Endeavour To

“Ya still ah-live in there?” Applejack’s voice came through the door of the newly refurbished master bedroom of the barn-house at Sweet Apple Acres.

Big McIntosh Apple didn’t reply immediately, he just kept staring at his reflection in the long mirror in the corner for a while longer. It had been a long, dull day yesterday, fishing with Magnum and Uncle Fil’. It had been a longer night once some of his kinfolk had arrived.

“Eeyup,” he finally croaked back.

“It’s almost three,” his sister’s voice replied, “and the ceremony is at four-thirty so ya’d best be getting a move on.”

There was an edge in his sister’s voice, albeit a hidden one, but he’d known Applejack easily long enough to know her mannerisms. The elder of his two younger sisters was headstrong, prideful, and stubborn. He knew from the start she didn’t like this arrangement.

The thought of him bringing the former bully of their baby sister even partly into the family, specifically to sire foals off of under contract, was galling to AJ. She’d just as soon watch Diamond Tiara get run out of town on a rail for what she and Silver Spoon had done over the years to Apple Bloom and her friends. It didn’t matter what it would mean to Uncle Fil’ and Aunt Sil’, not that AJ thought even remotely of Diamond Tiara’s parents in the same light he did.

AJ, Mac knew, could hold a grudge, not that she showed it at times, but she did. Even though Apple Bloom and the others had long gotten over the teasing and harassment that Diamond and Silver had levelled on them, it was Applejack that was still hot under the collar over it all this time later. It hadn’t made getting Diamond settled any easier, that was for certain.

Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, had been initially pretty low on the idea too, but had warmed to it once she had had some time to think on it. He remembered finding her sitting in the family grove one evening staring at their parents’ graves. The young pony had been obviously crying, wet stains running down her muzzle as she had turned her head up at the sound of his approach.

“Big brother,” she’d started out, “I don’t like this contract y’r getting involved in with Diamond Tiara’s family. I don’t understand it.” She’d looked back to the graves of their parents for a second before continuing. “But I know it’s something that Ma ‘n’ Pa wanted an’ all …”

Apple Bloom’s face showed she was about to break as her lower lip quivered, but she forced the words out.

“I… I… never really knew Ma ‘n’ Pa,” the little red maned olive-blond pony sniffled a moment, “but if I can help give them this last wish, I will.”

At that point she’d finally lost it and Mac had pulled his little sister to him and let her cry herself out against his chest.

In some ways Apple Bloom was less a sister, and more a daughter to him. He’d had no small part in raising her. He’d worked hard to put food in her belly, see that she did her homework. Sure, she was close to AJ, and sisters should be. There were things about life best leaned from another mare after all. Still, AB’s approval and cooperation meant the world to him on this.

The stud contract meant a lot to him too, for his parents’ memory and for the family’s legacy, both families. AJ had no inclinations to get hitched anytime soon. She was married to the farm like he was, despite her participation in far more diverse array of social venues like rodeo competitions.

Apple Bloom hadn’t even been born yet when that last contract was originally negotiated. Granny Smith had told him that the contract with Diamond Tiara was originally made hoping Apple Bloom would have been a colt, that the two might grow up as friends and then let nature take its course. AB had been right shocked when he’d told her about that part a day or so after the whole deal had been finalized. In the end, though, the both of them had had a right good laugh over it.

Of course in the end Apple Bloom and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, all eight* in Ponyville, had gotten together and had the renovations completed on the family’s home in record time it seemed. They’d also adapted one of the farm’s out buildings for use as a Breeding Shed, or as it was more commonly known a ‘Love Shack’ for him and Diamond to use that first night. Apple Bloom and the CMC volunteers had been really proud of their work. Particularly when one little colt by the name of Rip Saw had gotten his cutie mark as a result.

AJ, though, had been saddled with the task of showing Diamond the ropes around the farm, as it were. Mostly that entailed Diamond helping out AJ at the market stand and helping Granny with housework while moving some of her belongings in.

While Diamond’s cooking skills were not that far above Sweetie Belle’s, market sales were showing gains. AJ, though, took every opportunity she had to get Diamond to buckle on a harness and haul, pull, and carry, much to the prissy pink pony’s dislike. Not that Mac minded. Diamond had always been a rather soft pony for the most part, but three weeks under AJ’s supervision had caused the younger pony no small amount of grief and had only cost her a little dignity, and a little more unneeded body fat. Diamond’s muscle tone was also showing improvement, her flanks especially, after AJ had her hauling the market cart back to the farm each time, her coat running in sweat from the load.

