Curling into a tighter ball, I remained as solid as I could manage against the back of the couch. My mind reeled with disastrous memories as I decided that they might not find me if I simply didn't move.

"Mender, relax. It was an accident," Twilight assured, still sitting on the cushion to my right. Instead of answering, I buried my muzzle further into the couch. It was a disastrous accident, though!

Fluttershy's hoof movements became almost hypnotic as she kneaded the muscles along my back, giggling lightly as she worked another knot out. How had she convinced me to let her do this again? I winced as the memory reared its ugly head.

The couch tipped, me being flung up the back of it. Fluttershy had been balancing on the top and gasped as she went over backwards. There was no other choice. I released the tendrils from Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, and kicked off the couch with a light twist. I had next to no momentum and was far out of shape but I managed to barely snag the flailing, panicked pegasus and spin.

My back gave another throb of protest as I remembered the feeling of contact with the floor. The little yellow pegasus also wasn't as light as I anticipated. Not as heavy as Pinkie, but she definitely didn't have hollow bones! The mare in question let out a timid coo as she worked another knot out, earning a groan of appreciation from my mouth.

"Are you three about done yet? You've missed a dozen spins already!" Rainbow barked from somewhere behind me.

Twilight shifted sharply. "Relax! We're just looking after Mender. We'll join in a bit," Twilight retorted sharply. I didn't have to see her to hear the irritation in her voice.

"It's all right. This is quite a lot of fun!" Princess Celestia assured. I couldn't blame Dash for being grouchy. The princess had trounced her attempts at mischief so far, and even got her once earlier. Apparently the Sun Princess was extremely empathic and perceptive, able to hit upon just the right questions or dares to almost assure the target bowed out. From what I understood of the game, the target then had to do a universally assumed bad act, which changed every time somepony did so. Regardless, Celestia was unscathed and Rainbow Dash had already drank a mixture of orange juice and milk, and been forced to sample leftovers found at the back of Twilight's fridge. Needless to say, she was a little grouchy now. Regardless, I had already decided that playing that game would be bad for my health.

"Aww, come on, Mender. I planned this juuust for you! You can really get to know us and have fun at the same time!" Pinkie pleaded.

I sighed, enjoying the gentle massage from Fluttershy, alongside her newfound comfort level with me. Twilight was tucked pleasantly into my other side as well. Honesty, I could have easily fallen asleep right here. Twilight spoke up first, however, pointing out, "She has a point there. You could learn a lot about us. How about a few rounds, then we go back to this?"

That nagging sensation returned. I was holding them back again. "You two can keep playing, don't worry. I'm just tired and a bit sore," I excused weakly. I really needed to jump up the exercise regimen.

Fluttershy timidly sat on the cushion to my right, a little ways away from me on the couch while uneasily watching the game. "I'd really rather stay here. Um, spin the bottle truth or dares isn't exactly my favorite game," she muttered. Oh, well true.

Twilight giggled but nodded. "You two can stop after a couple of rounds. Just try to relax and have some fun, Mender," she added with a light pat to my other side.

"Yeah, don't be so scared. Sheesh. You can handle a little bump," Rainbow reminded. It wasn't so much the bump as Fluttershy landing on me. Plus that look from Twilight when she saw me skid to a halt holding Fluttershy. Now I can't shake the feeling that they're both sticking close to me to spite the other. This wasn't what I had intended at all.

Rarity sighed tiredly as she rested a hoof on the bottle in the center of the group. "Please, girls. Twilight and Fluttershy can share Mender easily enough. Can we please get back to the game?" she requested politely. Sweetie Belle snickered from the other side of her, but her eyes remained glued on the bottle. Apple Bloom sat next to her as well, looking towards me instead. Scootaloo seemed very much uninterested in the game and remained behind her two friends, staring at the ceiling. It was interesting to see all of the Element Bearers together again. They all had their own lives, really. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting.

Fluttershy released a light burst of air to my left, startling me. A quick glance told me she was no longer there. Rotating on the cushion, I watched her gracefully land next to Rarity, who shifted over to make room. For a moment, the yellow pegasus glanced backwards; not at me, but Twilight instead. She smiled with just the corner of her mouth. Twilight frowned for a split second, hesitated, then returned the smile. The entire exchange took all of a second or so, and I'm pretty sure I missed something in the space of time it took me to look between the two of them.

