Never Dream

by Ximer

The Season

Isabella looked over the list of ponies that were supposed to stop by for appointments today. It was an unusually small list, one that she and Lotus could handle with ease. Speaking of the spa pony, her sister had been ill for two days now, she hoped everything was okay.

"Hey, Lotus," Isabella spoke up, getting the attention of the earth pony. "It's shaping up to be a slow day, heck even the town is kind of...dead. What gives?"

"Oh, it's the season is all." Lotus shrugged nonchalantly.

"Season?" Isabella put the clipboard of names down to face the mare.

"Oh right, I forgot for a second," Lotus blushed. "Anyways, mares have seasons....um, when we become a bit more....snuggly with the opposite gender."

"Ooh, okay. So I guess most of the mares are being a bit more "snuggly" with their special somepony?" Isabella laughed nervously.

"Well, those that have them," Lotus was thankful that the human understood without going into too much detail. "For mares that don't, it's rather troublesome and feels like there's a fire inside you that can't be put out."

"Yeah, I'd hate to be stuck like my brother right now." Isabella shivered at the thought.

"You humans don't have a season?" Lotus tilted her head.

"Um, not exactly." Isabella replied.

"Well then what do you do?" Lotus' tail flicked in excitement briefly.

Here I am, about to have the birds and bees talk with a pony... Isabella thought to herself. I wonder if Cloudchaser is going through that. She's been practically glued to his side and hanging off of him all week.

---
Warning the following link is not NSFW. If you are underage, or value your job, please do not click the following link here. You have been warned.
---

I awoke from my micro nap to find myself tangled in Cloudchaser's embrace. I still had no idea why she was acting like this, but I liked it. Especially after this morning, what a way to wake up!

I slowly tried to maneuver myself out from Cloudchaser's grasp, only for it to tighten a bit. A smile formed on her muzzle as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Where do you think you're going, stud muffin?" Cloudchaser asked giddily.

"Stud muffin?" I couldn't help but laugh at the nickname.

"My muffin..." Cloudchaser whispered.

"Have you been hanging around Ditzy? What's with the muffin talk?" I asked.

"What about Ditzy?" the mare's attitude suddenly shifted with a territorial snarl. "What did she say?"

"Uh, nothing, it's just that she likes muffins is all...." I was a bit weirded out by the unusual behavior.

"Hmph, well she can't have mine!" Cloudchaser pouted. "You're all mine."

"Yeah, I'm sure she and everypony else knows that by now," I laughed kissing her nose. "I was going to make breakfast, then shower."

"Nuh uh," Cloudchaser shook her head no, tickling my nose with her untamed bangs. "I wanna do it!"

Today was getting weirder and weirder by the second. Cloudchaser had cooked breakfast before, but never opposed to me doing it. She had also become extremely defensive of me when I so much as mentioned Ditzy Doo, thinking she would find the similarity between their statements humorous. Then there was this morning which....I was just going to leave as good fortune.

"Um, okay then." I said, relaxing a little as the mare let out a happy squee.

I was at last released from the clutches of the snuggly mare. Cloudchaser disappeared faster than I could track, her movements seeing to have a bit more pep in them. Maybe she was super excited about the wedding, which when she told me the date, I might have been a bit loud at expressing my disbelief....in the middle of a busy restaurant.

Apparently ponies did things big and fast. Twilight affirmed this when I asked her about it, just to make sure Cloudchaser wasn't rushing into things. Her brother's wedding was planned in a relatively short amount of time, as was the Cake's, who were ecstatic about the news.

I didn't want to be a stick in the mud when it came to the social structure, so I agreed to her rather short time period. Which was why I needed to pick out grooms m-stallions, help decide on decorations, even though my opinion would be ignored in the end.

I rolled out of bed and walked into the living room, my ears twitching as I heard Cloudchaser humming a tune I was unfamiliar with. This was new, I usually walked in on Cloudchaser just coming to a conclusion to whatever song she had in her heart, rarely getting the chance to hear her voice. She was acting oddly....girly, or marely rather, more so than usual.

Married life did things to people back home; I assumed it changed ponies as well. I didn't want Cloudchaser to lose that adventurous spunk she had to her though, that was the second best-okay, fourth best part of her.

Putting my concerns on the back burner, I briefly considered taking a shower, but after enduring the most unpleasant pillow beating of my life I decided to let Cloudchaser go first. She could hit pretty hard with a pillow, I would never scoff at her weapon of choice again.

