Home.

(if anyone has a pony, likely a young adult filly, who wants to have been one of Blackberrys schoolhood friends from when he used to live in Ponyville, please!)

Home. It's such a simple word.

Noun; The place in which one's domestic affections are centered.

Blackberry left his home years ago to find fame, success, and to make a life for himself. That life however ended up living in the slums of Manehatten, in an apartment with another pony equally struggling, just hoping they would be permitted to remain living there another month, hoping the roof would not collapse during rain storms. The fame and success never came, art critics saying his work lacked passion, flare. Bull. His art was beautiful, he put everything he could into it. If those critics couldn't see that, then who needed them.

Looking across the town square of Ponyville, some moisture came to Blackberrys eyes. The last time he had a stable life was in this little village. Everything was so much simpler when he was younger. He left his family, his friends, everything he knew, behind and went on his way to fail.

Now none of those things remained. He had no home to return to, but no home in Ponyville had to be better then the slums in Manehatten. His parents had moved away. He considered going to try to live with them, but he had no money to travel to them. His friends, well, his friends probably hate him now. Why wouldn't they? He loved his friends, but he just turned his back on them one day and left. He wondered if anyone would even remember him.

Walking through the town square with just a few possessions in his saddle bags and his easel on his back, Blackberry realized that he did not know where he should go next. Regardless of his having nowhere to go, Blackberry was happy. He knew now that Ponyville is where he belonged. He didn't need the glitz and glamor of the big city, it was the small town where he belonged. The great artist Vincent Van Burro never needed the big city, and now neither did he.

Finally, it's good to be back. Home.

"Damn market and their no good sense of supply and demand." Muttered Shala rather loudly to herself. She had spent the last half hour scouring the market and asking every pony whom sold or knew anything of the business of alcohol about why there was almost nothing left. The amount of disappointment she experienced when she was told that the town had never consumed so much alcohol before and thus was like a freight train full of clocks. Then she was told she had a large part in it. A train with clocks for wheels. And that the doctor had the foresight to ask any other vendors that had alcohol to not let her have any on account of her horn injury.

...I really don't want to ration this stuff. She thought and groaned to herself as she pulled her flask from her mane. A quick swig made her feel a little better. Another larger one was even better after that. Maybe I can buy it through other ponies. Intel...No, he thinks I should stop. Iccy maybe, but he has been real busy lately. Night....has a lot on her plate. Indi...he is an asshole.

Shala looked up and noticed a pony she had not seen before, which was surprising considering that she hardly went around meeting new ponies too much. This town must be getting to her. A few more moments of observation told her that this pony might not have much else where to go. A perfect target for her to impress upon and mooch alcohol from perhaps.

"Hey." Shala said, approaching the pony with a smug grin. "You look new around here. Care for a drink or several? Or a bottle?" She just about punched herself as she listed to what she said. Had she drank that much already earlier?

Blackberry was snapped out of his daze by the approach of a unicorn he had never seen before. The town certainly has changed since he left. These things are bound to happen though. Ponys he knew move away, new ponys move in. it's how things work.

"Hello." Blackberry said politely to Shala, he noticed right away the smell of alchohol. You don't live in the slums of Manehatten without learning the smell, for better or for worse.

"A bit early in the day for a drink, don't you think?" He asked the yellow pony, "Besides, I have no money to spend on alchohol at the time being..." He added, remembering his current financial situation.

"I actually grew up here..." he explained to Shala, a little sadened by being considered new in town, "I moved away a couple years ago, but felt it was time to come back."

"You, on the other hoof, are a new face to me. I'm Blackberry."

Shala smiled at the mention of alcohol. At least this pony knew what she meant and got to the point. But she was rather disappointed in Blackberry's choice to skip on the occasion.

"Too early? Nah. I pace myself." Hearing that Blackberry was low on money reminded her of her arrival in to Ponyville her first day. "Short on bits? Tough. Reminds me of when I moved in." She remembered that day, and how much she trashed Inidigo's home when he offered it to house her. Maybe that was why he was such an asshole....

Hearing that he was not so new here perked some interest. "Oh, well you got a leg up on me then. I moved here from Manehattan. Had to mooch someone's couch for the night and hangover the next day. You probably are set for housing though." She shrugged and sighed, plopping onto her rump and resigning to another swig of her flask.

"Oh." She realized she missed something. "Name's Shala."

"Manehatten..." Blackberry mumbled, rather wishing to forget the past couple years which he spent there, "I'm familiar with the place..."

"Short on bits would be putting it nicely," He sighed, "I can't even count on my hooves how much I've got left" he gave her an empty smile.

He lowered his eyes to the ground as Shala spoke about living arrangements, "actually..." Blackberry hesitated as he thought about his situation, "I actually havnt figured out where I'm staying yet, I'm hoping one of my old friends will have some space to spare..." he explained.

Shala turned that thought around in her head. This pony was poor and might be without a home. Shala wanted liquor and none of the vendors that had any left would sell to her. A brilliant plan began to form in her diluted mind.

