Vivarium

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 1

“Good morning, honey,” Gamma Ray said to her boyfriend with a nuzzle as she passed him on her way to the coffee pot. Packer watched her pass him for a second while he chewed some morning hay. “Hmm, last night was amazing. I didn’t think I’d be able to walk after what you did to me,” she said casually.

Packer blushed and swallowed. “Well, it’s a stallion’s job to please his mare.”

She poured herself a cup with her magic, smirking back at him. “And your mare is very pleased.” She replaced the pot and took a sip of the black liquid before she added some sugar and took another sip. Nodding, Gamma moved to her spot on the floor and took a seat beside her boyfriend. “Maybe we can do it again tonight?”

He chuckled. “Why wait that long?” He asked, lidding his eyes.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she replied with a wave of her hoof. “I’m not going to work with your scent all over me. There’s a reason I took a shower just now, and you know why.”

Packer rolled his eyes. “Because foals ask too many questions,” he practically quoted. “Is it my fault that you have changeling that can smell emotions?”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “No, but when they smell your seed and then my emotions, it leads to me having to deflect questions from the entire class to their parents or counselor. I can’t deal with parent teacher conferences again so soon, even if most of the class now knows how babies are made.”

Packer picked up his mug in his hoof and took a sip. “Just a little sample?” Gamma’s magic tipped the cup and he spluttered as warm milky coffee went down his muzzle. “Hey!”

“Oh, thank you for offering,” Gamma quickly slid his plate to her spot and took a bundle of hay with some herbs to her mouth. She smiled while she chewed. “Don’t be a baby, you look fine and it’ll dry off.” He opened his mouth and she stuffed some hay into it to keep him quiet. “You’re cute when you’re upset.”

Packer chewed with a frown that slowly turned to a smile. “Cud attack!” shouted before spitting his chewed food at her. He got up and ran away from her before she could wipe the chewed ball of food from her chest.

Gamma sighed as his tail rounded the corner and she giggled. “Goofball. Karma, I guess.”

…

Gamma stood in front of her class as the young watched her, listening raptly as she read from a book to them. They inhaled in unison when she spoke aloud the climax of the story, before clapping and cheering the success of the lost dog that found its way home. Placing the book down, she looked out the window by chance to see a class of pegasi flying by, low and slow.

“Miss Gamma?” A filly earth pony called. “Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Yes, you may. Take a friend with you,” she advised and watched as two fillies rushed from the room. “Now, who would like to play a game?” The class cheered and hooves went up. “Great! We’re going to play pretend. This will be pretty easy for those of you that can change shape, but this isn’t about changing shape, it’s about imagination.

“When I say a creature, I want you all to imagine to be the creature in your mind and act like you think they’d act like. No shapeshifting,” she stated, looking at the colorful bugs. “Oh, my. I am in the jungle and I see something orange. It has stripes! Black stripes that help it blend in to the background. I see a tiger,” she said as she lowered her front and raised her tail. She growled as deeply as she could and her charges followed suit.

Tiny cute roars and snarls filled the classroom and some ponies pounced on one another, pretending to attack. Within ten seconds it had turned into a full pretend melee with foals roaring and snarling at one another with one little unicorn accidentally rearing up and toppling to the side with a yelp.

“Very good, class!” Gamma announced. “We’re all ponies again,” she called out and the game ended with classmates helping one another up and returning their attention to their teacher. “Now I am in the desert, it’s very dry. I see something on its belly, wiggling along the ground to move. I see a snake!” She dropped to her belly and hissed.

The foals giggled and followed suit, rolling around and crawling with their hooves, bumping against one another as they hissed. One colt bit a filly’s hind leg, but apologized because ‘snakes don’t bite each other.’

The two fillies reentered the room and stopped, watching the scene. Gamma stood up and explained what was happening and the fillies moved into the crowd as Gamma stopped the current exercise. And continued going through several more locations and animals before, thankfully, class ended.

Gamma loved her job, her special talent was in teaching, after all, but after so many hours in a day being dedicated to teaching the young, she was tired. She just wanted to see Packer and be in his presence, to be in the moment instead with another adult instead of having to deal with children all the time.

“Hey, beautiful,” Pack said to Gamma as he appeared from behind a large tree. “I hope you aren’t going to leaf me here, are you?” He joked.

Gamma rolled her eyes and trotted to him, kissing him on the lips earning a dozen ew’s from the nearby children. “I missed you. I thought about you all day,” she said, giving him a nuzzle.

Packer nodded. “I have something to tell you,” he said, reaching behind the tree and producing several colorful flowers, “I have a house for us to look at. It’s a little ways away, but still within an hour of work for us both.”

Gamma took the flowers in her magic and ate one with a hum. “Really? We were talking about staying within twenty minutes because you work so much more than I do.”

He waved it off, then looked at his rough hooves. “Well, being a landscaper is hard work, but I could never do what you do all day. All those beady little eyes watching me, boring into my very soul, waiting for something stupid to ask that would just make me go crazy,” he shivered.

Gamma gave him a playful shove before standing beside him to watch the children pass from school to their parents, or to begin their walk home. “C’mon, they’re not that bad. And you do have little creatures with beady eyes watching everything you do.”

“Yeah, they’re called bugs. If they get on my nerves I can just swat them away. Good luck doing that to some creature’s child.”

Gamma giggled and took another flower to her mouth. “Good point, even though it is tempting at times. C’mon, let’s go home so we can-”

“Actually,” Packer interjected, looking anxious. “I kinda set up the house viewing today.”

“What?!” Gamma shouted, barely keeping her snack in her mouth.

Packer leaned away a little. “I’m sorry, the stallion was very insistent that the house might be gone before we got a chance to check it out.”

“Please, tell me you didn’t put any bits down on this place,” Gamma said, pressing her forehoof into the ground.

“What? No way! I’m not a fool. All I did was schedule the viewing at six o’clock and-”

Gamma growled. “That’s in two hours! We have to leave now to make it and I’m barely done with work.”

Packer draped a foreleg over Gamma’s back and pulled her close. “I brought my cart, I’ll pull you the whole way and you can… I dunno, grade homework or do taxes the whole way.”

She stepped away still sporting a frown. “I don’t just do homework and tax season isn’t for another seven months. But, I guess being taken to a viewing isn’t a bad idea,” she admitted.

“Exactly. It’s just an easy hour trot from here so we have time to get a late lunch and do a little travel shopping before we go.” Packer said, pulling Gamma back in close.

She nuzzled him. “Fine… wait,” she sniffed him and he smiled awkwardly. “Have you been smoking those awful cigars again?”

“It’s just something to help me relax, babe. It’s not like I’d do it in our new house; where we’ll start a family and live happily ever after.”

Gamma rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it when I kissed you earlier. It’s such a gross habit, can’t you just chew gum like a normal stallion?”

Packer moved away and started walking. “You didn’t complain last night when my tongue was halfway down your throat.”

“Ew!” A filly pegasus shouted from above them as she passed.

Gamma bumped firmly into Packer’s side. “Don’t talk about anything around here, kids are everywhere and hear everything.”

…

“Goodbye, Manehattan. I’ll miss you,” Gamma called from the back of the open cart. She lowered the paper she was grading to wave at the sign as it approached.

“It’s not like we’re leaving forever, it’s just a couple hours away. Probably less with how quickly I’m going,” Packer said as he pulled the cart down the paved road.

“If we’re not back in time for my radio shows, I’m gonna be upset with you,” Gamma said as she went back to the papers, a black pen held in her magical aura being used to note something.

“If we’re not back in time for your radio shows, I’ll double what I did last night,” Packer said with confidence.

Gamma froze and a grin crept onto her muzzle before she went back to work. “Take your time, honey, it’s getting a bit bumpy back here.”

Eventually, they arrived at an intersection where a blue earth pony stallion was waiting for them. “Hey, that’s Clipper! He’s the one who told me about the house for sale,” Packer said loudly.

“Greetings, friends. I am here to show you to your new home, just follow me.”

“Clipper, it’s nice to meet you,” Gamma said from the cart.

“It is nice to meet you, Gamma Ray. I know you will enjoy living in Green Acres, it’s the last home you’ll ever need,” Clipper said back to her.

Gamma raised an eyebrow and watched the blue stallion walk for a moment before shaking her head. “Weirdo,” she whispered to herself before returning to work.

“Wow,” Packer said breathily, getting Gamma’s attention. Her mouth went slack as they approached a sign announcing their arrival at Green Acres. What caught her attention were the houses. Each was two stories tall, green tinted, and exactly the same as the one next to it going down at least a whole block.

Gamma sat up tall and looked as they entered the community set apart from any she’d ever seen. There were no gates to identify it as being secured, but being in a settled zone near a major Equestrian metropolis didn’t really invite monsters or otherworldly dangers. She felt something cold wash over her as they entered, but she passed it off as chills from enchantments interacting with her own mana.

She tapped the front of the cart and Packer stopped so she could hop to the ground, noting it was packed earth and not asphalt, like she’d gotten accustomed to. She sided with her stallion as they caught up with Clipper and were led several blocks into the community. She noticed quickly that it was very quiet and there didn’t seem to be any pegasi flying overhead.

“Where is everypony?” Gamma asked.

Clipped stopped and pointed to a green house, like all the rest. “There you are, house 42, the best home you’ll ever have.”

Gamma looked at the blue stallion as he grinned and kept pointing to the house beside them. Above the door was the number ‘42’, indicating he was right. With a quick tug, Packer was unhitched and moved to the sidewalk, which was made of some stone or rock she didn’t recognize.

Clipper walked quickly to the door and opened it. “Go in, look around.”

Packer motioned for Gamma to go in first, and he followed. The door closed behind Clipper and he directed them around the small house. “This is the living room, where you will live and make many memories.”

The couple walked in and looked around the room, noting several pictures of the house they were in and a couple pictures of flowers. “What’s that?” Packer asked, pointing to a large black rectangle.

“That’s a television. It’s like a radio you can watch.” Clipper said as he walked in front of it and pointed to the kitchen. “Next, the meal room.”

“Kitchen?” Gamma supplied.

“I’ve heard it called that, too.” Clipper said as he followed them. He went to the refrigerator and opened it with his lips. He moved aside and gestured. “Would you like some wine and cheese?”

Packer’s ears perked but Gamma answered first. “No, thank you. We’re just looking, after all.”

Clipper and Packer shared a disappointed look, but moved on to the next rooms before going upstairs. “The master bedroom, where you will make many babies,” Clipper said as they walked in.

The decor was nice and the bed was just big enough to fit the couple, but they shared a look before looking back to Clipper, who was watching them intently. “Um, okay… that’s kind of a weird thing to say,” Packed said.

Clipper narrowed his eyes. “Are you infirtile?”

Both ponies glared back at Clipper. “It’s not my estrus season, plus it’s none of your business.”

“Yeah, keep our personal lives out of your business.” Packer said.

Clipper snorted and stepped from the doorway. “Besides the bathroom, there’s one last room to show you.” The last room was painted in a swirl of colors that was the most bright thing they’d seen since they’d arrived. What caught their attention was the large crib against the far wall. “For when you start your family, we have provided.”

After a couple of seconds, the couple stopped staring at the crib and looked between one another before looking back. “Okay, that’s just weird, now,” Packer stated. He looked for Clipper. “Clipper?” He asked and shared a confused look with Gamma. “Clipper?” He called out and moved to the doorway with Gamma right behind him.

They looked around the house and even went to the back yard before leaving. “What a weirdo!” Gamma announced. “He leads us around the house acting like we already moved in, talks about our sex life, tells us about having babies, then vanishes! I can’t wait to get home and take a shower… wash this place from my fur.” Gamma shook slightly.

