The life and times of Lafayette Ryder

I’m the governor of Haven now but I don’t do much, the town is growing nicely and everything is running smoothly so I just make a day trip there once a week to check up on everything. We had our first two marriages this week, a couple who were engaged before they got sent here and two fellows who met and fell in love at first sight. When they asked me for permission to wed I was a bit nervous that people would get offended or start shit over it but so far everyone has been nice and civil.

The buses run a circuit from Ponyville to Haven to Canterlot and we have villagers come here almost every day to shop, sell, or just meet the ponies around town. Thanks to some magic Haven’s agricultural fields have been a great success, yielding enough crops to feed the town and sell in neighboring cities. Human crops have become a delicacy and a farmer can make some nice coin by just hawking his surplus potatoes, corn, and beans.

The GreenWind boys have a new lucrative, and legitimate, business selling marijuana and various hallucinogenic fungi. They’ve made millions selling a modified version of Earth cannabis with higher THC content than the Equestrian variant and have several humans working with them. I actually have them under more guidelines than Celly does and I also have my people following strict rules concerning drug use; we can’t have a bunch of brain dead, sterile, stoners running around causing mischief now can we?

The slate family, Pinkie’s family (I assume she changed her name when she moved out), started a new rock quarry just outside of Haven and have fifty some people working on machines I made to excavate the stone from the land. Clyde Slate and his family along with a handful of other pony families have bought houses and made Haven their home as well, and all the people have welcomed them kindly. Celly and I share joint rule over these ponies living in a human town as well as all the humans who have moved to other cities. Ponyville, Canterlot, Appleoosa, Bitsburg, Manehatten, and almost every other pony settlement now have a small human minority in it. Only the Pegasi cloud cities are left untouched by man…for now.

Filthy rich and his family wanted to buy into the businesses that are now booming from the massive demand by men, but I refused to let them do so. The last thing I need is a pony to gain a monopoly on things humans need and then suck us dry for it. After a good deal of bartering, begging, and even bribing on Filthy’s side I caved and allowed him to as long as he never purchased more than fifteen percent of an one business. Since then he has become a major investor in Rarity’s new clothing stores and the Cakes’ new restaurant chain. He’s making good money and actually helping out so I guess I’ll leave him be for the moment.

Applejack and Mac expanded their business by opening a new orchard on the outskirts of Haven. The Cherry family, the Orange family, and the peach family all decided to get in on this venture and the new farm is co owned by the four biggest fruit growers in Equestria. The land is split into five sections now, one for each family’s respective fruit and one for Earth native fruits, and the first harvest gave us enough to eat and to ship around the nation. At the moment Haven is the largest exporter of goods in Equestria.

Thanks to the GreenWind boys and I the Griffin tribes and Equestria are now peaceful allies and some of our products get sent all the way past the Solar mountain range to the Griffin home lands. The Zebrecan isles have also opened up trade with us.

Most of my friends remain the same despite all the changes; Fish still drinks and smokes and chases girls, Twilight still loves learning and has taken it upon herself to write a definitive history of humans in Equestria, Pinkie and Joe retired from the restaurant business as millionaires and still earn money from the chain they formed with the Cakes, Rarity and Toby moved to Canterlot due to her new stores and his new gig as a chef at the palace, and, well that’s about it. The Apples do what they always do; buck apples and sell them, the only difference is that AJ finally found that dream girl of hers; a Amazon of a woman from the heart of Africa, and is happily in a relationship.

The CMC has a new generation of foals trying to find their cutie marks while the original crusaders are out and about living theirs. Most of the old couples spilt up save Featherweight and his coltfriend. Dinky is now working at the Canterlot university as a mathematician, Pip is sailing to the Zebrecan isles for me and transporting goods, Sweetie Belle has become a world famous singer, Scootaloo hit the Alpha team of the WonderBolts and is flying side by side with her idol, Applebloom is in charge of the Haven branch of Sweet fruit acres (Renamed due to the fact that there are fruits other than apples being grown there), and Snips and Snails are on tour with the great and powerful what’s her face. They all are living good lives and seem to be very happy.

My boys are growing up quick, they’ll finish magic preschool this summer (Thaddeus started showing signs of his inherited power so we sent him along with his brother) and then they’ll start attending Ponyville elementary.

Dulcie has spent a lot of her time playing video games with a certain princess of the night. I can only assume what all else those two have been up to.

The railroad folks built a new line through Haven and we have our own airport for hot air balloons and dirigibles. And that about sums everything up.

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“Lafayette?” Twilight repeats herself again.

“Hmm?” I mumble as I turn away from the stove to look at her. “Sorry Twi, I kinda zoned out. What’s up?”

“Your food’s burning.” She points out.

“So it is.” I flip the well done bacon and stir the eggs.

“What were you thinking about?” Twi asks casually.

“Nothing much,” I say as I slid my food onto a plate and sit next to her, “Just about all the things that have happened this past year.”

“Sounds like a lot to me,” she replies, “Oh, I can’t wait for next week!” she giggles as her train of thought jumps from rail to another, much sexier one.

“Yep. Seven more day’s till mating season. Speaking of which I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Well I just wanted to make something clear now, we already have two toddlers and a teen, I don’t think I can handle any more kids for another decade or so alright. So my plan is just to use a lil magic to keep that from happening. OK?"

“Will you still,” twilight leans over and whispers into my ear.

“yes, yes, maybe, only with adequate lube, no way in hell, sure, yes, absolutely, hmm.” I stop and consider my wife’s last suggestion. “You may just be onto something.”

We end our conversation as Dulcie and the boys walk into the kitchen and sit down. We chit chat for a while but the only thing that sticks in my mind is when Dulcie comments on how nice a day it is. I look out the window at the bright blue sky, pure white clouds, vivid green grass, and the varying colors of the new leaves. I look back at my family sitting around the table, laughing, joking, and feeling happy.

Today is most certainly a good day indeed.