Minuette placed her screwdrivers back in their box, which in turn was placed back on the shelve where it belonged. She was tired, but happy. Her little misfortune had passed quickly and she was back in business before long. What little delay had occurred had been swiftly taken care off, both with and without Flitter's help.
How did that pegasus have so much free time was unknown, but for now, she didn't care.
"I hope Berry has cider or something like that." she thought as she left her house. The sun was setting, so the temperature was slowly falling. A nice breeze flowed in the air, serving as a reminder that summer was ending.
Most glasses in town had been replaced by now, which was good. It was getting tiresome hearing ponies complain about it every time, blaming both Octavia and Vinyl for the whole thing. Granted, it was their hot headiness that caused it, but no pony could have predicted it would end like that.
She didn't have much time to think about it though, as the Sweeping Pony was quite near her house. The lights were already on. A couple entered before her, whispering sweet nothings to each other.
Summer love.
"Hey Minuette!" Berry called as soon as the unicorn entered. "Be with ya in a second!"
With skill gained by years of work, Berry pulled a bottle from behind the bar, spinning it on her hooves and serving two glasses. The couple from before thanked her before going to their own table.
"Not a lot of customers I see." Minuette looked around. Other than the couple, another elderly stallion and herself, the bar was empty.
"Yep. Summer is usually a low going point for the bar. Too hot to be cooped up inside it. Winter however….now thats a different story. Last year, I had a line waiting outside just to get in. I had to hire some extra hooves just to keep going."
"Your sister?"
"Nah, she wouldn't help around even if I paid her." Berry sighed, looking at the door that led to the stairs to the second floor. "Anyways, what can I get you?"
"A mug of cider please."
"One mug, coming up."
Minuette levitated her mug, taking a long sip from it. It was cool and bittersweet, just like she liked it. She noticed that Berry wasn't drinking anything.
"What about you? Aren'y you going to serve yourself?" Minuette said.
"I'm working. I'm gonna close up soon though. No sense in keeping it open if no there are no clients. "I hope the others show up soon."
"We're here!" a cheerful voice chirped. At the entrance of the bar, stood Flitter and Cloudchaser, the later grinning childishly.
"We saw a poster of the princess on a wall, it was all glittery and stuff, and it was enchanted so it reflected the light of the day!" Cloudchaser paused for a second. "Or night…but it was really cool anyways!"
"Step in girls." Berry said. "What would you like to drink?"
"Do you have some soda?" Flitter asked as the twins sat besides Minuette. "It sure is hot outside."
"Soda?" Berry asked. "You don't want some cider? Beer or anything?"
"We can't." Flitter answered. "We're not allowed to."
"Not allowed to? How old are you?" Minuette.
"Underage." Cloudchaser said between gulps from the glass that Berry placed before them.
"Fancy that." Berry said. "But a small sip hasn't hurt any pony…" she continued while waving a bottle of cider in front of them.
"Thunderlane said that we couldn't."
"Your brother? He's rather stern, isn't he?" Minuette said.
"He's a soldier. Its part of how he is." Flitter answered. "Mom and Dad are always on trips, so he has to keep a close watch on us when he's around."
"And when he's not around?"
Neither of the twins had a chance to answer, as the doors of the tavern opened once more, allowing a cheerful Fleur and a rather grumpy Octavia to enter the tavern.
"I had to convince her a little bit, but here we are!" Fleur smiled.
"I only came came because I was asked. I wasn't waiting for anypony though." Octavia said. Minuette was about to comment on her rather specific denial, but chose against it, not wanting to provoke her friend.
"Well, you're here and thats what matters." Berry grinned. "What can I get ya girls?"
"I would like a martini, please." Octavia said. When Berry gave her a rather unsure smile, she sighed. "I will have some cider."
"I would like a glass of whisky Berry." Fleur asked.
"A cider and whisky coming up."
"You have whisky, but you can't prepare a martini?" Octavia asked.
"I don't have gin. They box orders gets here next week. But hey! At least you're getting some cider. " Berry answered as she served the glasses. Fleur couldn't help but notice some similarities with her technique and how Octavia played her cello. They way Berry held the bottles with her whooves, making sure not a drop was spilt. She even spun the bottle a bit before putting it away.
It was quite a flashy way to serve.
"What were you doing that Fleur had to, eh, convince you?" Flitter asked.
"I was practicing with my cello."
"Again with the cello. Maybe you ought to give it a rest. Considering what happened last week..." Berry smirked.
