The next morning, Twilight awoke in a state of uncertainty. The event with Lyra the night before was both hopeful and mysterious. On top of that, she still had no idea where Pinkie Pie had gone.

"At least Lyra's happy," Twilight yawned as she got ready for the day sluggishly

That morning she went off into town to buy some supplies and food to restock her kitchen. Lyra's little tumbling routine had given her not only a small amount of hope, but also the energy to do at least one task.

The Ponyville market was quiet as the residents trotted through slowly and glumly. Everyone seemed to be turning gray as the days passed by. But today they weren't going through town mindlessly as the case had been other days. Small groups of ponies whispered quietly.

The hub-bub from the ponies intrigued the princess. With a small amount of energy, she attempted to inch in closer to the conversation.

"Hey, Twilight," a voice droned nearby.

Twilight jumped in shock. Berry Punch had come right next to her. She was sober for now, but the winter blues had caused her to buy all of the alcohol in Ponyville. She drank excessively in the evening.

"Oh, hey, Berry," Twilight stammered.

"Do you know anything about Pinkie's whereabouts?"

Berry shook her head.

"Why?"

"She was in my castle yesterday, but she zipped away after I gave her something."

"Oh. Yeah, you might wanna give her space."

"How come?"

Berry stared in shock at this.

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"About the accident?"

"What accident? Who was in it?"

Berry Punch sighed dismally.

"Maud Pie. About a month ago, she got caught in a huge rockslide when she was mining for rocks on a mountain nearby the family farm. One of the rocks bashed her head open and a few took out her front and back legs. She lost a lot of blood within minutes."

"Oh," Twilight sighed sadly.
"I'm----so sorry. I had no idea. Pinkie never said anything about it, at least not to me. But how did you know about it? Did Pinkie tell you?"

She shook her head.

"I was there when Pinkie got the news. We were all shocked, but Pinkie didn't say a thing. She just kept smiling and then trotted away."

"Oh."

"Yeah. By the way, how did the summit go?"

"Not well, I'm afraid."

Berry Punch's head began to drop sadly. Instinctively, Twilight took one of her wings and pushed Berry's head back up.

"I promise, we'll do what we can, Berry," Twilight assured her.
"Right now, the best thing the rest of Equestria can do is wait it out."

"But I can't work at the cider plantation in this state. I don't feel like I can do anything."

"Have you tried seeing a therapist? I'm sure there must be somepony who is a therapist and is immune to the winter blues."

"It doesn't seem that way. It feels pointless. I can't do this anymore. I can't live anymore."

Hearing this made Twilight a bit frightened. She closed her wing on Berry Punch. The groceries didn't really matter to her anymore. All that mattered was that this pony was safe.

"Walk with me."

"I don't have the energy to."

"We don't have to go too far or too fast. Please walk with me, Berry."

Berry sighed and let Twilight lead on.

"I know it feels like that's the only way out of the pain," Twilight told Berry as they walked back to her castle.

"But that solution isn't actually a solution. Besides it's permanent."

"Does it even matter if I followed through with it?"

"Berry, it would matter. You are a VALUABLE pony. And besides this winter blues will pass."

"Twilight, you don't understand. I've been suffering through this pain long before the winter blues. Why do you think I drink so much? I drink to numb the pain. I drink to escape. I drink to forget; I want to forget all the pain, even if it's just for a while.

"But the second I turn sober, everything comes flooding back and I need more and more. I know not all ponies who suffer from this drink, especially not as excessively as I have, but it's a way to get rid of the pain."

"I know this is tough, Berry Punch. I want you to stay at my castle until we can find you some pony who can help. Both with your depression and possibly your alcohol poisoning. I can find a spell to temporarily hold back any poisoning and detox your system."

"Can I bring a few other ponies too? They need to get help as well."

"Um, okay. Who are they?"

Berry hesitated to name any sources.

"I promise I won't judge them," Twilight assured her.

"Well, I know this is illegal, but Rose has been hooked on meth recently. It's the only way she's been able to cope with the blues."

"Does she snort or inject?"

"Inject."

"Okay, so then it's not AS addictive. Who else?"

"Well, let me think. Derpy has been addicted to some sort of muffins. She calls them her 'special muffins.' Vinyl and Octavia have turned to both alcohol and sex. Minuette has been hooked on a drug she calls 'time travel,' which I can only assume is her code for LSD. Bulk has been hoarding and injecting himself with steroids. Lemon Heart has been giving herself heroin. Moondancer's become addicted to caffeine. Bon Bon is loaded with codeine. Cheerilee has been giving herself narcotics. Time Turner, like Minuette, has also become obsessed with 'time travel.'

"Twinkle Shine's started using a hookah. Sea Swirl's obsessed with ecstasy. Candy Mane's become a prostitute out of desperation for sex. Sassaflash has been smoking. And Parasol's been inhaling bath salts. Those are all the ponies I can think of right now."

Twilight had tried to count them all, but at this point, she was too shocked, horrified, and even angered at how Equestria was handling this. She had no choice.

"Find out how more ponies are handling this. If they are coping with drugs, sex, alcohol, or any way that may endanger themselves or others, send them to my castle. In the meantime, send the ponies you just mentioned to my castle. That is an order."

"Sure thing."

Berry Punch trotted off, a bit more quickly than when Twilight had first run into her. The princess hurried back to her castle. She had a lot of serious redesigning and renovating to do.

Author's Note

This might be bumped up to an M rating later on, but right now it just mentions drugs and sex, so I'm keeping it at a Teen rating.