As Luck Would Have It

Jasmine squealed as Winter lifted her into the air, water dripping from her fur as he held her above his head. It appeared as if his muscles weren’t just for show after all. He growled, and flung her toward the deep end and she let out a high pitched yelp before hitting the water and sinking. Within just a few seconds, she breached the water with a gasp of breath.

“There, that’s how much I trust you.” Winter said, commenting on the three feet she flew. He got a bit of a laugh from the crowd. Patch stood in the pool along with him and Letty. Golden Goal sat in a chair, holding Ember Wing in a standing position on her legs, smiling at him. Fable and Spark stood by the grill while he watched the orange unicorn place the wheat patties above the flames.

“Bloody hell!” Jasmine rubbed the water from her eyes as she laughed. “You horse folk are quite the lively bunch. Have you done that with Golden Goal?” She said, directing their attention to the brown unicorn in the pool chair as she made silly faces to a mesmerized foal. She looked up from what she was doing to see Patch and Jasmine smile at her.

“Why don’t you come into the pool? I can look after the baby for a while.” Letty said as she moved over to the edge toward Golden.

The unicorn looked over at Winter, who immediately put on a blank face with pursed lips. After just a moment of silence and blank stares, the azure colored unicorn shrugged at her. She combed her long brown and white streaked hair from her face and giggled a little bit.

“Well, alright, but I have to confess, I’m not quite as fit as I use to be.” Golden removed her baggy black shirt and her loose-fitting skirt. All jaws dropped as she revealed her one piece bathing suit that covered her bikini areas with a cream white. However, there was a fairly well defined bump in the middle of her stomach. “I have a new occupant, it seems.”

“What?!” Letty covered her mouth as she let out a high pitched laugh that could have been happy or shocked. Both seemed likely. “How long?!”

“Almost five months.” Golden looked over at Winter with a deep blush.

“Winter, you dog.” Fable laughed from the grill as he slapped Spark on the back and they both gave into the giggles. “Looks like Ember will have a playmate later on.”

“It’s a girl, by the way.” Winter said, and all eyes turned to Fable with sharp looks. The gender reveal he imposed on them was something of a monumental waste of effort. That was quite apparent when they were all in the hospital waiting room and Fable flat out told them that he didn’t tell them the sex because he was just being lazy.

“Oh, my God! Another little tike!” Pearl called from the tub on the other side of the pool.

“Congrats, you two!” Grem said with a wave. “Looks like we’re going to have another baby shower blow out!”

There was a lot of commotion between the lot of them at this revelation, especially when Golden Goal got into the pool and started answering questions. Yes, she had plenty of sickness, her pregnancy brain was forgetting a lot of stuff and she had a strange craving for banana flavored popsicles. Letty gave her excited hugs as they traded spots and she took her son into her arms.

However, while all of that attention was on Golden Goal, it seemed no one else noticed that Jasmine had excused herself with Patch and exited the pool. While he just assumed it was to go and use their bathroom, Letty could read all kinds of red flags from her downward chin, frown and slow body movements.

As the cat girl toweled off, walking to the backdoor, Letty went to Fable as the two stallions were putting the wheat patties onto plates. She went to her fiancee and handed him the baby.

“Watch him for a little while, I need to go talk to Jasmine.” She said, and the red pegasus shrugged and nodded. They kissed and the yellow mare turned, grabbing her towel.

As she opened the door, she noticed the living room was deserted. She checked the kitchen, then as she neared the hallway, she could hear harsh breathing and wavering sobs from the bathroom. Letty approached the door with some caution, and tried to think of some reason to impede on her randomly. When nothing came to mind, she heard the sobs grow in intensity. Quick Bullet winced at this and then tapped on the door. She heard Jasmine gasp.

“Jasmine? Are you okay?” She asked, speaking softly. There was a moment of silence, aside from a few sniffles.

“Ummmm, yeah.” She said this, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.

“Why don’t you come out here? I can make you a wheat burger.” Letty said and there was a dead silence. Jasmine was very quiet for a long moment, but then opened the door.

“Please, don’t. I think that would only make me cry harder.” Jasmine said, the fur beneath her eyes were still wet as she dabbed a bit of toilet paper onto her cheeks. This caused Letty to snort a little bit, then motion for Jasmine to follow her.

They went to the couch in the living room. The bengal striped Abyssinian blew her nose with some propper tissues and nodded her thanks as Letty held up a small waste basket.

“Well, I suppose you’re wondering why I was having a sook in your loo.” She said this and Letty’s eyes widened. She understood the words in context, but she bit her lip to hold back a laugh at the slang. “Well, I’ve been with Patch for a good number of months now and I can’t express how happy I am to have such amazing fortune here in Equestria. Ranchtown has its faults but I still love it here. Patch is such a good man and I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.”

