What Happened To Yesterday

Arc 2: The Way Things Might Be

“Got all you need, Sweetie?” Berry and Sweetie Belle were sitting at a small table the filly had in her room specifically for tea parties, but for now it was being repurposed as an interview table.

“I think so…” The little unicorn said with trepidation. “I just hope I can remember it all.” The duo had been talking for a good hour at this point and Berry couldn’t be happier. He loved telling stories, be it about himself or others, any story was a good story.

“I have faith in you, Sweetie.” Berry mussed her two-tone mane with a hoof and gave her a smile. “And hey, if you don’t I get to tell you all of my stories again!” His smile widened at the thought, as did Sweetie’s.

“Umm...I think you better go check on Applejack. I’m scared Rarity might’ve turned him into a dress…” Sweetie had been listening to the ambient sounds of the Boutique during the whole conversation. Sometime around the thirty minute mark all sounds from the lower level had stopped. Knowing the confrontational streak the farmer and the fashionista had, that couldn’t be good.

“Hmm…he might look cute in a dress…” Berry’s mind wandered for a few seconds, images of cross-dressing Applejack crossing his mind. When the little voice in his head reminded him there was a filly in the room “Right, go check on AJ.” He got up from the table and bounced out of the room.

--

“I was scared, okay…? You try bein’ told your whole life that what you are is wrong and should be punished. It ain’t so easy to admit to others, it was even harder admitting it to myself…” Applejack was near his breaking point. He had been trying to talk Rarity into trusting him for the past hour, and so far…nothing. The unicorn was not budging. “its hard bein’ the element of honesty when you can hardly be honest with yourself…”

Rarity was sitting on the other side of her bedroom door, hooves crossed and a scowl across her features. Some time ago, she wasn’t sure how long; she had decided to remove herself from the situation by sequestering herself in her room before she did something rash to the stallion.

She was tired of hearing his spiel, his constant pleading for forgiveness and trust. She was being generous with her words by not calling him every obscenity she could think of and kicking him out, but that’s all she could give him.

“Hey-hey AJ!” Her ears twitched at the sound of Berry’s muffled voice. “What’s my big handsome stallion up to?” A little voice somewhere inside her head pointed out that he sounded happy now…it reassured her that he would shed no more tears. It reminded her that as long as he was happy everything was golden, that’s what this was about.

“Okay…I forgive you, Applejack.” Rarity stood up and listened, a silence came from the other side. “But just because I forgive does not mean I forget, and neither should you, Berry.” With her magic she opened the door, expecting to see two stallions happy about her forgiveness. Instead she saw two stallions kissing passionately. “And I will not be able to forget this either, thank you both for that…” With a wave of her horn, the two were separated.

“Aww c’mon Rarity, I need my apple-flavored kisses.” Berry smiled and blew a kiss at Applejack, who was too busy looking ashamed of himself to reciprocate the gesture.

“Yes. I’m sure you do, but I have a seven year old running loose around here-and while I’m sure kissing is no big deal-I don’t want to have to explain anything I do not have to. Berry that means that whatever you do in your room on your own time, keep it quiet and make sure the door is locked.” Rarity pulled a key from her own boudoir that belonged to the guestroom and gave it to her new housemate. Inwardly, she hoped that neither herself or Sweetie Belle walked in on Berry doing anything lewd and/or lascivious. She knew how stallions were, and Sweetie did not need to figure it out.

“Wait…what?” Applejack had caught all of what Rarity said, but he was certain he was missing something. “Why are you stayin’ in Rarity’s guestroom, Sugarcube?” He was sure Berry had a room pro bono from his employers.

“Oh, right.” Berry giggled and smacked himself on the forehead. “Totally forgot to tell you; Cakes are going to start charging me rent or make me stop throwing parties. I couldn’t decide-y’know because I hate making tough decisions, it hurts my thinker box-so Rarity said I could stay here!” Applejack fully understood what was said, Rarity was still hung-up on the words ‘thinker box.’

“Why didn’t you come to me, Berry? You know I would take ya in.” Truth be told, he was a tad hurt. He always told Berry that if he was ever in need, he could come to the Apple Family…then again their little spat yesterday changed just a few things.

