//------------------------------//
// Making Berry Punch Mad 
// Story: The Bridesmaids 
// by Zeck 
//------------------------------//

	Berry Punch groaned. It was too early to wake up, she decided. She reached out with her hoof to stroke her mare’s silky blue mane.  Minuette would, of course, already be awake, but she wouldn’t get out of their bed until Berry was up. She would still be right next to her, watching her sleep or whatever it was she did before Berry woke. 
Berry’s hoof reached out to where she guessed Minuette’s neck would be and tried to pull her into a kiss. Her hoof caught nothing but air. She groaned again in annoyance and reached further, wondering why her wife was teasing her so early in the morning. When her hoof felt nothing but bed sheets a second time, she sighed.
“That’s not funny, Collie,” Berry said as she laid on her back with her eyes closed. “You know I need you in the morning.” 
Berry waited with a smirk on her face to hear Minuette protest Berry using her nickname, followed quickly by a kiss and a playful shove, but none of those came. Confused, she opened one eye. “Minuette?”
The bed was a mess. The sheets were twisted and clumped around her and the pillows tossed about. Berry scratched the back of her head and sat up. She didn’t remember being that rough with Minuette last night. Usually, even if she was wasted, she still remembered a passionate night wit her wife, but she was coming up blank now. In fact, she didn’t even remember Minuette being in bed with her.
Berry blinked slowly and the last of the sleepiness left her mind. She didn’t remember a night of passion because there hadn’t been one. She didn’t remember Minuette sleeping next to her because she hadn’t been there. She had been forced to stay with that…Cadenza on royal wedding business.
“Ugh, I need a drink,” Berry said as she dragged herself out of bed. Her back hoof got caught up in the sheets and she tripped, spilling onto the floor. Apparently her body wasn’t comfortable, or happy, without Minuette next to her all night if the bed was any indication. 
“That’s it. She owes me big. Whatever I want. All night, and she’s wearing the bridle,” the Earth pony grumbled as she untangled herself. 
Berry freed herself and looked at the bed. Minuette would no doubt tell her to clean it up, but she wasn’t here right now. Besides, they were staying in Canterlot. No doubt this hotel had cleaning staff that could make the bed faster and better than Berry could ever dream of. She walked into the bathroom and looked at her reflection. She had a few extra sleep wrinkles and her mane was bordering on messy, but otherwise she looked presentable enough. She rubbed her eyes and ran her hooves through her mane twice, returning it to its normal curly state, and then smiled at herself. That looked better.
“Pinchy?” she called as she exited the bathroom. “Are you awake yet?”
“Yes, Mommy,” came the little filly’s voice. Moments later Berry felt the comforting nudge of her daughter nuzzling her leg. She patted her little girl on the head and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. 
“Good morning, sweetie,” she said.
“Mom’s not back yet,” Pinchy said, her face drooping a bit. “Where is she?”
With a terrible pony. “She had to stay at the castle over night,” Berry said, forcing a smile to her face for the sake of her daughter. “But don’t you worry. We’ll see her today at the wedding. And she is going to look drop dead gorgeous.”
“Really?” Pinchy said, her eyes lighting up like two little candles. “Is she going to look like a princess? Is that why she had to stay at the castle last night?”
“Oh, she’ll look even better than a princess,” Berry said. Minuette could have her mane shaved off, her tail ripped, patches missing from her fur, and covered in mud and she would still look better than Cadenza could ever hope to. Actually, that last idea didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Berry made a mental note to add the mud to the growing list of things Minuette was going to have to do in order to apologize. 
“Yay!” Pinchy said, bouncing up and down. “Can we go now? Pretty please?” She looked up and blinked twice, a tactic she had learned from Minuette. 
“In a bit, sweetie,” Berry said, unable to resist her daughter’s charm. “We need to get breakfast first. Go straighten your mane and then we’ll go down to the lobby to get some food.” 
