Berry's Sunset

"I know what I saw!" Berry slammed her hand down on the table in frustration.

"You were drunk!" Cherry snapped back.

"And? What does that have to do with anything!?" Berry shouted.

"It has everything to do with it!" Cherry shouted back. "Look, Berry. People don't just fly out of statues. In all likelihood, she probably walked past it, tripped on her shoelaces or a stick and fell in front of it and your drunken mind assumed she came out of it!"

"And what about the pink swirling light, huh?" Berry yelled.

"Probably the alcohol too!" Cherry narrowed her eyes. "Unless, you were on drugs too. Are you on drugs now, Berry?"

"No!" Berry snapped. "You saw what drugs did to Dad, how could you assume I'd use?"

"I never thought Dad would use either but he did." Cherry shot back.

"Sunset, please back me up!" Berry turned and pleaded to the other girl in the room. She had been standing off the the side quietly watching the fight happen. It was very awkward and uncomfortable for her.

She stepped forward and cleared throat. "She's telling the truth. I am from a different world."

Cherry rolled her eyes. "You have zero proof of this. I need some sort of evidence."

"Is she not evidence enough?" Berry demanded.

Cherry pinched the bridge of her nose and gave an exasperated sigh. "Berry, having a human girl standing in front of me isn't proof of anything. If anything, it just proves you have friends."

Berry looked down at the table and lowered her voice. "I thought you trusted me."

Cherry sighed and tried to put a hand on her sisters shoulder. Berry flinched away and shot her a look. "Do not touch me!"
She shouted.

"Berry, I trust you with all my heart. It's just you have to see how crazy this is." Cherry said.

Berry stood up and slammed her hands down, making Cherry and Sunset flinch.

"I'll be in my room, with my daughter. Don't talk to me until you decide I'm trustworthy." She stormed over to where Ruby was playing with building blocks, gently scooped her up and carried her to her room, shooting a look at her sister and shutting her door.

Cherry sighed and stood up. "Teenagers have such attitude. I forgot what it was like to be her age. I wonder if this is how my mom felt dealing with me when I had yelling matches with her."

"I don't know what to say, honestly." Sunset admitted.

Cherry waved a hand as she walked to the kitchen. "It's fine. Honestly." She leaned against the sink as she sipped a glass of water she got earlier. "Can you go talk to her? She seems to get calmer after you talk to her. Maybe bring Ruby her blocks?" Cherry suggested.

Sunset nodded and gathered up the blocks and pushed them into a bucket. She walked up the stairs and knocked softly on the door.

"Go away!" a yell came from the other side.

"It's me." Sunset replied softly. She gave a rattle of the bucket. "I brought Ruby some toys, too."

"Oh. Come in Sunset, you don't gotta knock." Berry's voice said, sounding warm and slightly sheepish. Sunset opened the door. She smiled faintly at the sign of Berry laying on the floor on her stomach while Ruby played with her hair.

Sunset walked in and shut the door. "You're getting better at walking." Berry idly pointed out.

Sunset chuckled. "Yeah, I've had a few days to get the hang of it."

Berry nodded. "It's crazy how quick you got the hang of it but Ruby won't walk till ten to eighteen months." Berry smiled at her daughter reaching for the blocks Sunset was carrying. Sunset knelt down and dumped them out. Ruby clapped her hands and made a laughing sound.

The two watched Ruby play and Sunset idly built a tower only for Ruby to knock it over.

"Hey Berry, can I ask you a personal question?" Sunset suddenly asked.

Berry nodded and waved her hand in a go on gesture.

"I haven't seen Ruby's dad anywhere. I'm not too familiar with human anatomy, but I'm pretty sure it takes two here to create a kid like in Equestria." Sunset glanced at Berry.

Berry got tense and sighed. "It was at some party. Some people offered me shots, I kept taking them. Next thing I know, it's morning and I'm waking up in a unfamiliar bed with a random person. We started talking more and were dating. Then we found out I was pregnant and he decided now was a good to hit the road and left." Berry shivered as she stared at Ruby. "At least I got her out of it."

Sunset rubbed Berry's back comfortingly and Berry sighed contently. "I'm sorry for bringing up a sensitive topic."

