//------------------------------// // 27 Epilogue - Six Years Later // Story: Alternate Beginnings: Year One // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// June 30th, 1000 Domina Solaria Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie are sitting around the kitchen table at Sweet Apple Acres. Doug is cooking breakfast, instructing Apple Bloom while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle watch over the younger foals as they scamper around. The counter is piled high with plates of pancakes as well as dishes of oatmeal and slices of buttered bread. A tray is piled with glasses and several containers of juice sit nearby. Doug looks over his family, his herd. His oldest, Apple Bloom, is doing a fine job with cooking breakfast; she has picked the skill up quickly and is good at taking charge. She helps him out with cooking now and then, and occasionally he lets her plan and run the whole kitchen. She enjoys bossing him around when he does, much to everypony’s chagrin. She has more trouble in the fields, but Applejack hopes things will improve as she gets older and works with her every day. Scootaloo, much like her dam, loves to be on the move and likes playing with the other foals, chasing them around. Rainbow had gotten her a scooter as an alternative to flying and the filly has taken to it like a fish to water. Doug has to constantly remind her to not use it indoors, but she finds it easier to ride than to carry. Her wings, sadly, are much as the doctor had feared. Rainbow trains with her as much as her schedule allows but they have seen little progress. Scootaloo makes up for it with her enthusiasm for her scooter and loves challenging anypony to a race. Sweetie Belle has much less tolerance for the messes the younger foals commonly make but still puts up a good face, not wanting to be outdone by her sisters. She also diligently keeps at her magic lessons. While she isn’t the only unicorn in Equestria to take extra lessons she is one of the few that needs them in order to keep up with her classmates. Her mixed heritage also makes her magic unpredictable, and she has to keep her magic use to a bare minimum when they are cooking, sometimes even foregoing her telekinesis. She enjoys working with her dam at the Carousel Boutique and they would sing together when the work gets slow. They sometimes form a quartet with Big Mac singing base, Doug tenor and Rarity alto. Pinkie Pie helped him take care of the foals after the trio was born and had loved it. It wasn’t much of a surprise when Pinkie Pie joined the herd shortly thereafter, wanting a foal of her own. But, since she had just missed her estrus window, they had to wait until the next year. Applejack saw how his oldest three developed much like any other foals; it made her comfortable with having another. At the time, Rainbow and Rarity worried constantly about their two and the magic difficulties they had and would have. Neither wanted to have another until the foals were more comfortable and they had a better idea of what to expect. Applebaum and Lemon try hard to keep up with their older sisters, but the age gap is just enough to make following them around a little difficult, especially with the trio starting school. The two fillies often get into trouble, things a bit old for them, and their older siblings do nothing but help encourage this. They, like all of his foals, are insatiably curious, always looking to try new things. Doug recreated some of the board and card games he remembered, and while the trio like games for their age, the two can’t stand them. They want to play games for ‘big fillies’ and often rub it in the muzzles of their older sisters that they can handle games their elders can’t. Fluttershy wanted a foal of her own; she had decided to wait both to see how Scootaloo developed and to give Doug and Pinkie Pie, the main caretakers, a break in how many newborns they dealt with at a time. Scootaloo’s difficulties were limited to flight and weather magic but otherwise the filly had been doing very well. The next year Hedge was born; while she has the same difficulties as her pegasus sister she compensates in a much different way. She is easily the most patient of the foals yet, while slightly more outgoing than her dam, still prefers to let others come to her. Hedge takes after her dam in other ways, always looking out for those around her. She, as early as she could manage, had taken over caring for the chickens, getting up with the older mares early in the morning to do her chores of gathering the eggs and making sure the feed is in place. She is also the first to notice if a chicken ever goes missing, though a couple times Doug had to explain what happened as chickens, really all creatures, got older. Applejack and Pinkie Pie both wanted another, so next year