Berry Punch trotted placidly through the streets of Ponyville, nodding to neighbors and chuckling at the loopy flight patterns of the local mailmare. She was in a chipper mood indeed. The sun was warm, the sky was clear, and the smell of warm apples rose in the air as she approached the boundary of Sweet Apple Acres. She shook the pouch of bits attached to her saddlebags, and grinned as they jangled musically.
As she walked up the path to the farmhouse of the apple farm she was spotted by Granny Smith, who was lounging about on the porch. The old mare immediately moved to her walker and slowly started down the path. She met the purple mare in the middle of the path and gave her a wink. “No need t’say a thing. Not fer mah best customer. Come on ‘round back with me, dearie and we’ll get y’all set.”
Both mares slowly moved off of the path around back of the house, and into the semi-wild wooded area behind the house that was not, in fact, part of the nearby Everfree forest. They moved into a barely-there path which wound confusingly through the trees, past several side-routes that would confound anypony trying to follow it through to the end. The real path they followed terminated in a large clearing that held a complicated device made of metal tubing and glass containers, along with various other bits of junk and detritus. A tremendous still surrounded by the scent of sour apples. “Oh… Smells very potent today…” Berry noted, with a sniff and a sigh.
“You bet yer flank, dearie. Now ah’m proud of mah Icejack, but if yew want that good, hard hit, y’gotta use straight heat. So tell me, how much can ah get fer you this time?”
The bag of bits came out and over, held up before Granny Smith’s face. “However much this will get. Keep the change, just… Give me what you can.”
Granny Smith took the bag and gave it a shake, nodding slightly and feeling at it with her frogs for a long moment. “Yep… Yep… Good number here. Righty… Grab yerself two o’them crockery jugs while ah open ‘er up.”
Berry trotted along to a place beside the still where there was a tarp-covered lump. Beneath the tarp was a small collection of glazed brown jugs, with small apples painted on each one. While she collected two of them, Granny Smith took a small key from out of her bandana and moved to the still. She inserted the key into the machine near the spout and turned, a rusty scraping emerging from within.
The two jugs were dutifully brought to the front of the still, a lever was depressed and a golden flow of liquid began, the air filled with the sharp, astringent scent of apples mixed with alcohol. “Please fill them up a bit more than usual. Closer to the neck, if you please. I don’t mean to tell you your business but… You know… I just…”
“Fer mah best customer? Ah sure as shootin’ can do that fer ya dearie. Ah gots ta keep you comin ‘round. Ya could jes as easily go to that there nightclub they got. Ah know mah Applejack goes down there, but jes on dates. So ah don’t have any problems with that. She got herself a good mare: got a gubbmint job and knows the Princess. Now that’s the kind of connection ah was hopin’ fer her… Oh but ah do tend to ramble, don’t ah? Here y’are dear. Two jugs worth of mah… ‘Med’cine.’ Come back when you run out. Ah’ll be here.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be here,” Berry strained a smile as she said, sotto voce, “Sooner than I want.” She tied the jugs to her saddlebags and resettled it on her shoulders for the long, twisting walk back out to Sweet Apple Acres, as well as the walk out from there through the town and to her home. The long, eye-shifting, tooth-grinding, breath-quickening walk through the town with the other ponies trying not to look at her.
They knew. They knew only too well what was in the innocent jugs that came back from Sweet Apple Acres. Nopony had the heart to tell Applejack her granddam was a ‘shiner making liquor without inspection and a license, and without paying taxes. And nopony wanted the fallout of bringing the law down on an old lady’s head, no matter how appropriate it might have been. There were simply certain things that were not done.
That socially-imposed reticence shielded Berry Punch as well. Anypony that brought scorn down on her head would be remiss not to mention the source of her high-potency rotgut. For the sake of an old mare, she was left in relative peace, only having to deal with the scornful, judging eyes that peered from every window and bench in town, or which followed her with a burning intensity as she went along.
