What Happened To Yesterday

The magical bonds that kept them all tied to the table released once the final question had been answered. Luckily Twilight had only set the game to one round, she didn’t want to be stuck here for longer than she needed to. While Twilight was busy rubbing her hooves so that the magical numbness would recede, her friends jumped into action.

“Oh my Celestia…” Rainbow Dash and Rarity were rarely in sync, this was one of those rare times. Both of their eyes were focused on something just below the table. Applejack wasn’t sure what it was, but it could not have been good.

When he finally got a glimpse of what they were looking at, he nearly fainted. This game of truth or dare had been surprising, sure. But this…? This was just a little too extreme.

Their on the ground, was Berry Bubble. Pink coat, straightened mane and tail, and bright blue eyes looking at everyone with curiosity. But two things were wrong; 1. He was about eighteen years younger than he should have been. 2. The distinct lack of male qualities.

“Twilight! What did you do?” Rarity glared at the purple unicorn, who was making sure the magical punishment ball was dissipating properly.

“Me? I didn’t do anything. It was the ball. I said the punishments were random, I never said just how random.” The unicorn then went to her notes about the spell and disintegrated them with a simple wave of her horn.

“How long does this last, Twilight? I don’t know how long I can handle thinking of Berry as a little filly..” Rainbow Dash sat in front of her little pink friend, who was still looking around curiously, still trying to figure this out.

“Oh, about a week. That goes for all of the magic, including your flightlessness, Dash.” As soon as Twilight got more than then feet away from Applejack, the stallion disappeared then reappeared a second later next to her. “Oh, and that.”

“Where am I?” The little female Berry asked, obviously confused. “Where’s my mommy and daddy?” Every set of eyes focused on the little filly who was asking strange questions.

“Your parents? Berry…” Rarity sat down next to the confused little filly. “Don’t you know who we are?” Her question was met with the shake of a head. Twilight was busy mentally cheering that it actually worked. A localized time reversal spell fused with a gender swap spell. At first she had doubted that she could even cast such powerful magic, but Twilacorn had pitched in somehow.

“N-No…” The little filly backed away from everypony into the room. His…er…her parents had always told her to never talk to strangers. Strange ponies would lead to strange things. “I just wanna go home.” Tears welled in her bright blue eyes.

“Whoa there little guy…gal.” In a second Dash was by Berry’s side, a hoof around the scared filly. “There’s nothing to cry about, alright? None of us are going to hurt you.” She was speaking calmly, soothingly. Much unlike the usual Rainbow Dash.

“Berry, we’re your friends. Okay? You can trust us.” Rarity joined in with Rainbow Dash to try and soothe the filly before she burst out crying. “Do we look like scary ponies?” The filly shook her head, her hooves wiping away forming tears.

Fluttershy wasn’t even sure what was going on anymore, this had turned into-excuse her language-one big clusterbuck. She just decided to leave and check up on the situation later, her head would hurt less then.

“Twilight, let me go. I need to check on Berry.” Applejack was looking at Rainbow and Rarity circling his newly filly-fied love. He wanted to run over there, but he knew what would happen…well he had a theory at least.

“Sorry AJ, I can’t undo this spell. It has to undo itself.” Twilight nuzzled his big strong neck. “Plus why would I want you to get away?” Celestia, she had been waiting for this. Being this close, with no escape available to him.

“Twilight. We can’t do this, I have to get up early tomorrow to work. You have a library to run, this isn’t a game.” He was practically glaring at the mare now, she had orchestrated this, this was all part of her plan and he knew it.

“You are so right Applejack. I’ll close the library until this spell wears off and we can both stay at your house. Your job is more important.” Applejack was about to agree, then he caught what she actually said. “I’ll even help, you know my magic is a big help around the farm.” Consarnit. She had a point…with magic they could get done in twice the time it would take to normally do it. He wanted to tell her no, but the boat they were in together had no life boats, not even floaties.

“Fine. But let me check on Berry first.” The mare nodded in agreement and they both trotted over to the now-filly Berry.

“C’mon, don’t you like anything about us?” Dash asked the filly, who still refused to come anywhere near them.

“I-I like those pretty colors in your mane…” Aha. Of course, Berry’s cutie mark story. He loved rainbows. Dash now had a plan.

“Wanna touch it?” She held her head down so her mane was hanging freely towards the ground. The little filly edged closer to the mare until her hoof poked her mane, then began stroking the polychromatic masterpiece. “It’s pretty isn’t it?” The filly nodded. “It’s called a rainbow, just like me. Rainbow Dash.”

“I like rainbows…they’re pretty.” Berry was now entranced with the pretty colors. Back on the farm they didn’t have any colors like this, everything was always so gray and neutral.

“Wanna be friends? You can hang around the pretty rainbows all you want.” Rainbow Dash was tiptoeing around this little filly. She had only heard stories of Berry before he got his cutie mark, and he was a bit of a shy shut-in wreck.

