire his shyness and simple desire. "You're so sweet."

For a moment, Starlight started to wonder if maybe she was wrong to turn away the idea of not considering Chris. Sure, he might not be the best looker. Non-pony or not. But if he was only going to be there just long enough for Twilight to figure out a way to send him home. Maybe giving him a shot wouldn't be such a terrible idea. He had to of found her attractive if his view of Twilight was any indication. Even thinking back, before she mouthed off and said he was creepy, he did seem to be the one to single her out. Heck, this whole vision of him was showing how much interest he had in her. Maybe he still felt that way.

Suddenly breaking her train of thought, the past vision of Starlight started to laugh again.

"Well of duh! What else you do?"

The drunk vision of Chris was even more hesitant to answer.

"Hold... hands?"

The vision of Starlight nodded, agreeing with a wide drunken smile.

"Ehm hmm."

This time, the vision of Chris seemed to have hit his limit.

"I don't... wan... you think I'm—"

"No!" The vision of Starlight yelled as she fell out of her seat, making a motion to rush to his side.

She picked herself up, holding onto the edge of the table, and held it as she sidestepped her way to Chris.

"I waz rude bafor. You can luv any pone you... want. I'm help you find a marefriend... promise... So tell me—" She leaned hard into his leg and took his hand into her hooves in an overly dramatized form. "—tell me what you want."

Chris's looks grew even more nervous and excited the closer Starlight drew into him in the vision.

"I want to hold... her close."

The vision of Starlight was nearly giddy.

"Hugs er nice."

"No," Chris quietly retorted. "Not just... normal hug... better. Like—" He looked down at his lap and started to ponder something. "You know..."

"Oh, no," Starlight started to get a bad feeling about where this was going.

"No!" The vision of Starlight laughed. "I never had coltfriend. Whadz a better hug like?"

The vision of Chris reached for the bottle.

"I drink on this one."

"No!" The vision of Starlight pushed the bottle out of reach and off the table. "Chris. Lemme help. I dunno how I would what spessel sumponies do."

Starlight suddenly regretted casting this spell.

"Oh, buck. Oh, buck. Oh, buck. No. Please don't let Lumberman's suspicions be right."

Slowly, the vision of Starlight started to crawl up onto Chris's lap. The vision of Chris softly placed his hands on her shoulders but seemed scared to do much of anything else as he let her climb up into his lap.

With her heart racing, Starlight watch the vision of the past play out in front of her eyes, fearing the worst of what was going to happen next. Finally seated squarely on his lap, the vision of herself leaned in and wrapped her forelegs around Chris.

Starlight sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness."

"Whop!" The vision of Starlight yelped as the back legs of the chair sunk into the dirt.

They both giggled as Starlight’s vision sat up and pulled away from the hug.

"So... is this better hugs you want?"

Clearly, Starlight had more of this vision to worry over.

"Crap."

"No..." The vision of Chris meekly answered. "Closer... but we shudn't—"

Starlight felt her heart sink and her stomach twist as she watched her past self pull herself closer into Chris.

"Oh... Twilight is going to murder me."

The vision of Starlight traced a hoof down Chris's bare chest, and started to breathe deeper.

"I wunt to make ewe happier, Chris. Ewer too nice and shud havem—"

"Starli—"

"—don't be sad, Chris."

"Awe, buck. No! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This—" Starlight paused her outburst of panic as she watched her spell recreate the display of her forcing a long kiss to Chris's lips. "...This totally happened! This totally happened!"

She watched in confused terror as her past self very sloppily continued to kiss Chris and the brief moments of him kissing back before pulling away.

"Mmm, no," The vision of Chris started to push back. "No, isth wrong."

Starlight took a step back, wide-eyed to see Chris put a stop to something she thought he wanted so badly.

The vision of Starlight looked crushed, and asked with a quake in her voice, "Did I not do et right?"

The vision of Chris leaned in and hugged Starlight.

"Not drunk. Idt not be real. Yer not think'en straight."

Starlight's drunken vision slurred her speech as she hugged Chris back.

"I... just want to make thins better fur you."

