What Happened To Yesterday

“Smile smile smile~!” The wondrous tenor sang through Carousel Boutique, amazingly only one soul had been awoken by it. Granted it was before she wanted to wake up, but the voice wasn’t an unpleasant thing to be awoken by.

The little unicorn peered into the bathroom, what she saw made her giggle. Berry was sitting on a stool, hooves full of pomade in his mane. Even though he seemed to be failing, his singing voice was jubilant.

“Umm Berry, do you need help?” The stallion looked down at her surprised. His song, effectively cut off, tapered off to nothing.

“I don’t know how you and Rarity do it. This stuff is all oily and blech!” he held his now shiny hooves out for her to see. “I can’t do anything with it.”

“That’s because we can use our magic. Now your hooves are going to smell like that all day.” Berry hopped off the stool so Sweetie could hop onto it. “I wanna know how you can sing like that. It’s beautiful.” Said the little filly as she pulled herself onto the stool.

“Tell you what kiddo, you help me with my mane and I’ll teach you how to sing my song.” Berry knew he might be cheating when it came to directing Sweetie Belle to her cutie mark, but it was worth it.

“Really?” She asked with wide, excited eyes.

“Really really.”

With that, Sweetie Belle took over fixing his mane. Her unpracticed magic gently worked his mane, it already had more than enough product in it, so she didn’t need to add more. The little filly expertly recalled how her sister had done it just yesterday and soon enough she had a picture perfect mane for Berry Bubble.

“Done!” The squeaky unicorn chirped once her job was done. She sat as Berry examined it, even if it wasn’t perfect he wouldn’t say anything negative about it, but it was perfect.

“Love it!” The pink stallion exclaimed, his blue eyes lit up with the usual vigor. “Guess I gotta hold up my end of the deal, huh?” The white unicorn nodded. “Alright, let’s just start out with the chorus. It’s super fun to sing!” With that, he launched into teaching his new charge his most practiced song.

--

“Urgh…” Applejack sat up, now noticing the body beside him had left sometime during the night. His head turned around the blanket-room, Berry was nowhere to be seen. Neither was his hat for that matter. Now Applejack knew Berry loved his hat, but he had told the rambunctious stallion over and over again that it was not to be taken or worn without his permission.

The muscular stallion stood up and stretched out his tight muscles, trying to force the sleep out of his system. He needed to find Berry before the pony ruined his hat somehow.

Quietly, the stallion pushed the blankets that acted as a door out of the way. Instead of finding a larger room like he expected, he was met with Granny Smith’s disapproving glare.

“Granny…? How did I get here…?” Applejack looked around the kitchen of the Apple Family’s homestead. He could’ve sworn he was at Rarity’s when he went to sleep.

“I always knew you were a good fer nothin’ Colt Cuddler!” The anger in his usually kind Granny’s voice sent him to his rump. “I always knew it! To think I let you in the same house with Applebloom. You  probably done stuff to her!” He could feel his throat tighten at the accusation.

“Wh-what? I would never…Granny…you know I would never hurt Applebloom.” Applejack could feel his Granny’s hate radiating off of her, her disappointment boring into his core.

“You stay here, I’m gonna gather up a posse and run that pink prissy right outta my town!” Miraculously, an entire crowd of Apple Family members appeared behind the matriarch, pitchforks and torches primed. All of them were calling for Berry’s blood.

“N-No! You can’t hurt him!” Applejack stood up on shaky legs, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing…what was happening. It was a nightmare!

“Applejack!” The soft voice came from somewhere in the crowd. It was Berry, he could tell. Applejack wanted to tell the colt to run, to run away as far as he could and never come back, but no words would come.

“Applejack!” He wanted to tell him one last time that he loved him, but no sound would was leaving his mouth.

“Applejack!” He just wanted to protect Berry, not just from everything out there…but from his own family. He closed his eyes as the crowd turned on something, the tears started when he heard pitchforks digging into flesh.

“APPLEJACK!”

