Nerves were eating away at Ian. The past month had been busy not only for him, but for his herdmates. Snaps had been the first to give birth, and what a birthing it had been. His memories of Snaps doting on a trio of timber wolf pups—Ian's timber wolf pups—stirred his heart almost as much as seeing the adorable little ones.

Snaps

A heavy, almost overwhelming urge overtook Ian at seeing Snaps licking their pups clean. He stepped forward and crouched down. Two of the timber wolves were little wooden canines, eyes still closed, but they were both firmly attached to one of their mother's teats each. The third, a little girl, was unique.

From her waist up, little Snarl was mostly human. She had bare skin, little arms, and an adorable pink face. Two wooden ears sat atop her head, folded back as she drank, but it was a little more strange because her human part looked more like a toddler than a newborn.

"They're all perfect." All hint of the domination games that had led to his closeness with Snaps was gone. He watched as each of his young fed from their mother, and reached down to rub little tiny ears, and stroke their cheeks.

Standing behind the bar, Ian heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs. He turned to look, seeing Click Clack striding purposefully. "Has she had them yet?" His voice was as shaky as his nerves felt.

"Not yet. It is a mother's prerogative to have her foals when she is ready, despite how much her stallion might want otherwise." Click walked in behind the bar and reared up to hug Ian against her warm mechanical body.

"I was just thinking…" Ian trailed off, his voice implying that such was neither a good, nor bad thing. "She will be alright?"

"She has Chatter with her. Do you think Chatter would let your herdmate come to harm?" Giving Ian's cheek a nuzzle, Click Clack settled a hoof on the bar to take some of her weight off Ian.

Mention of Chatter woke the memories of his second herdmate to birth. Of course, Chatter—being a changeling—had a very different birthing to what Ian would have normally thought.

Chatter

"Eggs?" Ian looked at the two, football-sized eggs that Chatter held to her belly. "They'll hatch?"

"You're kidding, right?" Chatter leaned down to instinctively nuzzle one of the eggs, changing its position slightly. "In the hive, eggs matured as they were fed love. Changelings had to go hungry in order to ensure their foals lived."

Ian tried to work through the explanation. "But you don't have to go—"

"With you around? I have never been hungry since you joined us, Ian, and I don't expect our nymphs to go hungry either. The amount of love you give off will have these eggs mature in no time." Chatter leaned up and kissed Ian, and she got a little reply from his own lips.

"Soon?" Ian held off kissing Chatter again until she nodded. Leaning closer, he made sure the eggs were very well-fed.

Click Clack gave a happy little squeaking click deep in her mechanics—Ian had learned that meant she was a very happy bot pony. "You were thinking about our foals?"

"And their mothers." Ian leaned in and kissed Click on her metallic snout. "I couldn't have dreamed there was so much love in me, but you all made it a reality." Some tears came, but they weren't from sadness. But…"

"Worried about something? I can take a guess." With another squeaky click, Click Clack lifted a hoof up to brush Ian's cheek dry. "The Contract." The two words caused Ian to stiffen a little. "One of the clauses was that it needs everypony to agree that it is ended."

"Yeah, but all the needs on it are met. What good is a contract that doesn't hold any restrictions anymore?" Clinging to Click, Ian tried to center himself and reacquire the happiness he had mere minutes earlier.

Rake

"Where is he? I am going to tear that bucking colt aPART!" Ripples of strain ran through Rake's body, causing her to almost scream out the last word. Panting hard, she glared at her herdmates. "I don't care if tradition requires him to wait out there, if he doesn't come in and hold my buckin' paw I am going—I am going—" The next contraction caused her to squeeze both eyes shut as the strain of birth took away everything but her focus on pushing.

When Rake opened her eyes, she found a hand closing around her hoof. She clamped down on it and held Ian's fingers in a death grip. "About bucking time you got here." Despite her furious words, her expression held all the relief that the father of her "pups" was present.

Ian focused on Rake's front half, leaving the rest to the capable Chatter—who it had turned out had been disguised as a midwife for many years. His hand was being crushed, sure, but he could see that Rake needed him. "I love you."

"You bucking well should!" Rake leaned up and kissed Ian, surprising him. Her body tensed, and she was dumped back into a contraction. "If you ever try to get me pregnant again, I will rip your throat out!"

"Yes, love." Leaning down, Ian rest his head beside Rake's. His mouth was a little below her ear, but he knew she would hear him. "I love you, Rake. I love you, and your foals." The grip on his hand nearly crushed it, and he heard a long howl rip free of Rake's mouth.