“I know AJ, but I also know how Granny Smith is around me. No offense to her-old ponies are awesome, after all they have the best stories-but I don’t like how she thinks all gay stallions are foal-fiddlers. It makes me uncomfortable.” Eh…yeah. That. Like Big Mac said: Old thinking. Outdated. But it’s how she was…and it made him all the more nervous about coming out to his family.

“Do not worry yourself, Applejack. Berry will be fine here.” Rarity gave the larger stallion a little nudge with her magic, signaling he should go. “I still have to make dinner and check over Sweetie Belle’s homework.” Rarity trotted off, warily leaving the two stallions alone.

“Well…see ya tomorrow?” Applejack was slightly annoyed that Rarity was rushing him. He was still making-up with his coltfriend, there’s no rushing that.

“Well I still need to go back to Sugarcube Corner to tell ‘em Twilight isn’t coming and that I’m moving. You can come with me!” Berry, without waiting for a response, grabbed Applejack’s hoof and pulled him along.

--

Twilight was surrounded by books. Now I know what you’re thinking; ‘She’s always surrounded by books, she lives in a library.’ I know, now quit being a smartass and pay attention, there’s exposition coming up.

Stacks and stacks of books surrounded the purple librarian. Most of them were old and well-read tomes on magical theory and psychology. There were some that were rarely read and she had to get Spike to search for them. Such tomes were; Bonding Spells: A Creepy Guide to Keeping Your Loved Ones Close, Guilt and How to Cause It, Self Hate: How to Get Over The Pain of Hating Yourself, and Homophobia: The Wonderful World of Gay-Bashing! You can see why these books were rarely read…

The mare was forming a plan, well revising a series of plans that she had yet to choose one from. Plan #1 wouldn’t work, it meant getting passports and that was a pain in the flank. Plan #2 involved the moon, so Luna’s approval was needed…and Plans #3-199 all involved murder and/or rape/slavery….so those were a definite no.

Plans #200-203 were promising though…perhaps if she combined them. Surely it wouldn’t be difficult…it might take some ingenuity to alter the Want It, Need It spell that much…and bonding spells were a pain.

This could work. But it would take cunning…it would take skill, it would take a week of stalking her prey and learning his every move so she could set up a-*Ding Dong* Doorbell? When did the library get a doorbell? The library didn’t have a doorbell.

Suspiciously, Twilight got up and headed to the door. With her magic she sorted away the various books that might arouse suspicion into the bookshelves, she didn’t want any incriminating evidence before a crime was even committed.

She opened the door with a fake smile and good intentions to tell this pony to leave, now. However she was surprised, neigh, shocked to find herself face-to-face with Applejack and Berry Bubble. The former was looking awfully ashamed while the latter was knocking on the doorframe, a doorbell sound coming from every knock.

“Hey Twi…” He spoke in his rich accent, his dulcet tones flooding her ears with a sense of pure bliss. It was weird, she had never noticed just how attractive his voice was…

“Hiya Twi-ya!” Berry piped up. His voice was like hooves on a chalkboard, excruciating to even think about let alone hear. She flinched when the pink stallion spoke. “Jackie here wanted to talk to you before we headed over to Sugarcube Corner.”

“Sure. C’mon in Applejack.” She smiled warmly and held the door open. Once the farm pony was inside, she slammed it shut just as Berry was bouncing in, leaving the pony’s nose to meet with solid oak. “So what’s up?” Twilight was desperately trying to hold herself together…but the more she stared at his ruggedly handsome features, the harder it was.

“Well I came to apologize…I’m mighty sorry about cancellin’ our date like that.” The stallion automatically took his hat off of his head and looked towards the floor. “My life’s been a twister over the last couple of days…not a lot of time to go and think things through. Can I be honest with you Twi?” Twilight nodded her head vigorously. “I didn’t even agree to the date, RD just told me to go.”

Have you ever had your dreams crushed? No? Well it’s a little like the first time that you’re told Santa isn’t real. That shock and disbelief? Yeah, now add a little internal pain and a sprinkle of crippling depression and there you have Twilight’s state of mind right now.

Kudos to her though, she hid it well. Not a muscle on her face twitched, not a hair in her mane moved, not even her pupils dilated. Pure stillness.

