Celestia’s sun bathed Sweet Apple Acres in warm sunshine the colour of blood. Mac propped himself up in bed and scowled out at it. He had woken after a fitful night’s sleep and drawn back the curtains to find this ominous sunrise waiting for him. gnoring the superstitious portent, he opened the window to let the cool morning air in and frowned a little, catching the scent of rain on the wind.

The schedule had called for clear skies over the farm so it might be they were in for one of the rogue storms from the Everfree. He was sure Applejack would have noticed the sky as well and would adjust the work around the farm as needed. The Weather Patrol would only move to break it up or divert it if it was strong enough to threaten damage to the town, otherwise they’d just have to put up with the change to the schedule.

Slowly laying back in his bed he hissed softly as his broken ribs shifted, his eyes drifting shut again. A shadow fell across his face and he frowned, fumbling out to make sure one of the curtains hadn’t slipped back across the window. Instead of the rough fabric, however, his groping hoof encountered something entirely different: Soft, warm feathers.

“Why Mac,” a familiar voice purred. “If you wanted to preen me, you only had to ask.”

He slowly opened one eye, a warm smile curving his lips as he looked up at the familiar face of Princess Luna. The midnight-blue alicorn was draped over his windowsill, doing her best to look nonchalant as she wriggled her way through the open window and planted her forelegs down onto the bed. The frame creaked softly beneath them in protest as Mac lifted his forelegs and curved them around that graceful neck, drawing Luna in for a kiss.

The look of surprise and pleasure on her face made him pause and grin before he brushed his lips playfully to hers. “Yah still look surprised when ah do that,” he murmured in between soft, brief little presses of his mouth to her own.

“Because I still am,” was Luna’s reply as she crawled the rest of the way through the window and settled on the bed alongside him. She spread one of her wings over to him, absently dragging the long, soft feathers along his belly and flanks as she leaned over him to continue those quick, teasing kisses. “I asked to be treated like a normal mare, and you have obliged me. No asking for permission, no hesitation or fear. It has been a very long time indeed since I was able to relax and enjoy myself this way.”

“Well good,” he replied as he lifted a hoof to hook around the back of her neck and draw her into a more lingering kiss. Their lips parted, breath coming quickly now as their tongues met tentatively, then eagerly. There was a whispered sound of pleasure coming from the mare pressed against him. Mac echoed it as he arched his body to press into her...then froze, feeling a rush of heat through his muzzle.

It was early in the morning and he not only had a beautiful mare pressed against him, her tongue was in his mouth and, well, he was a red-blooded stallion and a lot of that blood had suddenly decided to rush southwards, with inevitable and embarrassing results. He shifted his weight a little, trying to arch his body away from her, trying to be subtle about it.

“Why Mac,” Luna purred, lifting her head a little to meet his increasingly flustered gaze, mischief dancing in her eyes as she denied him even the chance to move away, shifting her weight to press the impertinent length of his arousal against her flank. “You really DO think of me as a mare, don’t you?”

“Ain’t thinkin’ much of anythin’ other than mebbe having the ground open up an’ swallow me right now,” he muttered, trying to duck his head away from her only to find he was denied even that comfort by a hoof cupping his cheek and holding him in place.

Trapped, he was forced to watch as Luna lifted her wing and glanced down at his haunches, forced to watch as her smile slowly grew wider and she ran her tongue over her lips. “My oh my…” Luna cooed. Mac let out a strained, frustrated growl that made her laugh in delight before turning back to him.

“Our apologies, Mac. It is most rude of us to tease but,” and she leaned in close to first kiss him, then grip his bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, nibbling playfully. “Were you not injured, we believe we would take pleasure in getting to know every part of thy body including all those...intimate details. Thou’rt a fine figure of a stallion and it has been a GREAT many years since I last enjoyed the company of a lover. You must excuse us being perhaps more forward than thou’rt accustomed to.”

