June 30th, 1000 Domina Solaria
Doug walks through town, the evening sun shining brightly in the clear skies. The streets are decorated with a wide variety of streamers and ribbons, many in the shape of an yellow sun with a white crescent moon overlaid, eight orange triangles pointing away. The trees are wrapped with colorful bands of cloth, garlands of flowers, and streamers. Plus, most likely, hidden compartments with explosions of confetti just waiting for Pinkie Pie to pull the trigger.
Five fillies follow him; Pinkie Pie's two, Lemon and Meringue, are quickly getting distracted by the decorations practically littering the walkways around them. Applejack's two, Applebaum and Pomarbo, are attempting to keep the first two in line and doing a poor job, the excitement beginning to get to all of them. Lastly, Fluttershy's filly, Hedge, who darts back and forth between Doug and the two groups, lines of worry crossing her face.
Meringue spots something low, in the grass, dashing off to the side to investigate. Doug whistles as Pomarbo tries to block her but she ignores the whistle, easily knocking the colt to the side and jumping onto a red button poorly concealed under a few flowers. Above the filly, high up in the trees, a firecracker goes off, exploding into a shower of confetti. Meringue squeals in delight, eyes going every which way as she tries to spot another one of the hidden buttons.
Doug walks over, a squirming Lemon held tightly in one arm. He reaches down, grabbing Meringue before the filly can dart off in search of another button. She shrieks before finding herself deposited next to her sister; she looks up at Doug, a tear quickly forming in one eye as she cries, "But, Daddy! It was right there!"
"I know, dear, but we have to leave those for Mama to use tomorrow." Doug pats the two writhing balls of fur, chuckling as he tries to calm them down.
Meringue pouts, loud sniffles mimed by her sister as Lemon responds, "But, um, Pinkie Pie would have been happy with her! That button wasn't concealed nearly well enough, and anypony could have found it and triggered it! So, now, it happened before the big party, and she'll have time to reset it! And hide it better!" She tries to use the distraction to jump out of his arm, but his grip merely tightens around both of them.
"Good try, Lemon, but no. We're going to Pinkie's party at Sugarcube... wait... at the library, okay? You can spend all of tomorrow looking for those hidden buttons." Doug changes course; fortunately the two destinations aren't terribly far apart, especially with him coming from Sweet Apple Acres.
"Mama would let us." Lemon joins her sister in pouting as Doug carries the two to the library, though their expressions change as they get near. The sound of music blares through the open windows, shadows of ponies moving back and forth inside. The fillies begin swaying back and forth as they walk, Doug finding his footsteps matching the beat as well. A loud groan comes from one of the windows above the doorway, the silhouette of a pony flopping back and forth on a bed, clenching a pillow to her head. Doug glances back, his three fillies also marching along as they get close to the door.
Before he can rearrange the two squirming fillies to knock, Pinkie Pie opens the door; she beams a smile at Doug, "You made it! Wohoo! Now we can really get this party started!" She glances at the fillies in his arms, her smile briefly falling before snapping back up, "Oh, well, maybe we'll leave the special games for later. You are coming back later, right?"
Doug chuckles, "Heh, we'll see how they do, if they fall asleep early or something." He winks at Pinkie Pie, the mare winking back and spinning around, raising her back legs an inch and looking back. Doug tosses Lemon first, then Meringue; Pinkie Pie bucks her back up, lowering back down as Lemon gets close and smoothly catching her filly on her back. She does the same with Meringue, the two fillies now riding her as she disappears deep into the party.
Doug turns back, motioning with an arm to the three fillies behind him. Applebaum leads, heading towards the games, while Pomarbo and Hedge hesitate near Doug. He squats down, rubbing each of their manes, "Hey, you two, it's okay, just a bit more ponies than you are used to, okay? Nothing to be afraid of. See?" He stands back up, the two fillies following closely as he walks into the party.
A large number of ponies smile at Doug as he walks in, starting with Lyra. Doug waves or makes a fist and bumps hooves as appropriate, making his way towards a few tables in the back. A good number of the mares bend down, Lyra nuzzling Hedge and Pomarbo as they arrive at the food. Doug spots the bottle of Fire Sauce, pouring a single drop onto a dish of sprinkles. He swirls the sprinkles around, trying to evenly coat them with the sizzling liquid before dumping them onto one of the undecorated cupcakes. He takes a small bite, gasping at the intense heat; at least fire didn't come out of his ears this time.
