Living in Equestria

A stifling heat roused me from a dream where I kept trying to dial the same phone number on a pay phone but was screwing it up. I knew the number... but no matter how frustratingly slow I tried to poke the buttons, my fingers continued to get it wrong and I had to start all over. It was a dumb dream, one I'd had several times in my life for no reason at all except to piss me off.

When realized I was soaking wet with sweat, I didn't need to open my eyes to know why. I felt the warm press of bodies all over me... three bodies to be exact. I had become so close with all three of the young mares in bed with me that I could tell who was who without looking.

Sweetie Belle was still in my arms from when we had drifted off to sleep together after last nights encounter with Diva Belle and I knew it was Scootaloo who was pressed against my back. Her small bony frame, while larger than Sweetie's, was lean and tight and I could feel her feathery wings tangled up with my own. Apple Bloom was the easiest to pick out because of her damn pillow. The girl took it everywhere with her no matter where she slept and now it was laying near my feet as she draped her body over mine in what had to be a horribly uncomfortable position but good enough for her to still fall asleep in.

I really didn't mind them when they got like this, piling on top of me in a heap, but the mass of tails and manes combined with their warm, furry bodies was generating a lot of heat that made me anxious for the winter to get here when I could welcome the added warmth during the cold nights. But since it was still the middle of summer... I just couldn't deal with of us all on this tiny bed together and began to stir uncomfortably.

Three separate voices all groaned in sleepy protest when I moved and I couldn't help but smile at the cute sounds they made. The girls only wanted to be next to me and it was that feeling of acceptance that had been instrumental in changing the person I was into the strange half human, half pony I've become. I'd embraced it completely, soaking up every second of this new life I'd been given in a world of magic and love that now was about to start another journey... being a parent.

The idea was still so new that I hadn't fully come to grips with it... and if what Scootaloo said is true about it being next summer for the day to arrive then my mind was willing to put off really dealing with it until much later. Anypony with a strong procrastination streak in them like me could understand because next summer was miles away. Besides, with the help of all my friends... I knew that there would be no obstacle that we couldn't overcome with their help.

Apple Bloom slid off the top of me when I shifted my weight and felt her fold into a puddle near my feet, partially laying on Sweetie Belle. It felt like an eternity before I'd extracted myself from the mass of ponies enough to slip out of the bed and into the relatively cooler air of the room still lit by a single candle that had not quite burned itself out yet. It still was the middle of the night as far as I could tell and I still had no idea what Sweetie had done to the window to block the light out so effectively against the strong moonlight outside.

I moved to the door with the intent of going to the other room to go back to sleep in the bigger bed when a clopping sound came from behind me. Seconds later, Scootaloo's soft body pressed against my thighs with a groggy lean. We didn't say anything, but it was clear she wasn't going to let me go by myself so we left together, moving down the hall and eventually climbing into the cool sheets back in our room where she snuggled close, her head buried in my chest with a contented mumble.

Moments later I heard uneven, staggering hoofsteps from the hall and then Sweetie Belle crawled in beside me, pressing her back against mine before sighing contently when she nestled down into the feathers of my wings. Scootaloo's soft mane tickled my nose as I drifted off again only to be roused a little while later by Apple Bloom's weight shaking the bed, her pillow pressing against my feet as she plopped down with her head resting between Sweetie's flank and my lower thighs.

I was already sweating again, but at least I was smiling.

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"Ahlright Sugarcube, We're all finally here now can ya tell us what in the hay is goin' on? Ya'll got us so darn worked up poor Fluttershy's gonna have a breakdown!" Applejack looked anxiously at Scootaloo and I with everypony else gathered around closely at the large table in the kitchen of the barn. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were literally sitting on their hooves, trying to contain themselves.

"You're not leaving... are you Mason?" Fluttershy's timid voice asked.

"No! Not at all, Fluttershy. This is my home now... and you guys are like my family! I'm not going anywhere." I reassured her.

She gave an audible sigh of relief. "Then what may I ask is the big news?"

"Yeah, You guys can't hold us in suspense forever! Come on!" Twilight Sparkle added.

A thin chorus of encouragement came from everypony as Scootaloo and I looked at each other, each of us not knowing who should be the one to actually tell our friends the news now that the moment had arrived. It turns out somepony already had figured it out.

"Ya'll r gonna have a foal, ain't ya." Applejack said flatly, her strong voice ringing out clearly above the others.