She walked down the street regardless of the eyes on her. They could see the earthenware jugs, big as life and bouncing slightly with her steps. Applejack certainly didn’t sell her pressed cider or any kind of juice in bottles like that. Secret customers had a flash of recognition, though they never bought so much. And gossips at windows and doors had all heard tell of just how much of a kick each little sip held. Tongues were waving all along the avenue as Berry finally pulled up to her house and quickly closed the door behind her.
Silence greeted her, and a smile played over her dry lips, tremblingly licked into a chapless state by her tongue. She quickly trotted through her charming, tastefully decorated home into the kitchen. She fumbled with the foalproof fasteners that held the cupboard under the sink closed and quickly stuffed the jugs of appleshine into the space among the other hazardous materials. Lye and abrasives and mild acids in their containers wouldn’t hurt her precious alcohol. And when would they ever need such things? Her secret was safe there. It always was.
She locked up her supply of high-potency stomach-corroder and then went to her refrigerator to relax after the pressure-filled walk through town. In the refrigerator were several small plates of covered food labeled with days and meals, a few bottles of soda, some water, and a modest bottle of merlot. There was some missing from the top, but it did not seem very well-consumed. She poured it into a wine glass, which was suspiciously available nearby to the refrigerator, and took only a small sip.
She took her wine to the window and looked out on the town. It was still early in the afternoon, and there were few ponies out and about. Most were just hanging around the houses or shops, going along with their lives. A few sips sent the sweet warmth through her throat and belly. The chill of the wine was an excellent contrast to that slowly-spreading warmth which also made a pleasant, if artificial, cheer rise in her, beyond the happy mood she had had previously.
It took the edge off the high-pressure judgment that had greeted her before. She was safe. She was in her own home, with no peering eyes or waving tongues. Surely they were judging her out there, for some portion of their gossiping, but they were out there. And she was inside, with her wine. And a bottle of harder liquor ‘strictly for mixers’ in the highest cupboard. She was all alone, which was a mixed blessing. She liked to drink alone, but she missed the ones she loved. Another swallow of wine took care of that, for a time.
By the time she drained her glass she could feel that the warmth had spread through her whole body, without the effects of the drink reaching her mind beyond a pleasant fuzz at the edges of her perceptions and a general good cheer that could make her ignore most of her prior bitterness at the presumed rumormongering. At that point, the front door opened again and a set of tiny hoofbeats reached her ears. Her daughter was home. “Hey there, squirt. They let you out of school?” She placed the glass carefully in the sink and trotted out into the living room.
“Oh mom. I don’t get detention THAT much.” Berry Pinch shook her horned head and galloped over to her mother, pressing up against her leg. She then looked around for a moment and tilted her head. “Where’s mom?”
“She was out shopping, last I heard. I had some errands to run today and so did she. I guess she’s still out right now. It’s…”
“Hey all! I’m home.” At that moment, Colgate walked through the front door, a smile on her face and her saddlebags bulging with groceries. “Can I get a little help over here?”
“Mommy! Let me help you.” Pinchy went over to her second mother, pressing the top of her head against the bottom of one of the saddlebags, her horn glowing with a weak light and causing a small portion of the bag to similarly glow. She did her best to lift and tug with magic, her efforts slightly effective.
“Hey there, sweetie.” Berry Punch slid up to her wife on the side opposite of that of her daughter, kissing the other mare and using a hoof to lift up the bulging saddlebag.
Colgate smiled, but smacked her lips a little afterwards, the smile fading just a touch. “Hey you. Come on, let’s go ahead and get these things put away.”
The three ponies put the groceries away relatively quickly. There were many fresh pieces of produce as well as boxes of oats, wheat and cornmeal. Pinchy noted with some pleasure there were also packages of sweets, but Colgate was quick to sternly remind her that those were for occasional snacking and good grades. Berry Punch was quick to note she might be seeing more of the occasional snacking candies than the good grades candy. That got a laugh from all three.
