For most ponies it was a nice day in Ponyville. Why, it had temperate weather, clear skies, there were no monsters or meddling pests and no villain was left in the world to mess with things! Well, for now anyway. True that their dear princess Celestia had given Twilight Sparkle some kind of assignment, but that, alongside the magic map that resided within the castle of their fair village, was something that turned common and almost uninteresting.

But then again, I did say 'for most'.

"Sweetness, I am leaving with the kids."

Most would also consider those words to be made of pure and concentrated doom, more so with how they were said and with the mood floating around the bakery. Sugarcube Corner had never been so gloomy as it was today. It was a mix of Pinkie being out of town to help her sisters at the rock farm with some new type of rock they were trying to grow, making the bakery slightly grey in comparison to how it was the rest of the time, and Miss Cake's own sour mood that had lasted for nearly a year now.

True, no one had seen almost more than a glimpse of it, and at first it had been nothing more than the blue pony with a pink mane feeling that maybe she had been a bit over her head when she thought she could take care of two foals. It was made worse when her foals were shown to be nothing like her, or even her husband Carrot Cake, but that went away with time.

After almost a year, with the little ones already doing some magic or flying, as well as talking more or less alright, her sour mood had a different source.

"I am sorry, Carrot... I... I know I am not being agreeable these days."

The bakery was empty today, a sign of 'Closed' hung visibly on the outside. It was something hardly seen, if at all, with how dedicated Carrot and Cup Cake were, and there was no need to mention Pinkie and her hyperactive desire for baking, sweets, parties and fun. This building was the only one open every day, every week, every month, every year. True that some days were shorter than others as far as time at work went, but there was almost not a day that went by without new sugary things being made inside this one bakery. Sugarcube Corner was not the most famous bakery in Equestria, but it was the most famous and well respected for those that knew about it.

Everypony knew of how much Carrot and Cup Cake loved each other, it was hardly something that could be hidden. True that, unlike in herds, there wasn't much affection to be shown in public, but that was because there was no need to go overboard. While a herd could have a great number of ponies, or other species, involved, a marriage meant two and only two, and while they weren't usually seen as normal or acceptable when it meant to be done by the 'common' pony, they were equally revered as herds when the love was as great as the one felt between Carrot and Cup Cake.

They always had each other, they helped each other, they talked about their problems and tried their best to give a bright smile every day of their lives, always showing patience as much as they were able to and accepting everything to their best capabilities. Most thought they had no problems, and it was in fact hard to see any problem at all between both ponies.

But as the saying goes: Not everything that glitters is gold.

A few ponies knew about Carrot's one big problem: His stuff wasn't exactly potent. Sexuality problems and such were not one of the most discussed topics, ever, but it was like anything else, be it hoofball or the races. It could sprout a conversation at any moment, and if somepony wasn't interested, it could be changed. Thanks to that a few of their friends, one of which was Pinkie, knew that the Cakes weren't exactly the most fertile pair in the land.

Cup Cake was indeed very receptive, she was a great earth pony mare capable of having many foals, unlike her parents. For that reason she had always wanted a huge family instead of the little one that only had her parents and grandparents, and any of the previous generation, with just one foal per sitting. It wasn't exactly something normal, but it wasn't so strange that it could be considered impossible. It did take many generations, but things turned back to 'normal' when Cup Cake found that she could have a big and nice family, that she could MAKE one. Alongside being a baker, which she managed to do, her dream was to have as many kids as she could support.

Carrot was on the other side when it came to this.

Oh no, it is not that he didn't want kids, in fact it was the OPOSITE. Unlike his wife, Cup Cake, mister Carrot came from quite the plentiful family, which explained how it was so easy to have two kids that didn't share a pony tribe. His family was large, happy and always willing to have another member join, not only that, but they were also quite the potent bunch, both mares and stallions. Carrot was... not.

Whereas Cup Cake had been the final answer to a problem that went back a few generations, Carrot was the black sheep of his family. No one noticed, or cared, about such a problem back before he married Cup Cake, after all, who was expecting a young and lively stallion to mess up in that regard, right? As it happened, biology seemed to be in the mood to play a bit with the poor colt.

