Celestia's sun shone high over Equestria, giving light to a clearing in a forest, the only sounds in said clearing being the echoes of the rushing river nearby, and the gentle sobbing of an earth pony. The tears streaking down her face would be hard to see if they didn't darken her light blue coat, and she could always cover her eyes with her messy brown hair if anypony came by. In front of her were two small headstones, each one covered in vines and flowers from years of having remained undisturbed, it was hard to read the names carefully carved into them, but if you knew what to look for, you could clearly read "Jack Daniels" and "Strong Spirits"
The earth pony kept to her quiet sobbing, gently laying down the lavender flower upon the ground in front of the headstones. They were Strong's favorite, and Jack always did his best to bring them to her, which the blue earth pony remembered vividly, one of her fondest memories of her foalhood was seeing Strong's eyes light up when she got her flower. Another fond memory was that every year on Jack's birthday, Strong would surprise him with a night out, and they would always come back and Jack say the same thing; "Oh, little Fireball, how lucky I am to have met your mother, and how even luckier I am to have you as my little silly filly." Fireball missed those days, where she would come home from school and see her parents back from work, greeting them with a warm nuzzle before they would all talk about their days. By the end, she would help around the tavern, something she loved doing, she got to meet so many interesting mares and stallions and sometimes even meet famous ponies, which she was always star struck when it happened.
Now, years later, she runs it by herself, and she's alot more closed off. But she still comes here on her birthday, to pay tribute to the loving family she once had, and the one she wants to honor as best as she can. Yet, she could come here a million times and look at the graves, and it wouldn't get any easier, but she had to, it's rude to not visit your parents.
Fireball was taken out of her thoughts by the sound of leaves crunching behind her. In her startled state, she instinctively quieted her sobbing and lowered her head, not wanting to show that she was upset in any way. She hated worrying people like that, and she knew she would be a total mess if somepony intruded on her time.
"It's me, Fireball." out came a familiar, gentle voice. Fireball recognized it, and let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in, and turned to see a lime unicorn, adorned in sand green garments, with a similarly colored gardener's hat atop her almost-white mane. Her pink eyes were filled with genuine care, and as she walked over to Fireball, her horn let out a glow as she opened the brown saddlebag at her side, pulling out a small, metal bottle, passing it to fireball, who eagerly took a swig.
"Thanks, Trim." the earth pony choked out as she wiped her muzzle with her hoof. Trim simply sat down next to her friend, and stayed silent, knowing that nothing she could say would make this easier.
After what felt like forever of silence, Fireball cleared her throat and stood up, taking another, larger swig from the metal bottle, setting it back down on the ground where it once was, and turning around to head back to ponyville, waiting for Trim to join her. Trim grabbed the now empty bottle and began trotting along the forest path, back to the river bank.
The trip was silent, as neither could think of what to say, as if there was much to say. Trim knew that the thought of her family was still fresh on Fireball's mind, and that she wouldn't be able to change the subject, even if she had a spell that magically changed what the person was thinking at that moment, it was too important to her.
As they trotted along, Trim took quiet notice of the flora around her, trying to see if there was anything new she could find, or maybe even find something to help her make a new herbal tea she's been meaning to try. She did her best to not let Fireball know that she was doing this, but Fireball knew her too well, as this was her special talent and all. She didn't mind, as it would let the trip go on faster for her while Fireball brooded. Brode? She shook the silly idea from her head and tried to focus on something else she liked. But it was so hard after what just happened, it's been something that she's had to deal with for about 4 years, but she didn't wanna bring down her friend. She looked at Trim, took a second to contemplate, and wiped the tears from her muzzle
"So," Fireball started, her voice still slightly shaky, "what are you looking for?" Trim was taken aback a bit, thinking Fireball would stay quiet during the entire trip, but decided to tell her about the tea. Suddenly, the forest walk felt less sad, as the two talked about plants, tea, and whatever else Trim wanted to talk about. As they left the forest and ended up at the final stretch near the tavern, they were laughing and having a good time. As they approached the large wooden building, Fireball felt so much better. Fireball nuzzled her friend as they said their goodbyes, and when Fireball locked the door, she already missed her friend. Regardless, she started to clean up and get ready to open up for tonight, she had a business to run, afterall.
As she started on the dishes, she picked up a simple cup with a beautifully painted on butterfly pattern, and then her mind started to wander; this was that one animal caretaker's favorite. She always made sure to save it for the yellow pegasus, the smile on her face made that little gesture worth it. Her name was Fluttershy, and she was but one of the many citizens of ponyville who regularly came into the tavern, at least enough that Fireball could remember their favorite drinks.
An orange Earth pony with a strong southern drawl and a cowboy hat would always come in after delivering her order of apples and order a refill on her water bottle, and sometimes a shot of whiskey. She was always super polite, but other than business they didn't really know eachother.
The same could not be said for the pink earth pony with the curly mane who would bounce her way over from time to time. The first time she visited, she ordered a ton of sweet drinks and snacks, and wouldn't stop rambling about anything and everything. Thankfully, Fireball found it quite charming, and loves to listen to people talk about things they adore, so she and Pinkie got along relatively quick. Now whenever she comes to the tavern on her own, she will always have something new to tell Fireball about, which she loves to hear about, especially since half of them don't even sound like they actually happened.
The polar opposite of her would be Rainbow Dash, who was loud, bragged alot, and usually just disturbed the peace. It was never enough for a legitimate reason to kick her out, but she was just a bit too much for Fireball to handle. Thankfully, when she came with the rest of her friend group, she was drowned out by the noise of the other patrons, so she didn't hate seeing her. Although, it was funny overhearing a conversation, in which the only sentence Fireball understood was Rainbow Dash exasperatedly shouting "Caballeron could NOT beat windrider in a race, he's not even a pegasus!"
Other than that, the only thing she knew about the friend group was their orders. Well, that and that one of them had recently been dubbed a princess, which Fireball took a second to wonder how life would have been as a princess; Living in canterlot, overseeing a kingdom, following royal responsibilities and making sure your loyal subjects were happy. That alicorn magic must be nice, too. It would make cleaning up the tavern alot easier, and would certainly help out with just day-to-day life.
Fireball took a minute to take a deep breath, glad she could take her mind off of things for a while, think about the life she has now and not the one that she misses. It was nice to just take a step back and think about all that she's got in life, especially after spending the day thinking about what she's lost. The town was lovely, and almost unnaturally kind, and she was grateful to live so close to such a nice place. It could always be worse, she rationalized to herself. But she knew that things could also be better. She hadn't been dealt the best hand, and she knew this intimately, but as long as she could distract herself, there wouldn't be an issue, right? Out of sight, out of mind, as Strong always said.
Fireball sat down the last glass that she had cleaned and trotted to her front door, flipping the sign on the door so people would know that she's open for the night. After a quick stretch, she pranced over to her counter, ready for the travelers of the evening to come through and take refuge for a few hours, maybe hear a few more travelers' tales that she loved hearing. More things to distract her from her ever-present past would be greatly appreciated, especially since the old ones would somehow loop back to the things causing her strife.
But for now, she just has to wait.