Pinchy zipped into the bathroom and Berry heard the sound of running water as the filly washed her face. She came out moments later, her mane damp and her face soaked. Berry smiled and grabbed a towel to dry her off. Pinchy giggled as her face was dried and then she darted down the hall. Berry followed her, stopping at the table in the small living room. A pair of earrings was sitting on the table. She had promised Minuette she would wear them for the wedding. She put them in, wincing slightly as they pinched her ears. 
“Are we ready?” Berry asked as she met Pinchy at the door. 
“Uh huh,” Pinchy said and she opened the door, then disappeared into the hotel hallway. 
“Hold on there,” Berry said, grabbing her daughter by the tail. “We need to see if Bon Bon’s awake.” Berry walked up to the room Bon Bon was staying in and knocked. “Hey Bon Bon, you awake?” she asked. There was no answer. It was possible she was still asleep, but Berry doubted that. More likely she had already left for the day, eager to see Lyra again. 
“Hey, sleepyhead. Pinchy and I are going downstairs to get some breakfast if you want to join us,” she said and then turned to follow her daughter.
The two ponies walked into the dinning room and looked around. There were quite a few ponies about, munching on everything from cereal to a variety of fancy Canterlot dishes.  Berry already knew that Pinchy would go straight for the sweetest cereal she could find, especially since Minuette wasn’t around to stop her, and Berry hoped there’d be something in this place that was to her liking as well. Fancy food didn’t really suit her tastes. 
“There you two are,” came a familiar voice. Berry looked over to see a rather regal-looking pony waving at her and Pinchy. She had a silky minty green dress on and a sun hat to match. A red jewel was on the front of the wide hat and a long feather was attached to it. Her mane was done up in curls that blended her bubblegum pink and dark blue colors beautifully. She looked like a typical Canterlot pony, and it took Berry a moment to realize she was looking at Bon Bon, dressed up for the wedding. “I’ve been waiting forever. I was getting ready to eat without you.”
“Sorry about that,” Berry said, walking over to the table that Bon Bon was sitting at. 
“Mommy, I’m gonna go get some cereal, okay?” Pinchy said and then she was off like a shot.
“Okay, but don’t pour sugar all over it! Mom will kill me if you do!” Berry called after her, knowing full well that her words had fallen on deaf ears.  She sat down next to Bon Bon and let out a weary sigh.
“You look nice,” Berry said as she looked over Bon Bon’s outfit. She noticed that the color of the dress matched Lyra’s coat perfectly. 
“Thanks,” Bon Bon said. She brushed her curly mane with her hoof. “Took me forever to get my mane curled like this. Lyra usually helps me do it. She really likes it when I wear it like this.”
Berry touched the earrings on her ears. “Yeah, I know that feeling.”
“Those are really pretty,” Bon Bon said, leaning in closer to look at the jewelry. They took the shape of a small green leaf with three red berries on each leaf. “Did Minuette get those for you?” 
“Yeah,” Berry said. She was suddenly aware of how underdressed she was going to be for going to a royal wedding. She hoped Minuette wouldn’t be embarrassed. Bon Bon looked great, and all Berry had done was put on a pair of earrings that Minuette had given her on their first date. 
Bon Bon saw the frown on Berry’s face. “Rough night then?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Berry sighed. “Yeah. I’m still upset about last night apparently.” 
“I know that feeling. These Canterlot beds seem awfully big when you sleep in them alone.” Bon Bon looked down at the table and her eyes glazed over for a moment. 
“But don’t worry about it,” Berry said, forcing a smile for Bon Bon and herself. “Today we get them back, and I don’t know about you, but Minuette is going to be very busy tonight.”
“What’s Mom going to be busy with?” Pinchy asked as she returned to the table. She placed a huge bowl of cereal on the table, complete with a mini tower of sugar right in the middle of it. 
“Grown up stuff, sweetie,” Berry said. She looked at the sugar and then gave her daughter a look, trying her best to imitate that expression that Minuette did so well. It didn’t work. Pinchy just looked at her, smiled, and then dug into her cereal with reckless abandon. In a moment, her face was covered with milk, sugar, and cereal flakes. 
“Shall we get something to eat?” Bon Bon asked.