It didn't become a problem, at all, for the longest time, in fact it became a problem only recently. Who cared if Carrot had a hard time creating life? Believe you me, Cup Cake and him had a lot of fun, and despite the rumors going around town back in the day, they didn't mind sharing that fun with their friends, as some ponies could very well attest to. In fact, and knowing that they had time, oh so much time, Cup Cake was more than happy with how things were.

Then the twins happened.

And Cup Cake was ecstatic.

Cup Cake had always been a round mare, it came with the territory and a love for the sweets and baked goods that she made. Hiding that she was pregnant was easy with some help from Cookie Crumbles, a very good friend of hers. The idea had been from Pinkie of all ponies, but the magic did help with Cup Cake's range of movement, so she was perfectly fine if her friend didn't mind visiting from time to time. All that mattered to her though, was that she was pregnant, that they could have a big, big, big family, and that Carrot finally was having his own desire to have children fulfilled alongside the mare he loved so much.

It wasn't after things relaxed a bit that Cup Cake and Carrot went to make a few tests to see if things would be easier now. Some mares, even a few stallions, turned even more productive after the first pregnancy, or after a few, so making a few tests sounded golden. If they were the same as before, no biggie. If either of them got better? Oh boy, Cup Cake didn't want to stop until they had at least four or five little ones.

Instead, Carrot's results came as barren.

What a cruel joke! What had they done to deserve this?! They repeated the test time and time and time and TIME AGAIN. Always the same, no change whatsoever. Carrot wasn't going to be able to have more kids. Maybe some magic could help him back to how he was in a few years, but they were told that such kind of magic or alchemical care wasn't yet discovered, or if it was, it wasn't implemented everywhere. Normal medicines could help, but only if Carrot had a smidge of a chance, which he lacked.

Carrot was floored and Cup Cake felt destroyed. They did have two kids, two they loved very much, and they would love them to bits forever and ever, but part of the dream they both shared had been shattered. Carrot had four sisters and a brother, and he had wanted nothing less for his children, while everypony knew about Cup Cake's own desire. For all they knew, the Cakes never told anypony about this, though some probably knew what was happening.

Despite this, not even Pinkie saw what the Cakes went through. Cup Cake did her best to be the ever cheerful mare alongside her loving spouse, and both Carrot and her were still happy as could be. It was true though: They were hurting, hurting quite badly, but they went on. They had their children, they had Pinkie, practically a surrogate daughter, and they had each other. Technically speaking, and despite the sad news, they were content.

As Cup Cake's heat approached though...

"My sweet, you don't need to be sorry."

Carrot was carrying saddlebags packed to the brim. Supplies mostly for the kids, including most their toys, books and anything else they would need for a few days... or weeks. It hadn't been an easy decision, to say the least, but Carrot was sure that it was the best course of action.

"How can I not be sorry?"

Cup Cake turned to face her husband. Being behind the counter, looking at the empty stand and wallowing in misery was not a common sight as far as the blue mare went. Everypony was used to seeing her smiling, swirly tail and mane with that two tone color always reminding people of ice cream, and eyes sparkling with happiness and a bit of hunger on the side, for good measure. She was not as carefree as Pinkie, but one could argue that she was exactly how Pinkie would be if she mellowed out... a lot.

"I... I said something horrible yesterday, Carrot, I couldn't contain myself anymore." To see Cup Cake on the verge of teas was something that would hurt even the hardiest of ponies within Ponyville "I am sorry I exploded... But it is still my fault! How can I not drive you away when I treat you like... like..."

"Sssh, sssh, all will be okay." Carrot approached his wife, not shying away when she flinched as he came close "I know what you are going through, my dear, we both suffer the same since we went to do those tests."

"Worst idea of my life." Cup Cake grumbled under her breath, sighing, embarrassed as Carrot gave her a kiss on the cheek "If I hadn't, then we would be happier. I wouldn't know, you wouldn't know, and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"My sweetness, we both know it would come up sooner or later whether we went to check or not." Carrot offered her a gentle smile "I am as frustrated as you... or more." The last part was added under his breath, but not low enough to avoid being heard "We both wanted a large family, and I am ecstatic to have two beautiful children with you, but that is as much as I can offer, whether I like it or not."

"Carrot..."