Twilight stepped down off the couch and sat down next to Fluttershy. Both scooted apart, however, then looked back at me. Seriously?

I felt more than a little confused as I shakily stood and chambered off the couch. Why couldn't I just be given time to think? Careful of my left forehoof, I took the three steps to get to the group before popping down again.

"Woo! Hey, Mender! Are we ready to start again, everypony?" Pinkie wasted no time in asking. She sat off to my right, on the other side of Twilight. Oddly enough, Spike sat to her left, and shifted closer to Twilight when she sat down. Was he playing too? I momentarily wondered why he wasn't sitting next to Rarity. A glance back in her direction reminded me that she was surrounded by the three Cutie Mark Crusaders. That meant all six friends were playing, potentially Spike, myself, and even Princess Celestia directly across from me!

Applejack nodded sharply and smirked. "Darn tootin'! Ah'm up next," she answered confidently. Before anypony could react, she flicked the bottle with her hoof while glaring playfully at Rainbow. The colorful pegasus grinned back, and the tension between the two could almost be seen in the air.

The bottle started to slow, and all focus shifted to that a moment later, minus Scootaloo of course. I could have sworn I heard a light snoring coming from her. Regardless, the bottle slid slowly past me and pointed at Fluttershy instead. The timid mare gasped and widened her eyes at the bottle.

Applejack let out a puff of air and shook her head, obviously having been hoping for the multicolor-maned mare instead. "Well, shucks. Truth er Dare, Fluttershy?" she asked, shifting to a warm and friendly smile instead.

Fluttershy still froze up, eyes locked onto the bottle and starting to shiver. "Ah! Um, well," she muttered, visibly panicking. I realized suddenly why she didn't like the game.

Smiling, I extended a hoof and rubbed the small of her back, right under the wing bases. She started momentarily before glancing over at me while frozen in place. Her uncertainty shifted to a timid smile and I felt her muscles relax a little under my hoof. She nodded, oddly to me, before answering, "Um, truth please."

Applejack smiled at her and settled back down to the floor again. "Alrighty then. Truth. How did ya know about the trouble goin' down two weeks ago, before Dash went ta get ya? It's been botherin' me," she asked, seemingly out of nowhere. That wasn't like the questions already asked.

The topic promptly fell out of my realm of knowledge. Fluttershy looked as surprised as I felt, so I at least decided that it wasn't some bit of memory I just blanked on. "Oh? Um, when was that?" she asked hesitantly a moment later. A nagging sensation drifted through my thoughts. Something was bothering her.

"Oh, yeah! You met us halfway to your house and acted like you already knew something was wrong," Rainbow suddenly let out.

Applejack gave her a questioning glance. "Weren't ya tha one who told me in tha first place?" she reminded, raising an eyebrow.

Dash sighed. "A pegasus like me has a lot on her mind. My memory slips sometimes. So what?" she defended awkwardly.

"It was just a bad dream. I dreamed of Mender being sick," Fluttershy almost whispered. I noticed once more that everypony suddenly went instinctively silent as soon as she started to talk.

Twilight nodded and smiled. "Probably apprehension from the previous day. It was probably coincidence and Fluttershy's instinctive desire to check up on him again," Twilight reasoned, smiling pleasantly at the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy looked less than convinced.

I simply frowned. That was the day of the incident that they were talking about. It didn't fit. If Fluttershy had met them halfway, how had she known I was at the farm? I hadn't told anypony, and logically it would have been closer to go to Rarity's. She would have known that I had left Twilight's library. Maybe she checked around for me after leaving Twilight's? But she didn't check the farm because I would have seen her. Nopony except those who were there all along knew that I was there! She didn't seem to be the type to call of a search based on an assumption. So she probably didn't search. So how had she known I was at the farm?!

It all suddenly snapped into place. "Please, wake up now, Mender. You need to wake up," suddenly echoed in my mind. My eyes widened and my mouth went dry as I stared at Fluttershy. It was her! She looked largely unsure, and seemed to be intentionally looking away from me. But, what did that mean?

My mouth opened but I curbed the thought before it exited. What was I supposed to say? Pointing out that her dream might have been some sort of psychic communication technique seemed like it would only get me laughed at. Still, she looked unsure of their attempts to assure otherwise.

