Alternate Beginnings: Year Four

by Doug Graves

12 The Silverwood

May 7th, 996

Outside the red and white wooden schoolhouse sits a smattering of mares. Some are watching the sky, idly wasting away the last moments before they will, once again, be subject to the whims of those they brought into the world. Or their herdmates did, at least. Two pairs are chatting with each other, spread out and discussing the weather, the crops they are planting and should plant, and how their foals are doing. The last, a silver earth pony, is sitting in the shade, reading a book as two young foals, one silver and one brown, alternate between frolicking around the grass and quietly clambering over their dam.

The bell above the Ponyville schoolhouse rings, a warning to all nearby ponies to pack up what they are doing and prepare for the inevitable rush of fillies from the front doors. The oldest fillies file out first, the eldest about eight years, all with cutie marks. They fan out and make their way in twos and threes, a few waiting for a younger sister. Next up is the middle class, about six years old. A few in this age group are missing their cutie marks but they are by far the minority. Most of these ponies find a mare and herd up, a few groups leaving.

Silver Set stands as the last group, the fillies four years and younger, exit the schoolhouse. Barely any of these fillies have their cutie marks, but they all seem happy nonetheless. She smiles at Diamond Tiara, her lead mare's filly, and Silver Spoon, her own. The two fillies walk straight to Silver Set, laughing to themselves about something or other. "Alright, Silver Hoop, Silver Stud, you two need to come along." The two foals stop playing out in the grass, walking over to their dam as Silver Set takes a look around. Most of the other mares and fillies have left the area, leaving a group of three young fillies walking along the road by themselves.

Silver Set looks around for any of the Apple herd; normally, Fluttershy or Applejack would be waiting for them, or at least Pinkie Pie. When she doesn't spot anypony, she walks up behind them, her four fillies following her closely. She clears her throat, saying, "Excuse me? Apple Bloom?"

The trio stops, turning and looking up; Apple Bloom says, "Hi, Silver Set. Good afternoon!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo glance at each other, slightly confused as to why the mare has come up to them.

"Good afternoon, Apple Bloom. And Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo." Silver set looks around again, making sure she didn't miss some pegasus hiding in the trees or the sky, "Do you not have somepony coming to pick you up?"

The trio glance at each other, shaking their head before Apple Bloom says, "We're meeting up with Daddy at the park outside of town, by Sweet Apple Acres. Why? Are you heading that way?"

Silver Set looks over the four fillies following her. "Well, I suppose we can walk along with you, if you don't mind."

"Oh, it's not a problem at all, right girls?" Apple Bloom looks over to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, the two giving unsure nods. The eight ponies start walking along, mostly sticking to their previous groups and chattering among themselves.

They reach the park and Silver Set immediately spots Doug by the lack of other ponies playing nearby. The human is sitting by a tree, two saddlebags by his side and a book of some sort in his hand. He is engrossed in his reading as two small foals play nearby, fascinated by the grass and dirt around them. A blue ball sits next to him; the yellow foal will occasionally run up to it and knock it around, but quickly forgets about it and goes back to her brown sister.

Apple Bloom shouts, "Daddy!" as she canters forward. Her two sisters move quickly to keep up. Doug looks up, waving at the three. He extends his wave as he spots Silver Set and her pack of fillies, the five of them continuing closer. He sets aside his notebook as each of his three fillies stop next to him, nuzzling against his hands as he scratches their heads. Their greeting complete, the trio dash towards the blue ball; Scootaloo makes it there first, kicking it with her hoof as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle give chase.

"Good afternoon, Doug," Silver Set says, moving over to Doug. He raises a hand in greeting, the silver mare dropping her saddlebags to the ground and sitting down in the sun, a body length from the human. "I hope you don't mind, but I walked them here." Diamond Tiara rolls her eyes, sitting down while Silver Spoon watches the trio scamper around.

