The altimeter read 2,000 feet.
Cherry Berry didn't need to look at it to know - she could tell just by the pressure difference in her ears.
Berry Punch, on the other hand, looked at it every few seconds.
"We're not there yet," Cherry patiently pointed out.
Berry frowned. "Yeah, I know." With a click of her tongue she reigned her irritation back in. "Sorry. I'm just impatient."
The altimeter read 2,020 feet.
Berry banged her head on the side of the wicker basket with a groan.
Cherry rolled her eyes. "I can ascend faster, but it gets really uncomfortable. Altitude sickness is no laughing matter, particularly for earth ponies. Trust me," she laughed darkly, "I've been there."
Slumping to the bottom of the basket, Berry fell into a pout. "Yeah yeah, you're the professional and I'm just along for the ride. Can you blame me if I'm excited?"
"I can't, because you're a professional too." Cherry paused to check the burner's fuel supply before looking back to her passenger. "So where did you say you got this new drink from?"
Touching on her subject of choice perked Berry Punch up. "It's actually a goat-made liqueur! That's part of why it's so rare, since nopony really thinks to explore goat culture for… well, for anything. The other part is because it's garbage below ten thousand feet."
Cherry blinked. "You never actually explained that part to me, and we've got nothing to do but wait now so what is the deal with that?"
Now the chemist and scientist within Berry Punch took off - deep into her own esoteric area of expertise. "Well, like water, this stuff exists in a liquid state when you have it at ground level. But as you decrease the pressure on it, the liqueur sublimates into a gaseous form. Take it too high, though, and it spreads out too much. But at the sweet spot of ten to fifteen thousand feet, when you uncork it the liqueur naturally coalesces into a cloud formation around the bottle's finish."
"So you're commandeering me and my balloon for half a day so you can drink a cloud." Cherry shook her head with a sarcastic sigh. "Why do I let you talk me into this stuff again?"
Berry Punch batted her eyes prettily. "Sisterly love?"
A stone-faced Cherry frowned back. "I should throw you out of the basket for that."
Then they both burst into laughter.
"Think about it this way, sis. Even if it tastes like garbage, there's pretty good odds we'll be the first two earth ponies to ever drink it the way it was intended to be." Berry Punch held up the bottle - a bit of unobtrusive beige stoneware, culminating in a neck sealed by dark wax. "You've always been up for pushing boundaries, so I figured you'd want in on this."
"And because I have a balloon to get you to the right altitude," Cherry added.
After a moment's hesitation, Berry nodded. "And because you have a balloon to get me to the right altitude so I don't have to go mountain climbing."
They settled into a companionable silence for a few minutes - marred, of course, by Berry Punch looking at the altimeter as she shifted anxiously around the basket.
3,700 feet.
The silence broke at around 4,000 feet when Cherry spoke up. "So how's Piña doing? I haven't seen her lately."
Berry shrugged. "She's doing okay. Misses you, of course, but she understands that her middle sister's got a bit of wanderlust."
Cherry gave Berry a playful punch to the shoulder. "I had a job. Flying packages to Griffonstone takes time. I just wish it were more consistent, instead of just when the pegasi don't feel like carrying heavy stuff."
Her grumble earned a friendly punch similar to the one she'd given Berry. "Hey, you're making progress. A year or two ago, they wouldn't have even considered giving an earth pony the chance. That they're calling you at all is a step forward."
"And still ten steps too short." Cherry sighed at that, pacing away and leaning out over the edge of the basket. "I can make ends meet with other jobs, but this balloon…" She reached backwards to rub her cutie mark. "It might not be my mark, but it's my passion. I guess I'm just… I'm just afraid that it won't work out. I don't want to give up what I love."
From the other side of the basket, Berry Punch scoffed. "Oh don't you even." Reaching across the small space, she poked her sister in the chest. "Do you know what Piña's second favorite thing to do about her family is? It's bragging about how her sister's a daring explorer who pushes the envelope. About how she's an earth pony who flies. Maybe you've been working out of town for long enough to forget it, but I haven't."
A little smile rose to Cherry's face. "Oh? And what's her favorite thing?"
"Forcing Pinch to call her 'aunt Piña Colada' despite the fact that they're the same age." Berry couldn't suppress her own smirk at her daughter's distress. "Pinch hates it, but Piña's not wrong."
They shared a laugh before Cherry bashfully ventured a question. "Does she really?"