Mac was sure that if he blushed any harder, his mane might actually go up in smoke. He squirmed uncomfortably against Luna, who finally realised that she might have taken her teasing a little too far. She nuzzled his cheek as she sat back a little to give him more room, politely staring out of the window until he could roll over enough to hide his arousal.

“You really have never been with a mare,” she murmured, almost to herself. “Might I be so bold as to ask why? You are certainly, ahem, not deficient in that area as far as I can tell. You have nothing to be ashamed of from a purely physical standpoint. In fact I know many stallions who dream of being as endowed as thee.”

“They wouldn’t if they had t’actually live with it,” was the weary reply. “Trust me, it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.” A long silence followed before Mac spoke again. “It ain’t entirely true. Whatcha said there. Ah have been with a mare. Once. When ah was not much more than a colt.”

Luna held up a hoof. “You do not need to speak of this if it is painful--”

“Naw. If we’re gonna do this, if we’re gonna be together, you deserve tah know this kinda stuff.” He took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. “We were young...just in our teens. First rush o’hormones and all that, spring in the air so on… Was just a fling rather than anythin’ serious. She liked me, ah liked her, so one day we’re alone and one thing lead t’another and heavy pettin’ got a lot heavier. Ended up with her on her belly and me atop her.”

He had to stop for a moment, breathing a little more ragged now as the memories came flooding back, a scene he hadn’t remembered in many a year. Her body beneath him, her breath coming in soft, urgent little moans, at least at first. The feel of her tail flicking against his belly and his sheath, that first rush of lust driving away everything but the need to rut, to plunge and thrust and…

“Everypony knows the first time can be painful. When she cried out ah didn’t think anythin’ of it. But she didn’t stop cryin’. It took me a second or two t’realise that she wasn’t movin’ with me, she was tryin’ to get away, t’realise that ah’d hurt her. That...ah was so big that ah’d hurt her in a way no right-thinkin’ stallion ever wants t’hurt a mare.”

“Oh Mac,” Luna whispered as she pressed back to him, sliding up along the bed till she could rest her head with his, her wing again blanketing him, holding him close. “You were young, inexperienced. It is not unheard of for these things to happen.”

“Yeah, well, mebbe not. But after that she didn’t want nothin’ to do with me, wouldn’t let me make it up to her. She told her friends what ah was like down there, said ah’d only hurt them. Some took it as a challenge, chased me like ah was a prize t’be won. Others just left me alone. Eventually she left Ponyville and when the other fillies realised ah wasn’t gonna play their games, they got bored, moved on. Hardly anypony remembers that now, save fer me.”

“We cry your pardon, Mac. We did not mean to bring back such painful memories.” She again nuzzled at his cheek and this time he turned his head a little to return the affection, his eyes closed as he waited for the welter of emotions to settle once more.

“Was worst for those few years in mah teens. That’s when ah first started lookin’ into all the Neighponese stuff. Meditation, ritualised exercises, that kinda thing. It helped when the urges got, uhm, too strong. Eventually ah found ah could always find that still point inside me. Ah guess that’s what you sensed in mah dreams.”

“Your center, yes. Your skill and control is most impressive. I understand why you felt it necessary but there is one more thing I must say.” Luna’s wing shifted, drifting down, dragging lightly across his sheath and making him shiver in surprise. “This does not frighten me. I am not some callow, untried filly and you will not hurt me, Mac. You would never hurt me.”

Mac just nodded, letting his forehead rest against hers for a moment, breathing in that now-familiar lavender scent. He resisted the urge to smile as other, more carnal, scents made themselves known. He had to admire Luna’s self-control and part of him was more than a little flattered knowing that he’d got her even a little flustered. But, now wasn’t the time for an more of that, there were things to be done this morning. “Speakin’ o’folks gettin’ hurt, are ya here to help Twilight out with that magic healin’ she suggested?”

Luna nodded. “I am indeed. With my assistance we should be able to repair most of the damage that Mourne hath done to thee.”