Pomarbo and Meringue were born. Meringue often tries to follow in her sister’s hoofsteps but can’t handle the games, at least not yet. Instead, she tries her best to organize all the pieces by color or shape, to her older siblings’ chagrin. They do their best to be patient with her but, like many foals, their patience wears thin very quickly. Pinkie Pie had gotten her started on decorating things, and it isn’t uncommon to pull a board game out and find that the board and all the pieces have been Meringue’d. Pomarbo, being the only colt, tries to join in with his sisters but often has trouble enjoying the rough and tumble atmosphere. Pomarbo prefers staying with Doug when he is working on the weather, just watching as his sire draws up charts and schedules. He is still too young to assist, but Doug knows he will have a little apprentice soon enough. The mares thought that eight foals was a good number for the six of them, though Rarity and Fluttershy are on the fence as to having a second. Applejack is somewhat worried that only Applebloom seems to really enjoy farming, and is debating a fourth. There has been a lot of speculation as to when Big Mac will start up a herd of his own, but the stallion seems perfectly happy where he is. Instead, the talk turns to if they will add another mare to Applejack’s herd. Rainbow thinks they are fine, though the betting pool currently favors the unicorn Lyra. The mare had moved to town a few months ago and seems fascinated at just the mention of him. Doug chuckles as memories of the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle hints come back to him. The food finishes as Big Mac and Granny Smith walk into the room. Doug whistles and the foals stop playing and neatly line up. He watches as Sweetie Belle scoops oats, apples, and a piece of buttered toast onto a plate held by Apple Bloom; she then holds the plate to Scootaloo. The young filly takes a look at who will be getting the plate, consults her list, and places a stack of apple pancakes on the plate. Apple Bloom places the plate onto Applebaum’s back, telling her, “This is for Mama.” Applebaum nods, walking over to Applejack before returning to the end of the line. Apple Bloom passes the next plate, saying, “Lemon, this is for your mama.” Lemon dutifully takes the plate, walking over to Pinkie Pie before returning. “Hedge, your mama.” The small filly takes the plate onto her back, wobbling some. She manages to get to Fluttershy without the plate falling off, though she does have to use her wings to steady it. “Meringue, are you big enough to hold a plate?” At the filly’s unsure nod, Apple Bloom sighs and makes sure the broom is at its normal spot in the corner. “Alright, just don’t cry if it gets dropped, okay? Just get the dustpan like we practiced.” The filly eagerly jumps up, nearly knocking the plate out of Apple Bloom’s hooves, but manages to make the trip to Pinkie Pie. The mare redirects her to Rainbow Dash before the excited filly takes a seat at the smaller table. “Pomarbo, you up for a plate as well?” Pomarbo looks glumly at his hooves and shakes his head no. Apple Bloom breathes out a sigh of relief. “It’s okay, maybe next time. Just help Daddy with the glasses, okay?” Pomarbo nods and heads to the foal’s table where he takes the glasses off the tray Doug set down. He carefully places each glass in front of the eight seats. He then fills each from the carafe of apple juice before taking his own seat. Apple Bloom continues passing plates until Rarity, Big Mac, and Granny Smith each have a plate in front of them. The older foals continue preparing smaller plates for each of their siblings before taking a plate for themselves and heading over to the foal’s table. Doug places a drink in front of everypony, but when he looks for his own plate he comes up short. Apple Bloom facehooves when she notices his confusion, “Sorry Daddy! Ah guess Ah forgot again...” resulting in a chorus of laughs as Doug chuckles and serves himself, grabbing an extra helping of eggs from the fridge. “Alright, alright, get this,” Rainbow says, doing her best to suppress a laugh, “Okay. So, we make a bunch of masks of a couple of ponies from town. Say, Lyra and Bon Bon.” Pinkie Pie scribbles notes onto a piece of paper, nodding furiously. “Okay, and then…” Rainbow can’t keep the laughter in, bursting out in a loud guffaw. “And then?” Pinkie asks, her eyes lighting up. Rainbow continues struggling to rein in her laughter, “Okay, I’m okay. Alright, so I got some paint as well, mane style stuff. Then, when Mayor Mare is doing her big proclamation tomorrow to kick off the events of the celebration… there will be, like, ten Bon Bons and Lyras in the audience!” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow both beat their hooves against the table, laughing in eerie synchronization. Applejack rolls her eyes while Rarity responds, “I don’t see the humor in it. Mayor Mare’s eyesight isn’t all that great, even with the glasses, and the whole audience would have to be in on the joke.” “Not the whole audience, just those from Ponyville,” Rainbow retorts, “We might have to get everything set up at the party beforehoof. But, I mean, how close attention do you think everypony is going to be paying during the proclamation anyway? All eyes are going to be on Princess Celestia as she walks in, and she’s going to look over the audience and see-” Rainbow bursts out laughing again, but settles down as food is placed in front of her. The other mares have gone back to discussing their duties for the upcoming festival. Doug sits down and Applejack remarks, “Did ya hear? Apparently they are sending somepony from Canterlot to help Ponyville with the preparations. Some sort of, ‘Summer Sun Celebration Organizer’.” Pinkie Pie chimes in, “Oh! Maybe she’ll have all sorts of ideas to make this celebration totally amazing! Like, more streamers! And balloons shaped like the sun! Balloons that get bigger as the day goes longer!” Rarity remarks in a slightly disgruntled tone, “Or maybe she’ll just be there to make sure the celebration actually starts when the sun rises. The mayor can never get Winter Wrap Up done on time, they probably just don’t want a fiasco like that happening in front of all the out-of-towners there to watch Princess Celestia raise the sun. Or in front of Princess Celestia, for that matter.” “Pff, Ponyville would never disappoint Princess Celestia like that! By the way, you got our weather worked out like normal, right Doug?” Rainbow asks as she starts shoveling food into her mouth. “Yup, somepony in Canterlot even asked for an advance copy. Probably wanted to double check, but it’s kind of hard to mess up clear skies,” Doug answers as he takes a bite of his eggs before reaching for some jam. Rainbow responds, “Well, ya, duh, but that’s only for the last, what, six hours of today? Before that we have to get everything cold enough so it doesn’t get too hot halfway through tomorrow.” “Enough work talk, folks, some of us just want to rest their ears before everypony starts clamoring about making sure the food is done.” Applejack rests her elbows on the table, hooves covering her ears as the din from the foal’s table grows louder. Doug shrugs, “You think the Wonderbolts will be there? I know how much you enjoy showing off your new tricks to them whenever you can. Thought about reapplying?” Rainbow shrugs noncommittally, “I’m not sure. I still don’t feel like I’m back at the top of my game, you know? And I don’t want to give them anything but my very best! But ya, they will be at the celebration tomorrow, so I might show off just a little.” Rarity remarks, “Doug, will you be watching the foals, or did you get another assignment for today?” Doug thinks for a moment before responding, “Nope, just foalsitting and working on weather scheduling. Do you think Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle will be old enough to attend the events tonight?” At hearing their names, the three fillies come bounding up to the table. “Of course we are, Daddy!” they each chime in. Rainbow looks at the three, “Well, I think they are old enough! We’ll be able to stay up all night celebrating the sun and Princess Celestia’s totally awesome rule!” Rarity huffs, “Well, I don’t know about that. What if they get sleepy? It would be far better for them to go to bed and then get up early for the raising.” At seeing the three foal’s downcast faces she relents a little, “Okay, maybe staying up an extra hour. But, as you know, you need your sleep if you want to get up bright and early.” The fillies look to Applejack, a pleading look on their three little faces. Applejack is used to being the tiebreaker for these kinds of things, easily resisting the look, “Well, Ah don’t see the harm in them staying up just this once. But you three need to be careful not to fall asleep during the raising when Princess Celestia is there! Just, be sure to warn one of us and we’ll see about finding a nice side room where you can take a nap. If you don’t let us know in time and we catch you dozing we’ll have to send you back home, where you can celebrate with Daddy and your siblings.” A chorus of, “Thanks Mama!” rings out from the excited fillies, who immediately go back to the foal’s table to inform the others and formulate their plans for the next day. Rarity gives a small frown at being outvoted, but coos softly as Doug runs his hand down her back, scratching as he goes. He remarks, “I’m glad somepony hasn’t given up on their role as Bad Cop to Rainbow’s Overly Excitable Let Anything Go Cop.” Both Rainbow and Rarity laugh as the mares continue their planning of the upcoming events.