"From Manehattan? You should have said so earlier." She smiled. It earned him a few points to have a similar background in that sense. "Tell you what. If you can't find a place to crash...." She smiled mischievously. "...You can use the spare bedroom I got....If you buy me some alcohol." She pulled out a small coin purse from her mane. There were a lot of things in her mane.

"...You're not a minor, right?"

Blackberry raised an eyebrow at the other ponys sudden generosity. He had gotten used to the idea of being treaded on by everyone else that kindness wasnt a norm for him anymore. "I, well..." he hesitated, not knowing how to respond, before Shala showed her true reasoning for the offer, helping it all make sense to Blackberry now, "I'll see if I can get ahold of any of my old friends first..." he added.

"No, I'm not a minor," he answered, "although I'm not really comfortable buying alchohol for someone else who is underage..." he said flatly.

Shala's usual dull expression had to crack a smile at that. "Thanks for the compliment, but I am very much over the age limit." She was also upset that Blackberry would be resorting to friends first. Oh well, it was a gamble at best. She probably owed some explanation though in case he was just paranoid about the legitimacy of this.

"Those liquor vendors, they don't stock much. Not many ponies have a taste for a fine drink you see. Said i was buying them all out too quick and had to limit what i buy. Like that would make them any more bits." She rolled her eyes and waved a hoof around to compliment her frustrations. "And that senseless doctor of ours told them not to sell to me because of a measly horn fracture I got a short while ago. As if that does anything. Hurts only if I try to use it."

Shala realized she was talking a lot more than she normally did, especially with a complete stranger. All those days not spent being the bartender because of her injury was forcing her to find other social outlets. Maybe she should turn things around at least.

"So....I gather your some fancy cook or something with that cutie mark of yours. A jello tray right?"

Blackberry listened to Shalas tale, nodding at the appropriate moments. After she was done, he felt he should probably interject, "well, if the doctor even suggested it, maybe it'd be a good idea, dont you think?" he asked, "maybe make it heel faster..."

Blackberry blinked with surprise and looked at his cutie mark, "jello...?" he fell off, "no no, its a palette, I'm a painter..." he explained.

"Yoursis a clock, right?" he asked, "Are you a clockmaker? I've always respected the patience they have working on those thing..." he admitted.

Shala raised a hoof to object to Blackberry's absurd suggestion that giving up alcohol for a while would be a good idea. But instead something unexpected happened.

She froze in place, her teeth gritting slowly as her eye twitched. She shuffled on her hooves in place before closing her eyes and mumbling to herself.

"...Twelve twenty seven. Forty two seconds past...forty three...forty four..." She winced and grabbed her head, hesitantly laughing. "Tick tock...Hehe.." A hoof quickly went to her mane and pulled out her makeshift remedy in a flask. A fair bit of chugging later, she gasped for air, wobbling in place on her rump.

"Tick...tock...I...despise clocks...And time in general." She groaned, wiping off the liquid that had run down her cheek a little. Her previous mood was now replaced with a rather tired and worn one.

Blackberry stared in shock. His head tilted to the side and his mouth agap. He had no idea bringing up Shalas cutie mark could cause such an... Interesting reaction.

The outburst appeared to end but Blackberry remained speechless. He closed his mouth and shuffled his hooves during the awkward silence. He glanced around as if praying somepony he knew would walk up and strike up conversation.

"So..." he trailed off, thinking, "My cutie mark-- it's a painting palette-- I'm a painter-- I like to paint--" he stuttered, giving the other pony a weak smile.

Shala shook her head to clear her thoughts and blinked. "Painting?" She approached Blackberry, getting deep into his personal space and peering at the cutie mark closely. "Oh...I see. I must be seeing fuzzy. Cute."

She took her time staring at his mane as well and then at her horn. "Oh. You must use magic to paint. Or something like that. You get your mane professionally done or something?" She said squinting at him.

Blackberry backed a step away as Shala entered his personal space. Reassured by the ponys comments that she had intact had too much to drink.

"My mane?" he asked, a bit surprised, "no, that's its natural colors, and it's always been kinda wavy like that, nothing I can do about it," he said, looking at the hair hanging down next to his face.

"Look, if you're sight is fuzzy perhaps you should go get some water," he suggested, "or at least get you out of the sun. "

Shala grunted and stared a bit more, as if trying to get a fine image in her had of him. "Alright. Well water and shade sounds great. Cause I'm about out of whiskey. Maybe some lunch would be killer." She turned suddenly and waved her tail for him to follower her as she walked down the street.

"Come, new friend. Lets get some grub. I know a small time place where we can get some special treatment without some colt hitting on you." She said over her shoulder and was already on her way, hardly waiting for any input from poor Blackberry.

At the sheer mention of food, Blackberry's stomach rumbled. He had eaten even less in his trip from Manehatten then he was used to back in the slums. He was sure to be able to budget what little he had in order to get a small bite to eat.