“Yeah, the sooner we’re home, the sooner we can work on our sex life, too.” Packer said as he broke from her side to go to hitch up.

“Is that all you can think about?” She asked as she climbed into the cart.

“Yup.”

Gamma rolled her eyes and settled down for the ride. A moment later, Packer started down the road and turned around, quickly trotting back the way they’d come. Gamma kept looking up to watch Packer’s tail sway as he trotted, grinning at how lucky she was to be with him. She’d never have thought she’d be carted around like a princess by her boyfriend, but there she was.

She picked up her stack of homework and sighed, noting she was only half done with it all when the cart slowed to a stop. “What’s wrong?”

Packer looked back and then smiled. “Nothing, just took a wrong turn.”

“Wrong turn? There were only three turns to get here.”

“Thanks, Gamma, I didn’t know that,” Packer snarked. “Maybe you’d like to navigate us out?”

“Keep your sarcasm to yourself,” Gamma replied as she returned to her papers. “You’re cute when you’re not a jerk.” The cart rumbled on and time passed before she lurched forward. “Hey, what’s going on?”

Packer snorted in frustration. She looked at him, then followed his gaze. “Did you just walk us in a huge circle?”

“I did not!” Packer snapped. “We’ve gone at least ten blocks and I’ve passed house 42 three times.”

“What?”

“I said that there’s no way I’m walking us in circles, but we keep ending up back here.”

Gamma sighed and set her papers down. “Okay, don’t get upset. I’m sure you just missed a turn somewhere. I’ll focus on the path as your trusty navigator and you just lead us home, okay?”

“Fine,” Packer snapped and started trotting faster than before.

Gamma smirked at first, seeing him upset over getting lost so easily. “You know, we can always ask for directions out.”

“I’m not asking for directions!” Packer answered.

She giggled and pointed ahead. “Take the next left, then two more blocks, then take the third right.”

Taking the first turn, Packer slowed to a stop and they both stared ahead of them. Four houses in was house 42. Packer looked back with a smirk. “Who’s leading us in circles now?”

Gamma looked at the house with frustration before she smiled. “I got it! There’s more than one house 42, that’s how we seem to have come across it again. Go past it and I’ll prove it to you.” She said. He went to the house and she went into her saddlebag and pulled out a meal bar. “Goodbye, my love,” she said; kissing it before tossing it onto the path to the house. “Onward, my trusted stud.”

Packer didn’t answer, instead resuming their trot out of the community.

They stopped a few minutes later in front of house 42 again, glaring at the meal bar they’d just left behind. “That’s impossible.”

Packer stomped his hooves on the soft ground. “Impossible? This whole place is impossible! Forget it, I’m taking the lead, again.”

He galloped off, nearly toppling Gamma over in the cart. Turn after turn, every couple blocks led them past house 42. Finally, panting, Packer stopped in front of the house with shaking legs. He pulled the release strap and stepped free from the cart to look at Gamma. “What do we do?”

She gulped and fumbled around the cart before passing him a canteen. “Drink, then we can try some more.”

“More?” Packer asked as he looked up and down the street. Each house was identical and unoccupied. “I can’t go on much more, my legs are starting to burn. Can you pull for a while?” Packer asked with a slight pout.

Gamma smiled and kissed him on the lips. “Anything to save my stallion from the ravages of hard work.”

Packer frowned. “Hey, I’m not lazy.”

Gamma shook her head. “I was just kidding. Honest, I know you’re not lazy. You’re one of the hardest working stallion’s I’ve ever known. C’mon up here, you need to rest your legs before you catch a cramp.”

Gamma climbed down and helped Packer up, where he promptly collapsed and exhaled loudly. “Whew, I didn’t know how tired I was until I got down.”

She went to the front and hitched up. “Don’t worry, your brave heroine will save the day,” she said before starting to trot off.

Chapter 2

Gamma stopped in front of house 42, panting. Her expression was borderline furious for a moment as she glared at it. She used her magic to pull the strap and stomped around the wagon to the back. Packer had crossed the line the last time they’d passed the house with what he thought was a funny comment about her ability to navigate.

She picked him up with her magic and moved him beside her before dropping him to the ground. He got up with a groan. “I said I was sorry.”

She harrumphed and faced the house. “Let’s just go in and rest, the place at least looked comfortable.”

She walked up the path and collected her meal bar, opening it and taking a bite, as she opened the door and walked in. Packer walked past her and rushed to the kitchen where he opened the refrigerator and took out the wine and cheese platter. He set it on the table and began to nibble at the plastic wrapping that kept it fresh.

He made a face. “This plastic tastes like… rubber, I think.”

Gamma rolled her eyes and set her meal bar down. “Plastic doesn’t taste like anything, that’s why it’s plastic.” She used her magic to break the plastic open and brought the wrapper to her muzzle, sniffing it. Her tongue darted out and licked the wrap and she made the same face. “What the hay?”

“Whatever, let’s just eat some cheese. You know I love cheese. Can you pour the wine?” Packer asked as he slid one slice of cheese to the side with his forehoof.

Two glasses levitated from the counter to the table and Gamma popped open the wine, poured half a glass for each of them, then set the bottle down beside her meal bar. She moved one to Packer, who took it in his hooves and smelled it, then he grimaced.

“What, has it gone bad?” Gamma asked. She sniffed her own and sneered. “Is this…”

Packer took a sip and swallowed with a thoughtful look. “It smells like oil but tastes like wine with a hint of barbeque sauce. I think I’m going to be sick,” he said, setting the cup down and pushing it away. Gamma didn’t partake and set her cup beside Packers. She watched as Packer ate a slice of cheese and hummed.

“What’s it taste like?” Gamma asked.

Packer hummed and chewed before the cheese moved around in his mouth and then he blew a bubble. “It’s bubblegum, but it tastes like cheese.”

Gamma sighed and picked up a slice of cheese and ate it, chewing repeatedly as the texture reminded her of gum, but it tasted like cheddar cheese. “It’s not bad,” she admitted, “but it’s not something I’d brag about having. It’s something different, that’s for sure.”

“That’s this whole experience,” Packer said as he swallowed and took another slice. He ate it and grinned. “Hmm, gouda. It’s creamy, like it should be, but it’s chewy, too. This is so weird,” he chuckled as he blew another bubble, this one popping before it could reach full size. “Aww,” he whined.

“Hold on, I have more food in the cart, this isn’t going to be a filling meal,” Gamma said as she moved through the house and went to the cart, listening intently as she went. “Hello? Anypony out there?” She called out into the dead silence. Only her echo replied. She frowned as she got their saddlebags and returned to the kitchen.

“Why the sour face?”

“I don’t understand,” Gamma said as she pulled out another meal bar, this one for Packer. “There’s an echo out there, but with the width and length of the block, I shouldn’t have an echo at all. It’s like there’s something blocking the sound and bouncing it back to me.”

Packer bit his meal bar open and took a bite quickly. “Maybe that’s what’s happening; we’re trapped in a dome, or something. It would explain why we can’t get out of this place.”

Gamma sat down beside Packer and took her meal bar. “I hope not, I can’t teleport or fly some unicorns, so we’re pretty much stuck on the ground. I also don’t know many spells, I don’t think any of them can break through a barrier that can teleport us around inside of it.”

Packer shrugged. “If nothing else, we just have to wait for somepony else to move in… that sounded smarter before I said it out loud.”

Gamma leaned against Packer. “You’re still thinking, which is more than I can say for some of my boyfriends.”

Packer smiled. “See, I don’t only think about sex.” He finished off his meal bar and chewed with a full mouth.

Gamma looked him in the eyes and leaned close. “Two ponies, alone in a magic bubble, no one can hear them scream.” Packer stopped chewing and his eyes widened. He got up and nudged the giggling mare with his muzzle from the side as he chewed quicker. “What? Did you infer something from what I said? I think I’ll just sit here and think about what you could be thinking until you tell me.”

Packer swallowed the quarter chewed snack and pressed his lips to hers. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck and laughed as they fell over. “I don’t think I can wait to make it to the bed,” he said, panting heavily as he readied himself over her.

“I never said we had to. Let’s break this house in,” she giggled as he rolled her to her back and nibbled his way down her body. “That’s the stallion I- eep!”

…

Gamma awoke with a snort and lifted her head, bumping it on the underside of the table. She fell back down and groaned for a second before scooting back to clear it before she sat up. She yawned and shook her head as she got up and looked down at the sleeping stallion still half under the table.

She smiled and giggled, remembering the things he’d done to her and how she’d repaid him. She could still taste him when she pressed her tongue to the top of her mouth. Leaving him to rest, she went upstairs to the bathroom to pee and check herself in the mirror. “I don’t have a brush,” she said to her reflection, “or makeup.” She checked herself over and smiled. “I’m still pretty.”

She flicked her tail and giggled to herself. “I swear I’m going to have that stallion’s foals. He’s the one,” she stomped her forehoof, grimacing at the loudness of it. She turned to leave and went to the master bedroom to poke around. The dresser was full of clothing and when she sized some of them, they were her size.

Gamma smiled and slipped on one of the vests that felt soft and warm before grabbing a set of socks. She was going to slip them on and wake up her stallions before she remembered their predicament. She replaced them in the drawer and left the room to start some coffee, which woke Packer in the same way she has woken up.

She laughed as he crawled from under the table to rub his head. “Morning, honey. What’s the plan today?”

Packer shrugged and sat down at his spot. “Wanna try to escape some more, or should we try to tough it out? Clipper has to come back, eventually. I mean, we don’t have any supplies to make it a week and the grass isn’t long enough to graze on.”

Gamma waited as the coffee brewed by the counter. “We can just nibble and let it grow.”

Packer turned to look at her. “All the yards have one inch cut grass, but there’s nopony here to maintain it. It should at least be growing wild somewhere, but it isn’t. Besides, you know just as well as I do that grazing on grass only is a great way to get malnourished and sick.”

Gamma raised her forehoof, placatingly. “I know, I was just asking the expert. Besides, this house isn’t all bad. The dresser is stocked with fitting clothes, some I can’t wait to show you,” she giggled and patted the vest, “and it’s a house, still. It’ll keep us warm when it snows and--”

“I can’t be here that long!” Packer shouted, startling the mare. “I have obligations, and so do you! We have to go, Gamma Ray. Let’s just eat something quickly and go home, before something else happens.”

Gamma watched him for a second or two, then nodded, pouring two mugs of coffee. She passed one to Packer and took a sip of her own, frowning and looking in the empty cupboards for sugar. She groaned and moved to the table, sitting beside her lover. “There’s no sugar.”

“Well, that’s another reason to get a move on.” Packer drank his coffee and got a meal bar from his saddlebag to snack on while he checked over the cart while Gamma sipped her coffee in silence. “Gamma!” Packer shouted from outside.

Gamma set her mug down and quickly cantered through the house to the front door and left to see Packer staring at a small trunk set in the middle of the street. He looked at her when she arrived and then ran down the street to the end, checking for tracks or life.

Gamma opened the lid with her magic and looked inside. “Packer, it’s…” she started as he turned to gallop back. “It’s just…”

Packer stood next to her and looked into the trunk. “It’s supplies,” he said as he moved some of the packed items around. “Toothbrushes, grooming brushes, mane brushes, files,” he reached a divider and motioned for Gamma to lift it and they saw packages of food. “And enough food for a couple days, maybe.”

“What the…” she looked around and bit her lip before whispering, “what the fuck is going on here?”

Packer’s ears perked and he smiled at her. “Woah, somepony has a potty mouth.”

She bumped against him, making him stagger away. “I know I do, I just don’t swear because of the children. I don’t see any children around, do you?”

