A small bottle made of glass, cubic with a cork lid, see-through and everyday object. Hard Knock stared at the item with tired eyes and expression. He simultaneously hated the content of this bottle and desperately needed it to function. Tiny pills, barely bigger than breathe mints, made the strenuous parts of his life more bearable for the price of numbing the dizzying highs.

A fair trade from his perspective.

The pony whose hoof grabbed the bottle out his line of sight didn't think so. His gaze followed until the container stopped in front of his sister's face, contorted and stretched through the glass. She did a little shake, rattling the three remaining pills with a look of deep concern before putting it back down on their kitchen table.

"This has to stop, Hardy."

Hard Knock said nothing, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes as Berry's words washed over him.

"The painkillers should have lasted for months. It's been a few weeks!"

He had tried to ration as best as possible, not taking pills when it was bearable and increasing the dosage at times of importance; Time with his marefriend, longer workhours to get the cider production off the ground or being fun to be around for Scootaloo.

They needed him and he wouldn't disappoint them by slowing down.

His meds were messing with his head. The fallout of his outburst at the gym could have been worse if he hadn't reined himself back. The loudmouthed brute had no lasting injuries and didn't talk to the authorities for charges against him. Whether it had been a spark of decency in Mr. Peel, the amounts of bribe cider or the embarrassment of getting intimidated by an invalid was anyone's guess.

Regardless of the reasons, it was luck beyond belief.

Goodness, he was so easy to agitate these days. So many duties and expectations made it harder not to slip into lashing out. Everything was coming up roses for everybody else in his life. Berry had a good stallion in Big Macintosh, Rainbow gained ranks in the Wonderbolts and Scootaloo had a permanent home with them. All because he was the perfect brother, coltfriend and guardian to these ponies.

He can't and wouldn't be the piece that disrupts their perfect happiness.

With so many blessings, Hard Knock had no place whining about aching bones and a small smile graced his lips with that thought. "Let's forget about it. I won't need them from now on."

The little problem solvers in a bottle were tempting, but swallowing pills by the hoofful would make the ponies in his life worried about his well-being. Hard Knock had to be tougher and more resilient. A little discomfort won't make his life miserable.

"You will just work through the pain, won't you? Disregarding your health to make us happy?" Berry cursed their similar attitudes and her ability to see through his bullshit. "Guess what? I'm not happy with you hurting yourself and Rainbow won't be either!"

The first time since their talk, Hard Knock's composure was slipping. "What do you want from me, Berry? Tell my marefriend I can't keep up anymore? Let everything we worked for go to waste again? Disappoint the little filly that had nopony?"

The bottle slid off the table and shattered against the floor. Berry sat there in stunned silence, staring at her brother's eyes and widened her own in surprise as a sudden steeliness washed over them.

"I rather rend this useless body to pieces before that happens."

"Rainbow would understand... She loves you."

"I know she does and that's why I don't tell her." Hard Knock had gone back to a tone that was much more calm, jarring Berry with his shift from an emotional wreck to absolute tranquility. "She is loyal to a fault, but the day our relationship becomes just an obligation to her, I might blow myself up with the distiller for a change of pace."

Hard Knock stood up and kissed Berry on the forehead. "I can handle this. Trust your brother, I'm strong enough to handle anything. I always did."

She couldn't remember how long she sat alone in her chair after that. The solitude in their kitchen could have lasted hours or just minutes. The lonely mare suddenly bolted for the cupboard, pulling out a bottle to fill a glass to the brim with amber liquid. That's how Rainbow Dash found her, hunched over the table and staring blankly at her untouched drink with shaking hooves.

The pegasus shuffled into Berry's peripheral vision and put a few bags down. "I bought groceries."

If Berry had heard anything, she didn't respond with a look or words, holding the full glass in her hooves that couldn't have held another drop. Rainbow shrugged, explaining the solemn behaviour to her occasional grumpiness. From her experience with Hard Knock's sister, she needed to start a conversation with the right topic to get Berry out of her bad mood.

What better topic than her passion for brewing and beverages?

"What are you having? A new batch of cider?" she asked while unpacking food items into the open fridge, glancing at Berry's fiddling with the glass from time to time.

"Whiskey..." the answer came in a low and scratchy tone, barely above a whisper.

Rainbow stopped unpacking. "I thought you quit drinking."

"I did..." Berry stood up and poured the untouched content of her glass in the sink. "Lock the door when you go home."

The mare was gone before she could turn to face her.

Rainbow's brow furrowed in concern as her eyes fell on the broken glass under the table.

Author's Note

Edit 18th December 2018: changed the ending from Big Mac to Rainbow.