Captive

Right after the lunch, followed with a quick shower, you put on your clothes again and you’re on your way towards the good old balloon to get back on the ground.

Even though it’s your second ride today, it still brings a lot of memories, but this time different ones. You recall the last time you were going down, right before you were set free. Back then you felt sorry for not appreciating such a marvelous sight. Now you’re fully aware and grateful for such privilege to experience it. To live up in the sky and see the land the same way birds and pegasi do.

Surely, not many other humans were so gifted in life as you are…

Upon landing, you and Dash head straight to the hospital, which is actually pretty far away from the platform. One has to go all the way through the whole Ponyville but you don't really mind as long as there’s your favourite tomboy pegasus next to you....Not as if you were the kind to hide behind a girl but in this case it’s justified that you're feeling safe with her. You always did. Even if you didn’t appreciate it back then.

...

By the time you’re almost at the other side of the village, you encounter a familiar white mare with a purple mane, one of the ponies you're actually glad to see again.

"Oh my! Rainbow darling, is that really Anon with you right now?" Rarity rushes towards both of you.

"Yup, who else than Anon?" Dash chuckles, standing a little closer to you “I meant it when I said that I’m never going to buy another human."

"I immediately saw the poncho I made and I simply HAD to make sure if my eyes weren't deceiving me. ...How is it possible you’re back, boy?"

"Hello, Miss Rarity." you give Rarity a warm smile and then friskily grin at Dash "I really missed my ‘mistress’, so I've returned."

"...But that's so very unexpected to hear! Just a few days before you ran away, Rainbow mentioned she found out you always hated her. ..What changed?"

"Everything! I realized my place is here. With Dash." you kneel to be at the same height with the two mares, fondly wrapping your arm around the pegasus.

"So and now is everything okay between the two of you? ..I see Anon doesn't even have a collar now." Rarity glances at Rainbow that’s visibly enjoying your unconcealed affection.

"More than okay! Things were never better!"

"Oh that's so relieving to know! I always thought you look so cute together!"

"Do we, huh?" Dash chuckles, taking over the conversation for a while.

"But of course! Even though it felt a little strange at first, to see humans being kept as pets but it seems to work out real well once settled!"

"Um yeah... We might have taken it a little further than that."

"What do you-.." the white mare gets somewhat red in her face when an image of you two fiercely bumping uglies in bed, flashes through her mind "Oh!! I see.. Well, it is undeniable that a human body looks rather appealing to a mare's eye, I saw for myself. I've even heard of Pinkie's sister buying a human for this very purpose! I just didn't realize you'd be the kind to go that direction as well..."

"Not only that... we sort of have a thing going between us. Like a serious one."

"...Are you speaking of an actual romance..?"

"K-kinda..." Rainbow simpers as if she said something she wasn't completely ready to stand behind.

"By Celestia,.. Dashie, I mean, kink is a one thing, we all have our needs. And it's understandable, especially with you, having trouble finding a right colt. But trying to turn that into a relationship? My, that would be like as if Fluttershy said she was dating her bunny because he's cute! You must be just confusing your needs with your feelings darling."

"I'm not exactly a bunny though... I can speak." you wedge yourself back in.

"No offense Anon, I know well you're an intelligent individual considering your species, but from the social stand, ponies and humans can't make actual pairs... It's silly. I mean, how could this work when you don't even have citizenship or any rights?"

"That's up to us to find out Rarity." Dash defensively steps in front of you.

"...Sorry I didn't mean to insult you Dashie. I merely wanted to point out this might be very controversial to most ponies..." Rarity takes a step back "I-I'm not judging you of course, but you probably shouldn't tell everypony so openly..."

"Just you wait till you find out about the baby..." you mumble to yourself.

"...What?"

"Nothing! A-anyway, we'll be going now! Sure look forward to seeing you soon Rarity!" Rainbow pushes you away from the white unicorn.

"Wait! ..Does that mean you'll be coming to the Pony Pet Play date this month? It's this week!"

"I uhhhhh..." the pegasus next to you stops for a second, just when she is about to disappear behind a corner.

"Definitely!" you yell, taking the first step out of the white mare's sight "See ya there Miss Rarity!"

…

As soon as you’re both far enough to be sure Rarity can’t hear anymore, Rainbow Dash stops you once again:

"...Anon, are you sure about it? Do you really wanna go there?"

"Come on! Just for the sake of it. It's gonna be fun! "

"Twilight's gonna be there though..."

"Oh fuck. I forgot about that..." you cringe "...But I'll probably have to confront her sooner or later.. You will try to calm her down, right?.. What you said still stands..?"

"Of course I'll protect you, my little human." Dash giggles before soaring up to give you a little kiss.

But when she's about to land, she changes her mind, seating herself on your shoulders:

"But you'll have to carry me to the hospital first."

