The Accident

by Gabriel LaVedier

Unplanned...

Silence fell around Angel and Opal for a moment following Angel's statement of being like his father. After a moment, and after guiltily looking away from Angel holding his wounded shoulder, Opal asked, “What do you mean you're like your father? Who was he?”

Angel shrugged his shoulders thoughtlessly, wincing a little as he moved the one that was still bleeding. “I don't know... or, I guess I should say, I had too many choices, but I didn't really know.”

Opal regarded Angel curiously. “Whatever do you mean?”

Angel gave his feline companion a lopsided grin. “Bunnies. We're cute, we're cuddly, we're pretty much nasty little perverts. You think I'm bad? I'm Prince Blueblood compared to the rest of my warren. I'm such an aberration, if I hadn't left they probably would have kicked me to death and left me for the timberwolves.”

Opal held a paw over his mouth. “Barbaric...” She muttered.

“Well, maybe not. But I've got a lot of bitterness. Don't trust me. Seriously though... mom had it with a couple of bucks. Or, more like... five. Maybe six. There was a sixth guy that maybe could have been it. Yea, well, that's my mother,” Angel had a wry smile on his lips as he scratched the ground with a foot. “So... five guys that could have been my dad. Did they give a pellet? Why would they? Between them there were about twenty does that they had put the carrot to.”

“I do not understand then. If you feared being your father... would you not have come to me? Surely you are repeating your... various fathers' disinterest,” Opal said.

“You don't get it, they had a bunch of does, a bunch of kittens. But each one thought their boys were the winners of the swim meet. They all wanted to be dad, for the power. That's a lot of attention to spread around. You can't be a decent parent to that many kittens. I got a lot of the back of their paws. Love takes time, discipline takes a quick smack. Just my luck, all my dads were jerks, teaching me to shut up, sit down, stay still, twitch my nose right and don't sass them, or else,” Angel related, growing more and more bitter and disgusted as he spoke. “I got the last laugh, now they can't shut me up, or stop me and I'll sass them all I want. Behind their backs.”

“But Angel, dear... I was still right,” Opal said gently, “You say you wanted to avoid the mistakes of your fathers. Avoiding me hurts greatly. And it would surely hurt your kittens. Our kittens.”

“I wanted to avoid being them... I know I've got some bad mojo deep down in my blood. I've got a back-paw face-slapper in me. A real jerk. Can't you tell?” Angel said, with a forced laugh. “Sure, I'm not too bad... so they tell me... but maybe... maybe having kittens could have turned me on to the real slime inside. I'd become that buck... but I didn't have to worry about that. Just staying away from you pissed you off so bad you came in here and put vents in my shoulder. I did it. I wasn't just a funny jerk. I'm one of my dads. Whichever one, I'm disgusted with myself. Here I am, a dick of a buck, just like whichever stupid pervert actually got my mother pregnant.”

Opal drummed her claws against the ground. “So... you lament that you did not know your father's identity, having only a guess, and fear that in your genes lies terrible parenting and cruel coldness towards kittens?” Opal asked, regarding Angel with a neutral expression.

“I think the question has been answered. I'm afraid that this is how it's going to be, always. My family curse, child-smacking bucks that just don't care,” Angel answered.

“Did you ever think perhaps... I am afraid too?” Opal questioned, looking down at the ground.

“What? Babe, you're afraid? Of what? You seemed totally on top of this. Way more than me, that's for sure,” Angel said, hopping a little closer to Opal. “I thought you came from one of those nice places, fancy pedigree and stuff like that, all dressed up in ribbons and lace and pellets like that. You know your mother and father, they have a record.”

“Yes, you are right. I came from the finest feline breeders, and know my father and my mother very well. Though I should say that I know who they are. As to knowing them well, that could not be further from the truth.” Opal rose up and paced around, as she reminisced. “You see, Angel, the price of beautiful genes is, if not quite anonymity, is distance. I was not an accidental or unexpected birth, an act of wild debauchery as you seem to imply the members of your litter were. But I was not, in the strictest sense 'wanted' by either sire or dam. My father performed his procreative duties in a plain room after knowing my mother for a short while, both matched on the purity of their bloodlines and distance of their relationship. My mother carried us all to term, fed us milk for the appropriate length of time but did not express motherly affection for us. She purred to show where the milk was, and otherwise ignored us. I learned what it was to be a mother at her cold and indifferent paws.”

