Decisions Decisions

Five years had passed, since Anon had made his fateful decision, and he couldn’t be happier. Having steeled his resolve and informed his friends of his choice, things had worked out surprisingly smoothly. Not a single one of his companions had abandoned him, taking his selection in stride. As time passed and the various students graduated, he kept in contact with everybody; it wasn’t that difficult either, considering most of them lived in or near Ponyville. Hell, Twilight had even decided to free Cozy Glow, although she was placed in the newly minted Friendship Gulag near the Crystal Empire.

Even before her graduation, Silverstream had figured out what she wanted to do with her life. Having set her sights on a very particular job at the School of Friendship, she’d begun an apprenticeship with Starlight Glimmer in her junior year. In the end, all her hard work had paid off; after getting her degree, she was offered a position as the institution’s counselor.

…

“Anon, you won’t believe what happened today!” Silver excitedly squawked, bursting into their on-campus apartment.

“Whazza -” Anon blurted, jarred from his slumber. Even after all these years, he’d retained his job as the academy’s resident custodian. As pleased as he was with keeping his position, being afforded the opportunity to watch students grow and prosper, several aspects of his life had changed.

For starters, his apartment had seen a rather substantial renovation; now comprised of two bedrooms, a den, a kitchen, and a spacious bathroom, his abode was larger than it had ever been. It was a necessary adjustment, of course, given that he’d been living with his wife for nearly half a decade. Twilight had warned him that hippogriffs tended to grow well past puberty and - boy howdy - she was not kidding.

Apparently, bird-cat-horses hit full physical maturity significantly later than many species in Equestria. By the time Silver had stopped getting taller, she stood nearly at eye-level with her bipedal paramour - hell, she’d eventually wound up as big as Princess Celestia! Besides the substantially increased height, she’d recently been growing in a slightly different way.

“Anon,” Silver bleated, rushing over and shaking the man by the shoulders, “one of the students said I reminded them of their mom!” Grinning from ear to feathered ear, she beamed down at her bipedal paramour.

Smiling up at her, that last word caused Anon’s gaze to wander towards her belly. He couldn’t have guessed that the two of them could procreate, but that hadn’t stopped it from eventually happening. Honestly, taking into account that they’d never used any form of contraception, he shouldn’t have been that surprised with the inevitable outcome - still, after receiving news that they’d be expecting a foal, they were both pleasantly amazed.

“Guess it’s not bad practice is it, huh?” he hummed, pushing himself up from his seat. Lovingly stroking her cheek, he leaned in and gave her beak a little peck.

“Hey, didn’t you say that one of the kids mentioned you having a - how did you put it - dad bod?” she snickered, countering his small kiss with one of her own.

“Ugh - don’t remind me,” Anon groaned, pinching his midsection. Despite his best efforts, he still hadn’t gotten himself going to the gym regularly.

“I don’t see why it’s a problem,” Silver tutted, reaching up and gingerly lifting his face towards her, “after all, you’re going to be the best dad ever…” Punctuating the sweet remark with a second, markedly more passionate kiss, she closed her eyes.

Back when she was a young mare, she would be lucky enough to meet a kinder, more gentle soul than Anon. To her, it didn’t matter that he was a different species or from another world altogether - the only thing that did matter was that they were made for one another. Two kindred spirits, brought together by the strangest twist of fate, destined to be with one another.

Anon’s fingers drifted through the hippogriff’s mane, as he leaned into her. She was, in a very real sense, everything he could have ever dreamt of in a lover. Cheerful, good-natured, quirky, and she always managed to raise his spirits. Now with a child on the way, he was one step closer to the iconic fantasy of raising a family.

“Mmmmm,” Silver contentedly hummed into him, savoring the moment. Unfurling her wings, folding the feathered appendages around his back, she pulled her face away. “So, did you have any plans for our afternoon?”

As with a great many of his days off, he was pleased enough to wile away his time - well, almost. There was one thing he looked forward to, without fail. No matter how difficult his work was, how many toilets he’d had to unclog, or how persistent the stains in the arts and crafts room were, one thing made it all worth it; coming home and seeing his wife’s beautiful face - yeah, that always made his troubles melt away.

“Well, since the weather is nice, how about a walk, followed by some dinner in town, then maybe get some ice cream at Sugarcube Corner?” Anon mused, peering into her violet eyes.

As silly as it sounded, he found the simple life that fate had gifted him profoundly rewarding. By many accounts, his routine was boring and pedestrian; he worked five days a week, did his best to keep his affairs in order, and tended to his wife and unborn child’s needs - still, as bland as it seemed, he couldn’t be happier. He could never have imagined fortune would have thrust him into such a satisfying state of existence, although it was as close to heaven as he could imagine.

He was not rich, he’d lost the home and friends he once had, yet he’d found something so much more worthwhile. What he’d gained, the love of a fair creature he’d thought was little more than a legend, overshadowed anything his old world could afford him. It was one in a million - no, even rarer than that, but he’d managed to find his soul mate.

“Maybe we can get the ice cream first?” she demurely inquired, flicking a strand of sky blue hair away from her face.

“Normally, I wouldn’t want to ruin my meal; but for you,” Anon whispered, reluctant to let her go, “sure.”

Laughing to themselves, hand in wing, the pair eventually made their way out for the evening. Like many afternoons before and many afternoons which were yet to come, they relished their time with one another. It didn’t matter where they were or what they were doing; so long as they were together, happiness would be with them.