Berry shook her head. "It's fine. You didn't know. Cherry really hated him before he left. We got into a few fights because she kept telling me that he wasn't good for me and was gonna leave but I foolishly didn't believe her." Berry gave a bitter laugh. "Guess she got the smarter sister genetics."

"No." Sunset shook her head adamantly. "You both are smart in your own way. Ponies are tricky to read and understand at times. Don't blame yourself. Some are good at hiding their intentions, others are bad at it."

Ruby smiled up at Sunset and dropped a block on her lap and Berry smiled at the two.

"Uhm, where are you taking me?" Sunset nervously asked Cherry, as she looked out the car windows. Cherry sighed and turned down the radio a bit.

"You need more clothes. So we're going to the store. Berry is taking Ruby to the park to go have a playdate with Dinky. And we get some time to talk and bond." Cherry smiled at Sunset.

Sunset nodded. "I'm not used to carriages going this fast."

"You mean car?" Cherry asked.

Sunset nodded and discreetly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, car. Wait, I have clothes." She stared at Cherry.

"All the clothes you have is what you're wearing. You can't keep washing them every night and wearing them." Cherry remarked. She stopped at a red light and took a sip from her water.

"Why are we stopped?" Sunset inquired. "I thought you wanted to get this over with."

Cherry smirked. "Red light means stop, yellow means slow down and green means go." She chuckled to herself. "If you ask Berry, she'll tell you that yellow means speed up."

"Fascinating." Sunset muttered. The two sat in silence as Cherry navigated the streets.

"So, Berry is sixteen. How old are you then?" Sunset asked.

"I'm twenty two." Cherry answered as she flicked her turn signal on and turned into a stores parking lot. "I'm in the process of attending Canterlot Community College right now. For aviation and aerospace engineering."

"What's it like?" Sunset asked.

"What's what like?" Cherry gave her a confused look.

Sunset gestured up at the sky. "Being up there. Flying."

Cherry's eyes lit up. "It's amazing. The view is spectacular. Everything looks so small. The houses look like Legos, the cars look like toys. And the clouds are beautiful. It's a peaceful feeling, really." Cherry gushed in excitement.

Sunset smiled at the older girls excitement. "I've never flown before."

Cherry stared at her as she put the car in park in a parking spot. "We have to change that one day."

Sunset shrugged and gazed out the window.

"We're here by the way." Cherry announced.

Sunset stared at the door before working out the unlocking mechanism and opened the door. Cherry snickered at her.

"Having trouble?" She asked.

Sunset rolled her eyes in frustration. I hate getting laughed at, she thought to herself. She breathed in and unballed her fist.

"Yeah, but it's good now." Sunset replied forcing a smile.

Cherry nodded and smiled. "Since we're here, we can get groceries too. Berry asked me to get more formula for Ruby. Crazy how fast that baby has grown. Both of them." She laughed quietly as she led Sunset into the store.

Sunset and Cherry wandered around the store as Cherry tossed random groceries items into the cart. She seemed to focus most on what formula to get for Ruby.

Sunset wandered until she came up to some stand.

"Howdy there, what can ah get ya?" A girl in jeans with a black shirt asked smiling.

"Uh, what is this?" Sunset asked. She glanced at the nametag. "Applejack. Isn't that a cereal a few aisles down?"

Applejack chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, most people connect me to that cereal for some reason. Anyways this here is a taste station. You get to try out new products the store will be selling. We got applesauce, apple pie, apple juice and apple turnovers." She waved a hand over the stand and leaned on it grinning.

"Spot anythang you fancy tryin?" She eagerly asked. Sunset looked over the stand nervously and back up at Applejacks eager green eyes.

"You're the expert, you pick something." Sunset decided.

Applejack nodded and stuck a fork in a cup with a tiny piece of pie and slid it forward. Sunset stared at it and Applejack gave her an encouraging nod. Sunset picked it up and cautiously bit into it before smiling.

"That's good." Sunset announced smiling.

"Thank ya." Applejack said smugly. "Mah family makes all the apple related products in this here store."

"Sunset! There you are." Cherry walked up with her cart. "I lost ya for a moment there. Hey Applejack." She smiled at the employee.

Applejack tipped her hat. "Howdy, Miss Berry. How's your afternoon goin?"

Cherry smiled and rolled her eyes. "Please, I've told you to just call me Cherry. My afternoon is going fine thanks. How about yourself?"