“But I’ve never had a friend before…what if I’m not a good friend” The filly was still stroking the rainbows, but her mind was racing with the implications of having a friend. Back on the rock farm she had imaginary friends, like Gummy, but she never had a real friend.

“I know you’ll be great at it, Berry.” Rarity watched in silent amazement as Rainbow Dash played this filly like a fiddle. She only knew Rainbow as a brash, impulsive, tomcoltish mare who was too full of herself to care about most anypony else. But with this little Berry, she was like a natural caregiver.

“Okay…I wanna be friends.” The pink filly muttered.

“Hugs?” Rainbow sat up from her slouching position and open her hooves. The filly cautiously entered the open hooves and gave Rainbow Dash a hug, which the mare returned kindly. “Rarity…I think we should go to your place..” Rarity nodded. “Hey Berry?” The filly looked up at her. “Wanna go for a ride on my back?” The filly nodded so Dash stood up, picked Berry up with a hoof and put him/now her on her own back.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Applejack spoke out as he and Twilight came over. “Why do you get to take Berry? I think I should take him, after all my family is better equipped to handle a foal.” He knew that Rarity would be busy making dresses, Rainbow would be busy being Rainbow, but Granny loved little fillies and wouldn’t mind taking care of one.

“I do not think so, Applejack. If I recall, you broke up with Berry. I do not believe being around you is healthy for him in his...current state.” Rarity wasn’t exactly sure what that magical orb had done to Berry, but she knew that it was not good for anypony’s mental health. “We are taking him.”

“Yeah, plus with my wings tied down I can’t exactly go to work so I’m free to hang with him all day.” Rainbow Dash interjected as Berry was poking at her wings.

“Fine.” Applejack grunted. “But I’m gonna check up on him tomorrow.” He could only glare as the two mares left with filly-Berry. This was going to eat at him all night.

“What are these?” Berry asked as he poked RD’s wings. He had never seen something like her on the farm before, he had only seen his parents and sisters…and none of them had these things.

“They’re wings, Berry. Y’know like birds have.” She wanted to spread her wings to show the filly her impressive wingspan, but still found them to be cemented to her sides.

“But ponies aren’t birds.” Berry commented. “Why do you have wings? Are you a bird?” Rarity let out a little giggle at Berry’s statement. He was just as goofy as when he was grown up.

“You’ve never seen a pegasus before?” Berry shook her head as she looked around the town they were in. There were a lot of buildings here…a lot. All of them were bigger than his family’s house, but smaller than the silo. “What about a pony like her?” Rainbow’s hoof pointed at the white pony that was walking beside them. She looked pretty normal, except for the thing poking from her head.

“She has something on her head.” Rarity put a hoof to her chest in mild shock. She had never heard of a pony who had never seen a unicorn before. Why, it was unheard of!

“I am a unicorn, and a lady. I will not stand for this, why even Princess Celestia has a horn. Surely you’ve seen her before.” Rarity was sure the comparison between herself and the goddess of the sun was a fair one.

“Who’s Princess…Ce…Celsta?” The filly flubbed the pronunciation. It was a hard word for a four year old, sue her. “Is she your imaginary friend? I have one too, his name is Gummy.”

Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked at each other in worry. Just how sheltered was Berry when he was young?

--

“Twilight…I’m not happy about this.” Applejack felt he needed to vocalize that. He knew his mood was doing that just fine, but he needed to say something.

He may have not been happy about this, but she was. He couldn’t even get ten feet away from her, the implications were pretty great. Had to sleep in the same room, had to eat together, together all day long! Oh it was going to be glorious!

Applejack hated his life right now.

--

“Am I a filly…?” Both grown mares flinched at the question. They were sincerely hoping this subject would only come up once they got somewhere private.

“Uh…yeah. About that…” Rainbow didn’t want to approach this subject with a ten-foot pole. How do you tell a little colt that he miraculously transformed into a filly without freaking them out?

“I am a filly! I finally get to be a Pie!” The filly raised her hooves victoriously, which almost sent her tumbling off of Dash’s back, but Rarity caught her. “Oh, I know. I wanna be Pinkie Pie, like my granny.” Both mares had heard of the privileges of being a mare in Berry’s family, such as the family name, but they never suspected that Berry was envious of it. Plus, Pinkie Pie? That didn’t even sound remotely right.

“Berry, you’re still a colt. You’re just…uh…umm…” Dash couldn’t think of a legitimate excuse for this, then again who could? It was a rare and ridiculous subject.

“But I have the parts of a filly.” To punctuate her point, Berry began to open her legs, which were subsequently closed by Rarity with her magic.

“Yes Berry, we know. It is not polite to open ones legs in public, though.” Rarity kept her magic ready, just in case the little filly decided to pull a stunt like that again. With Berry, one could never be too careful.

Rarity unlocked the door to her home as they drew near to the door, she held the door open for the mare and filly. It was an odd feeling, holding a door for somepony else. Almost felt degrading, she didn’t like it.

