Doug and Applejack are reclining at the dining room table, the last few plates still with food slowly disappearing as the two snack. Applejack grins as she takes his fingers into her mouth, licking off the last remnants of the sugary fritters. Her eyes roll up to the ceiling, relishing the salty taste mixed in. Her body presses against his side, a slight sigh as his hip lightly pushes back, not returning nearly as forcefully as she would like.
Fluttershy is in the kitchen with Pinkie Pie, hard at work cleaning the many dirty dishes. Granny Smith and Big Mac retreated upstairs after they finished their breakfast, trying to get away from the din of eight fillies playing. The fillies themselves are working up quite a sweat, constantly changing between the board games strewn about and scampering their way around the room, sometimes over those very same board games.
Rarity is trying to corral them, to get them to stay interested in one game or another. Anything to sit still and please please please be just a little quieter. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, seems to only encourage them: disrupting one game by poking a filly until she gives chase and then leading said filly into the other game, thus throwing both into disarray. The house vibrates as the hooves stomp around, light clops against the wooden floor that thunder when multiple fillies give chase.
Applejack grunts as Doug's hand wraps around her shoulder, leaning a bit closer and pulling her hind legs up. Scootaloo dashes underneath her, doing her best to evade her pursuer by running through a makeshift obstacle course. Lemon is following just behind, the yellow filly squealing as she tries to get her piece back from her sister. The two fillies continue to squabble as Lemon catches up to Scootaloo, eventually pouncing her big sister in an attempt to wrestle the piece away. Applejack remarks to Doug, watching the fillies work out their dispute as fillies are wont to do, "Ah'm inclined to agree with Granny."
"About what?" Doug loudly asks, watching as Rainbow and Rarity square off, both pawing at the ground and gesturing around the room. They are saying something to each other, lost in the din of fillies shouting, hooves stomping, and pieces clattering against the boards.
"About it being a mite crowded in here," Applejack yells, relaxing again as she lets her legs down. She quiets down a little, leaning closer to talk in his ear, "Granny was talking to me the other day about it. And Ah think Big Mac talked to you a little about it before, too. You know, this house, it ain't no Rich mansion with thirty rooms. It's getting a little crowded when we just have my foals and Scootaloo here, but when it's everypony?" She shakes her head, her blond ponytail lightly thumping into Doug's chest. Lemon finally manages to get the piece from Scootaloo, both fillies sticking their tongues at each other as they return to their games. Scootaloo sits down, the other two members of the trio glaring at her for the extended disruption.
"So, what do you want to do about it?" Doug watches as Rainbow and Rarity move closer to each other. The rest of the room grows quiet, all heads turning to watch as the two mares point hooves, first at the fillies, then at each other. Rainbow and Rarity continue their shouting match, trading back and forth.
"Come on, Rarity, stop being so uptight!"
"I am not being 'uptight' about anything! I am trying to get some peace and quiet around here for once, and you are doing nothing but disrupting my efforts!"
"ME? What are you talking about? Come on, Rares, they have all this pent up energy! I'm just trying to help them release it, and you keep trying to get them to sit still. They're just going to explode, and all at the same time. Why don't you get that?"
"Why don't I get it? Why don't you take them outside, then they won't be so disruptive to everypony!" Rarity points a hoof at the front door. Through the windows lies a pristine snow covered landscape. Nopony has yet tread on the soft white sheets blanketing the ground, not even the path leading towards Ponyville. Several inches of the perfect kind of snow for fillies to scamper around in, burn off all the energy their large, sugary breakfast has given them.
"Fine!" Rainbow moves to the front door, forcing a smile to her muzzle as the cold air enters the house. "Who wants to play outside with me?"
"Remember your scarves!" Rarity calls, a few colorful pieces of woven fabric levitating from one of her suitcases. "Honestly, Rainbow! It's cold outside!"
Scootaloo abandons her game, excitedly rushing to the door. She rolls her eyes as a blue scarf wraps around her neck, one hoof swiping at the smooth yet thick fabric. She is quickly followed by Apple Bloom, the filly standing still for Rarity to wrap a green scarf around her. A reluctant Sweetie Belle stands next, nopony left at their game. She walks over to her dam, a quick nuzzle as she slowly ties a purple scarf around herself.
Applebaum sees the older fillies run outside and gets to her hooves, nudging Lemon. The yellow filly sighs, an apologetic look to Rarity as she leaves their game. Applebaum gets an orange scarf, Lemon a yellow that matches her coat. The two follow the trio outside, cold wind still blowing through the house from the open door. Pinkie Pie pronks from the kitchen, a blue and yellow scarf already around her neck, getting a quick nuzzle from Doug before she leaves the house.
A snap of fingers grabs Rainbow's attention, the remaining heads in the room turning to Doug. He points at Rainbow, then at Rarity, a hard, unwavering look on his face. At first Rainbow merely glares back, a sharp huff of breath as one hoof comes down to the floor. Doug's eyebrows narrow, one hand lightly pushing against Applejack as he slowly starts to get to his feet.
"Ugh, fine," Rainbow moans, moving over to Rarity. She quickly nuzzles the unicorn, "Rares, I'm sorry I yelled at you." She backs up just as quickly, an impatient glance to the front door before she turns back, looking between Rarity and Doug.