Packer shrugged. “After last night, all that noise you made, I hope not,” he chuckled and was shoved again.

“Keep that up and maybe I’ll close down shop for a couple days.” She flicked her ears to imply her seriousness.

“You can’t resist me, and we both know it,” he said, moving to close the trunk. “C’mon, let’s get this inside and we can sort it out.”

Gamma used her magic to lift it onto his sturdy back and they walked side by side until she topped and returned to the cart. “I wanna get some things,” she announced as she got the homework. She returned to his side and help him set the trunk inside the kitchen. They spent an hour sorting everything before sighing. “This isn’t enough food to keep us healthy. I don’t see any hay or such, do you?”

Packer shook his head as he looked the boxed and packaged items over. “No, but we have enough toothpaste to last us a month. Who the heck is setting us up here?”

Gamma shrugged and picked up the food before trotting past Packer to the kitchen. He got up and followed her as she set things around the room. He nibbled her ear and when her tail flagged he kissed her and moved around her. “Packer… what are you doing?”

He mounted her and nibbled her mane. “Just breaking in the house a little more.”

She laughed and went along with his lust and when he was spent and climbed off her she gave him a kiss. “You insatiable stallion… but I barely got started.”

He blushed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that. It just felt right.”

She kissed him on the lips. “It’s okay, I don’t mind. I got more than enough last night, after all. I don’t mind you releasing once in a while inside me… just don’t use me like some tool, okay?” She gave him a peck and then returned to putting the food away in cupboards.

“You make me feel like a real stallion, you know that?” Packer said, looking at her lovingly.

She tittered and flicked her tail. “You know I love you,” she said before finishing her task. “Let’s find homes for the rest of the stuff.”

“So, do you think of this place as home?” Packer asked as she followed Gamma. He leaned close and nuzzled her.

“Not a chance. This is just… a trap that we have to figure a way out of. Until then, it’s a house we’re staying in. I want to hitch up and try to leave again, okay?” Packer nuzzled her again and she giggled. “Affectionate, aren’t you?”

Packer nodded and kissed her, his hoof cupping her chin. “I… I think something’s wrong,” he whispered and glanced to the kitchen. Before she could ask he kissed her again and then moved in close to whisper. “I want you again, my body’s ready. This isn’t right. I want you too much,” he said.

She didn’t feel offended, instead she felt worried. She nodded and kissed him on the cheek. “Well, let’s go for a trot before we waste any more time. I’ll hitch up and pull you so you can rest,” she said as she passed him. She felt his breath huff against her side as she passed him, but he followed her out the door and to the street where he sighed.

“What the fuck,” he said once they were in the street. “I was ready to mount you again like some horny teenager.”

Gamma raised an eyebrow. “And that’s bad because?”

Packer shook his head. “You don’t get it, there the refractory period. I should have been done for at least an hour, maybe two. Instead,” he shook his head. “I think it was the wine. I had a sip to try it again, and it just hit me as soon as you left the kitchen. I might not be that smart, but I know when something isn’t right.”

Gamma looked at the house and frowned. “I think we should go.”

He nodded and climbed into the wagon. Gamma hitched up and started to trot before stopping. “Darn it, I forgot the homework.”

“Forget the homework, mare! Just get us out of here.”

Gamma started trotting again, this time taking a right and continuing on. Without taking any turns, they crossed house 42 and kept going, turning at random now. Hours later, after having traded places, they stopped in front of house 42 with a grunt of frustration. Packer unhitched himself and stomped into the house and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Gamma followed him in, eventually. She grabbed the empty trunk and pulled the curtains from the wall, stuffing them in. Packer watched as she left the house and then hurried outside when there was the sound of a crash. He watched her throwing the trunk against the front door of the house across from them. When the door had broken open, she set the trunk inside and pulled wallpaper from the walls and some pictures, too.

“What are you doing?” Packer asked from the street.

“Starting a fire!” She shouted back and her horn lit. Magic built in the trunk and after several seconds a small fire started. She began tearing paper from walls inside the house before leaving and trotting to her boyfriend. “Anypony in Manehattan will be able to see that.”

Packer looked at the growing blaze and shook his head. “I hope we don’t get in trouble for arson.”

Gamma laughed and sat down. “Clipper will have to come to put out the fire, especially before it spreads to nearby houses on this block. When we’re freed, I’ll just make the case that we were foalnapped and held against our will in some cursed living community.”

“Do you think that’ll hold up in court?”

Gamma watched the fire growing inside the house and shrugged. “I’m not going to be some lab rat, or whatever this place is.”

Together they sat in the early morning light, watching fire consume a house, then a second. They went back inside house 42 to get some water when Packer noticed the back door was open. He looked out to see a bale of hay and he smiled. “Honey! There’s more food back here,” he said and rushed out to take a bite straight from the bale.

Gamma hurried behind him and grinned, following suit and chewing happily. “This is a nice surprise,” she finally said when she had eaten a few bites with him, “but let’s not get too excited. We have to be ready for the firefighters and police to show up.”

Together they went back through the house and out front, stopping in their tracks just past the threshold. “What the flying feather!” Packer shouted as they looked at the intact and undamaged houses across from them. There was a bale of hay in the street, now, too. “Wait here,” Packer said as he ran back and then returned. “The hay from the back is gone, it was a distraction while whoever it is fixed this.”

Gamma growled and ran to the hay, turned, then bucked it firmly, tossing it over itself but doing no damage. She lit her magic and tossed the bale at the opposite house and prepared to set it ablaze before Packer stopped her.

“Honey, this isn’t going to work and it’s just going to cost us food. Food we need. How do we know this won’t be punished, burning our food? What if this is all we get until we’re rescued? We have to think before we react, okay?”

Gamma turned her glare on Packer before she exhaled and relaxed. She moved closer and picked up the bale and walked it to their front yard, dropping it by the front bay window. “You know what, whatever!” she snapped. “If this is some kind of game, then so be it. I’ll fight as long as I have to, though. I won’t give up my freedom to Clipper or whoever he’s working with.”

Gamma stomped into the house and watched Packer return to his cart, pulling a shovel out with his mouth. He moved to the next yard and began digging in the lawn. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with him so she went inside and sat on the couch. She noticed a remote and picked it up. “So, television. Radio you can watch, huh?”

She looked over the controller and hummed at the many buttons. She decided to press the green one at the top first. The television turned on, but it wasn’t radio she’d expected. It was a mess of swirling lines interlocking and merging with one another in an insane pattern. There wasn’t any sound at all. She found the one marked volume and turned it up, only to have her ears press to her head at the static.

“How do I tune this thing?” She asked and began pressing different buttons until the pattern changed and the static morphed into something else. She didn’t like what she saw, it was beginning to give her a stomach ache, so she kept changing the channels until she gave up and turned it off. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it.”

She longed for a book, a real radio, or even a mare to gossip with at that moment. Not that she didn’t love having her boyfriend, but she needed a mare, too. A friend to bounce ideas off of and to talk about personal stuff with.

With a groan she rolled to her hooves and went to the kitchen to eat some bubble gum cheese. She thought over the previous night and then glanced at the wine bottle, wondering if Packer was right. She longed for a good release and didn’t know how long it would be before he was done digging holes. She shook her head and put nuaghty thoughts aside. Her tail was already going to be sticking to the back of her leg in spots, she didn’t want to have to bathe in this strange house yet, if she could help it.

She picked up the homework and began to finish her grading task when the sound of hooves ticked her ears. “Hon, I scratched a message into the neighbor’s lawn. A simple S.O.S., but it’s something,” he said walking to the sink and rearing up to wash his forehooves. “It’s weird, the ground isn’t like any soil I’ve ever seen. It’s dry and flimsy, so I was able to dig pretty quickly.”

Gamma hummed in acknowledgement as her pen marked on the paper. “That’s nice, dear. We’ve managed to use about three hours today, though. What would you like to do for the rest of the day?”

“How about that television? I’ve never thought about watching radio before,” Packer said.

“It’s nothing. I tried it and it didn’t make any sense. It’s just lines and noise like static.” Gamma said as she set a page aside and began the next.

“Well, poo. Let’s have a snack and talk some more! I love a good story and I love to learn about my favorite mare.” Packer eagerly said as he sat beside her. She giggled and set the papers down, ready for some conversation.

…

Gamma awoke the next morning with a foreleg holding her close. She smiled and gently moved Packer’s leg from her barrel as she scooted from bed, glancing back at the wet spot she’d left after their night finishing off the wine bottle. She felt great, all things considered, and was ready to cook a breakfast for her stallion to reward him for doing things to her she’d never imagined a stallion doing.

She blushed as she remembered some mares doing some of the things he’d done, and somehow he was better than them. She really needed to get home to have some filly talk.

She went to the bathroom to take a shower and freshen up, then dried herself with one of the many towels provided before she went about making breakfast. She heard Packer coming down the stairs and quickly ran a hoof through her mane and patted her cheeks, hoping it would brighten her smile even more than it already was.

“Good morning, love,” she said happily as she presented him with two eggs, some baked hay, and a glass of juice.

He sat down and yawned loudly. “G’morning, this looks amazing…” he hesitated and looked up at her. “This is almost two day’s worth of the rations we’d talked about.”

She grabbed her plate and set it down beside his and sat with him. “I figured it was worth it. After everything you did to me last night, after what we did to each other…” she looked him up and down before sniffing him. “You didn’t wash yet?”

He sniffed his foreleg and grinned. “Honeysuckle, hay, and,” he sniffed again, “what did you have for lunch, again?” he asked and fell over laughing when she shoved him. He got up, grinning like a madmare. “I don’t want to just wash your scent off me, it’s how other fillies know I’m taken.”

She was flattered, but grossed out at the same time. “You should really wash, I know where your foreleg was last night and you should keep good hygiene for when we’re rescued.”

He scoffed and leaned down to nibble his eggs. “It’s not like I’m going to flirt with the neighbors.”

She used a fork to lift one of the eggs to her mouth and ate it at once. “If we had neighbors, I wouldn’t be so worried about staying here.”

They ate in silence and when they were done they cleaned up and gathered the bed sheets to wash. “They have a washing machine out back,” Packer said as he carried the load in a basket on his back. “We can fill it with water and let it do the work.”

Gamma was right behind him and followed him out into the one inch manicured lawn. They found the new generation washing machine against the back of the house, it’s short brick shape with a lid being the only thing that didn’t fit right with the rounded outdoor table and two bench seats.

Gamma noticed there was a single tree in each yard that bore almost no leaves.

They loaded the washer and added a little soap, then closed the lid and pressed the on button. They flinched back when it kicked on and started humming. “So, that’s it for laundry.” Packer said, moving to one of the benches. “Now what?”

They sat opposite one another and looked around. “Wanna raid the next house over for stuff?”

“What for?” Packer asked. “The houses are probably all the same and there wasn’t anything of use before the trunk showed up.”

Gamma glanced up and cocked her head. “The sun.”

Packer chuckled. “You want to stare into the sun? Sure, let’s go blind in addition to being trapped.”

Gamma shook her head and got up. “No, let’s follow the sun! It can lead us out, maybe.” She looked at his skeptical expression. “It’s better than trotting around forever in empty streets.”

Packer shook his head. “The fences are almost four ponies high, each. If we climb them we risk falling and breaking a leg, then where would we be?”

“Then we stick to the streets!” Gamma snapped back, moving to him. “C’mon, let me have this.”

Packer groaned and got up, then nuzzled his mare. “You got it, babe.”

They left the house and began walking down the street, following the early morning sun. They walked for nearly ten blocks before they crossed house 42 again, but went on, just in case. When noon came around, Packer had had enough and when they passed the house again, he went in and returned to the backyard to gather their laundry.