"Are ya all right there, Fluttershy? Ah'm sorry 'bout askin' somethin' so personal," Applejack suddenly apologized, startling me out of my personal monologue. She jumped a little as well, but shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I was just thinking about it again," she explained, shifting from her more timid voice to a tired sounding one instead.

Rarity smiled affectionately and encouraged, "Why don't you spin, and then rest a bit. You look a little listless."

Fluttershy gave a half-hearted smile and tentatively spun the glass bottle again. It moved maybe three inches. "Oh dear," she muttered quietly, looking momentarily intimidated by the bottle.

"Ya need ta get at least three rotations, Fluttershy. Spin er again?" Applejack encouraged warmly, still smiling. As disturbed as I was at the discovery, it was defused a little bit with the yellow mare's incredible levels of cuteness. She let out a weak whine and batted at the bottle some more with her right forehoof.

Subtly, the bandages on my hoof slipped apart at the bottom, and my rune contacted the wood floor. Feeling along the hard material was simple. I felt the bottle out with my mind and took note of the light impacts from her hoof. The kinetic magnifier was simple after that.

The yellow pegasus squeaked as her next hit rocketed the bottle into a tight corkscrew, and she rapidly retreated backwards, hiding partially behind me. Instinctively, I shifted my left foreleg out to cover more of the startled mare. Apparently, momentarily, the bottle had become scarier than I was?

"Whoa there! That was ah darn good spin, Fluttershy!" Applejack complimented, giving a proud nod and smirk. Twilight frowned as she watched the bottle carefully. I retreated out fully to further avoid suspicion.

"Um, really?" Fluttershy asked carefully, peeking her head out from over my foreleg.

Rainbow Dash nodded instead. "That was an awesome spin!"

The mare behind me blushed softly before smiling and looking less nervous. She shifted forward a bit to move back into place, but bumped my leg. In surprise, she froze and glanced down at it before shifting her attention back to me. There was surprise in her eyes when they met mine. A moment of hesitation followed by a gentle smile from her later, I pulled my leg back to me. I'd not meant for her to get scared. Slowly, I returned her smile and gave an assuring nod. To my surprise, she didn't move forward even after my leg was no longer present. Instead, she slipped back into a sitting position rooting to where she was instead. Well Twilight did say that she only really had to play for one turn. Mentally chuckling, I turned my attention back to the bottle which was finally slowing down.

Everyone glued their attention back to the spinning bottle, of course. Eager eyes widened as it slowly rotated and pointed directly at the rainbow-maned mare herself. At first, Dash looked surprised. Then she smirked and glanced back up at Fluttershy expectantly. “Totally going dare. What’cha got, Fluttershy?” she asked cockily. Heh, of course she’d pick dare. Truth was really potentially dangerous, especially from Fluttershy who knew her secret.

“Oh um, I guess…” Fluttershy started, and then frowned. She hadn’t planned this out. Smirking, I leaned over and whispered suggestions of sky spelling to her. She gasped and blushed furiously before looking at me in surprise. “Oh! Oh. That would be bad, Mender…” she muttered timidly.

Rainbow glared at me instead. “Hey, no giving her ideas,” she warned, almost as if she knew what I had suggested.

“Oooh, now I’m curious, though!” Pinkie exclaimed from the other side of Twilight. She swayed happily back and forth on her rump, seemingly unable to hold still for more than a few seconds at a time.

"Ooh, me too!" Sweetie Belle chimed in almost instantly.

Twilight shook her head next to me. “No, no, we must adhere to the rules. No suggestions from anypony else,” she rejected, even though she was smirking widely. She must have heard my suggestion. I tried really hard not to laugh.

“Oh, I know. Um, Dash, I dare you to um, go bird watching with me tomorrow,” Fluttershy finally spoke up. Wait, was that even allowed as a dare?

Rainbow Dash blinked and tilted her head, while Applejack started snickering. “Are ya sure that’s allowed, hun?” she asked between breaths.

“There’s nothing saying the dare can’t be delayed,” Celestia sagely chimed in, smiling politely at Fluttershy, who seemed to relax at the ruler’s words.

Rainbow took the ruling as a cue, of course. “Ha! No sweat then!” she exclaimed, sitting up fully and bounding her right forehoof off her chest. A second later she winced, and a loud rumble could be heard. She clutched both hooves to her stomach and fell forward again, tucking up. “Oh, dang.”