"That's him. Your little stallion." Chatter's chirpy voice—she had learned to chirp happily a lot since their herd formed—announced the arrival of Rake's foal. "You need to roll onto your side now." With the amount of love in the air, Chatter had more than enough energy to expend magic on easing Rake over.

Ian climbed up on the bed, leaving their foal to nurse between Rake's back legs. Another satyr, this time with pony legs and tail, and cute little pony ears. "I love you both so—" His words were stolen by Rake, as she pulled him into a kiss.

More hoofsteps, this time it was Solid Built walking down the stairs. Ian looked over at the first mare he had met of his herd. "How is—"

"Come up, Ian. Your new daughter is waiting to see you." Solid beamed with pride. Her own belly was slowly returning after the birth of her own filly.

Ian almost jumped out from behind the bar. "How are they?" Running up the stairs, Ian knew the room he needed to be in.

Solid never got tired of seeing Ian excited and in love. She thought back to when her foal had been born. "Mother and daughter are doing well. Screech wants to see you before she sleeps."

Solid Built

Solid's sides heaved despite having had an easy, if long, birth. She looked at Ian and nuzzled his cheek. "Wake up, sleepy head."

His head thick, Ian stirred from the nap to find Solid grinning at him. "Wh-what happened? You had her?!" He looked down, seeing a perfect—if very large—filly. "She's a perfect pony. All pony, I mean."

"I liked the first bit better." Solid nuzzled Ian's cheek. "All our foals are perfect." Slowly bringing her thudding heart-rate down, Solid kissed Ian and felt her thoughts thickening. Between her legs, her foal nursed where she had nursed her stallion. "Take care of us while I sl—"

Opening the door, Ian was met with a high-pitched scream. The blast of high-frequency sound stunned him for a moment after it had stopped.

"S-Sorry!" Screech lay on the bed, twin foals nursing from her. "I just couldn't…" She fumbled for words, but by the time she had come up with what she wanted to say, Ian was kissing her. Melting into the kiss, she gave much softer sounds.

"Twins. Little fillies, and I have no clue how this happened." Chatter tapped Ian on the hip, and gently lifted Screech's leg.

Pulling back from the kiss, Ian stared at the two foals, one sporting Screeches own colors and a large pair—for her size—of bat wings. The second foal was similar, muted colors to her mother, but she bore no wings and a single horn. "A unicorn? How did—?"

Screech cut Ian off with another kiss. She stole his confusion and turned it into a smile against her muzzle. Breaking apart, she grinned. "They're perfect. They're ours." Lifting a hoof, she booped Ian on the nose.

Worry suddenly filled Ian. The contract terms were complete, all that was needed was consensus and it was ended. "W-W-What about the contract?" His life had been made so much better by the simple piece of paper, it worried him that it might be undone.

"Do we need it?" As soon as Screech asked, she knew she had said the wrong thing. Ian's face showed full panic and terror. "Wait!" She managed to grab hold of Ian before he fled the room.

"Read this." Click Clack filed into the room. She tossed a stack of bound papers before Ian.

Picking up the pages, Ian could see through his tears that it was a contract—a stallion contract. Ian lifted one arm up and rubbed the tears roughly from his eyes, and he started to read.

At first glance, it looked exactly the same, but it was the end of each section that Ian found some important additions. Every single mare's entry—except Click Clack—was now changed to read plural foals.

The biggest change, however, was the top of the contract. Ian's hands shook as he took in what had changed: at the top of the page the contract had the duration section crossed out, and "The contract has no ending clause" was the only part visible. "You really want me?"

Mechanical as she was, Click Clack nodded and leaned in to nuzzle Ian. "Of course. You are a very special pony to us." She ignored the error in her words.

"We have all signed it." Solid Built kissed Ian's other cheek, leaning across the bed and its three occupants. "Snaps and Rake included, of course."

Just mentioning the two members of his little pack made Ian's heart thud a little harder. He looked to the bottom of the papers and, sure enough, everyone in his herd had signed. Everyone but him, of course. "How did I get so lucky?"

"That's simple, you did the right thing and followed Solid's plot." Screech was alternating between looking down at her amazing foals, and looking up at Ian. "Please sign it." Though Screech had agreed with the others—when Ian first arrived at the inn—that even just having foals would be enough, she was too far in love now to contemplate being without him.

Looking into Screeches eyes, Ian reached up to the contract and grabbed the quill laying across it. Carefully taking hold of it, he glanced down long enough to scrawl his signature on the contract.

