- >A dull glow smashes into your eyelids like a freight train
- >Dragging you kicking and screaming from unconsciousness
- >You crack your eyes open
- >And immediately shut them
- >From the brief glimpse you got, the source of your torment is an unshaded window
- >There was something you had to do today
- >Something important
- >What it is you have no idea, but maybe after you get up it'll come to you
- >You yawn and stretch your arms out
- >At least the bed feels good, if a bit short
- >The sheets are nice and soft
- >And so is the warm, furry body lying in the curve of your own
- >You wrap your arms back around it, and it sighs happily
- >Then it nuzzles your hand
- >Spooning with a p0ny...
- >Wait a minute
- >Something isn't right here
- >Aren't you staying at AppleJack's?
- >Suddenly, everything comes back to you
- >your arrival in this place
- >The acquisition of a new job
- >And some of the party last night
- >Well, almost everything
- >The take away is that you just woke up in an unfamiliar bed
- >In your boxers
- >You are sharing the bed with a mystery p0ny
- >You have no memory of getting into the bed last night
- >Jesus christ on a wafer thin cracker
- >Anything could have happened
- >Anything
- >This is all too much
- >You leap up from the bed
- >WHAM
- >And swiftly knock your head on the ceiling
- >Right, p0ny architecture is designed with p0nies in mind
- >You sit down on the floor and cradle your aching head
- >All the noise has woken the p0ny in the bed
- >It coughs and rises from the sheets...
- >It's Pinkie Pie
- >You're not sure whether to relieved or terrified by this
- >She's facing the headboard
- >And doesn't see you immediately
- >She goes through a stretching routine of her own
- >Pops her neck
- >Then turns around
- >"Hi Anonymous! Did you sleep well?"
- >You open your mouth
- >And release a dry croak
- rrrrrruuuuuuugggghhhh
- >Your throat is as parched as the Mojave Desert
- >She looks at you with comprehension
- >You peer around the room desperately
- >"You might want this..."
- >She steps back to reveal a glass of water sitting on the nightstand
- >So either you weren't completely without sense last night
- >Or she knows what a hangover feels like
- >At this point, you don't care
- >You seize the water and gulp it down
- >now that your throat is in working order, you can resp0nd
- I... Yeah, I slept pretty well
- >You look around the room more slowly this time
- >Various articles of your clothing are laying about the floor
- >The night stand holds your glasses and harness
- >You begin clothing yourself
- What happened last night?
- >This is perhaps the most important question you could ask
- >She cocks her head at you
- >"You don't remember?"
- I remember some of it...
- >"I'm not surprised. You partied late into the night last night"
- >"I've never seen anyp0ny party quite like you"
- >From her, you take it as a compliment
- >"When it finished, you were in no state to be walking all the way back to sweet apple acres through the nasty cold!"
- >"So I brought you to my place"
- Where are we, exactly?
- >"Above Sugarcube corner, silly filly! This is the only bed I had open, so we had to share..."
- >Oh shit
- >Oh fuck
- >Oh sweet Emprah
- >all this and more swirls through your head as you p0nder your situation
- >It's not that you don't trust yourself
- >But you literally cannot remember what happened
- >You just have to be sure
- I didn't... DO anything, did I?
- >It takes her a moment to catch your drift
- >"Oh noooo! You were a complete gentlecolt! You even opened the door for me!"
- >"You fell asleep the second your head hit the pillow"
- I hope I didn't snore too loud
- >She grins at you
- >"I've slept through worse"
- >By now, you've got the rest of your clothes on
- >You head out the bedroom door and straight into the bathroom
- >And then straight back out
- Do you have to go?
- >She giggles at you
- >"You go ahead, I think you might need it more than I do"
- >You enter the bathroom and relieve yourself
- >You shave with your knife, doing better this time
- >Then you wash your face off and exit the bathroom
- >Pinkie Pie jumps in after you clear the doorway
- >As the door closes, you look around
- >There's another door across the hall
- >You can hear the faint sounds of snoring from behind it
- >...you'll ask later
- >a door that looks like it leads to a closet
- >And down the hall a combination kitchen/living room/dining room
- >Cozy
- >You can work with this
- >Pinkie Pie appears in the archway a few minutes later
- >To see you setting out ingredients
- >She took you in for the night when you were too drunk to walk home
- >Making her breakfast is the least you can do
- >Which reminds you...
- >You remember enough to know that if you were drunk last night
- >AppleJack and Rainbow were completely shitfaced
- >They weren't walking or flying home either
- So what happened to AppleJack and Rainbow?