After the groceries had all been put away, Pinchy was sent out to play with Dinky Doo, watched over by Dinky’s mothers Carrot Top and Ditzy Doo. Berry Punch and Colgate stayed in the house to wash up the few dishes within and do other chores. While Colgate washed the dishes and Berry Punch swept the floor, Colgate haltingly tried to broach something. She finally said, “So, I noticed… I noticed there was a wine glass in the sink today. I guess… I guess you had a glass before we got home today. Right? One glass?”
“Right. Just one glass.” Berry Punch didn’t bother to even look incensed or wounded by the accusation. She didn’t look up at her wife at all. “I figured, I was home alone, I was just in from walking around, and it couldn’t hurt.”
“You were drinking alone again? I mean… I don’t mean to get on this. But I don’t think it’s good to drink by yourself. But I… I trust you. I believe it was only one.” Colgate licked her dry lips and focused incredibly hard on the dishes in front of her, whispering, “But I could still taste it…”
Berry Punch could hear it. Her ears were sharpened by a long while of listening to the rumors swirling around her. It cut her to the bone. Her own wife. Her own… Loving, caring, concerned wife. It wasn’t that hard to understand why she was making statements like that. But it still hurt to realize she wasn’t trustworthy in the eyes of one of the ponies that had a reason to love her most of all in Equestria. “Sorry. I’ll wait until you and I are alone. Date night or something. Hey, you know…” She sidled up to bump against Colgate’s flank, popping her eyebrows. “We’re alone now. The little squirt is out with that Dinky girl and her moms. Wanna share a couple of mouthfuls? Maybe she’ll want a sleepover and we can have ourselves a night…”
“Do we need wine for that? Really NEED it? I mean, we have chocolate and ourselves. We don’t require any liquor.”
“Ah, I didn’t think you were a teetotaler. You never complained before. I mean, yea you did but… Come on, honey, just one glass. We’ll share some chocolate, have some wine, and settle up against each other. Pinchy’ll never know.”
“She’ll never know we had a date night? Did you really want to say it like that?” Colgate raised an eyebrow, boring a hole in her wife’s eyes with her strength of her gaze.
“I didn’t mean it like that! Jeeze, I have one drink and suddenly Equestria’s going to blow up.” Berry Punch looked aside quickly, staring at the ground and turning away slightly.
“Do you remember before Pinchy came around? Remember the bars and clubs? Where we met, with you on the floor and the first thing you said to me? ‘I think I threw up my pancreas.’ I know you. I cleaned you up, I poured coffee into your throat, and I let you work out your hangover on my couch. And a few months later I was managing your DTs, mopping your forehead, putting up with your mood swings and keeping you on your hooves. I KNOW what happens to you. I can’t go through that again. I’m NOT putting Pinchy through that. I’m her mother too. Please…” Colgate bit her lower lip, trying to keep looking firmly, with her eyes wavering and liquid.
Berry Punch looked quickly to her wife, meeting the mixture of stern and uncertain with a shiver and sudden slump. “Sorry. You know what the subject is like for me. I’m just… Oh Celestia, how do you manage to put up with me? I’m a raging nag sometimes.”
“Because I love you, Juicy.” Colgate came over to kiss her wife on the cheek, pressing up against her solidly.
“Oh, right. That.” Berry Punch laughed softly and gave her mare a kiss. Crisis averted. None of them suspected what lay beneath the sink. Perfect.
- - -
The perfection was much more tangible when Colgate announced she had received a letter from her mother and father in Gaskinwich. The wanted to meet with Pinchy, whom they hadn’t seen since Berry Punch had given birth to her. It wasn’t much of a surprise: Gaskinwich was a fair trot away, but Pinchy was their biological child by donation from their son Dentifrice, and they had a great desire to see her. They were nice folks, retired dentists residing in a comfortable suburban home. Too far away to be proper child-spoiling grandparents, they wanted to make a good effort at it when they could.
