Your attempts to save all of the multiverse from being torn apart by poor Fizzy Glitch is thirsty work. It’s important to stay hydrated when you’re adventuring!
You look around for some place to get a drink amongst all the tall brick and metal buildings here-since when did Equestria get self-drawn carriages? They’re everywhere here! And not a single pony pulling one, they’re all just riding around inside of them.
Actually now that you think about it, the ponies here are awfully bipedal and hairless except for their manes. How odd. Maybe one of the pages is responsible for this.
One problem at a time, you find the nearest watering hole. Upon entering, the heavy laughter from the front immediately draws your attention to the crowd of drinkers and onlookers all centered upon a fuschia pony with curly mane and tail dangling off of a barstool. The house of empty mugs stacked tall into a lopsided pyramid shape on the bar in front of her tells you she’s been here a while.
Finally, a normal looking pony! You approach her while the other patrons help her back onto her bar stool. Finally, with her strawberry and grape flank resituated onto her seat, she has a chance to look up and spots you.
She looks excited to see a new face.
“Well hello, stranger! You look as lost as I do! Come have a drink! It’s on me!”
The crowd around her cheers but clears a seat next to her for you.
“The name’s Berryshine Punch; Berry Punch for short; Berry for even shorter!” the life of the party explains. Before you can introduce yourself she lifts her nearest mug and attempts to pour it into her mouth. She seems surprised how light it is though and it gets fully upside down before she looks inside.
“Empty again…” she mutters. She sets her mug down and raises a hoof to your opening mouth. “Hold that thought! I’ll get you one too.”
You see your new acquaintance pick up a pencil in her mouth and add to a long list on a piece of paper: ‘two mugs of ciders’.
Satisfied with that, she spits the pencil back out onto the page and turns to look at you, seemingly waiting for your reaction.
Before you can ask what’s going on a bartender comes by and sets two ciders down in front of her before going back to what they were doing.
You look at the piece of paper, the two mugs of cider, then at the grinning mare. She snickers before scooting one of the mugs towards you.
Berry taps the piece of paper with one of her hooves. “I was just making my grocery list with a piece of paper I found and things just started appearing!”
Starting to realize what’s going on, you lean over to read the rest of the page. It starts innocently enough: bread and milk are written at the top then crossed out then hastily rewritten again underneath them. Then beneath that: “cheese, lots, even more!”. Several more pantry staples are written after that one before you see experimenting going on, the longest one that draws your eyes being: “I go to the city with the best cider ever!” Followed by, of course, many, many, mentions of cider.
“Huh,” you realize. “I guess it doesn’t matter what you write, it’ll make it come true.”
Berry’s mug hits the bar top and you look up in time to see her lick her lips and let out a satisfied sigh.
“Yup! It’s pretty great,” Berry says before punctuating it with an uncouth burp. Turning from her ‘magic grocery list’ she brings her wobbling attention back to you. “So, we know how I got here. How did you get here?”
“It’s… a bit of a long story,” you start. “So, basically, I’m looking for these pages from the book of all stories ever. Reality is sort of written on them and if you write on them, it comes true.”
“...no foaling?” the mare responds before eyeing her mug then the piece of paper. It seems the realization is dawning on her… “Hey, do you want some cheese curds? This place is known for them, apparently.”
Or maybe not.
“Maybe later,” you politely decline.
Doing a horse approximation of a shrug she starts writing down ‘and then there were cheese curds’ anyway.
Maybe you need to be more direct.
“Berry Punch, I think that ‘grocery list’ of yours is one of the pages I’ve been tasked to find.”
Berry eyes the basket of cheese curds that just appeared, then the page, then you. It’s clear she understood this time.
She hooves one into her mouth and chews it over, you can hear the fresh squeaks before she sighs. The patron behind her, sensing her distress starts petting her mane.
“Do you have to take my page? I’m not done here,” the grape mare whines. “Also, I was planning on getting my friends and family some really nice things for Hearth’s Warming this year.”