"What, why?" you laugh "You can fly faster than I can fall."

"Yeah, but I wanna be carrrried.~"

"Jeez, what I wouldn't do for you, my mistress." you grin as you get to walking.

Since Rainbow Dash is a pegasus and she’s even smaller than most others, her lightweight is relatively easy to carry.

“...Is it true that pegasi have hollow bones like birds, Dash?” you ask after a while.

“I dunno, I never checked.”

“Well I thought they might teach you in school or something.”

“School is lame...” she laughs, playing with the hair on your head.

“To be honest, I’m not even surprised about an answer like that from you.” you chuckle.

“Hey, don’t blame me. If you wanted somepony who knows it all, you should have gone for Twilight.~”

“It was you who chose me! ...I’m glad you did though.”

“Wouldn’t you rather end up with Fluttershy or Rarity? They’re really pretty.” Dash pokes you.

“But they aren’t fun.” you grin “You are.”

***

“Hey, you don’t actually have to carry me all the way.” the pegasus on your shoulders smirks when you’re almost through the Ponyville.

“What if I want to, though? This momma needs her rest.”

“Shut up, I’m pregnant, not crippled.” she laughs, smooching you before she jumps down.

“But I wanna spoil you...” you kneel to kiss her back, thinking there’s nopony around right now.

But after the short, yet amorous kiss, you notice a mare, shielding the eyes of her foal at the sight of you. The reaction put a frown on your face.

“...Hey, what’s wrong.” Dash who didn’t see them nudges you.

"Nothing. It's just,.. I dunno, maybe you really should keep ‘us’ a secret. ...You saw Rarity's reaction. And she was always pretty cool with me to begin with. Imagine others all the others."

"I know..."

"...I just don't want to make it harder for you." you touch her shoulder “I won’t be upset if…”

The mare you fell in love with glances down on the ground as if she was searching there for something to say. But then she looks into your eyes, full of confidence:

"...Anon, I'm not planning to lie about us, just to look better in the eyes of others. Things like this have to be faced. ...And it's not like I could hide what’s between us forever, the baby will arrive in half a year..."

"Right..."

"I'll be fine... And I'm not ashamed of you, okay?"

"Thanks Dash..." you crack a visibly touched smile.

It was something that you didn’t know you needed to hear. And Rainbow knows it, since she just smiles, pats you and carries on towards the hospital.

In the past, you overheard her multiple times, talking about being an incarnation or an element of loyalty, whatever that meant. You always thought it was just one of her many braggings.

...You still can’t say that you understand what it means but you know she’s serious when she says a thing like that.

Suddenly you're feeling a little more ready for whatever the future brings

...

In the hospital, Dash goes straight to the counter to make an appointment, so you sit on one of the small chairs in the waiting room you came here through. There's an old pony sitting across you, one younger with a broken leg for a check up and one with a visible fever, arriving mere second after you.

The last one gets announced first because his case seems to be the most urgent, leaving you with the two others.

The old-timer won't stop giving you weird looks but he's not exactly saying anything. It's probably better that way.

The other looks just bored, trying to seem as careless as possible.

Nonetheless, you can still feel all the eyes onto you, each time you look the other way.

‘...Just what is a human doing at a pony hospital?’ they must be thinking.

But all of them saw you come here with Rainbow Dash, that's probably why they didn't say anything yet. Soon she joins you, giving you a little smile before taking a seat next to yours.

You smile back. With her around, the atmosphere feels a lot less tense.

And you wait together, until it’s her turn and the door to the doctor's office open.

"I'm sorry, no animals past this point." a nurse stops you when you want to follow the colorful pegasus.

"Can't we have an exception? I can't leave him outside." Dash turns around.

"Why don't you have him collared in the first place then? That's pretty reckless, considering you're in a hospital."

"Promise he'll be just standing in the corner, but I need him with me. ...He would go absolutely mad without me." she eyes your way, hoping that you’ll play along.

"Oh yeah, I'd totally go crazy and break stuff and uhh... be extremely rowdy."

"By Celestia,.. okay then. But he better behave inside! Or you'll pay for any broken or damaged equipment. Ponies these days..."

"Great! Let's go."

...

The doctor pony waiting inside is a little more welcoming than the nurse. He even offers you a treat, which you politely refuse because you're still feeling filled with pancakes, sirup and marejuice.

Then they bring some kind of device resembling an ultrasound, similar to the ones you've seen on Earth, except this one seems partly magic operated and probably has a way clearer image.

...

"Hmm, looks like we have a healthy foal right here!" announces the doctor eventually "No anomaly..."

Hearing it, Rainbow Dash exhales in relief, faintly glancing your way to smile, seeing that you share her emotion.

"-But the second one..."

