Looking back, I wish I could take it all back. It wasn’t a problem at the time, but that’s what I let it become. I just wanted to have some regular teenage fun. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. I had no idea that my irresponsibility would lead to more problems than just one. Then, in turn, there was a domino effect, and now you have to suffer from my mistakes. Yet I keep on going. I keep screwing up in the exact same way. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, my sweet little angel. I am so… so… sorry.
“Wait up, Cheerilee!” I shouted as I galloped out of school. Cheerilee turned around and smiled brightly at me. She had the most adorable frizzy mane back then, and those braces! I thought she’d never get those taken off. I swear, it seemed like throughout her entire childhood, she wore the same look. I could understand, though. Nopony could pull it off like she could.
“Hey, Berry!” she replied. “What’s crackin?”
“Oh, you know, just another test with Mr. Hill.” I pointed my hoof down my throat like I was about to throw up.
She giggled. “That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea. I just…” I groaned. “What’s the point of chemistry class anyway? I mean, you’ll only need it if you’re going to college, and nopony here’s even thinking about it.”
“Actually, Berry,” she said, starting to blush, “I’ve kinda been thinking about it for myself.”
“Whoa, whoa! What? You’re really thinking of doing like four more years of school? We’re almost done!”
“I dunno. I just think it’d be pretty rad to be a teacher.”
I giggled to myself a little bit. “A teacher? Really?” Cheerilee nodded her head excitedly. I’d never heard her mention it before, so I might’ve been the first pony that she had told. Putting a hoof around her shoulders, I said, “You know what? This is a big step for you, Cheeri. Why don’t we go out and celebrate tonight? Pick you up at 8?”
“Only cause it’s Friday. My mom would kill me if I came back home at midnight on a Tuesday again.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll have you back before Tuesday at midnight.” The two of us exchanged a long laugh, the kind that I wish could’ve lasted forever. “But hey, I gotta jet. I’ll see you tonight!”
“Later, Berry!”
That was Cheerilee. Minus the tacky clothes and groovy diction, she was the exact same pony she is now: kind, loving and always thinking the best of other ponies. She probably thought I was one of the best ponies in the world, just because I was there. Sadly to say, though, I couldn’t be the pony that she thought I was. At the time I called myself a free spirit, but now that I look back on it, I was just teenage trash.
When I left her, I went to see some of my friends who had dropped out of school a few years earlier. “What’s up, Berry?” one of them asked with some chewing tobacco in his mouth. He wore a denim jacket, which was all the rage back in the day. He was standing next to two of my other hoodlum friends wearing similar clothes.
“Not much,” I said. “Hey, can somepony give me a light? I’m dyin here.” One of my friends pulled a rolled up blunt from his denim jacket and pulled out a lighter from an inside pocket. He lit the blunt, which I practically snatched out of his hoof and put in my mouth instantly. I took in a deep breath of the intoxicating fumes and puffed them out.
“You alright, Berry?” another one of them asked.
After expelling another puff, I said, “Yeah, just another dumb test in school.” I inhaled another hit, letting the chemicals flush out my system. “You know, I’ll be lucky to graduate this year, but now Cheerilee is thinking about going to college!”
“Cheerilee?” the third pony chimed in. “I wouldn’t put it past her. She’s a smart pony.”
“Yeah, but that means when she starts doing that she’ll be busy all the time. I won’t be able to chill out with her nearly as much as we do now. It’ll just be… different.” I took in another breath of the mind-numbing fumes.
“Then you two should go drinkin before then. You still got time.”
I shot him a dazed look. “Uhh, hello! I’m still in high school here! How are we supposed to go out drinking without anypony noticing that we’re underage?”
“You know that place a couple blocks down from the city hall? They don’t care how old you are. You and Cheerilee could walk in and party it up without anypony getting on your backs.”
I thought about it as well as I could with the thick smoke burning my senses. It sounded like a great plan to me. I don’t think Cheerilee had ever even taken a sip of booze before. She had probably never partied before either. It sounded like the perfect plan for us to spend some time together while we still could.
“But wait,” I started. “Cheerilee wouldn't be into that. She’d cancel on me the minute I brought up that we were going to a bar.” All three ponies chuckled to themselves. "What?"
“Then make it a surprise, bonehead,” the first pony said.
That was about when I had stopped thinking as well as I should have. All of my common sense was being taken out of my mind by the sweet taste of the drugs that fondled my senses.
I flicked the small remains of my blunt to the ground and exhaled a long wind of smoke. “Yeah,” I said, giggling to myself. “Cheerilee’s gonna frickin love it.”
It was decided, then. I would treat Cheerilee to a night on the town and show her how fun partying was. If we were going to be separated in the future, we could at least have this one night that we’d remember for the rest of our lives.
Once I was home, I drank as much water as I could and took a hot shower, making sure there were no traces of me smoking at all. Cheerilee didn’t need to know about that part of my life. While blasting some music as loud as it would go, I put on some of the best perfume I owned and styled my mane to impress. I made poses and winked at myself in the mirror. “If Cheerilee doesn’t get laid tonight, you sure will.” Smiling at myself one last time, I turned off my music and pranced out the door. “This is going to be the best night ever!”