“But…” Letty gazed at her with a knowing smile. Jasmine looked off to the side with a sigh as her cheeks darkened.

“But,” She confirmed with a bit of a nod. “If there is one thing I’ve always wanted in my life, it’s a child of my own.”

The weight of her statement took a moment to click with Letty, and they were some very heavy indications. The yellow mare pursed her lips and tilted her head with a very heartfelt hand on the cat’s shoulder.

“Oh, dear. That does pose something of a problem.” Letty tried to think of something else to say, but the sorrow in Jasmine’s eyes made it very difficult to think of anything. “Have you talked to Patch about it?”

“I don’t know what I would say.” Her voice wavered some more and she began to drip tears once again. This time Letty pulled her over and into her chest as she cried, pressed hard against her. “Now, everywhere I look, I see babies and happy couples. I keep trying to come up with a solution of some sort, but nothing ever comes of it. It’s like a joke without a punchline.” Her last word was lost in another string of wailing.

This left her in an especially awkward situation. Letty was the first among her group of friends to have a baby, and she was all about gaining some notoriety, while also not flaunting the matter. Now that very detail was kicking her in the bum rather hard. She of all the people here had no place to talk. Even Death and Pearl were in a better place than she was as they had a long list of willing sperm donors. Jasmine, on the other hand, was quite on her own in this matter. There has never been nor did it seem like there would ever be a case where an Equestrian and Abyssinian could conceive. The equation just didn’t seem to add up.

“Jasmine, you should really open up to Patch. I think if you told him all of this, he would be a lot more understanding than you think.” Letty said, and the teary eyed girl looked up at her. Her shortish brown hair an absolute mess now. “I haven’t known him for a long while, but if he’s even half as good a guy as you make him out to be, I think he would be more than understanding.”

“But…” Jasmine started, then she thought for a moment. She never really got far when it came to imagining the conversation she’d have with Patch. It always ended with her getting into her own head and reminding herself that the two of them would never be genetically compatible. She thought on that for a moment.

“When I told Fable that I was pregnant, he didn’t instantly turn on the father switch. It took a long hard think to get his mind on track with it. Not to mention a good number of fucks to ease him into the idea.” Letty said, and was grateful when Jasmine gave a small snicker. “The idea of a baby is not something that should ever be taken lightly. Pregnancy is no cakewalk, the first few weeks nearly tired me to death and the little screamer still wakes me up at odd hours of the night. It’s not a job you can take a break from and you most certainly can’t have a day off without planning in advance.”

Jasmine gazed at Letty in a deep trance of thought. Now that all of the crying was out of the way, her brain was lulled into a state of comfort. The cobwebs were cleared and she felt some stability on the subject for the first time since it had started.

“Ooohhh, actually…” Letty’s face turned into a much darker grinning expression. “I just had a great idea…”

This made the catwoman grow something of a worried face.

“So… You guys are the leaders of Champions of the Silver Oath?” Patch took another bite of his wheat burger as Fable, Spark and Winter nodded. “Number three in the Dragon Helm servers?” They continued nodding.

“We’ve been number one like three times now, but that title is so slippery thanks to their new ‘active rating’ rule for the rank.” Winter said as he put more ketchup on his burger. “But yeah, dude, you never told us you were into Dragon Helm. I just thought you liked Xero Shot.”

“Of course I like Dragon Helm. I have a druid that I’m building up. I don’t suppose you’d mind if I got an invite?” He seemed almost nervous to ask them. To their surprise, it was Spark that spoke up.

“Dude, you literally just got sucked off while getting one of the most epic kill shots with six witnesses and two recordings. Do you really need to ask?” The orange unicorn flattened his hand and tapped both of the tan earth pony’s shoulders. “I dub thee ‘one of us.’” Then he patted him on the back. “There, does that seem a bit more official?”

“Yeah, not to mention, we even have the guild leader here!” Fable said as he saw Grem was approaching. They all smiled at her.

“Hey! Did I hear something about the guild?” Grem asked as she waved back and looked at Patch. “Oooohh, is the new guy wanting in on--- OH!” In an instant, her eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets and she hunched over. Her entire body began to tremble and her hand reached down to her crotch as she mewled at the intense sensation.

All four of the stallions stood there, dumbfounded expressions on their faces as the orgasming mare slipped her tiny bikini top and bottoms down and gripped her private areas. As her juices leaked out onto the patio concrete, she rubbed her crotch until the vibrations finally stopped. Fable looked from side to side at Winter, then Spark with suspicious intent.