“And that's what you're afraid of, isn't it? I worry I'll slap our kittens around and strut around not caring about them, not loving them and you're afraid you'll just not care at all, feed 'em, keep 'em alive, but other than that...” Angel trailed off.

“We are both misfits,” Opal said, eyes staring at nothing, “Children of absent fathers and... distant... mothers. We are also together. Whatever bile may be coded deep in our bloodlines we can see through the foolishness of pretensions and culture, to undo whatever harm could come out of our respective upbringings. I support you, you support me, we both support our kittens.”

Angel was silent for a long moment, softly rubbing over his shoulder. “Sorry I got you in a state. I should have talked to you first thing. I gotta say, babe, we're quite a pair. We go from not-talking to screaming match in no time flat. With these nice holes in me for my trouble.”

Opal nodded slowly, finally letting herself reach out and touch the spot. The flow had staunched itself and only the small punctures remained, with the slowly-drying blood as highlight. “We are passionate creatures, love. 'Passion' does not mean sex, or love. It means passion and nothing more. Love is a passion. Sex done right is a passion. Hate is also a passion. We can invest a great deal of emotion into any mood we enter. Perhaps too much... but it is good, in the end. It means we care.”

“Oh yea?” Angel asked, looking up into Opal's face. “Wait... I think I see...”

“Our parents had no emotion to invest in us, by circumstance or culture. They could not be bothered to put any concern in us. But we, we can add meaning and fire to a simple misunderstanding. We will give these kittens so much love I fear we may smother them,” Opal said with a light laugh.

Angel put a paw on Opal's belly, the first time he had since the news of the pregnancy had come. They were in there, moving around. His. “Hear that, bucks and does, toms and queens? We're gonna love you so much you'll eventually refuse to be seen with us in public and probably pretend you have no parents.” Both of them gave a laugh at that, Angel looking to his shoulder wound. “Now... get me to Rarity or Fluttershy so one of them can take me to the vet. I won't lie, now it's really starting to sting.”

- - -

“I must say it was very kind of you to choose me for this task,” Rarity said to Angel, who was sitting on her back looking smug and imperious, “My darling tells me that you can be a bit... tempestuous, in the best of times. This tells me that now you truly regard me as a member of the family. Thank you for the vote of confidence, Angel.” The mare smiled and used magic to stroke Angel's ears. Though the lapine was still looking aloof, a smile pulled at his lips. “And so brave. It would appear Opal was a trifle rough. Such is her way.”

Rarity opened the door to the vet's office, which was thankfully empty. The only occupant was the veterinarian herself, sitting behind the desk in her office, which was visible through the open door. She was softly kissing a heart-shaped wooden frame, and only stopped when she realized she was being watched. “Oh my! Ah, Miss Rarity... how fortunate. I had need to contact you and the others.”

“Modestly fortunate, to some extent,” Rarity said, trotting in and into the office, turning her body to indicate Angel. “I'm afraid my dear Fluttershy's Angel had a too-playful encounter with my Opalescence. It does not appear to be too terribly bad, but it would be appropriate to be tended to.” She then indicated the frame with a smile. “I see that you, too, are involved. If I may ask, are they mare or stallion?”

“Mm, neither. Dog,” The vet said, turning the frame to show the photo of a Diamond Dog. He was of the smaller breed, his coat a greenish-brown color. He was smiling broadly, one large hand caught in mid-wave. “He works at the local mine. We're actually engaged, still talking over the date...”

“Goodness!” Rarity said, looking utterly shocked by the revelation. “How horrid! Engaged and yet I have not seen you in the shop to get a wedding dress! To say nothing of the bridesmaids, the maid of honor, the groomsmen... there is never a date too early for such considerations.”

The vet actually laughed, after a slightly-worried look passed her features. “I'll confess... I thought that you, of all ponies, would take that news a bit less well.”

“Oh? Oh!” Rarity waved a hoof and shook her head. “No no no! Oh I am most broad-minded and would never let a single negative encounter color my belief about an entire species. Now about those dresses...”