“Are you SURE you don’t want to come with us? She’s your child too.” Colgate looked pleadingly at her wife, lower lip quivering slightly.
“Yea, but they’re your parents. She doesn’t look much like you, aside from the horn, and you two deserve some close, personal bonding time. I know you get it a lot here, but it’s a long trip and family bonding. That’ll be good for the both of you.” Berry Punch lounged comfortably on the couch in the living room, looking lethargic and lumpish.
“They might want to see you, too.”
“Did they say that?”
Colgate didn’t answer for a time. “… No…”
“Your parents never thought I was good enough for you. I never finished college; you have a degree in orthodontics. I’m a housemare and you’re a professional. Sure, that’s nice and traditional, and that probably makes them very, very happy. But they wanted a better-educated housemare for you.”
Colgate sighed and shook her head sadly. “I just… I’ll tell them you sent your regards.” She trotted away a short distance, turning to regard her wife again. She was just sitting there, inoffensively eating a bowl of popped corn while she watched television. She knew that she cared. But some days she just let all the negativity in her life get to her. Colgate decided to be dumb. “There’s nothing wrong with being a housemare. It’s a respectable and honorable thing. Taking care of a foal, minding a whole house, making sure everything is working fine… It’s an important job. Please just… Can’t YOU appreciate it? I don’t care what my parents think of it. All I care about is you.”
There was no response from Berry Punch for a while, until a tear slid down her cheek and her teeth ground against each other. She sniffled sharply and looked over at her wife. “Tell ‘em you’re too good for them.”
Colgate smiled and gave her head a nod. “I will. And you; try to keep busy. Stay there long enough and you’ll put down roots.”
Berry Punch managed a small chuckle as she wiped her eyes. “Yea… Yea, I know. I’ll get some exercise in.”
Colgate nodded her head and trotted away happily. She was confident it would be a good trip with her daughter, and she was sure her wife would be fine on her own.
- - -
It was one hour after Pinchy and Colgate were off before the cabinet under the sink was opened and both jugs were out in the yard with Berry Punch. Sheltered in the backyard she regarded the jugs of liver punchers. She also thought back on her wife’s trusting concern. With a cry of anguish she brought her hoof down on one of the clay jugs, chipping it and knocking off one of the handles. She smashed the jug repeatedly as tears poured down her face. At last the barrage of blows split the jug into pieces, spilling the sharp-smelling liquid.
Berry Punch panted slowly, her nose filled with the heady, heavy vapor of alcohol and sour apples, taking in a deep breath and releasing it with a long sigh. She regarded the other jug with her teary eyes and brought her hoof up once more. She hesitated, watching the liquid drip off her hoof, a mix of dirt and alcohol. Her tongue first licked over her dry, trembling lips. And then licked the muddy mess from her own hoof.
What followed was a week of rollercoaster infidelity to promises made, and clumsy attempts at remaining faithful to agreements. A few mouthfuls of Apple family moonshine were followed by desperate attempts to distract from the desire for more by watching mindless daytime television. That was the pattern for the week. She broke out the hidden booze she had once promised she would never touch. She drank the wine she had and three bottles more, guzzled the Caballito-made tequila she had, unlocked a bottle of Capall-made whiskey, retrieved her two bottles of scotch and finally finished off the jug of ‘shine. In between her binges she tried everything to resist, from overeating to trying to read whatever books came into her hooves when she grabbed from the bookcase. Through it all, she never blacked out. She was still herself, and still had the amazing alcohol tolerance that her shallower friends thought meant something. She also never left the house. No pony would ever have gossip to hurt her. Colgate would never know. Pinchy would never know. And she had her stress-filled and self-hating week of drinking herself into idiocy just like before.