“Sounds good. Do you think they serve wine this early?”
“Berry Punch, I’m surprised at you!” Bon Bon said. Her face was stern and her eyes narrowed slightly. For a moment, Berry was afraid she was about to hear another lecture about drinking her life away, and she was prepared to defend herself. Having a glass or two of wine with breakfast was perfectly acceptable. But then Bon Bon smiled. “This is Canterlot. Of course they have wine. The bar’s that way.”
Berry smiled and trotted over to the bar. She ordered a glass of wine and drank it in one gulp, much to the server’s surprise. “Ah. Another, please,” she said as the soothing liquid flooded through her veins, banishing some of the dark thoughts that had been haunting her since last night.  She took the second glass back to the table and told Pinchy, who was still joyously munching away on her sugar, to watch her drink and then went over to order some real food. She returned with two pastries and a stack of pancakes drenched in syrup. Pinchy wasn’t the only one who was going to enjoy herself without Minuette around to give the look. 
Berry was stuffing another bite of pancakes into her mouth when Bon Bon returned with her own breakfast. Berry opened her mouth to stay something, but all that came out was a muffled grunt.
“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that,” Bon Bon said with a smile as she sat down.
Berry swallowed and licked the syrup from her lips, hoping she had got to it before it started to make her fur sticky. “I said welcome back.” 
“Thanks,” Bon Bon said as she started peeling an orange. She looked at Berry’s plate and raised an eyebrow. “You going to be able to eat all of that?”
Berry grinned and took a sip of her wine, then bit into one of her pastries. “One of the few plus sides to Minuette not being here is that she doesn’t get to tell me what this stuff is going to do to my teeth. Isn’t that right, Pinchy?”
The filly looked up from her now-empty bowl and smiled as only a child could. “Yep. We are going to be in so much trouble when Mom finds out.” 
Berry winked and held her hoof to her mouth. “I won’t tell her if you won’t.”
“Deal,” Pinchy said. 
The three ponies laughed and then finished their breakfast in peace. They left their plates at the table and then made their way outside and began heading toward the castle.
The city was much livelier today than it had been last night. Berry noticed that there were still plenty of guards around, just as there had been when she and Minuette had walked this way last evening, but there were also plenty of normal ponies too. All of them were dressed in fancy attire, and most carried themselves with an air of importance that Berry highly doubted they deserved. 
Still, being surrounded by so many high-class ponies was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She felt naked, and not in the fun sort of way. She looked at Bon Bon and her outfit. It screamed sophistication and, unlike the other ponies walking about, it actually worked on her because she wasn’t carrying herself with an air of arrogance. 
Her hoof went to one of the earrings she was wearing. She was so plain in comparison.
Celestia, what am I doing? she thought. This is a royal wedding! Look at me. I didn’t even think to wear a dress. Minuette’s going to be so embarrassed. All these fancy ponies, and she’s going to be seen with me.
“Mommy?” Pinchy asked, tugging at Berry’s tail.
Berry looked down at her daughter and her blood ran cold. I didn’t even get Pinchy a dress! What was I thinking? I don’t belong here. Minuette should have just left a pony like me back in Ponyville. 
“Mommy!” Pinchy said again, tugging harder on Berry’s tail and snapping her out of her downward spiral. 
“What is it?” Berry asked. 
“You’re doing that thing again,” her daughter said with a disapproving look.
“I…I am not!” Berry protested, lowering her ears and looking away.
“Are too.”
“Doing what?” Bon Bon asked. Berry was about to tell her not to worry about it, but Pinchy interrupted.
“She’s thinking she doesn’t dessert Mom again,” Pinchy said, her face turning into a scowl as she glared at her mother. 
Bon Bon raised an eyebrow and looked at Berry.
“It’s ‘deserve,’ sweetie,” Berry said as she met Bon Bon’s eyes with a blush.
“Yeah, that,” Pinchy said, stomping her hoof. ““She does it a lot. She gets this look in her eyes and her ears start twitching. Then she gets really stiff and starts walking funny.”