"Last week was…a mistake on my part." Octavia gripped her mug a little harder. "But the Sun gala is coming soon, and I have to be prepared for it."
The Sun Gala. A high class party done to celebrate the end of summer and to thank the sun goddess for her light and her warmth. There was another one too, but it would be a long time before it came. Why should Octavia bother with it.
"The gala? Is it here already? Summer is ending faster than what I remember." Fleur said. "Oh, how I wish I could go there. Imagine all the high class ponies, all educated to the highest level of culture!"
"You want to go celebrating the end of summer just so you can trade fancy words with other ponies?" Minuette said.
"Oh no. Nothing so shallow like that. I could do that with Octavia. What I wish for is learning things. In Canterlot there is a certain society, the Equestrian Literacy Group. I have always wanted to join them since I was young."
Octavia had heard of the Equestrian Literacy Group. A small club of ponies who had dedicated themselves to both write and preserve written works that they deemed worthy. They were mostly old stallions though. And they didn't took kindly to young ponies.
"So you're going to talk to the most old-fashioned and closed minded ponies in existence to do that. Brilliant plan." Berry laughed.
"But Octavia is from Canterlot, and she's not old." CloudChaser said.
"She means that they think like your grandma, not that they look like her." Berry replied. "Still kinda boring Fleur. I kinda expected more."
"Did you now? And what would you girls do?" Fleur frowned. Minuette emptied her mug before speaking.
"I have a project on my list. I lack the funding however. So, instead of wasting my time in daydreaming and talking, I would try to do some work and find some pony who would be willing to fund my project."
Maybe she could more luck if she actually ponies. This was the first time Octavia heard of it!
"Yeah!" Flitter cheered.
"Those high class stallions are quite loaded…" Berry mused.
"The gala is supposed to be a celebration dear Minuette, not a place for working." Fleur smiled.
"I really don't have time for anything else but work. If I'm going to this gala, I might as well do some productive while in it." Minuette replied.
Octavia slowly drank from her mug. The cider was sour and rather strong. To be honest, it wasn't that good. But she didn't want to tell Berry. Letting her mouth run had gotten her into enough trouble already.
"Are you taking us Octavia?" Cloudchaser asked. Octavia choked on her drink. Making the pegasus pat her on the back with her wing. Everypony was staring at her expectantly.
Octavia cleared her throat. And then said the words that somewhere deep in her mind, she knew she shouldn't have said.
"I wasn't planning to."
An uncomfortable silence had filled the tavern. Octavia wasn't really. Bothered by it.
Honestly.
The shocked faces of her friends weren't bothering her at all either.
Okay, maybe a little.
"You're not taking us?" Fleur asked.
"Why not?!" Berry asked, sound rather irritated. "Don't tell me it is because you think we can't behave, cuz' we do!"
"No, its not that, its just…"Octavia paused for a second. So much for not letting her mouth run.
"Its just that you think we will get bored because you think we are not refined enough for it?" Cloudchaser asked. Very pony stared at her in surprise, but she just shrugged her shoulders.
"If you think that of me Octavia, I'd really rather have you tell me." Berry grunted while cleaning up another glass.
"I just arrived here a few weeks ago. How I am supposed to know if you, or any of you, is actually interested in a royal, formal gala? Do you even know what it entails? High class dresses, formal attitude. No offense, but you are just a bartender Berry."
"Oh, and because you come from Canterlot, you think you are all high and mighty right?" Berry planted the glass firmly on the bar. "I bet all of you canter lot ponies think that. Living in your fancy houses with your fancy lives, not knowing what it means to raise a building from SCRATCH."
"Berry, calm down." Minuette said sternly.
"Don't tell to calm down! She-"
"Now."
Berry huffed and groaned, but said nothing else. Minuette then turned to Octavia, who had pulled away a little from the bar.
"Care to rephrase that?"
Octavia cleared her throat and took a deep breath. Berry was glaring daggers at her, while the rest looked non too happy themselves. This was not going to be easy.
"What I meant was that, since I arrived here, all of you have appeared to be rather…unfamiliar with elegancy." she said, doing her best to put it in an adequate way.
"If you're trying to make thing better, its not working." Berry growled.
"Let me try with an example then." Octavia picked her mug, making sure every pony was seeing it. "In Canterlot, being elegant means being refined, graceful and serious."
"Says the mare that dueled over music tastes." Minuette snarked, but Octavia ignored her.
"When I arrived here, I was foolishly expecting the same thing. I was corrected less than an hour after I arrived in Ponyville, when I checked up on the tavern."