I looked down at my watch. It was 8 o’clock sharp the moment I got to her doorstep. I knocked on her door, and just a few moments later walked out a gorgeous magenta earth pony. She didn’t need to do anything to look fantastic. The only adjustments she made were wearing some new earrings and some extra blush, but the one thing that she always wore was that lovely enthusiastic smile.
“What took you so long?” she asked.
“Sorry. I know I’m a whole 20 seconds late, but I was just having so much fun in town that I guess I just forgot about you.”
“Guess you’ll have to make it up to me by making it twice as fun now.”
“Only twice as fun?” I asked putting my hoof around her shoulder. “I think I can manage that.”
And thus began our adventure. The bar was about a 30 minute walk, so we had plenty of time to just chat about anything and everything. I wanted to keep the whole college thing to a minimum, though. The only thing that mattered tonight was tonight. No past stuff. No future stuff. Just two friends hanging out.
“OH!” she interjected. “And I just started reading this new book that just came out!”
“You? Reading?” Cheerilee pushed me playfully. I knew that it was one of her favorite things to do. She was such a dork, but it kept the subject on her and away from my life. “What’s it called?”
“Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.”
I gasped. “You know about Daring Do?”
“You do too?!” The two of us cheered excitedly. Daring Do was the best book I had ever read, but I thought I was the only one who knew about it. “Wait a second,” she said, pausing. “Since when do you read?”
“Since I stopped caring about chemistry class. Can you believe how she got out of the room with the snakes and quick sand?”
“OH! Don’t tell me yet! I haven’t finished reading it.”
“You mean I shouldn’t tell you that she gets out by—”
“Lalalalalala! I can’t hear you!” she covered her ears, chanting to herself while I laughed like crazy.
“Don’t worry, Cheerilee. I won’t tell you anything else. You know why?” She shrugged. “Because we’re here!”
We were standing outside of a bar in a not-so-pleasant part of the town. Cheerilee’s first reaction was complete shock and disappointment, but being the sweet pony she was, she put on a plastered smile, hoping I wouldn’t notice. “Um… Berry? Is this a bar?” I nodded my head and smiled widely. “You uh… you know we’re underage, right?”
“Don’t worry about it, Cheeri. Word around the block is that they don’t kick anypony out, even if they’re not old enough.”
“I just…” She looked at the ground, trying to find something to say. I had put her in a position that she really didn’t want to be in. “I just don’t know how I feel about this. You know we shouldn’t be here.”
“Cheeri,” I said putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You gotta get out and live a little. You have to experience life. Take chances. Make mistakes. Do stupid things just for the experience. Have you ever partied before? Even taken the tiniest sip?” She shook her head, her smile vanishing into a nervous expression. “I promise you’ll have fun. I’m not about to let my friend down, and I’m not going to let her pass up living her life to its fullest. I mean, if you’re not living, you’re dying.” Cheerilee looked me dead in the eyes. “So what do you think, Cheeri? Do or die?”
“I…” she began. She took a moment to think it over before giving me a comforting grin. “I’ll do it.” Grabbing her hoof excitedly, I led her into the bar.
At the time, I felt like I had just accomplished something. I felt a rush of energy in corrupting a sweet, innocent pony. I thought that my way of life was right and that hers was wrong. I wish I had let her influence me more than I influenced her. I would have turned out to be a great pony; maybe I even would have gone to college like her. Sadly, though, I was determined to make this night filled with the drunken antics that I loved more than anything.
To anypony reading, I’m going to end my foreshadowing and continue with the actual story. Please, though, at least listen to my advice. Never make the same mistakes that I made. Keep yourself in good company and in responsible settings. Be like Cheerilee.
The smell of booze flowed through my senses. It gave me the memories of all the parties that I had been to with all of my hoodlum friends. I had already had so many fun experiences with drinking, but when I looked at Cheerilee, she had almost a look of fear. This whole environment was entirely new to her.
We took a seat down at the bartender’s counter. The pony behind the counter looked at my eager expression and Cheerilee’s fake smile. It was obvious that we were underage. “What can I get you?” he asked.
“Surprise us,” I said with a casual flip of my mane. The bartender nodded and walked away to prepare our drinks. “Isn’t this exciting, Cheeri? Your first drink ever!”
“Yeah,” she said timidly. “Just… what should I expect?”
“Surprises,” I said with a laugh. Cheerilee shuddered inadvertently. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Nothing will go wrong.” I put my hoof around her to comfort her. “It’s not that bad. You’ll still be able to think and all that. It’ll just be more fun.”
“Here you are,” the bartender said, placing two mugs filled with beer beside us. I looked Cheerilee in the eye and smiled comfortingly.
“You think you’re ready?” I asked.
Cheerilee picked up the mug beside her, the look of fright returning to her face. “Yeah,” she said, and before she could take another minute to think, she knocked back a large gulp of her alcoholic beverage. It looked like it didn’t go down very easily as she put the glass mug back on the counter and began coughing. After getting it out of her system, she smiled at me. Her timid expression was being replaced with a sense of accomplishment.