Blackberry began to interject about the special treatment, before Shala had completely finished her sentence. He started to walk along side Shala, "That'd be ni--" He stopped mid-step as his eyes went wide.

He put his other hoof to the ground and slumped a little bit as he gave Shala a bewildered look, his mouth agap, one eyebrow raised high while the other narrowed (visual) "W-what did you say...?" He asked weakly.

"I'm not... you dont think..." Blackberry struggled to form a sentence-- this whole time he had been conversing with Shala, did she really think...? "Exactly why would you say that...?" He asked, narrowing an eye, hoping that it was just a simple misunderstanding.

Shala kept on walking, not having really heard much of what Blackberry had to say, not that there was much said yet. "Oh you know. You would be surprised how many single colts there are with so many mares about in this town. Here we are. Some Neighponese food. Good stuff."

They stopped at a rather oriental looking building. She lead the way inside without stopping to give the conversation any good openings. "Table for two. Booth."

Blackberry saw that Shala continued to walk and trotted to try to catch up with her just as he heard her next sentence. He stopped dead in his tracks again, one of his eyes twitching a little bit.

"I'm not-- Hey, wait!" Blackberry tried to say but Shala continued right on her way completely oblivious to Blackberry trying to express an issue.

Catching back up, "Shala!" Blackberry spoke loudly. He realized he had followed Shala right into the resturant and gotten quite a few looks from his outburst.

After the gazes faded away, Blackberry lead Shala a little more back towards the entrance where there were less ponys, "Shala," he spoke softer now, "despite what youre thinking, I'm no filly."

Shala turned to look at Blackberry again, looking carefully this time. She stopped to follow the waiter to a table before looking again. As if it finally clicked in her head, she clopped her hooves and smirked.

"Ah. I see. You're not as young as i thought then. A mare then. Though I thought you would be complimented if anypony called you a filly. I don't know if you're the type to flip out about such simple niceties though." She picked up the menu and began to page through it.

Blackberry continued to follow Shala until she finally dropped the ball on it. Blackberry stood at the end of the table, his eye twitching a little bit.

"I'm a colt!" he exclaimed loudly. After a moment of standing there, with some ponys staring at him. His eyes went wide with nerves and he quickly sat down across from Shala.

"Shala. I'm a colt. a stallion. male!" He told her hastily, it obviously beginning to wear on him trying to get his point through, "I know I'm a little-- feminine in appearance-- I cant help it... its just how I look..."

Shala blinked. Some of Blackberry's argument was starting to sink in. She peered at him again, but quickly withdrew and laughed to herself.

"Hehehehe. No you're not." She said simply, as if Blackberry was the one that was mistaken. "You must be really hungry and thirsty. Get some food."

Blackberry clacked his hoofs on the table and bopped his head against its surface. After a moment he raised his head back up, a little irritation clear on his face.

"Shala, listen to me" he said in a completely serious tone, "despite how I look, I. Am. A. Boy!" he said bluntly.

"I've been mistaken for a fully before," he explained, "heck, other Dolly's back when I was in school constantly made that mistake but believe me when I say I'm a stallion and NOT a mare..."

Shala again blinked, listening to his words. She took out her flask and sniffed it, making sure it was indeed the liquor she poured earlier today and not laced with poison joke.

"...So....Wait...Your telling me, that...With that curly mane, and...your body shape, that your a stallion? Where it counts?" She leaned forward, feeling very skeptical. In her mind, she saw a filly through and through. It didn't help she was not sober either.

"...So does that mean you're straight or....?"

"of course I am!" speaking a little loudly again, both from emphasis and frustration, "I'm a normal stallion, I just happen to have a little bit of a... Feminine appearance." he said, a little exasperated.

"i told you my mane and tail are just naturally this way," he reminded her, "and my body shape, well, nothing I can do about that, im just bit of a petite stallion with a feminine face" he said.

Shala stared a bit longer at Blackberry, observing closely. She came to a few conclusions in her head which she had no issue sharing. "Well in that case, flirting with you should be real rewarding. I have to say you have one nice flank then." She grinned.

"You may be a stallion, but I think your a mare to me. Suits you better if you ask me. And yeah, I flirt with that too." She giggled and stared at Blackberry while resting her head on her hooves.

I am going to have sooo much fun with this pony.

Blackberry stared in shock at Shala, his mouth agap some. He tilted his head some as his brain tried to form a complete sentence. "I dont care to have a nice flank, I just want people to treat me like any other colt..." he said bluntly.

He dropped arms to his side as Shala continued on. Was she serious? He just told her that he didn't want to be called a mare... and yet here she is insisting on it. He looked towards the door, considering for a second leaving his new friend. He shook his head, she has been drinking... perhaps she would be better when she were sober... soberer... is she ever sober?

"You already know I'm a stallion, how can you still think I'm a mare...?" he grumbled some, "Are you like this when you havnt been drinking...?" he asked seriously.