What Happened To Yesterday

Quittin’ time. What a glorious time of day. Sure, Berry loved his job with every beat of his heart, but he loved getting off of work. It meant it was time to hang out with his friends and for today it meant packing up his room and moving it over to Rarity’s.

It wasn’t that hard to box everything up. He actually didn’t have a lot of personal stuff in his room, he didn’t have a bunch of personal stuff in the first place. His party cannon, his welcome wagon, which had all of his party supplies in it, his bed sheets that had his cutie mark on it, and quite a lot of pictures of his friends. Oh, and Gummy. He couldn’t forget Gummy, that little gator was too important to forget.

Wanna know how a pony got an alligator as a pet? No? Too bad, it’s an interesting story. It was just a few years ago, actually just a few months before Twilight moved to Ponyville, Berry was helping Fluttershy move some critters out of Froggy Bottom Bog.

Berry, being the pony he was, was distracted by almost everything in the new place. Every bug, every log, and every swamp bubble drew his attention. Then he saw a little egg left all alone. Fluttershy had looked at it and determined it was an alligator egg, and that whoever laid it had forgotten it when they moved on because there was no nest and no other eggs or reptiles in sight.

At first Fluttershy had wanted to take the egg and hatch it, but Berry had been wanting a pet to call his own and what’s better than a cute and cuddly alligator? Nothing, that’s what! So Berry had said he would take it, of course Fluttershy had kept a close watch over him and the egg, but it all worked out in the end. Case and point, right now Gummy is swatting at Berry’s tail….who is actually teasing the poor thing by swinging his tail back and forth.

“Right, come on buddy.” Berry lowered his tail so Gummy could clamp onto it, he did, so Berry put most if not all of his boxes on top of his welcome wagon and looked out the window. “Now how do I get this downstairs…?”

It was quite the predicament. He was sorta banking everything on the welcome wagon making it easier to move all of this stuff. Now it just presented a big problem. He thought about the stairs, that would just make everything spill.

He was Berry Bubble! He could do anything within or outside of the laws of known physics! He could move some silly boxes…he thought about his whole teleporting thing, but he couldn’t do that with inanimate objects. His eyes were drawn to the window.

A terrible idea, a terribly brilliant idea entered his mind. It was just crazy enough to work but still possibly fail in a blaze of glory. But no time for thinking! Thinking was for ponies who didn’t have things to move!

Hastily, the pink pony used some spare two by fours in his closet from when the Cakes had to renovate his room due to a….malfunction with his party cannon. He put the boards an equal distance apart leading up to his now  completely open window. Was it big enough for his wagon to fit through? Only a test could tell.

Berry only kept one box on the wagon, and that was filled with his various costumes, so nothing was going to break if this epically failed. He got behind the wagon, lined it up with the boards perfectly, brought it back all the way to his door, and started to gallop. He made sure to put all of his weight into the small wagon.

As soon as he hit the boards, he skidded to a halt and watched as the welcome wagon sailed right out of his window and into the town below. His pre-celebration warm up was interrupted by the sound of something wooden splintering and a scream of surprise.

“Uh oh…” Berry picked up the four other boxes he had packed up on his back and headed downstairs. The Cakes were busy fulfilling orders, so he waltzed right past them and out into Ponyville.

The sight outside of Sugarcube Corner was not a good one. A shattered Apple Family apple stand was right below his window, a welcome wagon and a box on it…and a very mad looking Applejack beside it all.

“Berry! What in the hay is this? Do you gotta destroy my stall every week?” In a second Applejack was nose to nose with Berry. The former had a righteous fury in his eyes, the latter was trying to make himself as small as equinely possible. “You’re payin’ for this, Berry.” The stallion managed to growl out. Applejack stormed off to his destroyed stall and kicked the wagon over to Berry.

Berry simply took his wagon and pushed it along, he didn’t want to stick around there…and neither could Gummy. Berry could feel the little reptile bite down harder on his tail when Applejack yelled at him. He’d rather not have another incident…he’s sure Animal Control was serious about taking away a ‘dangerous animal.’

Quietly, he trudged through Ponyville towards Carousel Boutique. He could hear the whispers about ‘lover’s quarrels’ and the scandalous ramblings of the town gossips. He didn’t like being the center of attention in this regard…it was a little like being an ant underneath the magnifying glass of a cruel colt. It hurt.

Thankfully, he got to his destination quickly. Was that because he didn’t like being scrutinized? Possibly. Was it because he wanted to hide in a room for awhile? Probably. Either way, he was happy to reach the gigantic Carousel, he was even happier to finally get inside.

“Oh Hello Berry, I didn’t realize you were going to be moving in so early.” Rarity was moving about the main room, fixing up her mannequins with new designs so potential clients could get an idea of what they were working with. Berry just trudged down the hallway to the guestroom, the key he produced from his mane perfectly fit in the lock and unlocked his new room.

It was bare, if not tasteful. Of course Rarity had fixed it up with her own personal flair that Berry was going to completely redo to fit his own tastes. He knew he probably shouldn’t, but he needed to feel at home.