“Does she now?” Bon Bon asked, leaning down to talk to Pinchy face to face. “Why do you think she does that?”
“Because she’s silly,” Pinchy said. “I hear her talk to herself in the bathroom sometimes. She thinks that Mom’s going to leave her because she’s no good.” Berry blushed so hard that her fur started to itch. “Even though Mom has told me, and her, that that will never happen.” 
Berry winced at her daughter’s words and smiled meekly at Bon Bon. “Well, um…you know how it is…” she laughed weakly.
Bon Bon looked down at Pinchy again and leaned in close to her ear, then whispered loud enough for Berry to hear. “Well, just between you and me, Pinchy, I think you’re right. Your Mommy is being very silly, but don’t tell her I said that. She’ll get mad.”
“Oh ha ha,” Berry said with a roll of her eyes as her two companions giggled. “Would you two hurry up? We’re going to be late for the wedding, and then Mom will be really upset.”
Pinchy trotted forward with a smile on her face and started whistling a tune as she skipped ahead. Bon Bon walked next to Berry and started humming a tune of her own. Berry leaned in to whisper to her.
“Thanks for that,” she said.
“Your daughter’s right though,” Bon Bon said. 
“I know,” Berry said, her ears drooping a little. “It’s just—”
“You’re doing it again,” Bon Bon said. “That’s not healthy. Don’t make me sic Pinchy on you.”
Berry smiled. “That’s not fair. You know a child, especially my child, has no tact.” 
“All’s fair in love and war,” Bon Bon said with a wink.
Berry blushed again, but this time it was a good feeling. So what if she didn’t dress as nice as all these other ponies? Minuette loved her for her. In fact, she’d probably die laughing if Berry tried to act like one of these Canterlot snobs. If Minuette wanted to marry one of them, she could have easily done so, but she hadn’t. She had chosen Berry Punch out of all the other ponies in Equestria.
It was amazing, and a little embarrassing, how often she needed to be reminded of that, whther by her daughter or Minuette herself. She vowed to do better for both their sakes and then put the matter out of her mind.
Canterlot Castle was looming ever closer, and as the trio neared it the crowd of ponies began to thicken. It wasn’t long before Berry, Bon Bon, and Pinchy found themselves at a standstill just outside of castle. It seemed that every pony in the city was trying to get inside. Berry briefly wondered how they were supposed to get in themselves, but she decided she’d worry about that when they actually made it to the front of the line. 
Berry felt a hoof poke her flank and for a moment she thought some pony was trying to get fresh with her. She turned around, all set to either smack them or wink at them depending on who they were, when she saw that it was Pinchy. The young filly was still trying to poke her with her hoof, but she was straining her neck to try and see through the legs of the ponies around her.
“Is something wrong, Pinchy?” Berry asked as she gently stopped her daughter from poking the air.
“Mommy, I thought you said Mom was going to look like a princess,” Pinchy said, still not looking toward Berry.
“I said she’ll look better than a princess,” Berry replied. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to see her soon.”
That remark did make Pinchy finally look her mother in the eye. “But that’s just it. I saw her over there! And she wasn’t dressed as a princess at all!” She gestured with her hoof.
“What are you talking about?” Berry asked. She craned her neck and stood on the tips of her hooves to try and see over the surrounding ponies. She got several looks, but she ignored them. “Where did you see her?”
“Over there!” Pinchy pointed again.
Berry hopped once. At first she saw nothing, but as she was coming down she spied a flash of blue and white. She hopped again, higher this time. Sure enough, she saw a pony that looked an awful lot like Minuette, but she wasn’t dressed like she was going to be a bridesmaid. And she was heading away from the castle. 
“Pinchy, stay with Bon Bon, okay,” Berry said as she started to force her way through the crowd. What was Minuette thinking? The wedding was due to start in less than an hour. How could she be out roaming the streets at a time like this?
“Berry, where are you going?” Bon Bon asked. “We’re going to be late.”
“I just need to check on something,” Berry said as she politely tried to move past a stallion, but when that didn’t work she not-so-politely pushed him aside. “I’ll be right back. Watch after Pinchy for me, okay?”