"I love you." Ian's legs folded under him and he fell half onto the bed beside Screech. The world seemed just right, but at the same time completely overwhelming. "I love all of you."

Click Clack helped Ian, who appeared unable to stand, up onto the bed with his herdmate and her foals. "Sleep with her, we will guard the herd." She leaned in to nuzzle both Screech and Ian, before folding the contract up and leaving the room.

"That sounds like a really good idea." Screech kissed Ian, and before their lips could part, both were asleep.

Solid looked to Chatter. "Once the little ones are fed, help them to snuggle with their parents. The day is young, and I need to open the inn." With her future set, and the futures of all her herdmates, Solid left Ian and Screech to their sleep.

Ian took a deep breath. The plans had put him at a bit of a disadvantage, but with some adjusting of normal themes, he had agreed. Standing, shaking like a leaf, he was wearing what amounted to formal attire in Canterlot, although unlike normal pony formal attire, he wore pants.

The music started, and it was his cue. Stepping out of the alcove, he stood at the back of a big hall, and his heart stopped beating. Six of the most beautiful mares he had ever seen faced him from the dais at the far end. Solid Built, Click Clack, Chatter, Rake, Snaps, and Screech stared back at him.

His feet, thankfully, kept moving, and Ian was walking down the aisle, passing a very harried-looking Terror Waves, who was keeping a small army of pony, changeling, and timber wolf young busy.

Ian paused a moment in his walk, looking at his foals, nymphs, and pups. His breathing caught for a moment, and when he turned back to face his herd, he wore a big smile. As he reached the front, he stepped between Solid and Click, taking the center position of the group.

"Glad you could make it." Solid Built resisted the urge to kiss Ian, not before the special moment. "Didn't think you would get past the little ones. Terry is such a softy." Her words were soft, but Ian was focused on them. "You should probably look up, I think Princess Luna is upset."

"Fillies and gentlecolts. It is not often I get a personal request to officiate at such happy proceedings, but considering the circumstances I simply could not refuse." Luna couldn't keep the smile off her face; though the "ponies" gathered to be wed were far from perfect, she herself was often considered the misfit-princess. "I have never before seen such a wonderful group so ready to form a bond of kinship."

"Solid Built, step forward." Luna waited for Solid to step forward, not for the first time slightly intimidated by the mare's huge size. "You took Ian in when he needed friends, and your love grew around that. Will you marry him?"

Solid had to fight the tears wanting to take over, but she held them at bay long enough to nod. "I do."

"Snaps, step forward." Watching the huge timber wolf, Luna couldn't believe that not only was the creature apparently tame, but it had found love. "You battled with your mate, and both drew enough blood to count the other as equal. Will you marry Ian?"

Turning to look at Ian, Snaps dipped her head, and then glared at her mate squarely in the eyes.

Taking that as done, Luna moved on. "Click Clack, step forward. You brought stability and control to Ian's life, when all around him seemed chaotic. Will you marry him?"

A tiny squeaky click sounded, before Click Clack nodded. "I do."

"Rake, step forward." Luna had never seen a more emaciated pegasus before. Rake was so thin, Luna thought, that if she stood head-on she might be invisible. "You gave Ian somepony to care for, and look after, when he had no responsibility. Will you marry him?"

Rake started to lean sideways against Snaps, but quickly straightened back up. "Always."

"Chatter, step forward, and drop your disguise." A gasp ran through the few guards attending (as always) upon Luna. Chatter walked up, but as she limped she only had eyes for Ian. "You changed Ian's life, when he felt restricted and contained. Will you marry him?"

"Of course." Chatter tried to contain herself, she was almost ready to chirp herself to a happy death, and for her the catering had already started.

"Lieutenant First Class Screech, step forward." Luna saw shock register on Screech's face at the use of her full, pre-discharge, title. "Step forward, soldier." Luna waited a little longer for Screech to do so. "Though you only have one wing intact, you spread it about Ian's shoulders when he needed a friend more than anything. Will you marry him?"

"I will." Screech lost her fight against crying, and let the tears flow fully down her cheeks.

Luna lifted her head and looked directly at Ian. "You have so much love to give, and accept. These mares all wish to be at your side. Will you marry them?"

For a moment Ian thought on what would have been his life had he not ended up in Equestria, had he not had so many bad experiences, and had he not found Solid Built's inn. He smiled like the sun. "Of course I will."

Rolling her eyes as Chatter almost jumped on top of Ian, chirping her wings loudly, Luna lifted her voice to Royal Canterlot standards. "We now pronounce you wed!"

Author's Note

Fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

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Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
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