"Afternoon. No, I don't mind at all; I'd be there to pick them up, but Mayor Mare asked me not to. Said a few of the other ponies complained, and I didn't want to be disruptive, so here I am. Miss Cheerilee knows as well, and the walk isn't terribly long for them." Silver Set nods as Silver Hoop and Silver Stud push into her stomach. She rolls her eyes, rolling to her side.

"Um, Mama, can we go play with the ball?" Silver Spoon asks, looking at the trio.

"Yes, dear. If you want to play, Diamond Tiara, you may as well. Remember to share!"

"Come on, DT, let's go!" Silver Spoon says, getting to her hooves. Diamond Tiara reluctantly gets to her hooves as well, but moves with a little more haste as the sounds of suckling come from Silver Set.

"So," Diamond Tiara asks as she gets closer, "What are the rules?"

"Rules?" says Scootaloo, "What rules? We just kick the ball."

Diamond Tiara huffs, "Well, you have to have rules."

"No you don't."

"Fine." Diamond Tiara runs up, kicking the ball as hard as she can. The ball flies into the sky, a good fifteen yard kick. Scootaloo gives chase while Sweetie Belle glares at Diamond Tiara, the pink earth pony retorting, "What? You said there aren't any rules."

Sweetie Belle says, "Well, you aren't supposed to kick the ball that hard!"

“Well, maybe somepony should have told me that.” Diamond Tiara smirks as she haughtily looks up into the air.

Sweetie Belle snorts, pawing the ground as Scootaloo returns, slowly dribbling the ball. Apple Bloom quickly gets between Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara, saying, “Well, um, if you want to have rules, Daddy told me about a game he played. So, hmm, so we need to split into two teams.”

“How are we going to do that?” Diamond Tiara asks derisively, “There are five of us. The teams would be uneven!”

“Oh. Um. Maybe… okay, I got it!” Apple Bloom looks at Scootaloo, “I’m going to need two sticks, about as tall as we are.”

“On it!” Scootaloo dashes away, quickly returning with two long sticks in her mouth. She brings them over, dropping them at Apple Bloom’s hooves.

Apple Bloom looks at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, “Okay, we need to put these sticks in the ground, about ten feet apart.”

Diamond Tiara scoffs, “What are you looking at me for? I would think you should do that, you have lots of experience digging holes.” Silver Spoon rolls her eyes, looking away from Diamond Tiara. Sweetie Belle slowly shakes her head as Apple Bloom gives an exasperated look.

“Fine.” Apple Bloom digs one of the holes, a look of surprise on her face as Silver Spoon picks up one of the sticks, placing it in the hole and helping Apple Bloom stomp the dirt back in place. She helps dig out the second hole while Scootaloo grabs the stick, holding it in place as Apple Bloom pushes the dirt around it.

Diamond Tiara walks up to Silver Spoon, whispering, “What are you doing?”

Silver Spoon whispers back, a touch of frustration, “No, DT, what are you doing?”

Their exchange is cut short as Apple Bloom says, “Okay, so the object of the game is to kick the ball between these two sticks. That’s a goal. And the top of the ball has to go under the top of the sticks. Or it doesn’t count. Ah’ll be goalie first, trying to stop you all from kicking the ball in. If you do score, then whoever kicked it in gets to be goalie, and the old goalie takes their place.”

Silver Spoon nods, “So, what’s this game called?”

“Daddy says that the name translates to hoofball, but-”

“What?” Diamond Tiara exclaims, cutting Apple Bloom off, “There already is a hoofball, and this isn’t anything like it.”

“Ah know, Ah was getting to that,” Apple Bloom says, rolling her eyes, “He said the same thing. That most of his world called hoofball, um, hoofball.”

“No,” Sweetie Belle says, “He called it football.”

“What’s a foot?” Silver Spoon asks. "I thought it was just a unit of measurement."

Scootaloo says, “It’s that weird thing on his hind leg, instead of a hoof. The one on his forelegs he calls hands.”

Silver Spoon nods as Apple Bloom continues, “So, he says that his world also has a sport that is called hoofball and that it plays similar to the sport that we call hoofball. There's just this one country or something that doesn't call hoofball hoofball, and that we should use their name, which is soccer."