"That is why I am leaving for a few days, maybe a few weeks, even a month." Cup Cake's eyes watered at her husband's nonchalance. She felt as if she had broken things beyond recognition, until she saw his eyes, sad and distant, on purpose "I know you always avoided getting any other male to finish inside when we spiced the bedroom life a bit." He chuckled as a few interesting encounters came to mind "It was much like me: We can have fun, but we only want each other when it comes down to it."

Cup Cake's lip trembled, eyes wide "Carrot... please... You can't be suggesting that."

"Yes, I am suggesting just that, my dear." Carrot took a deep breath, more to calm himself than anything else "I am asking you to find a male, or somepony with the equipment required, that can give you what I cannot."

"CARROT!" The kids were asleep, her hiss barely above a whisper despite the anger behind it "I can't do that! I don't want to do that!"

"Neither do I, it hurts me to just think about it." Neither one wished to do such a thing, and anypony that knew them did know why "But what else could I do but to sacrifice what I love most if I can't satisfy my wife's desires and dreams? I won't stop being with you, unless you want me to, of course." His sad smile was met with her brutal refusal "And I know you don't want that, but I also know we both want more children. We both know there is no other way now."

"I can get some of that fancy insemination, whatever it is called, Carrot!" Cup Cake was crying by now "You don't have to do this! I DON'T want to do that! That is for certain!"

"And would you live happily ever after without knowing who the father was?" Carrot remained calm despite being equally as bad as his wife. That he could hide anything at all showed much thought on his part "Would you want somepony without a name? Somepony that would not take care of his or her kids? Somepony that would never be part of our family?"

"I don't want somepony else, period." Cup Cake's voice still quivered, but it had an air of finality "I just want you, I only want you, and whether we invite somepony else to have fun with us, or not, I only want that when you are present." She shook her head, biting her lip "Please... don't leave."

"If I remain here, then we will have real problems." Carrot grimaced as he gently touched his wife's cheek "Yesterday was just a sign of what is to come. I know you don't think that way of me." Carrot cut his wife before she could speak after that comment about the other day's little mishap "I know you don't, at all, but it is literally the heat of the moment, or what comes before the heat. Now, if you want me to stay, and I do, then it would become worse and worse if I fire blanks and just empower your heat and needs." He pursed his lips for a moment "If I stay here, I would never allow another stallion near you either... But if you accept somepony else to do this duty, then I will be happy."

"No, no you won't." Any pretense of decorum or restraint was thrown out the window as Cup Cake embraced her husband and let the waterworks begin "I am a bad mare, I know I am, I know I hurt you." She sobbed as she hugged him, afraid of letting go "I don't want to lose you..."

"And you won't, not while you still want me." Carrot hug his wife back, sighing as he tried to keep his own calm from melting away into nothingness "I... am not happy doing this, my dear cupcake, but tell me, look at my eyes and tell me, that you would be happy, that you would not explode, if I stay and I don't allow you to seek any other stallion to give you what you want most."

Cup Cake wanted to do exactly that; she wanted to pull away from the hug, tell her husband that all would be good, to kiss him and to have him all for herself, as always. But she was unable to do just that. After yesterday, after her slip of the tongue, and after all the anger that the thought of being unable to have more children brought her, Cup Cake was sure that she was an inch away from the border of a very sharp and fatal fall.

"I know it is hard, my sweet, but we both need it" Carrot gave his wife's cheek a kiss and gently pushed away, looking at her wet eyes and cheeks only made him feel worse "And you can't lie to me. You wanted kids more than being a baker"

"I want YOURS." She snapped back.

That brought a sad smile to Carrot "But I can't give you any, not anymore."

Both ponies stood there for a moment, sitting on their hunches, looking at each other with sad expressions at what was to come.

Carrot wished to stay oh so much, but he was sure he would do something stupid when his wife went into heat and started demanding attention from him. He knew what he wanted to give her, what they had tried for years, what had brought them such joy, but he was unable to and, despite how much it hurt, he loved her enough to sacrifice part of his own happiness to make HER happy, at any cost. If she chose well, if he chose somepony he could relate to, that could understand him, then, maybe, he would be happy too, when this ended, but it was a moot point when his priority was his wife's happiness, even if it hurt her to get there.

