The Wonderful Life of Berry Punch

by Dusk-Spark

Ch. 2: "Umber Ale beats hangovers with a brick!"

“Sooo giggle at the ghosties~” That song had been stuck in Berry’s head for days. She blamed Pinkie Pie for that; Pinkie Pie was a great friend but she was probably the one responsible for the endless playlist of random songs stuck in her head. “Aaaand done.” Cupcakes for breakfast.
A little voice in her head told her, ‘Really, cupcakes for breakfast? Shouldn’t Pinchy be eating healthier? Don’t want her to get overweight or something. You’re a horrible mother, Berry Punch. Everyone likes Cheerilee better. Also you smell bad and nobody likes you.’
“Shut up, brain.” She told herself as she dug out her magic ‘fix-my-hangover-elixir’ from the fridge. Otherwise known as, “Umber Ale” she took a long chug from the navy blue can. About 3 seconds later: she nearly dry heaved right there. However, she soldiered on; she definitely didn’t want to spend the entire day feeling like the living dead after all. “It may taste like the sweat from a 3-week old gym sock, but it works wonders.” Already she was feeling much better. ‘Thank you magic.’ She downed the rest of the contents. The hairs on her coat standing on edge as a shiver ran up her spine. Still tastes awful no matter how she tries to think about it, "Couldn't they use magic to make it taste less like moldy bread dipped in pig slop?" Maybe if she mixed in some alcohol or something?

Pinchy entered the kitchen along with her aunt. Cheerilee took one look at the contents of the breakfast table, and rolled her eyes. 'Classic Berry.' is what Cheerilee must've been thinking. She did like cupcakes though and didn’t really complain as she took a bite of one, “…” Say whatever you want about Berry, she was still a pretty decent cook.

“Pinchy!” Berry immediately threw her forelegs around her adorable little pink unicorn filly. Pinchy struggled against her mother’s embrace as she tried to eat the cupcake. Her resistance only made Berry hug her more! “How’s my cute little filly doing today?”

“I just woke up mom…” Pinchy said as she levitated the cupcake in front of her face and took a graceful, cautious nibble on the edge. She smiled and took another bite.

“Do you have her lunch?” Cheerilee interjected, while taking another bite of the breakfast cupcake.

“Oh, yes. Of course I do.” She reached for a brown paper bag on the kitchen counter with her mouth and packed it in Pinchy’s saddlebag. ‘Mother of the year award is practically mine. Take that, Derpy Hooves!’

Cheerilee checked the contents of the bag, “This is a wrench.”

‘Okay runner up then. Close enough. You win this time, Derpy Hooves.’ Berry feigned surprise, “Now how did that get in there?” Berry said before hastily snatching the wrench out of the bag and tossing it out the open window.
She heard a pony shout: “OW MY FACE!” From outside but chose to ignore it.

“So are you excited about the Nightmare Night party?” Berry asked while taking a seat across the table from her beloved daughter and stick-in-the-mud older twin.

Pinchy nodded after finishing the last cupcake. She used her magic to levitate the empty tray and into the sink, along with the other dirty dishes. After that, Pinchy double-checked her saddlebag. “Oh!” She exclaimed in surprise, “I forgot my homework.” She raced out the kitchen like a bat out of Tartarus.

Cheerilee looked over to Berry, who was practically beaming at her daughter’s magical talent. “Did you finish her costume?”

2 seconds. That was how long it took for Berry’s wide smile to suddenly disappear. She remembered working on something a few nights ago…and then putting it off to get hammered. And then putting it off the night after that and then...ohhh, crap. Berry knew how this turned out.
'YOU HAD ONE JOB PAST BERRY!'
In the face of this realization, Berry had only one option. She chose to fall back onto her tried and true method of playing cool...otherwise known as lying through her teeth. “Uhhh, of course!” She just could not stop lying today. “I mean, what, do you think I’m some kind of irresponsible drunk party pony?”

Cheerilee opened her mouth to speak the obvious laundry list of evidence, but Berry’s hoof silenced her.

“Please don’t finish that sentence; I don’t think my self esteem could take the hit.”

Cheerilee rolled her eyes and sighed, “If it’s too much trouble; there’s no harm in asking for help.”

“No, no, no!” Berry waved her hooves in protest, “I can totally handle this!”

“…Really?” Cheerilee didn’t sound at all convinced. In fact, one might say she’d be more convinced if Berry told her that an alien race of multi-colored, hairless apes had landed in the middle of Ponyville speaking another language and brought forth gifts of science and super magic. Yes, even something as completely ridiculous as that was more believable than Berry telling Cheerile that she has everything under control. “Well…alright. You know you could always ask for help if you-”

“Pinchy!” Berry threw her hooves around her little filly again. “You’re always so adorable~”

“Please stop, mom…” Pinchy choked out, tapping her mother’s fore hoof with her own.

“Okay girls,” Cheerilee split them apart. “We’ve got a busy day today so, start marching!” Cheerilee said in an authoritative motherly tone while pointing out the door. The two ponies saluted and marched out the door after a: “Yes ma’am,” said in unison.

Comments

[Ice4smaster]

Daaaaaw, the family scene end

Sweet story, but with true morale and good humor

[MidnightFMare]

‘Mother of the year award is practically mine. Take that, Derpy Hooves!’

Cheerilee checked the contents of the bag, “This is a wrench.”

‘Okay runner up then. Close enough. You win this time, Derpy Hooves

worth price of admission