First order of business: He pulled Gummy from his tail and set him down. Like any pet, Gummy had to approve of the new home. The little gator waddled around the room, sniffing at the various items. Instinctually, he found his way under the bed and laid down.

So he approved. Gummy would never fall asleep in a place that he didn’t like. A bit like a cat, but scalier and capable of swimming. At least that was going for this place. With his pet’s approval, he started unpacking his various belongings.

The sheets on the bed were thrown off and his pink, cutie mark embroidered sheets and blankets replaced them. The dresser was filled with his costumes, pajamas, and socks. The closet, which previously held nothing, was filled with suits every color of the rainbow…even a rainbow one. Finally, the pictures he brought were either hung on the walls, or placed on the dresser and nightstands.

Oh the pictures…they were doorways into the past. Most of them were of just him and Rainbow Dash, but those were some of the best.

“I think you beat me when it comes to photos of our friends, Berry.” He turned around to see Rarity in the doorway, admiring all of his photos. She approached one on the dresser. “I didn’t know you and Rainbow Dash went to the Wonderbolt Derby in Canterlot.” The picture was of a very excited Rainbow Dash nearly falling over the railing watching her idols race in the background, Berry was the only thing keeping her grounded.

“Yep. We went for her twentieth birthday. I got the tickets from a friend of mine.” Ah, good times. Fun times, before things like what was currently going on happened. “I just like to have pictures of my friends, it reminds me why I’m here. To see them smile.” There wasn’t a single picture where everypony involved didn’t have a huge grin plastered across the face, just one of the things that came with being friends with Berry Bubble.

“Oh look, it’s our trip to Las Pegasus. I believe this was for my...nineteenth?” She vaguely remembered the picture being taken, Berry and herself were at Photo Finish’s fashion show in the city of lights. They were posing in front of the runway itself, Rarity in a beautiful homemade gown and Berry in his Tuxedo, complete with monocle and top hat.

“Yep. Ooh, remember when we ordered room service and the bellhop turned out to be that actor guy?” The two simply laughed at the memory, not really remembering who the actor was or why it was funny. Just that it was a good memory to have.

--

Rainbow Dash watched as the stallion yelled at Berry, telling him he was going to pay. Then she watched as Berry slinked off, obviously embarrassed and beaten. She didn’t like this, Applejack needed to be talked to.

Without a moment’s thought, she dove off of her cloud and descended towards the apple farmer, who was now picking up the apples that survived the stall being crushed by the welcome wagon.

As she landed, she heard Applejack mumbling curses under his breath as he salvaged his fruit. The mare made a mental memo about how irritable the usually laid back stallion was.

“Hey AJ, what happened?” Might as well get his point of view, she thought.

“Oh, hey RD….” The stallion sighed in annoyance. “Berry destroyed my stall…again. I swear, that colt had better get his act together or else I’m going to…to..” He growled, obviously not sure what he would do.

“What? Break up with him? From what I hear it’s a little too late for that.” Applejack looked up at her, eyes widened in surprise. “Oh come on, I know everything. Don’t be surprised.”

“What business is it of yours? Don’t you have some stunts to do or something?” Applejack’s voice turned cold and distant, his shoulders slumped and he was attempting to hide his face with the shadow cast by his hat. “Go practice for the Wonderbolts and leave me alone…”

“Nu-uh. I’m all done with that for the day, I’m going to be your new best friend until you tell me why.” To prove her point, she hovered right by him and kept nudging his side.

“Can’t you leave personal lives personal, Rainbow?” Applejack gathered up the baskets of apples that had survived the massacre and put them on his back. As he started walking, Rainbow kept pace with him.

“When it comes to Berry? Not really. Sorry, but the guy’s practically family. Can’t really let his bad mood go uninvestigated.” She turned over, flying upside down just to show AJ that she could do this all day. “So you tell me why you dumped him again, and I won’t make your east orchard die of thirst. Deal?” Yeah, she just did that. Rainbow Dash was the pony who organized the weather schedule, and she was not above threatening ponies with her position to get what she wanted.

“Fine.” Applejack said, both mad that he was beaten and a little reluctantly. “I…I had a dream, alright?”

“Yeah? Was it that one day earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn children would play together and we’d all enjoy a meal at the table of brotherhood?” Yeah, Rainbow Dash knew history. Because she was awesome.

“Can you let me finish?” Rainbow waved him on. “Alright…my Granny found out about Berry and I. Her and my family went after him…and…got him. I don’t want that to happen…” Applejack’s mood had visibly darkened. Rainbow Dash could only imagine what he meant by ‘got him’, but everything she thought of was not good.

“So you did it to protect him?” The stallion nodded. “Well good job, you hurt him. Trust me when I say this AJ, a hero isn’t supposed to do what’s the easiest, they’re supposed to do what’s the best for the ponies they’re trying to save.” Ah, a tried and true lesson the friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash had learned over the years. “So you, instead of standing up for the pony you love, decided to give up on him. Good job there, Supercolt.” Rainbow Dash patted his back once, then took off. It was up to Applejack to see the folly of his ways now, she had said her part.