Cup Cake was no better. Fun alongside her husband? Much appreciated! It was always interesting to spice things up, and she loved that her husband was so adventurous, but both of them were a bit possessive and envious. There was no pony that was all good in every sense, no pony was two dimensional like that. She was afraid of losing the one she loved and whenever a mare was in the bedroom, other than her that is, she always did better to satisfy her husband, like he did when it was a stallion. Neither of them had a problem with the same sex either, so things were ALWAYS fun.

Now it wasn't fun, now Carrot wanted her to go alone for this one ride. She was so scared that even her coming heat, looming over the horizon as the unavoidable problem it was, left her mind for a second.

"I... I can take the herbal remedy, I can ask Zecora for a potion, I can do anything, Carrot, ANYTHING!" By now begging seemed more than acceptable if it could defuse this situation "Please... please Carrot."

"Would you really be happy with those solutions?" Carrot frowned at the idea. Not everypony had the same reaction to them. For a lack of a better word, the best reaction most had was to feel tired and moody. The worst? Purging, constantly, and then go back into heat. "Last time you tried, you were quite the cranky mare" He chuckled a bit at the memory "You threw me a frying pan if I remember correctly."

"Poor timing for jokes, love." Cup Cake cleaned her tears away, hiccupping as she sobbed one last time "Even Pinkie wouldn't dare try to cheer anypony up when like this."

Carrot nodded a few times before he got up and kissed his wife on the cheek again, nuzzling her afterwards "I know, but there is no good way to end this day, honeybuns." Cup Cake knew that, and seeing her husband turn and walk towards his saddlebags once more didn't help any "But we both know that if I stay, then this will indeed go sour. One way or another, if I stay, we both will be miserable, and while I would not mind being that if it is for your shake." Carrot gave his wife a smile that promised her anything she wanted, a smile that told her that he would do anything for her, even if it hurt him "I do not want BOTH of us to be like that."

"And how do you think I am going to be if you leave?" But the mare was plenty aware that her husband was right. She felt miserable looking forward to a life without more kids. She loved her little cakes more than anything, but she was selfish and wanted more, a desire that she couldn't erase from her mind "Carrot... I... I want more kids... but I don't think I could do that to you."

The stallion nodded as he got his saddlebags back in place. Both kids asleep and in their little cart, they didn't need to be bothered by loud voices as he approached his wife once more.

"I know neither of us was fond of the idea of herds, my dear." That was a gross understatement if Cup Cake ever heard one "My family is more than happy doing it, yours isn't, though we both know why that is." Carrot knew she would grimace, but it felt as if she wanted to tear something apart "But now? Now that I can't give you what you want? I think it is time to give it a go, because you made it clear that you would not want a stallion that would never be around his children, be it male, female or something in between. I know you don't want that, I know you do not like the idea, seeing how your family is marriage exclusive. It feels wrong, and I understand, after all, I don't want to share either."

He let out a tired sigh as he went for the cart with their kids. The more he dilly dallied, the less likely it was for him to really leave. If he stayed, then it would be a moth point "Despite all that, I won't consider it cheating." The word cut through Cup Cake like a knife "Neither of us like that 'c' word, I know that." Carrot didn't need to look her way to see her though "You do have my permission after all, and if you find someone you feel is right, then, maybe, we could be a bigger family with no problem... But even if they were to butt heads with me, you come first."

Cup Cake's eyes were boring into the ground at this point "I never thought we would resort to this." She lamented as she looked back at her happy days. Was this going to end, as she feared, or was it going to get better? "Carrot..."

"Everything will be alright, my dear." Carrot turned to face his wife, everything ready to go "Take your time, find somepony suitable and we'll talk, alright?"

That was the end of the talk, as abrupt as it was. What else could Cup Cake say? What would she like to hear? All she wanted was for things to go back to how they were, instead of this mess. But whereas Cup Cake could be incredibly selfish, she could also be selfish to a fault, and while Carrot was an envious stallion, he was also very self sacrificing.