"WAIT, I'm having TWO kids?" you mare yanks in her seat.

"Of course! I thought you knew. At this early stage, your belly wouldn't even be visible if you only had one!" the stallion smiles and glances back at the screen "...But,.. Miss Redheart, would you have a look at this? You're younger and have better eyes."

As soon the nurse comes closer, she widens her eyes in a shock and almost drops a tray she was holding with her teeth:

"Doctor, n-no hooves... the fetus doesn't have hooves."

"It really does seem that way, doesn’t it?" he moves the image to have a better angle while both you and Dash are getting more pale each second "But only the front ones. The rear looks fine... Strange, it looks almost like.... ‘hands’?"

The next moment, all eyes in the room are fixed at you. And you aren't able to say anything at all, with an exception of making a very awkward smile.

"Doctor, quick, show me the image please! I need to see." Dash breaks the silence.

"Miss Dash..." he adjusts the screen so that she can see better "I've never seen anything like this... who exactly is the father?"

From where you're standing, it's partly visible to you as well. The final form isn't clear yet, but from the very basic shape, it seems as if the lower part was pony and the upper one was human.

Rainbow has a very detailed look at the screen, staring at it for almost half a minute, completely ignoring the doctors question.

"...Are both of my foals gonna be healthy?" she gasps eventually.

"I... can't say for sure about the second one but so far the organ development seems in order. Within limits of the body shape of course...." the doctor keeps studying the image "...And I'm about 80% sure it might be a female, while the first one would probably be a male... But did you have any idea of what we might find here, miss Dash? Is... is him the father?" his head nudges towards you.

Rainbow nervously swallows her saliva and eyes at you as if she was looking for some kind of support. So you smile as warmly as you can, letting her know you’ll always be there for her, even if she denied you.

The mare smiles back before glancing back at the doctor and his nurse:

"Yes. He is. What about it?"

"I uhhh,.. didn't know it was possible... Are you 100% you want to keep both of them? It would only be understandable if-"

"Why does everypony have a need to tell me what’s understandable and what isn’t?!" Dash raises her voice in anger, but then she quickly calms down "...Both are my foals. Now,.. would you let their father have a closer look as well please?"

"Um, of course.." both of the ponies step away.

And you hesitantly move closer towards the chair that Dash is sitting in and kneel next to her to be at the same level, staring at the screencap.

"...God,.. I still can't believe it. Look at our kids... this really is a miracle." you exhale.

You're unable to unglue your eyes from the image. That is until your head accidentally bumps with Rainbow's. Then you jerkily turn your gaze her way, meeting her magenta eyes. - And they're wet with tears, just like yours.

The tears of joy.

You hug each other tightly, this really is the single best day of your life...

...

You weren't really paying attention to how the doctor and his nurse were looking at you two throughout that moment but it probably wasn't the same way if you were a young stallion. You're actually pretty sure about that, because they were both acting really awkward for the whole rest of the appointment.

But Rainbow wasn't. She was completely natural, not hiding her excitement in front of anypony. And there was a lot to be excited about. You’ll be having twins!

Something changed inside of you that moment, as if nothing else really mattered anymore. Suddenly you have everything that you ever wanted from life: home, love and a sense of purpose. All found in a single day.

For that you’re eternally grateful to your mare and even ready to give your life if it was necessary to protect her and your future kids. But for now, being the best father and a husband that you can be should be enough.

Sometimes, the happiness in life can be found more suddenly than one can expect...

***

Just like Rarity said, the same week is the Pony pet play Date at which you promised to come. At first it might have seemed like a rash decision to go there but Dash decided it might be the ideal opportunity to unveil everything to her closest friends.

And if she says she’s ready for it, then you’ll be happy to support her decision.

***

The first rays of a morning sun that shine on your face through the opened window make you withdraw from the dream realm to open your eyes and see the colorful mane with a blue pony nose sticking out of it.

You know there’s also a face underneath those disheveled strands of red, yellow and orange, so you boop the snoot like a button to wake Dash up.

It’s not working though. She’s sleeping like a log, as usual.

Which means you gotta hate to use less “sophisticated”, yet much more entertaining methods...

You pick up one of the feathers laying around from yesterday's wild night and tickle one of the nostrils that are peacefully inhaling and exhaling the morning air.

The next second is not so peaceful:

“Ah-Achoo!!” Dash sneezes so hard she almost bangs her head against yours.

“Good Morning sweetie.” you grin.

“...By Celestia, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” the pegasus squints her eyes at you.

“Of course it is!” you grin even wider and adjust her hooves that are wrapped around you, so you can pull her even closer on your bare body “...You know what day is it, right?”

“If only you were so enthusiastic about it the last time.” she smirks before giving you a short kiss “...But yeah, I guess it is a good morning, Anon.”

