• Published 11th Apr 2016
  • 646 Views, 25 Comments

Drastic Measures - Nimnul



Berry Punch leads a great life. But her daughter's sire suddenly takes an interest after never before seeing the filly. Berry knows he must have an ulterior motive, so she plans to confront him and, if necessary, make sure the past stays the past.

  • ...
0
 25
 646

Inauspicious Beginnings

It was a long, over-night train ride to Las Pegasus, and Bon Bon had never been there but briefly, so it was essentially new ground for her. Luck of the draw, that. She'd never been there on business.

Las Pegasus, as the name seemed to imply, was originally a pegasus cloud city, but it had grown to be much more than that. Tourism, apparently one of the city's major draws, occupied a middle tier below the clouds, casinos, hotels and other entertainment options constructed in, on and immediately around a series of small mesas. As long as you had money, you didn't need to walk on clouds to have a good time, it seemed.

Everything else of little interest to visitors sprawled to fill the spaces between mesas and spread out around them. Residential areas of varying affluence for people without wings, administrative districts, important infrastructure, all the unexciting things that kept a population center functioning.

It had been impressive to look at as they approached by train, but she assumed that if it hadn't started out as a pegasus town, the whole thing would be a little flatter. Exceedingly low cloud cover surrounded some of the rises, perhaps so tourists wouldn't have views on some unsightly parts of the lower city. Or perhaps those clouds were sculpted decoratively on top? Pegasi could get real creative.

It had been a pleasant surprise when Berry stated that she was going to visit her parents, claiming that meeting her father should be worth being exposed to her mother. It'd been a bit of a walk from the train station to the part of town where Berry's parents still lived. Getting something positive out of the trip might get Berry to take a measured approach to the reason for her stay in town. It had nearly been a full week since the earth pony had approached Bon Bon and Lyra late at night, and the couple hoped there'd been time enough for Berry to get used to the idea that Pan Flash's inquiry might be mostly innocuous, if unwelcome.

"Are we sure that your mom isn't the abominable Bighoof or something?"

"You been working on that joke since Canterlot? They were pretty big hooves, I guess," Lyra allowed with a giggle. "But that's normal where she's from. Anyway, should we worry about anyone recognizing you and being difficult?"

The narrow streets were alive with ponies clustered on corners or sitting on stairs outside of ailing two-story brick row houses, apparently with nowhere important to be during business hours. Mixed in with earth ponies and unicorns were rare pegasi, gryphons and smaller numbers of other creatures. Bon Bon was good at sort of melding into crowds, but there wasn't really anything going on here. It just seemed depressing.

"I used to dye my mane back then, and anyway we should be alright here." Berry occasionally craned her neck to check behind them as they walked. "You see anypony with faces covered up, lemme know. They might be from another neighborhood lookin' for trouble."

As an explanation, she offered, "Most folks here know at least one story of somepony who made it out only to be seen by the wrong ponies, jumped and beaten down when they came back to check in on friends or family. So, your question wasn't stupid or anything."

"I'll keep that in mind." Bon Bon was habitually alert, but it would help to know what to worry about. Her dog, as always, was quietly attentive.

As they were walking along, they were accosted by a trio of ponies, teenagers probably, in a variety of muted colors. The leader, a black unicorn, scowled at them and, by the tone of it, issued a challenge. "Hey. Where you from?" They were frankly a little hard to take seriously for Bon Bon. One of the other two ponies, although scowling, was small for a stallion, as though he'd been underfed as a foal. Both of the silent cronies were earth ponies. The third, a mare, seemed skinny and awkward, probably still on the wrong side of fully grown.

"Nowhere," Berry snapped back. "Just visiting somepony."

According to Berry's own explanation, the question had a whole host of wrong answers, naming any number of 'enemy' neighborhoods would have been especially stupid, but 'nowhere' or variations on it was usually the answer with the highest chance of dodging trouble, it usually implied one wasn't in a gang and hoped to mind one's own business.