I patted her enthusiastically on the back. “Atta girl!” With that, I took a much larger gulp of my own mug, chugging down half of the beverage. I cheered wildly as my body relaxed from the beer. Cheerilee chuckled at the sight.
“You’re pretty good at this,” she said.
“You will be too!” I grinned brightly at her, but she couldn’t help but look away timidly. “Something wrong?”
“What? No! It’s just… I’m still not sure how I feel about this yet.”
“Hey, listen.” I put my hoof on Cheerilee’s foreleg. Cheerilee returned my gaze. “Whether or not this is a onetime thing, let’s just have fun tonight. The truth is, I didn’t just plan this night to celebrate you planning on college. I just know that if you end up doing even more school, I’ll never get to see you, and I wanted a night that I could spend with my best friend.”
“Awwww. Berry!” Cheerilee wrapped her arms around me in a loving embrace. “I love you so much!”
I returned the hug, holding her as close as possible, hoping that I’d never have to let her go. “Love you too, Cheeri.”
As we let go of each other, Cheerilee patted me on my shoulder. “You don’t have to worry, Berry. I’ll always make time for you. I’ll always be here for you whenever you need me, so any thoughts of us ever drifting apart can go jump off a cliff.”
Her expression suddenly changed as a pony with a black and gray mane walked past. Cheerilee exchanged looks between me and my drink. “Berry…” she started. “Did that… did that pony just put something into your drink?”
“Which pony?” I asked, looking around. There were ponies all over the bar.
Cheerilee, looking confused, shook her head and returned her gaze to her own drink. “Never mind. I must be imagining things.”
“Whoa! Hold up, Cheerilee! You just had one drink! You’re not supposed to be getting loopy till later!” She giggled at my joke and took another sip of her drink (which also had trouble going down).
I then took a gulp of my own drink, which had a sweet yet bitter taste to it. It only lasted for a second, though, so I just assumed it was some kind of after taste. This was a brand I had never tasted, after all, so I had no idea what to expect. I then knocked my head back and drained the remaining liquids in the mug. The alcohol was already starting to take effect as my body was becoming more loose and relaxed, just the way I liked it.
I was already slightly buzzed, but Cheerilee seemed to be thinking normally. She was taking a break from the drinking and trying to spend her time socializing with me. Things were going great until…
“Cheeri! You have to see this! Look who just walked through the door!”
Cheerilee turned her head to see a pony with a jet black mane and light orange coat. She was wearing a safari hat and matching jacket.
“Daring Do?” she said quizzically. Then she looked back at me and smiled widely. “That pony’s dressed up as Daring Do!”
“Cheeri, what if it’s the real Daring Do? I’m gonna go get her autograph.”
Cheerilee giggled. “I’m not sure if it’ll have much worth in the future. Not many ponies are looking for autographs from fictional characters.”
“Well, they obviously have never met Daring Do in real life. Wish me luck!”
Cheerilee keenly watched me as I stumbled towards the iconic pegasus. I was so excited! To be honest, I’m not sure whether or not I knew that this couldn’t have possibly been the real Daring Do, but even if I did know, it didn’t matter to me. I was about to meet the baddest pony to ever distract me from chemistry class.
“Hey, there,” the pony said in her raspy voice.
“Oh my gosh! I’m actually talking to Daring Do! Can I like have your autograph?”
“Anything for a fan,” she said, grabbing a pen from inside her pocket and a nearby napkin. She signed her name large enough to take up the whole napkin and gave it to me with a sultry smile.
“Actually, me and my friend were just having a couple of drinks. Would you wanna hang out with us?”
“Why not? I could use a drink.”
My jaw dropped into a huge smile. I turned around and looked at Cheerilee, who was trying to keep her gaze casual. Her jaw also dropped, though, when she saw that Daring Do was following me back to our spot. “Daring Do,” I said, “this is my best friend Cheerilee.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said, extending her hoof towards Cheerilee. “Please, though, just call me Daring.” My friend and I exchanged silent, energetic cheers as Daring’s attention drifted to the bartender. “Barkeep, I’ll have a glass of some of your strongest vodka.”
“Make that two,” I said before the bartender scurried off.
“Are you sure about that?” Cheerilee asked. “I mean, you’ve already had a whole glass already.”
“Relax, Cheeri,” I said, trying to seem bad like Daring Do. “I’m always up for a challenge.” Cheerilee’s expression was that of concern, but she kept it to herself. She never was much of an outspoken pony.
The bartender then brought out two shot glasses filled with vodka. Daring and I shot them down without hesitation. Daring looked me dead in the eye, a smirk rising on her face. “Think you’ve got more in you?”
“Berry,” Cheerilee started, “I really think maybe that’s enough alcohol for one night.”
“I’m fine!” I exclaimed with an aggravated tone. I returned my blurred gaze to Daring and matched her smirk. Cheerilee was right. I was starting to get drunk at this point, and if I took any more shots, I would just be pushing myself too far. I didn’t care at this point, though. My reasoning was skewed. I just wanted to impress this fictional character… I wanted to spend more time with a character in a book than my best friend who this night was supposed to revolve around. “Two more, please!”