- >"Oh, they're in the guest bedroom" she says, confirming your suspicions
- >"In fact, they should be waking up right abo-"
- >WHAM
- >You jump
- >Then both of you advance down the hallway towards the door
- >You reach out and open it
- >Rainbow Dash is laying on the floor in front of you
- >She definitely looks worse for the wear
- >Next to her is AppleJack
- >You're not sure they even opened their eyes before they made for the door
- >You suppress a chuckle
- >Pinkie Pie doesn't though
- Everything alright in here?
- >"mhmmrrahaaa"
- >They both groan at once
- >Now it's a race
- >They both get their eyes open at the same time
- >Rainbow shoots past AppleJack and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her
- >"Durn that pegasus..."
- Come on AppleJack, I'll get you some water
- >The three of you head back into the kitchen area
- >After pouring her a glass of water, you set the pitcher next to her on the table and get to work
- >First you cook some scrambled eggs
- >Gotta get protein somewhere
- >Then some hash browns
- >And finally, you start on the most important part
- >The pancakes
- >By the time the pancakes are done, AppleJack's had her turn in the bathroom
- >All three of them sit at the table and look at you expectantly
- >Time for the finishing touch
- >First you butter each pancake
- >Then you add just the right amount of syrup
- >finally, you roll the pancakes up into tubes
- >You set the plate of tube cakes down on the table next to the cooling eggs and hashbrowns
- Dig in
- >You sit down yourself and shovel a generous helping of hashbrowns and eggs on your plate
- >Breakfast starts with dead silence
- >Then Pinkie Pie picks up one of the tube cakes
- >She takes a bite and starts chewing
- >Her pupils dilate to the size of softballs
- >"These are the best pancakes EVER!"
- >"YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THE RECIPE!"
- Nope
- >"WHAT?"
- >You tap the side of your nose
- Family secret
- >She puts on a pout face
- >You stick your tongue out at her
- >"Haha, alright. I won't ask you to give up family secrets."
- >"Rainbow, AppleJack, you have to try these! They're fantastic!"
- >She generously reaches over and places a tube cake on their plates
- >AppleJack is the more resp0nsive of the two and picks hers up almost right away
- >As she bites into it, she seems to become more alert
- >"Those are some mighty tasty flapjacks"
- >It takes a bit for Rainbow to get to her tube cake
- >You can't imagine the combination of overwork and hangover is treating her well
- >She eats the whole thing without any visible reaction or change from her zombie-like state
- >she reaches over and grabs another
- >She consumes this one as well
- >Then she stops moving all together
- >You resume the consumption of your own tube cake
- >It tastes just like you remember
- >Then Rainbow twitches
- >It starts with her left eye
- >after which her head jerks
- >Her wings flutter madly for an instant
- >Then a wall of sound impacts the lot of you
- >"HI ANON GOOD TO SEE YOU THIS MORNING. THOSE ARE SOME DAMN FINE PANCAKES YOU COOKED, DAMN FINE PANCAKES."
- >"I FEEL LIKE A MILLION BITS TODAY, DID I MENTION THAT? BECAUSE I DO, I FEEL LIKE A MILLION BITS"
- >Any further talking is cut off as she rapidly consumes the rest of the food on her plate
- >"WELL THANKS FOR MAKING BREAKFAST ANON, THOSE WERE SOME DAMN FINE PANCAKES."
- >She glances at the wall clock
- >"HO BOY, LOOK AT THE TIME, I GOTTA BE GOING. IT'S SNOWING AGAIN AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! BUT THANKS FOR THE FOOOOOD"
- >The last word dissipates as she opens a window, then zooms out it with enough speed to send loose papers fluttering about
- >AppleJack pivots and stares directly at you
- >"Whut in tarnation did you put in those pancakes?"
- LOVE
- >"Well alrighty then..."
- >"Of course he put love in the pancakes! You can't cook anything without it!"
- >Pinkie Pie finishes her breakfast before both you and AppleJack
- >She puts her dishes in the sink
- >"Time for clean up!"
- >Then heads through a door and down to Sugarcube corner proper
- >The door swings shut behind her
- >As you and AppleJack finish your breakfasts, you can hear a noise coming from beneath your feet
- >It starts off as a low buzz
- >Then slowly gains volume and intensity as you put the remaining food away in the fridge
- >By the time you finish washing the dishes, you can feel a vibration in the floor
- >It sounds like that one time your brother dropped a chicken bone in the garbage disposal
- >Now it's your turn to look at AppleJack
- >She smirks at you
- >"You'll see"
- >You notice your winter gear in a corner
- >You grab it up and head down the stairs, AppleJack in tow
- >The noise ceases the moment you put your hand on the doorknob to the lower level
- >You open the door
- >This probably won't be pre-
- >The place is clean
- >No
- >Even more than that
- >The place is immaculate
- >The counter and display case shine
- >The detritus of last night's shindig is nowhere to be seen
- >And in the middle of it all stands Pinkie Pie
- >Grinning
- >You are at loss for words
- How...
