//------------------------------// // Hangovers and Help // Story: A Song of Ponyville // by PonyJosiah13 //------------------------------// Berry Punch hadn’t been lying: that bottle of Pinot Noir 1941 was a good one. She should know, she’d downed half the thing. “Rough day, huh?” Berry Punch asked, walking over to Coloratura and sitting down next to her. The two of them were sitting in a gazebo overlooking Berry’s vineyards. The harvest was long over with the coming of winter, and some of the leaves were already turning brown, shivering beneath the light of the stars and the half moon. The music of the leaves mixed with the chirping of crickets and the sound of night birds. “The roughest,” Coloratura said, her voice slow and heavy. She grabbed the bottle of wine and shakily raised it, tilting the neck towards the glass that sat on the bench next to her. “Hey, don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Berry asked. “Ah, piss off,” Coloratura swore. “You’re j-just like AJ.” “What’s that mean?” Berry asked, her eyebrows raising. “Plus, I had no idea you were capable of even saying things like that.” Coloratura poured the wine into the glass; despite slopping much of the scarlet liquid everywhere, she managed to fill the glass all the way to the brim. She then grasped the glass and downed the entire contents in one go. “She got on my c-case earlier,” Coloratura explained, placing the glass back down on the bench. The glass nearly fell off, but she somehow managed to right it in time. “Telling me that I shouldn’t be drinking at all...that I…” She paused, swirling the glass. “That I m-messed up everything...my entire l-life, heck, I even m-missed Steamed g-getting up on stage the first time…” Tears shimmered in her bright blue eyes, which struggled to focus on the glass. She reached out for it, but Berry Punch quickly reached out with her hoof and pulled the glass away. “You’ve had enough,” she said in a firmer tone. Coloratura glared at Berry. “Must be easy for you,” she grunted. “You...you’ve always been a jerk. Never had to g-give a horseapple ‘bout ‘nything…” “I’m going to ignore that, considering that you’re drunk,” Berry scowled. “But seriously, you’ve had enough.” “Gimme ‘nother,” Coloratura demanded, standing up in a slow, wobbly manner, like a puppet being operated by an incompetent master. “No,” Berry Punch said. “I want another!” Coloratura shouted, stumbling forward. She raised her hooves to try to shove Berry, but Berry smoothly stepped aside and smacked Coloratura on the back of the head. Coloratura stumbled and fell hard on her face, crashing into the floorboards with a loud crack and a grunt. Berry knelt down and listened, detecting a soft snoring from the unconscious mare. Shaking her head, Berry lifted Coloratura up onto her back and started to carry her back to the house. As she approached the back porch, Minuette came out to meet her. “What happened to Rara?” she asked, noticing the snoring mare across Berry’s shoulders. “Did she drink so much she fell asleep? I didn’t think she’d even be able to handle that much, she’s so small.” “Nah,” Berry shrugged. “I gave her my You’ve-Had-Too-Much Special.” “You hit her?” Minuette cried, glaring. “Technically, she knocked herself out when she fell,” Berry shrugged, climbing onto the porch and opening the door. “I can’t believe you sometimes!” Minuette glared, following her. “She needed to calm down,” Berry explained. “Mini, she’s not herself. She got in a fight with AJ.” “A fight?” Minuette repeated. “I didn’t think they fought at all, ever!” “She’s gonna be in real bad shape tomorrow when she wakes up, and not just because of the headache,” Berry said, walking down the hallway to the guest bedroom. “She’s gonna need a friend, and that’s what she’s gonna need you for.” “I should call Pastor Sound, too,” Minuette nodded. “She’s helped Rara in the past, plus she’s real nice. Times like this, a pony needs as many friends as she can get, ya know. Should I call AJ, too?” She paused. “No, bad idea. If they’ve fought, it might take some time to cool off.” Berry opened up the door to the guest bedroom, which was equipped with a single bed, a desk and chair, and a few paintings that Minuette had picked out: a sunny landscape, a cafe scene, and an abstract image with lots of squares and squiggly lines (she couldn’t settle on one). Minuette pulled the blankets back with her magic and Berry dumped the snoring Coloratura on the mattress. Coloratura groaned in her sleep and curled up into a ball as Minuette pulled the blankets over her. “Mama?” Berry Pinch asked, rubbing her eyes with a hoof as she walked into the room. “What’s Miss Rara doing here?” “She needs a place to stay for a while, sweetie,” Berry Punch explained. “She’s in a bit of a tough spot.” Berry Pinch frowned in thought for a moment, then walked back to her room. She came back carrying a small brown teddy bear in her magic. “Mister Hugs makes me feel better,” she said, sliding the bear next to Coloratura. The sleeping mare wrapped her hooves around the toy and hugged it close to her chest, mumbling incoherently before resuming her snoring. Berry Punch smiled and tussled her daughter’s mane. Turning out the light in the room and closing the door, she turned and led the other two to bed. The next morning dawned with Celestia’s sun coloring the low clouds in shades of gold and orange. Minuette had bounded out of bed as soon as the clock struck 6:30 as always, and had breakfast prepared by the time Berry Punch and Berry Pinch shuffled into the dining room just after seven.   “All the mares and stallions in the world, and I had to pick the early riser,” Berry Punch grumbled, rubbing sleep out of her eyes and yawning. “I swear, you run off of batteries, not sleep like a normal pony.” “Well, somepony has to make sure that this place runs on schedule,” Minuette said, sliding two steaming plates of Prench toast and scrambled eggs onto the table. “And think of it this way: I wake up a little early to make breakfast and tidy up, that gives you two more time to sleep and be ready for other things.” Berry Punch smiled and kissed her wife on the cheek. “That’s true, I guess.” She started to tuck in. “Is Miss Rara still asleep?” Berry Pinch asked through a mouthful of eggs. “Were you raised in a barn, missy?” her mother asked, raising an eyebrow. Berry Pinch swallowed. “Sorry, mom.” “I’ll go check on her,” Minuette said, scooping up another plate of breakfast. This she set on a tray, along with a tall glass of orange juice, a pitcher of ice water, and two each of extra-strength aspirin and antacid. Humming cheerfully, she lifted up the tray with her magic and walked down the hallway to the guest room. She opened the door wide with her magic and bounced inside. “Wakey-wakey, the show must go on!” she declared. The bundle of blankets on top of the mattress shifted slightly. “Leave me alone to die,” a voice moaned from within. “But then you’d start to stink up the whole house, silly!” Minuette chirped, pulling the covers away with her magic. Coloratura was curled up into a ball, laying on her side; Mister Hugs lay a few inches from her. She flinched and raised a hoof to block out the light, then seized the blankets and yanked them back over her head. “Go away,” she moaned. “No can do!” Minuette said. “I gotta make sure you get some food in your belly and that you don’t need to go to the hospital.” She pulled back the blankets once more and paused. Coloratura didn’t resist; she just lay on her side, sniffling. Tears ran down her face. “AJ hates me,” she whimpered. “No, she doesn’t,” Minuette assured her, sitting on the bed next to her. “You made a mistake, that’s all.” “I lied to her, and I hit her,” Rara continued. “How is she going to forgive me for that?” “You were drunk, Rara,” Minuette said. “Lots of ponies do dumb things when they’re drunk.” She paused for a beat. “If it makes you feel better, I could show you some pics from that one time in college that Berry somehow found. But if you tell anypony about them, I’ll deny it.” Rara laughed feebly, but her chuckles were quickly silenced by a moan of pain. “I feel awful.” “Here,” Minuette said, lighting up her horn. “Just hold still and relax.” “What are you—?” Rara started to ask, but her question was cut off by a quiet, relieved groan as Minuette’s magic began to gently massage her temples. Minuette continued the massage, rubbing the crown and back of Rara’s head, targeting specific pressure points to ease her pain. “That feels good,” Rara sighed, hugging Mister Hugs again. “It’s a little trick I picked up from a book,” Minuette said. “I use it on Berry when she gets a migraine.” “Thanks, Minuette,” Rara said, sitting up. “I feel a little better now.” “Great,” Minuette smiled. She floated over the glass of orange juice and medicine. “Take these, they’ll help.” Rara gratefully swallowed down the pills with a swig of orange juice, then began to pick at the eggs. “Miss Rara, you’re awake!” Berry Pinch chirped, bouncing into the room. “Did Mister Hugs help you sleep?” “He did, Berry,” Rara smiled feebly, giving the bear back to Berry. “Thank you very much.” “You can keep him for a while longer,” Berry said, giving the bear back to Rara. “I think he can still help you.” Rara hugged the bear. “Thank you, Berry.” “You’re welcome!” “Silly fillies like you had best be getting ready for school so they won’t be late!” Minuette teased, pressing her nose against Berry Pinch’s. Berry giggled and ran off to prepare for school. “I’ll check on you a little later,” Minuette said. “Try and get some more rest, and eat what you can. Bathroom’s just down the hall, second on your left.” “Thank you,” Rara nodded as Minuette exited, closing the door behind her. She drank down half the pitcher of water and managed to eat a slice of the toast and most of the eggs before her churning stomach overruled her appetite. After relieving herself in the bathroom, she slid back into bed and managed to doze off, despite her dully thudding headache. No more than twenty minutes after she’d finally closed her eyes, the door banged open. “How you feeling, Rara-Sis-Boom-Bah?” Berry declared, marching into the room. Rara groaned as her headache returned with a vengeance and glared at Berry. “I’d be a lot better if you—” She stopped herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before continuing in a forcibly restrained voice delivered through a plastic smile. “Berry, thank you for letting me stay the night. I—” “Don’t mention it,” Berry smiled, waving off the compliment. “And don’t worry about speaking your mind. I’m an unapologetic jerk, I know I am.