Cheerilee’s expression had become disheartened. The whole situation was making her uncomfortable, but she kept it to herself. “I’m actually going to take a step outside for a minute,” she said before turning away and walking towards the door.
“What?” I said to myself, finally looking past Daring Do. “I’ll be right back.” I left the pegasus and chased after Cheerilee. Just as soon as she got outside, I put my wobbly hoof around her shoulder and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong, Cheeri?”
“I just…” She stared at the ground, avoiding looking me in the eye. “I just don’t know how I feel about you getting so drunk. I… I’ve just never seen you like this. You think we can just head back to my pad and spend the night there?”
“What’s wrong with drinking?” I asked defensively. “And what do you mean ‘seen me like this’?”
“I’ve just never seen this side of you before, Berry.”
“This side of me? Well, take a long look, Cheeri, cause this is who I am.”
“No, it isn’t, Berry! You’re more responsible than this!”
“So because I drink, suddenly I’m not acting responsible? You sound like my mother!”
“Well, maybe that’s exactly what you need right now!”
“Say it to my face, Cheerilee! Why are you so upset about me getting drunk?”
“Because I don’t want you to do anything stupid!” She was now shouting. I had never heard her shout in her life. “The only ponies I know who drink end up doing bogus things that they end up regretting! Some of them do things so dumb that they even get thrown in jail, and do you know why? It’s because they aren’t thinking straight! Don’t you get it, Berry? You’re not thinking straight already! You’re trying to impress a pony dressed up as a fricking fictional character! I’m doing this because I love you, Berry! Let’s just leave and spend the night together, just the two of us.”
I scowled angrily at Cheerilee. “Get lost.” Her expression froze in shock. A silent tear ran down Cheerilee’s cheek. “I said beat it! I don’t need you! A real friend wouldn’t judge me for something as stupid as getting drunk!” After a few moments to register what was going on, Cheerilee galloped away, fighting back tears.
Filled with rage, I stomped back to the counter beside Daring as the bartender set down our drinks. Without skipping a beat, I shot back the glass, hoping that the alcohol would help relieve some tension. “Somepony’s got something on her mind,” Daring said. “What happened to your friend there?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” I replied before turning to the bartender. “Excuse me! Can I have one more?” The bartender should have cut me off, but he also shouldn’t have been serving alcohol to a minor. Within a few moments, he returned with another shot glass. Daring smiled keenly as she watched me down another shot.
“You sound like you could use something to take your mind off things,” she said.
“Like what?”
“You hang tight. I’ll be right back.”
She trotted away, leaving me to my thoughts. So much for helping me take my mind off of things. All I could think about was Cheerilee. I was so mad at her, yet I was so sad that I could have possibly just lost my best friend. I can’t say that the alcohol didn’t help, though.
Moments later, music started playing in the background. I looked over at Daring Do, who was leaning casually against a juke box. Smiling seductively, she waved for me to come over. Smiling, I got up and moved towards her. It was difficult for me to walk in a straight line at this point, but I had a goal: get to Daring. She was the only thing on my mind at this point. My hormones were suddenly flying all over as the pegasus shot me sexy stares. The alcohol was beginning to take full effect.
“May I have this dance?” she asked, holding out her hoof. Blushing, I took her hoof as she led me to the middle of the bar.
We moved our bodies in sync to the music that was playing in the background. Her hooves wrapped around me as I grinded my body against hers. Her hooves trailed down my chest down to my hips as I moved my flank against her pelvis. One of my hooves was caressing hers as the other traced up her foreleg. It made its way up her neck and began combing through her long, black mane.
Sweat was beginning to run down my body. It was the heat of the room, the heat of our bodies running against each other, but mainly from how hot Daring made me feel. Dancing with her I felt especially sexy. I leaned my head up to look into her deep lavender eyes that matched my coat. Without thinking, I drifted my mouth towards hers. Her eyes began to close, and before I knew it, our mouths were locked together.
My chest rose as my hormones kicked in, sending my heart racing. I wrapped my hoof around her tighter, getting more passionate with my mouth. I became so drunk and horny out of nowhere. I was making out with a stranger dressed up as Daring Do. Most importantly, though, I was thriving on every second of it.
I turned around and wrapped my hooves around her hips as our lips entangled in the heat of the moment. She ran her hoof through my mane, taking control of me. We continued to dance to the music, grinding our pelvises against each other’s to the beat of the drums. Her tongue slid against mine as she took control over my mouth.
Panting, I said, “Wow. You’re really good at this.”
“Shut up and kiss me,” she said, pulling my face back to hers in a rough kiss. I moaned softly in her mouth. I loved being dominated. Her hooves trailed down to my flank, pushing my hips closer into hers. I slide my crotch up and down hers, not caring if anypony was watching. Pulling her mouth off of mine, she asked, “Wanna go in the back?”
“Mmmm. Let’s.”