Berry Punch cackled. "All the time! You can't stop Piña from doing it to Pinch." But then her humor dissipated and she answered the actual question. "And she does. Piña's really proud of you. I might be the sister that's here every day to take care of her, but you're the sister she idolizes and wants to be like. She's got your adventurous spirit, Cherry. Once she gets old enough, there's no way Piña's gonna stay in Ponyville." Her smile dipped into sour sadness. "I'll miss her when she does."
"Hey. I always come back home from my adventures." Cherry inched over, coming up beside Berry. "She will, too. Just because we're not there every day doesn't mean we're out of your life."
Berry fell quiet for a moment. "It feels like it sometimes. I mean if I didn't badger you into doing this, how long were you going to stay in town for?"
Cherry hesitated before answering. "I was supposed to leave tomorrow. But I turned them down!" She was quick to her own defense, trying to leap ahead of any accusations. "You're more important than my adventures!"
"Why'd you turn it down?" Despite Cherry's fears, her sister's response was more surprised than angry. "You said yourself that you've gotta take every opportunity you can get."
The response was a lame shrug. "Because, well. It's three days before Hearth's Warming. If I took it, I'd never make it back in time." Cherry paused. "That's why I was offered it. Nopony else wanted the run because they wouldn't be home in time for the holiday."
Berry rolled her eyes. "I know it's three days before Hearth's Warming, you goof. Even if I couldn't read a calendar, it's pretty cold out."
"That's because we're at six thousand feet. The basket has blankets for a reason." Cherry picked one up - a thick blue and gold flannel - and held it out to her sister.
Berry Punch wrapped it around herself. "You know what I meant and you're just trying to change the subject." She still huddled into the warm, fuzzy change of subject. "Yes, we'd miss you. We always miss you - you're family. But that's the same reason we want you to succeed. You deserve to be happy, Cherry, and flying this balloon makes you happy." Berry shrugged. "Celebrating a few days late is worth your happiness."
"But would I really be happy?" Cherry sighed, grabbing a second blanket for herself - navy blue and red. "I already feel bad that I'm missing out on so much. Like Piña and Pinch being at each other's throats! That's adorable! And I'm…" She waved vaguely at the sky. "My head's in the clouds when everypony I love has their hooves on the ground."
"But that's who you are!" Berry quickly interrupted before Cherry could go further along that line of thought. "And we love you - all of you. I'd rather have a happy you a couple days late than a miserable you on time."
A hesitation. Then Cherry shrugged. "Well, either way - I turned it down already." She hesitated again. "But I'll keep that in mind next time, okay?" She glanced at Berry - who nodded in response. "This year I'll be home and that's what matters right now."
"No, what matters right now is if we're at ten thousand yet," Berry Punch quipped.
Cherry laughed. "Six thousand four hundred. Sorry."
Berry's response was an agonized groan. "Oh come on this is taking forever!"
"Just like you've got to obey the laws of chemistry when you work," Cherry cheekily pointed out, "I have to obey the laws of physics when I do. Like I said, going up faster than this causes problems. And your body's not used to high altitudes like mine, either."
Pouting, Berry hunched her shoulders deeper into her blanket. "I'm just impatient, okay? I already had to wait three months to get this bottle in the first place."
Cherry didn't want to ask her question - but she felt she had to. "It's.. it's not too expensive, is it?"
"Pft, no." Berry Punch almost laughed at the thought. "I paid more in shipping than I did for the liqueur. It's just that nopony in Equestria carries it because at ground level it tastes like dirt and paint thinner."
"Eugh." Cherry stuck out her tongue.
Berry was quick to interject. "But! But when you drink it properly, it's supposed to be plum-like with notes of almonds and herbs."
"Which you inhale," Cherry added.
"Which you inhale." Berry sighed. "I'm just really eager to try it. Maybe it's not an adventure like you go on, but for me it is. It's pushing the envelope and trying things nopony else has."
Reaching over, Cherry put an arm around her sister. "Nah, I get it. We both have different lives and different definitions, but we take our chances in our own ways. And we both want to see the other happy. You want me to fly my balloon, and I want to see you drink goat liquor."
"Liqueur," Berry emphatically corrected. "When you say 'goat liquor' it just sounds gross and weird."
They both descended into immature giggles.
With a smile on her face, Berry Punch leaned into her sister. "You know we love you, right? All of us? Me included?"
"Always have, and with all my heart," Cherry replied. She was quiet for a moment before easing into a question. "Say, Berry. When was the last time I took you up in my balloon?"