For now though, it was time to check on Berry. Maybe hangout with him a bit, it had been awhile since their last hangout session. So she banked left and headed to the easily spotted landmark that was Carousel Boutique.

Now Rainbow Dash was never one to use doors. Wasn’t her style. Where there was a window, there was a way. The window in question was the one right above the door, it was open and just big enough for her to fit through.

At the last possible second she tucked her wings to her side and slid through the opening like one of those acrobats from that Prench circus act. Of course she knew that a conventional landing wouldn’t do, so she tucked and rolled. It had been a landing she had to learn time and time again.

No one was in the main room, but her acute senses picked up laughter coming from down the hall. They were probably in Berry’s new room, she deduced. The lone pegasus made her way down the hall to the open door.

“Oh, and the time Applejack had to grow watermelons for a year on a dare?” That was Berry talking, then both of them burst into laughter at the memory. It even brought a smile to Rainbow’s face, she remembered poor Applejack complaining all year about how the melons weren’t as regal as apples.

“Hey, what’re we all laughing about? Please tell me it’s at the expense of others.” Rainbow strode into the room and hopped on the bed where her two friends sat, a photo album in front of them.

“Oh hello Rainbow Dash.” Rarity wiped away tears of laughter from her eyes and tried to compose herself. “We were just looking over some old photographs.”

“Hi Dashie.” Berry gave her a nuzzle, which she returned lightly. “Ooh, look! Here’s one from when you had to get your mane cut.” Rainbow looked at the picture and immediately recognized it from about five years ago when Berry had gotten a few wads of gum stuck in her mane and it had to be cut almost all of the way off. Rarity and Berry burst into another fit of laughter.

“Hey, that’s not funny. Ponies thought I was my own twin for like a month!” She snatched the album away from the guffawing ponies and looked at the picture. She looked like a pony straight from one of Berry’s LGBT meetings. Not flattering. Then again, she supposed the rainbow mane didn’t help. “Hey look, isn’t’ that our trip to Canterlot together?”

Sure enough, it was the five friends all in the capital city. It was the year before Twilight showed up and they all pitched in to take Berry to Canterlot for his birthday so they could catch a DJ-Pon3 concert. In the picture they were posing in front of the castle, and in the background a familiar purple pony was standing, her nose deep in a book.

“And isn’t that Twilight?” Sure enough, it was. That drew the attention of the two ponies who were laughing at her misfortune. They looked at the picture intently.

“Indeed it is. It’s a bit of serendipity, is it not? All six of us in one picture before we knew her.” Rarity smiled at the odd coincidence.

“Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to hangout today Berry.” Rainbow closed the book and tossed it on the bed. “It’s been awhile, y’know?” Rarity took the cue to leave when Dash put her wing on Berry.

“Well sure, Dashie. What do you wanna do?” Berry was always so intent on pleasing others, he rarely suggested things he wanted to do around her. “I can watch you fly, or we can go watch clouds.”

“Actually, I was thinking we could just hangout here and talk, like old times.” Berry’s hoof went to his mouth.

“I don’t have to get braces again do I? I hated those things…I couldn’t eat anything sticky.” He rubbed his now perfectly straight teeth at the memory of the metal constraints.

“Nah, because I am not putting my mane into a ponytail…though I wouldn’t mind finding my aviators again.” She still had her regular old sunglasses, but those aviators were her babies, and she had lost them a few years ago during a tornado. “I might just buy another pair…”

“So what do you want to talk about? Ooh, is it boys? Did you finally find a stallion? What’s is name? Is he cute? Please tell me he has a tat-”Dash’s hoof went over his mouth, the universal gesture for ‘shut the buck up.’

“Yes it is about boys. No I did not find a stallion, and you know if I date one he has to have a tattoo.” As she removed her hoof, Berry’s smile revealed itself. “Yeah yeah, grin all you want. You rubbed off on me.” She wiped her hoof on the covers of the bed. “But it’s about Applejack.”

“Dashie…” His voice was pleading, but Dash just shook her head.

“Nu-uh. Don’t you ‘Dashie’ me. We’re going to talk about this, Berry.” The stallion fell onto his back and groaned. “How many times has he done something like this?”

“I don’t know…three…four? He’s always looking for reasons to not date or hangout.” Berry crossed his fore hooves and Dash just looked at him like a big sister would at a stubborn little brother.

“And you still took him back?”

“I love him alright…?” Rainbow Dash face hoofed. Sometimes Berry could be so…thick. It was such a pain.

“Sweet Celestia, Berry. You’re like a battered mare. Grow a backbone, alright? I know you like making ponies smile, but some ponies just aren’t worth it if you’re not smiling.” Rainbow Dash had to put up with this behavior for years, Berry was colt-crazy and it was never a good thing.

“But…”

“No Berry! I know you’re hard up for love, but do you really have to hurt yourself to get it? Can’t you see that almost everypony loves you? I mean, you’re basically family to everypony in this town.” She shook her head, some things just didn’t translate to other ponies. Some ponies were just crazy about love.