We walked our way to the back of the bar where the bathrooms were. Before we even made it to the ladies’ room, Daring pressed me against the wall and started kissing down my neck. A pony or two in the back watched as Daring took advantage of me. I didn’t care, though. I wanted everypony to see me at this point. I honestly desired the whole world to see how drunk and horny I was.
She kissed from my lips down to my neck. I breathed out heavily as my vagina was beginning to catch fire. I squeezed my legs together, hoping that Daring would take care of me soon. I was the one who grew impatient first, though. I grabbed the back of her head, kissing her roughly and walking her backwards into the bathroom with me.
I wobbled my way into the vacant room until I fell down backwards, carrying Daring with me. I was suddenly staring deep into Daring Do’s eyes as she smiled down at me. I then locked my lips against her again, moving my hooves up and down her body. Daring kissed down to my neck again. I subconsciously lifted my hips upward as her kissing grew more intense. She winked at me as she moved her way down to my vagina, and before I knew what was happening, I was moaning loudly as my whole body went numb with pleasure.
Daring Do spread my legs and was running her tongue up my labia. She was making my vagina wet on the outside as I was getting wet on the inside. Her tongue sliced me upward between the lips until she found my nub. Her whole mouth covered my clit, which was throbbing in her mouth.
She then brought her tongue back down to the bottom of my vagina and stroked my clit. My gasps and moans were growing louder, making echoes in the small marble room that surrounded us. She spread my legs further apart, moving her tongue in circles on my butthole before casually stroking up my vagina. I just continued to lay there as Daring took away any ability of thought that I had left.
She intertwined her legs with mine. I tried lifting up my back to see what she was doing, but I was immediately knocked back down by the sensation of her crotch rubbing against mine. Her hips pounded against me, making some of my vaginal fluid begin to drip onto her. She had gotten on top of me and was scissoring me so hard that I felt her inside me.
I dropped my hoof down to my clit, and if it were possible, my hormones were in even more control than before. I rubbed circles violently at the tip of my vagina as Daring scissored me just below my hoof. Whatever fluids seeping out of me that didn’t get onto Daring Do were dripping onto the ground like a faucet.
Daring Do then got off of me, leaving me on the floor in my own ecstasy. She brought her mouth down to my vagina and winked at me before returning her attention back to licking me dry. The more of my lube she licked up, though, the more I had pouring into her mouth.
My moans were getting louder and higher. When Daring licked me in just the right spot, my moans turned into short, high-pitched screams. Soon, though, she knew exactly where my soft spots were, and she planned on taking advantage of that. My sex-induced shrieks filled the room.
Daring pushed her tongue between my lower lips and licked up and down my inner walls. My vagina tightened around her tongue, making her push harder and deeper inside me. She had made it practically to the very edge of my vagina when I started screaming at the top of my lungs and rubbing my clit as hard as I could. With one last long lick at the roof of my inner walls, I cascaded a fountain all over Daring Do. I managed to get most of it in her mouth, but some of it found its way onto her mane as well as the rest of her body.
Even when her mouth was off of me, my hips continued to pulse upwards. Aftershocks were sending mini-orgasms from my vagina to everywhere but my brain. My breathing was rapid and short as I tried getting oxygen back into my lungs. My breathing break wouldn’t last long, though.
Daring put her legs back between mine and began grinding her crotch into mine. I was starting to feel how wet she was inside me. Droplets were starting to drip into my orifice, making the experience so much sexier to me.
She pressed my shoulders harder into the ground, kissed me passionately and rode my pussy like the whore I was. Her tongue, still with a little bit of my own cum still on it, caressed mine violently, but it was being vastly outmatched by the sensation her hips gave me. It almost felt like she was breaking me just by how hard she was humping me, but I wanted that. I wanted her to make me feel sore in the morning. I wanted her to be even rougher, so I thought I’d give her some motivation.
I thrusted my crotch against hers, trying to match how violent she was being to me. With her next thrust, she brought me to the ground. I let out a moan into her mouth, unable to keep my audible pleasure inside anymore. She took her mouth off of mine to let me go back to screaming at the top of my lungs.
Just when I felt like I was about to reach a second orgasm, she stopped humping me and pressed her crotch into mine. Her own lube shot into my vagina in the same way that I squirted in her mouth. It pulsed in waterfalls of her satisfaction, causing me to drip a little cum out myself. After a few longs waves of her cum leaked out of my orifice, she let her crotch off of mine and dripped any cum she had left onto my vagina.
While laying there on the ground, I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. My vagina was still contracting due to the aftershocks of my latest orgasm. My heart was still racing and looking for oxygen. My chest was rising and falling faster than I could control, but my smile held firm. I was lost in the thought of my own contentment. My urges had been satisfied and then some, and my body was completely relaxed.
I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and exhaled a long, breath of relaxation. Before I knew it, I was drifting asleep.
I woke up on a hard surface. My head was killing me, probably from a bad hangover that I was experiencing. My vagina, though, was in massive amounts of pain.
I tried getting up, but I quickly fell back down from how weak I was. As I opened my eyes to see my surroundings, I noticed that I had no idea where I was. My eyes shot open to see that I was alone in a marble bathroom, but how did I get there? With a sudden shock of energy, I bolted back onto my feet.