Packer went to the wall and reared up to bite the hanging lines and pulled them across the yard to hook them on their post. Gamma returned an hour later with her head hung low to see Packer sitting at the table with a frown. “So, you went on without me?”

“I had to try.”

“What if you’d gotten out? Would you have left me here to die?” Packer asked.

“What? No! I would have sent help, just like you would have done if you’d gotten out,” she moved to the table and sat down, resting her head on the table. “We can’t get out. We’re trapped.”

“At least we have each other,” Packer said, quietly.

Chapter 3

Packer woke up first, humming contentedly as Gamma pulled him closer to her with her legs. He liked being cared for, just as any other stallion did, by his mare. He scooted around and turned over, kissing Gamma on the lips before nuzzling her. “Good morning,” he said quietly.

Gamma opened her eyes and kissed him back, opened her mouth, then shut it quickly. She scrambled from the bed and rushed from the room leaving a confused stallion behind her. A few seconds later she loudly vomited into the toilet.

Packer got up and hurried to the bathroom and used his forehooves to pull Gamma’s mane back as she heaved. After a moment, she flopped back to her furry haunches and spat in the toilet. “What the… ugh,” she held her belly and cringed. “It hurts.”

“Are you okay?”

“It hurts, my tummy. I don’t know what’s wrong.” Gamma moaned and reached to pull the flush chain. The water washed away the contents of her stomach and she leaned against the wall to hold herself up.

“I’ll get you some water, stay here.” Packer rushed from the bathroom and left her alone to think of her pains. She had a terrible suspicion, but refused to accept it. When Packer returned she sipped the water and sighed. “Better?”

“I think so. I just,” she paused and leaned over the toilet again to dry heave. Her body pushed mucus from its depths for nearly half a minute before she fell back and leaned against the wall again. “We have to get help,” she groaned into the cup as she took a sip of water. Packer moved her mane to frame her face and she couldn’t help but love him for it.

“Why? Are you getting worse?”

She shook her head and forced herself up, then flushed the toilet again. She wobbled to the shower and turned it on after she’d gotten in. “I don’t know what I think right now, but I shouldn’t be throwing up. We didn’t eat anything different and you’re doing just fine. I’m months away from my estrus, too.”

There was a curious expression that crossed Packer’s face that Gamma appreciated at boyish ignorance for a moment. “Wait, you don’t think you’re pregnant, do you?” He asked.

Gamme lifted her head to let the water wash over her face and fill her mouth. She spat the nasty water to the floor and coughed. “I… don’t know. It started yesterday after we got back from trying to walk out, after you thought I’d leave you. I had some cramps.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re pregnant. It’s barely been a day, and you were walking a lot. There’s no way a mare can tell she’s pregnant a day after… is there?” Packer asked.

Gamma shook her head. “It takes weeks to find out. Usually three weeks after the end of the cycle, to be exact. But, there’s something weird about this whole place, don’t you feel it? I know my body, and right now I feel something…” She trailed off.

“Something, what? You have to talk to me so I can help you.”

“I feel it, I think.” She said quietly as she turned around to face him. “It’s in my belly, growing too fast. I’m starving and I feel weak, like there’s something taking everything from me…”

Packer looked at her, then moved to the side to look at her belly. “I… don’t see anything, are you sure you’re pregnant?”

She laughed, more like a cackle. “I might just be going crazy! Please, Celestia, let me be going crazy.” She sobbed quietly and Packer stepped into the shower to hug her. “Please, I just wanna go home.”

Packer hugged her tighter and then moved beside her, rubbing her side. “If you are pregnant, we’ll be great parents, right?”

She sniffled and nodded. “You’ll be a terrific father.”

Packer blushed and nuzzled her. “You’re gonna be mom of the year.”

Gamma giggle snorted, spraying water onto the floor. “You dork.”

They spent the next half hour in the shower, comforting one another, then washing each other. They helped dry one another before they went downstairs and ate a quick breakfast of hay and eggs. The shock came when they left the front door. “What the fuck happened to my cart?!” Packer screamed as he ran to it.

Gamma watched him run around it and try to lift it from one end. “The wheel’s missing,” she finally said as she approached.

“No shit the wheel’s missing! Who steals one wheel off…” he stood tall and inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. “It’s okay, this is okay. It’s just a wheel. I can figure something out… I can use stuff from the neighboring houses, I’m sure. There’s more than enough wood in the stairs to make a,” he grit his teeth. “Darn it!”

Gamma used her magic to lift the low end of the wagon and looked at the height from the ground to the base of the cart. “With rectangular wooden panels instead of-”

“Shut up!” Packer shouted in frustration. “I know what I need and what I need to do, I just… have to figure out a way to fix my baby.”

The cart dropped and Packer looked at Gamma. “This is your baby? What about what might be growing inside of me?”

“You’re just sick, you can’t be pregnant. You might have some constipation, too,” he grumbled, “that’d explain your cramping.”

“Fuck your cart, and fuck you!” Gamma shouted as she returned to the house. She stopped when there was a noise behind her. They both turned to the trunk in the middle of the street.

“Great, what now?” Packer asked as he moved to the trunk. “Maybe it’s parts to build a wheel.”

He opened the lid and hopped back, looking pointedly to Gamma with shocked, wide eyes. She moved to the trunk and her mouth dropped open. She looked down at the little colt only a few months old on a bed of hay. She looked at Packer, who was still staring at her. “What? Don’t blame this on me.”

He moved forward and carefully scooped the colt up and held him close. He sniffed the little one and frowned. “Smell him.”

“What?” Gamma asked.

“Just, do it.” Gamma moved in and smelled the colt, jerking back quickly. “I know, right. He smells like honeysuckle and hay.”

“That’s what you say I smell like,” she said, pawing at the ground. “Do you think…” She reached back to pat her side.

“No way, you’re not pregnant, and this isn’t our baby,” Packer stated as he sat and held the foal at legs length. “Who are you, what do you want?”

The foal looked at the stallion and then turned slightly so he could see the mare, then looked back at Packer. Without a sound he stared.

“This is silly, give me the baby, Packer, while you worry about your cart wheel.” She gently gripped the colt in her magic, but it didn’t move to her.

“No, way. This little tyke is gonna learn how to fix a cart wheel like a stallion,” Packer said with pride as he hugged the indifferent colt to his chest.

“You have got to be kidding me. What are you going to have him do, hold the hammer?” Gamma snarked.

“Maybe, or maybe we’ll plan how to escape this place with you and start a real life together.”

Gamma blushed a little. “That’s very chivalrous of you, but we have one problem.”

“What’s that?” Packer asked, setting the foal on the ground.

“We don’t have any milk for the foal, what are we going to feed it for the next several months, if we’re stuck here that long?” Gamma felt another pain and grimaced. “Damn cramps.”

The foal stood on shaky legs and took a step before stopping and cocking his head.

Packer moved to Gamma’s side and gave her a nuzzle. “I’m sorry you have cramps.”

“It’s fine, it’s not like you can do anything about- eek!” Gamma yelped and hopped a step to the side. The colt looked up at her with some fresh white milk on his chin. He moved quickly under her again to resume nursing but Gamma stepped away. “Keep him away from me!”

Packer looked at the mare trotting away from the colt with curiosity. “What’s going on? He’s just a baby.”

“He’s nursing off me!”

Packer snorted and shook his head. “I think you’re both confused. There’s no way-” Packer started and his smile wavered as the colt caught up to the mare and sucked his head under her.

Gamma blanched as she let the foal suckle, just to prove her point.

“What in Celestia’s name?” Packer breathed as his smile fell. “Is that colt nursing off of you?!”

Gamma’s horn flared and she took a paint roller from the cart to throw at Packer. “I told you!”

“What do you expect me to do?!”

Gamma winced as the colt bit down too hard, but it was more of an annoyance. “Help me!”

Packer laughed. “I can’t exactly take over for you on this, babe.” He moved to the colt and sat down, picked the colt from her nipple. The foal swallowed loudly then inhaled deeply before shrieking in the loudest, shrillest, constant tone they’d ever heard. After ten seconds Gamma took the colt in her magic and replaced him under her.

When he quieted again and only the sound of suckling could be heard, the couple shared a tight hug. “I’m so sorry,” Packer finally said. “If I hadn’t gone out to surprise you with our dream house, this never would have happened.”

Gamma sighed. “Don’t blame yourself, anypony could have been taken in by Clipper. At first look, this place is actually kinda nice.”

Packer gestured around them. “Yeah, except the lack of neighbors, inescapable prison curse, and random baby that starts nursing five minutes after appearing in a random trunk.”

Gamma laughed. “Yeah, except for that. Oh, and the horny wine. Can’t forget that.”

“There’s no way I’m complaining about that, there wasn’t even a hangover,” he said, bumping his snout to hers. They shared a laugh. “Is he… almost done?”

Gamma shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t usually get foals until they can talk and feed themselves.”

The colt stepped away from her and swallowed, licked his lips, then burped. He turned and began to walk awkwardly toward the house. Packer hurried to stand behind him and help stabilize him as he walked while Gamma bit her bottom lip in worry. She looked under herself and used her magic to give a test pull on her teat. She stood up tall and canceled her magic when she, indeed, had milked herself.

“Sweet Celestia,” she whispered to herself before following the males into the house and closing the door.

…

Standing in front of her, the colt cocked his head. “Mommy?” The colt asked the ragged and strung out looking mare.

“What?” Gamma replied flatly as she lay on the couch, staring at the blank television.

“Where is daddy?”

Gamma shrugged as best she could. Her mane dropped into her eyes and she brushed it away with some magic. “Go check the cart.”

The colt walked from the room and left the house and tired mare behind him as he saw Packer working on the cart. The remaining wheel was off so it was lying on the ground with the stallion working beside it. Packer looked up at the sound of the door opening and his smile fell. “Hey, colt.”

The colt trotted to the cart and stood beside Packer as the stallion measured the wheel for the umpteenth time. “What are you doing?”

“Measuring.”

“What are you measuring?”

Packer sighed. “The wheel.”

“Didn’t you measure that yesterday?” The colt asked.

Packer stood up and looked down at the colt. “Isn’t there something else you can be doing?”

The colt shook his head. “Mommy is watching the black screen and you are here. You offer more interest and have not called me a mutant, yet.”

Packer glared down. “You are a mutant. No pony ages a few years in a couple weeks.”

The colt finally smiled. “I did, because I’m a freak!”

“And you nearly drained my girlfriend in the process,” Packer stated as he tossed the measuring stick into the back of the cart.

“What is a process?”

“Go play in the hole I dug you,” Packer snapped and pointed back to the house.

The colt looked the way he was being directed and then turned to go to the back yard. On his way he crossed Gamma and stopped to stare at her. He inhaled deeply and then shrieked in a steady tone. Gamma got up quickly and picked the colt up in her magic, moving him to the table where she pulled some hay from the fridge and set it before him. He didn’t stop so she added a glass of juice and then hurried to stand beside him. She lifted her hind leg and he turned, moving his head under her to start sucking at her breast.

Gamma cried softly as she set her leg down. Packer rushed into the room and frowned at the colt. “You can’t just give him food every time he screams for it. You’re rewarding bad behavior.”

Gamma blinked her eyes clear and looked back at the colt. She stepped away and the colt made a couple slurping sounds before he looked up, then he shrieked again. She stepped closer so he could resume and she let out a sob.

Packer shook his head.

“What am I supposed to do? He’s still only a baby, just in a foal’s body,” Gamma said with a wince as the colt bit too hard, again. “Please, don’t bite me so hard,” she asked the colt.