Scoolatoo says, "Now I'm confused and I think I know what you are talking about."

Apple Bloom shrugs, "Anyway, now we need two teams.”

“I call Diamond Tiara!” says Scootaloo, racing to the ball, “And we get the ball first!”

“Alright, Sweetie Belle, you’re with me!” says Silver Spoon, moving between Scootaloo and the goal.

Doug and Silver Set watch as the fillies start their game, the five chasing the blue ball around. Doug is holding Lemon; the yellow foal is fascinated by the fillies running around. Applebaum is curled against his leg; both foals are quietly sucking on a bottle, sleepy eyes occasionally opening before closing again.

“Well, you certainly have raised some very good fillies, Doug. I was sure that it was going to escalate. Diamond Tiara would get angry and stomp off. Spoiled Rich would then be here, some cross words for you and me.”

“Thanks; I’ve always tried to be accommodating, and they’ve picked up on that really well.” Doug glances down at the two foals nestled between Silver Set’s legs, “So, Silver Hoop and Silver Stud, right?” Silver Set nods, “How did the rest of the herd take it?”

“Oh, Filthy thought it was hilarious. He laughed for a good ten seconds, before saying something along the lines of, ‘I better not see any paperwork until he's fifteen, ya hear?’ I know he's joking, but it was funny nonetheless. Spoiled took it a lot better than I thought; she just asked where I had gotten the names from. I told her it I came up with Silver Hoop, but Silver Stud was from you, and she quieted down after that. I hope it doesn’t come back to bite you or anything, and I’m sorry if it does.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I would have said something if I didn’t want that to happen.” Doug lies back, his two foals asleep and cuddling between his legs. He grabs his notebook and weather reports as the two watch the fillies play.

Several minutes later and a hungry cry is heard from between Silver Set’s legs, soon joined by a second one. Doug glances over; Silver Set’s teats are on full display as the two foals look up at their dam with large, tear stained eyes. A worried look comes over her face as she reaches for her bag. An unhappy sigh follows soon after as she puts the bag down, glancing down at the two, “I’m sorry, Doug, but I already gave them the extra bottle I had earlier, since I thought we would be heading straight home. It looks like I’ll have to cut this short. And they were having such a pleasant time, too.” She looks over at the fillies, still engrossed in their game as the wailing continues.

“Here.” Silver Set looks over to see Doug holding out two bottles, both about one third full of milk. His two foals are still asleep, though beginning to stir a little from the noise. “I’ve got a little more, in case they wake up hungry.”

Silver Set smiles, getting up and walking to take the two bottles. She lays on her side, her back up against Doug’s leg, as her two foals scamper over. Their cries immediately subside as they grasp the bottles, snuggling up against their dam as they start sucking. “Thank you, Doug; I appreciate it and you can tell they do too.” Silver Set relaxes, her body pressing against Doug’s leg as the two foals settle down.

“Don’t worry about it,” Doug says as he returns to his reports. Silver Set pulls out her book, beginning to read as the four foals soon nap in the warm afternoon sun.

Several minutes later and Silver Set lets out a quiet breath as Doug’s hand rests against her side. She glances over; his eyes are focused on his report, one hand turning the page as his other hand softly presses into her. She closes her eyes, enjoying the contact; if only Filthy did this, but he is always so busy with work. Silver Set smiles as Doug’s hand begins idly rubbing her side, short strokes up and down.

Doug mentally grimaces; the way Silver Set is laying against him doesn’t leave anywhere for his arm to comfortably rest except for on her. Ponies in general seem okay with physical contact, often nuzzling each other in greeting or when saying goodbye. All the mares in the herd love the contact, Rainbow especially, and they generally encourage him to go in herd order to forestall any arguments. And she is the one who initiated the contact, right? He notices his hand is idly rubbing her coat and stops; he is too used to one of his mares laying next to him, usually Fluttershy or Rarity, while he works into the night. And he has a lot of work still to do; three more weather reports to read, and then a full mailbag waiting for him at the farmhouse. Maybe he can get Fluttershy to help him open and sort the letters, once she is done with whatever census she is working on. A soft coo from next to him distracts him from his report; apparently, he has gone a bit further, his hand rubbing the soft hair of Silver Set’s belly.