It took a few moments for Berry Punch to remember. "It's been years," she admitted as she scratched her chin. "Last time was actually around the same time Piña was born, I think. I remember that…" She thought back, eyes unfocusing. "I remember you said I needed some space. I'd just had Pinch, and being a new mom while Mom was dealing with having Piña meant we were both run ragged."
"And you two were fighting a lot," Cherry recalled as the memory came back to her. "You both had such short tempers that you'd start yelling at the drop of a hat. I thought if I could get you out of the house for a while, it might give you the break you needed."
A wry smile came to Berry's lips. "I had no idea what I was doing with Pinch, and I kept asking Mom what to do. She had three kids, so of course she would have all the answers. But Piña kept her hopping and it was a coin flip on if she had the time to give me advice or not. All the stress just built and built. So I got mad when she picked taking care of Piña over helping me, and she got mad when I asked things she thought were obvious, dumb questions that I would've been able to answer if I stopped and thought for a few seconds." Berry Punch paused before sarcastically adding, "Then you thought the best possible solution was to put me in an oversized picnic basket several thousand feet up."
Cherry Berry snorted. "We were only about two thousand, you big baby. That was just a little relaxing jaunt."
"It scared the stuffing out of me," Berry shot back with a little laugh. "I'd never been up that high, I didn't understand how your balloon worked and my nerves were so frayed that I was almost totally sure that Pinch was about to be an orphan."
Frowning, Cherry thought back. "I don't remember it being so bad. You seemed fine."
"Yeah. Because my little sister asked me to trust her." Berry's smile brightened. "She said she could help me settle my mind and show me something she did to relax."
Cherry hugged Berry. "Did it help?"
Berry broke out laughing. "Not even a little! But I appreciated the attempt, and it meant a lot that you wanted to share something with me that was so you." She nudged Cherry with her hip. "Seeing you happy and doing your best to make me happy helped get me out of my rut. After I stopped fearing for my life."
"What about this time?"
For a moment, Berry considered Cherry's question. "Well. I've still never been up this high before. But I understand how your balloon works a lot better, and Pinch only gets on my nerves occasionally." She paused for a beat. "Plus I still trust my little sister. So I'd say I'm better now."
Turning, Berry Punch looked out over the basket's edge. Equestria spread out below them - far enough that the individual houses of Ponyville all blended into a vaguely brown smudge amidst the green of the surrounding countryside. Sweet Apple Acres was still recognizable, though more just as a mass of trees that stood separate from the larger chaos of the Everfree. The world was writ small at this distance: even the might of Canterlot was barely a smear of gold on the side of the mountainside.
Cherry looked out beside her. "Part of why I love it here is because it's peaceful. You can see forever, but none of it bothers you. You can leave the problems behind and just… fly."
With a nod, Berry smiled in agreement. "Yeah. It's beautiful up here. Thank you, Cherry."
They fell silent again, letting the balloon rise as they watched the world below slowly shrink away. The edges of the Appleoosan desert emerged on the edge of vision, far beyond the Everfree's southern boundaries. To the west, the scar of Ghastly Gorge split the land as plains rose into rocky mountains. And to the north, a vast landscape of forests and rolling plains spread. Dotted only with the occasional small town, they stretched out into the distance to eventually reach the Crystal Mountains just beyond the horizon.
Long minutes passed with nothing - just the chill wind, the balloon's burner and the two sisters.
Eventually, one spoke.
"Ten thousand," Cherry pronounced without looking at the altimeter.
Berry Punch pursed her lips. "...Let's go a little higher. Just to be sure."
Just to be sure, Cherry looked at the altimeter to double-check her hunch. "Sure? I thought you were really impatient to try this stuff."
"Yeah," Berry admitted with a small smile. "But I think I can hold on a little more. The company makes up for the wait."
Cherry Berry smiled back and scooted closer.
They stayed like that as the balloon continued to rise, simply holding side by side. Alone, with the world far below and behind. Ponyville was barely discernible now - the thatched rooftops and dirt roads blending in with the surrounding fields to form a rolling blanket of natural shades. Only a few highlights like the bright white of the Carousel Boutique stood out against it all.
Finally Cherry spoke again. "Eleven thousand."
This time, Berry nodded. "Yeah. That should be good enough." She ducked down into the basket and motioned for Cherry to join her. Once she did, she threw the blue and gold blanket overtop of the basket. "Just in case there's a breeze. I don't want to go through all this just for our first taste to blow away."