“Feelin’ ah little under tha weather there, Dash?” Applejack reminded mirthfully, smirking at the sick mare. Wow, their rivalry was indeed rather intense.

Dash snorted and glared back up at her. “Oh shush. It feels like a swarm of parasprites got loose in my stomach. I don’t even know what those leftovers were!” she complained, massaging her stomach with both hooves.

Twilight blushed lightly and coughed, looking away from the display. I snickered and lay down, careful to keep my left forehoof tucked under me and still in contact with the floor, just in case. Note to self, never eat Twilight's leftovers.

Regardless, much to my amazement, the cyan and rainbow pegasus managed to extend her muzzle forward and whack the side of the bottle. It spun erratically, shifting from the center of our loose circle. Twilight had to shift back a little in order to not interfere with the spin.

The bottle started to slow and Rainbow sat up and eagerly watched as its rotation headed for me. Oh crap! She would doubtlessly want retribution, and either truth or dare would prove disastrous. My magic flickered out and lessened the friction on the bottle. As anticipated, its speed drop lessened and the nozzle slipped past me, slowed for Fluttershy, and finally settled on Rarity.

"Aww! Horseapples! You got off lucky, Mender," Dash warned, smirking at me. I gave a sheepish grin in return.

Rarity smiled and looked to Rainbow Dash. "I do suppose I'll have to pick truth, then," she requested. Dash smirked knowingly at the white unicorn and nodded.

"That's fine. Something good, then! So, since the disastrous Gala, have you seen anypony else you'd be interested in?" Dash asked, eyes narrowing and grin predatory. Wait, that sounded more like gossip than anything. Why would Rainbow care? Oh. She was tailoring her questions and dares to try to get under ponies' skin. She really did play to 'win,' didn’t she?

Rarity's eyes widened, but she remained in surprising control of her features, if she were truly nervous. "Oh, well, um, why would you like to know?" she asked carefully. To my surprise, the bottle pulsed with a neutral looking gray light. It was enchanted?

Pinkie slipped fully upright and pointed a hoof towards Rarity before accusing, "Oh no! You're avoiding the question!"

The fashionista scoffed indignantly. "Of course I'm not! I was simply curious," she excused. The bottle flared up with a vibrant red color almost instantly. Oh! It was a lie detector! She scowled at the bottle a second later, huffing.

“Ha! See? Ya really need ta answer now,” Apple Bloom added, nudging Rarity in the side.

“Ah, yes, well…” Rarity muttered, looking flustered. Yeah, that was enough. My conscience couldn’t take it anymore.

Glancing over at Twilight, I saw that she was giving me a rather brutal glare, so I figured she’d have caught on by now. Yeah. There was nothing else for it. “Actually, she doesn’t have to answer, because it’s technically not her turn,” I defended, looking back up at Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

“Beg pardon?” Rarity asked, looking quite a bit surprised. Rainbow tilted her head towards me instead.

“I cheated. I manipulated the bottle so it wouldn’t land on me,” I explained, pulling my left hoof off the floor and showing the line of energy still connected to the floorboards.

Rainbow Dash scowled instantly and stamped her right hoof down. “What?! Then I want a turn against you instead!” she declared, sounding more than a little irritated. Rarity exhaled and visibly seemed to deflate a bit, however. That made me happy.

Applejack chuckled and shook her head as I looked down at the floor. “Why’d ya cheat? And why say anythin’ ‘bout it?” she asked, voice sounding curious.

“I didn’t think it was fair for Rarity to be asked an uncomfortable question, so my conscience got the best of me. And as to why I did it at first, well, I was scared of what Rainbow would ask me or tell me to do,” I spoke truthfully, as Dash smirked and rotated the bottle to point at me instead. As expected, it glowed a soft green color as she finished.

Dash raised an eyebrow at me, but rapidly shook her head. "No avoiding it now. Truth or dare?" she asked, slipping back into her amused expression. Interestingly enough, I saw Rarity mouth something, but being neither particularly gifted at lip reading, nor adjusted to how the ponies' lips move in the first place, I had no idea what she was saying.

Regardless, it would seem that I had to pick my poison now. I weighed the options in my mind. Truth would be disastrous. I had a lot of hidden memories that I'd really rather stay hidden. Alienation and embarrassment were likely. Dare would potentially get me injured, and probably be humiliating, given Rainbow Dash's pattern so far. Still, that was mildly better.