Mac mulled that over a moment. Mourne. Now there was a whole other new source of stress. The news had travelled quickly around town that the rogue Guard had broken out of the makeshift prison at the hospital, though the first Mac had known about it was when the girls had turned up at the farm to check if he was alright.

Twilight had sent the news to Celestia and within the hour they had a detachment of the Solar Guard turning Ponyville upside down and inside out trying to find him. “Any news on him?”

Luna’s expression darkened before she slowly shook her head and drew back from the comfortable embrace to sit up a little more in bed. “Nay. On that matter, I wish that you would allow us to set a guard at the farm, Mac. Will you not reconsider if I ask thee personally? What if he comes for you again?”

“Ah don’t think he will,” Mac replied easily as he gently drew Luna’s head down to rest on his chest, nuzzling into that flowing mane. He still didn’t entirely understand what Luna meant when she called him ‘still’ but he did all he could to project an aura of reassurance. He drew his hoof lightly down along her neck as he mulled the situation over. “He tried it once before and didn’t have it in him t’kill me even when he could. Ah don’t think he’d come back t’straight up murder me in mah bed.”

“But if you are wrong…”

“Then ah’m wrong, but he won’t catch me unawares a second time. The Solar Guard will find him, ah’m sure.” He trailed off as a thought occurred. “Fact is, that’s struck a couple o’folk around town as a mite odd. How come it’s the Solar Guard lookin’ for Mourne an’ not the Night Guard?”

Luna sighed softly, closing her eyes as she rubbed her cheek slowly against Mac’s chest. “Because that is how the game is played in Canterlot. My Sister does not truly believe that there is some insidious plot within the ranks of my Guard, nor does she believe that the loyalty of any of the rest of my Guard is suspect, but this is not about what is, merely what is SEEN to be. Appearances, Mac, it is all about appearances. Celestia must be seen to take charge, must be seen to distance herself from the acts of the Night Guard. In turn I must be seen to allow this, to ensure that I am not suspected of protecting any of those who serve me.”

“They can’t seriously think--” He growled, then sighed and shook his head. “What’m ah sayin’? Of course they can. Doesn’t Mourne get it? Doesn’t he see what he’s doin’ is just makin’ things worse? He might think he’s protectin’ you, but the fires he’s settin’ are just gonna end up burnin’ everypony around him.”

“There is some deep seated hurt here, I suspect. This goes beyond loyalty, beyond duty. To so single-mindedly pursue a goal regardless of any consequence suggests some previous trauma.” Luna pursed her lips. “Mourne was part of the Guard before I returned and I am ashamed to say that I perhaps do not know them all as well as I wish I might. Until now”

“Ah told ya that this ain’t your fault, Luna. Y’all didn’t send Mourne to attack me, you didn’t push me off a roof. This is all on him and whatever is goin’ on in that thick skull of his.”

“You are too kind, Mac,” she rose gracefully and in one easy motion she had hopped from his bed and back to the windowsill, pausing just for a moment to look back over her shoulder at him, her tail swaying playfully over her hindquarters.

"Ya could just use the door,” Mac pointed out, doing his best not to stare at what she was teasing him with. Now that was just downright MEAN.

“I could.” Luna agreed. “But where would the fun be in that? I shall meet you at the Library, Mac. Come as soon as you are able, Twilight and I shall have made all the necessary preparations.”

She laughed as she leapt from the window, swooping down low before climbing back up and into the air, vanishing from sight over the trees as Mac closed the window behind her.

“Bucking mother of a--!”

“Mac! Language! There are baby dragons present!”

Mac bit back further curses and clamped back down on the leather strap between his teeth, trying to ignore the pain that was searing through his flanks and belly like someone was holding him over an open fire. Oh, they’d warned him. They’d told him that speed healing like this would hurt, that they couldn't offer any sort of relief for the pain for fear that it would interfere with what they were asking his body to do. They had warned that it would tax all the reserves he had left, but he told them to do it anyway. Now, ten minutes into the session, he was beginning to regret ever asking about this.