"I remember that everything was in order for the Mind-over-Matter celebration. I was friendly too, hence why we are here." Berry said proudly.
"You shoved a mug of cider up my nose. Twice."
"It was wine!"
"I almost drowned!"
"And thats without saying how I got both shocked and stomped on when I met Cloudchaser and Flitter."
The twins smiled sheepishly.
"I do believe that it was an accident Octavia." Fleur said. "Besides, you can't base your entire opinion in a single incident."
Octavia sighed. Fleur had a point there.
"I am not trying to offend you Fleur." Octavia sighed. "None of you in fact. You are my friends, and I really think you would not enjoy the gala as guests. All that you would manage is humiliate yourselves."
"And me in the process…" she thought.
"Then what do we do? I really wanna go there." Berry said. "And I'm probably not the only one."
"Maybe we could get there by working. I'm sure Berry could work as a bartender, or maybe I could work in organizing the place." Minuette suggested.
"I could be there in receiving the guests, or helping in directing them. Flitter and Cloudchaser could be Berry and Minuette's assistants." Fleur added with a smile. "You see Octavia, we could perfect ably be there, be helpful and see the gala, all at they same time!"
Octavia sighed in defeat, but smiled nevertheless. Maybe it was for the best that her friends wanted to go. Having a few friendly faces in the crowd while she played her masterful music would relieve some of the stress.
A few moment of silence passed as the tense atmosphere slowly calmed itself. The only sound were the sipping of mugs and the occasional refill.
"Berry would be an awesome bartender for the gala. I mean, she has always been here working!" Flitter said cheerfully. "Ever since……since…wow, how long have you been working here Berry?"
"Ten years." Berry answered. Octavia noticed how her tone shifted a little, but she let it slide for now. "I build the tavern when I was seventeen and have been working here since then. Guess you could say that I live for the tavern now days."
"That makes you older than me by at least three years." Fleur said. "You have been here all this time?"
"I was born here Fleur, I don't know why this is so surprising to you. Its like asking if a chicken lays egg." Berry chuckled.
"I fail to see the comparison…" Octavia said quietly.
"And you buld the tavern yourself? Bearer of honesty or not, that sounds hard to believe." Minuette said."
"Well, I did hire the building crew and hired some ponies to help move the stuff, but other than that, I did myself. You see this legs? They are a lot stronger than they look sister."
"And nopony helped you?" Fleur asked. "Not even your parents?"
"They didn't." Berry said quickly. A little too quickly.
"Why not?" Octavia asked.
"Because they just didn't alright, its not like matters." Berry tried to deflect the question. But Octavia wouldn't have it. Her curiosity was picked.
"And why not?" she prodded.
"Because they didn't, ok? Now can we leave it at that?!" Berry growled. Octavia wanted to continue, but a quick glance from Fleur stopped her. She would find out eventually though.
Berry took a sip from her glass of cider, allowing the cold liquid to cool down her temper. Somethings were better left unsaid, and this was one of them. Fleur, true to her element, tried to once again calm the airs by moving away from the subject.
"Ten years…that means you are twenty-seven, correct? That makes you older than me by two years!" she said.
"I think Berry might the oldest of us six." Minuette added. "She's twenty seven. You are twenty five. I am twenty three. The twins said that they are underage. Seventeen at the most."
"Our eighteenth birthday is in a few months." Flitter said.
"Oh, we're gonna have some fun that day!" Berry cheered, already forgetting her shot lived anger. "You two are gonna get so-"
"And I assume Octavia is a little younger than me. Octavia?"
"I am…twenty one…" Octavia murmured.
"Aw, little Tavi is one of the babies of the team." Berry cooed while waving her mug in front of Octavia.
The clock on the wall slowly ticked away.
"Wait…you are twenty one? How long have you been the princes's stunted?" Flitter asked.
"Since I obtained my cutie mark. That was about fifteen years ago, more or less." Octavia took a sip from her drink. She could still remember the day. The stares from the masters. The jeering of the children. The cold gaze of her father.
Yep, a day to be remembered indeed.
The a loud cuckoo chirped, bringing every pony out of their private world and back into reality. Six pair of eyes stared back at the clock. Between talking, drinking and occasionally arguing, they had managed to kill a good amount of time.
It was already half past eleven.
"Wow. Time surely went fast." Fleur said.
"Maybe its broken? I could fix for you Berry." Minuette offered.
"Its fine Minuette. That clock has been with me since I started and has never failed once. That old robin is an oldie but a goodie. You can bet your bits on that."