Shut up down there. Mac directed his thoughts to a twitch from below that drew his attention. You don’t even have a real brain in that head, so you don’t get a vote on the matter. And don’t you dare come out before you’re needed later. The teasing is gonna be hard enough without you vying for attention.

As young ‘John Thomas’ retreated from his scolding, Mac reached up and plucked a brushed black Stetson from a nearby dresser. Placing it atop his head, over his dark orange mane, he looked back at the pony that looked out from the mirror. It looked like the pony was going to a funeral.

Actually, the last time he’d worn his father’s good Stetson was at a funeral.

That funeral.

* * * * *

The scroll contorted itself as it floated in Twilight’s magenta magical grasp. With an audible pop the rolled parchment with its bright pink, six-pointed star embossed seal collapsed upon itself, displaced through time and space to its intended receiver.

She missed Spike. It had been strange not having her constant companion around since she had put him to sleep earlier in the spring. Having learned the scroll sending spell that Cadence, Celestia, and Luna all used to dispatch their own scrolls made things a little easier. She cast a glance from where she sat on her balcony on the upper most tier of Ponyville’s Town Hall towards her former residence of the Golden Oaks Library.

A thin streamer of dark grey smoke trailed lazily from the library chimney indicating her number one assistant was still happily snoring away. Twilight still used the living quarters of the library as a personal retreat, though her main residence was now the suite of rooms that had been renovated from the disused upper most floor of Town Hall. “Far more suitable for a princess,” Rarity had stated when the decision had been made for Twilight to relocate.

Twilight hated to admit it but it was true, the royal apartment renovation had been a breathtaking success. Between Rarity’s flair for all things extravagant and Apple Bloom’s boundless creativity, the project had been a marvellous accomplishment. Still, it would feel more like home once Spike awoke from his first draconic hibernation in the fall.

It was as Twilight was contemplating just how much Spike might grow during his hibernation that a knock on the door of her receiving room / solar drew her attention from her absent companion.

“Your Highness?” Silver Spoon’s voice emanated from the other side.

Twilight reached across the room with her thoughts and opened the door to let the silver-grey earth pony enter.

“What is this now, Silver, ninety-nine times I’ve had to remind you about when to drop protocol and just call me Twilight?” the soft mulberry-purple alicorn gently chided her young diplomatic aide.

“Actually, it would be ninety-eight, your Highness, if this counted,” the younger pony replied with dignified formality, “but, as it is after three o’clock, that puts you, according to your own personally written schedule, on official duty for the Rich-Apple handover ceremony until the end of the reception later tonight. Consequently, protocol is in full effect, your Highness.”

“Very well, Silver,” Twilight smiled as, with a whisk of thought, she replaced her writing supplies on the writing desk of the solar and sent the books she’d been reading back to their spaces on the bookshelves before entering the room herself and closing the balcony doors behind her. As the pair set about prepping Twilight for her role officiating the handover ceremony for the stud contract, Twilight took a moment to reflect on the situation.

It was nominally tradition that the mayor of the settlement where the exchange was taking place would officiate, or the caravan elders if the exchange took place away from a settled area. In Ponyville it would therefore normally be Mayor Mare who would preside over the handover. As a favour to the Apple family, Twilight, herself being an ‘honorary Apple’ like the rest of her six closest friends, had agreed to preside over the ceremony.

It was odd to think she’d agreed to officiate at the handover ceremony, but had ended up performing the hymen splitting with the ‘maiden key’ at Diamond Tiara’s maiden fete yesterday as well. It was originally to have been done by Applejack, but she had passed the opportunity to Apple Bloom, who in the end had been unwilling to do it.

Twilight had been concerned for having possibly hurt Diamond Tiara in performing the ‘key rite’, but within moments of having the deed done Diamond had been back to her normal self, claiming the remnants of tears were from Apple Bloom having choked her during the impromptu hug.

After Diamond had been cleaned up in back, and her skirt and panties put back in place, the festivities had taken an upswing. Laughter at lewd jokes regarding sex, stallions, and foals had made some of the more conservative mares blush, Twilight included. Diamond Tiara had made a point to note that she was, as a newly made mare, being permitted the ‘adult’ cider thereafter.

Even more hilarious had been when the cake had been brought out. Silken Sash had covered her daughter’s eyes while the cake was brought out and placed before Diamond, business end first. Diamond’s reaction when she had opened her eyes had, according to several witnesses, been more dramatic than her ‘unlocking’. The pink pony of the hour’s eyes had popped wide and she had fallen over backwards at the revelation of the big pink frosted cock-cake pointing at her snout.