The bakers both wanted a large family, but they couldn't get it with each other, and neither wanted to adopt. It was not that they disliked the idea, but before this problem, during the many years trying to have children, they decided they would not adopt. They had all they needed to conceive, they wanted to have their flesh and blood, and there were many other mares or stallions that, even with magical, alchemical or simple traditional help, could not. Sex change, pregnancy aids, nothing worked for them.

The Cakes? They just needed to try harder... And now they just couldn't do even that. They didn't want to adopt, they had made that decision, and they would not deprive those that simply could not have children from adopting a foal when they already had two of their own.

It didn't ease Cup Cake's mind when her husband finally gave her a sad smile, a wave, and left, closing the door behind him.

*** On Earth. Connecticut. Somewhere in the U.S ***

"Buck you, brother!" A very feminine voice yelled "Buck you with a ten foot metal rod! Buck you until you can't taste anything but iron for the rest of your life!"

"You do know that such a thing makes no sense, right?"

"I said buck you, so BUCK. YOU!"

Alexander Jacobs, ladies and gentlemen, the one man burying his head against his... sister's door. Said sister was called Olive... Olivia. Yea, you probably can see where this is going, or better say this! If you don't see it, you are blind. Now, once you have been educated in the problem, you have to be educated in the fact that it is not a problem, in fact there IS a problem, but it is not 'that' one.

Confused yet? Good, I am getting better.

Let's go step by step.

So, Alexander, right? Tall man, one ninety one, thirty three years of age, around eighty seven kilograms, red hair and a very stoic expression as well as hardy factions. The guy would be something you'd expect in a policeman, or a soldier, but the guy was a baker, nothing else, though not for lack of trying other works mind you. With a wide back, strong arms, strong legs, and a very strong chest, you'd expect the guy to be capable of doing any manual job in the world if it required mostly strength. The problem was that this one guy had the biggest butterfingers on Earth.

You don't believe me? He would slip out of BED if he was on the edge and required his hands to keep him in place ever so slightly. You know how I know? Because he slipped one day when both his legs fell asleep.

It was hilarious for his sister, it was beyond embarrassing for him.

But yes, this big lug of a man, capable of handling pastries, cakes, bread and whatever else, was incapable of using a damn toothpick without taking someone's eyes out. He had lived all his life with his parents and grandparents, and as a good family used to bake, he had a knack for it. He didn't like it mind you, mostly because he was tired of it all and trying to stop eating half the things he made, but it was one of the few things he wouldn't screw up. Why did it happen? No one knows, and after years of embarrassing himself in almost any other damn work he tried to apply for, he had just given up and accepted a job in Connecticut, a bakery that one of his cousins had left vacant when he moved to Europe and that he wanted to be kept in the family.

Around one hundred fifty thousand souls, a nice river, a more or less healthy life, and at least a third of the people here knew of the one guy that could bring down a building by touching the wrong place at the wrong time, A.K.A: All the time.

Everyone that knew of him knew that, despite his gruff appearance, Alexander was a very nice guy, easy to talk to, friendly to strangers and a bit hug friendly, though it usually ended in tragedy, in a very comical way mind you. With his usual sleeveless shirt and short pants, plus resilient booths with metal tip (you don't know how it can hurt if something falls there), he wasn't the world's most typical baker, but he was good and that was enough for him. He didn't like the idea of baking all his life, but if he was going to do it, then he was going to do the best he could.

The only thing you wouldn't see of this one guy, was his eyes. Light hurt his vision a lot, so sunglasses were needed almost at all times, and even then it was almost too bright except at night. It was not exactly photophobia, but it did bother him when he was out under a clear sky. For this reason you wouldn't see his brown colored eyes, though the general look was considered nice by most visitors if nothing else.

His sister? Well, Olivia, previously known as Oliver, was a bit special, as you may have guessed.

Born male, and still physically male, somewhat, Olivia was very much like her brother, in a sense. She was much smaller, going more for her mother's appearance with a short meter sixty three instead of her father's impressive height that Alexander had inherited. She also had her mother's blue eyes and raven colored hair, but at least neither Olivia, nor Alexander, had inherited their father's freckles, something that she liked to bring up to tease daddy from time to time. She had soft factions, an easy smile, perky nose and very lithe body in general.

Simply put: Oliver was extremely feminine, and her voice was more akin to a girl than to a boy.