“I'm wearing my other mom's wedding dress. I like the style more than my bearing-mom's dress. But you're right about all the other outfits... I should make an appointment,” The vet said, rising up from behind her desk and motioning towards her exam table. “Please have him hop up there.”

“Of course...” Rarity said, getting Angel close enough to the table to allow him to hop off onto it. “Ah, wait a moment... you indicated that you needed to see my self and the others...”

“Oh, right. Just over there on my desk, I got reports back from Canterlot. They were sent express, so they must be important. I didn't want to open them until I got in touch with you. You can open them up and tell the rest,” the vet said, while carefully examining the small wounds on Angel's shoulder. “Not too bad. Shallow punctures but deep enough. He won't need stitches but some bandaging would be best.”

“That is certainly a relief...” Rarity said, pulling open the thick envelope and tearing open the top with magic. She noted, if only peripherally, that the surface was stamped with the seal of the School of Advanced Thaumato-Biology at the Grand Royal Canterlot University. The papers were levitated out and she read them, first with casual interest then with a look of utter shock. “What?!”

“Goodness! Try to keep it down, what's the matter over there?” The vet asked, jostling the bottle of alcohol she was holding. She had been in the process of dabbing each puncture with a cotton swab dipped in the liquid.

“I... I cannot confess to understanding all of what is written in this impenetrable scientific cipher but the condensed conclusions seem to be... Opalescence is pregnant... by a rabbit!” Rarity looked on at Angel, who went from slight wincing to a cool and smug stance. “I... I think that Opal may have been... chastising the father of her kittens.”

The swab fell from the vet's grip, and she rushed over to take up the papers, flipping through them quickly. “This is... this is certainly advanced Thaumato-Biology, more than I ever needed to study. But I see... and your friend's dog has been made pregnant by... by an alligator... this is... unprecedented!”

“'Alligator'?” Rarity spluttered, snatching the papers back to find the relevant portion. “My word... that is unexpected. I never knew Gummy had such... passion. But this is impossible! Do they indicate how such a situation could have been possible?”

The vet took back the papers and read on. “There is some speculation based on the timing of the pregnancies. You were in the Palace the same day that a hybridization spell was used. The consensus seems to be that they were caught up in the spell and that the raw unifying power worked on them as well as the other participants.”

“It would seem likely...” Rarity said, with a stroke of her chin. She looked over at Angel again, who was still standing with his proud, smug look. She sauntered over to him and fixed him with a piercing glare, wiping the pride from his face. “So! You have defiled my precious Opalescence in a moment of compatible weakness and impregnated her outside the bounds of wedlock! You will learn the meaning of wrath when the moment presents itself! But for now...” Rarity turned to the doctor bounced her coiffure. “Please bandage this lapine miscreant. It would not do for the father of Opal's brood to fall ill before he can take a position of responsibility.”

The vet stared in slightly-stunned disbelief as Rarity unleashed her rant on Angel, but regained her composure after the true absurdity struck her. She sauntered back up to Angel and dabbed at the punctures with alcohol again. “Of course. Looks like my Labradorite isn't the only fellow looking like he needs a tuxedo.” She applied a large gauze bandage with a laugh.

- - -

“Well how do you like that?” Dash asked, slowly circling around the ceiling of the library while Twilight dusted and arranged books below. “I thought I'd seen every weird and freaky thing I could after Nightmare Moon and Discord and the Changelings and Sombra. But this! Can you even believe it?”

“I have to believe it,” Twilight said, evenly, taking a tone almost exactly opposite to Dash's manic chattering, “I've seen the reports. I did not specialize in the sort of advanced studies in those papers but I took enough mid-level courses to grasp the important points. It happened, the genetic studies confirm it and the rapid pace of Opal's gestation conforms her case. For Winona, it's the shape of her offspring.”

“Winona... AJ has totally been waffling. One minute she can't believe her sweet little Winona would go get herself 'all puppied up outta wedlock' then she's glaring daggers down at her saying she's a bad girl, then she gets this idea that she's gonna throttle Gummy until he marries Winona,” Dash said, tapping her hoof on each option, “then I have to remind her animals don't get married and... she shoos me out of the house and bans me from the orchard forever. Or a day. Whichever comes first.” She looked a little sheepish and soared a little closer to the ground, to stroke Tank's head. She would have stroked his shell but that was occupied by a lightly-dozing Owlowicious.

