It had been a relatively nice day. School had been fun, if a bit slow, but Ruby Pinch didn't mind because school was nice. It wasn't that she didn't have fun at home with her mother, but her friends were at school and she always had fun when she saw them. She had walked home, and when she got home, she saw that her mother wasn't there. The walk had been tiring because of how much homework she had in her saddlebags, and she kind of wished that her mother was home early. But everything was ok, because her mother would be here eventually.
Sometimes... Ruby thought, Sometimes she just gets overwhelmed at work...
Regardless, the little filly was by herself for the majority of the evening, and as it got dark out, she still wasn't worried. When she got hungry, she went into the kitchen and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Most ponies ate cereal for breakfast, but Ruby had it every night for dinner, unless she was at a sleepover. She didn't mind, but sometimes she wondered if it was supposed to taste better in the morning than it did in the evening.
Soon the sun had completely set, and it was dark out. If Ruby went outside, she could see that stars twinkling above and Luna's full moon shining brightly down. She wasn't able to go outside, though, as she had spent most of the evening catching up on her homework. She had a project that was due tomorrow, and it involved her and her mother making a family tree. Ruby's class had been able to work on the project for the past couple of weeks, but since her mom got home late, Ruby really wasn't able to work on it. She had her, her mother, and her father marked down on the paper. Her dad couldn't help her with it, since he didn't live here at home anymore. He had left sometime ago, and she never really got to see him anymore. But that was ok, because her mother was here.
If there was one thing that Ruby could say about her mother, it was that she was a very friendly pony. She was super talkative, and she had a few friends in Ponyville. There was Derpy, the mail carrier, and then there was Carrot Top, who hated being called Carrot Top. Maybe two didn't seem like a lot for most ponies, but Ruby knew that at work, her mother had a lot of friends. Sometimes they would ask her to stay late and work on an important project, and sometimes her mother would loose her patience and get really angry, but she got along with them well enough.
Even though it was getting close to ten thirty, Ruby was confident that her mother would be coming home soon. She had a really good feeling that she would be, and she decided that she would spread her family tree project out on the kitchen table. That way, when her mom came home, Ruby and her would be able to work on it together. It was a big piece of paper, and the only things that were drawn on it were small little doodles of Ruby and her parents. Even though she was supposed to make and use copies of photographs, Ruby actually didn't know if her mother had any photographs of them together. She had never seen any photo albums on their empty bookshelves before, much less anywhere inside the house. Even if she did, Ruby wouldn't have known where to find them, so she just drew pictures instead.
The little filly waited and stared out the window. The window in the kitchen had curtains, but Ruby drew the curtains back and hung them on their hooks. The porch light was lit, and Ruby could see the path outside of the house. None of the other porch lights were on, and most of the other houses were completely dark, but Ruby knew that her mother would be home soon. Even though her mother got off around the same time that Ruby got out of school, Ruby knew that she would be here soon. She only hoped that the light wouldn't disturb the neighbors. Sometimes, when her mother was home early, they would come to complain that Ruby left them on almost every night. Her mother, even though she was friendly, would tell them to buzz off and complain at somepony else for a change. Sometimes, her mother wouldn't even get up at all, and she would just stay where she was.
Another long thirty minutes passed. Ruby looked at the grandfather clock in her living room, and the clock read eleven. One hour to midnight. Ruby sighed. As usual, her hope was crushed; she had known that her mother was not coming home early. Leaving her project on the table, the little filly headed outside, and locked the door behind her. The moon was full and bright tonight, but Ruby didn't look up at it. She walked down the cobblestone path, and left her neighborhood. She knew where she would find her mother. She took a turn that not many children took in town, and began to head down an alleyway. This wasn't where her mother was, but it was a shortcut. If she took the main route, then it would take an extra thirty minutes to get around the buildings.
At the end of the alleyway, Ruby stepped out into the open. She was on the outskirts of Ponyville now, and she could see a few buildings in the distance. The cobblestone path had ended, and a dirt path began, leading to the other buildings. All of the building's lights were off, but the furthest one on the hill was still lit up. That was where Ruby needed to go. Before she opened the door, she braced herself. Sometimes it smelled really bad in here, but usually it wasn't terrible.
When the little filly entered the pub, she approached the bar seeing the bartender. He was a stallion whom worked here on the night shift from ten to midnight. Instead of pulling herself up onto one of the bar stools, Ruby Pinch stood below the counter and stared up at him. She knew that he was a very calm stallion, but at this point, he seemed a little nervous, though he was trying his best to hide it. He had stopped cleaning his glass, and instead was fiddling around with the cloth. He noticed her after a second, and he jumped slightly. His focus had been on one of room's corners.
Raising his hoof, the stallion pointed over towards the far corner of the room where he had been staring. “There, she’s over there. I’m sorry, but she just kept ordering drink after drink…”
Ruby nodded and approached the corner where the stallion had directed her. Though the pub wasn’t particularly packed that night, there were a few patrons mulling here and there over their drinks. Nobody was drunk and they all seemed to either ignore her or glance at her as she passed by. She approached her mother, and winced as a strong, ugly smell filled her nostrils.