I decided now would be the perfect time to bring The Ocarina of Time to a close, at least on my file anyways. Beating Ganondorf had been a pain with hooves, seriously, it was like only using your knuckles to mash the buttons. It added a bit of challenge to it.

Eventually I found myself replaying the castle escape after burning through all of my fairies. The castle was pretty easy, and oh so satisfying as I escaped once more.

"Is it a happy ending?" Cloudchaser chirped, making me jump slightly.

"Uh yeah, sort of." I chuckled, knowing what was coming next.

"....what's with all the stuff on the picture?" Cloudchaser pointed with her hoof.

"That's my native language, the princess is just saying she's glad he came for her and stuff." I shrugged, roughly summing up the brief conversation between the two characters of the game.

A boom echoed from the speakers, making Cloudchaser shiver. Though the game had kind of lost the element of surprise on me, it had found a fresh victim in Cloudchaser.

The smell of eggs and muffins was coming from the kitchen as I moved Link, towards the obvious trap, and final battle. Cloudchaser yelped in surprise as Ganondorf burst from the rubble of his pixelated castle.

"You know, maybe this wasn't the best ide-" I started to say, until I was cut off by a loud roar of anger from the evil character as he started to change shape. To top it all off, the smell of breakfast was calling out to me at the same time.

Ah crap, breakfast or hero time, breakfast or hero time!? I tossed the options back and forth in my mind as a hideous figure filled the screen before falling to the ground with a loud thud.

"Hero time it is then!" I narrowed my eyes as shit got real.

No sooner had I made my decision, Link's sword was knocked from his grasp, landing on the other side of a fire wall. Somehow, that part had slipped my mind. I was actually pretty disappointed in myself for forgetting about that.

"So much for hero time..." Cloudchaser sighed.

I watched in mild disappointment as Link was sent flying backwards due to my slow reaction time. Pausing the game, I brought out the hammer, my memory serving me well enough to recall what weapon to use.

This time I rolled beneath Ganon in time and smashed his tail with the rather large hammer, causing him to screech in pain. It was a simple rinse and repeat from here on out until the dark king was brought to his knees long enough for me to retrieve the sword.

I repeated the same strategy again, finally finishing the game, in two worlds. It was a bragging right that only I would get however; nopony probably cared or was concerned about some useless machine that only wasted time.

"That...." Cloudchaser mumbled.

"Yes?" I asked with a smug smile.

"That caused your breakfast to get cold...." the mare pointed at the Nintendo Sixty Four.

"Yes, yes it did." I sighed in agreement.

"Come on, dummy." Cloudchaser laughed, gently biting my tail to give it a gentle tug.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." I said, following the mare to the table.

"Still kind of hyped I beat that game as a pony." I beamed.

"That's what that thing is!?" Cloudchaser's eyes widened in shock.

"Yep, Discord had a claw in it, paw...whatever he wants to call it. It gave me something to do." I replied.

"I know something I want to do a little later." Cloudchaser whispered.

"R-really? I mean-" I stammered as I sat at the table.

"You don't want to?" Cloudchaser's expression shifted to a heartbreakingly sad one. I felt as if I would cry myself if I stared at it for too long.

"No, no, it's not that at all!" I waved my hooves for emphasis. "I just didn't think uh....you would be up for it!"

Concerns about my future wife rose in my mind again, what was up with her today. She would have laughed me off under normal circumstances. I felt bad I nearly made her cry, I hadn't even turned her down, I just had assumed that she would be against another round of fun.

She seemed to calm down with my explanation, smiling brightly. We ate breakfast in peace, said peace only being disturbed when Cloudchaser finished before me, watching me with that familiar grin of hers. I suddenly felt like a piece of meat in the sight of a lioness, making me chew much slower than I had been. Thankfully that was the last bite on my plate.

"So...." I rubbed the back of neck, trying to think of where to take this conversation.

"I've got these if you'll go shower." Cloudchaser kissed me on the nose.

"But if we're-" I started to ask, until I noticed her face start to shift again. "Okay."

---

Pinkie Pie was busy writing, so wrapped up in her task that she didn't notice Isabella walk in and up to the front register. Business had been slow all day, and when the tapped the counter bell the poor mare jumped up to the ceiling.

"Well, you don't see that every day." Isabella commented.