“Well, it’s fine AJ. I perfectly understand…it was nice talking to you, maybe we can hang out tomorrow?” Sometimes when your mind goes into a severe emotional shock, your subconscious takes over and just sets you on auto-pilot. Twilight’s was leading her out of the danger zone by getting Applejack out of here.

“Well sure Twi, I’d like that.” The stallion gave a country grin and popped his hat back on. “I’ll meet’cha here when I got the time to.” Satisfied that it all went well, the stallion left his shocked friend behind.

“I don’t know why you’re shocked.” An extremely squeaky and high-pitched voice called out from Twilight’s periphery. When her brain finally decided to turn it’s head, she was met with a most unusual sight; it was her…only a lot smaller, and a pair of wings sprouting from her back. “He came out. Honestly, why are you surprised that he didn’t even accept the date?”

“W-What are you…?” Those were the only words to escape from Twilight’s mouth, albeit in a mumble of sorts.

“Oh you can speak! How interesting, it seemed you were a mute when Tall, Orange, and Homosexual was talking to you.” The little purple alicorn flew from Twilight’s shoulder and landed on her muzzle, causing the unicorn to cross her eyes. “As to what I am. Well you read ‘Delusions of the Stressed Mind.’ Figure it out, genius.” The snaky little alicorn was actually bringing Twilight out of her shocked state.

“Y-You’re a delusion? But why do you have wings?” Twilight, always one to question inaccuracies. Good on her.

“No clue. Maybe it’s because all of those cheesy clichés of characters always become alicorns in the stories? Or maybe it’s because you secretly want to have them. Either way these wings are awesome!” Twilight was honestly confused about the little enigma on her nose. She didn’t feel stressed enough to create the delusion that was preening itself upon her nose, then again a mind was an incredibly complex thing that could be very temperamental.

In order to calm her troubled mind, Twilight closed her eyes…only to hear the voice again. “Hey, hey Twilight. Look.” Twilight opened her eyes to see her little delusion in a very familiar looking blue hat and cape with fireworks erupting all around it. “I am the GREAT AND POWERFUL TWIXIE!”

With that joke out of it’s system, the delusion fell to its knees laughing uncontrollably, it’s little props disappearing one by one.

This was going to be a long night…

--

“Well she took that well.” Applejack told the pink pony, who was still rubbing his sore nose. “Not surprised though, Twi’s a level-headed pony.” Applejack gave a slight smile. “I’m actually glad everything’s coming up roses for once.”

“Well what’d you expect, silly? Ponyville’s an super-awesome place with super-accepting ponies. Ooh! Does this mean you’ll finally come to Pokey’s Poker Night with me?” Berry’s eyes lit up at the thought of going to the famous all-gay poker night held by Pokey Pierce with his coltfriend.

“Uh…I don’t know about that, Berry. Im not good at poker. Remember that time we all played it? Y’all took me to the cleaners.” Applejack’s wallet still hurt from that night. So many bits lost to the cosmic powers of Berry Bubble.

“That’s where I got my first kiss from you~” Berry said in a sing-song voice, almost mocking the bigger stallion. “Couldn’t pay your debts, so I settled for a kiss. You fell for me like a rock in a pond~” Okay, now he was definitely mocking him.

“Now hold up. Y’act like I was the only one with a crush. If I do recall, you came to the farm beggin’ for a little piece of Applejack in your life.” That barb got the pink pony to blush and turn away.

“Can you blame me?” He asked innocently.

“Not for a second.” Applejack responded quietly.

“No way!” Both stallions turned their head to see Lyra Heartstrings, a local musician, sitting on a park bench in her usual manner. “I knew you were gay!” She shouted triumphantly. “Bon Bon so owes me!” In a fit of joy, the unicorn galloped off, her lyre flying behind her.

This rumor was going to spread faster than a rash in a nudist colony.

Quickly, both stallions made their way to Sugarcube Corner without another word. Mainly because Applejack told Berry to keep his gob shut so the rumor didn’t spread with the voracity of a wildfire through Appleloosa.

Once at the eatery, Berry unlocked the front door with a key he produced from his now in-check mane. How none of that stuff was discovered by Rarity or Sweetie Belle, no one knew.

