The members of Herd Apple board the train, the ponies taking up nine of the twelve seats of one of the passenger cars. The whistle sounds, loud through the open windows, each head slowly turning as they watch the majesty of Canterlot Castle gradually disappear as they travel down the mountain. The sun is the next to pass from sight as the train slowly spirals along the side, eventually to reappear as they come out of one of the many tunnels.
Rarity sighs as Canterlot slips out of view a second time, "Oh, to live there! What majesty, what splendor!"
Doug shakes his head, "Good riddance."
Rarity exclaims, "What? But, Princess Celestia is there! And all the fashion ponies; oh, it would be a dream come true!"
Applejack slowly moves back to her seat, "Ah'm with Doug on this one, Ah had enough of them nobles turning their noses up at us when we were eating breakfast. Plus, there ain't no farmland on the mountain, what would Ah do there?"
Doug interjects, "Hydroponics?"
Applejack flatly stares at him, "Ah don't know what that means, but it sounds like an abomination against nature."
Rainbow cuts off the ensuing argument, "I don't know; the Wonderbolts do perform a lot of shows at Canterlot, so it would be nice to live nearby. But, I like working in Ponyville too; I know everypony, they all know me. Canterlot's just too big." Doug raises his bottle of apple juice, holding it out towards Rainbow before taking a sip.
Fluttershy says, "Well, I hear the gardens are absolutely spectacular, especially during the summer. I think I could be a gardener or a zookeeper there, and help take care of the critters they have from all over Equestria."
Pinkie Pie nods, "And the night life! I know we never really got to enjoy them, because we were on the train, or worried about Rainbow, but a couple times that I snuck out there were some pretty epic parties going on! You should have seen the moves that those ponies could pull! They were all, like, boom! Hieyah! And then they'd flip, like, three times!"
Pinkie Pie continues babbling, barely containing her excitement while Rainbow moves over to Fluttershy and Doug. She rests in Doug's lap, motioning for Fluttershy to come closer. Doug places a hand on Rainbow's head and scratches behind her ears, alternating which hand is holding his papers and which mare he is scratching. Rainbow says in a soft voice, "So, Fluttershy, the doctors told me that I can't stress my magic too much. That means that I won't be able to fly like I normally do, going really fast and all."
Fluttershy nods, "I'm sorry to hear that, Rainbow. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Rainbow rubs the back of her head, "Well, I was kinda hoping that you would, you know, help me learn to fly like you."
Fluttershy pauses, whispering, "You... um... want to fly like me?" The excitement in her voice grows to a nearly audible level, "You need my help to fly?"
Rainbow shushes Fluttershy, "Hey, not so loud! I don't want to, you know, let everypony know that I'm getting help."
Fluttershy smiles over to Rainbow Dash, holding a hoof towards her, "Don't worry, Rainbow, your secret is safe with me. And I suppose Doug." She looks up, the human reading through the various reports that came in the mail.
Doug says without taking his eyes off the papers, "I'm busy, but did you need something?" His hand continues scratching Rainbow's ear, leaving occasionally to turn the page.
Fluttershy chuckles, "No, dear, sorry." She looks back to Rainbow, "Not that you wouldn't tell him anyway. So, what kind of help do you need?"
Rainbow puts a hoof to her chin, "Hmm. Well, I think any pointers on how you fly. I'll be honest, your wing power has never been all that impressive, but you do a great job with it - I've always admired your control at low speeds. And I'm afraid I'm not going to have either before the Wonderbolt exam I have coming up in May."
Fluttershy slowly nods her head, "My, that is quite the conundrum."
"Yeah, I figure I can either work on building my speed - you know, my power and acceleration, or I can work on control. I think if I want any chance of doing well on the exam, I'm going to have to work on my control. Do some really precise moves, wow the judges that way. And then on the speed portions, well, I'm going to have to fly my absolute best, really practice some of the turns."
Rainbow pulls out her wrapped sandwich, "And they didn't give me nearly enough food at the hospital last night. But, gotta build that back up slowly," she motions to the others, "Can't go all Pinkie Pie and devour half a bakery or something."