“Nice… And to make that morning an even better one, lemme make you some nice breakfast, ‘mistress’.” you return the kiss and you’re about to get up so you can start working on it,.. but her hoof gently pulls you back into the bed:

“You can improve the morning of your mistress by staying with her a little longer.” Dash laughs and buries her head into the pillow “...We can have apples for breakfast or something. Let’s just cuddle now.”

“Alright, that’s an offer I don’t wanna refuse.”

“You don’t have a choice…” she wraps her hooves around your body with a giggle.

…

The breakfast really ended up being just a few apples on the way to the balloon.

Now it's 9:26 AM and you’re arriving at the park with your ex-owner, currently a girlfriend, Rainbow Dash.

Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight and Applejack are already waiting there and they’re all too busy chatting to notice you coming. You wonder how come Pinkie isn’t here yet, since you’d expect a pony like her to be everywhere first. But the very next second, the pink tornado literally teleports in front of you:

"HEY DASHIE!1!! HIA ANON!1!!" she pulls a cupcake out of thin air the same way she did the last time and stuffs it in your mouth before you even get to greet her back "See Twilight?! Anon REAAAAALLY likes Dashie after all! He must have realized how sad she was when he ran away so he's BACK!"

Twilight, who was busy with some scrolls uptil now, teleports them all somewhere out of sight with a flash of her magic and walks a few steps towards you and Dash. You gulp when you see the not-so-happy-to-see-you expression of the purple alicorn. You could swear that if you were here alone, she’d already turn you into something like a bug or a worm. You’re here with Rainbow Dash though, so she merely gives you a frown before greeting her friend:

"Hey Rainbow.., so it's true you have Anon back. After all, both Rarity and Pinkie confirmed it, but it still feels a little surprising he’d return after the way it ended. It’s almost odd."

"Hey Twi." Dash smiles a bit more timidly than usual "...I might not have been completely honest about everything that happened."

“What do you mean?” Twilight inquiringly raises an eyebrow to let her know she's listening.

And all the other ponies join her because they’re eager to know. It seems that besides the fact you’re back, Rarity didn’t tell them anything else. And Dash takes a deep inhale:

"Anon didn’t run away in the first place. Something happened between us and it made me realize that humans aren’t exactly a “pet material”...But I couldn't just sell him, he would suffer in captivity. So I let him go...”

"If he suffers in captivity, why did he return then? I know my two humans definitely wouldn't..." Applejack joins in the argument.

"The poor boy must have got too domesticated to survive in the wild on his own..." the yellow pegasus next to her sighs.

“You see it’s-” Dash attempts to speak but her friends seem to be more interested in their speculations than an actual answer.

"Fluttershy must be right, the human merely realized it's convenient to return. And the poor Rainbow is too loyal for her own good to get rid of him." Twilight swiftly jumps to a conclusion.

“That isn’t what I meant Twi-” Fluttershy starts...

"-I returned to Rainbow Dash because I love her, okay?!" you shut them all up and step forward "I initially misjudged your friend for a horny, shallow, egocentric manipulator because I couldn't see past my spite towards your kind, back then . - And it was too late when I realized just how wrong I was..."

Throughout the momentary silence, you look into the magenta eyes of the mare you're taking about and kneel lower, speaking mostly to her now:

"...I might have been right about the horny part." you smirk " But she's the most selfless, amazing and unique person I ever met. That's why I returned, because I knew I wouldn't ever meet anyone like her. And I had to tell her, because she means a world to me..."

...You’d kiss her as well but with all the eyes fixed on you right now, you wouldn't dare. At least not before she says what she has to say.

And Dash simpers at you, getting just a little red in her cheeks before eyeing back on her friends behind you:

".... We're in love guys." she grins and kisses you in front of them all "Anon isn't my pet anymore. If that isn't clear yet. "

This is where most of the ponies gasp with various expressions: Twilight seems to be the most shocked one, with a bit of disgust on her face, Fluttershy and Applejack are just genuinely confused, Rarity already knows and Pinkie is steadfastly enthusiastic as always.

"...And that's not all! We have a foal coming in about 7 months..." Rainbow's face gets even redder, simultaneously as her smile gets wider.

Which shocks the ponies even further, including Rarity, who thought that nothing can surprise her at this point.

"Rainbow, there is no way this was possible. You should go to the hospital and let them check you with their equipment . The tests or symptoms can be deceiv-" Twilight starts.

"We've been there yesterday." you cut her off

"We were." Dash nods "And there are two of them actually. One pony and one... mixed."

"You can't possibly be serious." the purple mare still doesn’t want to believe it.

"I am. I'm gonna be a mother. Me, guys. Can you imagine?"

"Hardly..." Applejack quietly admits.