"Well?" the rainbow mare asked impatiently.

I nodded and braced myself, answering with, "Dare."

She giggled. "Quite a few secrets, huh? All right. Dare!" she exclaimed a few seconds later. I shifted uneasily as she thought for a moment, before ordering, "You already smooched Twilight, so that wouldn't be as effective. So I dare you to kiss Fluttershy!"

The squeak behind me fired off before my mind even processed the dare. Turning, I glanced back at Fluttershy, who was now rapidly shifting away from me. Her eyes quivered timidly and she looked terrified. No, this wasn't how I had planned this evening to go.

"Hold on ah minute, Rainbow. We're not supposed ta include anypony else in the dares and ya know that," Applejack reminded.

"Hey, he deserves the full rules because he cheated! It's only fair," Rainbow defended, glaring over at Applejack.

Pinkie waved both forehooves energetically. "But why Fluttershy?! We shouldn't make her do that," she pointed out, motioning towards the yellow pegasus and myself. That stung a bit, but I actually agreed. I sank a little bit regardless.

Rarity huffed, however, defending me by pointing out, "Surely he's not a punishment to kiss. You two are being insensitive."

Applejack sighed wearily. "Look, he has ta do it no matter what, so jus' let Fluttershy decide. If she says no, then he has ta do whatever tha next thing is that Pinkie has."

Twilight slapped her forehead with a hoof and asked, "And how is that fair to Mender?"

"It's not! He cheated, remember?" Rainbow growled.

"I'm starting to think that he had a good reason to," the purple unicorn muttered in return, rolling her eyes.

I finally sighed. "We shouldn't fight. I'll do it, as promised," I interrupted. Fighting over a recreational activity was rather stupid.

Everypony looked back at Fluttershy at the same time. She let out a shy squeak and shifted further behind me and away from sight. Wait, she was using me to hide from myself? Trying not to laugh at that thought and potential deeper meanings, I shifted so I could see her fully, ignoring the almost giddy squeak from what sounded to be Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy shrank under my gaze, shaking a little bit but kept looking between Rainbow and me. "I um, I don't know. This is a little fast. I'm not like Twilight and..." she started to whisper. It was difficult to hear above the party music and talking.

"I told you, Pinkie made me!" Twilight interrupted in a harsh tone. The yellow mare visibly winced, while I mentally mimicked.

"Twilight! That was insensitive as well. You should consider the effects of your words before speaking. And relax, Fluttershy. Nopony is making you agree," I heard Rarity speak gently. I smiled as I listened. She certainly had good intentions, anyway.

Fluttershy looked less than certain. "But if I don't, he's going to have to..." she started to explain. That. That right there was all I needed to hear. Her desire was the important thing.

Smiling, I turned back to Rainbow and shook my head. "I refuse the dare, Rainbow," I interrupted, earning an extremely surprised expression.

"Wait, what?" Rainbow asked, seemingly shifting from surprise to confusion. Rarity's smile grew larger, however.

I ignored the surprised gasp behind me and looked over at Pinkie instead, inquiring, "What do I have to do now?" Her grin was massive as she giggled gleefully. I swallowed, wondering if her reaction was from my going along with her desire to guard Fluttershy, or if I had just requested my own death sentence.

The excessively pink mare immediately dug into a bag I hadn't noticed nearby. She must have gotten all of the punishments herself. "This is my last one! That means we'll have to stop after this," she informed, voice muffled from her head being inside the bag.

"Ooh, that means Mender gets the honorary last turn after this. Tradition!" Celestia surprised me by informing. Wait, honorary last turn?

Rainbow immediately scoffed at the idea. "He cheated! We should just stop the game after this," she argued.

Celestia simply smiled, however, gently revealing, "Twice, actually. But the first time was simply to help Fluttershy spin. He also came clean shortly after."

Rainbow’s rose-colored eyes softened a little, but I shook my head. "I still cheated," I reminded.

"Here it is! My super-duper grand finale punishment!" Pinkie suddenly blurted out, causing me to jump. A little warning next time?! She pulled a glass bottle out of her bag with both hooves and set it down in front of herself. It was a pretty looking silvery tint, and was filled with a light purple liquid, probably lightened by the glass. A large cork resided in the bottleneck. It wasn't very big. Maybe about eight ounces of liquid?