The colt pulled his head free of her and smiled with wet lips. “Okay, mommy.”

“I’m not your mommy,” Gamma replied, coldly. The colt smiled and returned his muzzle under her. Gamma yelped and reached back, biting the colt on the neck. “I told you not to bite me, you little monster!”

The colt jerked back and cocked his head. “I’m a monster!” He happily chirped and licked his lips. He then leaned down to nibble some hay and loudly chewed it while looking blankly ahead.

Gamma walked to Packer and nuzzled him, desiring the affection. “I can’t keep going like this, he’s drinking more than I can make with the supplies we’re being given,” she said.

“Then stop letting him drink!” Packer snapped back, making Gamma grimace. “Stop giving in when he asks for it, drop some hay on the plate for a snack and leave him to scream until his voice breaks, don’t let him kill you.”

Gamma wiped her eyes and quietly walked past Packer to the living room, where she lay on the couch again. Packer glared at the colt and stuck his tongue out at him. The colt replied the same, partially chewed hay stuck to his tongue. Packer left the house again, returning to his cart and slamming the front door as he went.

Packer stopped just outside the door and saw another trunk and he hurried to it, opened it, and then shut it. He hefted it onto his back, barely being able to not drop it, then carried it inside. He let it fall in the living room with a loud thud. “More food, just like you requested,” he grumbled to the startled mare.

“I thought… you were going to hurt me.”

Packer blinked at Gamma. “Why in Celestia’s name would I do that?”

Gamma looked back at the deactivated television. “It would be something different, and you’re different.”

Packer hesitated, then went back out to the wagon and looked up as he went. Exactly twenty five perfect cloud shaped clouds hung unmoving in the sky from where he stood by the cart facing north. He pulled the pipe from its cubby in the cart and packed some tobacco into it, then sat and sucked. Without a match to light it, it was the best novelty and reminder to the outside world he had.

Time passed and the sun moved in its axis as he watched the unmoving, unending reality churn around him. Packer started when there was a spark just outside his vision. He looked around to find Gamma behind him wearing a very snug fitting schoolgirl outfit. Socks of white climbed her legs and her tail was docked with a pink ribbon.

“Let me light that for you,” she said, lighting her horn. A second later smoke began to flume from his pipe and he greedily sucked a lungful of tainted smoke into his lungs.

Packer held the breath and slowly exhaled, smiling as he did so. He looked at her from front to back and his smile waned. “I thought you were mad at me.” He spoke with the pipe at the corner of his mouth, then took another two small puffs.

Gamma used her magic to pull the pipe from his lips. She used a spell he couldn’t understand to put the smoldering embers in the pipe out and set it down, then waited a moment for the smoke to clear his face before she approached him. She kissed him, wrapping a foreleg around his head to pull him closer.

They kissed, rolled around, and made love in the back of his cart, outside of the house with the colt inside, until they couldn’t anymore. Gamma lay beside him, her head on Packer’s chest, listening to his fast heartbeat. She wondered if it matched her own at that moment. She lifted a partially socked foreleg into view to pull his muzzle down to meet hers.

“That was amazing,” Gamma said.

“You’re amazing. I’m sorry I lost my temper earlier about that thing nursing off of you. I should have just--”

“No,” Gamma interrupted. “You’re right. The food we got was enough for a couple days and had some dried fish in it. Great source of protein and,” she rubbed a circle into his chest fur, “energy for what I just did. What we just did.” She giggled. “I’m glad I’m not with anypony else, you’re the only pony that could go through this with me.”

Packer didn’t know what to say, so he nickered.

Gamma nuzzled and cuddled closer to him, her body heat was higher than his, it felt like, because she didn’t notice him sweating nearly as much as she was after everything they’d done. “I love you, and thank you for being here with me.”

“I love you more than the stars in the sky,” Packer said, pulling her closer with a foreleg.

They heard a noise and they both looked at the end of the cart to see the colt staring at them. “Oh, Packer. Right there, put your hoof a little… oh, yes!” The colt mimicked the mare, making her blush. “Gamma, tighter, squeeze them tighter with your naughty magic.” He said, looking at Packer.

Packer got up quickly, shoving the blushing mare off of him. He reached the colt and raised a foreleg and brought it down at a sharp arc across the colt’s muzzle. The colt looked at him and Packer seethed. The colt spoke. “Pull me deeper inside you,” he said in Packer’s voice. “I want to make you my broodmare.”

Blood dripped from the colt’s muzzle as Packer whinnied in his little face. The stallion picked him up and tossed him onto his back before running to the next house over and bucking the door in. He tossed the colt inside and pulled the door closed leaving the colt alone in the strange empty, dark house.

Gamma watched her stallion returning to her and she clambered from the cart to rush to him. “What are you doing?! You can’t just hit a foal and lock him away.”

“He watched, listened to us make love. He mocked us, you! That little monster should be locked alone until-” he went quiet for a second as the foal started screaming and baning on the closed door. “Until he learns some manners.”

“How will he learn if we don’t teach him?” She said, walking past him to the house.

“We tried that, but it’s like he’s programmed to be a weird jerk,” Packer called to her.

Gamma opened the door with her magic and the colt stopped screaming, walking from the house to stand in front of her. Gamma pulled off one of her socks and pressed it to the cut on the colt’s cheek, then she sat and looked down at him. “I’m sorry about my boyfriend, but you were out of line.

“Do you understand what you saw was private between two lovers and shouldn’t have been repeated?”

“Then why were you outside if it was private?”

Gamma blushed brightly and looked back to a smug looking Packer. “Because, nopony is out here to see us and it was just a little fun way for me to make up with him. It doesn’t make it right, just like you don’t have any reason to mock us for what we said or did while we were doing it. Do you understand?”

The colt smiled and shook his head. “Will you eat me out, like a predator?”

Gamma gasped and her heart jumped. “That is out of line and-” she glared at the chuckling stallion behind her. “That’s something only mares say to stallions they love, it’s not something little foals like you should say.”

“I’m a weirdo,” the colt replied with a toothy grin.

Gamma got up and pulled the silk sock from the colt’s cheek, it’s white stained red. “You’re also a cute and nice little colt that should be learning more from us than what insults we make about you.”

The colt giggled and walked past her, past Packer, and to the cart. He climbed onto and began sniffing around. Gamma rushed over and removed the foal from the cart before he found any remains of their love making and placed him on her back. “How about we play a game!”

“Games? I like games. Hide and seek?” The colt asked.

“How about,” Packer suggested, “where’s the exit?”

The colt laughed loudly, then stopped suddenly, looking at the stallion with a darkness in his eyes. “There is no escape,” he said with a dark timbre to his voice.

Gamma shivered and tossed the colt from her back and stepped to Packer’s side quickly. They both watched the colt and stepped back as he got up and looked at them. “What are you?” Gamma asked.

“I’m a mutant freak!” The colt replied happily and began trotting around the cart chanting what he’d said.

The couple rushed into the house and shut the door, locking it behind them as they hurried to the living room. They both paced back and forth as the colt’s voice came from outside. “We have to get out of here, that thing knows how to leave,” Packer finally said.

Gamma nodded and moved to lay on the couch, her tail moving to cover her privates as she did so. “I know, he’s the key. But, we don’t have a cart and he won’t stay still on either of our backs. He won’t point us out… what the hay is that thing?”

Packer stopped to look out the window at the prancing, chanting colt. “Exactly what he said he is. We have to trick him, somehow. There’s gotta be something we can do to get him to tell us the way out, or show us. Maybe a game?”

Gamma shrugged. “I don’t know what kind of game would work, I’ve tried talking to him and asking him about games he might know, but he never answers; just asks. And even then, he barely plays before he gets hungry or has to go to the bathroom.” She glanced to Packer. “Did you ever notice how little he uses the bathroom compared to how much he eats?”

Packer shook his head, looking back to Gamma. “No, I didn’t. I’ve done my best with taking care of him, but I don’t really pay attention to when he’s not around me. Does that make me a bad father?”

“Not with a think like him in our lives,” Gamma said. Her ears perked and both of them listened. “Why isn’t he still chanting?” She asked. “He usually goes on for a few minutes before he starts staring at us again.”

Packer moved to the window and looked out, seeing the colt was gone. “I don’t know. He’s not out there, but that doesn’t mean anything. He could be doing anything…” he looked back to Gamma and smirked. “You know, you’re still dressed really sexy…”

Gamma used her magic to pull the outfit off her body and tossed it at him. “You want to wear that skin tight outfit while we have sex, go for it,” she smiled, “I’d love to play stallion.”

Packer tossed the sock from his head to the floor and lightly kicked them away. “I’m fine, thanks, though. I was just hoping for a little fooling around, especially now that we’re alone.”

Gamma lay back into the couch with a sigh. “We don’t know where he is, so we’re not alone. Not only that, I’m already full of your happy milk,” she patted her belly, “any more and I might pop.” Packer licked his lips and looked along her body, lingering at her swollen breasts. Gamma blushed and lifted her leg a little. “Oh, fine, you big baby,” she giggled and watched him trot over.

“Maybe you could pretend to be my mommy one of these nights,” he said as his muzzle nuzzled against her teats.

“She’s not your mommy,” the colt said from the living room doorway, scaring both adults. “That’s my milk, not yours.” He said, looking at the stallion with narrowed eyes.

Packer faced the colt and pointed up. “Go to your room, young stallion.”

“Go to your room, young stallion,” the colt repeated.

Packer moved forward and raised a forehoof, threateningly. The colt cowered away and fell back to his haunches, holding a little hoof to his healing cut. Packer froze and looked at the little one and then moved quickly to expose the injury he’d given him. “Gamma, he’s already healed from earlier.”

Gamma leaned over to see the colt’s face and nodded. “Yeah, looks like we can’t even hurt him if we wanted to, not that we want to, right?”

Packer gave the colt a shove hard enough to knock him over, then left the room. “I’m getting some juice,” he said as the colt got up to his hooves and moved to stare at Gamma.

Gamma closed her eyes and shook her head fervently letting her mane fall wherever it did, then she closed her eyes and rested, knowing she was being stared at by a colt that wasn’t hers.

Chapter 4

Gamma awoke on the couch to the sound of static and groaned, pressing her hooves to her ears, her legs felt like they weighed too much or she was just that much weaker after the past month. The colt was nearly a stallion, now nearly as tall as she was, was watching the swirling eddies that hopped around the screen and morphed into shapes she could barely understand.

Her horn lit and the remote glowed, then the television turned off. The stallion turned and growled at her like a predator. “I’m watching the radio!” He snapped and turned back to the television, pressed the remote, and turned it back on.

Gamma pressed herself up and moved to the kitchen to the small pile of hay they’d started leaving on the floor by the table. She stepped over some wrappers and kicked a chunk of wood aside as she took a bite of hay and chewed slowly. The house was a mess and the last two trunks were in the kitchen, one on the table.

She swallowed and went to the sink, drinking from the faucet as the dishes hadn’t been washed in a week. Her horn lit and she plugged the sink, thankful for something to do while Packer was playing outside doing whatever he did lately. She spent time washing dishes in rote motions before she finished and put them away.

She smiled for the first time in what felt like days and started picking up the mess from the floor and counters, shoving the random detritus into the nearest trunk. She shut it and lifted it with some effort behind her as she went outside and noticed the house next to theirs was open. She casually threw the trunk into the street and winced at the strain it put on her before she went to the house and looked in.

The house was being demolished, but when she looked at the cart, she couldn’t help but smile. Packer was at least staying busy and was building something inside of a garage he’d made around the cart. She really wanted to know what it was, but gave him enough space to work in peace.