“There,” Silver Spoon sighed with satisfaction, bringing Twilight’s mind back to the present as she made a final adjustment to the alicorn’s regalia. There really wasn’t much to it, her crown and hoof guards were the majority of it. Twilight wasn’t ranked up highly enough to warrant a metal peytral like Celestia, Luna, or Cadence, but Rarity had fashioned a lovely cloth alternative from gold silk that even the oft distant Princess Luna had to admit looked fetching on the young princess without breaching decorum.

With fifteen minutes to go Twilight made her way down to the main audience chamber of town hall, led by Silver Spoon.

“Announcing Her Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Harmony, OC,” Silver Spoon called out in her high formal voice, the assembled townsfolk bowing as Twilight approached the ceremonial dais and installed herself on the mayoral seat behind the low podium for the ceremony.

From the high seat Twilight looked over the gathered crowd of mostly family with a goodly number of friends of both sides. It was no Summer Sun Celebration or Apple family reunion, but it was a sizable gathering. In the back of her mind Twilight wondered how many were really here to see Diamond Tiara get publicly cut down to size after so long, considering the atmosphere was more akin to a criminal sentencing than a wedding ceremony, she felt it was likely to be plenty.

Big McIntosh stood near the base of the dais looking quite different from how he normally went about town. Gone was the heavy harness collar, and in its place the big red farm pony wore a dark grey denim vest and black duster. On his head was a black Stetson, much like what Applejack wore. Though unlike his sister’s, Mac’s bore a hatband of green enamelled, polished brass leaves with a large, red enamelled apple centre front, complementing the green one on the bolo tie around his neck.

The doors at the end of the hall opened and the crowd turned to look as Diamond Tiara entered. She was lead up the aisle by her parents and a surprising clatter of approving hooves, her head held high and aloof, on a white lead rope attached to a Rarity designed lace bridle. Diamond’s trademark tiara was atop her lavender and frost mane and her tail had been tied in a ‘keyhole loop’. A white cloth was tied at the fetlock of her left foreleg, stained with her maiden blood from the day before indicating her ‘preparation’. Beyond that her body was covered in a stable blanket showing the Rich family colours of navy blue money signs on a burnt cream base.

From the mayoral seat Twilight flared her wings and commenced the ceremony, addressing Diamond Tiara’s parents.

“My little ponies,” something in the back of Twilight’s mind cringed as she addressed ponies almost old enough to be her parents like that. It just felt odd to her as she continued, “Do you hereby affirm that this pony is your daughter, Diamond Dazzle Tiara, by Filthy Rich out of Silken Sash, promised in contract to Big McIntosh Apple, by Apple Ridge out of Orange Bloom, to here after be delivered of two foals by her stud before the terms of the contract are fulfilled?”

A hushed gasp drifted through the room at he mention of two foals being contracted of the soon to be dam.

“Yes, she is.” Diamond’s parents echoed each other.

“You may present the lead.” Twilight nodded as Filthy Rich stepped forward to place the lead across the podium while Silken Sash removed the stable blanket from her daughter. Beneath the blanket Diamond Tiara wore a simple, powder blue dress saddle of a rather plain cut and style, but expertly fitted by Rarity for the occasion.

For the next few seconds Diamond Tiara was a ward of the Crown, a pony without family. Twilight had read in the old days it was looked on differently as it was usually the stud who was often changing families not the mare. Over the intervening generations the contract had been adapted as the needs required.

“Do you,” Twilight turned her attentions to Big Mac, “Big McIntosh Apple, accept this pony into your home, your life, and your bed, to care for and protect as per the terms agreed?”

“I do.”

The scarlet stallion’s response brought another murmur as some ponies reacted to Big Mac saying something other than ‘eeyup’ or ‘nnope’ for what seemed like the first time.

“You may take the lead.”

As Mac stepped forward to claim the lead, Diamond shot a discreet look of resentment at Twilight that the Princess noted as a pale façade for Diamond to hide her uneasiness behind.

A number of other reactions in the crowd were noted by the young alicorn. Filthy Rich looked stoic and pleased, while Silken Sash looked ready to dissolve into tears. In the front row of the gathered ponies, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were sniffing back tears of joy while Applejack hid behind a wary smile, though something in her eyes told Twilight that her friend was honestly ready to start chewing nails out of wolfram.

The white rope between his teeth, Mac lead a frostily composed, reluctant Diamond down the aisle until …

“A moment please, my little ponies,” Twilight’s voice brought the pair to a halt as she stretched out her thoughts and took the lead from McIntosh, who gave it up with no small amount of reluctance but not a word said.

