Alternate Beginnings: Year Five

by Doug Graves

1 Storm on the Horizon

January 1st, 997 Domina Solaria

Doug abruptly wakes up, barely able to make out the Apple bedroom in the pre-dawn light. He reflexively pulls his legs towards his chest, suffering a strange duality - his legs are cold while his upper body is sweating. One of his arms, the one trapped under Rainbow Dash, is hot, his mare gripping the limb and snuggling against it in her sleep. The other, the one wrapped around Applejack, feels comfortable as it holds his lead mare as she rests on top of him. Two of his other mares, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, are next to him, fast asleep and cuddled close.

Does smiles, relaxing against the sheets, but flinches slightly; something had woken him up. His ear perks as he hears the clop of hooves near the bathroom; he bends forward, Applejack slightly shifting against him, as he tries to spot the pony up and about; it better not be one of the trio, out of bed this early in the morning. He smiles as he recognizes Fluttershy, the heavily pregnant mare slowly making her way back to the bed, trying to stay as quiet as she can without flying. She gently puts one hoof at a time on the mattress, the bed creaking as she takes the spot next to Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare shifts, Doug taking the opportunity to slide his arm out from Rainbow's grasp. The pegasus stirs, pawing around before she flips over and finds Fluttershy. Rainbow settles down, a smile on her muzzle as she drifts back to sleep.

The mare above him, however, flicks an ear and slowly opens her eyes, looking first at Rainbow and Fluttershy before noticing that the human underneath her is awake. Doug mouths, 'I need to go to the bathroom' and nods his head towards the door. Applejack nods, slowly backing up, her hind hooves thumping against the floor as she leads the way.

Applejack waits outside, though is a little surprised when Doug doesn't return to the bed. Instead, he makes his way outside the room, heading to the foals room. Applejack follows behind, a whispered, "Can't sleep?" as he closes the door behind them.

Doug shrugs, "Well, Celestia's light show was pretty great, especially the new explosions, but I'm just not that tired. Not yet, anyway."

Applejack flicks her tail against his bare flank, "Well, we'll just have to do a better job of wearing you out, then."

Doug winks at Applejack as he opens the door, "Going to join me and Rainbow for a run?" Applejack smiles back as their eyes go to the open window; Rainbow's weather team had a late night, clearing away the clouds that, during the day, dumped nearly a foot of snow on Ponyville and the surrounding areas. The rest of the weather team got the first half of today off to compensate, though Rainbow still needs to get up early to make sure that the sky stays nice and clear; the Everfree does tend to wreck their carefully laid plans.

In fact, it looks like one of those storms is brewing, but hopefully it can wait until later; maybe this year Rainbow won't need to wake up the on-call pegasi. Doug moves over to the bunk beds they have set up; two of them are empty, the last one containing their three oldest fillies. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are cuddled together, the chilly air eliciting a shiver from the two non-pegasi. Applejack takes the blanket, likely kicked off by Scootaloo, and places it over the two cold fillies, tucking it in to keep it from being tossed off again.

The two move over to the last bed, seeing Applebaum and Lemon sleeping. The year old earth pony foals - Applejack's second and Pinkie Pie's first - are both snuggling with their blankets. Applejack nuzzles Doug's side, the human bending over to move his head next to hers. "Ah want another one," she whispers in his ear, moving her muzzle next to him. Their kiss is interrupted as Lemon starts crying, a loud wailing that immediately wakes her sister. Applebaum begins crying, a bit more irritated than anything else as the trio stirs.

"Not this again," moans Scootaloo, trying to find a pillow to cover her head with, "This is like, the fifth day in a row!"

"Sorry girls, she's going through the same stuff you all did," Doug says; Applejack finds a pillow to toss to Scootaloo as he picks the foals up, "Teeth growing, tiny stomachs that won't get her through the night."

"Ugh..." comes the muffled reply, the foals still wailing as Doug and Applejack head to the kitchen. Applejack pulls out a jar of applesauce, hoofing the full bowl over as Doug tries to entertain the foals in the interim. Applebaum reaches for the bowl; Applejack watches closely as Doug first offers the bowl to Lemon, the foal sniffing at the contents. She seems interested at first, but when she goes to take a bite she changes her mind, trying to knock the contents out of Doug's hands.