“Did either of you do that?” Fable asked them pointedly. Both turned their heads toward him with furrowed brows.

“How do you think we did that?” Spark tilted his head at the pegasus and Winter nodded.

“Yeah, what are you looking at us for?” The bright blue unicorn said, then saw Grem get up from the ground.

“Hey, you’re the two with the magic needles sticking out of your foreheads. I can’t suspect Patch over here. He’s not even capable.” Fable lifted both of his hands toward the new guy and the unicorns scoffed. Patch gave a nervous smile, not really wanting to be part of this conversation.

“Did you see any magic aura on my horn, Fabs?!” Winter pointed both fingers at his head.

“No, it’s a gift given to me by my… generous… boyfriend.” Grem glared at Diamond Sword, who waved at her from the poolside chair where he was now just basking in the dusk as the sun was down halfway over the horizon. Beside his chair was Pearl and Death who were holding and cuddling the little foal, Ember.

Pearl couldn’t help but pet his little mane and nuzzle her snout into it with loving warmth. Ember gazed at her with wonder in his purple eyes. That’s when she blew a raspberry into his forehead and he started to smile. Then she couldn’t help but gently hold his little wings with the tiny little feathers and make it move a little bit. Her heart fluttered as the tiny pony looked back as sensation stimulated his tiny back appendage.

“Well, he seems to like you.” Death said as she sat beside her on the pool chair and watched as her pink wife had a hayday with the little rugrat. Pearl hummed her agreement as she picked Ember back up and leaned him to the side as she pretended he was a flying plane and made engine noises with her lips.

“Well, that’s good because I like him too.” Pearl finally responded, making Death Metal give a small chuckle. She set the little tyke down on her knee and started to make him bounce on it for a bit. “I wonder where they got the name Ember Wing from?”

“Who knows?” Death thought about having a cigarette, but there was no way Pearl would forgive her for smoking around an infant. Not that she was going to in the first place. “Seems like the birth went pretty well, though. He came out with his senses, both his hooves and all his fingers. Makes you wonder how the process goes in the womb. Seems complicated.” Death often wondered how all ponies were so similarly grown yet their personalities came out so different.

“I want one.” Pearl declared, making Death dart her green eyes back to her with a blank look. “I want a bouncing baby just like this one.”

“Oh, Pearl, I swear, being married to you is like living with a magic 8-ball. I never know what you’re going to say and half the time I think you just say what you know I don’t want to hear.” Death winced a little bit as she looked at Ember in a new light. The new light was not an entirely pleasant one. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“One thing I told you on our first date. I’m a spoiled bitch and I always get what I want.” Her devious grin toward Death drew a pained expression from the white mare.

“You’re sure about this?” Jasmine asked, Letty was already nodding. “I have no experience in the subject, though.”

“Well, you obviously love children. Not to mention, you’ll be doing us a favor.” The yellow pegasus straightened her hair. The endless hours of crying and the surprise jump scares of a sleeping baby waking up were quite clearly taking their toll on the poor mother. “Fable and I would be more than happy to have a bit of time away from the little guy. I have every confidence in you, after a bit of training.”

Jasmine was obviously a bit hesitant. However, once she looked outside the windows to the backyard to see Pearl and Death Metal watching after him, her heart melted a bit. To imagine those wonderful moments between all of the ache was such a magical notion. In the end, she felt it would be worth it.

Four ponies walked in. Winter and Diamond Sword were holding onto Grem while Golden followed them up, smiling as she struggled between them. Jasmine cocked an eyebrow at Grem’s distant, glazed over look.

“Hey, Letty!” Diamond said with a nervous chuckle. “Looks like I was a little hard on Grem with our new toy, and she needs a bit of help. You got a room we could…” He cleared his throat. “Utilize?”

Letty cocked an eyebrow at this, then looked over at the cat, who had about nine questions on the tip of her tongue.

“Oh, sure. Just down the hall, the closed door on your right is the guest bedroom.” She pointed her thumb down the hall.

Grem turned her head and started kissing on Winter’s neck immediately, making him recoil a little bit, which didn’t help. “Dude, maybe three orgasms in a row was a bit much.” Winter said as she growled, and nibbled.

“Come on, Winter, if anyone has the cooling touch, it’s you.” Golden said as she started pushing them toward the hallway. They disappeared into the corridor and the door opened and shut in quick succession.

“What…” Jasmine asked as she pointed toward them. “Are all four of them dating or something?”