The orange stallion sat up, sweat covering most of his face. He looked around, Berry wasn’t here! Where was he? The worst came to mind.

“Applejack! You had a nightmare…you alright?” His little sister was sitting at the opening to his blanket room. He needed to make sure this was real…he needed to make sure what he saw wasn’t. That…nightmare was way too real.

“W-Where’s Berry…?” His heart was racing, as was his mind. He couldn’t let what he saw come to pass.

“He’s singin’ in the bathroom with Sweetie. Why?” In an instant, Applejack was up on his hooves and running through the blanket fort. As soon as he exited it, he made a beeline for the bathroom.

He stopped when he saw what his little sister had said. Berry was sitting next to Sweetie Belle on the floor, one hoof on her back and one on her chest to keep her posture right. The little filly was belting out a tune that Berry sang often. To Applejack the important thing was that Berry was indeed fine.

Applejack hesitated, he wanted to tackle the stallion to the ground and kiss him until they both couldn’t breathe. On the other hoof…he didn’t want what he saw to become a reality. The lingering image of his family out for blood flashed across his mind, the pain of hearing them calling for Berry’s head.

He decided to not tackle Berry, instead just walk back to the main room. He needed to think things over…

“That was really good, Sweetie. Can we try the whole song now?” Berry had seen Applejack and had decided he was going to see what was wrong as soon as he was done with Sweetie Belle.

--

“You cannot believe your eyes, Twilight Sparkle. Even now your mind starts to falter.” The little creature known as Twilacorn sat above its sleeping host. “Once my plan starts to appear, it will you who will be the pony to fear.” The little alicorn let out a throaty laugh.

--

“Smiiiiiiiiiiiiile~!” The duet finished in a marvelous demonstration of talent. Berry loved hearing the filly’s voice, it was a delight to hear. Even more than his own. Once the note had died off, Berry glanced down at the little songster. He had to suppress the biggest smile he ever could imagine when he saw a navy blue music note upon the little filly’s usually bare flank.

“D-Did I do good?” Sweetie Belle was out of breath, she had never sang a song like that before. Well, not that long anyways. It left her feeling like she could go to sleep for another eight hours.

“You did great, kiddo.” Berry ruffled her already messed up mane, a huge grin plastered across his face. “In fact, I think you can sing with me anytime!” He wrapped his hooves tightly around Sweetie Belle. He was so proud of her, but he couldn’t tell her why. He wanted her to realize she was all grown up by herself.

“Yay…” Sweetie Belle could feel the stallion crushing the air out of her, but she knew that Berry knew his limits. Sure enough, he let her go just as she started turning blue.

“Now how about you get some bowls set up for breakfast?” She gave a nod and trotted off. Berry turned to look at the mirror, a dapper looking stallion looked back at him. He wasn’t sure where his life was taking him, but two paths were in front of him. Both of them portraying how his life might be, no finite path. “No time for that Berry..” He reminded himself, something was wrong with AJ.

He exited the bathroom and headed to the main room. Where both Applebloom and Applejack were taking down the blanket fort. A cursory glance revealed that Scootaloo was still asleep on a little pallet that was set aside. The poor little thing probably wasn’t used to waking up before the sun.

“Good morning!” Berry cheered happily to those who were awake. Both of the Apple siblings ignored him and continued their work. “Sheesh, tough crowd…” He decided that it was due to the work that was going on, those Apples submerged themselves in their work completely. So he sat.

He waited until they were all done folding up the multitude of blankets that were used in the creation of the now destroyed blanket fort. He trotted over to the stallion he called his love and hugged him from behind.

“Berry…” Applejack audibly sighed. “Can we…do this later?” Berry let go, even he sensed the usual reluctance that AJ had, but it was stronger now. It was as if he was actively trying to push him away.

“Alright…I’ll just go check in with Sweetie Belle, then.” He trudged off to the kitchen, where Sweetie was putting bowls onto the table. She was still blissfully unaware of her own special talent. “Hey.”

