In ponyville, it was never an unusual sight to see Rainbow Dash napping upon a cloud, in fact, it was an expected occurrence. Nopony knew why she chose not to sleep in her own home, but it was never a true problem, just a curiosity. However, there was a silent agreement between everypony who knew her; Nopony should ever wake her up.
Nopony ever broke that agreement, well, nopony except Bubble Berry.
“Raiiiinbow Daash?” A singsong voice came from below the makeshift bed, sending the pegasus straight up, all traces of the fact that she was sleeping moments ago gone.
“Bubble Berry?” Rainbow Dash moaned, realizing whose voice it was who had called her name. She looked down at the light pink colt, who looked back with maniacal glee.
“Ooh, are we having a staring contest?” He gave a wide grin and his eyes bulged out about an inch further than she had thought possible, as he was wont to do.
“No, I was just wondering what the buck you are doing.” Rainbow Dash was still confused by Bubble Berry’s loud interruption
Bubble Berry gave a large gasp, which, had it been anypony else, would have seemed sarcastic. But as it was Bubble Berry who let out the gasp, it was probably real. ”You aren’t supposed to use such meanie pants words!”
“….” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Bubble, you’re 21 now, and I’m 23, I think I’m allowed to swear.”
Bubble Berry blinked, and tilted his head, seemingly confused by her reply. “Well yeah, but, it’s not a good thing to say, isn’t it?”
“Well, that doesn’t explain my first question.” Rainbow Dash was getting annoyed at this point, eyes narrowed, "What in Tartarus are you doing here?"
“What do you mean?” Bubble Berry tilted his head even further, almost to a physically impossible point.”I’ve been here the whole time!”
Rainbow Dash blinked, slightly shocked, and more than a little creeped out. “What do you mean, the whole time? As in, you’ve been watching me sleep?”
“Well, yeah, but I only wanted to know what you were dreaming.” Bubble Berry explained calmly, as if that should have been obvious to her. “I figured if I stared long enough, I could see what it was!”
Rainbow Dash put her hoof to her face, letting out a sigh. “As long as that was all you were doing, that’s fine. Last time someone was watching me sleep, Scooteroll had brought his whole freaky fan club!”
“Oh yeah, I remember them! I went to a meeting, it was really fun. I shared my pictures of you, and they were really impressed!” Bubble Berry smiled, and reached into his poofy mane, pulling out a small collection of pictures, "Scooteroll was like " Berry, you are so cool for getting these!"" Bubble Berry mimicked the young colts voice astonishingly well, before Rainbow Dash snatched the pictures away from him.
“What?” She flipped through the photos, most of which were shot shakily, and mostly were blurry from her fast moves, but it was clear that the photos were taken from inside bushes, or other odd vantage points . “I… I got to go, uhh…” She put her hoof to her mouth, eyes lighting up “Talk to Dusk Shine, I heard the new Dashing Dare book is out!” Her wings hummed like a motor, leaving a small rainbow trail as she left Bubble Berry in the dust.
“Rainbow Dash? RAINBOW DASH!” Bubble Berry screeched, running after her.
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“And then he pulled out these!” Rainbow Dash had flown all the way to Dusk’s library, and after apologizing for breaking his window, began explaining what had happened just a few hours ago, brandishing several of the photos in front of her friends face.
“Look, Dash, I don’t know what to tell you,” The colt shook his head, pushing the photos away from his face, “Bubble Berry is just as much a mystery to me as he is for you. For all I know, he has pictures of me somewhere.” He was clearly irritated by the disruption of his research, tail flicking as he levitated the shards of glass out of the way of his uninvited guest.
“That honestly was supposed to make me feel better?” She deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Sometimes Dusk was way out of touch with reality.
“Well no, but, I just… I don’t know what I meant to say by that.” Dusk Shine stuttered.
“Ok, so what do I do? I can’t just go up to him and ask: Hey Bubble Berry, how the buck did you get those?” She said.
"You should probably talk to somepony else, who knows him better. I've only known him since I moved here a year ago." Dusk Shine spoke, picking up some of the stray books, and began re shelving them.
"Thanks for the stellar help, Dork Shine." Rainbow Dash trotted out, slamming the door behind her.
"Mhmm, yes." Dusk was already completely ignoring her, lost in figuring out where the books went.
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"Bubble Berry?" A lavender colt was knocking on the door of Sweet Apple Acres barn, which seemed suspiciously quiet, most of the time, at least a few chickens could be heard clucking. "Applejack told me you were in here, you can't hide forever."
"No!" The door suddenly opened, slamming Dusk Shines face in. "Also, Bubble Sense says you should..." Bubble Berry looked at the disheveled colt, who was shaking his head groggily. "I can see that I don't need to tell you." He giggled.
"You do this on purpose, don't you." Dusk glared, as Bubble Berry grinned and shook his head. "Anyway, I need to talk with you about something." He forced his way inside the barn, despite Bubble Berries barricades he had set up prior.
