When Minuette woke, she was thirsty. Cracking her eyes, she pushed herself up from the corduroy pillow. From somewhere in the blur that was her living room, a large glass was pressed against her chest.

"Thank you," she mumbled, hooves instinctively wrapping around it.

She blinked; looked up.

"Berry?"

Berry Punch sat opposite her on the couch, looking all the world as though nothing was strange about the situation.

"Drink up," Berry Punch said, gesturing to the glass. "Orange smoothie, just for you."

Minuette stared at her friend; down at the smoothie; back up. "How did you get in?"

"I broke in. Now drink up. You're thirsty, right?"

"I—" She decided she could drink first and argue later, and took a large gulp; gagged. "Bleugh! Berry, what's in this!"

Berry shrugged. "The usual. Ice. Water. Oranges."

Fuming, "[i]Oranges?[/i]"

"Oranges: carrot, bell pepper, persimmon mash, walnut flour, polus."

Having been building to demur, Minutette stalled on the last one. "'Polus'?"

"Vodka. The not-orange bits are kale and mint." More to herself, Berry added, "Should remember to ask Good Thyme about orange mint sometime."

Minuette slammed the glass down on the short coffee table in disgust and started to rise. Berry's hoof and the earth pony strength behind it pushed her back to sitting.

"What in Tartarus, Berry! I—"

"Drink," Berry insisted. "It's better for you and it's right here."

"But it's disgusting!"

"Well..." Berry grabbed it, took a sip, and bobbled her head. "It's not—" she fixed Minuette with a pointed look "—sweet."

Minuette's ears pulled back, defensive. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You crashed pretty hard after the party. Fourteen servings sets a new record."

She felt her mane prickle. "I did [i]not[/i] have fourteen—"

"Nine squares of cake, four scoops ice cream, and one serving worth from those bit-sized cookies. I counted."

"So I have a sweet tooth!"

"And Rumble's birthday last week, you had ten."

"They invited me!"

"Everyone," Berry corrected. "And there's the daily leftovers from Sugarcube, Diamond Tiara's, Apple Acres'—"

"It would go to waste anyway!" Minuette stood on the couch, bearing down. "You break into my house, you want me to drink that dreck, and now you accuse me of being some sugar-addicted freak?"

Berry didn't flinch. "I haven't accused you of anything."

"Well... good! Now get out. I have... stuff to do!"

"It's noon." That bare statement of fact caused Minuette to freeze. "Now I'll start accusing. You probably don't have a job anymore because of oversleeping. And not everything you've been 'keeping from going to waste' was. You knew it wasn't all going to waste; you just didn't care."

Minuette gaped, anger being replaced by something else. "That's not.... You...."

"You fell asleep on a bench by the fountain. I carried you the rest of the way home. Your bed is disgusting, by the way, and you'll need a new door lock."

Minuette was trembling. "You can't just.... I...." Her legs failed and she fell forward into Berry's mane.

Neither of them moved nor spoke for a long minute. Berry watched the condensation on the smoothie slide down the glass sides to puddle on the table, listening; waiting.

Finally, Minuette's hooves slid around Berry, and the gesture was promptly returned. "I have a problem."

Berry Punch gave a wry chuckle. "When you're ready, drink up. It's good for you."