“What?” I asked myself. “Where am I? How did I get here?” I tried thinking of where I could possibly be, but the more I thought about it, the more clueless I noticed that I was. “What happened last night?”
I walked out the bathroom door, relieved to find that I was still in the bar. Still, though, I had to figure out what had happened the night before. Maybe Cheerilee would know. Uh-oh. I hoped nothing bad had happened to her! I hope we hadn’t done something stupid in some kind of drunken hype. I’d still remember it, though, wouldn’t I?
“Cheerilee!” I shouted knocking on her front door. “Cheerilee, please tell me you’re home!”
To my relief, Cheerilee creaked open the door. As soon as she did, though, she clasped her hooves to her mouth. “Berry?” she asked in astonishment. “What… what happened to you?”
My mane was a mess. My coat was dirty from all the bathroom scum that I had gotten from lying on the dirty ground all night, and my lady parts were covered in the pleasure that somepony had found the night before.
“Cheerilee, what happened last night?” I said in a serious tone, grabbing her by the shoulders.
“You mean… you don’t remember?” Her expression had become panicked as she looked me dead in the eyes. “We need to get you to the doctor right now. I’ll explain on the way.”
I needed a refresher up to about when Daring Do walked in, but almost everything that happened after that didn’t register. I didn’t remember getting her autograph, my argument with Cheerilee or anything that had happened after that. The part that killed me the most, though, was how mean I was to my best friend. From what she described, I had let my immaturity get in the way, and our best night ever turned into the worst possible night you could imagine… at least for her it was. I couldn’t even remember what my night was like for me.
We got to the doctor to test to see if I had been drugged or if I was just having a really bad hangover. The problem was, though, I had had hangovers in the past, but none of them ended in memory loss.
“How does it look, Doc?” I asked seriously.
The doctor looked over his results. His face turned to dismay, and suddenly my heart sunk. I knew what was coming next. “According to these results, you tested positive to a rare drug: easily soluble, having no apparent color or odor and dissolving almost instantly.”
“Chemistry…” I mumbled to myself. “I hate chemistry.”
“Are there any side effects?” Cheerilee asked, holding my hoof as I stared at the ground.
“The only impacts that the drug will have are impaired thinking and memory loss the next day. As long as you didn’t get into any trouble while under the influence, you should be fine. Now, was there anypony with you while you were intoxicated?”
“No,” I muttered. I looked up at Cheerilee, giving her the most humbled look I had ever had. “I’m sorry, Cheerilee.” I then wrapped my hooves around her and buried my face into her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Berry,” she said. “The doctor says you’re fine. I’m sure nothing happened.”
“I hope you’re right, Cheeri,” I said, leaning my head on her shoulder and stroking her foreleg. "I really do."
A few weeks passed from that point. It was graduation day, but I didn’t feel like going. I was lucky enough to be getting my diploma, but I just wasn’t in the mood for celebrating the achievement. This was Cheerilee’s time to shine and to show everypony how she had finally made it through. I knew she wouldn’t mind if I supported her from my bed.
That day, I was feeling more irritable than normal. I just wanted everypony to leave me alone. There was nothing in particular that was wrong. I didn’t have any problems going on. I hadn’t even touched alcohol or smoked anything since the Daring Do incident. Maybe I was just being a girl and feeling sick and tired.
Then, out of nowhere, I felt my stomach contracting. I jumped out of bed and raced to my garbage can. Vomit poured out of my mouth. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain filling my stomach, but it didn’t work. Holding onto the trashcan for dear life, I puked my guts out. My mane draped over the sides of the can as I knelt there, hating the world even more.
Every several minutes or so when I thought I was done, I tried getting up, just to be brought back down to throw up some more. It had gone from miserable to just plain irritating. My day was just getting worse and worse.
Dragging the trashcan with me, I wobbled my way to the bathroom. At least this way I’d be able to flush whatever I had left in my stomach. After two long hours of the same process, I finally managed to lift up my head enough to see the mirror. My face was pale and my mane was messy. Trying to avoid eye contact with myself, I looked away toward my vanity cabinet, which was swung open. Peering into the barrage of perfumes and makeup, I saw at the very bottom a box of tampons.
“Huh… when was my last period?” My eyes bulged wide. “Oh, no.”
I raced over to Cheerilee’s house and banged on the door. The earth pony, still wearing her graduation robes, looked surprised to see me. I had a feeling she would, but this was important.
“Berry,” she said uncomfortably, “I have family over right now. I can’t talk.”
“Cheerilee, I think I’m pregnant.”
Cheerilee froze, minus her jaw dropping. “W-what?”
“Cheerilee, I think I’m pregnant,” I repeated.
Cheerilee stood there for a few more moments, shocked in silence. “Mom!” she called. “I have something important to do! I’ll be right back!” She then shifted her gaze back to me. “Doctor. Now.”
We raced over to the doctor’s office as fast as we could to get me yet another test. Waiting for the doctor to come out with the results seemed like waiting for a week. My mind was stuck on this one thought: was I pregnant, or was I just overreacting?