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. “Listen, I know you’re probably feeling like manure right now, and you don’t need me rubbing it in. There are some things that a pony like me isn’t suited for, and picking up a mare when she’s down is one of them. So that’s why I called in a mutual friend.” “Right in here, mom,” a stallion’s voice said from outside, accompanied by the familiar tapping of a cane. Flash Sentry walked into the room, followed by his mother. “Perfect,” Berry said, getting up. “Hiya, Pastor. Officer Sentry.” “Berry,” Pastor Sound nodded. “Hello, Rara.” Rara swallowed and nodded. Her stomach, which had been churning and turning just a moment ago, now felt like it had fallen out of her belly. “I’ll leave you to it, gotta tend to the berries. Hope you feel better,” Berry Punch said, walking out of the room. Flash nodded to Rara and stepped out of the room as well, closing the door behind him. “How are you feeling?” Pastor Sound asked, following the wall with a hoof until she reached the bed. She gently felt out the mattress until she found an empty spot, then sat down upon it with a creak. “Awful,” Rara admitted, hugging the teddy bear again. Pastor Sound nodded. “From what I heard, you have had a very rough go of it.” Coloratura scowled. “So I suppose this is the part where you tell me that I deserved it?” she grumbled. “No,” Pastor Sound said gently. “I’m going to ask you what you want to do now.” Rara blinked, then stared down at the bear in her lap for several long seconds of silence. The teddy looked plaintively back up at her with its brown button eyes, head tilted to one side inquisitively. “You mean besides crawl into a hole and die of shame?” Coloratura asked. “As your friend, I really wouldn’t advise that,” Pastor Sound replied. “A lot of ponies would miss you.” “You sure about that?” Coloratura asked bitterly. Pastor Sound reached out and found Rara’s shoulder, her hoof slowly tracing down Rara’s arm to her hoof. She squeezed gently, her grip as warm as her smile despite the dimness of the unseeing eyes that somehow aimed themselves at Rara's own irides. “Rara, I have seen how Applejack and her family treat you,” she said. “I know that no matter how hard you feel like you have fallen, they will be there to pick you up.” “Are you sure? After everything I did?” Rara asked, pulling her knees up to her chest. “I am positive,” Pastor Sound said. “Few ponies have a capacity for love like Applejack, and love bears and forgives all, even unkind words.” When Rara did not respond, the pastor continued, “One of the hardest lessons we can learn in this life is that we are mortals, and we are fallible. And sometimes, when we fall, we fall hard. But love will be there to remind us that no matter how deeply we have fallen, there will be somepony to pick us up again. And you have many ponies waiting to help you up now. You just need to reach out and take their hooves.” Rara pondered this for a long moment, then slowly smiled and squeezed Pastor Sound’s hoof back. “I know what I have to do,” she declared. “I have to go back home and make this right.” “Good,” Pastor Sound nodded, a twinkle flashing through her unseeing blue eyes. “Flash and I will be glad to take you there.” Giving Mister Hugs a final squeeze, Rara swung her legs off the bed and landed upon the floor. As soon as her hooves touched the carpet, however, her hangover returned with a vengeance, causing the room to spin along with her stomach and her head to flare with pain, every light intensifying to a painful degree. She staggered with a cry of pain, clutching her head. Instantly, Pastor Sound was at her side, helping her up. “What happened?” Flash asked, pushing the door open. Observing the scene before him, he quickly moved around to Rara’s other side, lifting her up. “Rara, perhaps you should rest more,” Pastor Sound suggested. “You—” “No,” Rara said firmly, shaking her head. She gritted her teeth and forced her eyes open, pushing through the pain until the light faded to a more manageable degree. Ordering her breakfast to remain in her stomach, she got her balance but allowed Pastor Sound and Flash to continue to help her up. “No,” she repeated. “I need to do this now.” Flash looked at his mother; she looked in his direction, a pensive frown crossing her features. “If you are sure, then we will help you,” she declared. The trio moved out of the bedroom and down the hallway, Flash leading the way, Pastor Sound’s cane dragging along next to her. They exited the house and walked down the dirt pathway to the arch in the gate. A blue motorcycle with a sidecar and rather crudely painted lightning bolts along the sides sat outside the gate. “Do you have her?” Pastor Sound asked Flash. “I got her,” Flash said, shifting to support more of Rara’s weight. “Bike’s to your eleven o’clock.” Her cane leading the way, Pastor Sound walked confidently towards the bike. When her cane tapped against the side, she carefully followed her way around it to the sidecar, then climbed inside with a grunt. She pulled a helmet out of the sidecar and began to strap it on. Rara and Flash walked over to the bike. Rara gave the hasty, obviously hoofpainted lightning bolts a querying examination. Sensing her gaze, Flash let out a quiet chuckle. “I thought it looked cool,” he admitted. Rara let out a small chuckle as well as Flash climbed onto the bike. She climbed on behind him, wrapping her forelegs around his chest. “Here,” Flash said, handing her his helmet. It was a bit too big and shaded her eyes, but she strapped it on as tightly as she could. Flash turned the ignition and the bike grumbled to life, vibrating beneath them. Checking once more to make sure that both of his passengers were secure, he pulled away from the orchard and started heading up the street towards Sweet Apple Acres.