“Blueberry? Don’t forget to clean up your room before your aunt gets here!” Twilight called from the hallway, so focused on the piles of books she was hovering and cataloguing at the same time, her son was surprised she even realized he was around.
 
His bedroom door, which was always partially ajar for anyone to just walk in, was now wide open. Blueberry Tonic stood in the middle of the room, rolling his eyes as he pushed most of the mess under his bed.
 
“Whatever you say, Mother.” He muttered, doubting she would hear him.
 
But Twilight did hear him, her hoofsteps growing closer once again. This time, her eyes weren’t on her books or the catalogue hovered in front of her. She adjusted her reading glasses, staring right at him before slowly dropping her piles of tomes in the hall to instead clean his room as she spoke.
 
“You know you’re in a lot of trouble, Blueberry Tonic. Your mom and I have always taught you and your sister to use magic responsibly, which is the opposite of what you did.” She glanced at him, placing his various knick-knacks on their respective shelves.
 
When Blueberry didn’t respond, she continued to speak. “Learning from Auntie Cadence will be good for you. She was more than happy to help when I told her about what happened.”
 
“Great.” Her son grumbled, pushing a book under the bed only for Twilight to pull it out and place it where it belonged. “Are you going to tell me what spells I’m not allowed to cast now, too?”
 
“Being royalty doesn’t mean you can do whatever you’d like, Blueberry.” She countered sternly. Knowing she was growing aggravated, Twilight took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, interrupted by a loud knock on the main door.
 
“She’s here!” Called Blueberry’s sister from the hallway, already hurrying to greet her. Twilight put a hoof on her son’s shoulder for a moment before trotting out to see her sister-in-law, doing the same handshake they had since she was a filly.
 
By the time Blueberry left his room to join the others, Cadence had practically met him halfway through the castle.
 
“Blueberry! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! How have you been doing, sweetie?” The pink alicorn wrapped her wings around him in a quick hug, before glancing down to meet his gaze.
 
“Fabulous.” He answered sarcastically, making her smile fade.
 
“I see. Would you rather get right to work or spend some time catching up?” She asked, turning to look at Twilight, who seemed exhausted with her son’s moody behavior.
 
He shrugged, already starting to walk away. “Right to work, I guess. My potion room is down the hall.”
 
Cadence, while Twilight approached her to apologize for his sulking, pulled her in with one wing to comfort her. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.”
 
Wanting to make sure she didn’t lose him, Cadence trotted down the hall to catch up with her nephew. “So tell me, what kind of potions have you been making lately?”
 
His answer timed perfectly with opening the door to his workshop, motioning to various bottles all over. “Nothing too crazy. Extra strength magic cleaner, bottled luck, love potions, truth serum, stuff that causes hallucinations. That last one is a lot of fun, unless you take too much.”
 
The alicorn wandered through the room, noticing the lack of labels as she listened to his list. “Things that make life easier. Or…fun.” She hesitated when labelling any hallucinogenic brew ‘fun’, not being a fan of it herself.
 
“Yup. Ponies love stuff like this.” He chuckled, looking rather proud of his work.
 
“Except for those who don’t, like the mare you upset.” Cadence chimed in, lifting up a love potion with her magic before putting it back down in its place. “I can appreciate a good potion, just like anypony else. But perhaps we can try new ones that don’t make life easier, but make it better?”
 
Blueberry looked confused, his brow furrowing. “Isn’t that the same thing?”
 
“Not necessarily.” She responded, giving him a smile. “Come on, let’s take some of these and dump them out, that way you’ll have room for the new recipes I have for you. You can keep the magic cleaner and lucky potions, but I want the others thrown away. If you decide to remake them later, that’s your decision. But for today, I need empty bottles to work with you.”
 
Blueberry knew that her ‘empty bottle’ excuse was just that, an excuse. If they really needed them, Twilight was known for extra supplies. But assuming Auntie Cadence wouldn’t allow otherwise, he nodded and started gathering potions to throw away. She began to lead him down the hallway, knowing that Twilight had a room specifically for storing and getting rid of magical items. With a castle like this, the Princess of Friendship felt the need to find a use for every single room.
 
“So, have you apologized to the mare?” Cadence asked, glancing back to Blueberry, who was already thinking of all the work he would be dumping out.
 
“I mean, I said I was sorry.” He said, but the pink mare noticed he was more focused on the hovering potions than the conversation.
 
She sighed softly, tilting her head towards him. “And did you mean it?”
 
The stallion hesitated, his ears flicking back as if hearing Cherry Syrup’s voice echoing in his head.
 
‘Do you have any idea how scary it is?!’
 
“Well, I said it.” Blueberry muttered, looking a bit shameful.
 
Cadence nodded slowly, starting to walk again. “But you know that saying it and meaning it aren’t the same thing. We’ll figure out today how to go about that, because I’m sure she’s really hurt by what you did, even if you didn’t mean to do it.”
 
She turned the corner, but Blueberry Tonic just stood there, unsure of the exact reason he was feeling upset. When Cadence realized he wasn’t following her, she turned back and peeked out into the other hall, giving him a smile.
 
“You coming?”
 
“Do I really have to dump these out?” He asked, glancing at her with a ‘please don’t make me do this’ kind of look.
 
Cadence’s smile never faltered, and she nodded her head. “Yes, you really do. Think of it as the beginning of your apology.”
 
The stallion huffed quietly before giving a nod in agreement. “Alright…let’s do this.”
 
After catching up to his aunt, the two did the rest of their walk down the hall together, entering the room that would be the start of his hope for forgiveness as he threw away the very potions that caused all of his troubles in the first place.