“H-hey! Barkeep! S-send another ’un over here…” A pink mare stuttered, leaning over the bar with one elbow. One of her eyes was half closed, and her hair was unkempt, as if she had been there for most of the day.

“You sure?” The bartender asked her while washing a glass. “That’ll be your eighth one today.”

“D-did I bucking st-stutter?” She stammered on angrily, leaning farther over bar to glare at the bartender with her uneven gaze. “I s-said send o-over another!” The bartender rolled his eyes, poured a glass of wine, and handed it to her.

“You know Berry, I think you gotta stop spending so much time here.”

“Whut’re you talkin’ ’bout? Y-your crazy…Ya know that…?” Berry Punch raged in a dizzy voice. The bartender shrugged.

“All I’m sayin’ is, I think you might have a problem.”

“What’d you just say!?” Berry snapped. She shakily slammed her front hooves down on the bar, spilling her wine glass. “I-I don’t gots n-no problem with my d-drinking!!” She fumed with a stutter. “You- you’re the ’un with tha promblem!”

It had been 17 years since her mother died. She had been living alone with her father until a few years ago, when he was struck down by a terminal disease. He was dead within two weeks of the diagnosis, and she had been forced to live alone in the house. Since then she had spent many a night in the bar, or passed out drunk on the sidewalk or in the alley. However, due to her drinking, she could never hold a job, and lost the house she was born in. Her friends, after staging many, many interventions, gave up on her, and reluctantly rejected her as their friend. She now lived in an alleyway, sleeping on newspapers and surrounded by empty bottles. She remembered the day her father died. He had been laying in a hospital bed, his white fur dull, not sleek, as it had been in his health, and he had already started to drift away. She had been crouching beside his bed, crying.

“Don’t go dad, don’t go!” She had cried by his bed as he laid on his side, staring blearily at her with half-closed eyes.

“I have to, Berry. I have no choice.” He whispered, smiling at her.

“But you said you would always be there for me! You told me you would never let anything happen!” She cried out, tears in her eyes.

“Berry… I WILL always be there for you…” He weakly reached out one hoof and placed it on her chest. “…In here.”

“But…But it’s not the same!” She cried, burying her face in her arms.

“Berry… Berry, look at me.” She wiped her eyes and looked up at him from where she crouched on the floor, her forelegs and head down against the edge of the bed. “You need to be strong…” He continued weakly. Just as the light in his eyes started to fade, something caught his gaze and he seemed to be staring up at the ceiling, at something Berry Punch couldn’t see. “…R-Ruby…? You’re here… I… I never thought…I’d see you again.” He whispered, his voice fading.

“F-father?” Berry asked anxiously, looking from the ceiling to her father very quickly. But his eyes were already closing, the smile still on his face as his head pointed to the ceiling. “Father?” she asked once more, but this time, there was no response. Silver Arrow, one of Celestia’s royal guards, and her beloved father, would never speak to her again. He was gone.

“Hey! You alright?” The voice of the bartender broke into her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. “Listen, I’ve worked here for a long time, and if I learned anything, it’s this; If a pony spaces out like that, then they’ve had enough.” Berry opened her mouth halfway to protest, up the bartender continued. “Besides, it’s just about closing time.” Berry turned around on the stool and noticed, with shock, that everypony had left. Grumbling to herself, she put the money down on the bar and stumbled away towards the door.

Berry Punch stumbled outside and turned the corner into a dark alleyway. It was a warm summer night, Berry knew warmth wouldn’t be a problem tonight as she stumbled towards the newspaper pile, tripping over empty bottles as she walked. Reaching it, she slumped down, the paper crumpling underneath her body. She was so drunk, she didn’t even bother to cover herself up. As soon as she laid down, she passed out, and slept without dreaming.

“Hello?” A voice broke into her mind, which seemed to swim around in her head. The voice was distorted in a watery tone. “Hey, are you okay? Wake up.” Berry Punch opened her eyes and lifted her head, but as soon as she did, she felt a spitting headache. She shut her eyes tight again and groaned, holding the back of her head. “ Whoa, are you alright?” the voice spoke again. Berry was able to see more clearly now, at least enough to see a shadow looming over her.

“Huh…? W-who are you?” She murmured, squinting at the figure above her. The voice belonged to a stallion, and from the silhouette she could just make out the shape of a horn.

“I guess I could ask you the same question. But, since you asked, my name is Sky Star”