Applejack leaned back on the stand and smiled. "Ah can't complain. Work is going pretty darn decent today."

"That's good to hear. This is Sunset." Cherry gestured in Sunset's direction.

Applejack came around the stand and started shaking her hand aggressively.

"Well, howdy Sunset." Applejack exclaimed grinning.

"Hi." She said nervously as Applejack let go of her hand and she stumbled back, dizzy.

An awkward silence came over the three.

"Well, me and Sunset have to go get some clothes." Cherry said cheerfully as she dragged Sunset.

"See yall around. Nice to make your acquaintance, Sunset." Applejack waved.

"Thank Celestia that's over." Sunset muttered.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Cherry pressed.

"I don't need friends. I have Berry, Ruby and you. That's all I need." Sunset announced.

Cherry rolled her eyes and approached the women's clothing section. "You and Berry are so similar, all she thinks she needs is me and Ruby. And you." She hastily added.

She picked up a blue dress and helped it up.

"What do you think about this?"

Sunset shook her head. "Seems too girly." She stated.

Cherry rolled her eyes again and headed to the skirts section. She held up and orange skirt.

"What about this?" She asked.

Sunset's eyes lit up and smiled. "I like it."

Cherry smiled back. She tossed the skirt and a few others that were like it into the cart.

"Why are you doing this?" Sunset asked as she followed Cherry. "You just meet me a few weeks ago."

Cherry shrugged. "Berry likes you. Plus, you've been helping around the house and with Ruby." She picked up some running shoes and Sunset shook her head. Sighing, Cherry put them down.

Sunset glanced at some boots and strode over to them. Cherry joined her.

"You like those?" She asked.

Sunset rubbed the back off her head. "If it's not a big problem."

Cherry smiled. "It's scary how alike you and Berry are. She hates feeling like being a burden. The boots are on sale, grab em and toss them in the cart. Gently." She added. "There's eggs in the cart."

Sunset shyly complied and followed Cherry to the shirts section.

Sunset picked up magenta shirt and held it up for Cherry to see who nodded. Cherry took it and a few others and added it to the pile.

"Anything else?" Cherry asked.

Sunset rubbed her head. "Can I uh, get a book?"

Cherry's eyes lit up. "I didn't think you liked reading. I assumed it was just me in the house. Of course you can. This way." She pushed the cart towards the book section and Sunset followed.

"I personally like romance." Cherry admitted to her partner. "What's your poison?"

"Uh, mystery. Crime, fiction. Stuff like that." Sunset replied.

Cherry nodded. "Those are always good choices. I do like a good mystery novel every now and then." She plucked a romance book with a vampire on the front and flipped it over, reading the back before adding it to the cart.

Sunset looked over the options of books.

A book caught her eye and she turned around and picked it up. "Huh, Daring Doo and The Forbidden City Of Clouds."

"That's a good one." Sunset jumped and spun around to Cherry standing over her should reading the title.

She held her hands up. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She rubbed the back of her head and smiled softly.

"It's fine." Sunset said and looked back at the book.

"You can add that to the cart if you want." Cherry said softly and Sunset nodded. She tossed it into the cart and Cherry nodded in satisfaction. She pushed the cart up to the front of the store.

"Eggs go last so we can put them on top in the trunk so they don't get crushed. Same with the bread." Cherry instructed Sunset as she put some frozen pizzas and other grocery items on the belt.

Cherry worked her way to the register where a cream girl with pink and blue hair was waiting.

"Hey Cherry." She said with a warm smile.

"Hey Bon Bon. How's it going?" Cherry said with a tired smile.

"Pretty good, how about you?" Bon Bon replied as she started scanning the items and handing them to a mint green girl who appeared to help bag the items. The green girl waved eagerly.

"Heya, Miss. Berry."

"Hey Lyra." Cherry smiled. "Just call me Cherry, please. You're worse than Applejack." She turned to Bon Bon. "I'm pretty good."

"That's good." Bon Bon states and nodded to Sunset who seemed fascinated by the belt. "Who's the girl?"

Cherry waved her hand. "Berry brought her home after being out drinking. She's pretty nice." She leaned in close and gestured for the two workers to get in close. They leaned in conspiratorially.