Unfortunately, Berry's own hostile glower ruined the delivery.

The unicorn cocked his head. "You lookin' for trouble?" His scowl intensified. Maybe they'd expected easily cowed targets.

"No." Berry appeared to calm herself and offered a placid smile. "I'd rather just keep walking. You've got to work on pickin' your targets, pal. We really look that harmless?"

The unicorn seemed to take this into account. Bon Bon knew without conceit that she was in great shape, and both her friends looked healthy. Her dog had been drilled to be calm and well-behaved towards other ponies, but the other party wouldn't know that.

"Look, kid. I grew up here, too. Let's just go our separate ways," Berry continued reasonably.

The earth pony mare in the background finally spoke up. "You gonna let'em brush you off like that, Tar? C'mon."

So she was one of those types, then. Hang in the back and egg on the stallions. Probably caused a share of fights that could have otherwise been avoided. Bon Bon glowered. You got those types anywhere teenagers clustered together, but they were probably more harmful here. If Berry was any indication, the locals were already short on self-respect, they probably weren't keen on looking weak in front of their peers.

Before the unicorn could react, another voice distracted them "Hey, yo! Nines, izzat you?"

A diamond dog had gotten up from his perch in front of a door and sauntered up to the group, a cigarette hanging from his lips. Berry squinted at the canine, momentarily confused, but not confused enough to spare an annoyed sigh. "... Yes? Do I know you?"

The dog made shooing gestures towards the local ponies. "Lay off'er, she cool. Grew up here. Don't remember her bein' real patient with ponies getting on her nerves. Remember Tatters? Was Nines who took his ear. She don't let go once she clamps down."

Berry pouted as the three other ponies exchanged worried looks and left. "You didn't have to make it sound like I kept it, y'know. That's how rumors start. I just tore it up a bit." She kept staring up at the dog, recognition finally dawning. "Juju? Damn, you were like what, eight when I left?"

"Aww, don't call me Junior. I go by Lucky now." He rubbed the back of his neck, then checked to see whether the departing ponies had heard what Berry had called him. Apparently he was in luck, though.

"Well, then just call me Berry, a'ight? I been off the streets for longer than you been on them. How's your brother doin'? He was Lucky, back in the day." Berry included the last remark for the benefit of her friends.

"They sent him to the pound some time after you left. Busted him on possession with intent to sell or something. Was a sham anyway, I'm sure he was planning to fly solo. He never dealt." Lucky grinned. "Still, he went clean and got released a couple years ago, actually made it out of here. He's working warehouse security on the other side of the city. Married and got his third whelp on the way."

"Woah." Berry appeared genuinely impressed. "Somepony hired his ugly mug and he actually found a lady diamond dog? That's got to be like winning the lottery. Here's hoping the name works for you, too."

"I'm thinking so!" Lucky seemed excited. "I got some janitorial work lined up. S'only part time for now, but once you got a foot in the door doin' the scut work for the tourist traps, you're usually set if you don't screw it up. When my brother's third kid arrives, they'll get to meet their uncle – a workin' dog!"

Berry grinned. "Happy for you. Keep yer nose clean, then. Me and my friends here, we're just passin' through to see my parents."

"Ooh, ouch. Good luck with your mom, then. Uh, no offense, I just remember you not getting along with her from back in the day."

"S'cool, same as always." Berry kept on walking. The diamond dog fell in with the group naturally enough.

Bon Bon nodded at him. "I'm Bon Bon, that's Lyra. Didn't expect to meet a diamond dog here."

The larger creature chuckled. "Las Pegasus don't care what the scum at the bottom looks like, most times."

"Huh." Lyra seemed to feel a little uncomfortable, but didn't want to be left out of the conversation. "So what's the story with Nines?"

"It was a dumb joke," Berry claimed. "I got two nubby lil' canine teeth, which isn't too common for mares. I don't even remember how that came up in conversation. One of the comedians I was hanging out with felt real clever for knowing that dogs are canines, and here we are. Canines, Nines, you follow?" She snorted. "Nevermind that most stallions got those teeth too."