"And I am sorry it was necessary." At the second snap of the fingers Rarity's eyes roll. Her composure wavers as Doug raises his hand, his knees shifting as he starts to get up. "Fine. Rainbow, I'm sorry I yelled at you, too. I know you were just trying to help the fillies." The two trade smiles as Rainbow moves over to Doug, sharing a quick kiss before leaving the house, the door shutting behind the pegasus with a thump. Rarity slumps down next to the three remaining fillies. "Finally," Rarity moans, a loud sigh as she settles down. "Peace and quiet." She starts shuffling and dealing out a simple card game, listening in as Applejack continues.
"So, after Granny came to me about this, it being crowded around here and all that, Carrot Top and Ah got to talking. She wants a bit more storage space, and wants us to build a barn on our land, right close to the fields that she rents from us. Well, we got plenty of barns and we don't really need another one, especially if she decides to move or buy a different plot. So, Ah got to thinking about it, about what we should do. Ah know you had mentioned something similar to this before when you were talking with Big Mac. Doug, what do you think about building a house instead?"
Doug looks at Applejack, rubbing her ears, "Why would Carrot Top need a house? Doesn't she live back in Ponyville with her herd?" Applejack gives a low moan, pushing her head further into his hand as he scratches deeper, digging into her skull. A quiet cough from Rarity and Applejack stops, a sheepish look on her muzzle at the three foals watching her.
Applejack continues, "Yes, well, it wouldn't be a house like this one. It'd be half house, half barn. Ah'm thinking lots of rooms with easy access to outside. Rooms that could be used for either storage or for spare bedrooms as needed. You know, multi-use rooms, especially if its just going to be crates of carrots and not giant barrels of juice. And then, we can rent her some of those rooms for storage. Now, you know, we can't leave the fillies there all by themselves, not until they get a bit older. Ah was thinking that you would spend the nights there, along with whichever mares are staying with ya that night. The fillies can stay in the other rooms. They're all getting a lot bigger, and need a bit more space to call their own, ya know?"
Doug nods; piling five fillies into one room barely cuts it, much less when all eight cram themselves into the bunk beds. "That sounds like a really good idea. And it would free up the bedrooms here, too." Rarity levitates over to Doug a pad of paper and a pencil, a smile and a nod in thanks as he starts writing.
"Eeyup, Ah know Granny wants to get that guest bedroom back. We can't really have any relatives staying over here with things like this, ya know? Ah think Ah'd stay in the master bedroom the nights when Ah'm not with you. And maybe Ah can stay over there, if'n you're spending the night at the Boutique. Ah know Rarity is busy a lot of nights, and doesn't like making the walk here when she doesn't have to." Rarity winks at Applejack, a blown kiss at her lead mare. Applejack smiles in return, continuing, "Apple Bloom gets my old room, the one that we keep the trio and LAB in. Maybe when Lemon and Applebaum get old enough we'll want a separate room for each, but they can stay in one for now. With Speed, the young trio, well, we might need to break up Meringue, Pomarbo, and Hedge. At the very least plan for it. Ah figure Meringue and Hedge can get a room for the two of them, for now. Pomarbo needs his own room, being the only colt and all. One for Scootaloo, obviously. And it wouldn't hurt to have a spare if Sweetie Belle stays over for an extended time."
Rarity nods, "I would appreciate that. I have been getting a bit more interest in the Boutique lately. Knowing I don't need to worry about leaving Sweetie Belle on her own would be very nice. I can send Sweetie Belle off to stay here while I travel to Canterlot or Manehatten. And if she has her own room, it won't pressure Apple Bloom or Scootaloo to have to bunk with her, not that I think they would mind much."
Doug glances at his hastily written notes, nodding at Rarity, "So, sounds like we want at least seven smaller bedrooms, one for each of the fillies, and we should be able to get away with two or three of those as storage rooms initially." He taps his pencil a couple times against the table, his eyes lighting up. "Hey, you know what would be great? We could give this to Applebaum and Lemon to do. They really like this kind of stuff, right?"
Applejack nods, her muzzle beaming as she rubs into Doug's side, "As far as the design work? That sounds like a great idea. Me'n Big Mac do the designing for the barns all the time, 'specially if we're just reusing an old one. So we can help out if she gets stuck, we'll just need a good list of requirements. Like how many bathrooms we want, windows for the storage rooms, that kind of thing. 'Sides, Ah think it'd be great practice for the fillies!"
Fluttershy returns from the kitchen, laying next to Rarity as Applejack and Doug hash out a few more things that the house should have. Eventually they finish, the paper and pencil laying on the table as Applejack dozes, leaning up against Doug while Rarity naps on his other side. Fluttershy takes the unicorn's place, engaging in a memorization card game with the fillies. All too soon, though, the quiet atmosphere is disrupted by the door opening and seven ponies escaping the cold.
Apple Bloom gallops over, pouncing on her dozing dam, "Sis! Do we have any hot chocolate?"
Applejack shakes the sleepiness out of her head, looking over at Pinkie Pie; the pink pony's mane slightly deflates as she slowly shakes her head from side to side. Applejack frowns, "Ah'm sorry, sis, but Ah think we're out. Ah can check if'n you'd like, but Ah don't want to get your hopes up."
"Oh. Um, it's okay." The filly shivers a little, wiping a bit of snow off her barrel before cuddling next to her dam. Rainbow goes to the foals room, finding a few blankets for the fillies. The rest of the ponies entering the house sigh as well, huddling against their scarves as Rainbow finds a few more blankets to distribute.