Luna and Twilight stood on either side of him as he lay on the floor in a circle marked out in chalk. Twilight had started explaining what the symbols that surrounded that circle meant, but after the first minute or so he’d been totally lost and simply nodded whenever she paused to take a breath.

The actual healing had started with mere discomfort, nothing compared to the actual pain of the ribs themselves, but as the minutes ticked by and the two alicorns continued to channel their magic into him, it got worse...and worse, until he’d begged them for something to bite down on to save him from biting through his tongue or breaking a tooth.

The scent of leather filled his every breath, the thick taste flooding his mouth as he bit down. He could feel sweat coursing down through his mane, fighting the urge to shake his head as it trickled over his skin. He was breathing fast and hard, trying not to whimper, trying to find that still place within him, to center himself and allow the pain to pass through him rather than possessing him. It wasn’t working.

He could FEEL his bones healing under the influence of the magic. He’d been confused, at first, when they told him they’d need to strap his hooves down. Now he understood why. If he’d been able to move, he’d be gouging furrows in his own flanks trying to scratch, trying to relieve that terrible, searing, itching pain that was crawling beneath his skin.

“That is enough, Twilight. Rest now.”

Luna stepped back and Twilight did the same, the younger alicorn trembling a little, her own body shining with sweat. “Wow,” she whispered as she wiped her forehead. “I’m glad I didn’t try this on my own. Normal healing is one thing, but this is something else!”

“Indeed. Had you attempted this on your own you would likely now be in Ponyville Hospital being treated for magical backlash.” Luna nuzzled at Mac’s cheek, wiping a rivulet of sweat from his brow with a cool cloth. “How are you feeling?”

Mac wearily spat the strap out. “Ow.”

Spike took the cloth from Luna, the poor baby dragon’s skin blanched a lighter shade of purple as he looked at Mac. “I don’t get it,” he finally admitted. “Why do this to yourself?”

“Spike…” Twilight sighed, but Mac shook his head.

“S’okay, Twilight.” His voice was weak, but firm. “ This ain’t just about me, Spike. Ah can’t afford t’be down all busted like this. Farm needs me, family needs me. If the price ah gotta pay t’be back on mah hooves is a little pain? Then ah’ll pay it. That’s what ya do for kith and kin.”

Spike thought this over for a moment or two, then just shrugged. “Dude. Better you than me.”

Mac laughed weakly, then glanced at the Princesses. “That it done?”

Luna regretfully shook her head. “Not yet. We are halfway through. I felt it best to allow both you and Twilight a moment to rest before we continue. How is the pain? Can you endure another session?”

"Tell me again why ya can't give me anythin' t'dull the pain?"

Twilight spoke up this time. "Well, if it was a matter of relieving the pain magically we'd need another unicorn here to cast that spell as it would need to be maintained during the healing or it would be of limited use. That wouldn't really be a very good idea, though, as your body would simply burn through any benefit it could give in a few minutes. The same goes for herbal or chemical painkillers, they just wouldn't last when we're forcing your body to work so much harder to heal itself. Any regular dose would be purged from your system in moments and any dose big enough to last the entire session would be so toxic as to put your life at risk."

He thought this over for a moment or two. "Oh," was really the only thing he could say to that. Well, no point in asking if there was anything they could do on that front.

Mac took a slow, deep breath, feeling his insides twisting at the thought of enduring a second session of that searing pain. Could he stand more of this? As he took the breath he was surprised to find that the pain in his chest and sides was far diminished from what it had been. He took another breath, tensing his muscles experimentally to gauge how much difference had been made. Oh, it certainly wasn’t entirely healed but the difference was unmistakable. “Yeah. Ah can go again,” he said at last. “Course, might help take mah mind off it if ah had a kiss.”

Twilight blushed and pretended to be looking intently at one of the books on the shelf behind her while Luna smiled warmly as she settled onto the floor with him. “You only have to ask,” she whispered as she cupped his muzzle gently with her hooves and leaned in, pausing only a moment to nod to Twilight before her lips found his.