- >She taps the side of her snout
- >"Family secret"
- >Figures
- >Well, you've lollygagged long enough
- >You have a job to do today
- >And you intend to dooo eeeettt
- >So you follow AppleJack to the plow storage shed
- >Inside, she takes you to a piece of paper hanging on the wall
- >On it are the seven days of the week
- >Underneath the various days you can see "AppleJack", "Big Mac", and several other names you don't recognize
- >"This is the schedule, we draw a new one up every week" Begins AppleJack
- >"For now, ya can work on the same days ah do"
- >"On yer designated day, ya move any and all snow that falls. Ya keep the streets clear"
- >"Everyp0ny gets paid at the end of the month. Got it?"
- Yeah, I got it
- >Seems simple enough
- >"Then let's get to it"
- >She trots over to a plow and jumps in
- >You head out the door
- >Your shovel is still in your truck
- >Over by Twilight's
- >You really hope Twilight's feeling alright
- >But you don't want to wake her up by knocking
- >So you get out your shovel and start shoveling
- >After a bit, you take off your jacket and hang it on a convenient street lamp
- >Then resume shoveling
- >"What did you do that for?"
- >The question comes from behind you
- >You turn around
- >Twilight is watching you
- Do what for?
- >"Why did you take off your... jacket? You said yourself it keeps you warm"
- >You pause and lean on your shovel
- If I wear that jacket while I work, I'll get too warm
- IF I get too warm, I'll sweat inside my clothes
- Wet clothes conduct heat and cold much easier than dry clothes
- If my clothes are wet, I'll get cold
- So I take off the jacket and allow my physical activity to keep me warm
- >You demonstrate your logic by resuming your shoveling
- How are you doing, by the way?
- >"I'm... I'm doing better, actually. That water you left for me really helped"
- Rehydrating during a hangover really does, doesn't it
- >You shovel for a few more minutes
- >"Anonymous..."
- >You're not so sure about that tone of voice
- >You turn around and look at her
- >"Thank you. For last night..."
- >So she does remember
- >You stick your shovel in a snowbank
- >Then you kneel down in front of Twilight at head height
- >You put your hands on her shoulders and look deep into her eyes
- Twilight, you are one of the few friends I have in this place.
- I don't leave my friends sleeping on the barroom floor.
- >Then you get back up
- So think nothing of it, eh?
- >And start shoveling again
- >Twilight turns to go back in her housebrary
- >Then she pauses
- >"Oh, I almost forgot! Celestia sent a letter back."
- >You pause
- >You don't know if she wants you to come read it or if she's going to tell you what it says
- >She moves to the door
- >"You can come in!"
- >Ah, the former then
- >You stick your shovel in a snow pile outside the housebary and duck through the door
- >On the table is an open scroll
- >You walk over with Twilight and read
- >The gist of the letter is that Celestia is willing to help you
- >She's not sure if you CAN go back, but she will try
- >Unfortunately, the train rail to... Canterlot is out
- >A vital bridge collapsed, and it can't be repaired until spring
- >"Well Anonymous, looks like you get to spend the winter here"
- >You are suddenly glad you got a job
- >You're gonna be here for awhile
- >"I can't say I'm complaining"
- Really?
- >"No. I have all winter to ask you questions"
- >Oh boy
- Not now though
- >"No?"
- Nope. I gotta get back to work
- >And with that, you stand up
- >"Oh come on!"
- I'm just kidding. You can ask me questions as I work if you really want to.
- >"Okay"
- >That settled, you turn around and walk out the door
- >The rest of the day passes relatively uneventfully
- >Twilight drops in on your shoveling occasionally to pepper you with questions
- >Which you are more than happy answer
- >To be honest, it relieves some of the monotony
- >She even invites you to her treehouse for lunch
- >Which turns out to be delicious, delicious spaghetti
- >No meatballs, of course
- >But the sauce is to die for
- >After lunch, you resume your work
- >It's not long before your own and AppleJack's efforts clear the streets entirely of snow
- >So you opt to spend the rest of the evening at Twilight's
- >The questions range over most topics
- >You try to stay away from warfare and murder, though
- >She's amazed that your species has risen to such great heights without magic
- >You lean back against one the few bare patches of wall
- >Right now, you can't really think of a better way to spend the evening...
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AlaskanAnon in equestria ch. 4
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