"Oh sure, Dusky," Bubble Berry grinned, pulling a table out from a door Dusk was quite sure wasn't there before."What do you want to talk about?" He pulled out a tea set, and poured some imaginary tea, and began to talk aimlessly."I heard that Butterscotch likes Big Macintosh. Who knew he was into colts?"
"It’s not about... What?" Dusk began to speak, but suddenly realized what his friend had said."Ok, let’s put that in the "I could have lived my life perfectly fine without that knowledge" folder, and never speak of it again."
"Sure, Dusky boy, I’ll just lock it in a box, add a padlock…” He began miming his actions, before Dusk put his hoof in his mouth.
“I get it, let’s move on, ok?” Dusk Shine removed his hoof, and Bubble Berry nodded. “Now, Rainbow Dash came over to my house an hour ago, and she seemed very upset.”
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Bubble Berry suddenly seemed quite agitated, looking around wildly, much like when he was lying about the corncakes. "I absolutely do not have a crush on her, and I also do not have any pictures of her." At this point, it was quite clear he was lying, as he was sweating, and pretty much confessed his guilt.
"Ok, Bubble Berry, I think you and I both know you're lying." Dusk Shine looked at him with a smug smirk on his face.
"Fine." He sighed. "I may, possibly, maybe have a teensy tiny crush on Rainbow Dash."
"..." Dusk looked at his friend, disbelief in his eyes. "Maybe?"
"Ok, more than maybe." Bubble Berry smiled. "But have you seen her do tricks? She can do these awesome stunts!" He began miming her sonic rainboom, "She was like some super star, and she saved Rarity, Soarin, and Flamethrower!"
"Yes, she is pretty cool, but that's not what I'm here to talk to you about." Dusk began to speak. "I think you're going about this the wrong way. Rainbow Dash isn't going to like being, well, to put it bluntly: stalked."
"I know..." Bubble Berry's hair suddenly seemed less curly, and he seemed darker. "I just... I can't seem to find a way to say anything to her."
"Well, thats at least a good start. I'm afraid I can't help you anymore. I think talking to Rarity would be a good idea. She knows a lot about relationships." Dusk Shine smiled awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
"I'm going to find her, thanks for the help, Dusk." Bubble Berry kept his somber expression as he walked out the barn door.
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"My dear Bubble Berry, you seem glum, its not like you." A white mare with a fancy mane opened the door, ushering the colt in. "What troubles you?"
"Well, I have a crush on somepony, and I don't know what to do." He mumbled, sitting down.
"Oh my, who's the lucky mare? Or is it a colt? Is that why you're sad?" She began guessing rapidly, pulling out chairs with her magic. "You know we wouldn't see any less of you if you do, right?"
"Oh nonononono, nothing like that, Rarity, its just that its one of our friends." He kept speaking,"Its....Rainbow Dash..."
"I couldn't quite hear you, dear." Rarity smiled warmly.
"Its... I like...." Bubble Berry tried to say. "Promise you won't tell?"
"Oh dear, I would never ever, ever tell somepony else if you told me not to." Rarity looked flustered, looking at him with a whimper.
"Okie Dokie Loki, if you promise." Bubble Berry gave a deep breath. "I like Rainbow Dash and Dusk said I should come to you because I took pictures of her and she got mad and I went to hide in Applejack's barn, but she told Dusk and now I'm here because he sent me." He was speaking very rapidly, miming what he was saying, Rarity could barely keep up.
"Well... I did have an inkling of what was going on between you two, but I really didn't want to bring it up,but this situation is new to me." Rarity confessed, giving him a slight hug. "So you need help on what to do, am I right?"
He nodded, and sighed. "I don't know what to say."
Rarity gave a little squeal, and brought out her fainting couch. "Now, I want you to sit right here and tell me your feelings." She began taking out a pen and notebook, along with a chair of her own. It seemed like she had thoroughly planned for such an event.
"Gee Rarity, you seem a little over prepared, don't you think?" Bubble Berry was lying on the couch, legs crossed.
"Oh no, I always keep all sorts of things like this for exactly these kinds of situations." Rarity gave a nervous giggle, putting away the pen and notebook away. "Let's start with when you first felt like this..."
"The story started when I got my cutie mark, back when I was still a little colt. My sisters and I were raised on a rock farm outside of Ponyville, and we spent our days working the fields. There was no talking. There was no smiling." Bubble Berry sighed sadly, "There were only rocks."
"Excuse me, Darling, but, Rock Farm? You cannot be serious. Rocks couldn't be farmed by a team of unicorns!" Rarity looked at him, astonished, looking over his demeanor, it was clear he was telling the truth, or at least, what he thought was it.
"Well duh, you guy's couldn't. Unicorns are good at lots of things, but not rocks. " He grinned, unaware of the glare she was giving him. "Earth ponies can do lots of things with rocks you can't." He smiled. "Any way, can I go on?"