This tactic had only fooled Doug the first three times, the human steadily growing wiser to her ways, as he quickly takes the bowl away from her. He passes it to Applebaum, the brown foal greedily digging in. Lemon starts wailing again, flailing her tiny legs in every direction as Applejack pulls out a parcel of hay, some carrots, a cucumber, a cupcake, and a loaf of sugary bread. She passes the bread to Doug, who tears a chunk off, removing and eating the hard crust while breaking the doughy inside into manageable pieces. He passes one to Lemon, who takes the piece, peers closely at it, then pops it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

"You want more icing on those, don't you?" Doug asks; the yellow foal drops the second piece of bread, nodding eagerly. "Well, I'm sorry, but we don't eat lots of sugar for breakfast. You'll have to finish your breakfast, then you can get a treat." Lemon whines, looking at the plate of hay and cucumbers that Applejack has prepared. Doug shrugs, "Or, you can go hungry." He refills Applebaum's bowl of applesauce, the foal noisily slurping down the rest while Lemon stares at her food, trying to decide if eating the non-sugary food goes against everything she stands for.

Doug leans over to Applejack as Lemon continues poking at her food, "You sure about that?" he asks, smiling as he caresses her mane. Applejack scoots her chair over, leaning next to her stallion and yawning.

"Eeyup, Sugarcube, Ah've never been surer." Applejack settles into Doug's chest, his arm helping keep her upright.

Doug pulls out Pinkie Pie's cupcakes, placing it on the table. Lemon looks at it, slowly licking her lips as she starts to climb onto the table. Doug shakes his head, "No, Lemon, that's your treat, if you finish the rest of your food." Lemon pouts before starting to eat her greens, perking up a little at the taste.

A loud 'thonk' comes from the master bedroom, Applejack looks up at Doug, the two tilting their heads towards the unexpected noise. A few seconds later the sound of three hooves on wood comes as Rainbow walks through the doorway, one hoof on her muzzle. Applejack raises an eyebrow; Rainbow rolls her eyes, a garbled, "Fluttershy doesn't like getting cuddly when she's pregnant, apparently."

"She doesn't seem to mind it when it's me," Doug says, motioning for Rainbow to come closer. The mare rolls her eyes, moving forward and taking her hoof off. Doug inspects her, but there doesn't seem to be any damage. He smirks, "So, you want me to kiss it and make it all better?"

"No." Rainbow shifts from side to side, glancing at Applejack and the foals. "Maybe." Doug rolls his eyes and motions with an arm, the pegasus climbing into his lap with a smile. One arm continues scratching Applejack's ears while the other wraps around Rainbow, pulling her in close, the chair groaning under the weight of the three.

Applebaum finishes her applesauce, starting to whine again while looking at her dam with pleading eyes. Applejack smiles at her foal, hopping down from her seat to grab a bit of hay and placing it in front of Applebaum. The foal smiles, starting to dig in while Lemon whines about Applebaum getting something that she doesn't have, mostly because she already ate hers.

Rainbow leans in to Doug, sharing a brief kiss as they watch Applejack calm the two foals down. "So," Doug says, "Did the doctors say when you could have another?"

Rainbow shrugs, "Um, not for another year. At least. And, to be honest, I don't know if I want to go through all this again. At least, not yet; maybe when I retire from the Wonderbolts."

Doug nods, "Yeah; hopefully they don't keep you for too long, love." He pulls her in close, both hands rubbing her sides as she sighs.

"Yeah, there will probably be some hotshot filly that outraces me, you know, once I'm out of my prime. But that's still, like, ten, twelve years down the road." Rainbow glances outside, sighing at the dark storms she can see brewing out over the Everfree. "Hey, Doug, wanna go for a run? I'll need to fly off for a little, when we get close, check to see how long those clouds will take to get here. I'd hate to ruin everypony's new year with a snowstorm. Or worse, a snownado."

"Sure. You ponies have the weirdest weather. So, you think you'll need Clear Skies?"

Rainbow shakes her head, "Not to check out the storm, and it's Open Skies."

"Oh? What's wrong with Clear Skies?"

"Made a deal, took the day off. Must have known stormy weather would show up."

"Oh, is she new? I feel like I've heard the name before, but I can't place it."

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "No, dude, you're thinking of Stormy Flare."

"Oh, right. Then you'll be working with?"

"Open Skies."

"And you'll make sure that there are?"

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Open skies."

Doug goes to say something else as Applejack thunks her head on the table, "Will you two take your weather chatter outside? Ah'm too tired to try to keep track of this."

Doug shrugs as he walks to the door, grabbing his snow pants, vest, and boots, "Sure thing, AJ." The two look at the snow covering the ground, the fence line barely visible. "Well, probably going to only do one lap around."

Rainbow nods, looking back at the Everfree, "Well, the storm clouds don't look too bad, at least from here. Probably only need one pegasus to help, if something does need to be done. The two of us should be able to handle it, if it's early on. After lunch, we'll have the whole team, and it'll be easy."

