Alternate Beginnings: Year Seven

by Doug Graves


13 Heart of the Fire

December 30th, 999

Doug flips through the calendar for the year 999, reminiscing as he pages through the dates. The last year of the millennium. All twelve months checked off. Each with thirty days, all with a nice red 'x' drawn through the day. Except for the last week. The last day. The last day of the millennium.

"Must be nice to control the year," Doug remarks, pulling out a red marker. Applejack glances over, her raised eyebrow enough of a question for Doug to continue, "All these nice months with thirty days each. Still kind of confused why you chose a seven day week though. Seems like six would have been a much better number." He solemnly rests the pen on the top left of the date, a squeaking sound as he lays down the first half of the 'x', followed shortly by the other half.

"You've gotten all compary-like again, Doug," Applejack says as she walks over, plopping down next to her stallion. He strokes her fluffy coat, nicely grown in and much warmer than at the start of winter. She snuggles up next to him, again on the couch of the Carrot House. A sultry look comes over her muzzle, reaching up and joining Doug in a long kiss.

"Hey, I'm allowed to do that," Doug retorts, the calendar and pen forgotten as he returns a wink. "Just seems weird, that's all. You know, how six mares is supposed to be a lucky number. Three hundred and sixty days, kinda like six times six times ten. Nice, even divisions." The heavy socks and woolen vest Doug is wearing are nearly as warm as the mare cuddling next to him. Another beautiful Rarity design, an almost apologetic gesture from the fashionista when she learned about how their first winter storm in the new house had been. She even made him three sets of his 'inside' winter ensemble, one blue, one white, and one purple. Applejack had asked where the orange and blond ones were, the unicorn winking and saying that 'he's got plenty of that on him already'.

"Well, yes, six mares is a lucky number," Applejack says, resting a hoof on Doug's chest, "But there's a stallion in there, too." She kisses him again, "Now, do you want to keep talking? Or would you rather keep going?"

Doug moves a hand to his chin, humming in consideration as Applejack rolls her eyes. She gives a slight shiver, the insulating project not nearly as successful as they hoped. But, it is still much better protection against the brief blizzard raging outside than before, only a few drafts making their way through the house from the basement.

The door to the Carrot House bursts open, the two briefly startling as they glance over at the figure standing in the doorway. A cold wind blows in as the heavily clad mare stomps into the house in a panic, her horn flaring and slamming the door shut. She frantically looks around, searching through the various cubbyholes and bookshelves before going into the kitchen.

"Problem, Rarity?" Applejack asks, not wanting to leave her comfy spot. Doug merely goes for another kiss, Applejack happily obliging as she snuggles back down.

Rarity continues tearing through the kitchen, yelling, "There's only one unicorn!"

"Come again?" Applejack asks, briefly breaking away before Doug pulls her back down.

Rarity huffs, walking out of the kitchen to stare at the two, "We only have one unicorn foal! Filly! Augh!" A piece of her mane sticks out of place, the movement catching Rarity's eye.

"Eeyup. Bit early to work on that, but if'n you need the practice," Applejack quips as Rarity dashes to the bathroom. The door opens, but the mare doesn't go inside, instead levitating a brush and mirror.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, but this is an imminent problem, not an intimate one! Oh, whatever shall we do?" Rarity holds a hoof to her head, the brush trying to bring her mane under control.

"Ah'd recommend hopping on the couch, but Ah think Doug's fine with the bathroom, too." Applejack smirks, laying her head against Doug's chest as she watches Rarity fume.

"Ugh! Please, Applejack, try to help for once!" Rarity finishes repairing her mane, walking over to the two. "This is quite possibly The. Worst. Possible. Thing!"

Applejack raises an eyebrow, trying to contain her bite and failing, "Maybe you should start at the beginning, before going full Mount Vehoovius on us."

Rarity glares at Applejack, the piece of her mane popping right back out of place. "Well, you know how we took the fillies to Hearth's Warming Eve earlier this week. Of course, they wanted to put on their own version of the story! And we only have the one unicorn! Who will play the part of Clover the Clever? I have a costume, but all the accessories!"

"Eeyup." Applejack rolls her eyes, "Quite the conundrum you got there."