"Oh, I couldn't either at first, but it's getting easier each day! It’s the most amazing thing!"

"With a human, Rainbow? That is so wrong on so many levels!" Twilight won’t let up.

"I don't care! Who are you to lecture me, Twi? A princess of friendship that can't see past her own friendship problem?” Dash finally had enough “I know how much you hate Anon, do you really want to ruin this for us?!”

“Ruin? What is here to ruin in the first place? Come on Rainbow, snap out of it! Get rid of that human and abort that thing or-... or-..”

“Or what?”

“Or we can’t be friends anymore!”

The sentence makes Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty, freeze in place as if she was stabbed.

“..Is that so huh?” she turns away so that nopony can see her eyes getting wet “...Guess I was wrong about you Twi.”

“...Wait!” Twilight reaches her hoof towards the pegasus “I didn’t mean-...”

But when she sees you, kneeling down to comfort her friend, the purple unicorn's eye twitches in anger and her expression wrinkles into a painful cringe.

“You did this!!” she charges her horn with a purple, scary looking, magical aura “This is all your fault!!”

...To make sure that whatever she sends at you won’t hit Dash, you quickly stand up from the mare. And then:

*poof*

…

….

Your eyes carefully open. You expected to be reduced to ash or at least a frog but instead the alicorn disappeared in the purple glow, no traces of her anywhere… Leaving you and Dash there, with the four other mares. And Owlicious too because Twilight probably forgot about him in her anger.

"Oh wow..." you exhale in relief that you’re alive and glance at Rainbow "...will she be okay?"

"I hope so… We never fought like this before, I had absolutely no idea…” Dash wipes away the tear from her eye “...I expected that I’d just admit how things really are and we all could have tea or something, maybe even a celebration… Was that really so naive of me?"

“I don’t know…” you hug her “...But I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be…” she snivels “This isn’t your fault...”

...

“Dashie…” Fluttershy squeaks eventually to get her friend’s attention.

“...Yes Flutters?” Rainbow opens her eyes, almost as if she forgot that her other friends are still there.

“So all of that is really true..? That you and Anon…”

"Yes it is. ...And you guys? ...Are you going to abandon me like Twilight or could you accept us? All four of us..?" she eyes down on her belly.

And for a while, there’s silence. Merely a wind, rustling through the trees, and the sounds of Ponyville market in the distance.

Until Pinkie Pie breaks it:

"...I can't wait to throw the babies a birthday party!!!" she yells and rushes to hug you both.

The other ponies stand there lingering.

“Come ON, GUYS!! Aren’t you excited?!”

“I… don’t really know if “excited” is the right term darling…” Rarity steps a bit forward, but then she smiles “...but you’re our friend, no matter what. And we respect your decision.”

Fluttershy, who’s happy that she doesn’t have to speak anymore, just silently joins the group hug.

“...”

Only Applejack who was silently watching the things unfold still hesitates.

She doesn’t know you at all and the only humans she met were the ones she bought as a workforce. It’s very obvious she’s struggling with herself, but she saw for herself where xenophobia leads.

...

“....Aww shucks.” she chuckles eventually “This is all really weird but who am I to judge?”

And it’s as if almost everything turned out okay in the end. But only almost...

...

"You should still check on Twilight, Rainbow..." Rarity nudges Dash after everyone’s let go of each other "...She saw the consequences of the war first hoof, it's hard to blame her for acting on emotions... "

"I know... We’ll go see her. I think she needs to talk with Anon as much as she needs to talk with me..."

***

The Pony Pet Play Date ended pretty much sooner than it started and even though it didn’t end up exactly the way Rainbow Dash expected, at least the things were cleared. Pinkie, Rarity, Flutershy and Applejack went home and you were headed towards a crystal castle in the middle of Ponyville because there’s the highest chance to find Twilight. In the safety of her home and books.

...

"Hey Twi..." Dash opens the door to the map room, finding her friend, sitting in her seat, staring at the magical table "...are you still mad?"

The purple alicorn raises her head towards her, as if trying to ignore you, being there as well:

"I am not mad at you Rainbow,.. or maybe just a little. ...For siding with the human, rather than your friends,... but I am way more mad at the human."

"But there don't have to be sides..! You of all ponies should understand that. What makes humans any different from yaks or griffins? Isn't this what you wanted to teach the ponies? Friendship?"

"Rainbow, there wasn't a war between us and yaks or griffins... You just-... haven't seen the dead ponies, killed by humans. I knew some of them and I felt responsible for each and every one!"

"...Princess Twilight, with all due respect-" you start, but the stare she gives you makes you hesitate for a second.

“...”

"With all due respect, wasn't what happened between our races already enough?” you muster enough courage in the end “...You won and my world is no more. Yet I don't hate you as much as you hate me."