With her very long hair, slim complexion and extreme attention to her appearance since she was little, it was impossible to not notice Olivia's demeanor even if you tried. The problem is that a group of people didn't even want to acknowledge it, and despite her being three years Alexander's junior, despite her being slightly worse in school and needing more attention, nobody ever wanted to acknowledge that Oliver was gay, or that he wasn't happy being a 'he'.

As you may imagine, for a very nice and friendly family, the Jacobs were quite the homophobes, at least the Jacobs that Alexander was a part of.

This was, sadly, a worldwide problem. Some areas were worse than others, and while in some you could find extreme acceptance, in others you could, and would, find the opposite. As it stood, while Olivia was more woman than anything, bar the sex, she was almost forced into a relationship she didn't want a few years ago. Her parents had thought that they could beat what was wrong with her (in their words) by forcing some sense and maybe a good lay. Let's say it didn't end well and leave it at that.

It wasn't that Alexander and Olivia's parents or grandparents were bad, but some people were just more closed in mind than others. The younger generation was much more open minded, and Alexander had no problem taking her sister in the bakery as an assistant when their parents threw her out. It had been a few years, and relations between parents and sons were incredibly strained, but at least their parents weren't going to go and take Alexander out of the bakery, thus kicking Olivia out too, just out of spite and anger at something they thought was their son 'acting up'.

Now, while both were gentle souls in a way, they weren't anywhere near perfect, and this cohabitation showed that, a lot.

Alexander was a neat freak and a bit of a bossy persona, trying to get everything done his way if possible. While this made sure everything was in order and clean, it also meant that he tended to butt in whenever someone else would prefer to be alone, in most cases messing things up beyond recognition since he could be all charismatic and stuff, but usually didn't know the right words to use when he was under pressure.

Olivia? Olivia was a bit of a mess with how much she liked to party and have fun. While it was never anything too serious, she tended to aim for guys at all times when it came to making 'friends'. With her objectives quite clear, it was obvious why she did that, but she tended to go for the guys that would use her and leave her afterwards. With a poor judge of character, absentminded personality and a bit of childish behavior to back it all up, she was a very hard person to get to know if you weren't 'her type'.

So that is what you had on your plate with both brother and sister. You had a control and neat freak with a very liberal partygoer. Both of them ready to work and do their thing, neither one the best to room with, and they both lived under the same roof.

The latest problem? Olivia's last 'friend' and the obvious end to their little encounter. Alexander knew that whenever Olivia didn't get ready for work during the weekends, out of habit if nothing else since they only needed to make bread for whoever decided to visit in the morning, then something was wrong. As any concerned brother would do, he went to knock and she poured her troubles on him once more.

Suggesting that she found herself a lady friend didn't exactly end with the result Alexander wanted out of the discussion.

He didn't mean a girlfriend, he meant a girl, space, friend. Olivia had never liked women, at all, and after their parents tried to hitch her up, things reached rock bottom faster than anything Alexander had seen. That the one woman was responsible for their parents kicking Olivia out of the house at last didn't help one bit either. Strangely enough, Olivia loved that show, what was it called? My Little Pony, right? She didn't like the older ones, but she ate the new show like chocolate, and most characters were girls.

So why in hell had she reacted like that? Fuck if he knew. Olivia knew, she had to know, that Alexander didn't care if she was gay, if she didn't like to get operated or anything else at all. All Alexander wanted was for her to be happy, and trying to get a fuck buddy every damn week, only to end up dumped afterwards, was not something she should be doing. She wasn't exactly frail when it came to psyche, but she was getting there with how many rejections she had suffered.

Okay, so he was procrastinating, he was worrying over his sister's problems when he didn't do jack for his own. This was mostly because Alexander didn't much care for his problems, other than his darn clumsiness, so the priority, at least his priority, was Olivia.

Some would shrug it off and think it would 'man up' the one on the receiving end, but this was beyond that stupid notion, and Olivia wasn't made to be a strong person because she didn't want to. She wanted to be treated as a soft flower, and if that was what she wanted, then she should get it. Why should everyone fit in a certain way? Alexander didn't mind it when he had to remain neutral until he found what some people liked or not, but his sister wasn't like that and she didn't want to change anything to fit what others wished of her.