Silver Set opens her eyes as Doug raises his hand, “Wait,” she says, a hoof raising to his hand, “You don’t have to stop.” Her hoof guides his hand back to her belly, moving it up to her chest and back down to just above her teats.

“Really?”

“Really. A little physical contact is fine between friends. Nothing more than what you would get at the spa.” She smiles as she releases him, his hand continuing to move up and down her belly, “You know, you should get a job at the spa. I’ll be your best customer.”

Doug chuckles to himself, “I already work about seventy hours a week, between helping out Applejack at the farm and weather scheduling. Maybe I can slot you in at some point, a nice private session.”

Silver Set looks up at him, a twinkle in her eye, “Doug! I’m a married mare!” She laughs as Doug pauses in his ministrations, a worried look on his face, “I’m kidding. Well, not about the married part, but that you should worry about it.” She sighs happily as he starts rubbing again, “I may need to get Spoiled to try this. One hour of these hands on her and she’ll have no problem with you.”

“Yeah, that or she’ll accuse me of trying to steal honest ponies from their herd, turning them into my broodmares or something.”

A soft whisper from Silver Set, too low to be heard by Doug, ‘I’d be your broodmare, if you keep up these massages.’

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing.” Silver Set pushes up against Doug’s leg, the two foals at her side stirring slightly. She closes her eyes, resting against him as he shrugs, picking up the weather reports and finding his place. His hand returns to her belly, idly twisting the thin hair. Light snores soon come from the mare, the foals sound asleep, and the fillies continuing to play their game, gradually getting slower as they wear themselves out.

Soon enough, the five fillies declare the game a success, nopony having bothered to keep score, or even decided how to keep score. They chatter to each other about the cool plays and big whiffs as they make their way back. Doug smiles at the group as they come close; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon snuggle next to Silver Set, pressing against Silver Hoop and Silver Stud. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo take positions to Doug's left while Sweetie Belle picks her way between his legs and hops onto his stomach. Doug quietly coughs, "Apple Bloom, can you hoof me that?" Apple Bloom looks to her side, grabbing the folder and passing it over before settling down. Doug happily sighs as the ponies press against him, though finding a place to rest his hands proves a little difficult as he tries to get back to reading the reports.

Comments

[badninja]

I hope all goes well for Silver Set. I hope Spoiled can get knocked down a few pegs as she seems to be the biggest problem currently.

[Viper Pit]

well thats a intresting turn of events

[Heidao]

‘I’d be your broodmare, if you keep up these massages.’

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing.”

First Spoiled talking about hoofjobs and now Silver Set being the closet pervert. Filthy's got some kinky mares but I'm upset on learning that he's been neglectful of them. It makes one worry that besides Spoiled's first few gripes with Doug's presence, jealousy of an otherwise less busy, working stallion that has the time to service his mares, and multiple at once. Had bled through into anger

[Blik]

9170116
Literally the first exposure we had to Filthy Rich, back in like chapter 1 of Year 1, was him propositioning Applejack to offset her store tab. If he does things like that on the regular I wouldn't be surprised if his mares were resentful.

[DarkPhoenixx]

A soft whisper from Silver Set, too low to be heard by Doug, ‘I’d be your broodmare, if you keep up these massages.’

Silver Set you naughty mare lol

[Silentwoodfire]

Anyone else thinking Silver Set is getting a bit lonely?

[chibilink]

I told her it I came up with Silver Hoop, but Silver Stud was from you, and she quieted down after that.

Doug is being swarmed by tiny ponies! Someone rescue him!

[Detective Chmilewsky]

Poor Silver Set .

10249107
With Spoiled Rich as head mare? Absolutely.

[f0st3r21]

I wonder if Celestia has learned the details of this bond Spoiled put on Herd Apple and if there will be some kind of reckoning.