The courage isn’t getting rewarded though.

"You're sitting on a throne of lies! This is just an elaborate manipulation!" Twilight bursts at you.

"Will you calm down Twilight? No I haven't seen the dead ponies, nor the dead humans. But I felt something way more important. I felt..." Rainbow bites her lip, knowing how much will Twilight hate what she's gonna say "I felt love.. We both did. Isn't that enough?"

And just like predicted, the purple alicorn isn't exactly pleased with what your ex-mistress, now special somepony, said. She looks furious when she glances at you two, defensively standing close to each other, as if ready to defend one another from the common threat:

Her.

As much as she’d want to smite you where you stand so she could have her old friend back, the same she was before, it just isn’t possible. Too many things have changed and as tempting as it can be, violence or anger can’t solve the problem at this point.

“I hate you…” she eventually caves down instead, tears in her eyes “I just want my friend back. If only we never set hoof on your Celestiaforsaken planet...”

“Twilight! We’re still friends. And this might be the very first good thing to come out of our races meeting. Wasn’t that the original intention? Finding new friends..?”

“But it’s too late for that now.” Twilight sniffles.

“It's never too late to make the right decision... ”

And from the look of her, deep down she knows how wrong she is. And that as a princess of friendship, this might be her most important test so far.

"If only it wasn’t so hard..." she exhales eventually, as if the anger inside her was deflating and losing its aggressive energy "I just wished I would never see another human again after the war… But when the portals didn't close properly and ponies started hauling humans to Equestria,.. none of that was supposed to happen.”

“But it happened Twilight,.. All we can do is to stop trying to make it worse. You have the power to stop this madness.”

“I don’t, don’t you understand? We let it go too far. If I could, I’d send all the humans back to Earth and never hear about them again but they’re already all across Equestria. Slaves, pets and in some instances… whatever you two have. But the mixed babies? I’d never consider that happening, not even in my sleep."

"Anon said it's a miracle,.. I think so too. Considering the circumstances under which they were conceived..."

"I don't think it's a miracle. Think about it, both of you. By Celestia, Rainbow, do you seriously want to do that to your kids? Letting it be a lonely mutant, a crossbreed, in a world that doesn't even want it?"

"I'll be there for them."

"And I will too." you step a bit closer to Dash.

"And what will you do?” Twilight scoffs “A human voice means about as much as if ducks said they want a change."

"Maybe you ought to listen to ducks sometimes then. They might have good ideas."

"I can't believe you're saying that Twilight. You are a princess of friendship!"

"I'm just telling you the facts! All of this is already happening, humans have their position in our society as animals. Not even I can do anything about it, Celestia won't do anything about it. I'm just trying to save my friend from ruining her and her foal's life."

"Well if you really care about me, you should help me instead of trying to change my mind."

"I already said it, I can't force a widespread law for humans to suddenly be treated differently..! The things are far beyond my own control!"

"Then make an exception for Anon? Please?"

"... You aren't seeing it,.." the alicorn's hoof touches her forehead "..but if one human gets a rightful citizenship, others will want it too. It could cause so much chaos or even riots because Equestria is now filled with humans... Even if I wanted to, I'm afraid I can't do that either."

"...Can you do anything at all then?"

But Twilight just hangs her head. She doesn’t look frightening at all now…

And you feel that the only reason why she doesn’t want to do anything is simply because she’s too afraid to be as bold as the brave blue pegasus by your side. Yet you don't spite her for it anymore.

"Hey, that’s alright, princess Twilight. I never asked for help or exceptions....." you move closer towards her "But I'd do anything for our daughter and son to be treated fairly. Can you help us with that..?"

"...So that’s it huh?" the purple alicorn chuckles, raising her head with a melancholic smirk towards you "Is that really everything you want?”

“Yes, that’s all. I was prepared to trade my freedom just to be with your friend. But I received a lot more than that. All I want now is to protect them so they could live a better life than me.”

And the princess frowns at you, as if looking for signs of deceit or lies. Yet there are no to be found. What you’re saying is your deepest heart’s wish.

After a little while, her expression softly changes:

“...Perhaps I misjudged you Anon. Maybe there’s more to humans than I thought… At least to some…”

Then she somewhat officially clears her throat, as if there were ponies present:

"As a princess, I give my word that both of the "foals" will have Equestrian citizenship and rights, just like their mother, and I'll do everything in my personal influence to provide their fair treatment here in Ponyville. And as a friend: ...I'm sorry I can't do more."

"Thank you so much Princess." you bow respectfully to her direction.

"It's okay Twilight, I'm happy we get to stay friends…”

***

...And so it went.

A few months later, Rainbow's belly started being visible to naked eye and ponies started asking about the father. Having support of both her friends and yours, Dash had enough confidence to answer truthfully to all those who would ask.

