“I swear, Berry just… just don’t talk to me right now! Go away!”
Bubble Berry, his tail slugging limply behind him, couldn't help but repeat that line in his head as he glumly traveled down the evening road of Ponyville. The stores were closing and ponies were already heading back to their homes. More than a few of them looked at him worriedly his way when they saw that Berry didn’t bother to greet or even glance at the ponies he trotted past. The only thing that Berry could see, perhaps the one thing he could never forget was Barrett’s cold and furious eyes still leering down at him.
“Bubble Berry?” spoke a familiar voice.
Berry stopped in his tracks. “Applejack?” he looked up towards his friend.
“Berry, what’s wrong with ya?” Applejack asked, as he trotted towards Berry. The earth pony had clearly been out shopping, as evident by his saddle bags being full with groceries. “You look more down than the mouse caught in a trap. What’s the matter?”
Berry sighed and his gaze fell lower and lower. “I made a mistake with Barrett. I didn’t mean to, I was trying to help.”
“It’s okay, but you do know your house is not that away,” Applejack said.
Berry Bubble let out a soft sigh. “I know… I’d rather just be out for a walk, anything to clear my mind.”
“How’s about I walk with ya, pardner?” Applejack asked, his lips curled into a smile. “I’m sure ya need someone to be at your side.”
Berry nodded, muttering a whimper, “Okie dokie lokie…” before he resumed his trotting.
Applejack’s smile coiled down to a frown as he realized that something must’ve been really eating at Berry to make him this low.
He quickly caught up with Berry. “You know, the sunset is looking great today,” Applejack said, attempting to stir up some small talk.
“Uh-huh…” Berry gloomed.
Applejack winced and attempted again to stir up some small talk once more. “Uhh… you know the crusaders tried to get their cutie mark in tracking animals. They ended up covered in maple syrup,” he chuckled, hoping this would get a reaction from from Berry.
“Uh-huh…” Berry repeated in the same tone.
“Come on Berry, I’m sure there oughta be something to cheer you up,” Applejack said gently. “Like a joke or a party.”
“I don’t think I’m in the mood for either of the two…” Berry muttered.
“Then can we at least talk?” Applejack asked. “It’s not like you for your mood to be more sour than an apple pie baked with lemons.”
Berry stopped and gave Applejack a stoic gaze. “We are talking right now.”
“Then can you tell me what is wrong with you?” requested Applejack giving him with a patient smile.
Finally, Berry nodded and sat down. “Have you ever felt like you couldn’t fix your mistake, no matter what you did?”
Applejack stared at Berry, not really understanding for the first few moments. Then, his eyes wide and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Berry did you kill someone?!”
Berry stumbles back a bit, nearly falling over after hearing such an asinine accusation. “What? No!” he blurted back. “Do I look like a crazy stabby pants?” Berry asked indignantly, his limp mane flinging around as he shook his head back and forth.
“Well…” Applejack grimaced, slightly regretting what he had asked. “You did say it was a problem you couldn’t fix.”
“I said felt,” he corrected, glaring at him. “Big difference.”
“Look,” Applejack started, “why don’t we go talk about this under the apple tree.” He then pointed over to a hill. “We could discuss everything there and I promise you will feel better than a red delicious dipped in caramel.”
“Well that does sound delicious,” Berry pointed out. His mane seemed to regain a portion of its former glory and he finally managed a smile. “Race you to the hill!”
AJ relieved to see the pony at least grin, happily accepted. “You’re on!” The two earth ponies raced towards the hill.
Berry made up the hill first and began to pronk happily. “Haha! I win!” he cheered.
“That you did, Berry. That you did.” Applejack chuckled, he then sat down and looked towards the sky.
Berry followed his actions and the two sat in silence, with only the ambient sounds of the of a gentle wind breezing through the apple tree to serenade them for what seemed like minutes.
“Fake Smiles…” Berry said, breaking the silence.
Applejack looked towards him, an eyebrow raised. “Smiles?”
When Barrett first came here, every time he was around us, he would often wear a fake smile, usually to make us feel better or to hide what he was really feeling… That’s what is wrong with me,” Berry explained.
This piqued Applejack’s curiosity, Berry was one to enjoy smiles. He cleared his throat and asked. “Do you think you can shed some light on that one? I don’t get it.”
“If there is one thing I can not stand, it’s a fake smile,” Berry said. “It brings me back some painful memories.”
“How can a smile be fake?” Applejack asked, trying to grasp at how a simple gesture could be false. Even as the element of honesty, honestly, it confused him.