Hedge and Pomarbo both go up to the tables, grabbing small pieces of chocolate and cake. Doug grabs a plate for the two, holding it down for them to place their treats on. They balance the plates on their back, Pomarbo glancing back and walking slowly even with only two items on his plate. They make their way to a less crowded spot, watching with growing excitement as Pinkie Pie and a small purple dragon take turns dumping Fire Sauce on their cupcakes, seeing who can handle a larger amount of the burning liquid.
His three oldest fillies are dancing with a few others around their age, including a small Lyra, though their dancing mostly consists of going down on all four hooves to the beat, pushing back up as far as they can go, and then back down. Just bobbing up and down, the pony version of a squat, performed to the music. Scootaloo spots him, dashing forward and grabbing at his knee, "Come on, Dad, join us!"
Doug reluctantly gets up, Pomarbo and Hedge staying in their spots as they watch him make his way over to the dance floor. Pinkie Pie joins him, bits of fire leaking out of her ears, an excited, "Ooh! What dance are we doing tonight?" as the dragon walks over, curious as to the large biped in their midst.
"Alright, Pinkie, two legs!" Pinkie Pie stands up on her hind legs. "Arms crossed!" Doug and Pinkie cross their upper limbs, making a box in front of their chest, limbs held parallel to the floor. "Squat down!" Both bend their lower legs, a seated position without the chair, the dragon attempting to mime their position. "And kick!" Doug starts off, kicking one leg out, keeping his arms raised at his chest, then trading which leg is extended and which is on the ground to the beat.
Pinkie Pie matches him leg for leg while the dragon topples over after the first kick. The two start to pant harder and harder as the exertion gets to them, the dragon rubbing his back with a huff as he stands. After a minute the song ends, the two of them standing up. "Oof!" Pinkie groans, falling to her four legged stance, "I might need one of those massages of yours to really get the kinks out!" She winks at him, flicking her tail to the side as she wanders to a different part of the party.
The fillies scamper around Doug, Apple Bloom saying, "That was cool and all, but Ah wanted to see the other dance! The arm one!" One of the nearby Lyras nods along, a few other mares following along, the dragon smirking to himself as he flexes an arm.
Doug raises an eyebrow, "A push up?"
"Yeah, like we were doing!" The three fillies nod, Scootaloo demonstrating as the next track comes up.
Doug rolls his eyes but dutifully gets to the ground, starting to do push ups to the music. He lets out a loud grunt as his three fillies jump on his back, starting to do push ups of their own. The dragon gets down as well, a confident expression on his face as he pushes his small body up and down. Lyra moves next to Doug, doing her own push ups and winking as he tries to keep up with the music, but is unable to as the extra weight slowly gets to him. After another twenty he collapses, his fillies giggling above him as they continue to do pony squats against his back.
As the song ends Doug rolls over, the fillies squawking in alarm as they topple off. He stands, ruffling their manes as they try to shy away, an embarrassed, "Dad!" coming from each of them.
Doug chuckles, looking to the dragon, saying, "Haven't seen you around here before. I'm Doug." He holds his hand out, the dragon taking a long look before cautiously holding his claws out.
"I'm Spike. The dragon."
Doug nods, "Nice to meet you, Spike." The two stare at each other for a few seconds before Doug says, "Well, see you all around!" before he wanders off, the trio dancing to the next song as another Lyra takes his spot, Spike moving back to dance next to the three fillies.
Doug spots Lemon and Meringue at the Pin the Tail on the Pony station watching an intense match between Pinkie Pie and two Lyras. The unicorn wobbles back and forth, awkwardly holding on to the pin as she tries to locate the poster. She stumbles forward, listing one way and then the other, before pinning the tail just south of the pony's flank. Pinkie's two fillies give polite hoofstomps as the second Lyra takes a pin.
Lyra pushes up against Doug's hand, resting her side against his flank, "So, those were some pretty cool moves back at the dance floor. Good endurance, too; kept it up for quite a while."
Doug looks at the pony pressed up against his side, smiling and rubbing her withers, "Thanks; lot of that comes from practicing with Applejack."