And not only because of that you became notorious around Ponyville. By that time they already knew you as “Anon - The Rainbow Dash's human”. One that's friendly to all the ponies and there’s no need to be upset about him walking leashless, or even completely without a pony, alone buying things at the market or going for a stroll through nature.

But yeah, but that took quite some more time for them to get used to.

Things still aren’t 100% perfect, there are still a few ponies who never learned to like or at least accept you. The majority accepts you though and you’re able to live a relatively “normal” life. You might still officially be Dash’s property and ponies outside of Ponyville won’t ever stop treating you that way.

But it doesn’t matter to you. You’re happy for what you already have.

***

...Dash asked for something sweet today, so you've decided to bake it for your “wife”. You like to consider her that way, even though you can't legally marry.

You just made a whole chocolate-cherry cake just for your amazing wife and you're bringing it to her to show off the piece.

Your baking skills drastically improved, since you started helping at the sugarcube corner sometimes. You wanted to work so you provide at least a little bit for your future family, even though Dash says it’s not essential. But you wanted to feel at least a little bit useful.

"Oh wow! I didn't know I had a birthday Anon." Dash smiles at you from the sofa just when she notices you in the door frame "...What did I do to deserve this?"

"Don't you know?" you grin, lay the cake on the table next to her and kiss her belly.

Then you move over to her lips, giving her a proper smooch before you'll start slicing your work.

And even though you didn’t plan on it, you immerse yourself a little longer in cuddling the future mother of your children. You even end up laying next to her on the couch because it might take a while.

...You've been making love throughout her pregnancy a few times as well. Dash used to be afraid you might stop finding her attractive because of it, so naturally, you had to prove her wrong.

Of course, the kinks had to go aside in the later stages, as you were getting progressively more obsessed about keeping the babies safe, so everything became more and more gentle too. Though, you promised each other to take the collar out of the drawer once more when it's over, to see if it's still even exciting.

Dash had to stop performing at the flight shows too, eventually. But it was after you had your satisfaction of going there to see her. You remember it so very clearly…

...

You had a seat next to her friends, in the best row of course, getting to see her shine in the full glory, in her flying squad. She was absolutely stunning and amazing. ...As always, you'd say, but it was better than always.

And even more amazing was what she did at the end. She flew straight to you, instead of the cabinets, while all eyes were still onto her, just to give you a kiss and announce her momentary retreat from flying, because of her pregnancy.

"...You know the ticket here will cost you something too, don't you Anon?" she whispered in your ear then "I need a little help with slipping out of these tight clothes and it would be so nice of you to help me clean all the parts I struggle to reach on my body. And then..."

Soon after that you followed her to the private Wonderbolt shower and enjoyed a very quality time together.

...

‘...Oh yeah, such a nice day.’ you sigh over the memory

Not as if today was any less good, but you aren't planning to take it so far this time. You're merely cuddling before you get to the cake.

Even after all those months, Dash relishes your attention, not taking it for granted. In a way, it’s as if you're staying absolute beginners. And you're planning to stay that way.

You’re just fondling her fluffy ears while softly nibbling on her lips when she suddenly opens her eyes:

"OH MY GOSH ANON. I THINK IT'S REALLY REAL THIS TIME."

"Wait, like really really real? Like actually real, not like the last time?"

"YES, EXACTLY THAT AND CERTAINLY NOT LIKE THE LAST TIME."

She's talking about the time you rushed into hospital when she thought the baby was coming. It wasn't.

"ANON I GOTTA FLY THERE, I WON'T MAKE IT IN THE BALLOON."

"WHAT, are you KIDDING? You want to FLY yourself to the delivery bed? You might as well give birth right where you are!"

"We might not even have a choice..."

"But I was being sarcastic, I didn't really mean-"

"I told you already that mares aren't as fragile as your women! I can do it right here!"

"Oh my God..."

"Do you remember how long it took the last time?! I don't have that much time! HELP ME!"

"HOW?! I'VE NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS!"

"I DUNNO! DO SOMETHING!"

"SHIT, OKAY, BREATHE DEEPLY AND PUSH!"

"I KNOW THAT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME!!"

"I'M TRYING TO MOTIVATE YOU!!"

"OKAY THEN MOTIVATE ME ALL YOU WANT, BUT WHEN THE BABY ARRIVES, YOU BETTER CATCH IT!"

"CATCH?! YOU'RE GOING TO SHOOT IT OR WHAT!?"

"SO THAT IT WON'T FALL DOWN ON THE GROUND YOU IDIOT! BY CELESTIA, HOPE THE FOALS WON'T BE AS STUPID AS YOU..."

"Okay, that was fair..."

"I didn't mean it,.. But for the love of everything fast, HOLD MY HOOF!"