".... Yes..." Rarity groaned, trying to figure out Bubble Berry was like staring at a cart accident, you couldn't look away, but you had to. "Go on, go on."
Bubble Berry looked up again, lost in memories."Anyway, we were rotating the rocks from the south side to the north," Rarity started to say something, but sighed and gave up. "I was in the middle of rotating one rock, while my sisters and my father were inside getting tools, and suddenly, there was this big explosion!" He seemed to be happily lost in his own tale. "Then, I saw something amazing! A huge rainbow had formed in the sky, and it changed something in me, because I had never seen something like that before! It was beautiful, and for the first time, I smiled. I smiled and wanted to never stop smiling. But I couldn't just keep this amazing knowledge to myself! I had to tell somepony about this, they had to feel what I had felt!" Bubble Berry was getting more and more into the story, so much so that Rarity could almost see what had happened.
"But rainbow's don't last forever, and I had to find another way to show them the joy I had. So I called my family together for a party! For a few seconds, they said nothing, and I was terrified that they didn't see what I saw in the rainbow. But then, they burst into smiles, and joined in on my party! We danced and danced until it was morning, and lo and behold, I had my cutie mark!"
As he finished his story, Rarity smiled, almost as happy as he seemed to be, but after a second, she realized something, "But darling, what does this have to do with Rainbow Dash. I know she caused that Rainbow, but it doesn't explain why you love her."
"Well, I wasn't finished, duh." Bubble Berry looked at her as if that was self evident. "See, after that, our family went back to work on the farm, and it was still as grey and dull as ever, but I knew something had changed inside of me. I was happy even doing the simplest things, made everything a game. But I knew I had to find out where that beautiful rainbow had come from. I packed my bags, said goodbye to my family, and set off towards ponyville. I knew I would find answers there, but I didn't know how I knew." He sighed. "And for a while, I just trotted along that dusty path, through the wind, through the rain, I kept trotting. When I finally reached ponyville, I didn't know what I would do. So I just wandered aimlessly, until I found sugarcube corner, seeing that they had a sign out, which said they were offering room and board. The cakes were so nice, they let me stay for free, and became like family to me. But I still didn't find my rainbow." Bubble Berry started to get agitated, fiddling with his hooves, still telling the story. "I started researching at ponyvilles library, all about rainbows, and all about how to make them. I made Zap Apple jam with Pappy Smith and his son Big Macintosh, and saved a jar of it forever."
"Forever? Darling, thats quite disgusting. It must be rotten, it's been almost 10 years!" Rarity recoiled as he pulled out a pristine jar of rainbow goop. Despite its supposed age, the jam looked fresh from the pot, and Rarity could smell the delicious apple fragrance. "How is that still fresh?" She kept back a few feet from him as he dipped his hoof in it.
"It's perfectly fresh, Rarity. Zap Apples aren't normal apples. They keep for a long time." Bubble Berry licked his hoof clean, and offered the jar to Rarity.
"No thank you, dear." Rarity pushed the jar away, and smiled weakly.
"Anyway, I made my own rainbows, out of bits and bobs of colored goo. Thats why I tasted the rainbows at the factory. They looked like what I had made. But either way, I kept brewing rainbows, hoping to find that perfect mixture." He pulled out several more jars, each off color, too dark, too bright, too dull. "And then... Then she came."
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"Hey, Mrs. Cake, Mrs. Caaake???" A younger Bubble Berry was bouncing about the lobby of Sugarcube Corner, talking to a light blue mare, who was smiling slightly, ignoring the little pink blur of energy. "Guess what! Guess what!" He smiled widely.
"What is it, Bubble Berry? You know we've got lots of orders to fill." She tried to calm the little colt down, he was still bouncing about.
"It's my Mark-mitzvah Anniversary! That means I gotta throw a party! And I hear there's a new filly in town! What if she'll be my best friend forever, even though she's a girl, and then we'll have so much fun and it will be so awesome!" He was squealing in joy at that point, running in circles,
"Bubble, please calm down, I know you love parties, but me and Carrot Cake just can't keep up with you." Mr. Cake was smiling, used to this kind of thing.
The door bell suddenly rang, interrupting Bubble Berry's rambling, and in strode a confident looking pegasus filly, her mane was tangled and scruffy, despite its rainbow of colors."Hey, um, I'm looking for some food, and, like, I figured a house shaped like this must be a bakery. Or, y'know, the whole gingerbread house thing would be kind of stupid" She smiled at her own joke, looking over at Bubble Berry, "What's up with the stare, kid?"
"Oh. Sorry." Bubble Berry shook his head, smiling at the girl. "What's your name, huh? Mines Bubble Berry and I know you're new in town which means you don't have any friends here, and that means I have to throw you a big ol' Bubble Berry Bash!!" Bubble Berry bounced around the pegasus happily, babbling on.
"Take a chill pill kid!" The filly groaned."My names Rainbow Dash.
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"Thats when I fell in love with Dash!" Bubble Berry smiled.