It was a warm, muggy summer morning in the suburbs of Canterlot.
The morning sun shone through partially open dark blue curtains, landing on a pair of figures nestled cozily in bed. One of them, a boy with peach skin and spiky blue hair, stirred and grunted, eyes slowly opening. "Mmmn," he groaned as he sat up, scratching under his left arm. His right hand landed on the mattress beside him...
He paused, frowning. His mind told him something wasn't quite right. The mattress felt wrong. He glanced to his right...
The peacefully sleeping face of a blue-skinned girl greeted him. She had ice blue hair with a darker indigo stripe down the center. She was naked.
The boy glanced down at himself and discovered he was naked as well.
His eyes widened.
"Oh no."
* * * * *
A bedraggled, barely-awake Sunset Shimmer sat at her kitchen table, blearily poking at a microwave breakfast bowl with a fork. Steam wafted off the eggs, sausage, and congealed cheese.
Sunset had been up late the previous night reading. Twilight Sparkle had unexpectedly appeared and dumped an entire pile of books from Equestria on her, then ran off in a rush. A lot of it was recently-published treatises and theses, a few of which were penned by Twilight herself; the pile had also contained a hardbound omnibus of newspaper clippings covering the important (and some of the mundane) events from the last five and a half years in Equestria. While Sunset preferred hands-on research to books, she couldn't deny the importance of reading.
Besides, it was kind of...comforting, in a way, to have news from home. She hadn't exactly spent much time catching up on Equestrian current events the last time she'd gone back...
But long, late nights of reading until you couldn't see straight anymore came with a price, and she was paying it now. Her eyes were tight and puffy and she had the mother of all headaches.
Just as she was lifting a forkful of rapidly-cooling, rubbery eggs and cheese to her mouth, her phone rang. She let out a frustrated, zombie-like groan and picked it up. She had to squint at the screen to make out who it was; after a second, she gave up and just answered. "Hello?"
//Hey uhh, Sunset? It's...it's Flash.//
*Oh Celestia. He saw Twilight come by yesterday and he's about to nag me and I don't want to deal with this today...*
//I've...got a little problem here, and...and I didn't really know who else to call.//
Sunset frowned. "Is it an emergency?"
//Ki...kinda? Yeah...//
Sunset groaned. "What's the problem?"
//Well, I just woke up and...and there was a girl in my bed.//
Sunset blinked.
//It's, umm...it's one of the Dazzlings. The blue-haired one.//
Sunset blinked.
//And, umm...she's naked and...and I'm naked, and...I, uhh...I'm pretty sure we didsomething, but I don't really remember, and...//
"You...you slept with a Siren?!"
//I guess so? Probably? Yeah...// There was a pause. //Look, she...she's still in my bed, still asleep, and...and I just don't know what to do here, Sunset...//
Sunset groaned. "Take a shower, get dressed, and make her breakfast, you idiot," she said. "That's what nice guys DO the morning after." *And PRAY you didn't get her pregnant or something...*
Another pause. //O-okay. I'll do that. Umm...w-would you come by, y'know, later? I'm kinda...kinda wigged out here, and if I called one of the guys, well...you know how guys are.//
Sunset facepalmed. "Fine. But it'll be a while. I had a long night."
//Oh. Okay. Um. Thanks. Bye.//
Flash hung up. Sunset shook her head and groaned. "Good grief." She turned her attention back to her breakfast. "Too early in the morning for this..."
Five minutes and half a breakfast bowl later, Sunset's eyes snapped open wide. "Wait, WHAT?!"
* * * * *
After a shower and a change of clothes, Flash looked in on his unexpected "guest". The girl whose name he didn't even know was still asleep. He had to admit to himself she was pretty cute, even if she was part of the trio that recently turned the entire student body against each other and so thoroughly corrupted him with their evil magic that he'd made Twilight cry.
Remembering that, his jaw hardened. "No," he said. "I'm waking her up and sending her home..."
Make her breakfast. That's what nice guys DO the morning after.
Flash winced as he recalled Sunset's words. With a sigh, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. "I'm just glad Mom and Dad are off on their second honeymoon this weekend..."
As he looked around the kitchen, though, the fatal flaw in Sunset's advice leapt out at him.