She finished off her last mouthful of high-octane stupidity fuel a day before her wife and daughter were scheduled to be back home. With all the reasonable intellect she could pull up from behind the foggy brain she had she managed to cobble together a workable and generally clear house. The shards of crockery were cleared up and thrown away, while the whole bottle was hidden back under the sink for eventual covert return to Sweet Apple Acres. She went out for the first time in a week and stealthily purchased a bottle of wine and a bottle of tequila, draining both to the appropriate level and placing them in the locations of the old bottles. Finally, she did all she could to fix herself up. Washing repeatedly, brushing repeatedly, repeatedly using eye drops and getting food packed down her gullet. She hoped it would be enough to make her look presentable.
The next day she was out in the front yard waving happily as she saw the taxi coach pull up, Pinchy waving enthusiastically from the window and Colgate waving more sedately further within. As soon as the coach had stopped Pinchy was out and dashing into her mother’s arms, squeezing her tightly. “Mommy! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?”
“You bet I did, squirt. So, how was it over at their place?”
“It was weird! It smelled like dust and mommy’s office, they didn’t have any candy and they made me brush my teeth like five times a day.”
“Pinchy, I told you they might do that. They may be retired but they still care a great deal about dental hygiene.” Colgate trotted sedately to Berry Punch and gave her a warm, deep kiss. It tasted strongly of mouthwash. For a moment that was suspicious, then she tasted a smidge of chocolate on the other mare’s lips. She must have been overindulging on treats. Silly filly. “You’re looking a little… Well-fed, dear. You haven’t been overindulging, have you?”
A drop of sweat slowly slid down Berry Punch’s forehead, her eyes going wide. “U-uhh… Just what do you mean by that? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Colgate brought her hoof up and wiped it along Berry Punch’s lips, finding still more little smears of chocolate. “Right. And this is just a new lipstick. My silly filly. I won’t care if you put on a few extra chocolate pounds. Juicy, I love you for you.”
“Hey! I’m still down here! Don’t go getting all mushy! Dinky’s moms already do all that and it’s just as bad.” Pinchy tugged at both her mothers’ legs, looking sternly up at them.
“Heh, the squirt’s right! We shouldn’t just leave her out. Come on, who wants to go out to eat? What do ya say? Percheron, Cavallino or Caballito?”
“Cavallino! Cavallino! I wanna have some pizza and psketti!” Pinchy hopped madly around her mothers, practically twitching with enthusiasm.
“I agree. Cavallino sounds delicious. And you don’t need a reservation like at that stuffy Percheron place.”
“Yea, but it’s nice and dark, and you remember the last time we…”
“HEY! No more mushy! Time for pizza and noodles!” Pinchy got behind her mothers and started pushing on their flanks.
“I think we’re going now.” Berry Punch laughed loudly, trotting away beside Colgate.
- - -
The restaurant, Cucina Ponenze, was a homey, rustic restaurant, with the inside of the building in the Cavallino style of plaster curves and arches, hanging baskets of plants, tables with traditional fiasco bottles containing candles, and brisk waiters and waitresses dressed sharply and carting around plates of savory sauces and noodles. There was very little wait, thanks to it being a weekday, and the family of three found itself seated and ordering right away.
“Spsgetti with tomato sauce and soy balls! Oh, and a little cheese pizza. Please.” Pinchy was loud but polite, folding her menu and setting it down gingerly on the table.
“We’ll have a large order of the lasagna with extra garlic, and two side salads, no dressing. Oh, and I’m going to have a minestrone soup. You, dear?” Berry Punch looked aside at Colgate.
“Yyes… Yes, that sounds good. But that’s so much. Best keep a takeout box ready.”
“Right. I’ll bring the salads and soups out right away, and the pizza in just a bit.” Their waitress was Sparkler Doo, in a sharp black vest and a nametag with a spray of small gems.
Colgate watched Sparkler walk towards the kitchen with a slight tilt of her head. “Was that Ditzy’s older daughter? I’m afraid I don’t know her that well.”