Gamma sniffed the air and reminiced about actual smells. She and Packer had noticed weeks ago that everything around them had the same few scents and it was really adding to their boredom. She longed to smell other ponies or pets, the scent of leaves on the trees or even trees themselves.

It felt like she was a doll in a toy house being ignored by her owner, left to die and decay alone, forgotten in an inescapable maze.

Packer loudly dropped something from upstairs and then after some stomping, tossed the bathroom sink down the stairs. Their eyes met but neither smiled, then Packer went back to doing whatever he was doing.

Gamma turned around and left her stallion to his work while she went to the grass outside their house and lay down to rest. Her eyes closed and in the ensuing silence, she fell asleep.

“Hey.” Packer’s voice roused her and she opened her eyes to look at him. “It’s lunch time, let’s go get something to eat.”

Gamma lifted her head and grimaced when she looked at the sun. “What?” She asked. “It hasn’t even started screaming yet,” she said, referring to the child they were watching over.

Packer moved beside her and helped lift her up onto her hooves. He gestured to the small garage he’d made and led Gamma to it. He trotted around and went inside, then the back dropped to the ground and Packer walked out pulling the cart behind him.

Gamma smiled again when she saw he’d done his best to make a wheel and she quietly stomped her hooves in approval. “It’s lovely,” she said as he moved the cart free. He stopped, unhitched, and went to her. “But, how’s that going to get us anywhere new?”

Packer nuzzled his mare and gave her a kiss. “We load up the boy and go for a trot, then when we get back here, I’ll make us a nice meal like we’re going out to eat. It’ll be nice.”

Gamma nodded weakly. “That would be lovely. I… thought you were getting tired of me,” she admitted.

Packer sighed. “Just because we’re bored and can’t get away from one another, doesn’t mean I don’t want to lose you. You’re all I have in this world,” he glanced back, “you and my cart. Go get the thing and we’ll go for a trot, then have a nice picnic in the back yard.”

Gamma smiled and turned to walk back to the house sluggishly. She turned off the television and picked up the young stallion in her magic, with great strain, and took the protesting youth to the cart and set him inside. She climbed up behind him and they held on as Packer started to trot around the block.

After two trips, they stopped and went back into the house where Packer gathered some hay and Gamma gathered some fruit and vegetables. They met in the back yard and started to snack, the young stallion watching the events quietly.

“Mother, what are you doing?”

Gamma stopped chewing and smiling at the peaceful moment and looked at the strange colt. “I’m not your mother, and I’m having a picnic with my boyfriend.”

The colt inhaled and then started screaming. Gamma lay down and curled up, covering her head with her forelegs while Packer ignored the noise and continued to eat. A minute later the young stallion moved to Gamma and pressed his muzzle against her hip. “I”m thirsty for your milk, mother.”

Gamma cried and shook her head. Packer frowned. “You’ve had enough. You’re eating like an adult, so go grab yourself some Celestia damned food from the fridge!”

“Father, you drink my milk at night, so I should have it during the day.”

Gamma looked up, blushing lightly at the stallion standing over her while Packer choked. Packer got up and snorted, spitting his mouth clear. “You’re watching us at night?”

The young stallion nodded. “I watch you a lot. Will you give me a sibling soon?”

Packer nickered and stomped to the young stallion, giving him a shove away from Gamma. “Stay away from my mare, keep your weirdness away from our bedroom, and don’t call me your father!”

The young stallion smiled a white toothy grin. “I will do no such thing. But, I will let you enjoy my milk, as it is the kind thing to do; sharing.”

Packer was ready to hit him, but remembered that nothing came of it, instead choosing to stand between the young stallion and Gamma. “You don’t know the meaning of kindness. If you did, and whoever you worked for did, we wouldn’t be here.”

The young stallion turned away and trotted into the house without another noise and the door closed behind him. Packer turned and nuzzled Gamma, who was looking wide eyed at the closed door. Gamma swallowed loudly. “He’s been, watching us? At night? When we’re… doing stuff?”

Packer nodded. “Sounds like it. I guess I’d better make sure to lock the door from now on,” he said, returning to his seat opposite the mare he loved.

Gamma shook her head and looked at Packer. “I don’t know how much longer I have.”

Packer stopped just before taking a bite of a carrot. “What are you talking about?”

Gamma sniffled and began to tremble. “I… I’m dying,” she softly said and stretched out, lifting her head to the sky.

Packer blinked at her and smirked. “Not very funny, honey. But, I can appreciate a little dark humor in times like these.”

Gamma’s eyes filled with tears and Packer’s smile fell. “I’m not eating enough, even if I stop nursing the little monster. Unless I just lay on the couch, I might only have a few months left before malnutrition gets me.”

Packer swallowed loudly. “There’s no way that’s right. We’ve got hay and grass, plus we’ve been getting enough vegetables in the trunks to hold us over.”

“Not for long. I’ve been keeping track, just like you. With that little monster growing up, our rations aren’t getting any larger. We’re feeding three already on rations barely enough for two! It’s not sustainable, and the grass doesn’t really offer anything as far as nutrition and you know it,” she snapped before he could comment.

Packer closed his mouth and snorted, his ire growing. “So, what? You expect me to just sit around while you starve to death?”

Gamma shook her head. “You and me, both, aren’t going to last long at this rate. We’re ponies, Packer, there’s only so much we can do with what we have here. Once that thing gets a little bigger he’s going to start eating to make up for what he doesn’t suck out of me, then that’ll be it for our rations.”

Packer snorted again. “Then stop feeding him! He’s old enough to get a job, why are you letting him drink your life away?”

Gamma sniffled. “I don’t know. I can’t just say no to a hungry foal.”

“Then say no!” Packer shouted loud enough for his voice to echo back. “I’m not losing you to that thing, and you shouldn’t give up just because it makes annoying noises. Let it fend for itself, maybe whatever’s doing this to us will give it its own house and let us go when it’s old enough. Tartarus, at the rate it’s growing, it’ll be older than us in a couple months.”

Gamma wiped her eyes and stood up. She moved beside her stallion as he sat, fuming. She leaned down and gave him a kiss on his head. “I promise to not leave you without a fight.”

Packer leaned away and glowered at her. “Don’t promise to leave me at all!”

The house was filled with the young stallion’s screams of hunger and the couple ignored it. “I can’t promise that with that thing living with us, but I promise to not give up. Is that better?”

Packer huffed and looked away from her. “It’s better than the first promise.”

Gamma smiled and used her magic to pull her mane from her face. She pulled his pipe from her mane and presented it to him, placing it in his lips. Before he could protest she’d sparked the tobacco and given him a kiss on the cheek before returning to her spot, sitting again. He quietly puffed and watched her quizzically.

Without any complaints, she picked up some sliced onion and took a bite while ignoring his puffing.

“Thanks,” Packer finally said. Gamma nodded with a grunt of agreement. Packer let a smile play on his lips and he pulled the pipe from his lips. He exhaled into the air above them and tapped the side of the pipe to extinguish the embers. He took a small bite of hay and chewed it wetly, smiling as he leaned closer to Gamma.

She looked up at him and spat a wad of chewed hay at him. “Cud attack!” She shouted and then shrieked. She barely got up as he leapt at her and then started chasing her around the back yard. Packer laughed as he bit her tail and gave a good tug, Gamma pretended to fall and rolled over just as he reached her. He stood over her, both of them panting lightly as they kissed.

The crash from inside the house made them flinch and they both got up and walked to the door, opened it, and gaped. Gamma could hear Packer’s breathing growing heavier as they both looked at the mess the young stallion had made, but beyond that was the form of the youth hitching up to the cart through the house.

Packer galloped into the kitchen and over the spilled hay, broken trunk, and then he vaulted over the couch that had been moved to the short hallway before reaching the boy and tackling him. Gamma ran through the house, around the obstacles, and used her magic to pull Packer off the young stallion, who was bleeding from several new cuts and sported a couple bruises to his face.

Packer pulled his cart back a little and pushed it into the makeshift garage while Gamma looked over the youth. “You shouldn’t have done that, why did you make a mess and try to steal our cart?”

“Will you give me a sibling now?”

Gamma frowned. “If I were to do that, it wouldn’t be your sibling because you’re not my son.”

Packer stomped to Gamma’s side and pressed his muzzle against her. “Leave it alone, let it heal and think about what it’s done.”

Gamma refused to move. “Wait, he’s still hurt and needs some attention.”

Packer snapped. “You saw what he just did to the house, he’s been watching us at night during our private time, and he just tried to steal my cart! You decide, right now; him or me.”

Gamma scoffed. “You can’t expect me to leave a child bleeding in the street while you pout about your undamaged cart.”

“I expect you to choose the pony you love over some monster freak that’s keeping us trapped here!”

“There’s no proof he’s keeping us trapped here,” Gamma shouted back.

Packer whinnied in her face and galloped into the house, slamming the door behind him, leaving her fuming on the sidewalk. “Jerk!” She shouted at the house. The young stallion stood up and walked away, leaving Gamma behind. “Hey, I just got into a fight with my boyfriend over you, you can at least stay here and-” she stopped when he vanished from her sight.

Gamma rushed to where he was to look for any signs of what had happened, but there were none. He was there, then just like that, she glanced at the house, and he was gone.

She hurried back to their house and rushed inside. “Packer?! He’s gone! He just, vanished,” she shouted.

“Good, maybe he’ll never come back.”

Gamma rushed up the stairs to their bedroom and saw Packer lying on the bed. “Are you… crying?”

“No!” He said, wiping his eyes.

Gamma moved and climbed onto the bed, lying beside him. “If he’s gone, maybe there’s a way out for us, too. Let’s get some food and load up the cart, then take another trip out of here.”

Packer lay down and covered his head with his forelegs. “You heard that monster, there’s no escape. Not without him guiding us, I bet.”

Gamma looked out their window in thought. “What if… we tricked him? He’s only a foal, still. He knows things, but he’s only a foal and can be manipulated. What if we turn it into a game, our escape? Some kind of hide and go seek or something?”

“You’re the child expert, I leave it in your capable hooves,” Packer replied, glumly.

Gamma moved and rubbed her side against his, laying against him and inhaling his scent. She didn’t want to get up, not only because of her lack of energy, but because he was still a source of comfort. He might be a jerk, but he was her jerk.

The front door eventually clacked open and they both raised their heads, listening as little hooves walked into the house and then went silent, indicating the young stallion was in the carpeted living room. The couple shared a look and returned to their comfortable positions, then the screaming began again.

It was as loud as ever, shrill and piercing. Gamma was the first to get up and walked to the door. “I’m not letting him drink from me anymore,” she said, looking back with a small smile. “I’ll leave that to you,” she said and hurried from the room, her ears falling flat as the door opened to the sound it was making.

Packer rolled to his side and sighed, waited several seconds, then got up and hurried to follow Gamma. Once he was downstairs he pushed the couch back into the living room with his head, then he went to the kitchen where his mare was hurriedly pouring granola into a bowl while gathering a spoon and rushing to the table where the intruder sat, shrieking.

Gamma set the bowl down in front of the child and spooned a heaping wad of granola into its mouth, silencing it; save for the crunching made. Gamma sighed and started picking up bits of the trunk in her magic, piling them up when the child got up and moved to nose under her. Gamma used her magic to push the colt away from her underbelly.

“No. No more of my milk for you. You’re old enough to eat like an adult.”

The child narrowed his eyes and started in inhale. Gamma wrapped his muzzle in her magic and kept it closed. With a couple tugs, his little muzzle was freed and he went back to the table. “If I can’t have your milk, nopony will,” he said in a somber tone, then he picked up the spoon and took another bite of granola.