The doctor came back out, looking down at his clipboard. His face bore the exact same expression as the last time. “No…” I said to myself. “Please just tell me that something went my way… just this once…”
“Miss Berry Punch, I have your results,” the doctor said. With one final skim over his notes, he said sternly, “The test was positive. You are, indeed, with child.”
For most mares, hearing that they were pregnant with their first baby was a dream come true. For me, though, it was a nightmare come true. I buried my face into Cheerilee’s shoulder and cried my heart out. She patted me on the back with one hoof and ran the other through my mane, trying to comfort me as best she could. As soon as I could manage to get words out again, I asked, “How? How could this have happened? Who would have done that?”
“Well,” the doctor started, “perhaps this has something to do with the drug test from about 4 weeks ago. There is a rather large possibility, although it is very unfortunate, that you may have been date raped.”
“No!” I exclaimed in disbelief. “I couldn’t have been! It was just me and Cheerilee! Isn’t that right, Cheeri?”
The earth pony thought for a moment before replying with, “Nopony else I remember other than Daring D—” Her face froze. “Oh. My. Word.” She fell onto her hind legs and put a hoof to her forehead. “Ohhhhhh my word! This is all my fault!”
“Cheeri?” I put a hoof on her shoulder, trying to figure out what was going through her mind.
“It was Daring Do!” she shouted. “I thought I saw a pony with a black mane just like Daring Do put something in your drink, but then I thought it was just my imagination! I’m so sorry, Berry!”
“Daring Do? B-but she couldn’t have! Daring Do is a girl!”
“Berry,” the doctor said. Both Cheerilee and I shot our attention up to his serious, fatherly expression. “I’ve seen much stranger things happen in my days of being a doctor. A stallion dressing up as a famous character to get somepony to sleep with him isn’t too uncommon, even if it does mean dressing up as the opposite gender.”
“But doctor,” Cheerilee started, “I was there too for a little bit, and I could have sworn she was a girl!”
“Sometimes ponies can be very good at deceiving, especially when alcohol is involved.”
Cheerilee hadn't had much to drink, but this was her first time drinking, after all. Maybe with the combination of alcohol and good acting, this Daring Do pony actually managed to fool us both. I couldn’t believe it, though.
“No,” I said. “Doctor, there must be some kind of mistake!”
“I can’t say one way or the other who the father is, Ms. Punch. All I can say is, without a doubt, you are pregnant. Now, just make sure to stay off the alcohol until the baby is born. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to the baby.”
“Yes, Doc,” I said, still trying to process the fact that I was going to be a mother. Cheerilee rubbed her hoof against my back, trying to comfort me as best she could. She didn’t need to, though; the thought wouldn’t actually sink in until a few days later.
Two weeks later, I had another night where I spent half the day vomiting. Why me? Why did it have to be me? Of all the girls in that bar, why did he have to target me? Why did I have to get pregnant? Babies were supposed to be a blessing, but I wasn’t ready for this.
Once the vomiting subsided, I sat on the couch in the living room. Neither of my parents were home. It was just me left to sulk in my own nauseous misery. I had to find something to get my mind off of this whole baby thing. Maybe then I’d actually be able to be excited for it instead of wishing it wouldn’t come.
I rummaged through the kitchen cabinet, searching for something to satisfy the unusual cravings that I was having. Then, out the corner of my eye, I saw a large glass bottle. It was my father’s whisky bottle that he saved for special occasions. He never had anything to celebrate, though, and quite honestly, I’m pretty sure he forgot about it completely. As I stared down the bottle, the temptations and urges were battling with my conscience and common sense. I knew what the doctor said, but I needed something. Just this one night.
And the next.
And the night after that.
Next week I’d stop for sure.
A month into it, though, I finally realized that I had an insatiable addiction that would never end. If alcohol brought this baby into me, it would be with him or her until he or she was born. No matter how much my conscience was telling me how wrong it was and unfair it would eventually be to the baby, my obsession continued, and I had given up.
“Berry, are you home?” Cheerilee called out, knocking on my door. With my bottle in hoof (half of its contents being somewhere in my liver), I opened the door. Cheerilee’s excited expression immediately changed to a face of surprise. “Berry! What are you doing?!”
“Whatever I feel like doing!” I exclaimed. By this point I was sloppy drunk and slurring my words.
“You know that’s not good for the baby!”
“All I hear about is the baby this and the baby that! I’m here too, you know!”
“Berry… I haven’t even seen you since you found out you were pregnant. This is my first time bringing it up. Also, I came to see my friend, but look at what you’re doing!”
“You know what, Cheerilee? I’m not in the mood right now, so why don’t you get lost?”
Cheerilee didn’t argue. She stood there for a moment, looking fiercely at me, but then turned around and began walking back home. “Berry,” she said as I was about to slam the door, “I want you back.”
SLAM!
Thus my drunken saga continued. Every day I drank. Every night I drank. If there was something that was bothering me that day, I drank. If there was something worth celebrating, I drank. I really did want to stop for the baby, but for the next couple of months, I had led myself into an addiction that I just couldn’t get myself out of.