"What is that?" Twilight asked suspiciously a moment later.

Pinkie giggled. "The punishment! Drink up," she ordered, giving the bottle a healthy slide in my direction. My eyes shot open and I barely managed to catch it before it bashed into Sweetie Belle's nose.

"Are you sure that's safe?" the young filly asked, shifting back a little.

"It's Pinkie Pie. She's not gonna give ah pony somethin' dangerous ta drink, don't ya worry," Applejack assured, giving a confident nod in her direction. I swallowed, but slipped the cork out of the bottle.

A light flowery smell wafted into the air. Well, that was unexpected. I thought it would smell terrible. Of course, that said nothing yet for its taste. I prepared my stomach for internal violation. "How much?" I asked wearily, taking a couple more sniffs. The smell was disarming in nature.

"All of it!" Pinkie cheerfully replied.

Figures. Wincing again, I braced myself before bending down and snatching the top of the bottle in my mouth. Well, if it was anything like medicine, faster was better. I bit the bullet, or bottle in this case, and whipped my head back. My mouth was instantly flooded with a chalky, powdery syrup which threatened to overwhelm my tactile sense. I tried not to cough, but was surprised by the strawberry taste. Opening my eyes again, I took a tentative swallow and was greeted by a sweet taste flooding over my tongue and down my throat. This wasn't bad at all! Which concerned me a little. This was supposed to be traumatizing. Did I have different taste buds then the average pony?

Several seconds passed as I drank down the rest of the liquid. It was actually kind of delicious. After I set the bottle down, I noticed that all eyes seemed to be locked on me. I gave a sheepish shrug and informed, "It was actually kind of tasty."

"What?! I was sure that it was gonna be something horrible," Pinkie groaned, looking a tad disappointed. Well, comparatively, for Pinkie Pie.

"Then what's the point of it being a punishment?" Scootaloo finally spoke up, apparently having started paying attention when I wasn't looking.

A tingling sensation suddenly went through my stomach and I felt a burst of gas go up my esophagus. In the most degrading way possible, I let out a rather large belch. To my surprise, it was accompanied by a blast of purple and pink smoke, directly from the pits of my stomach. Uh oh. I somehow doubted that was a healthy omen for me. Twilight looked on in surprise, widened eyes following the moderate cloud of smoke as it hit the ceiling.

"What in tha hay is that stuff?" Applejack asked suspiciously, watching it slowly disperse on the ceiling.

Twilight's eyes narrowed, however. "Where did you get that liquid, Pinkie?" she inquired, shifting her gaze back down to me. That tingling in my stomach continued, rapidly becoming a dull ache. It felt like my insides were expanding rapidly and I winced.

Pinkie didn't miss a beat, nor lose her smile. "Oh, I got it this morning from Zecora ," she explained simply. Who?

Twilight let out a low groan, however. "Pinkie, that was a potion you just gave him. Did she give you any instructions?" she asked, a hint of irritation in her voice.

A light bulb seemed to come on in Pinkie's head. She dug into her bag for a few more seconds before pulling out a piece of paper with her mouth. In one fluid motion, she spewed it towards Twilight. It stretched through the air, a long tail of iridescent colors oozing along before Twilight caught it with her magic.

Things quieted, except for my suffering stomach. Twilight read the note over carefully with all three eyes, frowning the entire time. My head swam with colors as I tried to shake it off as best I could. Potion. What was that again? A liquid that did something magical. Yeah.

"Pinkie! This is concentrated! Zecora say to mix it with water or juice at a three to one ratio. This is an eight ounce bottle, so that means," Twilight muttered, falling into calculation towards the end.

"Is that bad?" Fluttershy asked quietly, looking a little gray. Wait, that wasn't right. Things bled together as I turned my head and a wave of dizziness came over me. What was the potion's effect?

I heard Princess Celestia warn, "He might need medical attention. Potions can be very bad for you if you overdose."

"Uh oh. This potion was supposed to make thirty-two ounces. You only need three to get the full effect! You gave him enough for almost eleven ponies," Twilight interrupted, groaning. Prismatic and monotone hues were starting to mix as a rush of bile flooded up my throat. I gagged, not expecting the sensation.