In her mental grasp, Twilight looped the lead around Mac’s broad neck, forcing Diamond to draw up along side him. Then, pinching a section of the line, Twilight tied off the lead between the pair in a bow.

“There, much better.” Twilight smiled as she released her magical grip on the lead allowing the two ponies, now almost shoulder-to-shoulder, to resume their recessional down the aisle to the approval and stomping hooves of the assembled herd.

* * * * *

The grand hootenanny that was roaring along at Sweet Apple Acres was in full swing. Bonfires crackled merrily, the smell of both fresh and fortified cider was in the air, and food was in abundance with the approaching summer harvest parade. Ponies were eating, drinking, dancing, and generally celebrating a milestone event in the lives of two of their fellow villagers.

It wasn’t a real romantic wedding reception like Twilight’s brother’s was in Canterlot. Of course, there also wasn’t a secret changeling plot to conquer Equestria afoot here either, so that was good too.

It had taken Pinkamena Diane ‘Pinkie’ Pie a full three weeks to get this all set up in among four birthdays, a ‘Congratulations on Your Promotion Rainbow Dash’ party, a cute-ceanera, and a baby shower for Sassaflash. It wasn’t easy with all the Sad Sallys, Sour Sues, and Grindy McGears that had been involved with this party either.

It was hard at times being everypony’s friend. There had been sooooo many ruffled feathers that needed to be smoothed out in order to get here. Which was even harder because not a single one of the ponies who needed their feathers unruffled over this event was a pegasus. Did that make a difference?

It certainly hadn’t made it any easier, that was for sure.

Mr. and Mrs. Rich had sort of been the easy part. Contrary to what some ponies thought of Pinkie’s modus operandi, she usually started with the easy things first. After all, that left more time for dealing with the harder things. Things like a young pony who was ready to chew diamonds out of charcoal just as soon as talk to her parents.

While Diamond Tiara and her parents had already agreed to the contract, the resulting rift that had opened up between them and Diamond was a total downer. While her parents saw the contract as tough love, Diamond had seen it as a betrayal.

That’s when Pinkie had suggested that instead of just having the whole thing over and done with, quick as a bunny, why not to go all out? After all, Diamond Tiara loved being the centre of attention, and what a better way to show their appreciation for Diamond’s cooperation than to have a whole big party with Diamond Tiara at the centre of it. Even if it was a marriage of convenience, and one that almost every pony thought was destined to fail at the end, it was still a marriage, and that meant it was a wedding, and that meant it needed … a Party!

For Pinkie, a party was an extension of life itself, even if it was only a party of one. You always took what you were given, and celebrated the best of it to remind yourself that you could always make things better if you tried.

Pinkie had tried that line of approach, among others, on Diamond Tiara. Being friends with everypony meant knowing a little something of what made each pony tick. When it came to Diamond Tiara, it was to be in control, and the centre of attention. As far as Pinkie knew, Diamond largely regarded this whole contract as a loss of control and social suicide.

It only made the party planner shake her fuzzy, raspberry-pink maned head that Diamond Tiara couldn’t see her own hoof work in all this. Social suicide, that was getting caught by the boss’s husband while ‘kissing the boss’s plot’ in a far more literal sense than most business ponies would view as acceptable. Then later to be discovered equally literally developing one’s ‘oral persuasion’ skills while trying to undermine your supervisor.

As a friend, Pinkie had tried to point out Diamond’s good parts to her, that she was bright, socially adept pony, and an excellent organizer, all of which were probably very attractive to a strong, smart, but very shy stallion like Big Mac.

Still, with every thing she had been able to do, she had only managed to upgrade Diamond Tiara’s mood from sour to semi-sweet. It was really hard to help a pony see the upsides to a situation when they were determined to see the bad, but at least Diamond was talking to her parents again.

The pink party pony tipped her head back and emptied another bag of Pop Rocks into herself.

Mmmm, sugar. Pinkie could feel the sacred substance flowing through her, restoring her energy.

“Greetings to you, Hello and Hi, on this fine night, my friend Pinkie Pie.”

“Oh, Hi-ya Zecora!” Pinkie beamed as the Zebra shaman approached, “How are you doing? Having fun?”

“Of food and friends, I am among the best, it is an honour here to be a guest.”

Pinkie smiled at the complement. It was amazing to think that she’d once thought her Zebra friend was an ‘evil enchantress’.

“Friend Pinkie, might I inquire of you about that shed, to where young Diamond Tiara is being now lead?” The striped mare asked, directing a hoof to where Diamond Tiara was being escorted from the gathering by a small cluster of mares including her mother, Applejack,and a few others.