"Hiya Izzy, you caught me jotting some notes down." Pinkie PIe said.

"Notes? I didn't take you for the note taking type." Isabella giggled.

"Well, Rarity asked me to help with something," Pinkie Pie leaned in close, wrapping her foreleg around Isabella's neck for support as she brought her lips close to her ear. "It's a secret though, don’t tell anypony."

"Pinkie, things aren't secret if you tell everypony about them." Isabella rolled her eyes, setting the party pony back down.

"Then how is everypony else supposed to help?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well....I....they aren't, that's the point of it being a secret." Isabella nearly lost her train of thought, which wasn't difficult to do around Pinkie Pie. In fact, she already had since she came inside and started talking to her.

"So, what were the notes for?" Isabella asked.

"Some for the wedding, some for Scootal-oops." Pinkie blushed, realizing her mistake.

"You might want to work on that." Isabella laughed, scratching behind the pink pony's ears.

Pinkie Pie hummed in delight, leaning into the woman's hands. She couldn't explain how good it felt, but to the best of her ability, it was like the best party was happening inside her head, while the best bestest party was going on at the same time, while an even better party than those two was being planned and put into motion all at once.

It also made her feel a little better; she had bumped her head a few minutes before Isabella came in. As her hands moved across her scalp the pain was starting to dull until it evaporated from her completely, leaving behind only a pleasant tingling feeling.

"Say, Pinkie, why do mares not want to interact with the rest of the world when it's there um...season? To be honest, I'm not seeing a whole lot of stallions out either, what gives" Isabella asked.

Pinkie managed to pull herself from the drug like euphoria Isabella's hands had induced to answer her. "Well, we get all territorial over stallions, so they kind of stay indoors if they're single. Mares that have stallions keep them to themselves."

"Oh Daniel, I bet it's a bitch being you right now...." Isabella chuckled under her breath.

"What's that?" Pinkie Pie tilted her head in confusion.

"The thought of my brother being cooped up inside a house is kind of funny." Isabella replied.

"Oh, oh, what do you think their foals would look like?" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Well, I'd imagine they'd be a similar shade of blue, the mane would be a tossup....but that's assuming they could Pinkie. Did Rarity tell you why they were adopting?" Isabella asked.

"I thought it was because they really liked Scootaloo." Pinkie's look of confusion returned.

"Well, it's complicated..."

---

The running water always felt refreshing to me. It was kind of like reviving my spirit by cleaning away the negative, dirty energy. Perhaps I was thinking to deeply about a stupid shower, but I liked them all the same.

It was also where I decided to ponder on what to do about Cloudchaser's behavior. Her emotions and sudden mood swings suggested some kind of illness, but she seemed to be in perfect health. There was nothing to indicate that she was suffering from something.

"What to do..." I sighed.

"You could scoot over a bit." Cloudchaser said as the shower door was slid open.

"Uh, okay..." I was now grateful that the shower had originally been built with a human in mind, meaning it was a bit bigger than a normal pony tub.

"I was hoping I could have some help with my wings, and since you're already here I thought you'd be perfect for the job." Cloudchaser nuzzled me.

"I think I can do that." I returned her gesture.

Cloudchaser turned her back to me, spreading her wings to give me unhindered access to her feathers. She hummed in delight as I slowly scrubbed her wings, the running water rinsing the feathers clean in my wake.

As I moved on to her second wing, I tried to think of a way to ask her if everything was okay. It couldn't be too serious, but I was still worried about her.

"Hey, Cloudchaser, you've been really snuggly lately, is everything okay?" I asked.

"Mmhmm, why wouldn't it be?" Cloudchaser asked as she flapped her wings a bit before bringing them back against her sides.

"Uh, no reason I guess....you're not sick or anything?" I tried again.

"I'd let you know if I was, now turn around." Cloudchaser twirled her hoof towards me.

I turned my back to her, as she had to me, and spread my wings. Mine were bigger than hers, which I had marked off as sexual dimorphism before I knew about wing types.

A smile stretched across my muzzle as Cloudchaser began to clean my wings, humming a happy tune once again. It felt good, almost as good as preening, which I would make a point to do for her after this. She had been amazing, in a very confusing way today.

I felt a foreleg drape itself around my neck, a wet coat of fur sliding up against me. Cloudchaser stroked my mane affectionately, leaning into my back for support as she did so.