"Between the three of us, I ship her and Berry. She's really good with Ruby too." Cherry whispered, grinning.

Lyra smirked. "Did they do more than sleep?"

Bon Bon smacked the back of Lyra's head.

"Ow!" Lyra yelped.

"Be respectful, Lyra. That's not our business." Bon Bon scolded.

Lyra scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"No. I would have heard something if they did. Sunset does sleep in her room, though." Cherry smiled.

"Uhm, Cherry?" Sunset cut in softly.

Cherry turned around and the two employees shot back to their usual work positions.

"Yeah, Sunset?" Cherry asked.

Sunset pointed to the belt. "I think I broke it. It's not moving."

Bon Bon chuckled and pointed to a switch. "That right there controls whether the belt moves. Since the belt is empty and all the items are bagged, it doesn't need to be on." She explained.

"Fascinating." Sunset mumbled. "Maybe this world does have magic, after all."

Bon Bon rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Alright, Cherry. Have a good one." Bon Bon waved after Cherry paid for the items. "Do you want Lyra to help you put the items in your car?"

Cherry shook her head. "Nah, I think me and Sunset will manage. Thanks for the offer though. When do you two go back to school?"

Bon Bon propped a finger on her chin.

"Summers almost over, so two months from now. Me and Lyra got a summer time job here to get some extra money. If we can, we might be able to stay here part time and work after school for a few hours." The cashier said.

Cherry nodded. "Well, we're outta here now. Have a good one." She waved at the two and pushed the cart outside to her car while Sunset followed close behind, eyes flicking nervously around them.

"Thanks for doing this, Derpy." Berry said as she sat on the bench watching her daughter play with Derpy's.

Derpy sipped her coffee. "Not a problem. I know Dinky looks forward to these play dates just as much as I imagine Ruby does."

Berry chuckled. "I do enjoy getting out too. It's always nice to see you, given us both being single mothers. You know more than anyone else what I'm going through."

Derpy nodded and gestured to a coffee. "I brought you a coffee, if you want it. It's how I remember you saying you liked it."

Berry nodded her thanks and picked up the coffee. She took a sip and gave a contented sigh as the hazelnut and caramel flavors attacked her taste buds.

"So, are you looking forward to going back to school?" Berry asked as she took another sip.

Derpy shook her head. "Hell no. I've been appreciating the time with Dinky. That and working a few odd hours getting some money together." She fixed a stare at Berry. "What about you?"

Berry thought for a moment and shook her head. "I'm in the same boat. I'm still on medical leave from work for the entire year so I've been playing with Ruby. At least it's paid medical leave, surprisingly."

Derpy nodded. "That's always good. Wish my job was like that, but I can't complain."

Berry continued watching her daughter play in the sand pit and smiled.

"I meet this girl a few weeks ago. She's been staying with us. She's really good with Ruby. Hell, even Cherry likes her." Berry said after a moment.

Derpy raised an eyebrow as she sipped.

"How did that come about?" She pressed.

Berry sighed. "You're gonna think I'm crazy, but..."

"But what?" Derpy asked.

"She came from the Wondercolt statue. It sounds crazy, I know. Cherry and I fought about it earlier this morning."

Derpy shrugged. "Okay."

Berry fixed an incredulous look at the grey girl. "You believe me? Seriously?"

Derpy shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? You seem fairly serious about it, so I trust you."

Berry gave a sigh. "If only Cherry would believe me."

"Well, you did tell her she launched out of a statue." Derpy admitted. "That would be hard to take in I bet." She looked up at Sunset in confusion. "Wait, you said Principal Celestia was there. Why would she be there?"

Berry shrugged. "I guess getting the school ready for this upcoming school year. The school was kinda torn up after last years Senior Prank." Both girls shuddered at the memory of the seniors from last year releasing herds of hungry bunnies who tore up the floor, mainly Harshwhinnies classroom.

"Makes sense. Why were you there though?" Derpy continued prying.

"I don't know." Berry admitted. "I like the view of the sunset falling over the town. Good place for me to sit and admire and think."

"And get drunk." Derpy pointed out.

"Yeah, that too." Berry sighed.

"So." Derpy grinned and winked at Berry. "You and this girl, anything gonna outta that?"