“Oh, they’re just taking her there to get her ready for the covering,” Pinkie cheerfully explained to her friend. “After all, there’s been a wedding, so next comes the bedding.”

“So within that shed will they do the deed, join their flesh to plant life’s seed?”

“I guess you could put it that way,” Pinkie mused as she downed a mug of spiced cider before casting a glance about for a particular crock that contained gummy fruits, apples and cherries mostly, with a few worms mixed in for humour. They’d been marinating in Tarpan Vodka from Stalliongrad since yesterday. Didn’t need any unwanted colt’s or fillies finding those…

“So if within the shed they are to mate, why does Big Mac seem to dread his fate?”

Pinkie Looked to where another knot of mares and a few stallions had begun to gather around a very nervous looking Big Mac.

“Oh, they’re getting him ready for the teasing.”

“Of what do you speak, this thing called ‘teasing’? To Big Mac it would seem not to be pleasing.” Zecora melodically observed.

“It’s an old earth pony tradition to get the lucky colt all hot and bothered for the waiting mare,” Pinkie explained before pausing to practically inhale an apple fritter.

Mmm, gooey sweet, the pink pony smiled as she felt the warmth of the fresh fritter slide into her belly, and from there then spread out inside her. Sooo erotic.

Big Mac seemed to find the whole teasing far less so. His long duster had already been discarded earlier in the evening, and now Braeburn and his cousin Bushel were holding him in place, one on each side, in the middle of a circle of mares as the normally timid Fluttershy stalked up to the big red farm pony.

It was obvious to Pinkie that Fluttershy was calling on her experience as a fashion model to hold her shyness in check as she proceeded to unbutton Mac’s vest with her teeth. The vest, once opened, was quickly stripped from the reluctant stallion as Fluttershy made a sensual about face before him, and gave Mac a brush across the face with her tail.

The process of approach, flirt, and withdraw was repeated by several more mares. Cheerilee had followed Fluttershy, pressing herself right up against her one time beau, dragging her mane across his muzzle as she reached up and plucked the black Stetson from his head. Then turned and gave him a long, saucy stroke of her tail before she placed the hat on a different ‘head’ that Mac was desperately trying to hide with his front hooves.

Rarity, in turn, had given his hat a spin on its new perch with her magic. Even Scootaloo, Pinkie noted, had eventually gotten involved. The young pegasus had hovered unsteadily just above Big Mac’s face and given him a thorough muzzle dusting with her tail, … while sucking back a number of shiny, fat, … gummy worms!

Luna’s Sweaty Plot! Pinkie gasped as her brain locked on to the rude display she'd just witnessed. Somehow Scootaloo had gotten into those gummies.

But before she could compute the mental equations to alter physics to allow herself to bounce up and pluck the sauced saucy young pegasus out of the air—whom Pinkie then intended to interrogate as to how she had acquired the alcohol infested invertebrate impostors—the party pony’s infamous ‘Pinkie Sense’ went into ‘watch out for runaway stallion’ alert as Big Mac finally slipped the grip held on him by Braeburn and Bushel, and charged down the assembled gauntlet of mares straight to the only opening he saw, the waiting open door of the ‘Love Shack’.

As the lucky, big red stallion flashed through he privacy curtains that hung inside the door, the gathered crowd congregated around the ‘Love Shack,’ somepony closing the door as the crowd listened in silence for the telltale sounds of …

A sharp yelp of pain that could only be from Diamond Tiara sent the assembled ponies into a chorus of cheers as they reveled in the traditional climax of the night.

While the party gradually wound down in the farmyard several ponies wondered aloud if McIntosh was enjoying the sweetest treat of the night, or suffering the sour truth of his new Apple ‘studded’ Diamond.

Author's Note

* Even after receiving their cutie marks the original three CMC's found themselves mentoring other younger ponies, currently five, as an informal youth organization.

Ah, the breeding notes. Normally teasing is done to mares that are in season to determine their receptiveness to breeding. This is usually done by 'teasing' (introducing in controlled, non-breeding circumstances) them with a stallion (often not the one they are intended to be bred to) and judging their reaction on a scale of 1(unwilling/hostile) to 5 (more than willing/ Rut me now baby!) to determine the mare's willingness/ arousal. Here I decided to reverse the rolls and basically have Mac tempted/taunted by some of the townsmares parading past him in a a 'too bad you didn't pick us' kind of deal.

And of course the teaser for the reader ...
Do I actually need to put one in this time? I'm quite sure you all know where things stand, ... we gotta find out how Scootaloo got the vodka soaked gummy worms right? It's not like I locked Big Mac and Diamond Tiara in an enclosed space ...

Wait I did do that ... didn't I.