Pinkie Pie shouts from across the train, "Then you'd end up like me! But, instead of getting bigger over time, you'd get bigger all at once! Ooh, maybe I should try that with the next foal!"
A chorus of, "No, Pinkie!" sounds from the other mares as Rainbow smiles, looking back at Fluttershy. "So, 'Shy, how do you do it? Any words of advice?"
Fluttershy puts a hoof to her chin, her face disappearing behind her pink mane. "Hmm... well, I never really thought about it before. I just kind of, you know, fly. Or in my case, gently glide around, careful of any passing birds or insects." She peeks back at Rainbow, "Is this what it is like when you help Scootaloo fly?"
Rainbow gives a halfhearted nod, "Yeah; I've always just been, well, as awesome as I want to be, and never really thought too much about what I did to do it. Made it hard to teach Scootaloo when so many of my actions are, um..."
"Instinctual." The two ponies look up at Doug, the human turning a page in his weather report. He glances down at them, "What? I multitask."
Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Anyway, that gave me a great idea. How about you help both me and Scootaloo learn? Hopefully she'll be able to use that bit of magic she got from me and do more than just glide around."
Fluttershy grins, "Oh, that would be nice. And, if I have my little one next year, I can help her, and you can help me with her too! Oh, but she won't have the same boost as Scootaloo. It will be more like your training with Scootaloo the previous year."
Rainbow nods, "Yeah, I guess so. Though, if your foal is anything like you, then I don't know if my techniques would work so well. But I can still try if you want."
Fluttershy smiles over, nuzzling Rainbow, "I would love to have your help, especially if she is staying over at Apple Acres a lot of the time."
Rainbow rolls over, her head fully against Doug's stomach and hooves in the air, "Well, I'll do what I can. We'll see where I am a year from now, I do like being able to commute from home to work in ten seconds flat. How long does it take you to get from your house to Acres?" Doug begins running his hand along Rainbow's chest, swirling his fingers through the thin fur.
Fluttershy pauses, "Um. If I take the scenic route, maybe fifteen minutes. And I like the scenic route, I get to catch up with all my animal friends along the way. So, maybe more than that if I stop and chat with them." She rolls over, pushing next to Rainbow, also looking up at Doug and giving him a wide smile. Doug glances down from his paper, sighing and gently pulling on one of Fluttershy's wings. She extends the wing and Doug places the papers between two feathers, freeing both of his hands to rub the mares' stomachs while he keeps reading.
A few minutes later and Doug notices the train is quiet, the only sounds puncturing the silence the occasional groan from Rainbow or Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus loses her grip amid a particularly loud moan, the papers dropping to the floor. Doug glances from the scattered papers to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity also laying with their bellies bared, slowly scooting along their backs as they look up at him with pleading expressions in their eyes. He sighs, rolling his eyes as Applejack and Pinkie Pie push towards him, their sneaky advance spoiled by Fluttershy's loss of control. Rarity levitates the papers over to him, taking a spot between his feet and pressing her belly against them.
Doug begins kneading Rarity's belly with his feet, his hands moving to Applejack and Pinkie Pie. He starts at their necks, slowly massaging down until he reaches their teats, not yet engorged. He moves his way back to the top, moving side to side before swapping back to Rainbow and Fluttershy.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo watch the mares as they get more and more into the massage. Apple Bloom asks, "Any of you bring a deck of cards?" Sweetie Belle nods, the three foals moving to a corner and placing the cards on the floor of the train. They begin flipping cards, Apple Bloom asking, "So, Scoots, what's it like having more magic?"
Scootaloo pauses, "Well, I'm not really sure." She looks back over her body, "I don't really remember what it was like not being able to do something. Like, I know that before when I flapped my wings, nothing really happened." She starts flapping her wings, her front hooves raising a little and the cards on the floor shifting in the breeze, "But now, when I flap them, I get lifted up. I don't really know why that is, so it makes it hard to, I dunno, get better at flying. Because I don't really know what I'm doing now." Applejack and Pinkie Pie get up, moving between the fillies and Doug.