"Well," Lucky chimed in, "I been told by my brother that you tended to bite folks at the drop of a hat, that mighta had something to do with it?"

Berry shrugged, soundlessly working her jaw, which usually meant she was thinking. After a few moments, she seemed to have found her answer. "Young ponies are sturdy, y'know. Bounce back from injuries pretty well. Watching the cutie mark crusaders at work told me that's a very good thing. Reckless foals."

She shook her head. "So on account of young folks still feelin' indestructible and most of us not bein' so good at handling ourselves in a mature fashion, there was a lot of brawls. Y'know, ponies knocking one another around until the other guy gave in. Not as vicious as when you're dealin' with ponies from other neighborhoods. Fightin's a thrill, sure, but I wasn't notably strong or tough then, so I needed it to be on my terms. I decided that pickin' a fight with me I didn't want ought to come with a cost. I mean, ponies were less keen on havin' a fight with a dog or gryphon, I figured it was on account of all the pointy bits."

"Huh." Bon Bon made a noncommittal noise. "Did you just come up with that?"

"Pretty much," the other earth pony conceded. "We weren't notably, uh, introspective back then, either. Maybe I was just a petty jerk. Still, I mostly bit ponies that came after me, not the ones I decided to have a go at. Mostly." Berry grinned a little awkwardly. "Hey, I bet you wouldn't need to bite."

That was probably true. She'd faced monsters, and she knew her way around pony anatomy, too. Wouldn't be any trouble to subdue most equines. "I try to avoid getting in fights with ponies. Sure, most don't know my story, but still ..."

Maybe that was a silly worry, but sometimes she feared that ponies who'd seen combat didn't have as much leeway in these things. Other, more sheltered citizens would assume being trained to fight had made them uncontrollably dangerous. Bon Bon hadn't been real popular with her family after she quit hunting monsters. Supposedly she'd turned into an emotionally distant jerk compared to the young mare that had left home to keep ponies safe.

"Aw c'mon, you can't be that worried about public opinion." Berry snorted a dismissal.

"I gotta side with Bons here. I don't know your story either, but some folk do have to think about it." Lucky nodded towards Bon Bon before continuing to address Berry. "You gotta look at it from the perspective of a respectable type up high, yeah? You're just another psycho, the projects spit out hundreds of 'em. No pony cares if you bite another thug, they probably imagine you done worse. But they hear about a dog or gryphon bitin' some pony and they'll nod all thoughtful-like and think about how they never figured we ought to be allowed in the same town as ponies. A real charitable one might think you can do your time and be a useful pony what doesn't bite anypony else, but I can't stop bein' a dog, right?"

He shrugged. "Better not get into the habit, anyway. Mom didn't raise any savages."

Berry seemed to mull this over, emitting a low, rumbling grumble before eventually chuckling. "I guess that makes some sense. I just make myself look bad if I don't meet pony standards, you make dogs look bad?" With a nod to Bon Bon, she continued, "Or in any case make ponies think you ain't as much of a pony as you were, once."

"Pretty much," Lyra agreed with a bit of a scowl. The unicorn was generally quick to trust and it upset her to talk about ponies who might not be. She took after her mother that way, much to the older Heartstring's happiness.

"Anyway, we're here. You three just stay clear of the blast zone in case it's my mother answering the door. If I'm not out in thirty minutes, avenge me." The building didn't look appreciable different from any of the other row houses. Not quite dilapidated, but still in shoddy repair.

Bon Bon and Lyra took their cue from the diamond dog and maintained the same distance as Berry knocked on the door.

After a momentary wait, the front door opened to reveal a mare with an obvious family resemblance to Berry, although her coloration seemed more washed out. The pony scowled at Berry, then peered around searchingly.

"You lose Pinchy on the way here, or did Foal Services finally come for her?"