"Oopsies..." Pinkie spoke up, swallowing quietly. Her voice hit a nerve that caused tingles to dance up and down my spine. I couldn't stop myself anymore. The rush came up my throat and I promptly threw up all over the hardwood floor.

Scootaloo burst into laughter almost instantly, while Sweetie Belle voiced an, "Ew!" Part of me had to agree with her. The mixture pooled in a congealed manner, consisting of a purple and blue frothing slime. Of course, the colors might not have been accurate because the wooden floor was currently pink and green.

"Oh dear. Well that should make him feel a little better, anyway," I heard Celestia mutter. My eyes remained fixed on the floor between my feet, however. The room was still spinning wildly.

Rainbow Dash groaned wearily. "Is that all it does? I really think that's enough punishment," she admitted uneasily a moment later.

"Zecora's note says it's a mild hallucinogenic, but also that it has a bonus effect that 'punishes' those that lie," Twilight furthered. Her emphasis scared me a little.

"Zecora really don't like ponies who lie, ah have a feelin'," Apple Bloom deduced. It was a bit difficult for me to think, but it sounded like she spoke of prior experiences with the aforementioned individual. My eyes widened slightly as the pool of liquid in front of me started to bubble and churn. That was weird. What would cause that? My vision shifted and dripped as the pool took shape, slowly bubbling and rising upright.

Oh sweet merciful goodness... The shape of a frog rapidly formed out of the ooze. It had to be a frog?! It blinked twice, in an extremely slow fashion. I idly wondered how alive it was. Not that I really felt like moving much to find out. I was suddenly aware of how tired I truly felt. It was as if I hadn't really had any time to myself for weeks. My very soul, if I truly had one of whatever type, felt downright exhausted. Maybe I was being melodramatic, but the lethargy was there regardless. I was vaguely aware of talking going on around me, but it was echoing and sounded really far away. Wait, where was I again? There was something important...

The frog stood up slowly and grinned ear to ear at me. It felt familiar. Maybe I'd seen it in a book somewhere. It didn't seem all that menacing, but then it opened its mouth to talk.

"Hello! I'm an alien from another dimension," it informed, bowing politely.

Oh, okay. That made more sense than it being a living puddle of puke. I welcomed it to our library as humbly as I could. Which was to say, rather informally as it wasn't actually my library. Still, I should at least try to make guests comfortable.

"Jolly good! Did you know that I happened to have a rather conflicting admiration for two mares? One thinks I'm a pet animal, though, and the other is only interested in me because I'm an oddity, I worry," the frog informed.

No, I indeed hadn't known that. Although a talking vomit frog was indeed an oddity. It was strange, but I almost thought that the little guy might have been asking for advice. I sat down on a nearby mushroom and shook my head at him. I tried to explain that he needed to trust in what they tell him, otherwise the friendship might be compromised.

He looked disheartened still, however, adding, "It's all so confusing because I've never felt this way before. Plus, my instincts make me focus on more, well, intimate details. I'm new to this dimension and I don't even know how I'm going to support myself without leeching off these wonderful ponies!" To his credit, he did look a mess. Maybe frogs weren't so bad after all?

I tried to assure him that the ponies were indeed nice and wouldn't mind helping a kind fellow out until he could get on his feet. Er, flippers? I had no idea what frog anatomy was labeled as. The colored lights on my mushroom shifted and shimmered in the moonlight. It was pretty, really. He sat upon his lily pad, drifting to and fro with the ripples.

"It's a bad situation. Plus, I kissed one already! Sure it was an accident but that didn't stop me from really liking it," he added after another moments though. He pulled a pipe out of the water and took a few nervous puffs, blowing a large cloud of bubbles into the air.

I tried to convince him that it was a good thing. He really did need to calm down a bit.

"I can't stay calm! She's cute. No, she's gorgeous! Plus the other makes me feel so warm and safe. It doesn't help that Rainbow Dash entrusted me with the true identity of her secret crush, either. I want her to confess, but it really does serve as a reminder. If I could just tell..." he tried to explain. Unfortunately my world veered sideways as the earth shook. The piercing scream, sounding like hell itself, tore through the heavens above, instantly giving me a headache.

When I looked up again, the frog was gone. Oh wait, everything was gone.

Author's Notes:

Doom Pie's Audiobook Chapter:
http://youtu.be/YKf_K5VKOVc