“Oh hi Berry.” Sweetie hopped up into a chair, all of the bowls on the table. “Wanna eat?” He nodded and sat right next to his little friend. They both looked over the assortment of cereals at their disposal. Berry chose an apple flavored one, considering it was his newest favorite flavor, and Sweetie chose the chocolatey one that turned your milk into chocolate milk. Both admirable choices.

Once their cereals were poured, Berry took the job of pouring the milk. He wasn’t sure just how much the filly could lift with her magic, but he didn’t want to test her limits. Once that was done, they ate in silence until the Apple siblings filed in.

“Morning Sweetie.” They both said at once, the filly whose mouth was full of cereal could only nod back. Sadly, Berry noticed the distinct lack of his good morning. He wanted to say it to them, but he could feel that something was off with the both of them.

They both chose the apple flavored cereal as well, no big surprise there, and Applejack poured the milk for both him and his little sister.

For the first time in a long time, a table that Berry was sitting at sat in silence. It was odd for him, and probably only him. He could imagine that the Apples and Sweetie Belle were used to eating in silence, look at their families. But not him, he was usually energetic and always talking, or the Cake Twins were there. No meal was silent with those two at the table.

Berry and Applejack were the first to finish their meals, they were grown stallions after all. They could wolf down any meal in ten seconds flat, cereal was nothing. So they both got up at the same time, Berry saw it as fate. When they were out of earshot of the fillies, Berry approached his coltfriend.

“Hey AJ, why so cold this morning…?” Applejack put his bowl in the sink, giving Berry the chance to lean on him affectionately. “I didn’t want to leave you, but I needed to figure out my mane. It’s like a hairy puzzle now or something!” He let out a laugh, hoping Applejack would pick it up. He didn’t.

“It’s fine, Berry.” Applejack was hurting. He wanted to embrace Berry and never let him go, but something was stopping him. His own conscience. He could feel that if he and Berry went all the way with this thing, that he would get hurt. His nightmare reinforced that, heck it was a sign. He couldn’t go on with this without Berry getting physically hurt. “But…I-I can’t do this anymore.”

“Can’t do what, Jackie?” Applejack knew this was going to hurt, he just had to be quick like a band-aid.

“Us. I can’t do this thing with me and you…together. I-It’s too tough, alright? My life is just…it’s busy alright?” Okay, so the excuse wasn’t elegant. It didn’t need to be, the point just needed to get across. “I can’t devote myself to a relationship that is stressing’ me this much. With apple buckin’ season happenin’ and cider season coming up…it’s not going to work.” His own heart was hurting, he could only imagine what Berry was feeling.

Berry was devastated. His heart was collapsing in on itself again. The second time this week…it was…it was…he didn’t have a word extreme enough to explain his hurt. He just knew he was hurt…but he also knew there was a little filly in the next room who had gotten her cutie mark today and he wasn’t going to ruin her day by breaking down in front of her.

“Okay, AJ…whatever you want.” He said it in a voice that was barely a whisper. He was containing himself, barely. He could feel that one little thing trying to break, something in the back of his mind that he kept caged. But it was trying to break out and consume him now.

Applejack just nodded, he was trying to hold back the tears as well. It was hard though, he just had to remind him it was to protect everypony involved in this.

“OH MY CELESTIA! MY CUTIE MARK!” Both stallions turned on their heels to see Sweetie Belle’s eyes practically glued to her own flank. “MY CUTIE MARK!” The little filly let loose a scream so high pitched and loud that both Rarity and Scootaloo could be heard waking up from it.

In a flash Applebloom was at her side, mouth agape. The earth filly even touched it to make sure it wasn’t fake. It was not.

“I can’t believe it…” Applebloom landed on her rump, physically stunned.

Sweetie Belle had contained herself, she brought her scream of enjoyment into a single smile that said all it needed to; She had earned her cutie mark. She embraced Berry as he approached, putting two and two together and realizing his song did the trick.

