//------------------------------// // 25 The Fox // Story: Errant Finale // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// February 24th, 1001 Domina Solaria “Looks like All Aboard is earning his paycheck tonight,” remarks Applejack as she loads yet another one of Rarity’s suitcases onto the red-eye train to Canterlot. Even all the way back at the caboose they can hear him running through the connections of all the passenger cars the two conductors hooked up. She slides the suitcase next to the crates of supplies traveling from Vanhoover. “Too bad there ain’t gonna be much room in here.” “Yeah,” Steamer says, the conductor lightly ashen faced and out of breath as he steals a glance at Princess Twilight Sparkle getting into the second to last car. “Sorry we don’t have any larger private cars, especially ones suited for a Princess, this late.” He motions with his head towards the long lines of ponies boarding the first four cars. “And with half the town trying to get to Canterlot and watch the coronation?” Applejack smirks at the lack of exaggeration. The other half of Ponyville was conked out, her family’s cider only partly to blame. Well, maybe they’d all get to read about it in the morning. Who knew the Ponyvillians would be so quick to accept Twilight as one of their own? Well, if it gives them cause to celebrate - especially with one of Pinkie Pie’s parties on the line - so much the better. She’d be quick to call the unicorn - erm, alicorn, that’ll take some gettin’ used to - a Ponyvillian, too. “No, thank ya kindly for making an exception for us,” Applejack says, hoisting another bag of Rarity’s supplies on top of the crates. She looks inside, the seven foals already asleep on their cots, Spike cuddling with Sweetie Belle. “In fact, Ah don’t think we could have asked for more. Two cars’ll work out great, even if we need to share ‘em with the cargo.” She leaves unspoken, ‘and not packed like apples after the Crusaders get ahold of ‘em.’ Steamer grins as he checks the last connection. “Glad to hear it. Just so ya know, there won’t be any room service on those cars, or facilities. So make sure you take care of any, ahem, business beforehoof.” He tips his hat to Applejack, then to Doug as he follows Twilight into the fifth of six cargo cars, all of which are loaded with logs and wooden boards of various cuts. “Have a good ride.” Applejack waves before she grabs the last of Rarity’s fabrics, tossing them onboard. She peeks into the car now containing Doug, Starlight Glimmer, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. “You three going to be good in here?” Doug looks up from the third of three sleeping mats he has spread out on the floor. With the long wooden beams strapped to the walls, there is barely enough space in the cargo car for one pony to turn around, or for two to stand side by side. “Should be fine, it’s just a couple hours.” He glances outside as the rest of the herd piles into the last car. “Sure you don’t want us there?” “Space is tight enough as it is,” Applejack replies. She glances to Twilight, pursing her lips. The alicorn looks back at her from her cot. “And, we’ll be having a discussion. As a herd.” Applejack scratches the back of her neck awkwardly. “And we’ll be discussing, um, you. And what’s going to happen to the herd. And since Ah want everypony to be free to speak their mind, at least when we’re talking about you, Ah hope you understand staying out here. If just for the first part of the discussion.” “I’ll be fine,” replies Twilight, far less sleepily than she feels like she should be at this late of an hour. Since becoming an alicorn, she feels filled with energy, like an earth pony that could work all day. Rainbow Dash peeks her head out of the door. “And I’ll just fly over once we’re ready for you to join us.” She squees in glee. “I can’t believe I got a new flying buddy!” She glances around, the yellow pegasus nowhere in sight. Probably still saying goodbye to the animals, and making sure they behave when she isn’t there in the morning. She whispers, just loud enough for Twilight to hear, “Just between the two of us, Fluttershy isn’t the most…” “I get it, Rainbow,” Twilight says quietly, spreading her wings and admiring them. Half the time - which is to say when she’s on the ground and able to concentrate on them - she can get her wings to behave. In the air? Well, that would be awesome. She glances to the cargo cars; there isn’t an easy walkway to get between them, but she might be able to fly the short distance. Or just teleport. But Rainbow Dash would be disappointed if she did that. “You know where to find me.” Rainbow Dash waves as she disappears back into the caboose. Rarity walks up levitating her sewing machine, quite a number of last minute alterations needing to be done to their outfits. Soon enough and the train whistles, the high pitched warble somehow managing to sound impatient. Must have been the way Steamer toggled a few extra blasts. And they would be behind, having to hook up the extra cars Ponyville happened to have on hoof and clear out whatever cargo that wasn’t too cumbersome to move or had a hard deadline. Fluttershy zips in as the train starts moving, wiping a bead of sweat off her brow. Doug and Starlight, both exhausted from staying up late and joining the rest of the ponies for the tail end of the party, rest on their mats. Doug stares at the ceiling, hands behind his head, lost in thought. Starlight shifts a bit, grumbling to herself. Her breathing gets heavier, tail swishing back and forth. Twilight Sparkle, meanwhile, can’t seem to sit still. She keeps unfurling her wings, running a hoof through the feathers. ‘Preening’, Rainbow Dash said as she took another long drag from her cider, ‘is pretty simple. Important, but simple. You just take your hoof like so,’ at which point she ran a hoof along Twilight’s wing, which felt amazing, ‘and you make sure all the feathers feel good.’ She had snuggled up real close to Twilight at that point. ‘Does that feel good to you?’ Rainbow Dash had asked, purring in Twilight’s ear. Then she fell asleep. It had been a long day. “So,” Doug says, almost to himself. “Two foals, huh? Shouldn’t be too bad.” “Two?” Twilight says, glad for a little conversation. “Applejack and Rarity.” Doug turns his head slightly to regard Starlight, the mare uncomfortably shifting a bit more. He reaches a hand out, rubbing along her neck. “I guess I don’t really count you, since you’ll be going back to Our Town.” Starlight shifts her mat so she is spooning with Doug, reaching her head back for a kiss. She smacks her lips as she pulls away, her tail flicking wildly. “Who knows; if your fillies succeed, I might be out of a home. And if they do it fast enough, she’ll be born here.” “Okay, so three, maybe.” Doug raises an eyebrow as Twilight snuggles next to him as well. “Don’t tell me. Four?” “Mm,” Twilight says, joining Starlight in nuzzling Doug. “Definitely four. I've wanted one for quite a while now. Plus, Cadance keeps pushing me, and she gets Shiny to help. Anything to get my brother off my back.” Starlight snorts, and Doug can’t help but smirk. “Not like that!” Twilight swats at both of them with her wings. “Eww!” “Speaking of Princesses, if Celestia and Luna join?” Doug shudders. “Hopefully they can find some nannies in Canterlot.” “Actually, it’s traditional for the sire to take the foal,” Twilight says. “Since the dam is assumed to be busy with, you know, her job.” “And I’m not busy with my job?” Doug retorts, his hands kneading into Starlight as she presses her body against him, her breaths hot and heavy. Twilight stares at him for a few seconds. “You realize you’re comparing crafting weather schedules, an admittedly difficult job not many ponies want, with running the entire country?” Doug rolls his eyes. “Fine. Five and six. They’ll probably want to visit all the time. I hope.” “I should hope so, too. Plus, you’ll have all of us around to help. I just hope they don’t get super hungry or something when their dam isn’t there.” Twilight watches Starlight, the pink mare squirming. “Your heat start already?” “Oh, yeah,” Starlight says, enjoying the massage and yet looking decidedly uncomfortable. “Hmm,” Twilight says, pulling out a few pieces of paper from her luggage. “I recorded Rarity’s various hormone levels. And Rainbow’s, too.” She glances at Doug. “She’s gone into heat already, so be careful if you don’t want to make it seven.” “They outnumber me already, what’s one more,” Doug says blithely. “So, let’s just compare this.” Twilight’s horn shines, bright enough to make the other two wince. “Okay. Okay. Okay. Hmm. Okay.” “That supposed to mean anything?” Starlight says, huffing in frustration at not having her heat quenched yet. Twilight taps a hoof against her chin. “So, you are definitely in estrus.” Starlight groans. “Tell me about it.” “But, from what I can tell, you haven’t released any eggs. And none seem to be mature.” Twilight frowns. “Now, when Doug went away back in December, I spent a couple days in the Royal Archives researching some fertility spells. I think this one should do the trick!” Twilight reaches forward, laying her horn on Starlight’s exposed belly, just above her teats. The air around them seems to still, despite the poorly insulated train rolling along at full speed. Twilight’s horn glows softly, and for long seconds she does nothing but sit there, concentrating. After nearly a minute a ball of light pulls away, absorbing into the left side of Starlight’s belly. Starlight taps the spot with a hoof. “Did it work?” “Let’s see.” Twilight’s eyes shine white, returning to staring at Starlight’s belly. “Yep! Wait. Huh.” “Huh?” Starlight mimics. “I don’t like the sound of ‘huh’.” “It’s… probably nothing.” Twilight meekly smiles. “Just, um, I may have put a little too much into the spell. Don’t know my own strength and all.” “Twilight…” Starlight growls out. “It’s fine! Probably!” Twilight backs up slightly, though there is not a lot of room to maneuver in the train car. “The egg is just maturing a little faster than normal. It should wear off as soon as it’s released, and then be just like a normal egg!” “This better work,” Starlight says, laying back down. “How long is it supposed to take?” “Normally? About two days. Your egg, though… let me just say, it’s already on its way.” Twilight pulls out a sheet of paper. “You can cast it on a mare before she’s in heat, and as long as she goes into heat by then it’ll be fine. Otherwise, the egg will be released, and without estrus preparing a mare’s body for implantation it’ll get, well, lost.” “And if they’re already in heat?” Starlight asks, taking the sheet of paper by hoof and reading through the spell. “You’ll need to wait at least two days. It’s not an exact thaumic, since every mare is different and all. So multiple attempts with a stallion, spread out over a few days, is highly recommended. Unless you've got a way to detect it, and I do, but let's assume you're not there. Or only there for the start." Twilight coughs nervously. "Also, you’re not supposed to cast the spell on a mare who will ovulate normally. Nothing bad will happen, but it's kind of like giving hormone treatments to a mare who will conceive normally.” Twilight pulls out another page. “I’m assuming that the stallions will need a similar spell cast on them, but I’m not sure. After all, if half the equation doesn’t work, there’s not a lot of indication about the other side.” Yet another page comes out, longer and filled with writing. “This is the scanning spell I used-” she circles a few sections “-and these are the spots you should focus on when using it on a stallion.” “None of this looks too bad,” Starlight says, a hint of a smile despite her discomfort. “Mind if I test it on you?” “Well, you probably shouldn’t, but my cycles are generally pretty regular.” Twilight rolls over, laying on her back and splaying her legs. “I’ve got another four days, at least, so you should be safe.” Starlight double checks the spell, then gets up to rest her horn on Twilight’s belly. Her tail flicks to the side, as does her head, winking at Doug. The action is too much, especially with Twilight basically telling him Starlight is ready. He gets up, hand gripping the pink unicorn's flank, squeezing the two gray bars.