Packer smiled at Gamma, who shared the expression. They hugged at their little victory and then went about cleaning up the mess from the young stallion’s earlier tantrum through the house.

Gamma grinned with triumph and pranced in place when they were finished. The child, having finished eating, had wandered to the backyard and was hopping around meowing like a cat. Packer hated cats. He was surprised when Gamma hugged him tightly and they shared a kiss. “Let’s go upstairs,” she whispered into his ear before she nibbled on it.

Packer chuckled. “What brought this on?” He asked, noticing her hiking tail.

Gamma kissed his cheek and turned, smacking him with her tail as she passed him. “Are you going to complain?”

Packer heard the meowing and wished he could magic the door shut, instead he followed Gamma quickly and nipped her cutie mark earning a laugh.

…

The sun was rising in the perfectly blue sky and Packer had just finished washing the breakfast dishes. He kissed Gamma on the forehead as he passed her and tried to step on the stallion’s tail as he passed it.

The months hadn’t been kind to Gamma, but she was holding on pretty well given the changes to their diet they’d made. He was glad starving the colt had earned them more food, but it was just barely enough to keep them moving at this point, some days. More food in a trunk only meant that it had to be shared, or else the colt that had grown into a stallion would just shout and stomp around like a petulant foal until he had the same portion size as the adults.

Packer hated the stallion with every fiber of his being, and he hoped Gamma did, too; even if she was more tame about showing her negative emotions.

Packer looked outside the front door and grit his teeth. He turned back and bucked the door closed so hard the whole house shook. He stormed to the television and bucked its side, shattering the glass, breaking it. The stallion glared past his mare to the stallion that was watching television.

“Why did you do that, father?”

Packer faced the now stallion with a glare, nostrils flaring. “Where’s my cart, you worthless bastard?!”

Gamma tried to get up, but time was wearing on her and she wasn’t as strong as she. The stallion looked at Packer blankly. “It is gone.”

“You piece of--”

Packer rushed to attack the stallion that had infiltrated his life, but was stopped by Gamma’s magic. She gave him a shove to stop his momentum, then pulled him to the side of the couch. “Help me up,” she said weakly, but with confidence. Packer glared back at the stallion who stared at him.

With a little effort on his part, Packer helped Gamma to her hooves and walked with her to the front door. She opened it with her magic and they walked outside and to the street. She looked down both ways and then looked at Packer. “Yup, it’s gone. Garage, too.”

Packer stepped away from her. “Are you seriously joking about this?”

Gamma giggled and her eyes brightened a little, something Packer didn’t notice had faded. “At least you have our house.”

Packer turned to the house and glared at the number 42. “I hate this house! Why would I want it to be anything I have?”

Gamma placed a forehoof against his side. “We might be here until the end, please, just accept it like I have. It’s our house… our home.” Packer stepped away and shook his head, still staring at the numbers. “We’ve made memories here. I…” she went quiet for a few seconds and then moved to nuzzle him from the side. “I’m going into season soon. I… want you to be there for it, with me. Here.”

Packer’s eyes went wide and he turned around completely to face her. “Here? Soon? You, me… us,” he stammered and looked her from front to back. “But, you’re not healthy enough to bear a foal for a whole year. I can’t stay here for a whole year!” He looked into her tired eyes. “I can’t risk your life, even to be the father I’ve always wanted to be.”

Gamma glanced past him to see the stallion staring at her from the window. She looked back at Packer and kissed him. “I know what I want, and what I want is your baby inside of me.”

Packer stared at her and his eyes began to well with tears. Gamma hugged him as he started to cry. “I… would be so proud. We have to get out of here, somehow.”

Gamma nodded and looked at the stallion, narrowing her eyes. “I have an idea. But, it’s something only I can do. Do you trust me?”

Packer sniffled and hugged her tighter. “With everything I have.”

Chapter 5

Gamma awoke in bed, alone. She sat up quickly and looked around their room. “Packer?” She called out. She got out of bed and went to the window, not seeing him before she called out his name again. Physically tired, she went to the bathroom to start her day, then bumped into the stallion.

“Hello, mother.”

Gamma walked past him without replying. She was shoved from behind and stumbled into her room, the sound of his hoofsteps quickly behind her. “What are you doing?” She asked as she turned around, only to glimpse something under the stallion. Her eyes widened and she turned around, bucking the strange stallion in the chest.

He grunted and held a hoof to where he was struck. “You should give me a sibling.” He said, coldly.

Gamma’s eyes watered as she turned her rear to the wall. “You can’t…” she said, then she screamed in his face. The Stallion’s ears folded back for a second before he approached her again. A door slammed open and Gamma heard Packer’s hooves rushing through the house. “Help! I’m in the bedroom!”

The stallion moved toward her and pushed her harder than she expected, turning her sideways. He moved around her and moved his muzzle toward her tail.

Packer galloped up stairs and stopped at the threshold, his eyes widening. He whinnied loudly and charged the stallion, tackling him to the floor where he started shouting and pummeling the odd stallion. For once, Gamma didn’t stop him, watching with a little flutter in her heart as her stallion saved her.

“If you ever come near my mare again, I’ll end you!” Packer finally shouted before he noticed his hooves. He wiped the blood on the stallion’s chest and got off of him, spitting on him before he moved to help Gamma leave the room. “I’m so sorry about that. I was just staying busy in the backyard, I never thought…”

“You’re my big stallion,” Gamma said with a smile. “I know I can count on you for everything.” Gamma led Packer down the stairs and then out the back door. “I need you to trust me, okay?”

“Okay?” Packer said as she left him standing in the backyard by a shallow hole he’d started to dig out by hoof. “Shouldn’t I stay by your side, especially now?”

Gamma giggled and kissed him. “If anypony’s getting me pregnant, it’s going to be you. I just have to do something that I know you won’t approve of.”

Packer bit his bottom lip, then nodded. “Okay, just, be safe and scream if you need me. I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

They shared a short but passionate kiss, then Gamma left Packer behind her as she went back into the house.
Gamma closed and locked the door behind her and saw the stallion watching the repaired television as she passed. She hated the television and hoped to never see one again after today. Going into the kitchen she grabbed the kitchen knife in her magic and walked down the hallway, entering the living room quietly.

Without any warning, she brought the blade low and across the stallion’s throat with as much force as she could. She dropped the knife once she was done with the grizzly task. The stallion was still for a second, then he lurched to standing and fell to his knees, bleeding profusely from his wound. He growled like a predator loud enough to make her pee a little in fright, then he fell to the floor, out of her sight.

Gamma rushed around the couch to see him rolling under it in an impossible way. The stallion had rolled under the couch without lifting it, squeezing into a one inch gap by rolling. She lunged and grabbed his tail with her magic and lifted the couch, seeing something her mind could barely comprehend.

The same swirling waves on the television made up whatever reality he had been crawling into. She tugged his tail and he looked back at her, hissing like a snake and curling around himself impossibly so to strike her. She released him and regretted locking the door and telling Packer to stay out.

Against all her better judgment, she leapt after him and landed on a rubber slide. The stallion looked back at her, his neck having healed already but blood still stained his coat as they slid down. He jerked to the side and the slide broke into several paths, he went one way and she went another.

She screamed when she realized what she’d done and where she wasn’t. She suddenly landed in a pile of marshmallows that were each as big as her hoof, breaking her fall. She lifted her head and saw she was in a ballpit of sorts. The more she tried to move the harder it became, so she relaxed and drifted, somehow, to the edge.

Gamma climbed over the short rail and stood up in a billiard room, looking down at the ball pit that was roughly the size of her ear. She was very confused.

“Hello?” She called out. Nothing replied, not even an echo. She walked to a wall, since there weren’t any doors, and gave a test knock. The sound her knocking made changed with each tap of her hoof on the wall.

A duck quacked. A train horn blew. Paper tore. A piano key clacked without a tone. Chalk snapped.

“Hello?! Is anypony out there?”

She lit her horn and picked up a cue from a rack and tapped it against the wall; there was no sound. She struck the wall several times, put off by the lack of sound now. She knocked on the wall again.

A bell rang. A cow mooed. “Stop knocking on me!” Gamma dropped the cue from her magic.

“Hello? Let me out! I’m not supposed to be here,” Gamma shouted. She pounded on the wall in frustration. “Answer me!”

A dog whined. Something wet slapped something else. A tuba blew a short note. A hoof knocked on wood.

Gamma turned and bucked the wall in a rage, yelping as she went through it completely. She was falling, the wind was so loud she could barely think as it rushed in her ears. Her eyes were stinging from the air rushing at her. She could barely breathe.

She flailed and looked through bleary eyes for anything, but there wasn’t anything. No sky, no earth, no way to tell where she was going or when the fall would stop. Seconds felt like minutes as her consciousness began to fade.

“What are you doing here?” A voice said from everywhere around her.

Gamma was standing on a tongue. She eeped and tried to prance off of it, but everything was tongue beneath her. Her hooves were suddenly very wet and the mucus splatted up to her fetlocks. “Ew! Gross!”

The tongue wiggled and nearly toppled her to her side. “I said, what are you doing here?”

Gamma looked around and slowly teeth came into view, floating around in the space around her. “I… my boyfriend and I are being held prisoner and we want to go home.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re here,” the voice resolved to a male’s tone. “You shouldn’t be here at all. This throws the whole experiment off!”

Gamma’s blood boiled in rage, then she noticed she was getting very, very hot. She breathed out a breath of steam and she stumbled. She thought of Packer and suddenly she was cool again. “What did you do to me just now?”

“Moi? I didn’t do anything. This place is… just be careful what’s written about you.”

Gamma shook her head. “What?”

“It’s complicated. Wibbly wobbly stuff you wouldn’t understand. Basically, stay cool and you won’t spontaneously combust.”

Gamma’s heart skipped a beat and then she grimaced. “I can spontaneously combust here?”

“Now, what did I tell you about being careful about what was written about you? You really should just read what I said.”

Gamma was growing more confused by the moment, but when text appeared in front of her with a running commentary of their conversation, she took time to read it all. She nodded and breathed calmly, thinking before she spoke.

Gamma read as her actions were put in writing in front of her and she grew confused again, then she shook her head. “Okay… what do I have to do to get you to let us go home?”

“Nothing,” the voice said happily. “You’ve already got a home. Now, if that’ll be all-”

“No, wait!” Gamma urged. “I mean, back to Manehattan. My boyfriend, Packer, and me. What do I have to do to let you send us back there?”

The voice was silent for a long moment, then the tongue rose and began to inflate to bursting. It popped and the scent of onions and mushrooms filled her snout. Gamma kicked her legs uselessly as she fell into a pool of chocolate pudding. She swam up and pushed her head out of the surface, wiped her mouth, then inhaled the breath she’d lost.

She relished the flavor, something sweet for the first time in months was a treat, if only she could have been able to enjoy it with her stallion.

She found purchase on the bottom of the pool and stood up on her hind legs, using magic and her forelegs to wipe her face and muzzle clear enough to see and speak. “What the hay was that for?” She asked as she looked around and saw all kinds of pastries floating around. A wafer passed close enough for her to smell its strawberry flavor.

Then it turned one side to her and opened what could be understood as a mouth, dropping small gummy strawberries onto her head.

“What’s life without a little chaos every now and then?” The voice mused. “You want to go home, then you have to do something for me.”

“What?” Gamma asked.

“Start it all over.”

Gamma licked her lips, then she trembled a little. “What do you mean? Like, be born all over again? Start grade school again?”

The voice laughed and tisked. “No, my little pony. Start the experiment over. Alone.”

“What?! I can’t do this shit again, I can’t even do it now. What makes you think I’d do it all over again, alone?!”

