Helping Others is the Best Way to Help Yourself: The Tale of Blackberry

[North Star 5,239]

Helping Others is the Best Way to Help Yourself: The Tale of Blackberry

Spoiler

Silky's OC used with permission

Inspiration:

 

Listen to the audio here!

Once upon a time, there was a little black pony with hazel eyes and a fluffy green tail, called Blackberry.

He lived in a little village in Ponyland, where he had many little pony friends and he was very happy. His talent was to make potions, which his friends enjoyed including in their many games.

 One day he thought to himself, “I want to be happier. If I make a happiness potion, then I will become the happiest little pony in the world!”

So little Blackberry set to work.

On the first day he made a pale blue creation which looked very promising, but when he tried to drink it, it was so sharp that it cut his tongue! This made him sad.

His friends came round to try to cheer him up. He tried to enjoy playing with them like before, but all he could think about was how his potion had not worked (as well as the pain in his tongue).

“Adding the pins and needles was a mistake!” he suddenly shouted, in the middle of a game. “Next time I will leave those out and add rotten eggs instead.”

His friends tried to continue playing with him, and he did join in a little, but not nearly so much as before, because he was distracted by thinking about his potion.

The next day he made another brew. This one was darker than the first. When he tried to drink it, he spat it out – it tasted awful! Also, it made his room smell. Even after covering his snout and spitting and spitting, he could not get rid of the terrible smell and taste. This made him feel even sadder than.

Again, his friends came round to try to cheer him up. However, when they suggested they play a game together, instead of trying to join in like before, he instead stomped his hoof angrily.

“I’m too smelly to play games! You don’t care about me, or my potion!”

The friends were upset by him shouting at them, as they were trying very hard to cheer him up. Some of his friends were so upset by his behaviour that they asked him to say sorry.

However, Blackberry ignored them – he was too busy thinking about his next potion.

‘Adding the rotten eggs was a mistake’ he thought to himself. ‘Next time I will leave those out and add shadows instead.’

The next potion he made was so dark that it looked black as night. It was so dark in fact that when he went to drink it, he knocked it over – he couldn’t see it! The black liquid spilled everywhere: onto his desk, the floor and even his fur! At first this didn’t matter, as his coat was already black, but he soon realised that it was spreading! When the liquid touched his green tail and hazel eyes it stained them black too. Even worse, when it reached his eyes, the whole world went dark - he was unable to see! This only made him even sadder.

But this time his friends were not there to cheer him up, because he had still not apologised. He had meant to, but had been so busy that he had forgotten. 

In the darkness, he tried to pretend that the shadows were his friends. At first, he had a little fun, but when he became tired and wanted to go to bed, they became angry. They said that the day was the time to go to bed and that night was the time to play. But he could not play, because it was after his bedtime. The angry shadows jumped on his bed every night after that to wake him up. Also, sometimes they would howl and move things around in the dark, which made him frightened.

One night, he became truly fed up.

“I wanted to be the happiest pony in the world! But instead, I became the saddest pony,” he cried into the dark, but the shadows only laughed and continued to howl, jump on his bed and move things around.

At that, poor Blackberry cried so much that he fell ill. A moonbeam took pity on the poor pony and rang an ambulance (which is the car that takes you to hospital, a place where they make people who are very poorly all better).

But after the ambulance took Blackberry to the hospital, the doctors who worked there didn’t know how to make him well again. They decided to put him in the room where ponies go when they can’t be made better.

Because he still couldn’t see, it was a while before Blackberry realised that there was another pony in the room with him.

“Hello, I’m Blackberry. What’s your name?” he asked the other.

But they did not reply.

After a little while, he tried again, but still without success.

Eventually, he gave up asking the other’s name, but he was still determined to talk, so he decided to ask the silent pony another question.

“Why can’t they make you better?” he asked. When the other still didn’t respond, he was not deterred and continued:

“I’m here because I spilled a potion on myself, which made me sad. That’s why I can’t get better.”

To his surprise he heard a filly’s voice reply to him.

“I’m sorry you spilled your potion. I’m here because I lost my wing,” the other said. “And not being able to fly makes me very, very sad, so I can’t get well. Thank you for asking, though. My name is Silky Wings. Nice to meet you, Blackberry.”

It was the first kind voice he had heard in a long time, nothing like the mean shadows from before.

Soon the two began to chat back and forth, and both felt a little happier, but only a little because Silky still couldn’t fly, and Blackberry still couldn’t see.

After a while, Blackberry had a thought.

“Maybe I can make you a potion that will help you to fly again? But as I can’t see, you will have to help.”

Silky agreed and they soon set to work making a new potion. This one was pale pink, and the final ingredient was one of the feathers from the filly’s remaining wing.

When Silky drank the mixture, she felt much better. The potion hadn’t been a flying potion - instead it had been the happiness potion that Blackberry had been trying to make all along!

Realising this, Silky, being a kind pony, guided the potion to Blackberry’s lips because he still couldn’t see it, hoping to cure him of his sadness, which he had told her all about. 

As soon as Blackberry drank, he began to feel better too.

Soon both ponies were so much happier that they were able to leave the hospital and go back home.

When Blackberry’s friends saw him, they didn’t recognise him at first because the new potion had turned him pink!

After he explained what happened, and said sorry for before, he introduced the new filly to his friends, and she introduced hers to his.

Soon they all lived happily ever after. The happiest little ponies in all Ponyland.