“No.” Letty said, then tried to find the words to explain. “I promise you, Equestrian culture probably isn’t as different in the dynamics of monogamy.” There was another pause as she heard Grem begin to sing higher and higher octaves as the bed creaked and banged against the wall. “We’re just kind of a different group.”

She couldn’t help but tilt her head to the side as the whites of her eyes came into full view. Grem screaming for Winter to fuck her in both of her holes and the obvious sound of a cock in her mouth to muffle her cries of ecstasy.

“So, this is normal for you?” Jasmine started to wonder about this group, then she remembered Patch explaining the way he had lost his virginity.

“Normal is a strong word…” Letty turned her head as the backdoor opened once again. This time, Patch walked through. The yellow pegasus’s purple eyes brightened as she smiled. “Patch! Hey!” She motioned for him to come over.

“Hey, ladies. Jasmine, where have you been? You’ve been in here for a--” Suddenly something broke in the room down the hall as there was a horrendous cry for them to cover her in cum and spank her like a bad girl. “While…”

“Oh, we were just having some girl talk.” Letty explained, then stood up and offered him her seat. “You two make yourselves at home, and I’ll go check on my big red boyfriend.” She giggled as Patch took her offer and she had a little skip in her step as she approached the sliding door. She paused for a moment, and smile at Jasmine with a little wink. She left, and they were left with the background noise. It was distant, but still a bit distracting.

“What’s wrong, babe?” He asked, noticing that there were slightly matted tufts of fur below her eyes where tears had streamed. She seemed better now, but the alarms were still going off that something was very off.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, love.” She said, scooting closer to him as her hands met with his in a tight grip. “There’s been a few things nagging me for about as long as we’ve been dating. It’s not something I really thought about when I came to this country, but it’s been haunting my thoughts.”

Patch waited for a moment as she took in a deep breath. This seemed to worry him more than anything, because it’s how breakup speeches have started in the past. Not that he’d had any serious girlfriends before her.

“Somewhere down the line, I’ll want to have a little one. Or maybe even a few little ones.” She laid it on thick, and he seemed a bit relieved to her surprise. He waved it off and motioned for her to continue. “What did you think I was going to say?”

“It’s nothing, I promise.” Patch reassured her. “But yeah, I get it. With all of the baby talk going around, it’s kind of obvious that we’re in a bind, genetically.”

This gave her a bit of relief as well. Normally, when a couple had only been dating three months, the mere mention of babies would repel one or the other. Had they really become so close and in tune with one another?

“I never want to push you into something you don’t want to do, and I never want you to think that I resent you for being a pony. It’s just that I’ve always been very family oriented. The thought of never having children is… well… frightening.” She seemed as if she were on the verge of tears again as she looked downward. Patch put his finger below her chin and lifted it up as he smiled.

“Jasmine, you’re seriously bending yourself out of shape for something that’s way down the line. We don’t have to worry about having kids right this second. Not to mention, I can always look for alternative ways to solve the problem as we go.” He said this in such a matter of fact tone that made her look at him incredulously. “What? You’re literally the only girl I’ve ever been able to be myself around. You get annoyed when I’m on games for too long, but you’ve never deterred me from playing them. I love geeky and nerdy movies and you not only don’t judge me for watching them, you watch them with me. You don’t seem to understand what it’s like to go through an entire sea of friendzones from girls who seemed perfect, but just didn’t look at me the same way. Then you pass out in the middle of my store and change my views in literally less than a day. That really means everything to me.”

“R-really?” Jasmine asked him, and he nodded. “Some old birds tried to change your most adorable qualities?”

“Uh, yeah.” Patch could count on one hand how many “girlfriends” he’d had in the past that wanted nothing to do with his interests, making the relationship stale within weeks. He shook his head at the memories of failed connections and rejections that seemed to pile a mile high. “So, you say that you want to have kids somewhere down the line? Well, I can help. I’ll help as much as I can muster, but the point is to enjoy our time together. This time we have right now is not something we’re ever going to get back. Worrying about our differences and how they affect us is just distracting from what’s important.”

The truth behind his words sent another fresh stream of tears down her cheeks as he spoke them. He was right. She was so caught up in the future problems that she was missing what was right in front of her from the start. It made so much sense that she wondered why she hadn’t seen it before.

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way, Patch.” She leaned forward and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and cuddled him, purring in his ear as she licked his cheek. “Because I’m babysitting Ember on my next day off.”

There was a pause, then there was realization, then there was a ghastly look toward Jasmine as he came to the conclusion that he would also be looking after a baby. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, I’ve never had experience looking after a foal before. I’ve only taken care of kittens through my latter years in school. So, Letty said she could give me a few lessons! Isn’t that wonderful?” She smiled big at Patch and giggled.