"Well, I can't exactly go back to the Carousel Boutique and whip up a proper disguise, now can I? I am forced to sift through the supplies here to find something!"

"Well, you could play that part," Applejack suggests, a slight eye roll.

"Ugh, please, I'm a Princess Platinum filly through and through." Rarity flicks her ever-present manestyle to the side with a huff, "And Sweetie Belle already called that part." Rarity pulls back a little bit, rubbing her hooves together, "Maybe I could convince her to give up the role?" Rarity pouts, "I did want the fillies to act the whole thing. Oh, it would be a great experience for them if they could pull it off! But alas!"

Doug shrugs, "Just give the role to Applebaum. I'm sure she'd make a fine unicorn."

Rarity taps her hoof against her muzzle, "Oh, but she so desperately wanted to be Smart Cookie." Applejack beams at that while Rarity snorts, "And she beat out Apple Bloom for who got to play the part, too. Oh, now that was an unhappy filly, let me tell you, feeling like she was being forced to play the part of the earth pony leader. A bit of a drama prince, if you ask me."

Applejack's eyebrow starts to get tired as she raises it again, her "Really" drawling out even longer than normal.

Rarity closes her eyes, a longsuffering sigh, "Yes, Applejack. I don't know what you've been doing to these fillies!"

"Rares, are ya sure you ain't projecting just a teeny, tiny bit?" Applejack's hoof curves as the ends pinch together, Doug looking at her foreleg curiously.

"Oh, come now, Applejack. Who of the two of us is more of a drama prince?" Rarity struts to one of the closets, looking for something to help fix the problem in front of them.

"You." Applejack looks down at Doug, the human taking her foreleg in his hands and trying to bend it one way and another. Applejack giggles, "That tickles!"

"Oh, really?" Doug says with a smirk, Applejack's eyes growing wide. "Well, then."

"Nonono," Applejack grunts, trying to escape Doug's grasp. His legs wrap around her barrel as his hands grasp her foreleg. "Doug, Ah'm trying-"

Applejack bursts out laughing as Doug squeezes her hoof, the other foreleg pounding onto the couch. Doug grins maniacally, his other hand finding Applejack's hooves and squeezing both of them. Her front legs collapse, her whole weight resting on him as her body shakes with laughter.

Rarity moves over to the couch as Doug kisses Applejack's quivering muzzle. She strokes a hoof along Applejack's mane, lightly kissing her ear. "Darling, if you wanted this so badly, all you had to do was say something and I would have given you some privacy." Rarity glances up at the clock as Applejack groans, "The fillies will be here shortly, so you better make it quick. Meanwhile, I must continue my search, for the theater waits for nopony!"

Applejack pulls away from Doug's grinning face, a quick glare at her stallion. She announces to Rarity, "Ah was trying to say something, before Ah got distracted!" She looks down, trying to keep her angry expression going as he releases her. "So, what's Lemon doing?"

Rarity rolls her eyes, "The filly is as bad as Pinkie Pie. She's the narrator right now, and can barely hold still long enough to read her lines from a script. Why?"

"Well, what about having Lemon play as Clover the Clever? If'n she's like Pinkie Pie at all she'll take to the role like, well, Pinkie Pie to a stack of cupcakes. Mare's a lot smarter than most ponies give her credit." Applejack flops back down on Doug, a loud 'whoof' of air escaping him.

"You really think the filly can handle it? But, what of the pressure? What if she cracks? Or worse, doesn't crack?" Rarity flops down onto the couch, a hoof on her forehead as she forlornly stares at the ceiling, her horn fitting snugly between Doug's arm and chest. "Clover is supposed to be a very serious unicorn! She might contaminate the entire play with her antics!"

"Ah think it'd be a right nice play, then. Ain't that what you're going for?" Applejack grunts as Rarity wiggles around on the couch, the unicorn a tad less inclined to share the space than Rainbow. Rarity huffs at Applejack's insinuation, bumping into the earth pony laying next to her.

"Also," Doug asks, one hand moving to scratch around the unicorn's horn, "How come you just noticed this now? Shouldn't you have figured this out a week ago when they picked out parts?"