He had no idea how to cook.
"I don't guess cereal and toast will cut it," he said with a sigh. Shaking his head, he opened the fridge and rooted around.
There was a Supperware container full of taco meat left over from two nights before. There was also a carton of eggs. He frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm..."
He took out the taco meat, the eggs, and some shredded cheese, then rooted through the cupboards. There was a jar of salsa, there were some tortillas...
He pulled out his phone, opened his browser, and searched the Internet for 'quick breakfast tacos'. After several results, he found a recipe that looked simple enough, was designed for novices, and listed everything he had on hand. Writing it all down on the whiteboard on the fridge, he found a skillet and got to work. After some false starts and three wasted eggs, he ended up with a serviceable pan of seasoned beef, eggs, and salsa.
"Mmm, something smells gooooood," a voice said from behind him. He turned to find the blue-haired Dazzling standing there wearing nothing but a long T-shirt from his closet.
"Uhh...hi," he said. "I, uhh...I made breakfast."
She giggled. "Thanks. Mind if I eat first, then shower?"
"Uhh...sure."
"Cool." She sat down at the table; he shook his head and started making breakfast tacos. He rolled three on a plate and put it in front of her, then made three for himself and carried his plate to the table, followed by two glasses and a bottle of orange soda.
"I hope it's alright," he said. "I've never cooked before."
She picked one up and took a big bite. Her eyes closed and she moaned in delight. "Ff gffd," she said through a mouthful of eggs, meat, cheese, and tortilla. After chewing and swallowing, she took a long sip of soda.
"That's good," Flash said. After eating one of his own tacos, he said, "So, uhh...kind of an awkward question, but...I don't think I ever got your name."
She blinked. "For realzies?" She tilted her head, tapping her cheek. "Huh. You know, you're right!" She smiled. "It's Sonata. Sonata Dusk. And you're Flash Sentry, right?"
He nodded.
"Yay! Now we know each other."
Flash drank some soda, then said, "So...about last night." He coughed. "I, uhh...I'm gonna sound like a real jerk here, but...I kinda have no idea what happened."
Sonata shrugged. "Yeah, I figured you might. Not. Not might, might not. Remember. Last night." She devoured the rest of her first taco, then explained:
"I was wandering around with a case of fizzy cider when I found you outside CHS, staring at that silly horse statue and moping. I asked you what was wrong, and you started going on and on about that Princess Twilight from Equestria. How you missed her, and how you weren't sure you'd ever see her again, and how could a kid in a band with a muscle car ever be good enough for a magical princess, and you just went on and on and ON AND ON! It was so, so pathetic.
"So anyway, while you were babbling about that princess, we got to drinking the ciders I had with me, and you got all moody and started dozing off. So then I looked through your pockets until I found your wallet and your driver's license, and I put you in your car and drove you home.
"Then when we got here, I was gonna put you to bed and go home, but then outta nowhere you got all grabby and stuff, so..." Sonata shrugged. "I thought, what the heck, and I slept with you! And that's pretty much it."
Flash stared at her. "Guuuuuh..." He shook his head. "Oh my gosh. I...I'm sorry."
"For what?" Sonata asked, picking up another taco. "I didn't mind, you're cute. I mean, you weren't that good, but I guess that's because you were kinda out of it..." She bit into her taco, chewed, then reached for her soda.
"Still," Flash said, "that's...that's just not me..."
Sonata shrugged again. "Eh. Everybody has a bad day. I've been having a lot of them ever since your girlfriend and her friends kicked our butts at the Battle of the Bands."
Flash frowned suddenly. "Oh yeah. I forgot. You're evil."
"Well, yeah," Sonata said. "That doesn't mean we can't be friends though, right?" She smiled hopefully.
Flash stared at her. "Uhh...I guess?"
"Great!" Sonata said cheerfully. "Because you have to be my boyfriend now." She gave him a wide-eyed, innocent stare. "That's not gonna be a problem, is it?"
Flash's brain seized up. "Huh?"
Sonata's smile widened into a dangerous Cheshire grin. "You're mine now, Flash Sentry. Or else."
And with a gleefully deranged giggle, she finished her breakfast.