“Uh, yeah, wonderful.” The earth pony started thinking about the hours he was going to lose in gaming because of this decision.

Then both of their eyes widened as they heard both Golden and Grem scream for their big cocks to invade their assholes and glaze their buns. Their moaning took on the loud screaming quality as they must have gone through what seemed like their fifth orgasm since they entered that room.

“Speaking of which, did you know about these ponies fucking one another like this? I thought Equestrians were a monogamous culture.” She tilted her head at him. He tried to look as innocent as possible.

“Well, yeah, Fable, Winter and Spark may have told me one or two stories here and there about their exploits. I slowly started to realize what I’d gotten into soon after I joined their gamer group.” Patch scratched the back of his dark brown mane as her face continually gave him a puzzled expression. “Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise to me, but I ended up getting use to it.”

“I don’t suppose that has anything to do with the way you lost your vir--” Then both of them began hearing the stallions in the other room cry out for mercy as Golden and Grem started some sort of maniacal laughter. “You know what? I think we’ve been in here long enough, they’ll probably be worried about us.” Jasmine got up from her seat, followed closely by Patch.

“You know what? I think you’re right.” Then he whispered for her to go go go as his hands patted her shoulders and they scurried out.

The party sat around a fire pit in the middle of the pateo. Some of them had marshmellows, the others had wheat dogs on sticks, roasting them. The night was cool and the midspring air was full of life. The flame between them was big enough to keep them cozy. Death Metal sat with Ember Wing, who was still awake, somehow. Letty chalked it up to the excitement of a huge crowd being around him. Even with the sunlight almost completely extinguished, he was pretty lively.

“Well, it’s a shame you two gotta leave soon.” Fable said as he checked the time on his cell phone. “Being a baker has its perks, at least.”

“Yeah, I do miss being social, but I’ll find a better crew soon and my job will be made a little easier.” Jasmine said as she checked on her marshmallow, then stuck it back over the fire. “Plus, I think we can stay a little while longer. Who needs sleep, am I right?”

“You’re talking to a mother.” Letty said, sitting beside the red pegasus. Beside her, was Spark, who was turned around on the phone. He brought the phone down with a heartfelt sigh and turned it off. The image of Voltage went away as the call ended.

“You good, bro?” Winter said, sitting near him and Golden. Spark forced a smile.

“Yeah, Volt said she’s sorry she couldn’t make it.” The orange unicorn ran his fingers over his blue and red hair. This didn’t really deter the worried look from Winter. He raised his hand up toward him and managed a bit of a chuckle. “I’m fine, really.”

“So, Patch, I hear you’re going to be playing daddy for a little while. Still think your new girlfriend bares a future?” Pearl Necklace said, drawing an annoyed look from about half of the party guests, including Death.

“I don’t see you keeping away from the little rugrat yourself, Pearl.” Jasmine retorted, taking Pearl by surprise, as well as the rest of the party. “Care to share with the class?”

The annoyed look was now Pearl’s. She looked over at Death, who wore a smug grin on her face. There was a moment between the pink pony and the kitty, but then Pearl relented with a chuckle.

“Fine, you caught me. I may have grown fond of the boy. He reminds me of another charmer.” Pearl stated, and all eyes went to Fable, who was now eating his wheat dog at the table with all of the condiments. Ketchup was on his lip, but with his complexion, it was hard to notice. The relish on his chin, however, was quite palpable. “Maybe the word ‘charmer’ was a bit flattering.”

“We should probably get going, sadly.” Patch got up and put the marshmallow in his mouth, sliding it off the end of his stick. “I’ve got work in the morning too.”

“Bloody hell.” Jasmine sighed as she also ate her white puff of sugar. The fluffy bengal cat got up with a stretch and walked over to where the white mare was holding the little winged orange bundle of joy. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing the rest of you later. Hope we can do this again.”

“We’ll set something up.” Fable assured her as he stuck another wheat dog on a stick.

“Not to mention, you’re gonna join the guild, right?” Grem asked, walking up to the condiments with her dog on a stick and getting the mustard.

“Most assuredly. I have to say, out of all of the games Patch plays, I like Dragon Helm the best.” She held out her hands to Ember, who reached out for her as well as he cooed a bit. “But I look forward to playing with this little bugger the most of all.” She bounced Ember in her arms a little and made kissing noises at him.

“Now, Jasmine, remember, be careful with him.” Letty said, her voice aired on the cautious side. “Remember what I told you.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Letty. I remember everything you told--” Then Ember grabbed onto her whiskers and pulled. “GAAAH!!”