Apple Bloom nods, "Yeah, Ah know what you mean. When Applejack helps me with finding the seeds it's real easy going, but when it's just me Ah don't really remember how it happened before. Just that Ah have to keep on searching and searching until Ah find them." She flips two cards, smiling as Scootaloo remembers one of the earlier cards, the pegasus doing much better than she normally does. "How about you, Sweetie Belle?"
Sweetie Belle shrugs as Fluttershy and Applejack give nervous glances around the train, the compartment empty besides their herd. The papers fall to a near pile as Rarity shifts position, Doug's toes tickling her belly as she moves her head towards his knees. Sweetie Belle flips a card, "Well, Rarity is really strong, and she knows what she's doing, so that helps. She had to perfect her telekinesis through hard work and study, just like I'm doing, so she knows what kind of obstacles I'll run into. I'm getting a lot better!" Sweetie Belle demonstrates, flipping over another card. However, when she goes to flip the two cards back over she ends up flipping the whole row of cards.
Sweetie Belle raises a hoof to her head, "Oops. I guess I need to work on that." A low moan from Rarity interrupts her, the three foals glancing over to Rarity as she moves her head against Doug's, but Applejack and Pinkie Pie are mostly in the way. "I'm good at picking up one thing, but Sis says I need to work on my control when they get farther away from each other."
Apple Bloom nods, "Ah haven't even tried working on two seeds at once, so it's mighty impressive that you can do that, even if you don't get it every time. Ah've seen Applejack work on a whole row of crops just walking by! You should see it, it's really cool!" She begins walking back and forth among the cards, making little grunts at each card.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nod excitedly, Sweetie Belle saying, "Yeah! That must be why her cutie mark is the three apples, right? If she was really good at working one tree, then it would be a big apple, like Big Mac!"
The three foals nod, looking over at Applejack. Rainbow Dash is now resting along Doug's chest, their mouths pressed against each other as Rainbow rocks up and down. Scootaloo says, "I wonder what kind of cutie mark we're going to get?"
Apple Bloom says, "Well, Ah think mines going to be some sort of apple, if every member of my family has something to say about it. Sweetie Belle, isn't your family pretty varied?"
Sweetie thinks, "Hmm. So, Big Sis has the three gems. Magnum has three hoofballs, and Cookie has three cookies. I don't remember any others besides that. So mine could be pretty varied, I guess."
They watch as an out of breath Rainbow steps off Doug, Fluttershy moving forward and kissing him. The three fillies giggle at the sight, Rainbow noticing and glancing fearfully over at Applejack. The earth pony doesn't react, and Rainbow gingerly walks over, saying "Hey, girls, hows the game going?" She walks past them, moving over to the cards laying on the floor.
Scootaloo shrugs, turning and facing Rainbow, "It's going fine, I guess. Rainbow, what kind of cutie marks do your parents have?"
Rainbow stops at the cards, turning around and laying down next to them, the fillies moving over to her. Her hind hoof twitches, the leg moving back and forth a few times as Rainbow says, "Oh, um, Windy has a cloud with a few gusts of wind, and Bow has a cloud with a rainbow coming off the back, a large horseshoe imposed on top of it. Why?"
Apple Bloom shrugs, "Oh, we were just wondering what kind of cutie marks we would be getting. You got any ideas?"
"Well, just not to stress over it too much." Rainbow moves a hoof towards a few of the cards, pushing them around, "I mean, it'll happen eventually, right? And it normally doesn't happen for a few more years. Plenty of time."
"Yeah, I suppose." Sweetie Belle looks over at her dam, Rarity having taken Pinkie Pie's spot between them and Doug, "So, do you know if we are getting new sisters? Or a brother?"
Rainbow nods, "Two sisters. Exciting, isn't it?"
The three foals nod, starting to scamper around, the card game forgotten. Apple Bloom says, "Oh, and there's gonna be another Apple! Ah bet she loves working on the fields with me and Big Sis!"