Doug eyes Rainbow's wings as he stretches, "Sounds like your magic is progressing pretty well, then. Tried doing some more difficult cloud busting yet?"

"Yup! So, you know I started testing myself, trying normal cloud busting about two months ago." She does a few stretches of her own, posing a little while winking at Doug, but ends with a frown, "Can't go full speed while I do it, and it's easier if I stop and buck 'em, but I should be able to handle my end of the storm with ease, if we're just trying to stall it. I... ugh, I don't think I could handle busting an Everfree storm though, not yet."

"Hey, you'll get there; just remember not to overdo it." Doug ruffles her mane as he starts shuffling along the fence line, the pegasus merrily chasing after him. Doug finds himself quickly tiring from the increased workload of trying to stomp down a path while keeping a good pace. About a quarter of the way through Rainbow flies up above the treeline of the Everfree, a couple laps back and forth as she inspects the growing storm. Doug continues trudging through the snow for a few minutes before Rainbow flies next to him, dropping down behind him.

"Well, looks like it won't do anything until about eleven. A little early for some ponies, but it shouldn't be too bad." Rainbow's stomach starts grumbling as she frowns, "Yeah, they'll probably complain about missing lunch too."

"Well, maybe I'll whip something up for you and the rest of the herd once we get back." Rainbow flies up, giving her stallion a quick nuzzle; Doug returns it but balks a little as Rainbow tries to climb onto his back. She hooks her hind legs around his waist, flapping her wings to help push her chest against his back. Doug rolls his eyes as she squirms against his coat, his pace slowing down considerably, "Did somepony not get enough cuddling last night?"

Rainbow snorts behind him, pawing at the coat and saying, "I still don't know why you insist on cuddling me so much, dude. I mean, I like it and all, and it's fine in the herd, but I get worried that other ponies will notice and think that, I dunno, I'm not as awesome because I like the cuddles."

Doug shifts, trying to get Rainbow to ride higher on his back, the mare continuing to push her hooves against his coat, trying to get underneath. He finally says, "Off, for a second." Rainbow loosens her grip, releasing her legs from around him. Doug strips his coat off, tying it around his waist, and motions for Rainbow to return. She eagerly does as he replies, "I don't know if I have a good answer for the second part, except that if you really want I can try to refrain from that while we're in public."

Rainbow sighs, "Nah, dude, it's fine. I like it, and I'll just have to be more awesome to compensate, right?"

"You do that, Rainbow; keep being you." Doug winks as he wraps Rainbow's forelegs around his bare chest, "And I'll keep loving you the best way that I know. For you, that's physical touch."

Rainbow cocks her head, which had been resting against Doug's shoulder, "Really?"

"Really. You love cuddling with me, as much as you might like to act otherwise when we aren't alone. You're the first to jump in my lap, or wrestle, or to try to get ear scratches when we don't go in herd order." Doug stretches an arm back, Rainbow eagerly tilting her head so he can reach her ear.

"Huh. I mean, I noticed that, but you're physical with each of us. You're not saying that, say, Fluttershy likes the touch as much as me?" Rainbow rubs her muzzle with a hoof, then rubs her muzzle against Doug's neck.

Doug flinches a little at the ticklish spot, "Well, not as much as you, certainly, but each of you appreciates the contact to a certain extent. And it's how I feel love the most intimately, and it's also how I show love the most easily, the most readily. For Fluttershy, it is words of affirmation; she deeply, fundamentally cares about what other ponies say and think about her. So it can be very hard on her when she hears something negative; I try to say positive things about her and keep my mouth shut on the negatives. Or at least find a very careful way of bringing it up, so that she doesn't see it as an attack on her."

Rainbow slowly nods, "That sounds... I mean, that sounds like Fluttershy, but some of the things she does are just so... infuriating! Like how fast she wants to fly. I know she can do better, fly faster, but she just shuts down when I try to push her. Why does she care so much about the words, why can't she see past it?"

Doug shrugs, "Unfortunately, it's the way she is. And you can't really change that about a pony. Or, at least, your attempts to will end poorly. Instead, you'll have to make a choice. Is it worth risking your relationship with Fluttershy to try to get her to do better? Because you'll need to find a way to get her to see what you think is a problem as a problem without her taking it personally, and trust me, that is a difficult thing to do."

Rainbow lets out a heavy sigh, "Yeah, it can be easier to just... ignore the issue. But I know that doesn't work out well, either."