“Nuh uh,” Pinchy said, and Berry felt the familiar tug on her tail as her daughter pulled it. “I’m coming with you. I want to see Mom too!”
Berry surpressed a sigh. She didn’t have time to argue, not if that really was Minuette—and it certainly looked like her. She leaned down and Pinchy instantly jumped on her back. She could move faster through the crowd if she didn’t have to worry about her daughter getting lost.
“We’ll be right back,” Berry said over her shoulder. “Save our seats, okay?”
Berry didn’t wait for Bon Bon’s reply. She began forcing her way through the crowd, trying to keep an eye on the blue mane that she kept catching glimpses of. At first she tried being polite, but ponies weren’t getting out of her way fast enough, so she started saying that she had a sick filly coming through. Pinchy caught on instantly and pretended to have a stomachache, groaning and complaining loudly. Berry couldn’t have been more proud of her, but that trick still wasn’t making ponies move out of the way fast enough. Apparently managing to get a seat at a royal wedding was more important than a sick child. Just another reason why Berry knew she’d never fit in this city or this culture. 
Fed up, the Earth pony decided to use the very thing that made her an Earth pony. Berry simply began pushing ponies aside with ease. She got several more looks, a couple of “How rude” whispers, and countless “Hey! Watch it!” shouts, but she was moving through the crowd with relative ease now. 
Finally, she and Pinchy came to the end of the crowd. Her daughter hopped down from her back and quickly looked around, then pointed to the right. “Look! There she goes!”
Berry looked and caught a glimpse of Minuette’s tail disappearing around a corner down the street. “Minuette!” she called, and then went after her.  She made sure to only move at a fast walk, both so she didn’t leave Pinchy behind and because she didn’t want to cause any more of a scene, but her sense of dread was growing. What was that Unicorn thinking? 
Berry rounded the corner and stopped, looking for her wife. She saw her heading toward the very bar Berry and Bon Bon had visited last night. “Minuette!” she called again. “Minuette, stop!”
“Mom!” Pinchy shouted as she rounded the corner too. 
Minuette stopped just before going in to Luna’s Rest and looked around. She made eye contact with Berry and Berry waved at her, but the Unicorn only cocked her head to the side and then went inside the bar.
“Collie!” Berry shouted with a mix of despair and anger. She didn’t care if Minuette got embarrassed by the use of her nickname right now. Something wasn’t right. She broke into a run and closed the distance to the bar.
“Should I wait outside?” Pinchy asked as she caught up to Berry, and Berry froze. Pinchy was underage. She shouldn’t be walking into a bar. Plus, depending on what Minuette was about to say, things could very well get out of hoof quickly and Berry didn’t want her to see that. But she couldn’t just leave her daughter standing alone outside of a bar. What type of mother would do that?
Berry looked around and spied a guard close by. She briskly walked over to him and started speaking before he had a chance to open his mouth.
“My wife just walked into that bar over there,” Berry said, tilting her head toward the place. “I need to run in and get her real quick. Keep an eye on my daughter.” The guard raised an eyebrow and Berry rolled her eyes. She didn’t have time for this. “Please?”
“It’s true,” Pinchy said, putting on her best pouting face. “Mom is supposed to be in the wedding. She’s supposed to be look better than a princess, but she ran into that place. Please, I don’t want to miss her looking better than a princess.”
The guard sighed. “Okay. But make it quick. I’m not a foalsitter.”
“Thanks,” Berry said, then instantly turned and ran back to the bar and through the entrance. 
The bar was much like it had been last night, and that struck Berry as beyond odd. It was dead quiet inside and the silence stunned her so much that she froze halfway through the door. She looked around the small tavern for a moment and saw that everypony was looking directly at her as if she was carrying a plague. She took a quick breath and finished walking through the door.
“What?” she asked at the first group of ponies that she made eye contact with. “You’re not my type, so stop dreaming and go back to your drinks.” The ponies blinked once—all in creepy unison, she noticed—and then slowly turned back to their drinks and conversations. Or at least, that’s what they pretended to do. Berry noticed that none of them were actually drinking anything and no pony was speaking. 