Scootaloo says, "What about Pinkie's foal? What's she going to love doing?"
Sweetie Belle says, "Oh! Pinkie loves partying! Maybe she'll be a party pony!"
Rainbow glances up, watching Pinkie Pie and Applejack trade places, "Oh, yeah, those are good ideas! What else can you come up with?"
Apple Bloom says, "Well, Pinkie Pie likes decorating. And baking. And fun games."
Scootaloo adds, "And Applejack likes baking and fun games too! And hard work, being outside. Pinkie doesn't work with plants like Applejack, though."
"Yeah, and Pinkie Pie is a bit more, umm..." Sweetie Belle stammers, trying to think of the word.
Rainbow smirks, "Crazy?" before slapping a hoof to her mouth, eyes drifting toward the ceiling. She starts whistling, a quick 'too ta too' before saying, "Eccentric?"
Scootaloo peers at Rainbow, "What's eccentric?"
Sweetie Belle says, "I think it means crazy."
Rainbow coughs, "Well, you didn't hear that from me. And it's a good kind of crazy. Anyway, those are great ideas on what the foals will like doing!" Her hind leg spasms, Rainbow grimacing, "Ugh, I might need Doug to give me another turn... with his massage. Yes. His massage." The foals turn, seeing Doug and the other mares sitting up and watching them.
Applejack slowly makes her way over, "So, talking about the new foals, huh?" The three fillies nod, "Well, what do you think their names should be?"
Apple Bloom hums before saying, "Well, you were telling me before about all the Apple relatives Ah have, but Ah don't remember a lot of them. Maybe we can go over them again when we get back home?"
Applejack nods, "We can do that, Sis; Ah'd like that. Family is real important to an Apple." She looks over at Doug, giving him a smile, "Gotta make sure your breeding stock is good and strong." She nuzzles Apple Bloom, "So, you want to wait before coming up with some names?"
Apple Bloom says, "Well, do we have any Apple Trees in the family? I don't remember any Apple Trees. Mostly apple products and pieces of the apple tree, like me and Apple Blossom, or Apple Leaves."
Applejack chuckles, "Well, it might be a little presumptuous to name a foal Apple Tree. Maybe a great, great, great grandsire was named Apple Tree? Ah'd have to ask Golden Delicious, she knows all of the Apple family's history."
Doug says, "What about Applebaum?"
Applejack cocks her head, "Bomb? What's a bomb?" She glances over at Rarity and Rainbow Dash, "Either of you two heard of a bomb?"
Rarity shakes her head while Rainbow Dash says, "Um, isn't it, like, a kind of firework?"
Pinkie Pie nods, her excitement contained by the doctor's orders to not go too crazy, "Yup! Sometimes I like confetti bombs, or streamer bombs, or especially party bombs! Though I prefer my party cannon. Ooh! A party cannon that shoots party bombs!"
Doug shakes his head, "Heh, while I suppose they do sound similar, baum, or 'b' 'a' 'u' 'm', is the word for 'tree' in another language. Don't speak much of it, but I remember that word. So, Applebaum, all one word, means apple tree."
Apple Bloom nods, "Ah like it!" She turns to Applejack, "We should name her Applebaum!"
Applejack nuzzles Doug, the two smiling at Apple Bloom; Applejack says, "Ah think that's a great name, you two." She looks down, rubbing her belly, before looking over at Pinkie Pie. "You know what you're gonna name your foal?"
Pinkie Pie nods, "Lemon!"
Scootaloo cocks her head, "What's a lemon?"
Doug quips, "Something that doesn't work quite right."
Pinkie Pie holds her hooves up in the air, "Lemon Pie! Get it?"
Sweetie Belle whispers to Scootaloo, "Lemon is a fruit, kinda sour. Sis bought me one once, from Lemon Tart. It was... different. Kind of made my tongue hurt. But tasted good with some sugar!"
Fluttershy says, "Well, I think it's a nice choice. Very fitting."
Doug ruffles Pinkie's mane as the herd settles back down for the rest of journey, "Yup, Pinkie does love her some sugar."