The blunt attack didn't seem to surprise Berry, but she visibly squared her shoulders and lowered her head. "Stayin' with a friend."

No wonder Pinchy didn't like her grandma.

"Anyway, I'm just here to check in with dad, then I'll get out of your mane." Berry sounded strained but seemed to be trying to stay calm.

"Cedar Chip's not your sire, y'know." It was said with real venom, but that didn't make it sound like any less of a non-sequitur.

It hadn't been entirely easy to tell, but Bon Bon had used what she knew of Berry to assume that the mare would be angry about the jab her mother had taken at her, yet obviously trying to stay somewhat civil. Now she just sounded confused. "Y-yes? I know that, mom. You goin' senile on me already?"

The older mare seemed more worn out than actually old, she'd probably had Berry pretty early in life.

"He left town and he ain't coming back," Berry's mother snapped. She obviously hadn't taken it well.

"Huh," the younger pony appeared truly surprised. "Well, good on him, I guess. Wonder when he was going to tell me."

Probably not the most diplomatic thing to say. Still, Berry had explained that she had gotten along a lot better with her mother's partner than with the mare herself, so the sentiment seemed natural.

"Well, where'd he move to?"

"Dunno. Now get lost. Bring my granddaughter next time." The older earth pony made to close the door, but Berry stepped forward and forced it open again.

"Dunno?" Berry was getting annoyed again. "Y'can't just drop this on me and then shut me out. How long ago did he leave? He's got to have left an address or something. He wouldn't just vanish on me." She'd said it evenly, without special emphasis. That this Cedar Chip character wouldn't just drop out on her was the most obvious thing in the world, it seemed, so the statement needed no special vehemence.

The old mare scowled. "I don't owe either of you any favors. Why would I help you stay in touch?"

Lucky leaned down to Lyra and Bon Bon to whisper, "because that'd be the decent thing to do?"

Berry tiredly rubbed at her face before approaching her mother. Bon Bon couldn't see her expression, but the older pony seemed to blanch.

"Mom, I'm tryin' very hard to be reasonable, y'know, but I'm under a bit of stress." She gently placed a hoof on the older mare's chest. "I got business in town. I'll check back with you before heading home, and when I do, you better have something more informative to tell me, or I will beat it out of you," she concluded with a sudden snarl, giving her mother a hard shove, sending the older mare sprawling to the floor with a yelp.

"Let's go," she addressed her friends and Lucky as she strode past them. It didn't look like she had left her mother inclined to get in the last word. Perhaps the older pony wasn't used to thinking of Berry as a physical threat. "What a waste of my bloody time. Well, almost," she amended, giving Lucky a nod. "Give my regards to your family."

"Sure, sure." He appeared to be feeling a bit awkward for having witnessed the exchange between the two ponies. He started wandering after Berry.

"I think your mother's got something wrong with her. Still, that escalated fast." People generally didn't become this unpleasant by choice, Bon Bon knew. It wasn't an excuse, but there was probably some manner of explanation. She'd side with her friend, of course, but ponies generally didn't handle their parents that way.

Lyra appeared upset. "That was terrible. I don't know what I'd do if my mother talked to me like that."

The idea was completely laughable, of course. Bon Bon was pretty sure Lyra's mother was literally incapable of feeling the sort of contempt for a pony which had been audible in the first words she'd heard from Berry's mother. The unusually large unicorn liked to act uncomplicated as a way to be disarming. She could dislike someone, sure, but not in such a toxic way.

"You're too soft. I got enough wrong with me, don't need to be worrying about what her problem is." Berry suddenly sounded morose. "Ugh, but if I beat her, I'd just be her."

The first comment was a fair point. Berry had been busy enough working on herself, she couldn't be expected to do anything to make her mother more pleasant to be around. Bon Bon found the comment about 'being' her mother curious but it didn't seem sensible just now to quiz her friend further on her relationship to her parent.