“Wow. That’s a lot of dresses…” Berry commented as he looked around Carousel Boutique. It was much bigger than his house, had a lot more stuff in it too. “They’re all so pretty…”

The way the filly’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the dresses, the way she seemed to take in every detail. Rarity immediately knew she just had to make a dress for Berry, she would look absolutely adorable!

“They’re alright.” Rainbow Dash stopped at the sofa and let Berry slide on to it. “Alright, now I need to ask you some questions. That okay with you?” The filly nodded. “Who controls the sun and moon?” It was best to evaluate exactly what Berry knew, just to see what they were dealing with.

“Somepony controls the sun? I thought they moved by themselves…” Rarity nearly fainted from the blasphemous filly. How could somepony raise their foals to believe that the heavenly bodies moved themselves? That didn’t even make any sense!

“Alright. Who rules Equestria?” This was the most simple question she could think of. He might not know who controlled the bodies, but Berry had to know who ruled the country.

“What’s Equestria?” Or he didn’t even know what the country was. Seriously, what the hay? “Is it another one of your imaginary friends? I didn’t think grown ups had imaginary friends…”

“Okay…so that’s a no.” Rainbow Dash tapped her chin trying to think of a simple question that even Berry could get right. “What are the three types of rocks?” It was worth a shot, he lived on a quarry and all.

“Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary.” Well…there seemed to be a huge lapse in knowledge here. “But Inky counts minerals as rocks, I try to tell her that they’re two different things…but she never listens to me. She always says ‘you’re a boy, Berry. You don’t know anything!’ But ha! I’m a filly now, so I know I was right!” The backwards nature of the Pie family was confusing to outsiders, but to anypony actually in the family it was pretty simple.

“Rainbow Dash, may I speak to you in private?” Rarity stepped far away enough from the filly so that she could not hear anything said.

“Sure. Hey Berry?” The filly looked up at her. “You stay right here, alright?” Berry nodded. Somehow, Dash knew this wasn’t her Berry and doubted the filly would flip out and do something out of pure impulse. So over she walked to Rarity.

“Is it just me, or is it all falling into place now?” Rarity asked. “Being told females are better than males, wanting to be a filly, him being gay…it’s all starting to make sense.” Rarity wasn’t a psychologist, but even she could connect the dots when they were provided.

“If I grew up around a family like that and I was him, I’d be sick of mares too. Celestia knows just how bad they messed him up in fifteen years…he never even talked about his family much to me.” Rainbow Dash looked back at Berry, who was sitting quietly on the sofa, keeping her hooves to herself. “And how did that turn into Berry?”

“Seeing how….tame he is now, it’s amazing. How could your rainboom make somepony do a complete turn-around with their attitude?” It was puzzling, oh so puzzling.

“Hey, who is that?” Both mare’s ears perked up at the sound of Sweetie Belle’s voice. “Why does she look like Berry?” Rarity and Dash both sprang into action. Rarity rushed over to her little sister, and Dash rushed to hide Berry behind her.

“That…umm…do not worry about it, Sweetie. I promise it’s nothing.” Rarity was leaning every which way her little sister did in order to hide the filly-fied Berry.

“Umm…why am I being hidden?” Berry asked quietly. Apparently young Berry knew the finer points of secrecy. “I was going to say hi to that filly…” Dash’s eyes went wide as she realized what was about to happen, she knew Berry. She knew that when Berry said he was going to do something, he meant he was about to do it. “Hi other filly!” Son of a-

“There is somepony here!” Sweetie Belle, knowing her sister like the back of her own hoof, kicked over the mannequin that stood behind her. While Rarity was using her magic to catch her prop, Sweetie Belle rushed by her. The next obstacle, Rainbow Dash, was going to be a bit harder. She had to think fast…but faster than Rainbow Dash? Sweetie Belle wasn’t even sure if that was possible or not.

Berry wanted to see this other pony, she sounded a lot like him. Maybe she was friendly? But Rainbow was blocking him…how was he supposed to make it by her? Quietly, he got up, walked to the other end of the sofa, and hopped off. That worked.

Sweetie Belle wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at. It looked like Berry, but it was a filly…and it was really young. Like, not even capable of getting it’s cutie mark, young.

“Umm..hi…?” It sounded kinda like Berry, if Berry was a filly. Sweetie wasn’t exactly sure what was going on here, but she didn’t like it. Might as well figure this out.

“Hi. I’m Berry-” Before the filly could finish its sentence, Rainbow Dash intercepted it.

“-’s…daughter.” What in the hay was she saying? She said it now though, no going back. “Pinkie Pie. This is Berry’s daughter, Pinkie. Yeah.” Right. The lie was out there, now she just had to justify the lie somehow.

“Berry has a daughter? How come he never talked about her? Who’s the mom?” Oh come on, who would ever expect to be grilled by a filly? Not Rainbow Dash. She was not a very good liar, the time she had to lie to Berry about his party came to mind. Not a good liar at all.

“Why Rainbow Dash is, of course.” Rarity took the lie and ran with it.

“What?” All three of the other females in the room all asked incredulously at once.