In a way she was already strong as steel, in another she was weaker than paper. The problem here was none other than balance.

That made him snort. Balance... This house had less balance than the economy nowadays, and THAT was messed up. In any case he had never thought that the first day of summer would get this messed up. 2022 and douches still exist, that, and overreacting. My Little Pony finished a while ago, but to this day it was still very well known, hell, the fandom had managed to get their hands on most of what remained since Hasbro tried to make a new generation and BOMBED enough to be in a small financial fuckup. That day had made Olivia squee with joy for some reason, probably because most of her series was now free for everyone and most her free time was spent reading fanfiction or watching the old show.

As if on cue, the music began and Alexander decided to make himself scarce as promptly as possible. He didn't dislike the show, but he was more into more mature stuff, and he didn't mean porn. Such cutesy shit with almost no problem other than even more cutesy monsters, and the few not so cute and maybe serious crisis, were things that didn't attract him. Now, a good space opera with lasers and shit? That did hit the spot, shame that he would aim worse than a Storm Trooper if he ever got his hands on a weapon. Luckily for the world, he had been labeled as a walking catastrophe all over the country, so no weapons for him.

Okay, so he had promised to not buy a weapon unless he managed to get his hands unfucked, big deal.

Alexander shook his head at the one time he went to a practice range. Worst shame of his life, ever, but it had been a fun day. He would feel a bit safer having at least a weapon on the ground floor of his home, but there was no way in hell that he would test his luck if someone came to rob them. They didn't have much of value either, their computers and maybe some of the equipment in the bakery, but you couldn't take that and leave without some serious hardware, that, and thanks to him (and his rotten luck with his hands more than anything), at least the police, and the hospital, knew of the place quite well. Having butterfingers helped... sometimes.

If nothing else, all this thought had brought an idea to his worry riddled brain. Why not get Olivia something MLP related? It was an easy way to get her to cheer up, and Olivia ate almost anything that had to do with the show since she didn't have a favorite to speak of. She liked thestrals though, almost to a fault, mostly because she considered them cute beyond belief, so a plushy of a bat pony would make her happy for sure.

It was a simple and impossible to fuck up plan. Even if he dropped the plushy, the bag, the wallet or whatever, no one would stop him from getting to the phone, make an order and get things delivered. If needed be Alexander could call one of his friends if Olivia was in one of her moods again. It wasn't the first time they spent a whole week or more within the building, and while Olivia didn't like Alexander's friends, they didn't mind giving her a hand, even if she acted like a whiney bitch towards them because none of them were interested. Better not even mention this to Amanda though, her bluntness almost got them into a catfight last time.

With that said, and a couple calls later, there was nothing else in his mind. He had a book to read, a few recipes he wanted to try and little else, plus he disliked the humid heat that was hitting the city, and that would keep at it for a few weeks if nothing changed. Going out was not in his best interest until things dried up and his friends knew it, and seeing how hard it hit Olivia, she was going to be of the same mind for a while at least.

So... ordering lunch and dinner for a while or making sweet shit to fatten up? Either was bad as all get together, but with how much he worked and how much weight he lifted to get everything done around here, getting fat wasn't exactly a problem.

Now, entering your room and finding a panicked blue coated and pink manned pony? That was a problem.

"W-where am I?" The panicked voice of the mare echoed within Alexander's mind as primordial fear "W-where is everypony? Where is Carrot? I... I had left to search for him and then, then..."

She passed out on his bed, and Alexander could do nothing more than to watch the poor mare's eyes roll as she fainted. The smell of ozone was strong, and there were some marks on the wall signaling something akin to an explosion, but nothing was damaged. For a moment he just stared at the body of the mare, then rubbed the bridge of his nose and exhaled in distress.

Another week, another problem. Existential crisis, or whatever this was supposed to be, later, he needed a shower, to make a call or two and pretend things were normal.

Author's Notes:

Okay, these are the first two chapters! Introduction and shock! Expect a bit of drama with this story, though you probably already guessed that much, as well as some nice slice of life and such. Want to comment? Go ahead, but remember to not take this overly seriously. Oh, and follow this link if you want to know something more about the story, setting and siz: LINK!