"Well if you started taking her kinda tone with Pinchy, I'd knock some sense into you while Ditzy held you down," Lyra joked.

"I guess if you got Ditzy to help you, I'd deserve it."

"I'd expect your father to get in touch with you sooner or later. You made him sound more reasonable than your mother. My folks barely like me and they still write," Bon Bon tried to offer reassurance.

"Yeah, I guess." Berry audibly ground her teeth as they walked, head hung low. It had been a considerably worse start to her stay in Las Pegasus than she had hoped for.

Bon Bon was left with a bad feeling. A glance exchanged with Lyra told her that she wasn't alone in this. Berry had been looking to get at least something good out of Las Pegasus and instead she'd apparently found reason enough to get physically rough with her own mother, as well as to explicitly threaten her. Berry would often grumble under her breath about teaching another pony some manners, but Bon Bon hadn't previously witnessed her approach anyone else and deliberately menace them to get them to comply. She'd seen her impulsively lash out to kick off a bar fight, but the mare had never been a bully since the Bon Bon and Lyra had known her.

"C'mon, let's take a break." They hadn't really gone far, but she didn't know how long Lucky would be tagging along with them. She wasn't entirely clear at what point he'd rather not keep walking into a neighborhood he wouldn't be welcome in. When the idea had struck her, she'd decided to act on it immediately.

They probably looked not much different from any other group of locals hanging around. "Lyra, let's see that picture of Pinchy we brought. Lucky ought to see."

Berry herself seemed more withdrawn now, with no one around to really vent her frustration on. Lyra reached into her saddlebag by magic.

Lucky made a grab for the picture to take it from Lyra's magic. "Looks cute. She do alright in school?" Although he hadn't interacted with Berry Punch in many years, he seemed to know a good question to ask, perhaps from listening to his brother talk about his previously mentioned offspring.

"Yes," Berry simply replied. After a moment, she elaborated. "She doesn't skip classes and she does good when she works for it."

"Yeah," Lyra added. "She and her best friend took to Bonny and me right away. Joy to be around."

"Y'know," Berry mused, "I don't recall Pinchy complaining about wanting her cutie mark in ages."

"Alright?" Like any young pony, Bon Bon had caught Pinchy and her friend occasionally glancing at their flanks whenever they'd done or experienced something new. It was natural. "Where you going with that?"

"Uh-huh," the dog agreed. "Let's hear it."

"It's kind of a big deal, is all. Especially since she and Dinky are a bit late compared to the average around them, I think. At her age, I used to talk to Dad about it, sometimes."

"I'll take your word for it. I picked up makin' candy from mom, although it was just a hobby for her," Bon Bon supplied.

"I think she didn't wanna lean on me," Berry muttered despondently.

That probably made some sense in her mind. There wasn't much doubt that Berry loved her daughter very much, but the mare probably hadn't seemed all that reliable until recently.

Bon Bon shrugged. "Might still be getting used to the fact that you're a lot more solid these days. I mean, she grew up knowin' you love her, but, uh, maybe she didn't figure she could bug you with little kid problems when you were miserable?"

"Can't help ya with with that." Lucky pocketed the picture. "I've gotta split, but I'll show this to my brother, he'll like hearing things went good for ya."

"See, that's two in town who'll be happy for you. Just put that latest worry on the list and we'll figure it out when we're back home. Maybe it'll just be a question of time." Bon Bon had little idea about child development or how having a frequently drunk Berry Punch for a mother might have affected Ruby Pinch. Of course, the filly seemed considerably more well-adjusted than her mother or grandmother, so perhaps Berry's own childhood would be more enlightening to hear about at some point.

"I guess." Berry was seemingly making the effort to appreciate the gesture. "Yeah, keep the picture. But give it back a second, let Lyra write my address on the back. Maybe one of you wants to write sometime."

The picture changed hooves again. "My horn writing isn't even that neat," Lyra groused as she wrote.

"I'm just lazy," Berry admitted.