"Well, I thought the fillies had it well in hoof! After all the fighting they did over the other parts I thought it would be obvious." Rarity sighs, "And it wasn't until the dress rehearsal just now that we even realized there was nopony playing Clover the Clever. In fact, I think I even made the costume using Sweetie Belle as the template!" Rarity's eye bugs out, her hooves clasping to her muzzle, "Oh no! Oh, no, this cannot be! Whoever wears the Clover the Clever costume!" Rarity spins to face Doug with a look of terror, her horn scraping against him as she pulls away. "Their costume won't fit!"

Rarity's shudders so violently that she flops off of the couch, her body spasming. Applejack covers her eyes with a hoof, a heavy sigh from the earth pony. She finally says, "Come on, Rares. It ain't like it's a Canterlot production, where every single pony is going to be watching for mistakes and judging y'all. It's just us, and nopony cares."

"Nopony Cares?" Rarity nearly shouts as she spins to her hooves, "NOPONY CARES? Why, Applejack, I couldn't be more insulted!" She flicks her mane, turning her head away and closing her eyes, a deep breath trying to contain her anger. She grimaces, having to look back at Applejack if only to look Doug in the eye. "Darling, you care about how everypony looks during the performance, don't you?"

Doug sighs, hating when he has to make a choice between his mares like this. Probably why he tries to stay out of as many of their arguments as he can. Applejack turns, a hard look in her eyes as she also stares at Doug. He curls one hand around Applejack's head, stroking her ears and motioning with the other towards Rarity. The unicorn obliges after a moment, trying to avoid getting closer to Applejack than necessary. "Yes, Rarity, I agree." Applejack huffs, Doug's hand scratching her more forcefully. "It's important for the fillies to look their best, no matter the occasion. However, if I recall, didn't Clover the Clever wear a very ill-fitting outfit?"

"Ugh, don't remind me, having to design even a filly sized travesty as that taxed me, even if it was correct for the period." Rarity raises an eyebrow, "Are you suggesting that Clover the Clever shouldn't look as dazzling as the others?"

Doug shrugs, "Well, it's mostly the rulers that should have the really impressive costumes, right? Their assistants should all be in things considerably more, hmm, drab. Or, a different approach. Just shuffle the fillies around a little more. Scootaloo and Hedge keep their spots as the two pegasi, I'm assuming. Apple Bloom takes the Clover the Clever spot, and let Lemon play Chancellor Puddinghead."

Applejack snickers at Lemon playing the overly eccentric pony leader, nodding along. "Ah like that one quite a lot, actually. And Pomarbo and Meringue can swap off with narrating and helping with the line prompts."

Rarity smiles, "That could work." She gets to her hooves, brushing off her coat and restoring her mane. She moves to the door, glancing out and smiling at the incoming horde. The door soon opens, a line of fillies and mares parading through the cold into the suddenly cramped room. Rainbow flies in last, groaning at how slow Granny Smith is going, holding the brown cloak of Clover the Clever and a bunch of pages.

Rainbow glares at Rarity, holding the pages out and huffing, "Next time you need somepony to read lines and fill a part, I might actually stick around to do it myself instead of foisting it off on somepony else." She shakes a bit of the snow off, Rarity sighing as a few pieces land on her.

Rarity shuts the door as she brushes off the snow. She corrals Apple Bloom and Lemon, quietly saying in a tone that brooks no dissent, "Okay, dears, there's going to be a slight change." She hands out the new parts, slipping the costume off of a slightly rigid Apple Bloom. A few adjustments later and Lemon is wearing the Chancellor Puddinghead costume, the hat almost devouring the smaller filly. Apple Bloom is wearing the cloak, which nicely fits around her body. Rarity secures a quickly assembled conical horn to her head with a string around her neck, partially hidden by the costume. "Now, Apple Bloom, this is a big change, but I know you'll be great." Rarity smiles down at the filly, a quick pat on her head that narrowly avoids crushing the horn.

"Um, okay, Ah guess," Apple Bloom hesitantly says. She takes up the script, mouthing along as she quickly reads through her new lines. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh sit next to the couch while the mares pile around Doug, Applejack begrudgingly giving up her prime location to make room for everypony.

Pomarbo and Meringue walk to the side of the room while the other six fillies gather together in the center. He begins reading in a high pitched voice, "Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of Celestia..."