“A fake smile is when you look happy, but really are just hurting inside,” Berry explained.
“So you want to do your best to make sure Barrett has something to smile about?” Applejack assumed. He then decided to lie back on the grass. “Well I must say you do a good job at it.”
Barrett frowned and shook his head. “No, because if I did… he wouldn’t be a crabby crabby pants all the time,” Berry stated, he lightly ran his hoof through the blades of the grass. “It would be even better if he stopped hiding behind that wall.”
“Berry, Barrett is doing fine,” Applejack stated, he then waved his hoof. “Sure he stays home… er… used to stay home holed up in his place more than the rest of us. He’s just shyer than a late blooming bud on an apple tree is all.”
“Then what am I supposed to do, AJ?” whimpered Berry. “What am I supposed to do so that I don’t lose Barrett?”
“Now what in the hay are you spitting on about?” asked Applejack. “Barrett is as healthy as a fiddle. I don’t think that bronco is going to be kicking the bucket anytime soon.”
“But what if he’s hiding a serious medical condition?” Berry questioned, his tone growing more frantic. “What if he puts on a fake smile around me so I don’t know it?!”
Applejack sat up, his mood soon becoming agitated. “Berry, this isn’t funny. You are getting head over hooves about nothing.” AJ took a second to sigh and calm himself. “I don’t know what the hay is wrong with you. First, you said you messed up something with Barrett, then you go on about smiles and now you are acting like Barrett’s gonna kick the bucket or something.”
Leaning down, Applejack sat a hoof on the colt’s shoulder. “Berry... what’s really rustlin ya?”
Berry remained silent, he only looked at Applejack and stared down at the grass. “It happened to a friend of mine.”
Applejack’s eyes widened as he finally connected the dots. His ears folded back and he muttered, “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t know.”
“Because, I don’t want to remember it,” Berry muttered. “Everytime I see a fake smile, it reminds me of my friend. I never understood why did he did it though if he was always happy around me.”
“Berry, if it isn’t too much to ask.” Applejack took a few steps closer to him. “Could you tell me about this friend of yours.”
“His name was Pick Saw, he lived in the town near my family’s rock farm. He liked rocks too and he was as young as me after I got my cutie mark.” Berry let out a sad chuckle. “I bet if he was still here, he would be as tall as you right now.”
Applejack grimaced, before asking his question. “What happened to him?”
Berry looked at him, a steel gaze locked onto Applejack. “Lymphosarcoma.”
It took Applejack a second, but after furrowing his brow and sounding out the word in his mind a few times, his old schooling finally surfaced and he identified the word. “But… that’s-”
“Cancer,” Berry interrupted Applejack, he then looked into the skies. “He was my first friend but he was hurting so badly, and I didn't know until it was too late because his fake smile hid that truth from me.”
Applejack looked at Berry, he took off his hat. “I’m so sorry…”
“I never understood why he hid it from me in the first place, he could have told me what was wrong from the start but instead choose to hide it behind his smile,” Berry said, he clenched his eyes. “He handed me that slip of paper with that word on it, and even after the fact he told me. He still held that smile…”
Applejack placed a hoof onto his friend back. “I can understand him holding that fake smile, but what about after he told you the truth… Are you sure that smile was fake?”
“I don’t know…” Berry muttered. “I was just focused on making him smile. I wanted Pick Saw to look at the bright side of things, I wanted to laugh with him and we did too… But everything I did felt fake too because I couldn’t change the fact that his disease would take his life away.”
Applejack patted Berry’s shoulders. “I know how much we want our friends to stay forever…” Something clicked in his mind. “And as a matter of fact, they do.”
“Really?” Berry asked, he was curious to what Applejack meant.
“See, you will remember the good times you had with your friend. No matter what happens, you will always remember that,” Applejack grinned. “As a matter of fact, I bet he had fun with you. You made his last days amazing and I’m absolutely positive that his final smiles were as real as a red apple.”
Berry nods, he slowly began to understand what Applejack meant. His frown had soon turned to a soft sincere smile. “Yeah. You are right.”
“Look, I bet somewhere behind that wall of his, Barrett cares deeply about you. He’s probably just so nervous and scared to tell you. I mean, maybe he’s got somethin on his shoulders too. Maybe he just feels like he should be alone since he’s the only human here. But since none of us know and he’s not really willin’ to talk, you have to give Barrett some time to further adapt to this situation,” Applejack assured. “You understand, right pardner?”
Berry opened his mouth, he knew that he was eager to say something, but when he tried to talk, he couldn’t form words. Instead, he closed his mouth and began to think. Despite what Applejack said, Berry, deep down, couldn’t fathom the solution that, to be better friend, you’d have to not be around them.