Finally, about a week before the big day, I had a night where I was completely alcohol free. The crib and baby toys were all set up in a spare room in my parents’ house. Looking down at the room that would soon belong to my very own child, I began to realize just what this meant. The one thing that this baby needed more than anything was a loving parent, and I was going to be the only one this foal had.
I knew that the delivery would be any day now, and it was on my mind more and more. With nothing else to do, I sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and just thought about having a child in my life. Usually if the thought ever came up in my mind, I would drown it out through booze. Today, though, I would take the thought head on.
I thought of all the responsibilities that I would have: feeding it, changing it, helping it get to sleep, playing with it, waking up in the middle of the night to give it attention. Trying not to drive myself over the edge with negatives, though, I tried imagining to myself just what the baby would be like. I wondered if it’d be a filly or a colt. What color would it be? What would it like to do?
“I wonder what cutie mark it’ll end up having,” I pondered, giggling to myself. “Maybe it’ll be really good or science. OH! I bet it’ll be an amazing chef!”
I walked through the toys scattered about the floor, grinning and thinking of how much fun he or she would have playing with them. Walking over to the crib, I checked the job my dad had done on it to make sure it was sturdy and safe. It wasn’t until then that I noticed that I was actually smiling for the first time in weeks—months, even! I was actually legitimately excited about the baby. I could hardly wait to see my new child.
Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to wait long. I went into the emergency room exactly seven days later. My mother had told about the delivery process probably hundreds of times by this point, but I still underestimated it. I had never been in so much pain in my life as I was in at that point. I was doing my best not to cry, but I couldn’t help it.
“Breathe, Berry,” the nurse said as I shouted in agony. “You’re doing great. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Now, push push push!”
With every push I made, I was induced in more and more pain. I bit my lip and held onto the bed that I was lying on, trying my hardest just not to scream. The pain grew more and more brutal until I felt like I was about to pass out.
“Keep going, Berry!” The nurse continued. “You’re doing great! Now take a breath. Breathe… breathe… now push push push!”
“I can’t… I can’t do it,” I said, unable to think as my brain was being flushed out by the torture my body was going through.
“Almost there, Berry! We’re almost there! Now breathe with me. One… two… and… push!”
Grinding my teeth, I held onto a nearby nurse’s hoof, pushing with all the force I had. My eyes were squeezed shut. I had blocked everything out of my mind. I took the pain head on, pushing until I was about to collapse and go unconscious.
Then, when everything was about to go dark…
“Waaaaaah!!”
“CONGRATULATIONS!” the nurses shouted in unison. “It’s a girl!”
I opened my eyes again and saw a room full of nurses smiling widely at me, one nurse taking the baby to the side to clean her off.
I collapsed onto the bed, trying to catch my breath, but my heart had already stopped at the sound of my newborn daughter’s first breaths of life.
Listening to the sound of that baby girl crying was something that you can’t put into words. The joy of hearing your first child’s voice is something that only a parent can explain. I can say this, though: Never had Ponyville ever seen such a happy pony as when I heard her first attempts at calling out for me. It was almost as if she were saying, “I’m here, mom. Won’t you take care of me?” As I watched the nurses clean up the baby, I felt an instant connection to her. This was my daughter, and I could honestly say that I loved this baby girl enough die for her already.
A nurse brought her over, wrapped in a beautiful, soft, pink blanket. Her crying had ceased, and she was now gently sucking on a pacifier with her eyes squeezed tight. Again, it was a breath-taking experience.
“Ms. Punch,” the nurse said softly. Uh-oh. I had heard that kind of tone before. Nothing good ever followed it. “Did you drink at all while pregnant?”
My smile immediately shifted into a panicked frown. “Is there something wrong?” I asked. “Please tell me she’ll be alright!!”
“She’ll be alright, but there’s one problem. While we were assessing her wings, they showed no response, showing that her nerve endings aren’t functional. She will eventually be able to gain feeling in them and maybe even be able to flap them at some point, but it doesn’t look like she’ll ever be able to fly. She’s lucky just to have made it out without any other problems.”
I looked closer at the baby. Sure enough, she had a pair of wings. Her mane was purple like mine, but her coat was orange, just a few shades bolder than Daring Do’s. It was official, then. She… or I guess “he” was the culprit. It didn’t matter to me, though. I was going to raise this baby girl to be the happiest filly in all of Ponyville.
The nurse gently gave me the baby, which I cradled as close to my heart as possible. With its little baby hooves, it reached up and put a hoof on my chest, attempting to hug me. A silent tear of joy rolled down my face.
“She’s beautiful,” the nurse said.
“My sweet little angel… My beautiful baby girl…”
“What are you going to name her?”
I smiled as I looked down at the foal who had just entered into a peaceful slumber.
“…Scootaloo...”
To be concluded in “Picture Perfect”
Author's Note
Thank you for reading! Just to clear up some things, Berry doesn't remember anything that happened after Daring Do drugged her drink. What you're reading is what was going through her mind as the experience was happening. Hope that clears up any questions. I look forward to writing more for you.