“Hey Cake Family! I’m back!” The bakery was lit rather romantically, candles  decorated a few choice places, giving the usually sickly sweet décor a more subdued look to it. Even Applejack had to admit the atmosphere had shifted dramatically, as had the  smell. Usually the constant smell of burnt sugar pervaded the establishment, but now only pleasant scents wafted from the back room.

“Hello, Dear.” Mrs. Cake called from the Bakery proper. In a moment the plump blue pony entered, her usually icing stained attire replaced by a fancy looking apron. “Oh, hello Applejack. Sorry dearie, but the bakery’s closed for a private event tonight. Berry wasn’t supposed to bring anypony except Twilight and her date over.”

“Actually Mrs. Cake. I was Twilight’s date.” Applejack gave a nervous smile to the proprietor.

“Oh, congratulations!”  Mrs. Cake’s smile only widened. “I knew I saw something in you two-wait did you say was?”

“Uh, yeah. Y’see, I sorta didn’t actually say I would go on a date…Rainbow Dash just told me to go and left before I could say anything else…well that and the fact that I’m dating Berry.” The last statement caught Mrs. Cake on the chin, causing her to give a look to Berry, who was cradling a baby alligator in his hooves.

“I sure can flip ‘em, can’t I Mrs. Cake?” Berry gave a wry smile as the baby gator clamped down on his hoof and began gumming it to death.

“Yes Berry…” Mrs. Cake deadpanned. That was five stallions Berry had now pulled out of the closet in Ponyville alone. Honestly she was a little worried that something about the stallion just up and turned others gay like something out of a ridiculous story.

“Oh, I also kinda made up my mind about the rent thing.” At that, Mrs. Cake’s melancholy lifted and her prospect of recuperating a profit from the bakery. “I’m moving out!” And there went her hopes of making a little money from her employee.

“W-What? To where?” Shocked, that what she was. After all, what else could she be? She was dead certain that Berry would pick living here for rent before he gave p parties.

“Well Rarity offered me her guest room free of charge, so I’ll be there.” Before Mrs. Cake could formulate a sentence, Berry picked up the pace. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your mane by tomorrow. But Imma stay one last night here.” In a flash the pink pony and his coltfriend were gone up the stairs, leaving a stunned Mrs. Cake in their wake.

“Berry, I really need to be getting home. The work may be done for the day, but I have to get up early in the morning.” Applejack was being dragged through the upper hallway by his hoof. He wasn’t positive how Berry pulled his full weight around, but he did.

“Don’t worry, AJ. I need to get up early tomorrow too! Those ovens won’t start themselves.” Once the couple had crossed the threshold of Berry’s room, the door closed by itself. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t stay the night…right?” Berry gave him the look. Early on Applejack learned it was impossible for him to resist: Pouty lips, teary eyes, and a voice so sweet you could contract diabetes from it.

“Alright, alright…but I’m mighty hungry at the moment. Think we could grab some dinner?” Applejack’s stomach rumbled to reinforce his point. “See? He agrees.”

“Ooh. Rarity said she was making dinner! Let’s eat there!” Berry was already pulling him, but Applejack stopped them both by digging his hooves into the carpet beneath them.

“Whoa there. All the way across town again? I don’t know if I can do that, my stomach’s mighty hungry.” Applejack’s stomach growled even louder.

“Oh don’t worry, I can get us over there lickity-split!” Berry smiled widely, crazily almost, and held Applejack’s hooves tightly. The world around the duo started to melt away in what could only be described as a euphoric sense of majesty.

“Wh-what’s that voice?” Applejack asked in a panicky voice.

“Oh, that’s just the narrator. Ignore him, he’s just here to help.” Berry explained calmly as the world started to come back together once more. To Applejack the voice faded into the ether and from it sprang the visage of Carousel Boutique in all of its glory. It was pure magic, Applejack decided. He wasn’t sure how Berry did it, he didn’t want to know, but it was pure magic. He knew that much.

“I…Berry. Never do that again…are we clear?” Applejack felt a tad bit nauseous from the experience, but he pushed it back down so he could gather his thoughts. “I don’t know what that was…but never again.”

“Oki-Doki-Loki!” Berry chirped as he turned towards the towering carousel. “Now come on, dinner’s going to go cold.”