A stunned silence filled the room as Applejack leveled a flat stare at Scootaloo. Seconds ticked by as the bright colored eyes of the ponies around us fixed on both of us with mounting tension that needed a release. When it came, it was from the unlikeliest of them all.

"E-excuse me Applejack but I don't think that's possible. In order for Scootaloo to be with foal she would need to have been with Mason in an unmarelike way and that's just not possible... is it?" Her green eyes searched Scootaloo's face desperately for affirmation.

"Fluttershy..." Twilight said patiently, "Of course they've been together. What did you think I meant when we talked about the herd they were in?"

Fluttershy's face burned crimson at Twilight's question and visible sweat dampened her brow. "Oh no!" she shook her head. "I thought... oh dear... I- I didn't think that..."

"Yes...Scootaloo and I are going to have a foal." I stopped her stammering by giving them the simple truth.

Fluttershy's eyes rolled up in her head moments before she pressed a hoof to her forehead and then collapsed in a dramatic faint.

"PARTY!!!" screamed Pinkie Pie and suddenly we were swarmed. Faces, manes, hooves and hugs... they were all over us in congratulations and excitement over our news of Scootaloo being pregnant... but it mostly Scootaloo who received the brunt of it. Through the blur of it all, my eyes fixed on Applejack who sat unmoving and looking grumpy while using one of the stiff place mats from the table to fan Fluttershy absently.

"You're gonna have a shower, right? And you know who should plan that shower, right? ME ME ME!" Pinkie cried in joy and gave Scootaloo a tremendous hug. The rest of the girls chimed in already adding details of the celebration and I had to tear my eyes away from Applejack's face to receive a flying high hoof from a beaming Rainbow Dash.

"Dang S.H.! You didn't waste any time, did ya! I knew I liked ya for a reason!"

I got my share of hugs and congratulations, but it was Scootaloo who was the focus of the group's attention and I quickly found myself outside the conversation. It didn't bother me at all really... what bothered me was how Applejack had slipped out of the room unnoticed to the yard once Fluttershy had come to.

Only Apple Bloom saw me when I stood up to follow her big sister, clamping on my shirt with her muzzle to stop me a few feet away from the door.

"Careful... she's gonna be mighty touchy 'bout this." Apple Bloom said. Her big orange eyes were moist... from tears of happiness or worry over her big sister I couldn't tell.

"I'll go talk to her." I stroked her red mane before bending down to give her a hug. "Don't worry..."

"You kin say that... but ahm gonna go ahead an worry anyways, alright?" she spoke in my ear, her hoof coming up to return my hug tightly before she returned to the group of girls who were already discussing names.

I stepped outside into the bright midday sun that beat down on the dusty yard around the farmhouse. Applejack was standing up to lean her body against the fence with her front hooves hanging over the other side, her large hat pulled down to shade her eyes as she gazed out into the orchard beyond. She didn't say anything as I came next to her, leaning my own weight beside the farm pony on the white fence. Her blond head was facing away, looking off to her left and I couldn't read the emotion there so much as feel it coming off her in waves. I wasn't quite sure where to start but as usual, Applejack wasn't much for small talk.

"I know... yer gonna come out here n talk ta me, ain't cha." her voice was curt and to the point.

"Well.. that's what friends do, right? They talk when something is bothering them?"

She whirled on me with her face burning red. "Now just what the hay you think would be botherin' me? Huh? she shouted, her words echoing off the side of the barn behind us. "The fact that ya'll r gonna bring a darn foal into mah barn? This here's a workin farm and ain't no room fer me ta be all gooey eyed at some mush head foal under foot! If'n ya'll wanna go party it up in there and coo at each other like a bunch a fillies then knock yerselves out! Someponies around here got work ta do!" she waved her hoof at the barn before she moved towards her yoke hanging on the fence a few feet away.

If this conversation had taken place several weeks ago, I probably would have been frightened or even apologetic at her outburst. But I had spent the last several weeks living, working, and even getting drunk with Applejack to the point where I felt like I probably knew her better than anypony else here, aside from the three girls who shared my bed. I knew that her blustery anger was a paper thin layer over something else that she was just to stubborn to talk about... all I needed to do was push in just the right spot.

I came up behind her just as she ducked her head to slide the yoke on her shoulders and placed my hand gently on her back. She paused, giving me a quick, backward glance before she hid her face away from me again.

"You still here? Go on then... go back in ta yer gatherin and don't fret about me. Ah'll be alright." her voice had calmed, but it was stamped with the hard edge of feigned indifference.

