//------------------------------// // Horsing Around *Canned Laughter* // Story: Coconut Punch // by MistyShineStar //------------------------------// "Ey! Wakey wakey, Missus Punch!" Berry opened one eye ever-so-slightly to see a cherry-maned foal staring at her. She closed it again, hoping she hadn't noticed. "You want some breakfast, or what? You better wake it up before you're late to work! Y'know, Missus Pommel can fire you real easy! She's a tough one, y'hear?" "Oh Celestia, you better not feed that thing after midnight," Berry finally said, opening both of her eyes and stretching her back. She groaned as she felt her spine pop. Sleeping on the couch really didn't help with her back problems. Babs responded to her statement with a huff and a slight grin. "Last time I checked, this is my house, toots!" said the filly. She started towards the kitchen. Berry did notice the scent of hay spam wafting through the air. Damn, this house even smelled like poverty. Nevertheless, she got up and followed the young mare. Coco was in the kitchen along with a light blue stallion. She assumed that he must be Luggage Cart. "Hey," she said casually. Luggage was eating a bowl of cereal over the kitchen sink. He glanced over at her. He lifted his chin in acknowledgment to Berry and looked over at Coco. "I sure hope you're planning on financing her stay," he said, taking another bite of cereal, "because there's no way I could afford it." "Of course. Keep your voice down," Coco said, flipping the hay spam slices onto a few paper towels. Babs took hers first and immediately started eating ravenously. "Hey, kid," Berry said, "the plate's not running away from you, last time I checked." "Aw, up yours, you hick," Babs replied, not looking up from her meal. Berry, offended by the comment, looked over at the two adults in the room expectantly. When neither one batted an eye at the filly's behavior, she finally spoke up. "Are you guys gonna send this kid to the time-out corner, or am I going to have to do it myself?" "Last time I checked, there's only one pony in this room who's not paying her share of the rent," Luggage replied, chuckling. "And it's not the foal." Berry scrunched up her nose in both offense and surprise. This kid was really helping with the rent around here? No wonder she was so keen in her attempts to boss her around. "Well," Babs said, "I'm gonna go ahead n' head to work. Bye, Luggage! Bye, Coco!" She tossed the napkin she was eating off of in the trash and ran out the door. "Such a good kid," Luggage muttered to himself, putting the cereal bowl in the sink. Coco looked up from the pan she was washing. "Don't you have work, too?" He looked at his watch. "Nah, not for another hour." "Didn't you say you had work early?" "I do." "I hate to break it to you, but having work at ten in the morning actually isn't that early." "I like to have a healthy amount of sleep, Coco, what can I say?" Luggage replied, laughing heartily. Coco joined in with him. Berry watched their banter and wondered about the weird dynamic the three roommates had with one another. Coco nagged a couple of ponies that were otherwise calloused and independent individuals, yet they all were able to get along just fine and poke fun at one another with no hurt feelings. Berry couldn't remember the last time she had a roommate, but she knew that living with other ponies had always ended badly for her. Coco's eyes caught a laminated card on the counter. "Oh, dear," she said. "Babs forgot her MetroCard. Come on, Berry, let's go bring it to her before she's late." Berry found herself being dragged out the door before she could even respond to Coco's request. She first took the blue-maned mare as an extremely timid pushover type of pony, sort of like Fluttershy. It turns out that she was more like a mother than a true pushover- she cared about other people and would put her tail on the line for them, but she wasn't afraid to do what was best for the wellbeing of other ponies, no matter their protests. As far as Berry's track record went, she never particularly cared for ponies like that, but here she was, finding herself further infatuated with Coco. Her admiration for her was increasing with every interaction. As they trotted closer to the nearest subway station, which thankfully wasn't very far away, Berry asked, "Miss Pommel, doesn't Babs have school or something? Why is she going to work?" Coco giggled. "It's the middle of summer, Berry," she said, "And don't call me Miss Pommel. It's Coco!" Right. Berry wasn't the most talented mare in the world when it came to remembering the date, or even the current season, for that matter. She spent most of her time inside her house or windowless bars. They stopped a few feet behind Babs Seed, who was scowling in front the card reader and desperately searching her saddlebags for her card. A sea of ponies were shoving past her, much to Babs' chagrin. Coco passed the MetroCard over to Berry Punch and gave her a light shove. "Go," she said, winking at her. Berry was confused at first, but quickly got the message. She wanted Berry to personally deliver the card to the little brat to try and get Babs to like her more. She sighed and begrudgingly started toward the foal, thinking about how delivering one measly card to her wouldn't change the fact that she was: a) a little prick, and b) a little prick. She tapped on Babs' shoulder gently, causing the filly to turn around defensively. "What? Huh? Whaddya want? Oh." "Calm your hooves, kid. I brought you your MetroCard," she said, placing it in Babs' hoof. "Aw, shucks...Well, thanks, I guess," Babs said, blushing a little bit. "You're a real lifesaver, Missus Punch." She took the card out of her hooves with her teeth, scanned it, and walked to the other side. She was just in time for the next subway. She turned around and waved at Coco and Berry before she stepped on and the doors closed behind her. "See, Berry?" Coco smiled. "That wasn't so bad." "I still wouldn't feed that thing after midnight," Berry muttered.