“Yea, that’s Sparkler. Ditzy mentions her now and then when Pinchy’s doing her playdates with Dinky. She lives in town and visits sometimes, but I don’t think I’ve ever met her before. How about you, squirt, you ever met her before?”
“Yea, she came by one time. She brought her birth mom a muffin basket and then talked for a while with both of them. Dinky got really excited when she came in to play with us, but I guess it’s just ‘cause she lives on her own and only stops by now and then.”
“Rather like your little sister, dear. You live in the same town but you seldom see her. Wasn’t the last time at the Sisterhooves Social?”
“Mom and dad don’t really bring her around much because… Ah, no matter. We just don’t see each other much.”
“Mommy? Why don’t grammy and grampa bring auntie Apple Core over? Is it because we’re so close in age that it’d be weird?”
“Umm… No, that’s not it. Mommy just used to be… Well, I was a bad filly when I was younger and they just leave me to be on my own. But that’s ok. You’ve got enough friends your own age, like Dinky.”
Before any more could be said, Sparkler was back at the table with a tray balanced on her back. Her horn glowed lightly as she levitated the plates and bowls off of her back. The steaming bowls of soup settled before the two mares, followed by the plates of salad settling down alongside them. “Dinky? Oh right! You’re that little Pinchy girl. My sister talks about you. You’re her best friend, you know? It’s good to know she has a good friend. Oh! I forgot your breadsticks. Just a minute.” She slipped off quickly towards the kitchen.
“Such a lovely girl. See that, squirt? That’s manners.” Berry Punch nodded her head to her daughter and then laughed a little. “Seriously, though, try to act a bit more like her. She knows her stuff.”
“Awwww, mommy!” Pinchy looked to Colgate, pointing her hoof at Berry Punch. “Mommy’s being snarky at me again!”
“It’s out of my hooves, dear. I married her for a reason. I love her sharp wit. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.” Colgate leaned in to rub her muzzle along Berry Punch’s. “But that’s beside the point. For now, dinner. Why the extra garlic, dear? I didn’t know you were such a fan.”
Berry Punch leaned down to lap and slurp at her soup. She licked her lips and smiled confidently. “When is garlic ever a bad idea? It’s kind of the best part of Cavallino food. That and the free breadsticks.” She said that with a glance aside, watching Sparkler coming up with the basket of bread.
The family savored their meal, with Pinchy eating her spaghetti as cleanly as she was able, using her hooves to work her fork, and practiced using her magic to lift the noodle-laden fork now and then, only dropping it a few times. As predicted, there was a great amount of food left over. Most of the lasagna was left over, after the salad, soup and several breadsticks, and half of Pinchy’s pizza was also left behind. All told, the three had a great time that night, and the next morning, there was nothing to do but savor the wonderfully full feeling, and deal with the garlic aftereffects.
“Oh there’s not much quite like the feeling of a good meal. Wasn’t that just spectacular?” Berry Punch patted her stomach under the covers, sighing contentedly as she snuggled in bed.
“I’ll admit. I missed the chance. Mom and dad enjoy their home cooking. And they’re not very… Exciting with their selections. And I just… I missed being out with you and Pinchy. It was a wonderful little family night. Thank you for suggesting it.”
“I felt like a big meal and figured you two would pick that one. And wasn’t I right? Garlic. It’s like magic for food.” Berry Punch snuggled up against Colgate and nuzzled against her neck.
Colgate wrinkled her nose a little bit and turned just slightly away with a smile. “Mm, yes, magic. And it is very… POWERFUL magic. I’ll get you some of the mouthwash from the office. Garlic does have its own aura for a few days after, doesn’t it?”
“Ahhh, it’s not that bad.” Berry Punch dipped her head down and nibbled at Colgate’s neck. “I locked the door last night. The squirt isn’t going to be getting at us for a while.”