Finally, Berry managed to put his thoughts into words. “But aren’t you basically telling me to ignore my friend?”
Applejack closed his eyes and shook his head. “I would try, but in the end I can’t really make your decisions for you, not can I?”
Berry’s ears folded, his gaze now redirecting towards the ground. “Oh…”
Applejack moved his hoof to Berry’s hoof. “Maybe you should ask yourself, what would you do in this position?”
Berry gently lifts his head up, “What would I do?” he muttered. His eyes threatened to water. Berry didn’t want to just ignore Barrett, just the sheer thought brought a fierce pain to his chest.
“I can’t!” he blurted out, squirming away from Applejack.
“What in the hey?” Applejack gasped. “Berry what’s bugging ya this time?”
“I can’t ignore Barrett just like that!” Berry argued, stomping his hoof on the ground. “It’s not the right thing to do! How is ignoring the pain, the thought that your friend would soon just disappear like that, the right thing to do?”
Applejack was about to speak, but no words came as Berry aggressively pointed at him. Instead, he just shook his head at my friend.
“All I want to do is make sure Barrett is happy! Give him something to smile about, but no!” he stamps forward. “He’s all nervous and scared to put on a real smile for me. The nerve of him!” He whinnied, panting fiercely.
Applejack gazed back up to Berry. “Do you think he would want to smile at the way you are acting?”
This cooled Berry’s hostility, he slumped down onto the grass. “No…” He said, his voice cracking as Berry could no longer withhold the urge to cry. “I just want to make Barrett smile,” he cried out,
Applejack flinched back a bit from the outburst, but quickly scooted closer to Berry and gave his friend a tight hug. “I do too, but sometimes we have to make hard choices like this. Even if it hurts us.”
“Please…” Berry begged. “I don’t want to ignore him, there has to be a different way than that!”
“Like I said, I can’t make this decision for you.” Applejack reminded his friend. “I would definitely help you make Barrett smile, but with what you pulled off...” he trailed off, pausing for a second. “Barrett needs some time alone if he was as mighty pissed as you say.”
“Don’t remind me…” Berry whined,
“Look, just because you made a mistake, doesn’t mean it is too late to fix it.” Applejack gave Berry’s back a few comforting pats. “So come on, how’s about we start small and buck this rainy mood away?”
Berry sniffled a bit, and after a few seconds he finally managed to dry his tears. He gazed at Applejack. Looking at his best friend smile back at him, Berry’s frown soon turned upside down.
Applejack chuckled. “Now there’s the smile I recognize. You feeling better there, haystack?”
Berry nodded and then moved a hoof to wipe his eyes for any remaining tears. “Yeah,” he paused, taking in a deep breath. “Thanks AJ, for taking the time to talk with me.”
“Don’t mention it, partner,” Applejack muttered. The two gazed towards the sunset, a comfortable silence falls on the pair. The sun slowly dipped beyond the horizon, darkening the once amber sky, the moon slowly rose to take it’s place of it’s golden sibling.
Berry looked out towards the night sky, watching the void be filled with many stars. He gave a small giggle and then turned towards AJ. “Do you think Barrett would enjoy looking at the night sky.”
“Probably.” Was all Applejack had to say, he looked towards Berry. “Why do ya ask?”
“No reason.” Berry said, his gaze now returning to the sky. “Just curious.”
~~~
“So…” Harpsichord began, staring at the, frankly quite filthy looking human who was covered in white stains from head to toe. While it looked like some had been wiped off what hadn’t been had dried, making his clothes go from sticky to crusty. “I… uhh… hope at least the bottoms of your feet are clean. Bon’s not gonna like it if you get human prints on the floor.”
Barret, still frowning, just stared at him. Shrugging, Harpsichord moved aside and allowed him into his home. To his good fortune, there were no resulting shoe prints.
Moving towards the living room, Barrett wasted no time in heading straight for the couch. Unfortunately, as he tried to sit down, he felt the familiar tingle of magic holding his hindquarters above the seat.
“Eeeyyeah,” hissed Harp cringing back, “I’m gonna need to put something down first. Gimmie a minute. Running over to a nearby closet, Harp pulled out what seemed to be a large yellow beach towel. He turned it this way and that, examining it and, shrugging, he placed it over the couch and released his magic.
Satisfied that his roommate and partner wouldn’t be on his case later, Harp moved over to his recliner that sat at an angle to the couch. “So, mr grouchy mcdowner butt what’s… all of that? You get hit with some sort of paint bomb”
Barrett only began to glower more. “Berry’s… confectionary creation. He interrupted my ‘date.’”