The kiss gave him something to focus on as the pain began to build for a second time. Breath whistled through his nostrils in short, sharp gasps as the kiss grew harder and more urgent, mashing his mouth desperately to her own to stifle the sounds of pain that tried to escape him. Tongues met and twisted frantically together, her teeth nipping teasingly at the tip from time to time, trying to keep him distracted, focused on anything but what the magic was doing to him.

Some distant, detached part of his mind could see Luna’s horn glowing as she again channeled the magic with Twilight. He had to admire the level of concentration and control it must take to kiss him like this while casting. Finally, though, the pain grew too intense and he broke away, grabbing the leather strap and biting down on it once more for fear that he would bite her instead.

"Not much longer,” she soothed, her cheek resting against his as she gently kissed away the tears of pain that trickled from the corners of his eyes. “Be brave, Mac. We are nearly finished.”

He managed a weak nod and then there was nothing but the pain. Already worn out from the first session, he could barely muster the energy to whimper this time round. As the minutes ticked by he fell silent, focusing entirely on each ragged breath and the feel of the alicorn pressed against him. Every nerve in his body was alight with pain, that desperate itching again ravaging him like there was a multitude of spiders crawling beneath his skin.

“Enough, Twilight. That is all we can safely do.”

Luna had to help him spit the leather strap out this time and afterwards he just lay there for a moment or two, basking in the sweet relief of painlessness as he let his strength return. Every muscle in his body ached, his teeth throbbing from how hard he’d been gritting them. “Next time ah ask about this,” he whispered to her. “Remind me how much it buckin’ hurts.”

Luna smiled and lifted her head to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Duly noted. One would hope this is not too common an occurrence.”

“How do you feel, Mac?” Twilight asked. “How are your ribs?”

He took a slow, careful breath, then another. There was the faintest of twinges from his ribs but nothing more than that, nothing worse than if he’d spent a hard day strapped into the plough. He craned his head to one side so he could look down at his chest, the long slash from the wingblade now little more than a faint pink line, fading fast.

“Well ah’ll be bucked,” he breathed.

“Now now, Mac. Not here. Later,” Luna whispered and playfully nibbled the tip of his ear before she unfastened the straps holding him down. He levered himself upright one slow, trembling leg at a time, grateful to find Luna waiting to support him as his knees threatened to buckle under him. He leaned into her with a sigh and a brush of his lips to her neck before he turned his attention to Twilight.

“Thank ya, Twilight. It means a lot t’me that you’d do this. Things’d be tight with only AJ minding the farm. It was nice of you girls t’offer, but we can’t expect ya to do yer own jobs and support us as well.”

“Oh, it was nothing. I mean, I just found the spell, I couldn’t have done it without Luna. Oh! I mean Princess Luna!” She smiled sheepishly.

“Luna is fine, Twilight,” she said. “We are sisters now. We Princesses have to stick together, after all.”

The purple alicorn blushed, scuffing a hoof lightly against the floor before she began to tidy away the spell books and leather straps. Mac didn’t bother asking just where those had all come from. Some questions were just best left unasked.

He was so tired. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been quite this exhausted in all his life. His wings ached, his shoulders throbbed, his chest was tight as he fought to keep from breathing too hard and too deep. He stood patiently with the other ponies clustered about him, trying not to draw attention to himself.

Some of the Solar Guard standing post at the doorway glanced at him, but paid him no mind, much to his relief. He’d debated coming here in a different outfit, but a hood and cloak would have been far too cliche and just drawn more attention. No, all he had to do was be patient and blend in. He was so close now, just a little longer, he just had to pick his moment.

The huge golden doors slowly swung open and the herald stepped out to stand between them, his head raised imperiously as he surveyed the ponies gathered outside. “The Court of her Royal Highness Princess Celestia is now in session. All those who have business with the crown please follow me inside in an orderly line. The Princess will do her utmost to ensure that each and every one of you is given the time you need with her.”

Mourne smiled in triumph, and followed the others in.