“Hey now… I’m a mess! My breath stinks like garlic and I think my skin does too. Not to mention my mane. You couldn’t possibly feel anything romantic for me.”
“Wanna bet?” Was Berry Punch’s only comment before she planted a soft kiss on her wife’s lips.
- - -
A few days later things were back to normal, by and large. Colgate was back home from her office, Pinchy was off at a sleepover, and Berry Punch was sweeping the living room, looking somewhat distant and distracted. Colgate noticed she had swept the same space more than once, despite there being nothing there that she could see. “Is everything alright, dear? You seem pensive.”
“Hmm? Pensive? Me? Nah, I’m alright. Just trying to focus on what I’m doing.” Berry Punch looked up quickly, putting a smile on her face and trying to look fairly normal.
“I see. Well, let me just assure you, that area is clean. No need to go over it that many times.” Colgate chuckled softly, trying to keep the mood light.
“What? Oh. Yea, sorry. Just being thorough. I’m not… Look, absentmindedness happens. Just let me do this, ok?” Berry Punch snapped at her wife, glaring at her with a sharp look.
“Hey! I was just mentioning it!” Colgate stood up from the couch and approached Berry Punch slowly. “What’s the matter with you?”
“You’ve just got this… All your passive aggressive stuff is getting on my nerves. I mean, just SAY you’re pissed off or tell me I’m being stupid. Don’t just scoot around it! I can’t stand it.” Berry Punch was in her wife’s face, quivering a little bit and trying to maintain her hot-eyed glare.
Colgate was about to comment on what had been said but suddenly wrinkled her nose. “Ah… That scent…”
“I ate the last of the lasagna.” Berry Punch quickly dropped her anger and looked shiftily around.
“No you didn’t. Pinchy took it for lunch. You’re not leaking allyl methyl sulfide out of your pores and mouth. I know that. I have to help ponies get rid of that at the office all the time. I remember what that means. It’s been so long.”
“Hey! Don’t start getting accusatory on me! And don’t try to dodge the subject! We’re still talking about…”
“You promised me! You told me this would stop! You told me you’d STOP! Juicy you…” Colgate got in Berry’s face, a small hint of anger finally coming upon her face.
Without a warning, Berry Punch’s forehoof came out and smacked against Colgate’s cheek, knocking her to the floor. “QUIET!”
Colgate hit the floor with a cry, laying out still and stunned for a moment. She looked up with unimaginable shock, hoof gingerly caressing her stricken cheek, while a slight trickle of blood peeked from her lips. Her breath huffed hard through her nose, tears in her eyes. “Juicy..?”
Berry Punch stood trembling, looking down at her hoof, jaw dropped, tears pouring down from her face. She fell down to her three knees and then down onto her side, starting to shake harder and gasp. “Oh Celestia, what have I done?”
- - -
“I never thought you would come to see me for something like this. I mean, I heard the rumors. But I never believed it was ever as bad as the gossips indicated.” Doctor Whooves shook his head lightly at Berry Punch, who was looking down dejectedly, sobbing softly. “How long has she been like that?”
“I brought her down here as soon as I could. It’s why I called you. I needed this taken care of quickly and quietly. We need professional help.” Colgate held an ice pack against her cheek, also looking at her wife.
“No, there’s nothing quick about this.” Doctor Whooves shook his head and looked at Berry Punch. “This is hard, and I think you know that. Let me see…” He sniffed softly and nodded his head. “Mm, yes. She’s clearing out her lymph nodes. She’s been a regular drinker and stopped, cold, just recently.”
“You never did this before. You stopped? Completely?”
“I… I felt guilty about what I did while you and Pinchy were at your parent’s place. I… I drank a bit… Drank a lot. Drank like a bucking fish!”