Harpo simply stared at him, his thin lined mouth belaying the loops his brain was doing. “So… I’ve got a few more questions… I’m pretty sure you can figure out where to start.”
Barrett sighed and threw his head back. Staring blankly up at the ceiling, he began to recall the events from earlier that day, from the pancakes, to Blitz actions, to finally finding his chance at a proper romance, and eventually to the creamy release. At some point during the conversation, Harpo silently levitated a large bottle of soda and a bucket of popcorn and reclined in his seat.
After about an hour, Barrett began nearing the end of his story, his limp posture unchanged from the start. “So I gave a very stern and calm speech to Berry, then I yelled at him for good measure, then I stormed off and came here since I didn’t feel like going all the way to Applejack’s.”
“So,” said Harpsichord, his voice muffled by the popcorn in his mouth. “What do you want me to do? Give you a hug, I don’t think I could deal with the misunderstanding that would happen if Bon walked in.”
Barrett shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly just talking about it makes me feel better but I’m still pissed at Berry for what he did.”
Harpo nodded. “And?”
Barrett groaned, some help he was. “Knowing him he probably had some happy go lucky reason that made sense only to him…”
“Uhuh… keep going.”
“And blowing up at him was probably counter productive because he’s gonna mope and I’ll feel bad and I’ll go comfort him and he’ll get the wrong idea and we’ll go on like nothing happened.” Barrett rolled his eyes.
Harpo burst out in a fit of chuckles, his fervent giggling causing several errant kernels to fall to the ground around him. “I’m kind of upset you see the pattern. I was hoping to watch and laugh at you!”
“Ha… ha,” muttered Barrett. “I’m not an idiot. I don’t plan on living the rest of my life on a cycle.”
“But you also can’t hold a grudge and have already forgiven him,” he mused, an insufferably smug grin on his face.
Barrett could only roll his eyes. Standing up he made his way to the door. “I’m not going to forgive him just yet though, not until I know that he’s learned his lesson.”
“I don’t know,” Harp muttered. Finishing off his popcorn, he stood up and followed Barrett, crunching and balling up the bag in his magic on the way. “I’ve known that wacky stallion for a while. He knows when to apologize when he does something wrong. You might not have to make him wait.”
Barrett simply shrugged. “Either way he won’t be doing this again.” After a second of silence, Barrett glanced over to Harpsichord and gave a small grin. “Thanks for listening to my ramble.”
Harp returned the grin and proudly trotted into the kitchen. “Don’t worry about it, anything for my favorite little human ball of stress. Just try not to ruin my floor next time.”
It was only then that Barrett had decided to look down. His face gain a small crimson hue at the sight of faint drying footprints leading from the door, to the couch, to back to the door. The collection of which served to effectively ruin the carpet he was standing on. “Sorry bout that.”
Harp’s voice carried through from the kitchen, supplemented by the cling clang of various silverware being moved around. “Don’t worry about it, we were just about to replace the carpet. Though I’m pretty sure Bon’s not gonna be happy about the price going down when we try to sell it.”
Barrett adjusted his glasses and took hold of the doorknob to leave. “I’ll just give Bon a custom wood carving of the two of you, he seems to really--” Opening the door, Barrett’s words trailed off into silence at the sight of a pink pony sitting on the doorstep, hooves held out towards the human holding what looked like a small wood carving of Barrett next to Berry with the former’s hand atop the latter’s mane. Though the carving was front and centre, Barrett’s eyes almost immediately focused on the bandages and wrappings on Bubble Berry’s hooves.
Berry slowly rose his head to look up from the ground. His eyes were watery, making them look even bigger than pony eyes naturally were. “I-I’m sorry, Barrett. I’m sorry for ruining your smile.”
Slowly Barrett took the carving into his own hands and examined it with the critical eye.
It was amateurish, there were scratching where there weren't supposed to be, one of Barrett’s arms looked far shorter than the other, Berry looked more like a mare with a slender nose and build, and various other imperfections.
“What’s this?” he asked, his brow raised.
Berry averted his gaze, his hunched over and meek expression far different than what Barrett would normally expect. “I had Applejack help me make this. I thought I would give it to you as an apology. I’m sorry that I just can’t leave you alone. I know that some ponies need their space but too much space leaves a pony lonely and when I know ponies are lonely then I just want to get even closer.”