Lyra winks, "I can imagine, she's a tough one; you want to see how long I can hold out against you?"
Doug shrugs, "Sure, Amethyst; double check with Rarity first, though, I thought I saw her around here somewhere."
Amethyst Star pouts, "Aww, what gave it away? Not that I wanted to get Lyra in trouble, of course."
"Your voice. Don't worry, the paint is still holding up great." Doug looks over the unicorn's mane and coat, trying to find any hints of purple underneath the green paint. "I guess they haven't broken out the Bon-Bon paint yet?"
Amethyst Star shakes her head, "Don't think so, it's just been Lyra so far. Anyway, I'll double check with Rarity about that massage, and if you can check the more, um, hard to reach spots too I'd appreciate that. I'll bring my extra paint."
"Sure, I think Pinkie's got a room set up in the back; look for the one with the drop cloths. If there isn't a table I can grab one from somewhere else."
"Sure thing. See you in a couple minutes!" Amethyst Star walks away, looking for Rarity - the mare keeps a list of which ponies have gotten massages, though for some reason she only charges the ones that are already in a herd. Not that Doug cares too much; giving the massages is just as relaxing for him as for the mares. And the two stallions, but he told Big Mac and Bulk Biceps that he wouldn't mention them.
Doug spots Rainbow Dash, the pegasus hovering above a group of enraptured fillies. Doug walks over, able to hear Rainbow's story as he gets closer; the fillies begin to look terrified as Rainbow continues, "And so, Nightmare Moon took over the body of Princess Luna! And she went around, terrorizing the little ponies by making them relive their worst nightmares! Because she could tell, just by looking at you, the scariest thing that you had ever seen! The things so scary, that-"
Applejack moves over, hushing Rainbow, "Come on, now, RD, we're supposed to be telling stories about Princess Luna, not Nightmare Moon. Save those for Nightmare Night!"
Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Fine, fine. Okay, who wants to hear a story about Celestia and Luna learning about magic together?" The fillies look much happier at that suggestion, smiling and moving in closer.
Rarity moves up to Doug, nudging his shoulder. Doug turns as she walks away, following her; Rarity says, "Alright, two sessions, three minutes with Pinkie and five with Amethyst." She moves in closer, whispering, "No funny business; there are foals still awake." Doug rolls his eyes as they continue to the side room, many splotches of paint dotting the cloth covers. Pinkie Pie is sitting on the table, Amethyst Star lounging on one of the relatively clean chairs.
Doug flexes his fingers, "Alright, Pinkie, ready?" Pinkie Pie nods, Doug starting to massage her hind legs.
Three minutes later and the puddle of pink pony pops back up, reforming to a normal earth pony shape. Doug shakes his head, a smile on his face, as she pronks out of the room. A slightly worried Amethyst Star asks, "Um, is that normal?"
Doug shrugs, "For Pinkie. Let me know if this is too much, or you want me to focus on anything."
Five minutes later and a much more relaxed Amethyst Star barely stumbles out of the room, her eyes having difficulty focusing. Doug follows behind, wiping some green paint off his fingers; the mare only needed a little touch up between her hind legs, the stuff already on her being surprisingly resistant to touch. Probably needs some special soap they take a bath with in order to get it off, once it has set; at least the newly applied paint on his fingers is wiping away easily enough. Why she is overplaying the effects of the massage, though, he has no idea.
Applejack greets him as he walks down the hallway, "Doug, might want to think about taking the fillies home. Some of them are getting pretty tired, and Ah'd hate for you to have to carry all of them."
"Sure thing. All eight?"
"Nah, the trio is doing pretty well." Applejack frowns, "Still have to keep them away from the real sugary treats though, hate for them to crash this early in the party. Need help rounding them up?"
"Sure. Meet you at the front door." A quick kiss and ear scratch later and the two split up, quickly rounding up the sleepy fillies.
Doug waves goodbye to the various ponies as he makes his way outside, though only Rarity is ambitious enough to go for a kiss. Pinkie Pie seems disappointed he won't try to make it back, merely telling him to watch out for opening doors. He leads the sleepy train of fillies back to the Apple farmhouse, a straighter route than the one he took to get there.
Only for Meringue to spot another poorly concealed red button.