"Nope, it's a hard problem to solve. Just have to keep at it, remember to take into account her feelings when you are saying something."

"Ugh... Fine. Whatever. I'll try not to insult her directly. So, what do you do with Applejack?"

"Applejack loves doing things together. It's part of why I continue to work with her on the farm, even if I'm not that suited for it; it lets us spend a lot more time doing stuff together. And as a break from weather scheduling, which gets a little routine."

"Yeah, I can see that, she does love competing and whatnot, activities. How about Rarity?"

"So, it's similar to Applejack, but Rarity really likes it when I do things for her. Helping around the store, taking care of Sweetie Belle, going with her on digging trips. And she shows her love for others by doing things for them, often by creating articles of clothing or accessories or those frou-frou things you don't care for."

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Eh... Yeah. I don't know about that. So, let's see, what about Pinkie Pie?"

"You could probably guess, but Pinkie Pie loves gifts."

"Well, duh." At Doug's silence she says, "Wait, is that seriously it? Gift giving is a way to show love?"

Doug nods, "And it's the way of expressing love that I have the hardest time with. That and words; you can say just about anything to me, and it doesn't impact my character, my self image. We're very similar in that regard, we don't get insulted, instead focusing on how we can improve. But, for Pinkie Pie, I have a hard time coming up with things to give to her, partially because she has very few unmet needs."

Rainbow winks, "So, you just gave her a foal then?"

Doug ruffles Rainbow's mane, the mare smiling at the contact, "Heh, I guess I did. And I do my best to make her feel appreciated in other ways, and accept all of her gifts and parties as best I can. That's been a tough one, for sure."

"Yeah, she does throw some pretty awesome parties. And you figured this out about us pretty quickly, huh." Rainbow glances back, sighing at how the Everfree storm is lighting up, lightning coursing through the towering clouds.

"I suppose I did; it can be obvious, if you know to look for it. I read it in a book, Five Love Languages or something like that. And it's pretty clear if you understand that people, or ponies, generally give love in the way that they want to receive love. Kind of like how you like to wrestle with Fluttershy, especially in the bedroom. She, honestly, doesn't appreciate it very much but is deeply afraid of insulting you by telling you to stop. If you want to make her happy, try complimenting her, telling how good a job she is doing and how much I'm enjoying her actions. If you want her to join in, being physical, you need to especially focus those compliments when she is joining in and being physical herself."

"Huh. I guess I can give that a shot. I suppose we really do show love like that, 'cause Fluttershy is always complimenting me on what I'm doing. So, uh, you got a view on any of the foals yet?"

"Hmm, not as well. Guess we'll have to figure that out as they get older."

Rainbow snuggles next to Doug, smiling and resting her eyes as the two get closer to the farmhouse.

Comments

[everydaygamer]

haha man, the speed in which you come out with these with crazy. Though to be honest with the speed you release these at you probably could have just compiled all these into a single story,

[Doug Graves]

9131957
I'll probably end up doing that for year seven, the planned end of this series. I have a buffer of about 8 chapters right now, which by the time I get to year seven will probably be the entire book. Hopefully. I might post the whole thing all at once when I get there, and you know you'll want me to when you see the end of year six.

[demonwarden]

I can not wait for this series to get to twilight's arrival

[MrUrsa]

Good job mate. Excellent.

[Heidao]

Today's chapter is a simple listing of character bios, their likes/dislikes and personality. That storm, while it grows, I can't help but see it as device to brewing plot than a weather hazard.

[Shiro_tanuki]

You know, a lot of times when people try to flesh out the mane 6 they either ignore the parts of canon characterization they don't like or just completely rewrite them to what they want. I really like that you flesh them out in a way that feels more... real.

At least in my opinion.

[Doug Graves]

10310583
Thanks! Any part in particular, like the Love Languages, or a more in-general sense?

[Shiro_tanuki]

10310795
Both, though the Love Languages is a good example. Another instance is the Opal and Winona thing last story; something that could easily have been an episode of the show, but the depth added to the characters makes them and the conflict more believable than the show could've done in its format.
It feels like you actually respect the characters a lot and I appreciate that. It's not every day that someone has the skill and care to do that with all of them.

[Hariester]

I don't get it. Is he nord from elder scrolls games or something? Being bare even in green spring could be fatal for a human, even more so in snowy chill. How he didn't caught asthma yet or something even worse?

[Doug Graves]

10880281
Which part? At the start, when he wakes up, he has a sheet, as well as the body heat of the mares to help keep warm. Later, on his run, he gets boots, pants, and a vest. Overall, though, he tends to not mind the cold as much as most.