"You know showers are supposed to make you clean." I chuckled.

"What if I wanna be dirty?" Cloudchaser whispered into my ear.

"When did you start speaking a stallion's language?" I asked.

"Ever since heat season." Cloudchaser replied, nuzzling my neck.

Heat season....heat....season.... my brain chewed on this new information for a bit, until it finally made sense to me. I felt like a moron for not realizing it sooner.

"So that's why you've been cuddly, and trying to seduce me all day?" I asked.

"Mmhmm, I thought stallions liked it when their mares were like this? I feel really hot down there when it happens to me, it gets painful sometimes." Cloudchaser explained.

"Well, for starters, I love you for you. While I do like this, I love the regular Cloudchaser more," I turned around, stealing a kiss from her. " So how long does this go on for?"

"W-well, one of the ways it can end can't really happen so...if I'm counting right, today and tomorrow should be it actually. It started earlier than today, but it's progressive if nothing, um, happens." Cloudchaser blushed.

"Oh...wow, I'm sorry." I said as it occurred to me what she meant.

"It's okay, I have you alll to myself now." Cloudchaser sighed happily as she leaned into me.

Before our activities could add to the already steamy atmosphere from the hot shower, cold water began to rain down upon us, putting a swift end to any thoughts of whatever Cloudchaser had in mind. Fate had decided that we had used enough hot water, and needed to cool off a bit.

We both bolted from the shower, shivering with cold, wet coats. It was the worst combination of bad things to happen to any creature in this world, or any other, period.

"Maybe we should stick to the bedroom..." I suggested.

"Yeah, I guess so....for now." Cloudchaser swatted my flank with her wing playfully.

---

“Twilight, you’ve been staring at that same page for almost an hour.” Spike commented, finding his friend in the same place he had left her.

“Sorry Spike, it’s just…would he even want to know now?” Twilight asked as the book levitated in front of the little dragon.

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t Twilight,” Spike shrugged. “In fact, he’d probably be thrilled. I know I’d miss my claws if I had to do without them.”

Twilight sighed, the book leaving the dragon’s presence to gently land on a nearby table. She had watched him from afar, taking note how close he had steadily grown to Cloudchaser, all due to an accident. The alicorn had kept in touch with her sister in law for help getting over this feeling.

Twilight knew destiny had a hoof in love, just like it did with cutie marks; it was something she couldn’t oppose. Besides, a certain guard had started to grow on her. His letters were sweet, and if what Cadance told her was true, maybe it could go somewhere.

Her thoughts left Flash and returned back to the topic at hoof, a possibility of returning her friend back to normal. Though, if one were to think about it, he was normal now. The spell had been reversed making him a real pony and not just some cheap imitation that Discord came up with. He had once explained that the cutie mark actually belonged to a chaos deity from his world, the changer of ways as he had called it, in the realm of fantasy of course.

How much of that was fantasy now though, often made her wonder what else lurked in his dimension? The two had come to the conclusion that she had seen a form of Earth, but not the one he was familiar with, though the similarities were frighteningly close.

It had fascinated Twilight at first how a non-magical being could even make the trip to Equestria. Isabella had proven to have a small amount of magic within her, she had never tested Daniel in his human form to know for sure whether or not he had magic in him as well, but it was safe to assume he did.

“Hey Twilight,” Spike derailed her train of thought. “Have you noticed the town’s been kind of dead?”

“It’s probably a majority of the mare’s season Spike. It’s not the most thrilling thing in the world to happen to somepony.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“If it brings a whole town to a standstill, that’s pretty bad though.” Spike mumbled.

“I’m sure the couples enj-“ Twilight stopped, her eyes widening as a thought occurred to her.

Uh…Twilight?” Spike poked the alicorn in the side gently.

“No, no, heh, everything should be fine!” Twilight shuddered. “I hope.”

---

Diamond Tiara sighed as she walked beside her foal sitter down the empty streets. She had been asked to pick up her father’s suit that was being fixed by Rarity. Sweetie Belle would be there, but so far the other two members of the CMC didn’t trust her. She never thought she would be one for reflecting on her actions, but she was starting to regret all of those stupid pranks and tricks she pulled on the three fillies.