“Berry Punch, that page is dangerous! Look at where we are: I don’t even think we’re in Equestria anymore! Something dangerous could happen.”
“But nothing bad has happened!” she explains. “And… if… If something bad happens I could just undo it, right? I just write it down as happening differently.”
You could just take the piece of paper from her, but she’s being civil about this still. How do you win her over?
“Are you going to drink that?” she asks you. Without waiting for your answer she slides your mug of cider over to herself.
You eye the mare up. Really, she’s not causing too much trouble here… wherever you are.
Make your decision:
“You know what?” you realize, taking a cheese curd and eating it. “You’re right: you’re not doing any harm. Let’s hang out for a bit. Just chat. You can write a few more things then we’ll talk.”
“Exactly!” Berry says as she stomps a hoof against the bar top. “We’re just hanging out, eating cheese curds, drinking cider…” she says as she sees she’s drinking your mug.
“Oh. Let me top you off,” Berry offers. She picks the pencil between her lips. “You know what? Cider for everyone!” she shouts with the pencil in her mouth.
The bar cheers as she begins writing.
You don’t really think anything at first while she’s writing it: ‘cider for everyone!’
As soon as she sets her pencil down again, you see your mug, and her mug, and the bartender’s mug, and everyone else’s mug. You admire the nice amber color before you hear shouting outside and broken glass.
You turn to look out the window and see people tripping over glasses and cups of cider strewn about the street. You hear panic as one of those self-powered carriages crashes just outside into a lamppost, the person inside spilling cider all over their window and on their lap. The people next to the apparent driver wore cider-covered clothing.
You hear patrons in this place pointing and shouting at a screen hanging on the wall. You look to see a hockey game totally come to a stand still as all the players are standing around now, bewildered at the drinks in their hands. There’s a long panning shot of the gigantic stadium holding what must have been thousands of people, all also with cider.
Bewildered people at a desk appear on the screen with “EMERGENCY BROADCAST” appearing. They start talking empathically and gesturing towards the tall mug in their very grip as well as their co-host’s.
You hear a long, low sip coming from the pony sitting next to you. You look over to see Berry Punch looking up at the announcement, her own cider between her hooves.
“Huh. Well, how about that,” she says, looking down at her ‘grocery store list’ page, now appropriately sporting a ring of cider from being used as a coaster. “...you think they want cheese curds too?”
(+1 page for Chaos)
“You know, I know a place with even better cider,” you explain.
“BETTER cider?” she questions. But this city has the best cider! It says so on the page!” she says, tapping her grocery store list and leaving a small cheese smudge on it. The fabric of spacetime might have just got a little cheesier.
“I’m telling the truth: best cider around. It even rivals Sweet Apple Acres. There’s a bunch of ponies there too!”
You see the gears turn slowly in her head before she puts her head down to the bar, fumbles with the pencil in her mouth then positions it onto the page.
“What do I write? Where to?” she slurs around her pencil.
“Write ‘Barley Tender shows up to take us to Ponyville Ciderfest,” you instruct.
In sloppy penmareship, she does what she was told. By the time she sets the pencil down, you see another pony enter the establishment: just the stallion you were wanting to see.
“Berry Punch! Oh! You're here too! ! There you two are! I’m here to take you to Ponyville Ciderfest!”
“Is… is there cider there?” Berry asks tentatively.
“Oh, is there!” he exclaims. “Not to thresh my own barley, but I got some of the best stuff in town! We’re just down the street! Can’t miss us: we’re the place with all the ponies!”
Barley’s excitement is contagious and you feel yourself slide off the barstool along with Berry Punch. You’re about to leave with them when you realize you almost forgot.
“Oh! Berry!” you realize.
The mare stops to look back, even though she’s clearly compelled to follow after Barley.
“You forgot your cheese curds,” you say as you pass them to her mouth.
Smiling, she turns back to follow Barley to Ponyville Ciderfest with her basket of cheese curds. Just as you head out the door you grab the magic page off the bar top!
(+1 page for Heroes)