“Thank you so much Berry! I-I owe you so much…” She was crying, she could feel the tears stream down her face and onto Berry’s coat. He returned the hug two-fold, and it felt so good.

“What is going on in here?” Rarity entered the room in her robe, curlers still in her hair, and her sleep mask raised above her horn. “All I ask for is silence at this ungodly ho….ur….” Her voice tapered off when her eyes hit the blue music note on her sister’s flank. “Sweetie Belle….is that…?”

“I got my cutie mark, Rarity!” With those six words, Rarity’s magic snatched Sweetie from Berry’s grasp and pulled her into her own monumental hug.

“My sister finally got her cutie mark!” Rarity looked towards the ceiling, dramatic tears flowing from her eyes. “Thank you for blessing us, Celestia!” Both Berry and Applejack rolled their eyes at the drama queen’s antics. “I cannot believe it, a singer. My Sweetie Belle is going to be a singer.” The hug turned into a gentle and proud thing that everypony could admire, it was what every sibling wanted to give their own at one point.

“Berry helped me, Rarity. He taught me his Smile song earlier.” Sweetie was returning the hug, she may have been the happiest that she was in her short life but she knew who to attribute it to.

Rarity’s eyes turned to the pink party pony, who was smiling as wide as she had ever seen him. She could only admit one thing…that stallion had definitely earned his place here.

--

Berry crept into Sugarcube Corner quietly, there was no need for the Cakes to know he left last night. As if on auto-pilot, he went into the kitchen and cranked on the ovens. It was what he did every morning, the Cakes needed their rest since they had twins that woke them up regularly.

His mind wandered while he went about the usual business. While he was ecstatic about Sweetie Belle getting her cutie mark, he was perplexed by Applejack. Just yesterday the stallion had him pinned against a wall, tongue in his mouth, and had begged for him to come back. Heck, he’d even come out of the closet to prove his love…so why did he do a complete one-eighty?

Berry racked his mind for the answer. He had been just as affectionate as usual, he had made sure not to flaunt Applejack, he’d even avoided the conversation of homosexuality whenever Applejack had obviously shrugged the subject off.

Then it hit him…Lyra. This thing was going to spread. Applejack wasn’t ready for that…and if he wasn’t actually dating a stallion, he could deny it completely. Plausible deniability. But why didn’t he just say that? Why did he have to crush Berry’s heart?

Berry wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.

--

“So are you and Berry…y’know?” Applebloom wanted to get her mind off of the fact that her dopiest friend had gotten her cutie mark first. It had been gnawing at her, then again so had this. Whatever this brought would be better than just walking home in silence.

“No Applebloom…we’re friends. He’s just…affectionate.” See? Applebloom knew that was the case, after all what kind of colt would actually date another colt?  It was silly. “Sweetie Belle doesn’t know what she’s talkin’ about, alright?” And there it was, that made Applebloom all the more confident about herself.

“I knew it.”

“You’re not jealous of Sweetie Belle, are you Applebloom?” Applejack nudged his little sister with his hoof. He needed to get his mind off of Berry and his little sister was not helping.

“Who, me? Jealous?” She made a sound that was somewhere between a scoff and a snort. “I’m not jealous. That one of my best friends in the world, who happens to be an airhead, got her cutie mark before me? That’s ridiculous.” Applejack just raised his eyebrow. “Okay!” The filly cried out. “I’m jealous! I’m happy for her, but I’m just so…mad. We were supposed to get our cutie marks together!”

“Together?”

“Yeah, like you and your friends. Together…I mean look at you guys, you’re closer than anything. I just want that for us…” Applebloom let her head fall, a heavy hoof landed on her back.

“Y’know how rare that is? It’s a miracle that even happened, AB. Trust me, you can’t use my life as a template for yours…you don’t want my life. It’s too crazy. What you need to do is just roll with the punches, alright? Take what life throws at you and just make it work.” Applebloom nodded, her brother was usually right…and this might be one of those usually times.