***

You've stayed by her side the whole time, even though she probably really could manage by herself. But you've done all you could to make it easier for her, telling her you love her and she's doing great, holding her hoof - which might have been the most important for her and of course, catching the babies.

First went the colt, his coat and mane bearing the same color as your hair, with only a single stroke of the same sky blue of his mother's coat over his mane.

You were frightened about the girl's delivery, if she'll be okay, since she's gonna be the second. But to your common relief, she arrived with no bigger trouble than her brother did. And she's exactly as you pictured her: a satyr.

Lower part of her body is a pony and the upper one is human, except her back's decorated by a pair of wings. Her hair shares the same pattern of her mother's mane, just like her short tail, except the coat on her pony part is blue color so light you thought it was just white at first.

They are both so different, no one would believe they are actually siblings. The only thing that ties them together are their parents and... their eyes.

As soon as they opened them for the first time, you saw they shared the same colours.

...Yes, “colours” - not just one.

Both the colt and the girl have heterochromia, right from the birth. With one eye in the same color as their mother and the other one after their father. The only difference is that the colt's magenta eye is right and his sister's magenta eye is left. As if nature couldn't decide who's gonna have which.

***

"God, they're beautiful.. both of them." you're finally laying them in Rainbow's exhausted, but eager hooves.

"They are... You know, I'm glad we stayed here." she smiles wearily, but in all sincerity "..But I'm really tired now.. Think I'm gonna have a rest..."

And the proud mother closes her eyes, still smiling to herself.

In the meanwhile, you quickly clean up the mess made and throw away the dirty blanket you've put under her before, only to bring a new one, covering the sleeping mare underneath it with both of your kids. Then you protectively lay next to them.

Sure, there isn't really any danger to protect from,.. but man, you're actually a dad.

It feels good.

Real good.

EPILOGUE:

You're still Anon, except it's been some time. Almost fifteen years to be exact.

Both of your kids are almost grown up and boy, they are growing fast. Literally, faster than humans would. But Rainbow assured you it's normal for her kind.

...It's been a lovely 15 years.

Even though your daughter's look resembles that of her father, being half human that is, she's very much reminding you of her mother:

Bold, fearless, never giving up, always up above the situation… and she even loves flying too.

The colt isn't that way though.

He's a little sensitive, but very kind and artistic in more ways than one. At first you thought it would be him, protecting his younger sister but not only she's very much capable of protecting herself, but she was always taking care of him instead.

It's reminding you of something you've seen before.

Plus, your satyr girl is even worse cook than her mother...

But they're both absolutely amazing in your eyes and are making you the proudest dad in Equestria.

....At some point, they both started asking about their heritage and why some of the other foals see them as different and both you and Dash have been honest about all their questions, not really pretending anything or waiting for the right age.

They took it surprisingly well.

Yet you made it clear, you don't want them to ruin their lives by becoming human rights activists or anything. It isn't their fight, if there even is anything to fight for.

True,.. the situation with overall human treatment didn't get better. Especially in the big cities where one life always means less.

But you're living in a village. Things are different here.

Life is more than okay for you, your kids, and even the few more humans owned by other ponies. You were a good influence on them and their "masters". Even Applejack started treating her workers a little better. Enough that they're staying there willingly, just like you are.

So it feels like you did your part in the world, even if it wasn't that big.

...Thought there might be more mixed babies appearing eventually, but it seems your foals just might have been a real miracle. ...Or you just weren't looking far enough. But not even you and Rainbow ever had more kids.

...And you weren't exactly avoiding laying together past years. Your libido might be a little easier to satisfy for longer periods of time nowadays, but she's still utterly ravishing to you.

Plus, mares barely seem to age.

But you keep telling her you'll love her even when she's old and wrinkled, as long as she will love you.

That's still in the future though, because you're enjoying your active years together. Been to many places around Equestria, thanks to Rainbow, because she'd occasionally take you travelling with her on her "quests of glowing flanks" - as you like to call them.

True, you didn't always have the same treatment you have in Ponyville, sometimes the situation even required you to wear the leash outside the bedroom, but your ego can take that easily nowadays.

As you said once before to yourself: you might not live to see the day, when humans are getting treated equally worldwide but you believe that it's inevitable.

After all there's the same kind of soul in both of us, we breathe, we think, we feel and we love.

Eventually, both people and ponies will have to recognize this simple fact.

That, and that one’s happiness in life can be earned, if you believe in your heart. It's never too late to pursue it, you know that firsthand. ...And each time life gets you down, you're given a chance to rise up way further than you ever were.

One day, your kids will create their own story, knowing all of that.

And that day will be glorious. But for now,.. you're still all together.

So no matter the weather, your days are always sunny, and the years golden...

THE END