“And then stopped because you felt like you had ‘filled your tank’, so to speak. Yea, it doesn’t quite work like that.” Doctor Whooves moved over to a desk, taking out a clipboard and a pencil. “Alright, you’ve got the lymph nodes going. And the mood swings. The violent mood swings. Going cold will do this to you. She said you put on some weight. Empty calories from all that alcohol. Liquid imitation nutrition. Any nightmares? When you start cleaning out you’ll get a serious dose of nightmares all about being found drinking.”
“I… I had a few. But I didn’t wake her up. I didn’t want her to worry. I figured it would just go away.”
“It will. On the other side of this. You’ve gotta make it through, first. So, you’ve got all the DT symptoms. And your very perceptive wife caught on. How did you even know what to look for?”
“We’ve been through this before.” Colgate responded softly, not looking at the doctor.
“What? Are you serious? If she’d already been through it she should never have fallen back into this. What happened? This kind of thing could only happen if she had stopped and started again.”
“She was suffering. She was suffering so badly during that time. I remember the smell of the detoxing. The night sweats, nightmares, mood swings, vomiting, all the digestive problems. I couldn’t… I couldn’t let her suffer like that. So I made her a deal. Small amounts. Moderated amounts, even when she was pregnant. Small amounts are safe for growing foals, you know. I checked. That’s why she had Pinchy. She could manage it. I’m so sorry, Juicy…”
“Hey… I’m the stupid, bucking souse. You’re just the mare that’s way too good for me.” Berry Punch smiled weakly at her wife, but looked away when she saw her holding the ice pack against her cheek. A wave of nausea welled up in her stomach and she vomited what little was left in her stomach into a provided bucket.
“That was the problem. Berry Punch, not only are you an alcoholic, but you were one that didn’t finish getting better. Here’s how it works. You’re predisposed to addiction to alcohol. But therein lays the trap. Alcohol acts on your brain and doesn’t want to let go. Your body already craves it. But now, your body starts to need it. It would be like suddenly not needing to breathe. Your body would move along fine but your lungs would scream for air. They don’t know you’re not dying. Your body needs that alcohol, even if it never requires it. Just remember that. You can’t control your desire for it, and your increasing need will spiral into a uncontrollable thirst. You gave your body more than ever before when you binged. Then said, “No more.” Of course it rebelled. You had a minimum level in your system. And you denied it everything.”
Silence reigned in the room, the other two ponies digesting what had been said. Berry Punch looked up from the bucket, finally looking her wife in the eyes. “We have to tell Pinchy. Have to tell her mommy’s sick and needs to go away for a while.”
“Do you know of any good “distant relatives” for her to go visit?” Colgate looked hopefully to Doctor Whooves.
The doctor wordlessly walked over to his desk and shuffled through some papers, eventually coming up with a small pamphlet. “There’s a clinic in Hoofington. Very nice, in the country, professional, and discreet. No one would ever know. But, you HAVE to finish the treatment. Get yourself clean and sober.”
“And then I’ll be fine, right? I can come back to my family and everything will be normal, right?”
“I want to tell you yes. You have no idea how much I want to. But I’m not going to lie to you. No. It will never be normal. You’ll have that craving, that desire for alcohol. But you can’t have any, or else this will happen again. But now you know. Your wife will help you maintain. Or at least I hope she will.” The doctor looked to Colgate sternly.
“Of course! Anything! I’ll do what I must to keep her healthy.”
“And I’ll do anything to stop the rumors.” Berry Punch added quickly.
“Oh I doubt the rumors will stop, no matter what you do. It’s too ingrained in Ponyville. But don’t listen to them. You’ll be fine. Just maintain your sobriety and keep your family close by. And your friends too, if you can confide in them. Even if not, just having friends will be useful.”
Colgate walked over to Berry Punch and gave her a warm and comforting squeeze. “We’ll get through this together, juicy. Friends and family. And you’ll be fine.”
Berry Punch snuggled against her wife, with tears in her eyes. “I’m going to hate it. But that’s fine. I love you and Pinchy more than I’ll hate detoxing.”
The End