“It's an uncommon situation and seems to be stirring up all kinds of emotions. I know Pinkie has been busy planning some kind of ultra party that combines two weddings, two baby showers, a possible birthday for Opal's kittens and some kind of celebration for the first ever hybrid dog/alligator and rabbit/cat babies,” Twilight said, a smile crossing her face. “She's been letting me help with the logistics, my specialty. Planning a party with Pinkie is... magical...”

“We all know you love your marefriend, old news,” Dash huffed, stroking Tank's head again and returning to a higher circuit of the room. “I saw that Rarity has been in a wedding frenzy. She practically strapped Angel to a table to get him measured for a tuxedo. Gummy... already has one, for some reason. Pinkie Pie is so random... Opal has a wedding dress, because Rarity thinks she's a stuffed animal, and now Winona is getting one. Plus I heard something about the vet getting married.”

“The season of romance is upon us, and it's not even Hearts and Hooves day. Though that title is a little inapt for this situation,” Twilight noted. She had paused in her cleaning to look over the papers again. “Amazing. A basic hybridization spell, cast on a regular basis for couples that have applied, and they happened to get caught up in it. And then... oh...” a large blush suddenly sprang up on Twilight's cheeks, which drew Dash down to her level.

“What? What? What? I know that face! AJ gets it when I tickle her neck with my wings in public. What is it?” Dash asked, hovering upside down before Twilight and staring into her eyes.

“Well, uh... it's not like the spell creates babies in the female. The... generally known fact is it allows genetic compatibility, and induces ovulation. That's why twin births are common in the first hybridization. But the couple still has to go make the children. The... physical way.”

Dash contemplated the notion for a moment then dropped out of the sky, landing on the library floor with a solid and painful-sounding thud. “Ow! Wait... so... Angel and Opal... and Gummy and Winona... they both had to...” Dash gave a shake of her head and rubbed the spot which had hit the ground. “Wow... hey! Gummy and Winona were in different rooms! They had to find one another.”

“Or they had to immediately do the procreating after the spell and before they came back from the excursion to it... which is not a comfortable thought,” Twilight said with an uncomfortable grin, “I think it would be more pleasant to imagine they somehow got from one room to the other. Which shows it wasn't a true accident. At least in their case, they wanted to be together. Does that mean they... had been?” She considered, tapping her hoof and flipping through the papers again.

“This is starting to get way into Creepytown. But you know... I always thought there was something with Opal and Angel...” Rainbow Dash said, conspiratorially. “They're just a little too alike for it to be a coincidence. I think they masterminded the whole thing.”

“Really, Dash? A cat and a rabbit orchestrated a plan to be hit by a hybridization spell and have children?” Twilight asked, giving Dash an incredulous look.

“Fine, ignore the signs, you saw them too!” Dash shouted, petulantly winging her way over to Tank and rubbing him under the chin. “Well, at least Tank and Owlowicious got lucky.”

“'Lucky'? How do you figure that?” Twilight inquired, gazing over at the contented tortoise and napping owl.

“Maybe they didn't wander off and get hit by that spell. And even if they did it doesn't really matter. They don't have any of the complicated, messy 'love' stuff to mess up their hangout time. They can just chill and be pals.”

“'Complicated, messy love stuff'...” Twilight repeated, a smile crossing her face. “Speaking of that, I think it's about time for you to stop hiding out in the library pretending you're waiting for a new Daring Do book. Time to go supplicate yourself before a certain earth pony and hope she feels mushy enough to let you back onto the property.”

Dash let out a loud, hollow laugh, eyes darting quickly around to scan for witnesses. “Ha-ha! Twilight. What? Hiding out? More like hanging out with one of my best friends. Can't a mare hang out with her Daring Do buddy while their pets, um... chillax? Seriously though... it's time to, ummm... do something totally not farm-related. I'll just leave Tank here for a bit. He can get home on his own. Okay bye!” With that, Dash zipped out the door and left Twilight with the pets.

“She's about as transparent as the clear blue sky, isn't she?” Twilight asked Tank, giving him a wink. “Guess I should go help Pinkie some more. Owlowicious you're in... oh... you're asleep. Um, just don't let anything happen.” She gave the owl an air-kiss and sedately trotted out the door.