Berry rolled her eyes and sighed. "She's pretty and all, but I highly doubt she swings that way."

Derpy shrugged and finished her coffee and sent it flying into the nearby garbage can.

"You never know till you try it." She smirked.

A loud crying sound caught the twos attention and both stood up simultaneously and strode to the daughters.

"Well, seems like Dinky wants to head home now." Derpy chuckled as she picked up the crying baby.

Berry knelt down and lifted Ruby. "Yeah, seems Ruby agrees."

Derpy waved. "I'll see ya next week, Berry. Same spot?"

Berry nodded. "Works for me."

Sunset gazed out the window as the buildings went past. She let out a sigh.

"You okay?" Cherry asked.

Sunset gave a brief nod. "It's just, you're Berry's sister. But what about your parents, why isn't she with them?"

Cherry gave a loud sigh. "That's a lot of complicated history."

Sunset shrugged. "I got time."

Cherry nodded and conceded. "Alright. But don't tell her we spoke about this. It's a rough subject for her. Our father was really abusive growing up. It used to just be me and mom he hit, but after Berry got into middle school and brought home some bad grades, he went nuts and started hitting her too. After years of it, I began to recognize the signs when he was feeling violent and able to get Berry safely to her room, but sometimes I was too slow." She sighed again. "Mom kept telling us it would be getting better. She lived in this fairy tale that things would magically get better. When I turned eighteen, I had enough funds set aside from some shady jobs I had to do to earn some money and bought this apartment. As soon as possible, I got Berry in my custody and moved her here. After it came out she was pregnant, Dad was furious and threatened to throw her out. After that, mom agreed to give me custody of Berry and signed her over to me. Berry already had a part time job when she got pregnant working at the store we just left. She's just on medical leave for a year right now."

Sunset sat in silence the entire story. "So that's why she doesn't like being touched often."

Cherry nodded as she flicked her turn signal on and pulled into the apartments parking lot.

"Pretty much. She doesn't trust people much. Only person she trust is Derpy and me. And you, of course."

Sunset nodded. "She is very cuddly at night, especially when she's drunk. I haven't seen her drunk since the night I met her."

Cherry nodded smiling. "I remember when she first moved here with me, she slept with me every night because she was scared to be alone."

"Makes sense." Sunset said as Cherry navigated into a parking spot.

"Can you help bring the groceries inside please?" Cherry requested and Sunset nodded smiling.

Berry placed Ruby in the crib and smiled down at her sleeping daughter.

"Hey Berry." Sunset said from the bed smiling.

"Yeah, Sunshim?" She said distractedly.

"Thanks for letting me sleep here. Your sister is pretty cool too." Sunset stood up and quickly gave Berry a hug. Berry turned red and returned the hug. She was glad with her skin made it hard to tell when she was blushing.

"No problem." She managed to get out. "Can you stay with Ruby while I go take care of something with my sister?"

Sunset nodded and let go of Berry. She sat down in the chair next to the crib and stared at the sleeping baby.

Berry slipped out the room and into the living room. She looked back and forth before reaching behind the book shelf and moved it and opened a hole in the wall and pulled out a case of beer, whiskey bottle and some wine. She carried them to the kitchen.

"Berry, what are you doing?" Cherry's voice came from behind her.

Berry froze. "Nothing." She lied.

Cherry narrowed her eyes as they fell upon the alcohol. "Where did you get that?" She demanded.

Berry sighed. "Behind the bookcase. There was a hole already in the wall, so I hid it in there."

Cherry stood at the sink next to her. "And what are you gonna do with all this now?" She questioned, gesturing at the alcohol.

Berry sighed and looked up at her. "Pour it out. Ever since Sunset came here, I haven't been needing a drink. I'm not lonely anymore." She took a cap off a beer and started to pour it down the kitchen sink.

Cherry stood in silence before reaching in and taking a beer herself before opening it and pouring it out. Soon enough, the two girls were down to the wine.

Berry got down two shot glasses and poured two shots.

"Berry." Cherry said warningly, narrowing her eyes.

Berry held a hand up. "One last shot." She slid a glass over to Cherry who took it after hesitating.

"One last shot." she agreed.

She and Berry gently knocked the glasses together before tossing the alcohol down. Cherry grimaced while Berry gave out a sigh and poured out the wine.