Whatever, she thought as she walked up to Minuette, who was sitting at the bar and trying hard not to look at her. Just one more reason to get out of here quick and back to Pinchy.
Berry was still trying to decide whether to act angry or happy about seeing Minuette when she slid into the seat next to her. At the last second, she decided that she was too happy to see her again to be angry.
“Hey, Collie,” she whispered, scooting a little closer so no pony else would hear. “What was that all about?”
Minuette blinked several times but didn’t look at Berry. “What are you talking about?”
Okay, that’s weird. Minuette hadn’t even so much as twitched when Berry had called her ‘Collie.’ Usually she at least blushed.  
“Back there on the street,” Berry said, pointing toward the door and moving back from Minuette slightly. “Pinchy and I were calling you. Didn’t you hear us?”
“Who?” Minuette asked. She shot the bartender a look, but still refused to turn to Berry.
“Pinchy,” Berry said, letting more anger flood into her voice than she had meant to. Whatever game Minuette was playing, it was quickly losing its charm. “My daughter. Our daughter.”
Minuette’s ear twitched and she finally turned to look at Berry. “Oh. Her.”
Berry’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Yes, her.” She stopped for a moment as her frustration began to build. “Collie, what’s wrong with you?”
Again, Minuette showed no response. “Nothing’s wrong with me,” she said. “I…just have a lot on my mind.”
“About the wedding?” Berry asked. 
“How do you know about that?” Minuette snapped, her eyes going wide.
“Um…because it’s all you’ve been talking about since you were asked to be in it?” Berry said, more of her frustration slipping into her voice. “All of Equestria knows about this wedding.”
“Would you like a drink?” the bartender interrupted suddenly. 
Berry blinked in surprise. Couldn’t this fool see that she was having a serious conversation? “Sure,” she said. “Same thing as last night.” She couldn’t afford to even get tipsy right now, not with Pinchy waiting outside.
The bartender looked at her and blinked twice, then looked at Minuette for a long moment. Finally, he walked away and came back a moment later with a mug. Berry slipped her hoof through its handle, but she didn’t take a drink from it. 
“You going to drink that?” Minuette asked, nodding toward Berry’s mug. 
“In a minute,” Berry replied. “Look, we really need to get going. The wedding’s starting soon.”
“I know,” Minuette said, still looking between Berry and her mug.
“So why are you sitting in a bar?” Berry demanded, slamming the mug on the counter. “Pinchy really wants to see you in your dress, and I have to admit that I’ve been looking forward to that too.”
“I’m where I’m supposed to be,” Minuette said calmly.
“You’re what?” Berry demanded. “No you’re not! You’re supposed to be in the wedding. You’re supposed to be in a beautiful dress. You’re supposed to be up on stage outshining that brat of a Princess at her own wedding. Not sitting in some dark bar like…like me.”
“Okay, look,” Minuette said. “I’ve tried to be patient with you, but I think I’ve done enough. I don’t know who you are, or who this Pinchy is. I think you have the wrong pony. Now, I’ll pay for your drink, but I think you should go.”
Berry Punch sat perfectly still for an eternity. Every sound around her faded except for those few sentences. Their words echoed over and over in her mind, being driven into her brain like a nail being struck by a hammer. Her fur tingled all over, and she suddenly felt colder than she could ever remember being. At the same time, she felt sweat begin to trickle down her forehead and gather in her joints. Color faded from her vision as she continued to stare at the blue Unicorn sitting next to her, and when the blue had faded to nearly grey, her vision began to blur. She vaguely felt a tear fall from her eye. 
Berry Punch’s second worst fear had just come true right before her very eyes. Minuette wanted nothing more to do with her.
