My Life on a Cassette Tape

Berry walked briskly down the path, a shopping basket filled with the last few things she'd need for the day. She had picked up a few fruits, some pastries, a new shaker of cinnamon, some cream, a tube of a strawberry gel, and a bottle of foal friendly Cider. Such luxuries were reserved for special occasions, but today was a day worth celebrating, after all. Opening the door to her modest home, she couldn't help but smile. The house was filled with the smell of the baking cakes, the center of the day's efforts. Looking at the timer, she quickly hurried over, turning it off as she set the groceries down and grabbed her oven mitts.

Pulling out the three cake layers from the oven, she set them down on the counter, looking over her work. The vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry cakes looked plain, but she knew that with Pinkie's recipe that they would be delicious. Taking the cream, she threw it in with her other ingredients as she sat down and began to stir, humming a pleasant tune as she prepared the frosting. Looking to the clock, she nodded. She still had enough time.

After a few minutes stirring, she set the frosting down on the counter and walked out into the open air. It felt a tad nippy for the time of year, but it wasn't unpleasant, just a tad bit of a brisk day that would pass. Grabbing her mail, she sorted through what was hers, and what had been given to her mistakenly by the ever lovable, but endlessly annoying, Derpy Hooves. Sighing, she set her mail inside and moved over to her neighbors house, knocking with a good bit of force, knowing full well they wouldn't hear her otherwise - it was a Tuesday, after all.

The door opened slowly after a short while, revealing a disheveled looking Minuette who looked Berry over. "Yes?" She asked, not impatient, but showing she had had more 'interesting' things to do than stand and chitchat with Berry at three passed noon.

"Lyra's package," Berry said, holding out the plainly wrapped brown box, "Derpy left it on my doorstep." Minuette chuckled, taking it from Berry with a grateful nod.

"Thank you, Berry. You want to... uh, join on in? We got plenty of room in here." She said shyly, nodding to the dimly lit room behind her. Berry laughed a bit at that, waving her off.

"Sorry, I can't today. I've got a party to put together, and I'm starting to appreciate a lot of what Pinkie does because of it. Thanks though, maybe tomorrow."

"Oh wow, today's the big day?" Minuette asked, a smile growing across her features. "Give her my congratulations, Berry! Oh I wish I could give her a big hug, but-"

"Minuette? Is somepony fun at the door? If so, knock twice!" Twinkleshine's voice called out from the depths of the house. Berry chuckled, leaning to peak into the house as she called back.

"It's just me, got Lyra's mail and I'm passing it off."

"Oh, thank you, Berry!" Lyra said. "Oh hey, is it the big package? I could really use the big package I'm expecting."

"Berry, come on and join us for a little while!" Bon Bon called out, sounding slightly winded.

"Yeah, Berry's great!" Lemon Hearts affirmed. Berry shook her head with a chuckle.

"Got the whole gang back together, huh?" She commented to Minuette. "Sorry, can't, got a party to run!" She called. the house unanimously answering with an 'Awwww' at the lost prospect. "Maybe tomorrow?" The mood immediately shifted.

"Yes!"

"You bet!"

"Oh, I can't wait!"

"Bring the 'Minotaur'!"

"See you tomorrow, I guess." Minuette chuckled, giving a last nod as she closed the door, getting back to her fun. Berry moved back to her home, she couldn't wait for tomorrow, but she had far more important things to tend to as she looked at the clock in her entryway.

Moving over to the cakes, she looked at the piece of paper on which the recipe was written, figuring now the cakes had finally cooled down enough for the icing. Over the next few minutes, she carefully spread the icing over the layers of cake before stacking them in the way Pinkie had shown her earlier that week. Putting on the finishing touches to her icing work, she looked at the clock again. Somehow it was now a quarter past one. She still had time, but she was surprised how long it had taken her.

Taking out the tube of strawberry gel, she took a deep breath and began to write, concentrating deeply as she began forming careful letters out of the red gel. Satisfied with her work, she grabbed the fruit and a knife and began cutting away, turning on her small radio for some jaunty tunes to listen to while she worked. Arranging the fruit with care, she smiled at the finished product.

Suddenly the door was thrown open, literally ripped from its frame as a massive figure entered. Shrinking against the counter, she stared in fear as the figure, an erect torso sat on a quadrupedal form, entered her home. She weakly grasped the knife, the blade shaking in her hand as the thing approached her.