"I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, Applejack..." I said softly, not removing my hand from her orange fur and I could feel her muscles tensed and stiff. "...but I hope you can be a part of this. This farm is the best place we could imagine to have a foal grow up... and that's all because of you."

Her head turned again, this time coming around far enough for me to see the conflicting emotions at play in her green eyes before she looked away, keeping her head low and giving it a shake. "I don't know if I kin do that, Mason."

She finally turned to face me, her loaded eyes coming up to meet mine. "There ain't a day goes by I don't think 'bout having a foal again... I know it won't ever replace the one I lost, but part o me won't hush up about livin that life that I almost had." Applejack breathed a heavy sigh before continuing.

"Ahm afraid watchin ya'll have that foal is just gonna make it worse for me. This ain't somethin' I just came up with on tha spot, mind ya... Ever since you n Scootaloo came together like ya are, I been dreadin this day... only more so since ya been becoming more like a pony than a human. I knew it was just a matter o time..." Her blond mane blew off to the side in a sudden stiff breeze.

"AJ... it's not too late for you to have your own family." I pointed out. "You've got all of us here to help pick up the slack if you did, I mean... look at how much Scoots and Apple Bloom are helping out now! Not to mention my own horrible farm skills..." I joked.

"Oh now that's just silly." she laughed a little and dismissed my suggestion with a wave. "I ain't got time ta find a stallion who I kin put up with for more than five minutes. Heck, Mason... yer tha first male outside mah brother that ain't drove me nuts with bein a scatterbrained nincompoop scared ta get his hooves dirty. No sir-ee..." She shook her head defiantly. "...all the stallions I've met have been down right petrified ta put an honest days work in anythin' other than whatever they feel like doing when they wake up in the morn'."

"Doesn't mean you won't find somepony eventually..." I said.

"Heh.. I tell you what, that pony'd have ta be practically family fer me ta trust them with disruptin' the farm like that! And I ain't all fer that lovey stuff no how anyways... ya ever try courtin a mate when the thought of gazing in ta each other's eyes all squishy like amounts ta pullin' hairs out yer tail? Nope... I'd have ta find somepony willin ta just be a hardworkin', dependable friend who can talk ta me even when I get on a stubborn streak, and the only pony who kin do that around here lately is...." she stopped suddenly, looking at the ground quickly with something like recognition on her face.

"AJ?"

"Mason... I..." When her eyes came up from the ground again, they were full of raw emotion for a split second just before the hardened shell of her defenses dropped over them again, letting me know I'd gotten all I was going to out of her. "I don't think we should talk about this no more... nothin' good will come of it."

"What?" I was confused by her sudden change.

"Go on!" she snapped. "Get in there and join the girls, Mason. I'll be along shortly..."

Her voice left little room for argument this time.

________________________________________________

"Twilight?"

The purple alicorn turned just before she reached the door of the kitchen to leave. "Yeah? What's up Mason?"

She was the last one filing out the door after the impromptu gathering to announce Scootaloo's pregnancy. My ears hurt from the amount of girlish talking I'd listened for the last hour or so, something that I usually didn't have to deal with around the tomboyish orange pegasus and her friends. Scoots seemed to enjoy the attention though, grinning from ear to ear with the excitable conversation that never seemed to take a break. Even Rainbow Dash contributed in a rare display of decidedly female exuberance. Applejack had eventually come in from the yard, her eyes veiled with well practiced happiness.

"Do you know where I can find a lot of dragons?"

"Huh?" her muzzle twisted up in question. "Is this about Spike?"

"Mmmhmm." I nodded.

Twilight let out a sigh, her head dropping with flattened ears and eyes. "Lemmi guess... Discord found you."

"Maybe..." I gave her a sheepish look.

"Listen... Spike is my responsibility." she said patiently, softening her features in the the friendly Twilight again. "I asked you to talk with him a little bit selfishly and I'm sorry for that, I should be mature enough to handle those things on my own but sometimes I come across things that books don't help me with. You don't need to be involved anymore... I'll make sure Spike keeps his new urges under control." Twilight gave me a reassuring nod.

"So you're not worried about the feracity thing?"

"Oh Mason..." she shook her head as she turned to leave. "There's no such thing as dragon feracity! That's just a myth, otherwise I'm sure I'd have read about it somewhere!"

I got the feeling that somehow I wasn't finished with the subject.