"Please Berry. I can leave it just as it was before. Even better I might add." the blue unicorn insisted. Octavia could swear that Minuette's tool was pack glowing already with her magic. Had she been carrying that all the time?
"No Minuette. down girl." Berry patted Minuette's head. Flitter and Cloudchaser placed their glasses on the bar. Cloudchaser belched loudly, followed by giggle. Berry high hoofed with her in celebration.
"Cloudchaser. That was very impolite." Fleur chastised, though the efficiency of her words was diminished by her smile.
"I think we should start going Cloudy." Flitter said, flying off her seat. "Its rather late."
"Its not that late girls." Berry said. "So what if tis a bit late. Its friday! Besides, its like you two had any real drinks or anything. Wait, don't tell me you're afraid of the dark?"
"Wha-no!" Flitter blushed a little. "Our house is hard to find in the night, thats all!"
"It was easy for me." Minuette said.
"If the girls want to go to sleep, let them go to sleep." Fleur replied. "Go on girls. Say hi to Rumble for me."
The twin pegasus quickly said their goodbyes and left, leaving their four friends to finish their drinks.
"You their little brother?" Octavia asked.
"Of course. I teach him some grammar from time to time when school is not enough. He's a very smart kid, if a little grumpy at times."
"Ha, sounds like my sister. Ruby is always angry at me for some reason." Berry dangled her hoof in the air, frowning in imitation of her younger sibling.. "You didn't help with my homework, you didn't do this, you didn't do that."
"Come to think of it, she is Rumble's classmate, correct?" Fleur asked.
"Well yeah, I mean, there's only one school in the entire town."
"One school?" Octavia noted. "Who teaches there?"
"There used some earth pony. She was really good at it. Really cheerful. Love to see the children blossom in their knowledge." Berry answered. "She left a few weeks ago though. Too bad. The children loved her."
"I hope a replacement comes soon. One that can keep the children in place." Octavia said.
"What? You don't like kids?" Berry asked.
"I prefer them at legs distance."
After a few more minutes of idle talk, the cuckoo clock chirped once more, marking the middle of the night.
"Well ladies. I will go home now. I am tired and I would like to get up early tomorrow morning, so, good night!" Fleur said. And without further ad, she quickly exited the bar.
"Wow, we are falling, one by one."
"Make that two, because I'm all leaving for the night, and unlike Fleur, I HAVE to get up early tomorrow. Good night you two."
And with that, Octavia and Berry were left alone in the bar. It was surprisingly quiet now that almost every pony was gone. There was an uncomfortable feeling in the air.
"Berry-"
"Don.t" Berry interrupted her. It wasn't angry tone, but it was definitely serious. "Don't ask. I don't like talking about my parents."
"Can I at least ask where they are?" Octavia asked.
Berry frowned. Octavia couldn't help but to feel a bit intimidated. She quickly hid that side of hers.
"No. You can't" Berry answered. Octavia was about to talk, but Berry raised a hoof to stop her. "I will tell you though. Just not now."
Octavia wanted to say something. Anything. But realized that it was a lost battle. Berry had made her choice and no amount of asking would change her mind.
"Alright. I won't ask." she took one final sip from her mug. "I m…sort if I was being intrusive."
"No harmed done. You were curious and thats understandable. Just have a little tact next time." Berry replied honestly. Octavia nodded and raised her mug to her face. It was empty. She sighed.
"I know I maybe rather…hard to deal with sometimes." Octavia blurted. "And I am sorry for it. But I really try to control myself. And I really am thankful for the friendship that you five give me, even if I don't show it all the time."
"No need to apologize Octavia." Berry smiled. "Some ponies are quiet, others are loud. Some talk fast, others prefer to spit poetry every time they can. Some are brusk and tough, while others are soft. And all of them can be good ponies."
"Does that include talking a lot?" Octavia asked. Berry was about to answer when realized that it was a joke, and chuckled.
"Yeah. It includes that."
It wouldn't be long before Octavia left as well. Berry cleaned the used mugs and put them away. The bar was illuminated by few lamps and a couple of lights on the roof. All powered by unicorn magic of course.
After a few more minutes of straightening out the place, Berry turned off the lights and walked upstairs, turning every light as she approached her room.
Just as she was about to enter, she looked at the wall besides her. There was a picture there. A stallion, a pregnant mare and a filly were smiling at the camera.
Berry sighed and turned the lights off, entering her room for the last time that day.