“Is everything okay, Diamond Tiara?” the foal sitter asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

That subtle sound…stung. It hurt now, when it used to fill her with pride, knowing that she held the fate of a sitter’s job in her hooves. Now it made her sad, and angry, but not at anypony else. It was at herself.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” Diamond Tiara felt as if she should say something else. She had heard other foals say something to adults…if she could remember it. “Um...thank you.”

The foal sitter started to smile, which made Diamond Tiara feel good about herself. It wasn’t the odd, satisfying thrill she once got from having all of the attention on herself. It was weird and scared her a little at first.

Why did I make fun of them? Diamond Tiara thought to herself, as the door to the Carousel Boutique was pushed open.

She followed the sitter inside, looking around with a mild look of disinterest. Once you had seen one clothe store, you had seen them all, it was pretty standard. The mirror walk way get up was a nice touch, and the fact that this doubled as a house was pretty nifty too.

As the sitter and Rarity talked, Diamond Tiara approached a small table that had a piece of paper and pen next to it. She knew she shouldn’t pry, but some old habits tend to die hard, especially in ponies.

To whom it may concern

It has come to my attention that a stallion by the name of Daniel has come under question. His character has, for some foalish reason, been deemed unsatisfactory for the care of a young filly, identifiable as Scootaloo.

Rarity sure does like to use big words… Diamond Tiara thought to herself before continuing.

While I have not physically watched him grow from colt to stallion, ever since his arrival to Equestria I have watched him grow spiritually and mature, as much as a stallion can of course. He worries about those close to him, he tries to avoid conflict, and he has the second biggest heart I know.

I’ll admit, I was intimidated by him at first, but who wouldn’t be? In fact, the whole town was fitfully scared, but not because he was evil. It was because we didn’t know him, but through all of the bumps in the road, he’s been one of the best friends I’ve ever had. I cannot think of a better stallion, to be her father.

“He’s in trouble?” Diamond Tiara didn’t understand, he hadn’t done anything wrong.

So with th- “Diamond Tiara, are you ready?” the foal sitter called.

“Coming.” Diamond cursed her foul luck in being interrupted, but she knew enough to ask her father about this character thingy.

While Scootaloo had inadvertently rubbed off on the filly, she was still left with her scheming mind. She believed that this would be her chance to win the other two CMC over. All this time she had been demanding acceptance by intimidating others, it was time to change that.

---

Cloudchaser lay snugly next to her stallion, his right wing draped over her as if to shield her. The noisy crickets from outside the window were giving her a bit of trouble sleeping, but at the same time, the steady rhythm was hypnotic in its own weird way.

The burning feeling that had reached its crescendo this morning was beginning to die down. She had feared it would carry over into tomorrow, or even next week, but thankfully it had been taken care of. She smiled, content knowing that Daniel understood now, and wasn’t in the dark on the matter anymore.

She found a hoof idly traveling to her stomach, resting over where...no, it couldn’t happen. She tried to imagine what one would look like and smiled, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek. They would hopefully have Scootaloo, she was a good filly and she would love as if she were her own. Perhaps that would help with the small tinge of pain she felt.

Cloudchaser felt a sturdy foreleg wrap around her barrel, coming to rest beside hers. She turned her head and looked at the stallion beside her, expecting to find him watching her. Instead, his eyes were shut, his breathing steady and calm.

Cloudchaser pressed herself as close as she could to Daniel, enjoying the comforting warmth his body provided. She treasured moments like this, even if he wasn’t awake to share them, they were still special to her.

“Goodnight…” Cloudchaser murmured as she drifted off to sleep.

“Goodnight.” Daniel groggily replied.

Author's Note:

Okay, so I did want to include a heat chapter, but do so purposefully. Mission accomplished, mostly

Edit: Sorry about that brief double post, the website went haywire on me, was registering this as a blank page, and wouldn't publish it.

Comments

[Timitor]

Hehe nice...new body, new rules. I forgot what his mark was...

[Misty Horse]

Totally found that on accident...

[gojiralagan1995]

I hope that cloudchaser and Daniel have a child of there own later in the future

[Starbreon]

Closer and closer to being human again, Yay

[Fireeaters]

Seeing how much development you put in to him having wings, it'd be weird if he lost them. I think that spell might just turn him humanoid (because he's technically already anthropomorphic).

[Luckyfanisaac]

and when she tapped the counter bell the poor mare jumped up to the ceiling.

——) “Uh…Twilight?” Spike poked the alicorn in the side gently.

she was a good filly and she would love her as if she were her own.