As Cherry laughed, Berry set the bottle down between them. One swift motion uncorked it. Nothing happened for a few seconds - and then a thick, pale vapor started to gather around the bottle's opening. Both ponies watched as a true cloud formed: a fluffy little cumulonimbus, ever so slightly tinged yellow.
Experimentally, Berry Punch leaned in close and stuck out her tongue. It just barely touched the cloud - she recoiled; it held steady. "Little sour," she pronounced. "But I can taste those herby notes already."
"What is an 'herby note' anyway?" Cherry hesitated, eyeing the bottle warily.
Berry shrugged. "Easier to taste it for yourself than explain it. But it's a mix of bitter and earthy."
A pause from the younger sister. "...So what's 'earthy' taste like?"
"Just drink your cloud," Berry groused playfully.
Cherry Berry frowned at the comparison but - steeling her courage - leaned in to get a taste of the alcoholic vapors.
Both sisters took their first 'drink' at the same time, sucking in a bit of cloud.
Berry Punch laughed as she swallowed. "Ooh! Okay, that's neat. Once it gets into your mouth it condenses back to a liquid."
Opposite her, Cherry licked her lips and worked her jaw. "Yeah. That was… that was weird." She leaned in again to get a second sip - only to recoil, coughing. "Augh! Ew! I got some up my nose!"
Berry broke out into hysterical laughter.
Cherry waved her hooves wildly. "Burns! It burns!"
Still giggling wildly, Berry held out a canteen of water. "Rinse your nose out and you'll be fine. Then try again and be a bit more careful this time. I've only got the one bottle."
It took a good minute for Cherry to clear her sinuses again - and she found that in the meantime Berry had taken to licking the cloud. She raised an eyebrow.
"...Hey, it works." Berry Punch couldn't hide her embarrassment. "It looks stupid, but sticking your face into the cloud to try and inhale it is how you got some in your nose. But if you take your tongue and sort of, uh, scoop it? Like a cat. Then you can get some without putting the rest of your face too close."
Cherry just gave her sister a look. "You're lucky that it's just us so there's no evidence of you licking things like a cat." And then sat back down and started licking the cloud the same way.
Eventually, the cloud dwindled to a speck of vapor at the bottle's top and both ponies sat back. Leaning against the wicker, Cherry chuckled quietly. "I felt pretty stupid doing that but you were right, Berry. That was definitely a unique experience and there's no way any earth pony's done that before us."
"No way," Berry concurred with a broad smile. Then after a pause, she shot Cherry a glance. "I'm glad that's us and not me."
Another pause - then Cherry nodded, too. "Yeah. Thank you, Berry. I might grouse about you borrowing me and the balloon, but I'm really glad you chose to share this with me."
"Using something you love to experience something I love," Berry Punch pointed out. "I'd call that a good way to spend the day."
Inching around the basket, Cherry hugged her sister. "Happy Hearth's Warming."
"Happy Hearth's Warming," Berry replied. "So, uh. I guess we go back down now, huh."
Cherry nodded. "Gravity says that's how it works, yes."
The wheels inside Berry's head turned. "And it's going to take about as long to go down as it took to go up." She waited for Cherry's nod before pulling the blanket back down and over herself. "Great! I'll just take a nap then, since it's gonna be a while and you don't need–"
"Like Tartarus you will." Cherry stood up, stretching to make sure the balloon's burner was off so the air would start to cool. "While I fly us back down again, you're going to be telling me every little thing I've missed with Piña and Pinch." She shot her sister a grin. "If I'm gonna miss it, I at least want to keep up to date."
As they started their descent, Berry Punch laughed. "Alright, alright. So - last week? Pinch brings home a letter from Cheerilee. The Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to expand their little club, so they were holding tryouts. Well, it seems like the difference between 'tryouts' and 'hazing' is lost on foals. So the letter's trying to explain why Pinch's tail is cut down to the dock and begging me to not be too mad at the Crusaders…"
Author's Note
My prompt for this story was:
I would love a comfy slice of life Hearthwarming story with Cherry Berry or Berry Punch as main characters.
If it is possible for me to ask though, I would highly prefer that the story NOT include EqG, or any acknowledgement of characters or events past the 26th episode of Season 5. including G5 as well.
And just to head off the inevitable questions: yes, canon is sparse and doesn't directly speak of a relation between any of these characters. But that's what fanfic is for.
The specific relation is that the sisters in this story would be Berry Punch as the oldest; Cherry Berry in the middle; and Piña Colada as the youngest. Berry Pinch, meanwhile, is Berry Punch's daughter. Just in case a reader's confused.
Beyond that? Happy holidays, folks!