As soon as she was gone Tank slowly lifted his head and shook his shell. “Owlowicious?”

The owl's talons clicked softly in rhythm on Tank's shell and his eyes slowly opened. “I only feigned slumber. The topic of conversation was cutting close to home. Too close, I think. I can hear concern in your normally unflappable basso tone. I know what makes your mind tremble. Don't be afraid. She did not know. None of them do.”

“'Pals.' As if we were only friends. That we were lucky not to be 'affected' by the spell. No 'love stuff'...” Tank said, his deep, slow tone adding extra graveness to the sad speech.

“She did not know,” Owlowicious repeated, hopping off of Tank's back stand before him. “Their blindness to our relationship is our doing. We prefer it this way, our love known only to our small band of devoted and understanding friends. It has always suited us... but I suspect you... are unsatisfied?”

“I'd... maybe... maybe I want what they have. A sign they are together,” Tank said, turning slightly away from Owlowicious. “Does that may me... bad?”

It took Owlowicious a moment to answer; he was reminded rather significantly of his conversation with Gummy. He let a smile spread across his beak and he fluffed up just a touch. “No. Not at all. It's normal to want such nice things. But circumstances have made it so that is not in the cards. It may hurt but... it is. This love we share more than pleases me. I am enriched and energized by it. I hope you feel the same.”

Tank took a while to respond, beyond his usual natural slowness. Her carefully ruminated on the subject before replying, “It always made me happy. It does. But now there is more for others. And I don't like that fate did this. That we get left out just because we happened to be in love with each other.”

Owlowicious tapped his claws on the ground, considering a statement. “I am... a rational bird. I do not believe in fate or destiny. The fault, if any can be said to exist, lies only in what we make of the working of the world.”

Tank looked up at Owlowicious, eyes just lightly shining with tears. “You... don't believe in fate? You don't think we were meant to be together?”

A faux pas. A serious one. Owlowicious cudgeled his brain to think of how to make it right. He was not belittling Tank's belief in the twists and turns of fate. He only had a different idea of what such a thing meant. “If I may be said to believe in anything, it is serendipity.”

“What?” Tank's head slowly turned in confusion.

“Serendipity,” Owlowicious repeated, leaning himself in to touch his forehead to Tank's. “That confluence of happenstances as they twist and wend through the world, which comes together most beautifully. Or handsomely, as you like...”

Tank held the close contact for a long while, drinking in the warmth and adoration of his avian love. He eventually pulled back and gave a playful smile. “Which book was that in?”

Owlowicious gave a hooting laugh and stroked a wing lovingly over Tank's head. “I confess, none. That was purely extemporaneous. You move me to profundity, and I so seldom get the opportunity to show you or thank you.” He leaned in to give Tank a soft touch of his beak on top of his head. “Thank you.”

Tank walked forward slowly, pressing himself against Owlowicious' feathery body and rubbing his head against the soft warmth. “Thanks for putting up with me.”

“Funny...” Owlowicious whispered, squeezing himself down as much as he could to snuggle with Tank's head, “I was about to say the same to you.”

With a shared laugh both of them slowly drifted off to sleep.

Comments

[alexanderhunt88]

A vet X Diamond Dog?

Now THIS ship I wanna see.

[Gabriel LaVedier]

3119659

I confess, it was shamelessly inspired by a very old (and slightly unpleasant) joke about a doctor walking out of his office thinking "Calm down, Bob. You're not the first doctor to ever have an affair with a patient" and then thinking "But Bob, you're a veterinarian." I wanted something more socially responsible, more sweet, and something that let me show off that Rarity isn't a flaming bigot.

[alexanderhunt88]

3119746 Still wanna see this ship

[Gabriel LaVedier]

3119767

I should do something with that.Maybe showing them dating or getting married.

[alexanderhunt88]

3120170 Oh yes please.

[Kagitaar]

Rarity turned to the doctor bounced her coif. Rarity turned to the doctor and bounced her coiffure. Coiffure fits better.

Dash is closer than either can realize, though sad tank does make me sad as well.

3119746

Good inspiration.

[Gabriel LaVedier]

3125171

I'm glad I could reach you. The emotions are meant to be felt and I'm glad they came through.