“Selflessness.”

Gamma went quiet. “Is that what the whole thing is about? Testing my resolve?”

“The end results aren’t as important; it’s about how we get there. However, now I have to wonder how important Packer is to you. Would you sacrifice yourself to save him, or will you return to stay with him in your lovely home?”

Gamma began to swim to the edge of the pool, finally realizing she was in a giant martini glass when she reached the edge. She looked down and saw she was on a table with a nice white tablecloth. She spitefully used her magic to push a glob of pudding over the edge to splatter below her.

The pudding she was in began to churn and bubble and then literally flushed her down the center of the cup. She felt herself squeezing down the stem of the glass, her bones bending in ways they never should have, and then she landed on a bed. She looked at her forelegs and saw she was wearing socks, which matched the rest of her outfit.

“A maid? Really?” She asked once she was done looking herself over. She used her magic to pull the costume off and tossed it aside. She began walking to the edge of the bed, then noticed she was wearing the outfit again. “You’re a real jerk, you know that?”

The voice chuckled. “I’ve seen you wearing much more, and less, than this, darling.”

Gamma blushed as dozens of the provided outfits were used by her and Packer over their time in the house. “You’ve been spying on me having sex?!”

“All part of the experiment.”

“Fuck your experiment! I’m a pony and I have rights, like the right to privacy, freedom, and to not be experimented on against my will!” Gamma shouted.

The sound of pages turned tickled her ears. “Having sex in the back of the cart on two different occasions, locking your son in a neighboring house, planning to trick your son into helping you leave the enclosure… it doesn’t sound like you’re doing all you can to fight for your rights when you flaunt the opposite so readily.”

Gamma snorted and noticed gummy strawberries falling to the floor. She picked one up and ate it, smiling at her long lost sweet sensation. “I’m not Princess Celestia, I’m not perfect, I make mistakes, okay?”

The voice laughed uproariously for several seconds. “Oh, you simple little pony. If only you knew what your precious Princess Celestia does to prove she’s just a pony like the rest of you. However, that’s not the point,” whistle was the only warning before a pin landed inches from Gamma’s muzzle, stabbing several lengths into and through the bed.

Gamma bounced and landed on her flank as the bed rocked from the impact. She looked up and up, finally seeing the pin’s red bulbous head over her like a giant tree.

“The point is, you attacked your son-”

“That freaking thing is not my son! He’s been leeching off of me, literally, and just tried to rape me!” Gamma shouted as she got to her hooves and tore the socks off her forelegs. “If you call him my son one more time, I swear I’ll kill him for real next time I see him!”

The voice tisked three times. “You can’t kill your own child, dear. And trust me, he is yours and Packer’s child. A little genetic tampering, a touch of magic, and you have your perfect child ready to do exactly what children are known to do. They drink your milk, eat your food, take from you for years, then leave you with nothing but memories in a house.”

“So, wait,” Gamma said, pressing a socked forehoof to her temple, “you think… that what you’re doing to us is what is supposed to happen?”

The pages of a book flipped and the voice spoke, “Well, according to several books on the topic… yes. All I’ve done is hurried the process, there’s nothing wrong with expediting the experiment to find results.”

Gamma roared and tore the outfit off of her, again. “That’s so stupid! You’re doing it wrong, all wrong! It takes years, decades to raise a child and teach it how to behave in society. I’m dying because you had that thing drinking milk from me since it showed up-”

“Ah-ah, you did allow your stallion to have some during sex.” The voice interrupted.

“That’s different! That was love, like I should have had for the foal I carried for eleven months and then gave birth to. What’re you going to do when I die from malnutrition? Get another family to raise that little monster you created? Maybe hook him up with a mare in that house to start a weird little family?”

The voice was silent, then hummed. “That’s actually not a bad idea. Once you give him a sibling-”

“I’m not giving that thing a sibling! It’s not my son, it’s some monster that sucks the live and love out of me like some changeling.” Gamma lit her horn and pulled the pillows from the bed to her so she could scream into them. “Let us go! Send us home, we won’t tell anypony about what you’re doing.”

“Oh, my little experiment, you have no way to prove that. I have a friend that would be quite… upset with me if she found out how I was learning about pony familial and social norms, and I can’t have that.”

Gamma started to cry. “So… I can’t get out? We have to stay here until we die? What would your friend say if she knew you were killing ponies just to try to learn something you can read in a book?”

“I think she’d be upset with me, but would understand that mice are dropped into mazes all the time, and they end up just fine in the end.”

“Ponies aren’t mice! We’re thinking, feeling creatures that have hopes, dreams, and futures. You can’t treat me, us, like this. How many ponies have you tortured like this? How long have you been doing this?”

The voice hummed in thought. “Long enough to learn a few things. I do agree that your species is a tad bit different than mice, but the point stands. I can’t learn if I don’t observe, which is why you’re here. You and your… mate.”

Gamma hopped from the bed and landed on the floor, regretting it immediately as she sank into it to her knees. “Is that all there is to this then?” She said, leaning down to sniff the parsnip puree and take a big bite of something different after so long.

“Don’t worry, once the experiment is over, you’ll be released with your family, if you choose to do so.”

“I want to be released now!” Gamma shouted and lit her horn. She blasted a beam of concentrated energy at the pin, which popped into a million soap bubbles.

“No. You may be the first of many to find your way here, but that doesn’t afford you any special treatment. Besides, I’ll have to take precautions to ensure your silence about your home and everything that happened.”

Gamma frowned. “Then wipe my memory and Packer’s. You clearly have the power to do it, then send us home to Manehattan.”

“As tempting as that would be, I wouldn’t have the information I need, now would I?”

“You’ve already gotten tainted results,” Gamma said, “by me being here I now know what the truth is. I’ll tell Packer and we’ll just sit around until you free us.”

“Oh, don’t try to fool me. I can tell you’re both so bored you’re practically going mad. You’re lying around, when you’re not cleaning or organizing, and Packer is digging holes to stay occupied. I have learned a lot already…” The voice went silent again. “Perhaps you have a point. I can’t learn much more the way things are going.”

“Exactly, so there’s only one thing to do, right?” Gamma asked, hopefully.

“I’m not so sure. After all, what’s to stop you from telling anypony about all this? You have to explain why you’ve been gone for so long and get back to living a life, unfulfilled.”

Gamma’s mouth broke into a wide grin. “I know exactly how to explain our absence. I’ll just tell everypony, no, wait, we will tell everypony that we eloped and spent the last three months on our honeymoon. It’s perfect.”

The voice cackled so loud her ears rang. “So, you’ll just play it off as though nothing has happened? Certainly you can’t think that will cover everything over like a paved road?”

“I don’t even know who, or what, you are,” Gamma said, “and I’m sure you can just punish us with something creative if we break our silence. I’m sure your friend would even accept what you’ve done to us if you explained that you let us go.”

Almost a minute of silence passed, then the voice spoke. “I’ve talked it over with myselves and we agree to send you back to Manehattan. Now, you can’t just return as you are, so,” there was a flash of light and Gamma was blinded by it, then she noticed she felt better. A lot better.

Gamma looked across her body and marveled at how healthy she looked. She giggled and pranced in place, noting she was on soft carpet now in a large room with a series of bookshelves along the walls and a small hot tub in the center of the room. “Thank you! Thank you, so much.” She bowed her head and noticed the smell of chlorine in the air. “Where’s Packer? He has to be here,” she said to herself.

The voice came from the water, vibrating the surface. “He’s on his way. I’ve been explaining the circumstances of our agreement to him and he’s almost done trying to attack where he thinks I am, in your name. It’s kind of cute, really.”

Gamma sat down and sighed lovingly. “That stallion is the best. He’s willing to fight some kind of god for me. None of my exes would have done that.”

There was a thump from somewhere, then Packer fell through the ceiling and right into the water, screaming loudly as he climbed out, his coat smoking. He coughed water from his lungs and hacked, looking around before his eyes landed on Gamma’s. He galloped to her and hugged her tightly, then nuzzled her.

“Oh, how sweet romance is… or so I’ve been told.” The voice commented, breaking the two apart with the carpet moving quickly beneath their hooves like an escalator. They stopped a length apart. “However, with the terms of this agreement, we can’t just have you pop back into Equestria as though you were never gone, or only gone on a honeymoon.

“I offer you this,” the voice said and two tickets appeared, one in front of each of them. They looked at the ticket in their faces for a second, then both gasped.

“You’re giving us a ticket around the nation on an airship?” Packer said, suspiciously.

“And it leaves… is this,” Gamma squinted her eyes, “wait, isn’t that the day we left?”

Packer and Gamma looked around the ticket to one another, then Packer shouted. “We’ve only been gone a day in real time?!”

“Yes,” the voice said, amusedly, “but you’ve accomplished so much. So much so, that I’m canceling all my other experiments and sending them on a cruise, too. I think I’ve learned all I can from this type of experiment. I’ll have to devise something else, something like a fun game, perhaps. But, that’s not for you to worry about. Now, enjoy the gift I’ve given you and don’t mention this to anypony, or you might just find yourself back here without my kindness and forgiveness.”

Packer scoffed. “Kindness and forgiveness my plot. You’re a monster and if we ever cross paths again, I’ll make sure you never forget me.”

There was another flash of light and the couple were standing in front of their house, blinking away stars. Gamma and Packer, facing the cart loaded with luggage turned and shared a hug. “I think we’re free of this prison,” Gamma said, kissing her stallion on the lips before she pranced to the cart. “I think we should do what he suggested and go on a honeymoon.”

“But, we didn’t even get married.” Packer reached her side and bumped his flank against hers. “Not that I’m complaining.”

Gamma rolled her eyes. “We’ll just tell them that,” she said and then felt queasy. She hurried towards the house and made it to the grass before she vomited parsnip and chocolate pudding onto the ground.

Packer laughed quietly as he held her mane back. Once she was done he patted her withers comfortingly. “What did you eat? It smells terrible.”

Gamma spat, then turned to him. “I think that’s all, but I shouldn’t eat magically made food when in a tartarus nightmare of epic proportions, brought on by some God of insanity running a messed up experiment.”

They shared a laugh, then Packer got ready to hitch up to the cart with Gamma right beside him. He started pulling with a little effort after going so long without exercise and having extra weight in the cart, but he quickly found a pace and was trotting around the corner before he knew it. He halted when he saw the exit and a tear entered his eye.

Then he saw the stallion that had caused them so much grief. Packer started walking again, passing the stallion standing on the sidewalk, staring blankly at them as they passed. “Remember,” the stallion said with the God’s voice, “tell nopony.”

The stallion’s head twitched, then he spoke in his normal voice. “Farewell, mother and father.”

“We aren’t your parents,” the couple said in unison, then shared a quiet laugh and nuzzle.

The couple felt a chill run down their spines as they hurried out of the complex and onto real cobblestone. Packer laughed and pranced in place, then hurried away from their person tartarus.

An hour later, they saw Manehattan in its glory through the trees, they both stopped side by side and leaned against one another, crying softly.

“Hey, get outta the road if you’re gonna stop in the middle of it!” A random stallion shouted as he passed them. “Stupid tourists.”

“We’re home,” Gamma said with a sniffle. “Let’s hurry and get some food before we leave for our trip… I’ve had a fluttering in my tummy for the last hour and am starving.”

“Will do, honey.” Packer said as they got back to a good pace.

“I kinda want… hmm, onion and peanut butter with pickles. Is that weird?” Gamma asked.

Packer just laughed. “You sound like a preg…”

They shared a look, then looked back along her body with curiosity. “He did say he left us a gift… what if it wasn’t just the ticket?”

“We’ll find out and be together, regardless.”