“Fine,” Berry whispered. She felt her hooves begin to shake. “Fine. I’ll get out of your life, but you better explain this to Pinchy. And you better do a damn good job of it, or so help me, there will be nowhere in Equestria that you can hide, Collie.” She spat the former nickname from her mouth, then raised her mug to her lips. The scent slipped into her nose and part of her brain told her that it didn’t smell at all like cider, but she didn’t care. She was going to drink the whole thing in one gulp and then throw the glass at Minuette’s face.
The liquid was just about to touch her mouth when the entire area shook. There was a loud explosion and Berry nearly fell out of her seat.
“What in Celestia’s name was that?” she shouted, and then panic took over. “Pinchy? PINCHY!” No. She couldn’t lose Minuette and her daughter. Not all at once. 
Berry turned in her seat and was about to dash out the door when it suddenly flew open.
“Mommy!” Pinchy came dashing through the entrance in a blind panic. Berry jumped down from the bar and scooped her daughter up in her hooves, pulling her close and stroking her mane. Nothing else mattered at that moment, not even Minuette’s betrayal. 
“I’m here, sweetie,” Berry whispered, cradling her daughter. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
“Mommy, Canterlot is being attacked!” Pinchy said, trying to burying herself further into Berry’s embrace. 
“Attacked?” Berry asked. “Attacked by who?” Who, or what, in their right mind would try to attack Canterlot, home of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?
“I…I don’t know. The guard told me to run when that pink bubble in the sky broke. He said Canterlot was under attack. And then green fire started falling from the sky, and these scary looking bug ponies started coming out of the fire and attacking ponies and covering them in this icky green slime and...” Pinchy ran out of breath then and she just stayed in Berry’s embrace, shuddering slightly.
“It’s starting,” a voice said from behind Berry. She turned around to look at Minuette, ready to demand answers and what that was supposed to me, but she froze.
It was no longer Minuette sitting at the bar. She had been replaced by a pitch-black pony, or at least it looked like a pony in shape. But it also had insect wings and its eyes lacked pupils of any kind. Its legs were full of holes and a single horn was emerging from its nearly bald forehead. 
“What the…?” Berry whispered.
“Your time is at an end, pony,” the strange creature said. “Our Queen has signal the attack. Your empire will fall. All of you shall become food for our beloved Queen. She shall drain the love from you until you are nothing but withered husks, good for nothing more than mindless slaves. From this day onward, Equestria belongs to the Changelings.” 
Well that explains a lot, Berry thought as she looked around the bar. None of the other ponies were acting as shocked as she was. That wasn’t a good sign. She took a deep breath and lowered Pinchy onto the floor.
“Pinchy, I need you to do something very important for Mommy, okay?” 
“Mommy, that’s one of the ponies,” Pinchy whispered.
“I know, which is why I need you to do something. Can I count on you?”
“Uh huh,” Pinchy said, still not taking her eyes off of the Changeling. 
“I need you to go lock yourself in the bathroom, and not open the door until I come for you, okay? And—”
“And don’t unlock it unless you say the secret password,” Pinchy finished.
“That’s my girl.” Berry turned and addressed all the ponies staring at her and her daughter. “The first one of you that even tries to touch her dies.”
To every other pony’s credit, none of them so much as raised a hoof as she and her daughter walked through the middle of the bar. Berry stopped once they reached the hallway and allowed Pinchy to go ahead while she blocked the way with her body. She didn’t move or say a word until she heard the sound of the door locking. 
“All right, this can happen one of two ways,” Berry said as she lowered her head and narrowed her eyes. “Option one. You tell me what you’ve done with my wife—and you better pray that she is still alive—and me and my daughter walk out of here without any trouble. Option two, and I really hope you choose this one, is that I make you tell me as I feed you your teeth.”
“Give it up, pony,” the Changeling said. “Your kind is doomed.”
Berry looked around the room, making eye contact with each pony there. None of them were moving, but they were all smiling at her. “So I’m guessing you’re all the same as this freak then?” she asked. 
“Like I said,” the Changeling repeated as the other ponies began to morph. “Your kind is doomed.”
Berry Punch rolled her neck to one side and then the other, popping it as she did. “So you’re going with the second option then? Good. I am beyond pissed right now. This is going to be damn cathartic.”