On the table stood about thirty bottles, some of which had fallen over, but most of them were standing upright. For whatever reason, her mother never completely drank the entire bottle, but she would leave a little puddle of fizz at the bottom of the container, which would enable it to stand. Those that didn’t stand might leave a little puddle on the table, or if it was empty enough, it would roll the bottle until it shattered to the floor. Ruby’s hoofsteps were noticeable, but her mother’s head was resting on the table. One of the bottles near her had fallen over, and some of the alcohol had spilled on the table and was dripping off of the edge.
The little filly did not reach up and touch her mother. Instead, in a clear and loud voice, she spoke, her posture confident. “It’s time to go home.”
The mare didn’t stir. Ruby was used to this, so she repeated herself. “Berry, we need to go home right now.” It always felt weird calling her mother by her first name.
By the twitch of her mother’s ears, Ruby knew that her mother had heard her. Now that she had gotten her attention, the little filly waited for a few minutes until she stirred and looked at her. Her mother’s eyes were lazy and dark. The two stared into each other’s eyes for a minute. Ruby knew her mother when she was drunk, and she knew that when her mother had too much, she would get really quiet and not talk at all. This was strange, seeing as she was a very talkative mare for the most part, and it would cause other ponies whom might have joined her to become uncomfortable. This was one of the reasons as to why she would usually drink alone.
Slowly, Ruby waited as the confirmation made itself clear in her mother’s eyes. Her mother coughed, and Ruby could smell the alcohol in her breath. The world around them seemed to become silent as the mare lifted herself up from her seat. Ruby felt her lean onto her, and she used her magic to keep her hooves steady and her body balanced. The two of them slowly exited the bar, and the little filly felt the eyes of every pony in the bar watching her. This was something she was used to however, and it didn’t bother her like it might have a few years back. As of now, nopony in the bar seemed to really know or care about who they were.
When the two of them finally made it home, the mare weakly raised a hoof towards their living room couch. Ruby had led her over, and Berry Punch collapsed onto the couch, her face smothering into the pillows. Ruby locked the door of their house and glanced over at the grandfather clock. The clock read eleven thirty, and the little filly realized that her family tree project was nowhere close to being finished. Ruby let out a small sigh and a slight groan. It was late, and she had school tomorrow. Even if the project was due first thing in the morning, maybe there was a way to explain to Miss Cheerilee that she needed just another day to finish it. If need be, she could always stay after school.
After she had placed the garbage bin next to the couch, the filly walked past the couch and towards her bedroom. Her mother had lifted her head somewhat to breathe, and her eyes watched her as she walked by. Ruby had reached the door when she heard a slurring voice behind her call out softly.
“W-wait…”
Turning, Ruby looked at her mother on the couch. Berry had lifted her hoof, and seemed to be trying to motion Ruby towards her. Her mother’s mane was a mess from having flopped on the couch, and her eyes were glazing over. Her expression unchanging, Ruby yawned and walked over to her mother, smelling the alcohol that oozed from her pores. With the best of her energy, Berry Punch slowly moved her head off of the pillows and kissed Ruby on the forehead. Ruby stared at her for a minute, and then returned the kiss, instead planting it on the cheek.
“Goodnight mommy. Love you.”
The house was dark, but Ruby’s room was practically right next to the living room. The shades and curtains throughout the house were all closed now, and the porch light was blown out. Ruby glanced at her mother one last time before she entered her own bedroom. Climbing into bed, Ruby felt comfort as the sheets of her bed seemed to envelop her in security. Slowly drifting off to sleep, Ruby swore that she could have made out a soft noise coming from somewhere in the house. The little filly’s body was too exhausted to think about it too long, however, and she soon fell asleep.
In the living room, Berry Punch laid on the couch. Her body screamed at her to sleep, but she forced herself to stay awake as she looked into her daughter’s bedroom doorway. The room was too dark to see anything, but the mare’s hazy thoughts were sporadic, and she had a hard time thinking too clearly. They were all a random mixture of her feelings, completely thrown through the loop because of how drunk she was.
My sweet, sweet little filly. Mommy’s sorry that she’s not good enough…
Having a drink once in a while isn’t so bad… so bad…
I drink to express my failures… it’s an endless cycle.
If only that selfish bastard of a husband wasn’t trying to take everything. I need my loves too… Why can’t he get that…?
I can’t even tuck her in at night… Can’t even tuck her in at night…
Somebody’ll find out who she is. Wonder what’ll happen then…?
The clock struck twelve and rang out, but the noise was barely noticed by the drunk mare. Slowly, the mare turned her head and smothered her face in the pillows again. She had been sobbing, quietly, and she would continue to sob until she fell asleep. She would only remember the pain the next morning.