"No need for that, my little pony." The creature said in a cruel voice, smacking her hand away, the knife clattering to the floor. "I'm just here for your magic." Berry sputtered, only for the being to raise its fist, a glow appearing between two curved horns that she now noticed atop this being's head. Suddenly, something inside of her jerked forward, causing her to stumble, only to float as a mist flowed from her chest into this beast's maw. When the mist disappeared, he released her, throwing her like a used beer can against the cabinet. With a laugh, the thing left her panting on the ground, trying to gather herself up.

She tried to stand, but felt too weak. Her limbs didn't wish to support her, and so she crawled. She crawled towards the door, her breath ragged as she struggled. Resting for a moment, she looked out to the world before her, blinking away the fuzz from her vision as she lay what seemed an immense distance from the opening - though it was only a few steps away. All about the streets were ponies in much a similar state as her, though some had seemed to recovered slightly, now standing shakily.

As she watched, two fillies stumbled into the house, each weakened, but both now standing and walking with jerky motions. Her heart lurched, recognizing the two.

"Berry Pinch! Piña Colada! Girls, are you okay?" Berry cried, finding strength in her limbs enough for her foal and little sister. Scrambling over, she gripped the two in a tight hug.

"Mom! There was this scary guy! He broke open the school and did something to us! Auntie Cheerilee told us to get back home, what's going on?" Pinch asked, shaking in her mother's grasp.

"Shh, it's okay, it's alright, I'm right here." Berry soothed. She looked out the hole that had once been her door and saw other fillies and colts making their way back home. She wanted to find her older sister to make sure she was alright, but knew her responsibilities lay with the two fillies she held. She scooted them further into the home, not sure what else to do - desperately searching for some safety in all of this horrendously confusing scenario.

"Princess Twilight!" A booming voice resounded across the town. "You have something that belongs to me!" Berry huddled over the two fillies, quivering in fear for several moments, not hearing any more of it for the immediate moment.

"Get your things, Pinch, we need to leave now." Berry said, struggling to her feet, helping the two smaller ponies up as she did. Pinch nodded, struggling upstairs to her room while Piña stayed close to Berry. Moving to the closet by the stairs, Berry grabbed the duffel that contained her emergency necessities.

Suddenly there was a crackling of arcane energy. Her eyes went wide as she stared out the front door, only to watch as a pillar of swirling colors cut through the houses across the way and barreled straight towards her home.

"BERRY PINCH!" She cried out, darting forward to reach the stairs. At the top of the stairs was her daughter, holding onto her camping pack with wide eyes as she looked to her mother. With a resounding crash, a massive explosion rocked the entire area, throwing her off her feet, carrying her and tons of debris towards what once was the front of the house. Landing, she looked up in a daze, her instincts prying her from unconsciousness as one thought seared itself into her mind.

"BERRY PINCH?!" She struggled to her feet, her limbs only holding her because of adrenaline. She stumbled forward to the burnt out ruins of her old home. There was naught but the burnt out husk of the first floor. In a moment, she saw it. Her legs gave out after a few steps towards it, falling to her knees. There on the ground was a little hand, holding on to a camping bag. With a trembling hand, she moved the debris to the side, choking back her anguish.

"Pinchie..." She sobbed, extending a hand to the face of her daughter. "No..." Her voice cracked, sorrow whelming up in her like an unrelenting tide, even as the earth quaked with the fury of battle she no longer cared for, even as beams of devastation whipped past so near her mane was caught in the gales of their fury. "NOOOOOO!!!" She yowled in infinite heartache, feeling her world crumble.

She fell to the ground, curling around her daughter's cold form, her tears flowing freely as she trembled. She stroked her mane, like she did when the little thing had crawled up into her bed on stormy nights, but Pinchie didn't snuggle closer. Berry sang, her voice trembling and breaking as she did, the old lullaby that Pinchie always loved, but she didn't smile. She kissed her forehead, but the little filly didn't jerk away from it. She hugged her close, but felt no warmth. When the feeling of magic touched her, revitalizing a part of her, Berry didn't stir. Why should she? The world would only shove her down again. Looking up through her pain, she looked to the burning home and saw there on the ground a few paces away, a simple cake - crushed against the cruel ground - with pretty red gel letters barely legible in the muck.

Happy B-Day, Pinchie!

Berry cried tears she knew not she had in her. She cried. She wouldn't stop. She would never stop.