Starlight sat there in awe. She was truly at a loss for words. After all of her resistance and the distance she tried to put between her and Chris, she was the first to make a move? Even worse, she didn't even remember doing it! Then an even more frightening thought came to mind.

Did Chris remember?

Chris groaned so low it sounded like he was about to cry.

"I don't want you to hate me again when yer sober up."

"Noooooo," The vision of Starlight did her best to console him. "I won't hate you. We cun fix et after de party. Be better for you."

"Better for wut?" Chris meekly asked.

Starlight leaned back, a bit wobbly, and pushed Chris back into the chair.

"Better somepony for you."

The vision of Chris was just clear enough to see how confused he was.

"I want a specialpone to have for me... Are we hugging?"

"Are we?" The vision of Starlight started to lick her lips. "My lips feel funny."

The vision of Chris started to chuckle.

"Yer drunk, pony."

The drunken vision of Starlight started to chuckle.

"Why'm I sitting on you? Or you Sovenit Equestrea cowboy?"

This couldn’t be possible. What Starlight just witnessed had to have been impossible.

"We... both forgot?" Starlight said in utter amazement. "Did we both blackout during our blackout at the same time? Is blacking out during a blackout even something you can do?"

A vision of the Vodka bottle passed through her as she watched her past self take another long drink before passing it off to Chris.

"Pony ride!" Her past self hollered.

"Pony ride!" The vision of Chris hollered as well before taking a long chug from the bottle and dropping down to all fours.

Starlight sulked in a mass of shame as she watched the vision of her past self flop her way onto the straddle Chris had tied to his back.

She watched herself ride Chris once around the table and trip over Rainbow Dash's mailbox, and crash into the birthday cake. Chris tried to use the mailbox as a cane but collapsed and passed out.

The vision of Starlight sat atop Chris with her bottle, waiting for her ride to start back up. "Giddy yup... Chris?"

The vision of Starlight closed her eyes, and passed out with the bottle in her hooves.

So many thoughts were running through Starlight's mind. Was that what she really did? Why would she do that? Did Chris remember any of this? Did he hold it against her? What would the others think of her?

No matter the answers, she had seen enough. She canceled the spell and returned the sand to the hourglass.

Perhaps she wasn't the good friend she thought she was.

She started to think about what she needed to do to fix this, if she even could.

"I need to make this up to him."

She looked again to the empty space in the orchard where the table and chairs once stood. Even without the spell, she could still see the scene playing out again. What could have possibly compelled her to force herself onto him like that? And now, knowing what happened between them, did her wanting it then influence her wanting it now, or did drinking only make her want it at the time? Was the blackout a fluke, and what she felt before was natural? Could she even tell the difference?

Still stuck in her own mind, she brought a hoof to her lips and felt them. Even though they were still sore from her fight with Rainbow Dash, there was something else she felt there. Something real. Something new. Something... Something that now made her heart hurt.

Oh, Sniff. You and your silver tongue. How clever you are in your ways of helping out poor little Twigs. And, Lulu? You've got to slow down Sniff! Anyway, at least that conflict was squashed. Luna really seems to have turned herself around on everything, too. Especially her views on Sniff.

And as per the norm of how I tend to write these things, we did a fair bit of jumping around. The castle, outside the castle, the Apple farm, the post office, back to the castle, back to the farm... Just a little all over the place.

Also, did you catch that part about Cream Heart? Yeah, Button Mash is canon to the show, but his mother, Cream Heart... She is not. Kinda strange that she would be there then.

Lastly, now we know what happened at the Apple farm when Chris and Starlight got drunk together. Drunken romance and crushed dreams. I mean cake. Crushed cake.

Also, as a side note. Two things that are super hard to do.
1. Write drunken text that's still somewhat understandable or understood to be intentionally hard to understand.
2. Coming up with spells or magic that isn't canon but would still fall in line with what could exist in the show. Because between Trixie's botched spell and Starlight's Blind Sands of Time spell, it can be a real struggle to make this all work and not sound like a cop out.

But, now that this chapter is over, any theories on where this will leave Starlight and Chris?

What about Luna and the humans?

And what kind of role is Helix Ray going to have in any of this?

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO RAINBOW DASH'S MAILBOX?!