Looking up, Berry finally locked eyes with the human. “I don’t want you to be lonely... but I also don’t want to be bother to you,” he muttered softly. “I’ve been trying to figure it out but I can’t. What do I do?” he pleaded.
Barrett stood there, his mouth a straight line and almost unreadable. Though honestly, he was as unsure as this pony in front of him was. Berry was right, in part. He was lonely, who wouldn’t be in this situation. But here Berry was, more or less pouring his heart out in front of him. What could he say to that.
“I say you should just kidnap him and screw him while he’s asleep. I guarantee he’ll wake up feeling gay the next day.”
Barrett’s expression went from one of stoic indifference to furious rage as his frown deepend considerably. Slowly he turned to see Harpsichord standing behind him with a sly grin on his face. “Trust me, I’ve read tons of fan stories on the subject.”
There was a slam, and Harpo was alone on the floor laughing his guts out.
Barrett, adjusting his glasses and trying to calm down, glaned at Berry. To his surprise, the pony still looked crestfallen, his the perverse joke doing nothing to lift his spirits. Letting out a sigh, Barrett walked past the pony and rub his hand through Berry’s mane.
“Follow me,” he ordered.
“O-okay,” said Berry.
Together the two walked along the sidewalk under the midnight sky. One pony had his head angled towards the dirt, while the other human had his head towards the sky.
In silence the two made their way into ponyville proper, surrounded by the quiet town and ambient light of ponies houses and various streetlights. It eventually became evident that Barrett was headed back to Sweet Apple Acres when the amount of light began to dip.
Several times during their journey, Berry would look up at Barrett’s back and open his mouth, but each time stopped before any sound could escape.
Barrett, for his part took the time to carefully word how he was going to answer Berry’s earlier question.
Finally, the two came to a pause at the entrance to the Apple Family Farm. Barrett turned to face Berry, ready to answer his question.
“Berry, look at me,” he said. Berry hesitantly complied, his body still hunched over and reserved. “Listen, I could tell you a bunch of different things you could do. I told you to leave me alone earlier right?” Berry nodded, his mane seeming to droop as a result. “Well honestly that was true, you should leave me alone, that’s kinda what I prefer.”
Berry’s head and gaze lowered even further. His eyes began glittering as tears started to well up in them from Barrett’s words.
“But,” he continued, “you were right earlier, I really am kinda lonely. Luckily you and the other six at least try to keep me company, your advances notwithstanding. So I guess if I had to answer your question of how to deal with me being an asshole….” Barrett shrugged.
Leaning down on one knee,” Barrett began gently rubbing his palm through Berry’s semi-linp mane. Almost as if just by his touch, the mane regained some of its poof. “Just be yourself,” Barrett finish, a small grin on his face. “I really don’t care. I’m pretty sure that if you stop hanging around me, I’m going to miss you or something.” Then all at once his expression soured again and he yanked on Berry’s ear. “Just don’t do something stupid like today again or else I’ll file a restraining order on you.”
Smiling despite the small pain in his ear, Berry leaned closer to Barrett and looked deep into his eyes. “So you’re not mad, you still like me?”
“Well I don’t want to have your children if that’s what you’re implying,” Barrett deadpanned.
Jumping forward, Berry gripped the human in a tight hug around his neck. “It’s alright there B Bubbs! Dusk has been looking up spells for that exact reason.”
Despite himself, Barrett let out a chuckle. Though inside he resolved to have a chat with Dusk about the intended use of those spells. However, as Berry tightened, Barrett heard a squelching sound.
He pushed Berry away and glanced down at his still caked shirt, noticing that a few strands of Berry’s fur had become stuck to him. Likewise, Berry had a bit of cream on his stomach.
Berry wasted no time in scooping up the cream and licking it from his hoof. “Mmmmmm! My cream tastes even better when I lick it off of you. That’s good to know.”
Barrett frowned. “Berry go home, I’m taking a shower.” Berry opened his mouth but Barrett quickly cut him off. “No!”
And with that, he turned and passed through the gate and back into the farm. Berry, likewise, turned and began skipping home, happy that he was back in his human friend’s good graces.
“Her Berry!” the prancing pony paused mid-skip when he heard his name being shouted.
“Hey…” yelled Barrett. “I’m moving back into my house in a few days, you wanna…”
Berry rocketed into the air, his tail wagging from excitement. “You want me to throw you a house warming party! Oh Barrett, my Butt Buddy, the man who puts the homo in homo-sapien, I love you!” he yelled, zooming off to plan the biggest party ever.
Then there was one, and that one, slowly reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh a deep, resentful sigh. “I was going to say help me move in…”